The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure in the world. Traversing the northern part of the country, what was a huge military line of defense in the past has now become a unique world heritage site and a symbol of China. The following 10 vital figures reveal a Great Wall hitherto unknown to you.
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| Badaling Great Wall, Beijing |
1.
With a total length of 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi), equal to half the length of the Equator, the Great Wall of China is the longest feat of human engineering. The existing Great Wall is mainly composed of relics from the
Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), with a total length of 8,851.8 kilometers (5,500 miles).
2.
The average height of the walls is 6 to 7 meters (20 to 23 feet), and the highest is 14 meters (46 feet).
3.
The average width of the Great Wall is 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet), with the widest part reaching 16.7 meters (54.8 feet) and the narrowest part being only 0.7 meters (2.3 feet).
4.
The altitudes of the walls vary - the highest point is the Niangniangshan in Qinghai province, with an elevation of 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), while the lowest point is at Laolongtou in Hebei, just above sea level.
 | | The Great Wall at a low altitude | |  | | The Great Wall at high altitude | |
5.
The construction of the Great Wall has spanned over 2,500 years, with the earliest sections built during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC), making it approximately 2,700 years old.
6.
More than 1,000,000 laborers were recruited for the construction of this huge project.
7.
The Great Wall stretches across 15 provinces and 404 counties in northern China.
8.
Beacon towers along the Great Wall were positioned roughly every 500 to 1,000 meters (550 to 1,100 yards) to transmit military information. In emergencies, lighting beacon fires enabled messages to be relayed over 800 kilometers (500 miles) in a single day.
9.
One-third of the Great Wall has disappeared due to natural disasters and human destruction.
10.
As a must-see in China, it attracts 50 million visitors every year, and has been visited by more than 540 state heads from around the world.
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- Last updated on Aug. 08, 2025 by Sherry Xia -
