List of world expositions

The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) sanctions world expositions. Some have been recognised retrospectively because they took place before the BIE came into existence.

The designation "World Exposition" refers to a class of the largest, general scope exhibitions of up to 6 months' duration.^[1]

This list does not include BIE-recognised International Horticultural Exhibitions.

List by date

Dates	Name of Exposition	Country^[2]	City^[2]	Category	Theme^[3]	Notables	Visitors in millions^[4]	Cost in millions (USD unless specified)	Area (ha)	Attending countries
04/1851 – 10/1851	The Great Exhibition	United Kingdom	London	World Expo	Industry of all Nations	The Crystal Palace	6.00	1.65	10	25
05/1855 – 11/1855	Exposition Universelle / Paris International	France	Paris	World Expo	Agriculture, Industry and Arts	Palais d'Industrie Bordeaux Wine classification	5.00	2	15	25
05/1862 – 11/1862	International Exhibition	United Kingdom	London	World Expo	Industry and Arts		6.00	2	15	39
04/1867 – 11/1867	Exposition Universelle / Paris International	France	Paris	World Expo	Agriculture, Industry and Arts	Champ de Mars	15.00	4.5	69	42
05/1873 – 10/1873	Weltausstellung 1873 Wien / Austrian International Exposition	Austria-Hungary	Vienna	World Expo	Culture and Education	Rotunde	7.25	9.5	233	35
05/1876 – 11/1876	Centennial Exposition	United States	Philadelphia	World Expo	Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine	Centennial Arboretum Telephone Heinz Ketchup	10.00	8	115	35
05/1878 – 11/1878	Exposition Universelle / Paris International Exposition	France	Paris	World Expo	New Technologies	Statue of Liberty Telephone Braille	16.00	11	75	36
10/1880 – 04/1881	Melbourne International Exhibition	Colony of Victoria	Melbourne	World Expo	Arts, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Industrial Products of all Nations	Royal Exhibition Buildings & Carlton Gardens	1.30	1.6	25	33
04/1888 – 12/1888	Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888)	Spain	Barcelona	World Expo	Fine and Industrial Art	Arc de Triomf Columbus Monument	2.30	1.7	47	30
05/1889 – 10/1889	Exposition Universelle / Paris International Exposition	France	Paris	World Expo	French Revolution	Eiffel Tower Annie Oakley	32.00	0.3	96	35
05/1893 – 10/1893	World's Columbian Exposition	United States	Chicago	World Expo	Discovery of America	Midway Plaisance Fine Arts Building Fluorescent lamp Ferris wheel	27.50	27	279	19
05/1897 – 11/1897	Brussels International Exposition	Belgium	Brussels	World Expo	Modern Life		7.80		132	27
04/1900 – 11/1900	Paris International	France	Paris	World Expo	19th Century: an overview	Motion Pictures Escalator Summer Olympics	50.80	18.75	120	58
04/1904 – 12/1904	Louisiana Purchase	United States	St. Louis	World Expo	Louisiana Purchase	Forest Park Palace of Fine Art Vulcan statue In conjunction with Summer Olympics	19.69	31.5	515	63
04/1905 – 11/1905	Liège International (1905)	Belgium	Liège	World Expo	Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of independence		7.00	2.9	70	31
04/1906 – 11/1906	Milan International	Italy	Milan	World Expo	Transport	Electric Tramways	10.00	2.6	100	25
04/1910 – 11/1910	Brussels International Exhibition	Belgium	Brussels	World Expo	Works of Art and Science, Agricultural and Industrial Products of All Nations		13.00	3.5	90	26
04/1913 – 11/1913	Exposition universelle et international / Ghent International Exposition	Belgium	Ghent	World Expo	Peace, Industry and Arts	Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station	9.50	3.3	130	24
02/1915 – 12/1915	Panama–Pacific International Exposition	United States	San Francisco	World Expo	Inauguration of the Panama Canal	Tower of Jewels Palace of Fine Arts	19.00	25.8	254	32
