Earth is home to millions of plant and animal species and the only planet in the
universe where life is known to exist.  Around 71% of earth is covered with salt-
water oceans.  Hundreds of natural and man-made wonders exist on our planet.
Certain areas in this world are so beautiful that they attract millions of tourists
every year.  I have compiled a list of 10 of the most incredible tourist attractions
and natural wonders of the world.  

Dinosaur Provincial Park is a World Heritage Site and wonderful tourist attraction.
It is located in the valley of the Red Deer River, which has incredible badland
topography.  The park is widely renowned for being one of the greatest dinosaur
fossil beds in the world.  A total of thirty-nine different dinosaur species have been
discovered in the park.  The surrounding ecosystem includes prairie grasslands,
badlands, and riverside cottonwoods.

Animal life is abundant, including coyotes, rabbits, mule deer, pronghorn, various
types of snakes, and over 165 different bird species can be seen in the spring and
summer months.  The dinosaurs that lived here were extraordinarily diverse and an
enormous breeding population is thought to have inhabited this land.  Daily tours
are affordable and great for exploring the fossil grounds, learning the history of
land formations, and venturing deep into the badlands.  It is a great experience for
any family.

Christ the Redeemer is an enormous statue of Jesus that is located on the peak
of the Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park.  The masterpiece
stands 30 metres (98 ft) wide and 38 metres (120 ft) tall.  It is the second tallest
statue of its kind, with Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia being the
largest.  The statue is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, which helps
prevent erosion and damage from lightning strikes. Engineer Heitor da Silva Costa
designed the statue and it was sculpted by Paul Landowski.

It took nine years to build the statue and construction was finished in 1931.  The
monument cost $250,000 and donations came mostly from Brazilian Catholics.  It
is an important figure of Brazil’s Christianity and an iconic landmark in Rio de
Janeiro.  The statue is one of the most visited sites in the world.  Christ the
Redeemer was placed on the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World, which
was compiled by the Swiss-based The New Open World Corporation.  

The Chocolate Hills is an extremely unusual geological formation found in the
Philippines.  The grounds consist of 1,176 hills spread over an area of 20 square
miles.  The hills are covered with grass part of the year and turn brown during
different seasons.  This is how the name Chocolate Hills was coined.  The hills
give an amazing view and are a major tourist attraction in the Philippines.  The
land has become the country's 3rd National Geological Monument.  The vegetation
of the Chocolate Hills is dominated by various grass species and ferns.

Between the hills the flat lands are used for cultivating cash crops.  No one knows
for sure what created the hills, but hypothesis include limestone weathering, sub-
oceanic volcanism, or an uplift of the seafloor.  This area has one of the worlds
most spectacular sceneries and certain areas have been developed into resorts for
tourism.  There are numerous lodges and lookout points on the hills.

Pamukkale is a natural site located in the River Menderes valley.  A long time ago,
a tectonic movement occurred in the Menderes river basin that caused the
emergence of a number of hot springs.  The water from one of these springs created
the vast pools found at Pamukkale.  The area has been used as a spa since the 2nd
century B.C.  The scenery is beautiful as the natural phenomenon has left thick
white layers of limestone and travertine cascading down the mountain slope, giving
the illusion of a frozen waterfall.  It is an extremely popular tourist attraction and
was made a World Heritage site in 1988.

Hierapolis is an ancient city that stands atop the Pamukkale hot springs.  The
city is in ruins, but the vault-type architecture is still readily visible.  Hierapolis
contained the great baths, which were constructed with huge stone blocks and
consisted of various closed or open sections linked together.  Historians believe
that it was customary to build a temple on the site of such a natural phenomenon.
Hierapolis is famous for its amazing theatres and temples, which paint an intriguing
ancient picture.      

Uluru is a large sandstone rock formation to the southwest of Alice Springs,
Australia.  It stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high, 2,831 ft above sea level, and measures
9.4 km (5.8 mi) in circumference.  Kata Tjuta, a group of 36 large domed rock
formations is also in the vicinity and the two wonders make up Uluru - Kata Tjuta
National Park.  Uluru is one of Australia’s most recognized natural icons and is a
major tourist attraction.  The rock is mainly composed of coarse-grained arkose,
which is a type of sandstone.  You can find many animal species in this area,
including the Common Brushtail Possum, Rufous Hare-wallaby, Bilby, Burrowing
Bettong, and the Black-flanked Rock-wallaby.

The geology of Uluru is astounding, as there are many springs, waterholes, rock
caves, and ancient engravings.  It gets hot in this area during the summer, but the
surrounding towns and resorts provide great accommodations.  Since becoming a
World Heritage Site, annual visitor numbers have been on the rise with Uluru
receiving 400,000 tourists each year.  The Aṉangu request that visitors do not
photograph certain sections of Uluru.                

