UNESCO

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak

Bulgaria Kazanlak, Province of Stara Zagora Discovered in 1944, this tomb dates from the Hellenistic period, around the end of the 4th century BC. It is located near Seutopolis, the capital city of the Thracian king Seutes III, and is part of a large Thracian necropolis. The tholos has a narrow corridor and a round burial chamber, both decorated with murals representing Thracian burial rituals and culture. These paintings are Bulgaria's best-preserved artistic masterpieces from the Hellenistic period. In 1942 a tomb dated to the 3rd century BC was discovered near Kazanlak in the romantic Valley of Roses, near the ancient city of Teutopolis. The Kazanlak Tomb is a peak in the development of Hellenistic art; it is a significant contribution to the art of the entire Hellenistic world.

Madara Rider

Bulgaria Village of Madara, Province of Shumen The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Empire before conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. In antiquity the Thracian tribes inhabited the plain. There was an ancient Thracian sanctuary in the large open cave under the rocks, which is known today as the Nymphs' Cave.

Srebarna Nature Reserve

Bulgaria Village of Srebarna, Province of Silistra; 16 km west of the town of Silistra and 1 km south of the Danube The Srebarna Nature Reserve is a freshwater lake adjacent to the Danube and extending over 600 ha. It is the breeding ground of almost 100 species of bird, many of which are rare or endangered. Some 80 other bird species migrate and seek refuge there every winter. Among the most interesting bird species are the Dalmatian pelican, great egret, night heron, purple heron, glossy ibis and white spoonbill, white-tailed eagle, little cormorant.

Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

Czech Republic Breclav District, South Moravian Region Between the 17th and 20th centuries, the ruling dukes of Liechtenstein transformed their domains in southern Moravia into a striking landscape. It married Baroque architecture (mainly the work of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach) and the classical and neo-Gothic style of the castles of Lednice and Valtice with countryside fashioned according to English romantic principles of landscape architecture. At 200 km2 , it is one of the largest artificial landscapes in Europe.

Strasbourg - Grande île

France Department of Bas-Rhin, Alsace Region The Grande Île of Strasbourg is an outstanding example of an urban ensemble characteristic of central Europe and a unique ensemble of domestic architecture in the Rhine Valley of the 15th and 16th centuries. It represents the eastward vector of the Gothic art movement. Surrounded by two arms of the River Ile, the Grande Île (Large Island) is the historic centre of the Alsatian capital. It was the site of the Roman castrum of Argentorate, the two principal axes of which have been respected by modern urban development.

Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay

France Department of Manche, Region of Basse-Normandie Perched on a rocky islet in the midst of vast sandbanks exposed to powerful tides between Normandy and Brittany stand the 'Wonder of the West', a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel St Michael, and the village that grew up in the shadow of its great walls. Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, the abbey is a technical and artistic tour de force, having had to adapt to the problems posed by this unique natural site.

Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany

Germany Slovakia Ukraine The Ancient Beech Forests of Germany, represent examples of on-going post-glacial biological and ecological evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and are indispensable to understanding the spread of the beech (Fagus sylvatica) in the Northern Hemisphere across a variety of environments. The new inscription represents the addition of five forests totaling 4,391 hectares that are added to the 29,278 hectares of Slovakian and Ukranian beech forests inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2007. The tri-national property is now to be known as the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (Slovakia, Ukraine, Germany).

Margravial Opera House Bayreuth

Germany A masterpiece of Baroque theatre architecture, built between 1745 and 1750, the Opera House is the only entirely preserved example of its type where an audience of 500 can experience Baroque court opera culture and acoustics authentically, as its auditorium retains its original materials, i.e. wood and canvas. Commissioned by Margravine Wilhelmine, wife of Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, it was designed by the renowned theatre architect Giuseppe Galli Bibiena. As a court opera house in a public space, it foreshadowed the large public theatres of the 19th century. The highly decorated theatre's tiered loge structure of wood with illusionistic painted canvas represents the ephemeral ceremonial architectural tradition that was employed in pageants and celebrations for princely self-representation.

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

Germany Berlin Modernism Housing Estates. The property consists of six housing estates that testify to innovative housing policies from 1910 to 1933, especially during the Weimar Republic, when the city of Berlin was particularly progressive socially, politically and culturally. The property is an outstanding example of the building reform movement that contributed to improving housing and living conditions for people with low incomes through novel approaches to town planning, architecture and garden design. The estates also provide exceptional examples of new urban and architectural typologies, featuring fresh design solutions, as well as technical and aesthetic innovations. Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner and Walter Gropius were among the leading architects of these projects which exercised considerable influence on the development of housing around the world.

