List of tallest buildings

Historically, the world's tallest man-made structure was the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, which held the position for more than 3,800 years until the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in 1311. The Strasbourg Cathedral in France, completed in 1439, was the world's tallest building until 1874. The first building considered to be a skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building, built in Chicago in 1885. The United States would remain the location of the world's tallest building throughout the 20th century until 1998, when the Petronas Towers were completed. Since then, two other buildings have gained the title: Taipei 101 in 2004 and Burj Khalifa in 2009. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia have experienced booms in skyscraper construction. == Ranking criteria and alternatives ==

The international non-profit organization Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU) was formed in 1969 and announces the title of "The World's Tallest Building" and sets the standards by which buildings are measured. It maintains a list of the 100 tallest completed buildings in the world. The organization currently ranks Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the tallest at . However, the CVU only recognizes buildings that are complete, and some buildings included within the lists in this article are not considered finished by the CVU. In 1996, as a response to the dispute as to whether the Petronas Towers or the Sears Tower was taller, the council listed and ranked buildings in four categories: • height to structural or architectural top; • height to highest occupied floor; • height to top of roof (removed as category in November 2009); and • height to top of any part of the building. All categories measure the building from the level of the lowest significant open-air pedestrian entrance. Spires are considered integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, changes to which would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers, with their spires, are thus ranked higher than the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) with its antennas, despite the Petronas Towers' lower roofs and lower highest point. The Burj Khalifa currently tops the list regardless of which criterion is applied, though at a much lower margin when measured to highest occupied floor. == Tallest buildings in the world ==

, this list includes all 98 buildings (completed and architecturally topped out) that reach a height of or more, as assessed by their highest architectural feature. The building is considered as architecturally topped out when it is under construction, structurally topped out, fully clad, and the highest finished architectural elements are in place. Of these buildings, almost half are in China. Six of the last seven buildings to have held the record as "tallest building" are still found in the list, with the exception being the North Tower of the original New York World Trade Center at after its destruction in the September 11 attacks of 2001. Had the World Trade Center Twin Towers never been destroyed and One World Trade Center never built, they would have ranked 39 and 40 on the list today. == Alternative measurements ==

Height to pinnacle (highest point) This measurement disregards distinctions between architectural and non-architectural extensions, and simply measures to the highest point, irrespective of material or function of the highest element. == Buildings under construction ==

This is a list of buildings taller than that are currently under construction. On-hold buildings whose construction was interrupted after it had reached a significantly advanced state are listed in a separate table. Under construction On hold == List by continent ==

The following list shows the tallest completed buildings located on each continent listed by greatest to least height (click on name of continent for continent-specific list): == Countries with most buildings on list ==

The following list shows the countries whose buildings are featured on the main list of world's tallest buildings (first list featured above), in order from most amount of buildings on the list to least amount of buildings on the list. == See also ==