Cappadocia is one of the world’s most unique natural wonders and is characterized
by amazing caves and fairy chimneys.  Fairy chimneys or hoodoos are tall thin
spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of an arid drainage basin.  They are a
magnificent natural formation.  This land has a long and storied history.  It has
been controlled by Alexander the Great, many Persian leaders, Rome, and at one
point was a region of the Byzantine Empire.  Cappadocia contains many
underground cities, tunnels, caves, and rock-cut temples.  The land remained part
of the Ottoman Empire for centuries and today is part of the state of Turkey.

It is a wonderful tourist attraction and has many areas with unique geological,
historic and cultural features.  The area is largely covered by sedimentary rocks
which have been formed in lakes and streams.  The volcanic deposits are soft rock
and people in near by villages have carved out houses, churches, and monasteries.
One example is the Göreme Open Air Museum, comprised of more than 30 rock-
carved churches and chapels containing some famous frescoes, dating from the 9th
to the 11th centuries.           

Angkor Wat is a temple complex and significant religious centre in Cambodia.  It
has become the symbol of Cambodia, appearing on the national flag.  The building
is astounding and it combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture, which
are the temple mountain and galleried temple.  The architecture is based on early
South Indian design and noted for beautiful bas-reliefs and for the numerous
devatas in the walls.  The structure was built for king Suryavarman II as a temple
and capital city in the first half of the 12th century.  The temple was popularized in
the West in the mid-19th century after the publication of French explorer Henri
Mouhot's travel notes.

The outer wall of the fortress is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a
moat 190 m wide.  There are gopuras or opening buildings at each of the cardinal
points of the structure, the western entrance is the largest and has three ruined
towers.  The temple stands on a terrace that is raised from the city ground.  The
detail and decoration of this site is unmatched.  The building has undergone
conservation efforts of late, but remains an extremely popular tourist destination.
Approximately 50% of foreign tourists who travel to Cambodia visit Angkor
Wat. 

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most visited areas of the
United States and the most popular park.  It straddles the ridgeline of the Great
Smoky Mountains, which is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and a division of the
Appalachian Mountain chain.  It spans an area of 814 square miles and is truly an
amazing site with over sixteen different mountains reaching higher then 6,000 ft.
The park has a wide variety of animal life, as the range of elevations can
accommodate northern and southern species.  This area normally has very high
humidity and precipitation, averaging around 75 inches of rain each year.

It has one of the largest collections of deciduous, temperate, old growth forest in
North America and 95% of the national park is forested.  Around 10,000 species
of plants and animals are thought to inhabit the land.  A recent study has found
200 species of birds, 66 species of mammals, 50 species of fish, 39 species of
reptiles, and 43 species of amphibians.  The park has 1,400 flowering plant species
and over 4,000 species of non-flowering plants.  Many ranger stations can be
found, which give geological and wildlife history of the park.  Cades Cove is a
valley in the park with preserved log cabins, barns, and churches.  Other historical
areas include Roaring Fork, Cataloochee, and Elkmont.

Giant’s Causeway is an area consisting of around 40,000 interlocking basalt
columns.  This geological phenomenon is the result of an ancient volcanic
eruption.  The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliffs
edge and disappear into the depths of the water.  The site received its first
international attention when Dublin artist Susanna Drury created watercolor
paintings of it in 1739.  Giant’s Causeway is a haven for sea birds such as fulmar,
petrel, cormorant, shag, redshank guillemot and razorbill, while the water bashed
rock formations host a number of rare plants including sea spleenwort, hare's foot
trefoil, vernal squill, sea fescue, and frog orchid.

The area became a World Heritage Site in 1986 and is the most popular tourist
attraction in Northern Ireland.  Giant’s Causeway was recently named as the fourth
greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.  The smell of the ocean, amazing
cliffs, hills, and aquatic rock formations make this a great retreat for the family.  If
you enjoy hiking, wildlife, and outdoor viewing Giant’s Causeway is certainly a
place for you.              

Machu Picchu is situated on a mountain ridge 8,000 ft above sea level.  It is often
referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas” and is one of the most familiar symbols
of the Inca Empire.  The Inca civilization was the largest empire in pre-Columbian
America.  The structure was constructed by the Incas in the early 15th century, but
abandoned for over a hundred years after the Spanish conquest of the Incas.
Machu Picchu was built in classical Inca style, consisting of polished dry-stone
walls.  During the war it was never found by the Spanish and consequently not
plundered and destroyed.

Smallpox is thought to have ravished the city during the 15th century.  In 1913,
Machu Picchu received significant publicity after the National Geographic Society
dedicated an entire issue to the area.  It is an absolute masterpiece of ancient
architecture and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1983.  It is an
important cultural site and a sacred place.  The site is Peru's most visited tourist
attraction and major money maker.  It has become an ongoing controversial issue
as many residents and scientists feel that the ruins should be untouched.  Machu
Picchu has been ranked as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.