Monastic Island of Reichenau

Germany District of Freiburg, State of Baden-Württemberg The Monastic Island of Reichenau on Lake Constance in south-west Germany preserves the traces of the Benedictine monastery, founded in 724, which exercised remarkable spiritual, intellectual and artistic influence. The churches of St Mary and Marcus, St Peter and St Paul, and St George, mainly built between the 9th and 11th centuries, provide a panorama of early medieval monastic architecture in central Europe. Their wall paintings bear witness to impressive artistic activity.At the western end of the island of Reichenau, Egino, a former Bishop of Verona, built the first church of St Peter at Niederzell, consecrated in 799.

St Mary's Cathedral and St Michael's Church at Hildesheim

Germany District of Hanover, State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen St Michael's Church was built between 1010 and 1020 on a symmetrical plan with two apses that was characteristic of Ottonian Romanesque art in Old Saxony. Its interior, in particular the wooden ceiling and painted stucco-work, its famous bronze doors and the Bernward bronze column, are - together with the treasures of St Mary's Cathedral - of exceptional interest as examples of the Romanesque churches of the Holy Roman Empire.The ancient Benedictine abbey church of St Michael in Hildesheim, located in the north of Germany, is one of the key monuments of medieval art, built between 1010 and 1022 by Bernward, Bishop of Hildesheim.

Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square

Germany District of Lower Franconia, State of Bavaria (Bayern) This magnificent Baroque palace - one of the largest and most beautiful in Germany and surrounded by wonderful gardens - was created under the patronage of the prince-bishops Lothar Franz and Friedrich Carl von Schönborn. It was built and decorated in the 18th century by an international team of architects, painters (including Tiepolo), sculptors and stucco-workers, led by Balthasar Neumann.

Cologne Cathedral

Germany State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) Begun in 1248, the construction of this Gothic masterpiece took place in several stages and was not completed until 1880. Over seven centuries, successive builders were inspired by the same faith and a spirit of absolute fidelity to the original plans. Apart from its exceptional intrinsic value and the artistic masterpieces it contains, Cologne Cathedral testifies to the enduring strength of European Christianity. Despite its generous dimensions, this cathedral was found to be too small to accommodate the throngs of pilgrims who visited it after the relics of the Magi were brought there from Milan in 1164.

Meteora

Greece Prefecture of Trikala, Region of Thessaly The monasteries are built on rock pinnacles of deltaic origin, known as Meteora, which rise starkly over 400 m above the Peneas valley and the small town of Kalambaka on the Thessalian plain. In a region of almost inaccessible sandstone peaks, monks settled on these 'columns of the sky' ,'Suspended in the air' (the meaning of Meteora in Greek), from the 11th century onwards. Twenty-four of these monasteries were built, despite incredible difficulties, at the time of the great revival of the eremetic ideal in the 15th century. Their 16th-century frescoes mark a key stage in the development of post-Byzantine painting.

Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy

Indonesia The sites are the Supreme Water Temple of Pura Ulun Danu Batur on the edge of Lake Batur whose crater lake is regarded as the ultimate origin of every spring and river, the Subak Landscape of the Pakerisan Watershed the oldest known irrigation system in Bali. A line of volcanoes dominate the landscape of Bali and have provided it with fertile soil which, combined with a wet tropical climate, make it an ideal place for crop cultivation. Water from the rivers has been channelled into canals to irrigate the land, allowing the cultivation of rice on both flat land and mountain terraces.

Su Nuraxi di Barumini

Italy Province of Medio Campidano, Sardinia During the late 2nd millennium B.C. in the Bronze Age, a special type of defensive structure known as nuraghi (for which no parallel exists anywhere else in the world) developed on the island of Sardinia. The complex consists of circular defensive towers in the form of truncated cones built of dressed stone, with corbel-vaulted internal chambers. The complex at Barumini, which was extended and reinforced in the first half of the 1st millennium under Carthaginian pressure, is the finest and most complete example of this remarkable form of prehistoric architecture.

