Which country has the most pyramids in the world?

Published in the Sunday Gujarat Samachar on 7 January, 2024

How many states of Incredible India have you been to? How many countries have you been to? What are the states and countries that are on your bucketlist? What are your travel resolutions for this year? These are questions that we ask each other at Veena World every single day. The Veena World Tour Managers ask them questions to all guests while they are celebrating life on tour. And I’m sure you ask these questions to your loved ones too. So the technology team at Veena World noticed this, and got excited. They got so excited that they created a fun travel portfolio game out of it. And all 700+ team members have already played this game. Thousands of Veena World guests have taken the game and found out there Incredible India state score and their countries travelled to score. So to start today’s article, I think you should play it too. So before be proceed, scan the QR code below and let’s get playing:

So what was your score like? How many countries have you been to? How many states have you been to? When are you going to complete 25/50/75/100 countries? I would love to hear about your travel mission, so do write to me at neil@veenaworld.com So now that our game is done, let’s shift our attention to a place that is on my bucketlist for 2024. A destination that has started becoming super popular amongst Veena World tourists after 2020. A destination that has so much history and culture embedded in it’s foundation. And that’s Egypt. And when we talk about Egypt, the first thing that comes to our mind are the mighty Pyramids. We have all grown up reading about the Pyramids, watching shows about the history of the Pyramids on Discovery Channel and National Geographic. And with time, every time someone mentions the Pyramids, we all make the connect to Egypt the country and Cairo the city and also vice versa. But today let’s pop that bubble. Did you know, Egypt is NOT the pyramid capital of the world! In other words, Egypt is not the country with the most pyramids in the world!

Of course we’ll come to the answer to that soon, but first lets figure which countries in fact have pyramids, because many of us, including me used to think that Pyramids were only found in Egypt. So in addition to Egypt, ancient pyramids have been found in Mexico, Cambodia, Sudan, China, Iraq, Indonesia and Italy just to name a few. So which country then is really the Pyramid capital of the world?

To discuss this, we first need to know how many Pyramids are really there in Egypt. So Egypt has 138 known pyramids. And just below Egypt is the country with the most Pyramids, which is Sudan. Sudan has close to 250 known Pyramids. This might make us wonder whether it was the same ancient Egyptians who built these Pyramids too right. Nope, that’s not true. Instead, it was the citizens of the ancient kingdom of Kush, which ruled over regions along the Nile River from 1070 BC to 350 AD, that built the pyramids of Sudan. These pyramids served as tombs for Kushite royalty and nobility. Although they are smaller in size compared to the famous Egyptian pyramids, there are many more of them scattered across the Sudanese landscape. One of the most notable pyramid fields in Sudan is the Meroë Necropolis, located near the modern city of Meroë. This site contains over 200 pyramids and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These pyramids are known for their distinct architectural style, featuring steep angles and narrow summits, which set them apart from the Egyptian pyramids. So, in terms of the sheer number of pyramids, Sudan is considered to have the most pyramids in the world.

So if Egypt doesn’t have the most Pyramids, does it have the largest pyramid in the world? To figure out the answer, let’s look at the country’s largest pyramid - the Great Pyramid of Khufu, also known as the Pyramid of Cheops. It is located in Giza, Egypt, and is one of the three pyramids in the Giza Pyramid Complex, which includes the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is a remarkable ancient structure and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, around 2580-2560 BCE, for Pharaoh Khufu (also known as Cheops). The pyramid originally stood at 146.6 meters (481 feet), but due to the loss of its outer casing stones over the centuries, it now reaches a height of approximately 138.8 meters (455 feet).

The pyramid's base covers an area of approximately 5.3 hectares (13.1 acres), and it is constructed using massive limestone and granite blocks. The precision of its construction and the mathematical and engineering principles involved in its design have fascinated scholars and researchers for centuries.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu served as a tomb for the pharaoh and was built with the belief that it would ensure his safe journey to the afterlife. Its sheer size and architectural complexity make it a testament to the advanced engineering and organizational capabilities of ancient Egyptian civilization.

But, while the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, Egypt, is indeed one of the most famous and largest pyramids in the world, there is another contender for the title of the largest pyramid by volume.

The Pyramid of Cholula, located in present-day Mexico, is often considered the largest pyramid in terms of volume. The great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico, which is believed to have been manmade and is hidden partially inside a mountain is said to be the largest pyramid by volume on our planet. Known as the "Great Pyramid of Cholula," it is an ancient Mesoamerican pyramid that was dedicated to the deity Quetzalcoatl. While it may not be as tall as the Great Pyramid of Khufu, it has a greater volume due to its larger base.

The Pyramid of Cholula measures approximately 450 meters (1,480 feet) on each side of its base and stands at around 66 meters (217 feet) in height. Its volume is estimated to be over 4.45 million cubic meters, making it larger in terms of total volume than the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

So, in terms of volume, the Pyramid of Cholula is often regarded as the largest pyramid in the world, although the Great Pyramid of Khufu is taller and arguably more famous.

So yup that’s our story for today. Now you know the country with the most pyramids and the contenders for the title of the largest pyramid in the world! And finally I’m so happy that over the course of this article, you had counted the number of states and countries that you have been to, and also created your travel bucketlist for 2024. That’s it for today. Have a super week ahead and I will see you next week, byeeee.