The construction of the Jeddah Tower, the world's tallest building, is "progressing quickly," the firm behind it told Newsweek.
This graphic ranks the 20 tallest buildings in the world as of April 2026, using data from the Council on Vertical Urbanism (formerly known Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat).
This is a list of the tallest people, verified by Guinness World Records or other reliable sources. According to Guinness World Records, Robert Wadlow of the United States (1918–1940) was the tallest person in recorded history, measuring 272 cm (8 ft 11 in) at the time of his death.
Read on to learn the stories of some of the tallest people ever, from the verified tallest person of all time to the tallest people alive right now — including Sultan Kösen, the tallest living man in the world.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest person right now is Sultan Kosen, a Turkish part-time farmer. He is 8 feet 2.82 inches (251 centimeters). As well as being the world’s tallest man, he is also one of the world’s heaviest people, nearly 500 pounds (226.8 kilograms).
The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow (USA) (born 6:30 a.m. in Alton, Illinois, USA on 22 February 1918), who when last measured on 27 June 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.
SULTAN Kosen has held the title of world’s tallest living man for 17 years – and he’s about to find out if he’s keeping it. The supersize former farmer is the focus of a brand new…