Rock Art of Alta

Norway Alta municipality, county of Finnmark This group of petroglyphs in the Alta Fjord, near the Arctic Circle,in the province of Tromsø, bears the traces of a settlement dating from c. 4200 to 500 B.C. The thousands of paintings and engravings add to our understanding of the environment and human activities on the fringes of the Far North in prehistoric times. It contains thousands of rock carvings and paintings located at 45 sites in five different areas at the head of the Alta Fjord (Kåfjord, Hjemmeluft, Storsteinen, Amtmannsnes and Transfarelvdalen).

Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty

Republic of Korea The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty form a collection of 40 tombs scattered over 18 locations. Built over five centuries, from 1408 to 1966. The dolmen, the oldest known tomb in the Korean Peninsula, was built from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. During the Three Kingdoms Period, construction principles were defined for tombs and it was the Silla Kingdom, in particular, that developed the tomb system unique to Korea: a wide hole in the ground, lined with wood, filled with stones and covered by earth (the mound)

Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection

Panama Provinces of Veraguas and Chiriquí Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection, is located in the Republic of Panama in the Gulf of Chiriqui, in the western sector of the country. The property protects Coiba Island along with 38 smaller islands and the surrounding marine area and is immersed in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, forming part of the Tropical Eastern Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR). It is the last refuge for a number of threatened animals and an essential area for migratory species, including the essentials for the maintenance of the ecological balance of the oceanic masses, and valuable habitat for cetaceans, sharks, sea turtles and a large variety of pelagic fish species of high importance to regional level fisheries.

Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches

Spain Province of Ávila, Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon Founded in the 11th century to protect the Spanish territories from the Moors, this 'City of Saints and Stones', the birthplace of St Teresa and the burial place of the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, has kept its medieval austerity. This purity of form can still be seen in the Gothic cathedral and the fortifications which, with their 82 semicircular towers and nine gates, are the most complete in Spain.

Doñana National Park

Spain Provinces of Huelva and Sevilla, Autonomous Community of Andalusia Doñana National Park in Andalusia occupies the right bank of the Guadalquivir river at its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean. It is notable for the great diversity of its biotopes, especially lagoons, marshlands, fixed and mobile dunes, scrub woodland and maquis. It is home to five threatened bird species. It is one of the largest heronries in the Mediterranean region and is the wintering site for more than 500,000 water fowl each year.

Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid

Spain San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Province and Autonomous Community of Madrid Built at the end of the 16th century on a plan in the form of a grill, the instrument of the martyrdom of St Lawrence, the Escurial Monastery stands in an exceptionally beautiful site in Castile. Its austere architecture, a break with previous styles, had a considerable influence on Spanish architecture for more than half a century. It was the retreat of a mystic king and became, in the last years of Philip II's reign, the centre of the greatest political power of the time.

Works of Antoni Gaudí

Spain Seven properties built by the architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) in or near Barcelona testify to Gaudí's exceptional creative contribution to the development of architecture and building technology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These monuments represent an eclectic, as well as a very personal, style which was given free reign in the design of gardens, sculpture and all decorative arts, as well as architecture. The seven buildings are: Parque Güell; Palacio Güell; Casa Mila; Casa Vicens; Gaudí's work on the Nativity façade and Crypt of La Sagrada Familia; Casa Batlló; Crypt in Colonia Güell.

Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland North Yorkshire, England A striking landscape was created around the ruins of the Cistercian Fountains Abbey and Fountains Hall Castle, in Yorkshire. The 18th-century landscaping, gardens and canal, the 19th-century plantations and vistas, and the neo-Gothic castle of Studley Royal Park, make this an outstanding site.

Saltaire

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland West Yorkshire, England Saltaire, West Yorkshire, is a complete and well-preserved industrial village of the second half of the 19th century. Its textile mills, public buildings and workers' housing are built in a harmonious style of high architectural standards and the urban plan survives intact, giving a vivid impression of Victorian philanthropic paternalism.

Lake Malawi National Park

Malawi Central and Southern Regions Located at the southern end of the great expanse of Lake Malawi, the property is of global importance for biodiversity conservation due particularly to its fish diversity. Lying within the Western Rift Valley, Lake Malawi is one of the deepest lakes in the world. The property is an area of exceptional natural beauty with the rugged landscapes around it contrasting with the remarkably clear waters of the lake. The property is home to many hundreds of cichlid fish, nearly all of which are endemic to Lake Malawi, and are known locally as "mbuna". The mbuna fishes display a significant example of biological evolution.

