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The most famous place in every country

Take each of the 223 present-day countries and territories on the atlas and keep only its best-known place: this is that list, ranked. Fame is counted the same way for everyone — the number of Wikipedia language editions that cover a place (its Wikidata sitelink count) — so there are no editors and no votes to argue with, only the data. #1 is Mount Everest; nature take the most national titles (177 of 223); and in 11 countries the single most famous place still ranks as a hidden gem. Click any card to open it on the map.

Places whose Wikidata country statement named a state that no longer exists — the Roman Empire, the Soviet Union, the Duchy of Brabant — have been re-filed under the country they are actually in, so they now count towards its title. A few labels that are not countries by any reading, such as the Golan Heights and Republika Srpska, still sit out. Islands and city-scale entries sit out the national titles too — their wide language coverage comes from geographic lists rather than landmark fame, so before this rule a country's own main island could outrank every real landmark on it. They keep their fame where it belongs: inside their own kind, where an island can still lead the natural wonders.

Nature177 Archaeological46