Three Pakistani photographers are among the 15 international winners of the Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 annual photography competition announced on Thursday.

The world's largest photography competition has included Pakistani photographers for the last two years.

This year, Wiki Loves Monuments drew 277,365 entries from 10,748 participants this year, the largest pool of submissions of any photo competition.

10 photographs from Pakistan made their way to the international stage of the competition. Pakistan had the seventh-largest number of submissions and participants, with 370 participants who submitted 11,000 photographs.

Explore: Wiki Loves Monuments: Top 10 pictures from Pakistan

The competition aims to improve illustrations in Wikipedia articles about cultural and historically significant properties, and helps preserve the world's cultural heritage sites by encouraging people to take photographs and upload them to Wikipedia under a free license.

The winners of the Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 competition are below:

1. District courthouse, Berlin

Ansgar Koreng, a lawyer by profession, studied the arches and staircases of the Berlin district courthouse as he came and went for work, "not always liking the place."

One afternoon, the crowds disappeared, the light from the towering windows softened and captured its elaborate elegance.

2. Royal Albert Hall, London

Colin waited for the Open House London to photograph the Royal Albert Hall.

He hauled a tripod to the central box of the grand tier and set to work hoping the light wouldn’t change as he pieced together a high-resolution composite image, giving music lovers a glowing view of the legendary venue.

3. Perch Rock Lighthouse, UK

Richard J Smith, an amateur photographer, went back to the lighthouse, the same spot where he kickstarted his hobby.

4. Castle of Torrechiara, Italy

Lara Zanarini photographed the hills of Emilia-Romagna in Italy which are the home of the Castle of Torrechiara, seen here at sunset.

5. Arun temple, Thailand

Fifth place. The two mythical giant demons Thotsakan (left) and Sahatsadecha (right) guard the Buddhist Wat Arun temple in Thailand. The photographer journeyed to the temple waited for hours to take this shot of the temple at twilight after a journey via the Chaopraya River. (Janepop Atirattanachai).

6. Pakistan Monument, Islamabad

Muhammad Ashar photographed the Pakistan Monument during the 'blue hour'. The photographer traveled from Lahore to Islamabad to share this view of Pakistan’s symbol of unity with the world.

7. Presidential Palace, Brazil

Photographer Gastão Guedes took this photo "at the right place, at the right moment". Many years of experience culminated in the photograph of an illuminated Palanalto Palace at sunset.

8. Bibi Jawindi tomb, Uch

Usama Shahid captured this photograph of the three-tiered octagonal Bibi Jaiwindi shrine in Uch, which was built for the great granddaughter of a Sufi saint in the 1400s.

9. St. Lawrence Church, Slovakia

User Volodka22 photographerd this 14th century church in Zliechov, Slovakia amid fog, golden leaves and a wintery atmosphere.

10. Derawar Fort, Bahawalpur

Tahsin Shah, a police chief, drove 500 kilometers pursuing the "romance and decaying glory" of the ninth century Derawar Fort. He captured a camel caravan strung along its bastions, a scene that could have taken place 1,000 years ago, for tenth place.

11. Crystal Mill, Colorado

The Crystal Mill photographed by Joe Sparks supplied hydroelectricity to the mining town of Crystal, Colorado, in the United States.

The drive to the mill is a tricky one, and the Sparks had to negotiate a narrow road with steep drop-offs to capture this shot.

12. Gravensteen Castle, Belgium

David Horvath photographed the castle in the center of Ghent, Belgium. The castle has been witness to history since the middle ages. Horvath waited days for this moment, as the shot was dependant on the rays of sunset to give the structure a warm glow.

13. Čachtice Castle, Slovakia

Beginning photographer Vladimír Ruček likes to hike the mountains of his homeland, Slovakia, sleeping in “a million-star hotel,” alone under the night sky. He photographed the old stone Čachtice Castle greeting the morning sun and took thirteenth place.

14. Lake, Saxony

Albrecht Landgraf of Germany took a roadtrip with his family in Saxony. They drove to a park in Gablenz. "That’s when we found this little gem," he said. "In a small village."

15. Panama Canal Railway, Panama

Photographer Ivo Kruusamägi, a long-time Wikimedian, took this shot on a rainy day with dim lighting in Panama. The railway was an instrumental part of construction of the Panama Canal.