Pyrénées - Mont Perdu

France Spain France: Midi-Pyrénées Region, Hautes-Pyrénées Déparetment; 1999 Extension: Commune of Gèdre Spain:Autonomous Community of Aragón, Province of Huesca, Communes of Torla, Fanlo, Tella-Sin, Puértolas, Bielsa, and Broto The transboundary site is centred on the peak of Mont Perdu that rises to 3,352 m in the Pyrenees mountains. The Pyrenees represent the tectonic collision point of the lberian and West European plates. The most geologically outstanding portion of the Pyrenees is the calcareous massif centred on Mont Perdu. On the north (France) side the landscape is much more abrupt with three major cirques, while on the southern slopes (Spain) Mont Perdu (or Peridido) has three radiating spurs with deep canyons that gradually slope to the lberian Piedmont. includes two of Europe's largest and deepest canyons on the Spanish side and three major cirque walls on the more abrupt northern slopes with France

Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary

Colombia Valle del Cauca Region Located some 506 km off the coast of Colombia, the site includes Malpelo island (350 ha) and the surrounding marine environment (857,150 ha). This vast marine park, the largest no-fishing zone in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, provides a critical habitat for internationally threatened marine species, and is a major source of nutrients resulting in large aggregations of marine biodiversity.

Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site

El Salvador Department of La Libertad, Canton Joya de Ceren, jurisdiction of San Juan Opico Joya de Cerén was a pre-Hispanic farming community that, like Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, was buried under an eruption of the Laguna Caldera volcano c. AD 600. Because of the exceptional condition of the remains, they provide an insight into the daily lives of the Central American populations who worked the land at that time.

Petra

Jordan Ma'an Governorate Situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea and inhabited since prehistoric times, the rock-cut capital city of the Nabateans, became during Hellenistic and Roman times a major caravan centre for the incense of Arabia, the silks of China and the spices of India, a crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. An ingenious water management system allowed extensive settlement of an essentially arid area during the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine periods. It is one of the world's richest and largest archaeological sites set in a dominating red sandstone landscape.

Aapravasi Ghat

Mauritius Port Louis District In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called 'the great experiment' in the use of 'free' labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured labourers arrived from India at Aapravasi Ghat to work in the sugar plantations of Mauritius, or to be transferred to Reunion Island, Australia, southern and eastern Africa or the Caribbean. The buildings of Aapravasi Ghat are among the earliest explicit manifestations of what was to become a global economic system and one of the greatest migrations in history. Located on the bay of Trou Fanfaron, in the capital of Port-Louis, the Aapravasi Ghat is the remains of an immigration depot, the site from where modern indentured labour Diaspora emerged.

Medina of Fez

Morocco City of Fez Founded in the 9th century and home to the oldest university in the world, Fez reached its height in the 13th-14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez has retained its status as the country's cultural and spiritual centre. The original town was comprised of two large fortified quarters separated by the Fez wadi: the banks of the Andalous and those of the Kaïrouanais.

Archaeological Sites of Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn

Oman Al Dhahira region The protohistoric site of Bat lies near a palm grove in the interior of the Sultanate of Oman. Together with the neighbouring sites, it forms the most complete collection of settlements and necropolises from the 3rd millennium B.C. in the world. The core site is a part of the modern village of Bat, in the Wadi Sharsah approximately 24 kilometres east of the city of Ibri, in the Al-Dhahira Governorate of north-western Oman.

Island of Saint-Louis

Senegal Region of Saint-Louis Founded as a French colonial settlement in the 17th century, Saint-Louis was urbanised in the mid-19th century. It was the capital of Senegal from 1872 to 1957 and played an important cultural and economic role in the whole of West Africa. The location of the town on an island at the mouth of the Senegal River, its regular town plan, the system of quays, and the characteristic colonial architecture give Saint-Louis its distinctive appearance and identity.

Aldabra Atoll

Seychelles Aldabra is one of the largest atolls in the world. Due to difficulties of access and the atoll's isolation, Aldabra has been protected from human influence and thus retains some 152,000 giant tortoises, the world's largest population of this reptile. Aldabra is a classic coral atoll which has been built up from the seabed. It consists of four main islands of coral limestone separated by narrow passes and enclosing a large shallow lagoon. Most of the land surface consists of ancient coral reef (about 125,000 years old) now raised above sea level, the rest being even older reef limestones. The lagoon contains many smaller islands and the entire atoll is surrounded by an outer reef

Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces

The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China covers 16,603-hectares in Southern Yunnan. It is marked by spectacular terraces that cascade down the slopes of the towering Ailao Mountains to the banks of the Hong River.

