A fascinating reworked world map reveals the most popular bucket list experiences in countries around the globe – and it’s visiting the Maldives that’s number one.

On the map – generated using Google search data – country names have been supplemented with their residents’ most-searched-for bucket-list experiences. Researchers drew up a list of 119 bucket-list items and studied 12 months of Google data in 219 countries to ascertain the top bucket-list items for each nation.

A separate breakdown shows the top bucket-list experience favoured by residents of each U.S State.  

Visiting the Maldives tops the global list, compiled by travel firm Kuoni, thanks to being the most popular bucket-list experience in 122 countries around the world, including the UK, Australia and the U.S. Kuoni says: ‘With gorgeous white sandy beaches, tropical blue waters and dreamy sunsets, it’s easy to see why so many people want to experience this the most in their lifetime.’

Visiting Bora Bora earns second place because a total of 19 countries – including Hungary and Aruba – appear to be searching for the bucket-list experience. Kuoni says the South Pacific island offers holidaymakers ‘a serene sanctuary to unwind and relax in as they enjoy the bright white sandy beaches and laid-back island lifestyle’.

Seeing the Mona Lisa ranks third, as it’s top in 16 countries. ‘The painting by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most instantly recognisable pieces of art in the world, drawing in countless visitors each year,’ says Kuoni.

In fourth place it’s visiting Italy’s colourful Cinque Terre region (top in 11 countries), while seeing the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – at 830m/2,722ft in height the world’s tallest skyscraper – is fifth, as it’s number one in nine countries.

The UK is home to two of the top 10 – visiting Stonehenge (top in three countries) and Big Ben (top in two countries) take joint seventh and joint eighth place respectively.

The U.S is home to four of the top 10 – climbing the Statue of Liberty is sixth (top in four countries), seeing Times Square is joint seventh (top in three countries), seeing the White House is joint eighth (top in two countries) and getting splashed at Niagara Falls is joint ninth (top in one country).

A series of regional maps were also produced to show the breakdown of the results more clearly across the globe.

In Europe, visiting the Maldives is top in 28 countries including France and Spain, while exploring the Cinque Terre region is top in Malta, Greece and Cyprus. In Ukraine, it’s seeing Stonehenge that is number one.

Moving across the Atlantic to North and Central America, exploring the Maldives is top in 20 countries including Canada, Turks and Caicos and Barbados. It’s seeing the Mona Lisa that reigns supreme in Mexico and Guatemala while seeing the Northern Lights tops the podium in El Salvador.

While the Maldives is the most searched-for bucket-list experience overall in the U.S, the map that breaks down each U.S State reveals that a visit to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial – a giant sculpture of U.S presidents that’s been carved into a South Dakota peak – tops the list for 30 states including Colorado, Nevada, Texas and Utah.

Visiting the Kentucky Derby is also popular, with nine states including Delaware, New Hampshire and Vermont searching for this experience the most. Kuoni says: ‘Usually held on the first Saturday in May each year, the horse race is known for being the fastest two minutes in sports and is the first leg of the American Triple Crown – the perfect experience for a thrilling weekend away.’

Travelling down to South America, seeing the Sagrada Familia is top in Paraguay while seeing the Northern Lights is top in Venezuela. Visiting the Maldives again reigns triumphant in several countries, including Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

In Africa, the Maldives is once again the most popular travel bucket list item, with an impressive 45 countries – such as Egypt and Zimbabwe – searching for it the most.

The Mona Lisa is also popular, with three countries – South Africa, Guinea-Bissau and Tunisia – searching for a visit to this impressive piece of art more often than any other bucket-list experience.

Looking to Asia, visiting the Maldives also tops the list in several countries, including South Korea and Laos. Visiting Yosemite is top in Yemen, while in Turkmenistan, the preference is to visit Big Ben. In Malaysia, it’s seeing Times Square that’s number one, while in Pakistan, it’s visiting the ancient city of Pompeii.

In Oceania, meanwhile, 13 countries have a visit to the Maldives at the top of their list. They include New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu. Climbing the Statue of Liberty takes the gold medal in Guam while visiting Bora Bora tops the leaderboard in French Polynesia.

Kuoni’s research also produced a ranking of the world’s most popular bucket-list experiences based on search volume alone. Interestingly, even though some places are incredibly popular globally, they rank as number one in very few countries. 

An example of this is Niagara Falls, which ranks as the second most popular experience worldwide in terms of search volume, with more than 24million searches over 12 months, but only takes the top spot in one country – Guam. 

