RANKED: The tallest buildings in the world right now

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World's Tallest Buildings

REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Lightning strikes One World Trade Center as the sun sets after a summer storm.

For nearly half a century, from 1931 through the early 1970s, the 1,454-foot Empire State Building held the title for being the tallest building in the world.

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The world has come a long way since then - in the rankings of today's tallest man-made structures, the Empire State Building doesn't even crack the top 20.

The world's current tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, soars 2,716 feet into the sky, and more and more skyscrapers across Asia and the Middle East are rising each year. According to recent reports, developers in Iraq are planning to build another tower that could be the new tallest in the world if completed.

We've rounded up the 22 tallest buildings in the world right now.