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Basic Facts: Length: 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) With all branches included, it measures 13,171 miles (21,196 kilometers) Started: Various walls were initiated as early as the 7th Century BC. But it was Shi Huang, in 220 BC, who is credited with starting what we now know as the Great Wall. The majority of the current wall was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).
Why was it built? Besides defense, it was also built for border control, so tariffs could be imposed on trade goods, and control of immigration and emigration.
During early construction of the wall, the labor force was made up of soldiers and convicts. It’s estimated over 400,000 lost their lives during the Shi Huang phase of construction. The dead were buried in the Wall and became part of it. While it is difficult to accurately assess, it is estimated the Wall cost the equivalent of 360 billion modern US dollars.
Most of the Wall as we know it now was built, or rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty. After Beijing was proclaimed the capital in 1421, construction on the Wall picked up.
The wall’s actual effectiveness is debated. It is agreed that it had a significant psychological effect for the country, as an emblem of strength against outsiders. While it was designed against Mongols from the north, support for it collapsed when China, instead of battling their…