Commenting on the research, Kuoni says: ‘With travel now back to normal for many countries after a few years with restrictions in place, there’s more opportunity to get back out there to explore and tick off things from your bucket list, whether that be travelling far away or keeping things closer to home.’

Mystifying burial grounds in Korea and Viking-age fortresses in Denmark are among 41 new World Heritage sites unveiled this week.

The United Nations‘ cultural body – also known as UNESCO – has expanded its list of protected sites to more than 1,100 across the world following deliberations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

World Heritage Sites are globally recognised buildings and areas of ‘Outstanding Universal Value’, which means they hold special importance for everyone.

As talks are still ongoing, UNESCO may even inscribe one further site today, while also expanding on the reach of existing areas like Madagascar’s Andrefana Dry Forests.

Scroll down to see their beauty for yourself, as MailOnline delves into the most stunning World Heritage Sites of 2023. 

CULTURAL SITES

Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain, China

Nestled in the Jingmai Mountain, this cultural landscape is comprised of tea plantations and villages built thousands of years ago.

Tea plants especially thrive in this area thanks to the mountain’s exposure to subtropical monsoons that can bring as much as 5ft of rain.

Local indigenous communities also monitor these plants while taking part in age-old ceremonies and nature-focused celebrations.

According to UNESCO, this primarily refers to the Tea Ancestor belief that spirits live amongst the surrounding vegetation.  

Gaya Tumuli burial mounds, South Korea

These unusual mounds are the ancient burial sites of the Gaya Confederacy that ruled over central-south Korea during the 1st to 6th century CE.

It’s believed the shape of these sites is also symbolic of the political system, where leaders existed as ‘autonomous political equals while sharing cultural commonalities’.

UNESCO added: ‘The introduction of new forms of tombs and the intensification of the spatial hierarchy in the tumuli sites reflect the structural changes experienced by Gaya society during its history.’ 

Deer stone monuments, Mongolia

These intricately decorated deer stones were once used as part of ceremonies and funerals in the Late Bronze Age (1200 to 600 BCE).

Standing at 13ft-tall, these pillars are engraved with pictures of stags and are located at a number of ‘sacrificial altars’ in Mongolia.

‘Covered with highly stylized or representational engravings of stags, deer stones are the most important surviving structures belonging to the culture of Eurasian Bronze Age nomads that evolved and then slowly disappeared between the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE,’ the UNESCO committee said.

Gedeo cultural landscape, Ethiopia

These remarkable monuments sit at the heart of sacred forests along the eastern edge of the Main Ethiopian Rift.

They are closely linked to the religion of the indigenous Gedeo community, which places high importance the natural environment.

The community also use age-old traditions to support local forest management while growing coffee and other plants. 

Prehistoric Talayotic Menorca sites, Spain 

While this unusual megalith bears an uncanny resemblance to Stonehenge, it’s actually located in Spain.

The structure is known as a ‘taylot’ and is one of many Bronze Age structures found on the island of Menorca in the western Mediterranean Sea.

Although many of these formations are thought to have been used for defensive purposes, others are not clearly understood.

Though UNESCO acknowledges that its position corresponds to ‘astronomical orientations’ which may have religious meaning. 

Koh Ker, Cambodia

At the core of the Cambodian jungle, this ancient site comprises of numerous sacred temples and sanctuaries from 928 to 944 CE.

It’s believed the site was constructed over a 23-year period and was once briefly the capital of the entire Khmer Empire. 

An array of sculptures, inscriptions and wall paintings still exist there today, demonstrating that artistic expression was central to the city. 

Viking-age fortresses, Denmark 

While these ring-shaped structures may look like UFO-esque crop circles, they are actually Viking-age fortresses.

The Vikings – also known as the Norsemen – were a group of seafaring people from Scandinavia that were known for their brutality and violence across Europe.

It’s believed they may have reached as far as North Africa and the Middle East during their voyages which spanned from 793 to 1066 CE.

Their ring-shaped fortresses in Aggersborg, Fyrkat, Nonnebakken, Trelleborg and Borgring, were strategically positioned near important land and sea routes.

The precise purpose of their ring shape remains a mystery to this day.

NATURAL SITES 

Anticosti, Canada

Situated on the largest island in Quebec, this coastline is believed to be the best preserved fossil record of Earth’s first mass extinction.

This is thought to have occurred 447million years ago due to plummeting oxygen levels at a time when most creatures lived in oceans.

However, it should not be confused for the dinosaur’s demise which took place around 66million years ago when a giant asteroid smashed into Earth.

