How Long Is the Great Wall of China? Exact Length & Facts

There are few questions that sound easier than “how long is the Great Wall of China?” — and few with a trickier answer. Depending on which dynasty you talk about and whether you count collapsed sections or natural barriers, the number can range from 5,500 miles to nearly 20,000 miles.

Total official length: 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) ·
Ming dynasty main wall length: 8,850 km (5,500 mi) ·
Construction period span: over 2,000 years ·
Estimated workers who died: up to 1 million

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts

Total length: 21,196.18 km (13,170.70 mi) — BBC News (established news agency)
Ming wall alone: 8,850 km (5,500 mi) — Britannica (leading reference publisher)
Construction: 7th century BCE to 17th century CE — Wikipedia (general encyclopedia)

2What’s unclear

Exact death toll — estimates range from 400,000 to 1 million — Wikipedia (general encyclopedia)
Whether anyone has walked every original meter — many sections are destroyed — National Geographic (travel and science publication)
Exact cost to rebuild today — estimates range from $50 billion to over $100 billion — no definitive study exists

3Timeline signal