The Eiffel Tower is the world's most popular attraction, according to Instagram, with the Paris attraction ranked as the social media platform's most tagged attraction.

Ranking the most 'Instagram-worthy' tourist attractions, #eiffeltower was used 5,849,737 times, followed by #lasvegasstrip at 4,802,560 and #timessquare at 3,949,217.

London, which is the most popular city on Instagram, had its highest-ranked attraction in sixth place, with Big Ben shared 3,007,317 times. The London Eye also makes the top 20 in seventh place (2,980,066 hashtags), while Buckingham Palace comes in 18th (1,127,083 hashtags).

The world's tallest tower – the Burj Khalifa – is the only attraction from the Middle East to make the top 20. It ranked fourth overall, with 3,502,116 hashtags. The Taj Mahal in 16th is the sole representative from Asia, with 1,260,502 hashtags. South America also has a single entry, with 1,539,713 tags of Peru's Machu Picchu in 15th.

The research was carried out by MacOS-native photo-integration app Motif, which analysed the number of hashtags published to Instagram since the social network's creation in 2010. It then extrapolated the data to identify the most visited destinations and cities worldwide.

"Over the past two decades, how we take and interact with photographs has changed dramatically, and this applies in particular to travels and holidays," said Motif managing director, Craig Bauer. "As we move further into the digital age, where photographs are taken on phones, viewed on screens and shared on social media platforms like Instagram, there’s greater convenience in capturing memories than ever before."

The top 20 tourist sites around the world

1 – #eiffeltower – 5,849,737

2 – #lasvegasstrip – 4,802,5603 – #timessquare –3,949,217

4 – #burjkhalifa – 3,502,1165 – #grandcanyon – 3,433,049

6 – #bigben – 3,007,3177 – #londoneye – 2,980,066

8 – #louvre – 2,897,9899 – #goldengatebridge – 2,645,651

10 – #empirestatebuilding – 2,598,69411 – #towerbridge – 2,127,742

12 – #sagradafamilia – 1,830,20613 – #statueofliberty – 1,820,337

14 – #colosseum – 1,552,29415 – #machupicchu – 1,539,713

16 – #tajmahal – 1,260,50217 – #cntower – 1,249,873

18 – #buckinghampalace – 1,127,08319 – #acropolis – 1,109,978

20 – #arcdetriomphe – 948,133