05/1929 – 01/1930	Barcelona International Exposition	Spain	Barcelona	World Expo	Arts, Industry and Sport	Barcelona Pavilion Palau Nacional Montjuïc Stadium	5.8	25	118	29
05/1933 – 10/1934	Century of Progress	United States	Chicago	World Expo	The interdependence among Industry and scientific research	Sky Ride Graf Zeppelin Homes of Tomorrow First MLB All Star Game	38.80^[5]	42.9	170	19
04/1935 – 11/1935	Brussels International Exposition	Belgium	Brussels	World Expo	Transports		20.00	197 BEF	152	30
05/1936 – 06/1936	ILIS 1936	Sweden	Stockholm	Specialised Expo	Aviation	Stockholm Bromma Airport			0.5	8
05/1937 – 11/1937	Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne / Paris International Exposition	France	Paris	World Expo	Arts and Technology in modern life	Arc de Triomphe	31.00	1,400 FRF	105	44
05/1938 – 05/1938	Second International Aeronautic Exhibition	Finland	Helsinki	Specialised Expo	Aerospace	Malmi Airterminal			0.08	25
04/1939 – 10/1940	New York World's Fair	United States	New York City	World Expo	Building The World of Tomorrow	Flushing Park Bell Labs' Voder Magna Carta 1st World Science Fiction Convention	45.00 ^[6]	500	54
05/1939 – 09/1939	Exposition internationale de l'eau (1939)	Belgium	Liège	Specialised Expo	Art of Water	Albert Canal			50	8
07/1947 – 08/1947	International Exhibition on Urbanism and Housing	France	Paris	Specialised Expo	Urbanism and Housing	Immeubles d’Etat			6.35	14
07/1949 – 08/1949	Universal Sport Exhibition (1949)	Sweden	Stockholm	Specialised Expo	Sport and physical culture	Pehr Henrik Ling				37
09/1949 – 10/1949	The International Exhibition of Rural Habitat in Lyon	France	Lyon	Specialised Expo	Rural Habitat	Foire de Lyon			110
12/1949 – 06/1950	Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince	Haiti	Port-au-Prince	World Expo	The festival of Peace	Gulf of Gonâve			24	15
04/1951 – 05/1951	The International Textile Exhibition	France	Lille	Specialised Expo	Textile	Textile	1.5		15	22
07/1953 – 10/1953	EA 53	Italy	Rome	Specialised Expo	Agriculture	Esposizione Universale Roma Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana	1.7		12
09/1953 – 10/1953	Conquest of the Desert (exhibition)	Israel	Jerusalem	Specialised Expo	Conquest of the Desert				4.6	13
05/1954 – 10/1954	The International Exhibition of Navigation (1954)	Italy	Naples	Specialised Expo	Navigation				100	25
05/1955 – 06/1955	The International Expo of Sport (1955)	Italy	Turin	Specialised Expo	Sport					11
06/1955 – 08/1955	Helsingborg exhibition 1955	Sweden	Helsingborg	Specialised Expo	Modern Man in the Environment					10
05/1956 – 06/1956	Exhibition of citriculture	Israel	Beit Dagan	Specialised Expo	Citrus				55
07/1957 – 09/1957	Interbau	West Germany	West Berlin	Specialised Expo	Reconstruction of Hansa District	Hansaviertel	1.00		53	13
07/1958 – 09/1958	Brussels World's Fair	Belgium	Brussels	World Expo	A World View: A New Humanism	Heysel Atomium	41.00	2,500 BEF	200	42
05/1961 – 10/1961	Expo 61	Italy	Turin	Specialised Expo	Celebration of centennial of Italian unity	Palazzo del Lavoro	5.00		50	19
04/1962 – 10/1962	Century 21 Exposition	United States	Seattle	World Expo	Man in the Space Age	Seattle Center Space Needle Seattle Monorail	9.60^[7]	47^[7]	30	24
06/1965 – 10/1965	IVA 65	West Germany	Munich	Specialised Expo	Transport	E03	3.20		50.20	36
04/1967 – 10/1967	Expo '67	Canada	Montreal	World Expo	Man and His World	Canadian Centennial IMAX Montreal Metro Habitat '67 Montreal Biosphère	50.30^[8]	431 CAD	365	62
04/1968 – 10/1968	HemisFair '68	United States	San Antonio	Specialised Expo	Confluence of Civilizations in the Americas	Tower of the Americas Institute of Texan Cultures HemisFair Arena	6.40^[9]	156^[9]	37.64^[9]	23
