The length of the wall is the subject of much speculation. Measured point to point, the wall runs for 1,700 miles - the distance between New York and Denver. If the actual length is measured with all its twists and turns, it is said to be 2,500 miles long.
The Great Wall was named for its length, which is thought to exceed 3,000 miles, hence the name Wan Li Chang Cheng or `10,000-li-long wall.' However, some say the wall is much longer. One record puts the portion built during the Ming Dynasty alone at more than 4,000 miles.
According to records in China, if all the portions built by all the [G 17 / principalities] and dynasties throughout Chinese history were added up, the wall's length would be more than 31,000 miles. And if all the material employed in the wall was used to build a wall three and one-quarter-feet thick and 16 feet high, it would circle the world at least once. One other estimate says the wall stretches for 3,720 miles, another quotes 2,484 miles and yet another quotes 1,684 miles. A wildly differing measure given by the New China News Agency says the wall is 31,250 miles long.
