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Religious
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War
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Other
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Buddha
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Guanyin
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Other
Religious statues of Buddha and Guanyin, the godess of mercy, are China’s most popular types of statue. If all 19 statues in China over 30 metres were stacked one on top of the other, they would be 1.3 times the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest man-made structure
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Only self-supporting statues are profiled in this graphic. Statues carved on rocks and mountains or those under construction are not included
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The tallest statues in the world
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Buddha
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Hanuman
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Other
With 17 over 30 metres, India ranks second in the world as a home to tall statues. The Statue of Unity in Gujarat was inaugurated on October 31, 2018 becoming the world’s tallest statue at 182 metres. It was completed after this story was published
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Buddha
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Guanyin
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Other
Kannon (the Japanese name for Guanyin) is the favourite theme for lofty statues in Japan, with 12 representations
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Buddha
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Matzu
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Other
Taiwan has six statues over 30 metres in height, all of them religious representations and most Buddhist
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Virgin
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Christ
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Other
Easy to recognise, Christ the Redeemer has become a symbol of Brazil itself. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not the only statue in Brazil of such commanding height
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Buddha
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Guanyin
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Other
Four statues over the 30-metre mark can be found in Malaysia, three of which are religious representations. The Lord Murugan Statue, just outside Kuala Lumpur, is a tribute of friendship to Malaysia’s Indian community
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Christ
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Warrior
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Other
There are three documented statues over 30 metres in Mexico, one dedicated to a religious theme, one to a Catholic priest who led the Mexican War of Independence and the last a 65-metre Mexican warrior dedicated to the native culture
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Soldier
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Other
Three very tall statues can be found in Russia, and all of them are related to war. One of the most iconic is the celebrated Mother Calls, built in commemoration of the Battle of Stalingrad. This is currently the tallest statue of a woman in the world
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Religious
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War
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Other
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Buddha
There are three statues over 30 metres in Thailand, each dedicated to Buddha
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Religious
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War
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other
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Christ
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Other
An icon of the United States, the Statue of the Liberty is one of the world’s most familiar structures. But it has been dwarfed by the completion last year of the 110-metre Birth of a New World, a statue of Christopher Columbus, in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Another statue over 30 metres can be found in the southern state of Florida
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Religious
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War
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other
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Christ
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Virgin
Located 120 km from each other, these two statues, dedicated to Christ and the Virgin Mary, reflect the importance of religious life in Bolivia
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Religious
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War
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other
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Buddha
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Guanyin
The 33-metre tall Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, was finished in 1993 and rises over the Nong Ping mountains on Lantau Island. Recently completed in the northern New Territories is a monumental statue standing 76 metres, dedicated to Guanyin
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Religious
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War
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other
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Christ
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Other
There are two statues over 30 metres documented in Indonesia. One, known locally as Monjaya, is of a navy officer staring out to sea and represents the preparedness of the Indonesian navy. There is also a giant Christ statue in Citraland Park, Manado
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Religious
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War
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other
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Christ
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Other
The Cristo del Otero statue of Christ in northern Spain was finished in 1931. Spain has one other tall statue, completed in 1995, dedicated to Christopher Columbus and located in Seville
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Religious
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War
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other
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Buddha
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Guanyin
Vietnam has two known statues over 30 metres in height. They were finished just two years apart: the Guanyin in Da Nang completed in 2010 and the Buddha of Nha Trang in 2012
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Religious
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War
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other
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Other
The Kelpies was finished in 2013, and erected in the Scottish town of Falkirk in 90 days. The building and conceptualisation began in 2005 however. The statue is named after the Scottish mythological shape-shifting water spirit, the kelpie
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Religious
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War
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other
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Buddha
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Virgin
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Shiva
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Other
There are 13 other countries which have statues over 30 metres tall, two in Latin America: Ecuador and Venezuela; three in Europe: France, Poland and Ukraine; two in Africa: Mauritius and Senegal; and six more in Asia: Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea and Sri Lanka
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This map shows the locations of all stand-alone statues over 30 metres tall and dates they were completed
