Nowadays, skyscrapers can be found in most    cities

of the world. A building which was many  storeys   high was first

called a skyscraper in the United States at the end of the 19th

century, and New York has perhaps the  best-known   skyscraper

of them all, the Empire State Building. The  ground   beneath the

streets of New York is rock,  hard   enough to take the

heaviest load without sinking, and is therefore well-suited to

bearing the  weight   of tall buildings. In London, on the other

hand, people  came up against   the problem of the land being

too soft to build skyscrapers on. However, improved

methods   of making foundations later  enabled   many

skyscrapers to be built there,  although   none are as high as

those in the United States.

These tall buildings are  required   so that millions of people can

live and work in a very small  area . This is important where

land is expensive, for example, in a city centre, so it is more

economical   to build upwards rather than outwards. Also, many

large companies find it more  efficient   to have all their staff in

one building,  within   easy reach of each other. People also

imagine that the higher the skyscraper, the more successful the

company it  houses . Whether or not this is true, skyscrapers

still remain popular today.