03/1970 – 09/1970	Expo '70	Japan	Osaka	World Expo	Progress and Harmony for Mankind	Tower of the Sun Moon rock Electric Cars^[10]	64.2^[11]	30 Profit^[10]	329.82^[10]	75
08/1971 – 09/1971	Expo 71	Hungary	Budapest	Specialised Expo	The Hunt through the World	International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC)	1.90		35.0	52
05/1974 – 11/1974	Expo '74	United States	Spokane	Specialised Expo	Celebrating Tomorrow's Fresh New Environment	IMAX^[12]	5.60	78.4	41^[12]	10
07/1975 – 01/1976	Expo '75	Japan	Okinawa	Specialised Expo	The Sea We would like to See	Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium	3.48		100.0	35
06/1981 – 07/1981	Expo 81	Bulgaria	Plovdiv	Specialised Expo	Hunting	International Fair Plovdiv
05/1982 – 10/1982	1982 World's Fair	United States	Knoxville	Specialised Expo	Energy Turns the World	Sunsphere	11.00	42^[13]	30^[13]	16
05/1984 – 11/1984	1984 World's Fair	United States	New Orleans	Specialised Expo	The World of Rivers– Fresh Water as a source of life	Convention Center	7.35	350	33.99^[14]	15
03/1985 – 09/1985	Expo 85 (Tsukuba, Japan)	Japan	Tsukuba	Specialised Expo	Dwellings and Surroundings – Science and Technology for Man at Home	HSST Jumbotron	20.3		100^[15]	48
11/1985 – 11/1985	Expo 85 (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)	Bulgaria	Plovdiv	Specialised Expo	Inventions	International Fair Plovdiv	1.00		5.80	73
05/1986 – 10/1986	Expo '86	Canada	Vancouver	Specialised Expo	Transportation and Communication: World in Motion - World in Touch	Science World Skytrain BC Place Canada Place	22.11	311 CAD deficit	70	55
04/1988 – 10/1988	Expo '88	Australia	Brisbane	Specialised Expo	Leisure in the Age of Technology	Sunsails, Nepal Peace Pagoda, Skyneedle	18.50	625 AUD	40	36
06/1991 – 07/1991	Expo 91	Bulgaria	Plovdiv	Specialised Expo	The activity of young people in the service of a World of Peace	World Intellectual Property Organization				8
04/1992 – 10/1992	Expo '92	Spain	Seville	World Expo	The Era of Discovery	Puente del Alamillo	41.80^[16]		215	108
05/1992 – 08/1992	Expo Colombo '92	Italy	Genoa	Specialised Expo	Christopher Columbus, The Ship and the Sea	Aquarium of Genoa	0.8		6	54
08/1993 – 11/1993	Expo '93	South Korea	Daejeon	Specialised Expo	The Challenge of a New Road of Development	Expo Science Park, Daejeon Museum of Art	14.50		90.10	141
05/1998 – 09/1998	Expo '98	Portugal	Lisbon	Specialised Expo	The Oceans: A Heritage for the Future	Pavilhão Atlântico Lisbon Oceanarium Pavilion of Portugal	10.10		50	143
06/2000 – 10/2000	Expo 2000	Germany	Hanover	World Expo	Man, Nature, Technology	Hannover Principles	18.10	3,400 DEM^[17]^[18]	160	155
03/2005 – 09/2005	Expo 2005	Japan	Aichi	World Expo	Nature's Wisdom	Satsuki and Mei's House ASIMO The Frozen Mammoth	22.04		173	121
06/2008 – 09/2008	Expo 2008	Spain	Zaragoza	Specialised Expo	Water and Sustainable development	Bridge Pavilion Water Tower	5.650		25	108
05/2010 – 10/2010	Expo 2010	China	Shanghai	World Expo	Better City, Better Life	Expo Axis Oriental Crown (Currently China Art Museum, Shanghai)	73.08	4,200 (5,800 including infrastructure)^[19]	523	192
05/2012 – 08/2012	Expo 2012	South Korea	Yeosu	Specialised Expo	The Living Ocean and Coast	The Big-O^[20] The Sky Tower^[21]	8.20	176.9	25	103
05/2015 – 10/2015	Expo 2015	Italy	Milan	World Expo	Feeding the planet, Energy for life	The Tree of Life	21.5		110	145
06/2017 – 09/2017	Expo 2017	Kazakhstan	Astana	Specialised Expo	Future Energy	The Nur Alem Sphere	4.1		25	115
10/2021 – 03/2022	Expo 2020	United Arab Emirates	Dubai^[22]	World Expo	Connecting Minds, Creating the Future	Al Wasl Plaza	24.103^[23]	TBA	438	192

