Petra one of world's New Seven Wonders

By Abdul Jalil Mustafa Jul 8, 2007, 13:10 GMT

Bedouins traditional dancers perform in front of treasury of Petra after become a one of seven wonders, on early of 08 July 2007. Petra is among one on the new 7 Wonders of the World chosen in Lisbon, Portugal, 07 July 2007. The other winners are, The Great Wall of China, Rome\'s Colosseum, India\'s Taj Mahal, Mexico\'s Chichen Itza pyramid . Peru\'s Machu Picchu, Brazil\'s Statue of Christ Redeemer. EPA/STR

Amman - Thousands of jubilant Jordanians took to the streets and fireworks hit the sky of Amman early Sunday following the announcment that the ancient city of Petra was to be one of the world's New Seven Wonders.

The 2,000-year-old rose-red city ranked second in the list after the Great Wall of China, according to the organizers of an international contest, the results of which were declared Saturday in a special ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, and watched by around 1.6 billion people round the world.

The Nabatean-built city had been competing for the past 16 months with 20 other landmark sites around the world, and had been the subject of a nationwide campaign in Jordan to encourage people to vote.

According to the New Seven Wonders organizers, a tally of 100 million votes had been cast since voting in the global campaign kicked off in March 2006.

People around the world cast their votes over the Internet and by text messages, according to the non-profit organization that conducted the polls.

According to officials, about 22 million votes were cast for Petra, which was officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

The New Seven Wonders campaign was launched in 2000 by Swiss film producer, author and aviator Bernard Weber to select the seven new wonders of the world via the first global voting campaign.

Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru's Machu Picchu, Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid, the Colosseum in Rome and India's Taj Mahal were named the other new seven wonders of the world.

'We are proud of this result,' Jordan's Queen Rania said in a telephone call to state-run Jordan Television from Lisbon, where she attended the ceremony along with Tourism Minister Osama Dabbas.

'His Majesty King Abdullah and I have been following closely the activities and efforts exerted to introduce the rose-red city' as one of the world's new wonders, she said.

The ceremony was broadcast live on Jordan Television which devoted Saturday night airtime to a national celebration held in front of Petra's main monument, the Treasury.

'We were thrilled by the results. We thought Petra would come third or fourth, but to our surprise it ranked second,' Dabbas said.

Dabbas and other Jordanian officials talked about the 'challenges' which faced the country in order to cope with the expected demands of the tourism industry after Petra's rise as one of the globe's new seven wonders.

'Jordanians have now to live up to their responsibilities as dictated by the position Petra now occupies on the world tourism map,' the minister said.

The ancient stone-carved city, located 210 kilometres to the south of Amman, is an emblem of Jordan.

Petra - which played a starring role in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - is known for its dramatic tombs and temple facades carved out of the cliff face.

The once bustling city was the capital of the Nabatean Arabs, who controlled the trading routes that passed through Petra to Gaza in the west, Basra and Damascus in the north, Aqaba in the south and across the desert to the Arabian Gulf.

The rose-red city, ringed by barrier of sandstone mountains, was forgotten for centuries until Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burchhardt, disguised as a Bedouin nomad, rediscovered it in 1812.

With Petra officially declared as one of the world's new wonders, Jordanians hope this title will give a boost to the country's tourism industry, which generates at least 10 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

'Our main challenge now lies in reaping the fruits of this marvellous success by working out a systematic plan to place Jordan on the new international tourism map,' said Fayez Khouri, deputy director of the Tourism Promotion Authority.

According to official statistics, 359,300 tourists visited Petra last year. 'The figure is now expected to go up sharply,' Khouri said.