West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou

West Lake is surrounded on three sides by 'cloud-capped hills' and on the fourth by the city of Hangzhou. The main artificial elements of the lake, two causeways and three islands, were created from repeated dredgings between the 9th and 12th centuries.

Historic Centre of Riga

Latvia City of Riga Riga was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, deriving its prosperity in the 13th-15th centuries from the trade with central and eastern Europ Archaeological excavations in the Old Town have shown that there were settlements of the local tribes, the Livs and the Cours, along with some foreign trading posts, on the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Ridzene and Daugava rivers by the late 11th century, and the place became a crossroads for trade between east and west.

Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley

Afghanistan,Bamiyan Province, Bamiyan District The remains of the Bamiyan Valley characterized ancient Bakhtria, to the south of the great cliff are the remains of the fortress of Shahr-i Ghulghulah. this marks the original settlement of Bamiyan as stopping place on the branch of the Silk Route, which linked China and India via ancient Bactria.) The site is also testimony to the tragic destruction by the Taliban of the two standing Buddha statues, which shook the world in March 2001.

Kasbah of Algiers

Algeria City and Wilaya (province) of Algiers The Kasbah is a unique kind of medina, or Islamic city. It stands in one of the finest coastal sites on the Mediterranean, overlooking the islands where a Carthaginian trading-post was established in the 4th century BC. There are the remains of the citadel, old mosques and Ottoman-style palaces as well as the remains of a traditional urban structure associated with a deep-rooted sense of community.Indeed, located on the Mediterranean coast, the site was inhabited at least from the 6th century BC when a Phoenician trading post was established there. The term Kasbah, that originally designated the highest point of the medina during the Zirid era, today applies to the ensemble of the old town of El Djazair, within the boundaries marked by the ramparts and built at the end of the 16th century, dating back to the Ottoman period.

M'Zab Valley

Algeria Wilaya (province) of Ghardaïa Located 600 km south of Algiers, in the heart of the Sahara Desert,consists of five ksour (fortified villages); El-Atteuf, Bounoura, Melika, Ghardaïa and Beni-Isguen (founded between 1012 and 1350), the M'Zab Valley has conserved practically the same way of life and the same building techniques since the 11th century.

Djémila

Algeria Wilaya (province) of Setif 50 km north-east of the town of Sétif. Known under its antique name Cuicul, Djémila an ancient Roman colony founded during the reign of Nerva (96 - 98 A.D.). Between the wadi Guergour and the wadi Betame, two mountain torrents, the town has its own Senate and Forum.

Lord Howe Island Group

Australia New South Wales The Lord Howe Island Group is an outstanding example of oceanic islands of volcanic origin containing a unique biota of plants and animals, as well as the world's most southerly true coral reef. About 75% of the terrestrial part of the property is managed as a Permanent Park Preserve, consisting of the northern and southern mountains of Lord Howe Island itself, plus the Admiralty Islands, Mutton Bird Islands, Balls Pyramid and surrounding islets. The property is located in the Tasman Sea, approximately 570 kilometres east of Port Macquarie. Iconic species include endemics such as the flightless Lord Howe Woodhen (Gallirallis sylvestris), once regarded as one of the rarest birds in the world, and the Lord Howe Island Phasmid (Dryococelus australis), the world's largest stick insect that was feared extinct until its rediscovery on Balls Pyramid.

Sydney Opera House

Australia New South Wales naugurated in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is a great architectural work of the 20th century that brings together multiple strands of creativity and innovation in both architectural form and structural design. A great urban sculpture set in a remarkable waterscape, at the tip of a peninsula projecting into Sydney Harbour, by Danish architect Jørn Utzon.

Levuka Historical Port Town

Fiji Levuka Historical Port Town is set amongst coconut and mango trees along the beach front of Ovalau Island against the forested slopes of the island's extinct volcano. was the first colonial capital of Fiji, ceded to the British in 1874. It developed from the early 19th century as a centre of commercial activity by Americans and Europeans who built warehouses, stores, port facilities, residences, and religious, educational and social institutions around the villages of the South Pacific island's indigenous population. nland are the sites of two former indigenous villages Totoga (Vitoga) and Nasau located on one of the three creeks draining the slopes above the coastal plain.

Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda

Gabon Ogoué-Ivindo and Ogoué-Lolo Provinces The Lopé-Okanda National Park displays remarkable evidence for settlement stretching over 400,000 years from the Palaeolithic, through the Neolithic and Iron Age, to the present day Bantu and Pygmy peoples. The National Park includes the River Ogooué valley, one of the principle migration routes for the diffusion of people and languages, including the Bantu, to Central and Southern Africa, in the Neolithic and Iron Age, as evidenced in extraordinary number of substantial settlements sites and an extensive collection of rock art petroglyphs. The Lopé-Okanda National Park provides the oldest dates for the extension of the Tshitolien culture towards the Atlantic and it has revealed evidence of the early domestication of plants and animals and the use of forest resource

National History Park - Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers

Haiti Département du Nord These Haitian monuments date from the beginning of the 19th century, when Haiti proclaimed its independence. The Palace of Sans Souci, the buildings at Ramiers and, in particular, the Citadel serve as universal symbols of liberty, being the first monuments to be constructed by black slaves who had gained their freedom.

Baalbek

Lebanon City and District of Baalbek, Beqaa Governorate The complex of temples at Baalbek is located at the foot of the south-west slope of Anti-Lebanon, bordering the fertile plain of the Bekaa at an altitude of 1150 m. Lying on fertile plains, Baalbek was, during the Phoenician period, no more than an agricultural village where a triad of fertility gods were worshipped; given the name Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period, the modest city saw its apogee after the arrival of the Romans in Phoenicia in 64 BC, when it became one of the most celebrated sanctuaries of the ancient world, progressively overlaid with colossal constructions which were built during more than two centuries. Pilgrims thronged to the sanctuary to venerate the three deities, known under the name of the Romanized Triad of Heliopolis, an essentially Phoenician cult (Jupiter, Venus and Mercury).

Tyre

Lebanon City and District of Tyre, Governorate of South Lebanon Located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut, the antique town of Tyre was the great Phoenician city that reigned over the seas and founded prosperous colonies such as Cadiz and Carthage and according to legend, was the place of the discovery of purple pigment. From the 5th century B.C., when Herodotus of Halicarnassus visited Tyre, it was built for the most part on an island reportedly impregnable, considered one of the oldest metropolises of the world, and according to tradition founded in 2750 B.C. Tyre succumbed to the attack of Alexander of Macedonia who had blocked the straits by a dike. First a Greek city, and then a Roman city were constructed on this site, which is now a promontory

Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai

Mongolia The Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai include three rock art sites in Bayan-Ulgii aimag: Tsagaan Salaa-Baga Oigor of Ulaankhus soum, and Upper Tsagaan Gol (Shiveet Khairkhan) and Aral Tolgoi, both of Tsengel soum. All three are located in high mountain valleys carved out by Pleistocene glaciers.

Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes

Namibia Kunene Region Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes has one of the largest concentrations of [...] petroglyphs, i.e. rock engravings in Africa. Most of these well-preserved engravings represent rhinoceros, . The site also includes six painteelephant, ostrich and giraffe, as well as drawings of human and animal footprintsd rock shelters with motifs of human figures in red ochre. The objects excavated from two sections, date from the Late Stone Age

Namib Sand Sea

Namibia The Namib Sand Sea lies along the arid African coast of the South Atlantic lying wholly within Namibia's Namib-Naukluft Park. Namib Sand Sea is the only coastal desert in the world that includes extensive dune fields influenced by fog. The desert dunes are formed by the transportation of materials thousands of kilometres from the hinterland, that are carried by river, ocean current and wind. It features gravel plains, coastal flats, rocky hills, inselbergs within the sand sea, a coastal lagoon and ephemeral rivers, resulting in a landscape of exceptional beauty. Fog is the primary source of water in the site, accounting for a unique environment in which endemic invertebrates, reptiles and mammals adapt to an ever-changing variety of microhabitats and ecological niches.