‘The abundance, diversity, and exquisite preservation of the fossils are exceptional and allow for world-class scientific work,’ UNESCO said. 

‘Thousands of large bedding surfaces allow the observation and study of shell and sometimes soft-bodied animals that lived on the shallow sea floor of an ancient tropical sea.’

Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

UNESCO described Ethopia’s Bale Mountains as a ‘mosaic of extraordinary beauty’ thanks to its sweeping valleys, forests and countless waterfalls.

The land’s unique shape is the result of lava outpourings and glaciation that took place many years ago. 

‘The property harbours diverse and unique biodiversity at ecosystem, species and genetic levels, and five major rivers originate within the Park, estimated to supply water and support the livelihoods of millions of people in and beyond Ethiopia,’ UNESCO said. 

Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, Italy

This unbelievable site in Italy is comprised of more than 900 caves within just 62miles. 

It is believed to be the first and best studied ‘evaporitic karst’ in the world, which refers to the preservation of minerals in sandstone. 

The UNESCO committee added: ‘It also includes some of the deepest gypsum caves in existence, reaching 265 meters below the surface.’

France fear that their captain and scrum-half talisman, Antoine Dupont, could miss the rest of this home World Cup, as he is expected to be out of action for up to six weeks.

The 26-year-old was helped off during the second half of his team’s 96-0 win over Namibia in St Etienne on Thursday night after a clash of heads with Johan Deysel that led to the visiting centre being sent off for a dangerous high tackle.

Deysel may have ended Dupont’s tournament. Mail Sport understands that he has fractured his maxillary – upper jaw – bone and the initial prognosis is that his likely recovery time is between four and six weeks. 

All of France and rugby fans around the globe will be desperately hoping that the Toulouse superstar can defy this grim medical assessment.

The best-case scenario at this stage appears to be that Dupont can come through frantic rehab just in time to be available for a semi-final in Paris on October 21 – providing France have managed to overcome either South Africa or Ireland, without him, in the last eight. 

The worst-case scenario is that Dupont will play no further part in the whole event, as six weeks on from the incident is November 2 – five days after the World Cup Final in the French capital.

Dupont’s suspected cheekbone fracture and likely concussion has left Fabien Galthie, his team-mates, and the whole of France fretting over the seriousness of his injury.

On Friday morning, French television was dominated by news of their country’s captain and scrum-half’s injury.

Broadcasters even brought up graphics of a human skull, pointing out the exact area of the cheekbone they believe France’s iconic figure Dupont has broken. It is that serious.

‘There is a suspicion of a crack or fracture of the maxillary bone,’ France head coach Galthie said of Dupont’s injury – one which completely overshadowed his team’s 13-try Namibian victory. ‘He’s currently in hospital being tested. I can’t tell you more than that.

‘I’m staying connected and will tell you more if I hear (from him). I’m writing to him now. We are never happy when a player gets injured. We are extremely concerned.’

Dupont was in tears as he left the field for a head injury assessment and did not return. The scrum-half is undoubtedly the best player in the world right now and seemed to know he had suffered a serious problem. 

France have already suffered injury misery at this World Cup. The hosts lost playmaker Romain Ntamack and key lock Paul Willemse before the tournament. But seeing Dupont injured is the worst-case scenario for Galthie’s men given his status as captain and enormous ability.

‘Antoine got a big hit on his face and we will do some exams to make sure nothing is wrong with him, but he is a strong guy and we can rely on his strength,’ France team manager Raphael Ibanez said.

‘We feel sorry for Antoine. It just reminds us how dangerous it can be with a head-to-head contact.’ France fielded a full-strength team against Namibia in what was a totally one-sided contest.

Galthie hit back at suggestions he should have taken Dupont off at half time. If Dupont is confirmed to have fractured a cheekbone, it is likely he would face a minimum of three weeks on the sidelines.

‘What do you want me to say? You can’t take 14 players off at half time,’ Galthie said.‘Our plan was to bring off one, three and five at half time, then the rest at the 55th minute.

‘The aim was to give everyone some game time and not sit back for a month. The players wanted and needed to play.’ Maxime Lucu and Baptiste Couilloud are the other French scrum-halves in Galthie’s World Cup squad. France now face an anxious wait to see how bad Dupont’s injury is.

The fear is it could well end his tournament. Such a situation would be a catastrophic blow not only for the world’s best player and France, but also for this tournament as a whole.

Dupont is the pin-up boy for this French World Cup. His team-mates were understandably concerned for their skipper post-match. 

Francois Cros said: ‘I hope it’s not serious. If it is, it would obviously have an impact on him and on us. We still have some experienced nines who can take over.