Planned expositions

Date^[2]	Name of Exposition	Country ^[2]	City ^[2]	Category ^[2]	Theme^[3] or symbol
2025	Expo 2025	Japan	Osaka^[24]	World Expo	Designing Future Society for Our Lives
2027	Expo 2027	Serbia	Belgrade^[25]	Specialized Expo	Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All
2030	Expo 2030	Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	World Expo	The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow

Proposed expositions

2027 Horticulture: Yokohama^[26]

List by country

Poster for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair by Glen C. Sheffer

Country	City	Name of Exposition	Attending Countries	Year
Argentina	Buenos Aires	~~Expo 2023~~	–	2023
Australia	Melbourne Brisbane	Melbourne International World Expo 88	33 36	1880−81 1988
Austria-Hungary	Vienna	Austrian International	35	1873
Belgium	Brussels Ghent Liège	Brussels International Brussels International Brussels International Brussels World's Fair Ghent International Liège International	27 26 30 42 26 31	1897 1910 1935 1958 1913 1905
Canada	Montreal Vancouver	Expo 67 Expo 86	62 54	1967 1986
China	Shanghai	Expo 2010	192	2010
France	Paris Lille	Paris International Paris International Paris International Paris International Paris International Paris International International Textile Exhibition	25 42 36 35 58 44 22	1855 1867 1878 1889 1900 1937 1951
Germany	Hanover	Expo 2000	155	2000
Haiti	Port-au-Prince	Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince	15	1949−50
Italy	Genoa Milan Milan Rome Naples Turin Turin	Expo Colombo '92 Milan International Expo 2015 EA 53 The International Exhibition of Navigation (1954) The International Expo of Sport (1955) Expo 61	54 31 145	1992 1906 2015 1953 1954 1955 1961
Japan	Aichi Tsukuba Okinawa Osaka	Expo 2005 Expo '85 Expo '75 Expo '70 Expo 2025	121 111 40 75 TBD	2005 1985 1975 1970 2025
Kazakhstan	Astana	Expo 2017	115	2017
Portugal	Lisbon	Expo '98	146	1998
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	Expo 2030	TBD	2030
Serbia	Belgrade	Expo 2027	TBD	2027
South Korea	Daejeon Yeosu	Expo '93 Expo 2012	108 103	1993 2012
Spain	Barcelona Barcelona Seville Zaragoza	Exposición Universal de Barcelona Barcelona International Seville Expo '92 Expo Zaragoza 2008	30 20 108 104	1888 1929 1992 2008
United Arab Emirates	Dubai^[22]	Expo 2020	192	2021−22
United Kingdom	London	The Great Exhibition International	25 39	1851 1862
United States	Chicago Knoxville New Orleans New York Philadelphia San Antonio San Francisco Seattle Spokane St. Louis	World's Columbian Century of Progress Energy Expo '82 1984 World's Fair New York World's Fair Centennial Exposition HemisFair '68 Panama–Pacific Century 21 Exposition Expo '74 Louisiana Purchase	19 21 21 26 60 35 23 32 24 11^[27] 63	1893 1933 1982 1984 1939 1876 1968 1915 1962 1974 1904

