52-Wonders of the Natural World-3
From Yahoo news on January 7, 2009, Wednesday

GENEVA – The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday. The 440 nominees from 220 countries include some of the most famous mountain peaks, lakes, and other attractions, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Niagara Falls. said Tia Viering, spokeswoman of the New 7 Wonders campaign.

The Swiss-based nonprofit foundation collected 441 nominations over the Internet since it opened the selection process in 2007. The foundation then chose the top vote-getter from each country, making a list of 222 sites. The overall list rose to 261 with the inclusion of sites shared by two or more countries — such as Niagara Falls and Lake Superior between Canada and the United States, and the Matterhorn, between Switzerland and Italy.

Votes can be cast until July 7. Registration on the Web site aims to prevent people from voting twice.
The quarterfinalists include some lesser known sites, such as Yasur Volcano on the south Pacific island of Vanuatu or Nigeria's Zuma Rock, a giant monolith in the middle of the African country.

A panel of experts in nature, chaired by Federico Mayor, former chief of UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, will reduce the list to 21 finalists in July. The seven winners will then be chosen in another round of public voting lasting until 2011, this time by Internet, telephone and text messages. See the full list of wonders on:  http://sevennaturalwonders.org/category/the-original/  This site gives the 7 natural wonders from each of the 6 continents also. Good site to explore.