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UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites Reaches 1,000

Newly designated World Heritage sites in France, Botswana, and the United States push UNESCO’s list into the quadruple digits.
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UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites reached 1,000 locations this week after Botswana’s Okavango Delta was added to the prestigious register. Nearly thirty other historical spots spanning the globe were also inscribed. The list, managed since 1978 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, includes such famous landmarks as the Great Wall of China, Peru’s Machu Picchu, and Grand Canyon National Park.

New additions to the list include the below sites. Each site name features a link to a relevant news article:

  • The Pyu Ancient Cities, Myanmar
  • Pre-Columbian Diquis Settlements, Costa Rica
  • Stevns Klint chalk cliffs, Denmark
  • Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex, Russia
  • Trang An Complex & Hoa Lu, Vietnam
  • The Vineyards of Piedmont, Italy
  • Hunter-Gatherer Earthworks at Poverty Point in Louisiana, USA
  • 35,000 KM of the Silk Roads’ Tian-Shan Corridor; China, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan
  • Namhansanseong Fortress, South Korea
  • Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell), India
  • Man-made Caves of Maresha and Bet Guvrin, Israel
  • Okavango Delta, Botswana
  • Decorated Caves – Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc, France
  • Qhapaq Nan – Andean road system; Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
  • Westwork and Civitas Corvey, Germany
  • Van Nellefabriek Factory, Netherlands
  • Tomioka Silk Mill, Japan
  • Historic Jedda – Gate to Makkah, Saudi Arabia
  • Arbil Citadel, Iraq
  • Village of Battir, West Bank
  • The Grant Canal, China
  • Great Himalaya National Park, India
  • Ancient Maya City of Calakmul and Protected Tropical Forests, Mexico
  • Mt. Hamiguitan, Philippines
  • Shahr-e Sukhteh (Burnt City), Iran
  • The Ruins of Pergamon, Turkey
  • Bursa and Cumalikizik: The Birth of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey

    • What’s the Big Idea?

    UNESCO’s World Heritage list aims to protect cultural locations around the world that represent significant importance to humanity. The UNESCO website classifies the sites in multiple categories, most notably by whether they are natural or man-made as well as whether they are considered in danger. Sites are nominated by World Heritage Convention signatories and evaluated by two separated bodies. The World Heritage Committee decides during its annual meeting which sites to inscribe on the list.

    While a UNESCO designation can mean a marketing boon for certain sites, the organization stresses a sustainable approach to tourism.

    Continue Reading at The Guardian&CNN

    Photo credit: photoff / Shutterstock

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