The Sky Tower, then the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 m (1,076 ft), opened in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Sky Tower is a telecommunications and observation tower in Auckland, New Zealand. Located at the corner of Victoria and Federal Streets within the city's CBD, it is 328 metres (1,076 ft) tall, as measured from ground level to the top of the mast, making it the second tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere, surpassed only by the Autograph Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the 28th tallest tower in the world. Since its completion in 1997, the Sky Tower has become an iconic landmark in Auckland's skyline, due to its height and design. It was the tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere from 1996 to 2022.

This is the history of the world's tallest structures.

The Southern Hemisphere is the half (hemisphere) of Earth that is south of the equator. It contains all or part of five continents and four oceans, as well as New Zealand and most of the Pacific Islands in Oceania. Its surface is 80.9% water, compared with 60.7% water in the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains 32.7% of Earth's land.

Auckland is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about 1,530,500. It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, and which has a total population of 1,797,300 as of June 2024. It is the most populous city of New Zealand and the fifth-largest city in Oceania.