Havana, October 18 (RHC-PL), -- Havana maintains its position among the New 7 Wonders Cities, a contest that seeks to register the most relevant urban centers in the world.

Along with the Cuban capital, other 13 finalists are Vigan (Philippines), Doha (Qatar), Reykjavik (Iceland), London (UK), Mexico City (Mexico), Beirut (Lebanon), La Paz (Bolivia), Durban (South Africa), Chicago (United States), Quito (Ecuador), Perth (Australia), Barcelona (Spain) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

A few days ago, Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) announced that Havana was among the 14 finalist cities of the contest New7Wonders Cities.

This competition is organized by the Swiss foundation New7Wonders, an institution that in 2007 launched an online voting system to select the New Wonders of the World.

The initiative was positively welcomed worldwide. According to Bernard Weber President and Founder of the organizing institution, the selected cities are notable for their diversity, remarkable in terms of regional geography and urban culture.

The voting process began in 2012 with more than 1,200 nominations from about 220 countries, and in the qualifying round, the initial figure was narrowed down to about 300 cities on 7 October 2013.

Subsequently, a panel of experts chose 28 finalist candidates on 21 October 2014.

The final stage will conclude on Dec.7 when the New7Wonders Cities are to be revealed.

The traditional way to vote, as other projects of this foundation, is through the website www.new7wonders.com, although in many countries it is possible to do so with messages via mobile phone.