DUSHANBE, January 8, 2009, Asia-Plus — Lenin Peak on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (in Tajikistan, it was renamed Qullai Istiqlol (Independence Peak) in July 2006) has been nominated to be chosen as one of seven natural wonders.
The Internet competition, New7Wonders of Nature, a contemporary effort to create a list of seven natural wonders chosen by people through a global poll, has been organized by a Swiss-based New Open World Corporation (NOWC), after its success in organizing the New Seven Wonders of the World, which where chosen by more than 100 million votes in the first-ever global campaign.
Voting for nominees will continue through July 7, 2009. Then the New7Wonders of Nature Panel of Experts, under the leadership of Prof. Federico Mayor, the longest-standing former Director-General of UNESCO, will review the top 77 nominees and choose the 21 finalists, to be announced on 21 July 2009.
The 21 finalists will then be put to popular vote. The final declaration of the New7Wonders of Nature will be in 2011
Lenin Peak rises to 7,134 meters on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and is the second-highest point of both countries. It is the highest mountain in the Trans-Alay range of Central Asia, and in the Pamir Mountains it is exceeded only by Ismoili Somoni Peak (7,495 meters) It was thought to be the highest point in the Pamirs until 1933, when Ismoili Somoni Peak (known as Stalin Peak at the time) was climbed and found to be more than 300 meters higher (7,495 m).
Lenin Peak was discovered in 1871 and originally named Mount Kaufmann after Konstatnin Kaufman, the first Governor-General of Turkestan. In 1928 the mountain was renamed after Vladimir Lenin. The peak was renamed again in July 2006 and today it is officially called in Tajik Qullai Istiqlol (Independence Peak).