‘Watching the replay, we knew the decision the referee would make. But we had no idea about Toto’s (Dupont’s) condition.

‘We didn’t know if he was going off as a precaution or if he was really hurt until the end of the match.’ Centre Gael Fickou said: ‘At the moment, we don’t know what’s wrong.

‘We’re obviously waiting and waiting. We’re frustrated for him. ‘I hope he’ll be able to play and that it’s nothing serious. We’re all waiting impatiently for the results. ‘When he went off, we suspected it was a bit serious.’

A fascinating reworked world map reveals the most popular tourist sites in almost every country around the world.

On the map – generated using five years of Wikipedia page view data – country names have been supplemented by the national landmark that is most frequently read about on Wikipedia, in a bid to uncover the world’s most ‘wondered about’ landmarks and attractions.

In the UK, the Stonehenge archaeological site in Wiltshire is the most popular landmark, with 13.5million page views on Wikipedia.

Meanwhile, in the U.S, it’s the Statue of Liberty that’s number one, with the Wikipedia page views for the monument numbering 19.8million.

And Down Under, the Great Barrier Reef is Australia’s most popular tourist attraction with five million page views on the free online encyclopedia.

Among the most popular landmarks across the globe, there are 32 cultural and historical sites, 32 parks and reserves, 26 ancient ruins, 20 mountains and volcanoes, 17 bodies of water, 15 religious landmarks, nine islands, seven modern architectural sites and two deserts.

The results of the study, which was conducted by travel insurance firm AllClear, were also used to draw up a series of regional maps, showing the most popular landmarks on every continent.

In Europe, the Eiffel Tower ranks top in France (17million page views), the Sagrada Familia is number one in Spain (11million page views), the Cliffs of Moher take the gong in Ireland (1.9million page views), the Colosseum is number one in Italy (12million page views) and the Acropolis takes the top prize in Greece (4.8million page views).

Among some of the more unusual top-ranking European landmarks is Manneken Pis in Belgium, which is a famous statue of a little boy urinating (two million page views) and the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland (1.2million page views), a 1,072ft- (327m) deep former mine with a chapel in its subterranean depths.

In North and Central America, Niagara Falls is top in Canada (8.7million page views) and the Mayan pyramid Chichen Itza is number one in Mexico (6.9million page views).

Several national parks reign supreme too – Los Haitises National Park in the Dominican Republic (98,000 page views); Cocos Island National Park in Costa Rica (833,000 page views); and Masaya Volcano National Park in Nicaragua (212,000 page views).

Moving to South America, it’s the Christ the Redeemer monument that takes the top spot in Brazil with 6.8million page views, Machu Picchu (14million page views) is top in Brazil and the Lost City, or ‘Ciudad Perdida’ – the site of an ancient settlement – is number one in Colombia (720,000 page views).

Waterfalls are some of the most popular sites on the continent – in Venezuela, it’s Angel Falls, known as the world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall at 979m (3,211ft), with 2.3million page views, while in Argentina, it’s Iguazu Falls (2.9million page views).

Travelling around the globe to Oceania, topping the podium in New Zealand is Milford Sound (649,000 page views); in Fiji, it’s the Mamanuca Islands (448,000 page views) and in Micronesia, it’s the Nan Madol archaeological site (1.3million page views).

One of the more unusual landmarks to make the list is Jellyfish Lake (375,000 page views), a lake filled with non-stinging jellyfish in the island nation of Palau.

Spinning up to Asia, in India, the Taj Mahal reigns triumphant (28million page views); in Nepal it’s Mount Everest (22million page views); in Cambodia it’s Angkor Wat (nine million page views); and in China, it’s the Great Wall of China (17million page views).

Among the more unusual attractions to top the podium is Kampong Ayer in Brunei, a fascinating village built on stilts over water (129,000 page views) and the ‘demilitarized zone’ (four million page views), which is the buffer zone between North and South Korea.

In the Middle East, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper – the world’s tallest building – is number one in Dubai with 23million page views, while the Socotra Archipelago, known for its otherworldly ‘dragon blood trees’, is top in Yemen (2.8million page views).

Finally, in Africa, it’s Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s largest game reserves, that’s number one in South Africa (1.6million page views), Victoria Falls is top in Zimbabwe (3.4million page views), and Mount Kilimanjaro is number one in Tanzania (7.5million page views).

Several ancient cities also come top on the continent – for instance, in Libya it’s Leptis Magna, which dates back to 1000 BC (731,000 page views) and in Tunisia it’s Carthage, from the 9th century B.C (5.5million page views).

