Talk:Great Wall of China

Length of great Wall of China

As shown in wikipedia that its length is 21196.18 km (13,171 miles). this seems to be wrong to me.Its length is 6400 km. written in all the books.So I believe that Wikipedia should update something in this regard. V Ankit Mishra (talk) 01:50, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

The figure 21196 km is valid for the total length of all sections of the wall that have been erected during the history. It also includes sections that are more or less lost. The figure 6400 km is in the range of the length of the Ming dynasty wall, that pretty much correspond to the main part of the todays preserved sections. Best regards, --Bairuilong (talk) 03:22, 29 July 2022 (UTC)

How on earth? The circumference of the WHOLE EARTH is 40,000 km. 83.233.137.167 (talk) 11:37, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

This isn't very surprising, considering the numerous bends present along the course of the Great Wall, arising from the rough topography it traverses. Likewise, the coastline of Norway is three times the circumference of the world. However, when you take into account the various fjords and islands along Norway's coast, it begins to make sense. Gammaranger (talk) 08:02, 11 November 2023 (UTC)

did you read the entire book or just the summary? some section of the Great wall overlapped for various reasons Merzostin (talk) 10:53, 1 February 2024 (UTC)

I agree. Older reference books give the length of the Great Wall as between 2500 and 4,000 km not the absurd 21,000 quoted here, which represents the distance of a flight from Sydney Australia to Moscow and then from Moscow to New York. The distance quoted in Wikipedia seems to include lengths of discrete and tangential fortifications constructed by different rulers over many centuries. Much of this seems to be eroded embankments and decrepit masonry which can barely be described as a wall let alone the Great Wall, the Great Wall famously visible from space. I suspect, from the Wikipedia entry, that many credulous people will have an image of the massive,extraordinary wall north and west of Beijing but extending halfway around the world. 99.243.0.65 (talk) 13:31, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

Historical Trivia

• The Chinese guards which patrolled the wall, were born, lived and died by the wall without ever having left it.
• Much of the construction work was undertaken by convict labor. Convicts who completed their time would then be employed as guards to patrol the wall.
• Construction work on the wall was not actually completed until 1878. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.244.210.117 (talk) 08:13, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

References