References

^ "About World Expos". bie-paris.org. Bureau International des Expositions. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "All Expos". Archived from the original on 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2019-01-13.
^ ^a ^b "ExpoMuseum". Archived from the original on 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
^ "BIE homepage". Archived from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
^ "1933 Chicago". www.bie-paris.org.
^ Non official data https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/1939-new-york
^ ^a ^b "Seattlea facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-17.
^ "1967 Montreal". www.bie-paris.org.
^ ^a ^b ^c "San Antonio facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Osaka facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-17.
^ "1970 Osaka". www.bie-paris.org.
^ ^a ^b "Spokane facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
^ ^a ^b "Knoxville facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
^ "New Orleans facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
^ "Tsukuba facts". Archived from the original on 2006-11-17. Retrieved 2006-12-28.
^ "1992 Seville". www.bie-paris.org.
^ "Nachrichten". BerlinOnline.de. 2013-09-19. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
^ Wir Sind Helden. Das EXPO- Buch. Offizieller Katalog zur EXPO 2000 mit CD- ROM: Amazon.de: Birgit Breuel: Bücher. Amazon.de. ASIN 3570003434.
^ "Shanghai sets stage for World Expo spectacular". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2010-04-29.
^ "The Big-O". Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
^ "The Sky Tower". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
^ ^a ^b "The UAE has been elected As the Host Country of the World Expo 2020". Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
^ "Dubai promise, delivered: Expo 2020 clocks over 24 million visits". Khaleej Times. 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
^ "Japan elected host country of World Expo 2025". Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
^ "Expo 2027 Official Site". Retrieved 21 June 2023.
^ "168th General Assembly of the BIE". www.bie-paris.org.
^ "Spokane facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

External links

European Patent Office

[about-world-expos-1] "About World Expos". bie-paris.org. Bureau International des Expositions. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 3 November 2021.

[List-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "All Expos". Archived from the original on 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2019-01-13.

[Expo_Museum-3] "ExpoMuseum". Archived from the original on 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2006-07-16.

[BIE-4] "BIE homepage". Archived from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2017-05-24.

[5] "1933 Chicago". www.bie-paris.org.

[6] Non official data https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/1939-new-york

[Seattle-7] "Seattlea facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-17.

[8] "1967 Montreal". www.bie-paris.org.

[San_Antonio-9] "San Antonio facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

[Osaka-10] "Osaka facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-17.

[11] "1970 Osaka". www.bie-paris.org.

[Spokane-12] "Spokane facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

[Knoxville-13] "Knoxville facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

[New_Orleans-14] "New Orleans facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

[Tsukuba-15] "Tsukuba facts". Archived from the original on 2006-11-17. Retrieved 2006-12-28.

[16] "1992 Seville". www.bie-paris.org.

[17] "Nachrichten". BerlinOnline.de. 2013-09-19. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2013-09-25.

[18] Wir Sind Helden. Das EXPO- Buch. Offizieller Katalog zur EXPO 2000 mit CD- ROM: Amazon.de: Birgit Breuel: Bücher. Amazon.de. ASIN 3570003434.

[19] "Shanghai sets stage for World Expo spectacular". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2010-04-29.

[20] "The Big-O". Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2012-08-01.

[21] "The Sky Tower". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2012-08-01.

[dubai2020-22] "The UAE has been elected As the Host Country of the World Expo 2020". Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved 27 November 2013.

[23] "Dubai promise, delivered: Expo 2020 clocks over 24 million visits". Khaleej Times. 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-02.

[oaaka2025-24] "Japan elected host country of World Expo 2025". Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 23 November 2018.

[Expo2027-25] "Expo 2027 Official Site". Retrieved 21 June 2023.

[BIE168-26] "168th General Assembly of the BIE". www.bie-paris.org.

[Spokane2-27] "Spokane facts". Archived from the original on 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

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Category

World Expo	BIE-International Registered exhibitions that take place every five years and last up to 6 months. All exhibitions in this category which took place before 1928 were subsequently recognized by the BIE.
Specialised Expo	BIE-International Recognised exhibitions that take place between two World Expos and last up to 3 months. (This definition was adopted after 1988; prior to that, some longer running ones, including 1988 Brisbane, were classified as Specialised Expos.)

Category