In carrying out the research, a list of over 4,300 landmarks from every country around the globe was drawn up.

For every landmark that had Wikipedia pages, the page views over a five-year period were analysed. Culturally or historically sensitive sites or disputed areas were removed from the data, for sensitivity reasons, as well as any countries with data that was too low.

Commenting on the study, AllClear says: ‘As Wikipedia is often where people turn to learn and gather information, it’s the perfect data source to help pinpoint the places in the world that people are most interested in.’

To see the study in full, go to allcleartravel.co.uk.

By Ryan Walker For Mailonline

Published: 13:30 EDT, 17 September 2023 | Updated: 16:57 EDT, 17 September 2023

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It is the ultra-realistic tech sweeping social media – with ‘paparazzi’ pictures of celebrities often believed to be genuine.

Many people are shocked, and a little disturbed, to find out that images they think are real have in fact been made by a computer.

AI-generated images have exploded in recent months, whether it be celebrities reimagined as pensioners or entire exhibitions dedicated to computer-made artwork – much to the fury of human artists. 

But can you spot the difference between what’s real and what’s fake?

Take MailOnline’s quiz to see if you can tell which pictures are genuine and which are AI-generated… 

1. Donald Trump arrested 

2. Elon Musk dating rival motor company CEO

3. Supermodel Bella Hadid becomes a bald robot  

4.  Pope Francis opts for oversized puffer jacket

5. Britney Spears ‘s floating necklace  

6. Tom Cruise and his stunt doubles 

7. Rita Ora’s reptile face 

8. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg walks the runway 

9. Billionaire Elon Musk as a toddler

10. Former President Donald Trump’s mugshot 

Answers 

Which ones did you get right? 

1. This picture is fake! An AI-generated image of Donald Trump trying to run away while being arrested by police was posted on Twitter in March with the caption: ‘Making pictures of Trump getting arrested while waiting for Trump’s arrest.’

2. This picture is fake! This image of Tesla CEO Elon Musk walking hand in hand with Mary Barra, the CEO of rival car company General Motors, was generated by AI. After the image was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, as a ‘breaking’ story, Musk replied saying he would ‘never wear that outfit’.

3. This picture is real! Supermodel Bella Hadid was transformed into a bald robot for a futuristic fashion campaign for designer Marc Jacobs. In this picture, Hadid poses nude and bald, wearing only a sculptural silver ear cuff with metal piping snaked around her. The fashion firm’s Heaven by Marc Jacobs Fall ’23 campaign was shot by Carlijn Jacobs and styled by Danielle Emerson.

4. This picture is fake! An image of Pope Francis donning a white puffer jacket instead of the usual robe circulated on social media, but though many people believed it to be real, it was in fact AI-generated. The viral image was created by Pablo Xavier, a 31-year-old man from Chicago, using Midjourney – an artificial intelligence image generator. 

5. This picture is real! After posting a picture of herself, Britney Spears and Cade Hudson on Instagram, Paris Hilton had to refute theories that the image was fake. Fans were convinced of this as Britney’s necklace appeared to be floating with only one chain. In a follow-up comment ‘to all of those asking’, Paris said the picture was taken on iPhone making it look blurry and then edited on an app called Remini to correct that, but that sometimes the AI ‘distorts the images’. ‘Didn’t want to even dignify this with a response,’ she added. ‘But some of these conspiracy theories are absolutely ridiculous.’

6. This picture is fake! Despite being known for playing characters which carry out daring acts in action movies, this picture of Tom Cruise and his stunt doubles is an AI-generated image. Cruise does all of his own stunts.

7. This picture is real! Walking the red carpet for the 2022 British Fashion Awards, singer Rita Ora sported striking reptilian facial prosthetics that closely mirrored her skin tone, as well as bleached eyebrows.

8. This picture is fake! Many were surprised to see that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had made the move to catwalk modelling, but an image circulating on social media of the tech boss walking a runway kitted out in a glittery pink outfit was in fact AI-generated, using Midjourney image generator.

9. This picture is fake! An image of Elon Musk as a toddler wearing brown overalls made waves on social media but rather than being from the billionaire’s family archives, it was in fact AI-generated. The picture was captioned ‘Elon Musk was reportedly working on some anti-aging formula, but it got way out of hand’ which warranted a reply from Musk himself saying ‘Guys, I think I maybe took too much’.

10. This picture is real! Much to the shock of many on social media, the mugshot of Donald Trump released by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on August 24 was actually real. Trump was photographed for the police mugshot after his arrest.