Throughout the history of architecture, there has been a continual quest for height. Thousands of workers toiled on the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the cathedrals of Europe and countless other towers, all striving to create something awe-inspiring. People build tall buildings primarily because they are convenient – you can create a lot of real estate out of a relatively small ground area.
But ego and grandeur do sometimes play a significant role in the scope of the construction, just as it did in earlier civilizations. Up until relatively recently, we could only go so high. After a certain point, it just wasn’t feasible to keep building up. In the late 1800s, new technology redefined these limits. Suddenly, it was possible to live and work in colossal towers, hundreds of feet above the ground.
Here are the top 20 tallest buildings in the world.
| Rank | Building | Country | Height |
| 1. | Burj Khalifa | United Arab Emirates | 828 m (2,717 ft) |
| 2. | Merdeka 118 | Malaysia | 678.9 m (2,227 ft) |
| 3. | Shanghai Tower | China | 632 m (2,073 ft) |
| 4. | Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower | Saudi Arabia | 601 m (1,972 ft) |
| 5. | Ping An International Finance Center | China | 599.1 m (1,966 ft) |
| 6. | Lotte World Tower | South Korea | 554.5 m (1,819 ft) |
| 7. | One World Trade Center | United States | 541.3 m (1,776 ft) |
| 8. | Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre | China | 530 m (1,739 ft) |
| 9. | Tianjin CTF Finance Centre | China | 530 m (1,739 ft) |
| 10. | China Zun | China | 527.7 m (1,731 ft) |
| 11. | Taipei 101 | Taiwan | 508 m (1,667 ft) |
| 12. | Shanghai World Financial Center | China | 492 m (1,614 ft) |
| 13. | International Commerce Centre | China | 484 m (1,588 ft) |
| 14. | Wuhan Greenland Center | China | 475.6 m (1,560 ft) |
| 15. | Central Park Tower | United States | 472.4 m (1,550 ft) |
| 16. | Lakhta Center | Russia | 462 m (1,516 ft) |
| 17. | Landmark 81 | Vietnam | 461.2 m (1,513 ft) |
| 18. | International Land-Sea Center | China | 458.2 m (1,503 ft) |
| 19. | Changsha IFS Tower T1 | China | 452.1 m (1,483 ft) |
| 20. | Petronas Tower 1 | Malaysia | 451.9 m (1,483 ft) |
| Petronas Tower 2 | Malaysia | 451.9 m (1,483 ft) |
