If you haven’t heard the news yet, the “New7Wonders of Nature” have been announced. First some background,.. then the new 7 Wonders,.. then 2 “Buts.”

So, the New7Wonders of Nature project was stated in 2007 and led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber, with organizational work done by the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation. Through a global poll, the project was to come up with a list of 7 natural wonders. Hundreds of millions of people from around the world voted up until Friday night (11/11/11).

440 participants from 220 countries were narrowed down to 77 and were later narrowed down to 28 ”Official Finalist Candidates.”

The New7Wonders of Nature are officially (in alphabetical order):

1. Amazon Rainforest & River (Several South American Countries)

Amazon River & Rainforest, by Neil Palmer/CIAT via CIFOR on flickr.

2. Halong Bay (Vietnam)

Halong Bay in the daytime, by flickr user fra.ps

Halong Bay at sunset, by flickr user Rosino

Halong Bay in the rain, by flickr user ePi.Longo

One more Halong Bay photo, by flickr user /xavier

3. Iguaza / Iguaçu Falls (Argentina & Brazil)

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Iquaza Falls, by flickr user Bruno [BRA

Iguaçu Falls, by flickr user mario cesar mendonÃ§a gomes

Iguaçu Falls, by flickr user Mathieu Struck

Corrêa Carvalho – يوحنا بولس”]

Iguaçu Falls, by flickr user [JP

4. Jeju Island (South Korea)

Sanbang Mountain on Jeju Island, by flickr user miquitos

Jeju Island, by flickr user Leo Laporte

Jeju Island at sunset, by flickr user Justin Ornellas

5. Komodo Island (Indonesia)

Komodo dragon on Komodo Island, by flickr user Adhi Rachdian

Rice fields on Komodo Island, by flickr user whl.travel

Kelimutu Colored Lakes on Komodo Island, by flickr user whl.travel

Turquoise Lake of Kelimutu on Komodo Island, by flickr user whl.travel

6. Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines)

Puerto Princesa Underground River entrance, by flickr user ididj0emama

Puerto Princesa Underground River entrance, by flickr user P Donovan

7. Table Mountain (South Africa)

Table Mountain, by flickr user ifijay

Table Mountain at sunset, by flickr user slack12

Table Mountain at sunset, by flickr user ifijay

Pretty amazing places.

More from Weber:

Now, my two “Buts….”

The first but: While I love the attention brought to these natural wonders, there are just so many wonders in the world, all over the world and even in every square meter (or square foot) of the world, that it seems unjust to name only 7 “Natural Wonders.” I know, I know… I’m being semantic. But, truthfully, the first thing that came to my mind was, everything is a wonder!! The next thought that came to my mind, however, was that this “Next7Wonders” competition or list made me think about that and brought my attention to the infinite wonders of the world, so kudos to the project and Weber!

My second but: Just wanted to let you know that the 7 winners above are provisional winners (based on the first vote count on 11/11/11). The official winners will not be confirmed until 2012, and one of the amazing natural wonders you probably haven’t heard about that could still potentially take the place of one of the provisional winners above, is the Masurian Lake District in Poland, where I now live . So, if you happen to want to see this finalist and you stop into Poland, let me know!

Zachary Shahan (1978 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on some of your favorite social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com or click on some of the links below.