The tallest building in the world, as of 2026, is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The title of "world's tallest building" has been held by various buildings in modern times, including
La Danta in El Mirador, Guatemala, a 72 m (236 ft) tall temple built in 300 BC.
Vimana of Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu at 66 m (217 ft)
Kutubiyya Mosque at 77 m (253 ft)
An 1850 comparison of the height of 30 notable world structures
This is the history of the world's tallest structures.
History of the world's tallest buildings
…has broken several skyscraper records, and it is almost twice as tall as the Empire State Building. Burj Khalifa, however has not broken the record of world's tallest structure. In 2009, Guinness World Records recognised the Magnolia oil platform as the tallest structure. It has a record-breaking height of 1,432 metres (4,698…
Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, is currently the world's tallest building.
Warsaw radio mast, the height record holder from 1974 to 1991
Diagram of the principal high buildings of the Old World, 1884
Tokyo Tower held the record of being the tallest tower in the world from 1958 to 1967. In addition, it held the record of being the tallest structure in Japan from 1958 to 2011, when the Tokyo Skytree, as of 2026[update] the tallest tower (and third tallest structure) in the world, surpassed it.