Banue Rice Terraces

The Banaue Rice Terraces are a system of agricultural terraces carved into the Cordillera Mountains by the Ifugao tribe, approximately 2,000 years ago.

They are widely considered a marvel of ancient engineering, and often known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".

Laid out side by side, the terraces would stretch a total length of 22,400 kilometers (13,919 miles), enough to encircle half of the globe.

They rise to a height of 1,525 meters (5,000 feet) above sea level.

The terraces were created by Ifugao natives some 2,000 to 6,000 years ago, predating the Colosseum of Rome and Hadrian's Wall in the U.K.

The Ifugaos, the oldest mountain tribe in the area, carved the terraces using only primitive tools and animal power.

The terraces are considered one of the most striking and enduring examples of the ingenuity of an ancient civilization in adapting to the difficulties posed by their natural environment, without the use of sophisticated tools or technology.

Faced with the challenge of farming rice on sloping mountain terrain, the Ifugaos carefully carved a system of terraced pond fields following the natural contours of the mountains, and developed intricate irrigation systems to harvest water from the mountaintop forests.

The terraces, and the agricultural methods used to farm them, have remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.