Galápagos Islands

Ecuador Cantons: San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabela, Province of Galapagos Situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 km from the South American continent, these 19 islands and the surrounding marine reserve have been called a unique 'living museum and showcase of evolution'. Located at the confluence of three ocean currents, the Galápagos are a 'melting pot' of marine species. Ongoing seismic and volcanic activity reflects the processes that formed the islands. These processes, together with the extreme isolation of the islands, led to the development of unusual animal life - such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise and the many types of finch - that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection following his visit in 1835. The site is situated on the Galápagos Submarine Platform, and consists of about 120 islands. The larger islands are Isabela, Santa Cruz, Fernandina, Santiago and San Cristobal. The islands were formed by volcanic processes and most represent the summit of a volcano, some of which rise over 3,000 m from the Pacific floor.

City of Quito

Ecuador Province of Pinchinada, City and Canton of Quito Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was founded in the 16th century on the ruins of an Inca city and stands at an altitude of 2,850 m. Despite the 1917 earthquake, the city has the best-preserved, least altered historic centre in Latin America. The monasteries of San Francisco and Santo Domingo, and the Church and Jesuit College of La Compañía, with their rich interiors, are pure examples of the 'Baroque school of Quito', which is a fusion of Spanish, Italian, Moorish, Flemish and indigenous art. The city occupies a small basin in the great central plateau formed by the volcano Pichincha, the Puengasi ridge, and ridges formed by spurs from the eastern side of Pichincha. The land upon which Quito is built is uneven and is traversed by two deep ravines (quebradas), one of which is arched over in great part to preserve the alignment of the streets, the drainage of which escapes through a cleft in the ridge northward to the plain of Tumbaco.

Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains

Romania Counties of Alba and Hunedoara, Region of Transylvania Built in the 1st centuries B.C. and A.D. under Dacian rule, these fortresses show an unusual fusion of military and religious architectural techniques and concepts from the classical world and the late European Iron Age. The six defensive works, the nucleus of the Dacian Kingdom, were conquered by the Romans at the beginning of the 2nd century A.D.; their extensive and well-preserved remains stand in spectacular natural surroundings and give a dramatic picture of a vigorous and innovative civilization. Costeşti-Cetăţuie, a small plateau on a hill overlooking the left bank of the river Apa Oraşului, was terraced to form a strong fortress. Costeşti-Blidaru is the strongest and most spectacular of the fortresses erected to defend Sarmizegetusa. The Luncani Piatra Roşie fortress consists of two fortified enclosures on the eastern slope of a rocky massif. The Băniţa fortress was constructed on a steep conical hill in the Jiu valley.The Căpâlna fortress was constructed at the summit of a steep hill which was terraced and surrounded by ramparts following the natural contours

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe

Spain Province of Cáceres, Autonomous Community of Extremadura The monastery is an outstanding repository of four centuries of Spanish religious architecture. It symbolizes two significant events in world history that occurred in 1492: the Reconquest of the Iberian peninsula by the Catholic Kings and Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Its famous statue of the Virgin became a powerful symbol of the Christianization of much of the New World.

Old Town of Cáceres

Spain Province of Cáceres, Autonomous Community of Extremadura The city's history of battles between Moors and Christians is reflected in its architecture, which is a blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles. Of the 30 or so towers from the Muslim period, the Torre del Bujaco is the most famous.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Uganda Districts of Kabale, Kisoro and Rukungir Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, covering 32,092 ha, is one of the largest areas in East Africa which still has Afromontane lowland forest extending to well within the montane forest belt.Bwindi, in the Kigezi Highlands of south-west Uganda, adjacent to the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is characterized by steep hills and narrow valleys with a general incline from the north and west to the south-western corner. The park constitutes an important water catchment area serving the surrounding densely populated agricultural land and is one of the few large expanses of forest in East Africa where lowland and montane vegetation communities meet. Three major tributaries of the lshasha River drain into Lake Edward to the north, and the Ndego, Kanyamwabo and Shongi rivers flow southwards towards Lake Mutanda. Located on the eastern edge of the Albertine Rift Valley and believed to be a Pleistocene refugium, the property is a biodiversity hotspot with possibly the greatest number of tree species for its altitude in East Africa. Home to almost half of the world's mountain gorilla population, the property represents a conservation frontline as an isolated forest of outstanding biological richness surrounded by an agricultural landscape supporting one of the highest rural population densities in tropical Africa.

Historic Centre of Brugge

Belgium Brugge is an outstanding example of a medieval historic settlement, which has maintained its historic fabric as this has evolved over the centuries, and where original Gothic constructions form part of the town's identity. As one of the commercial and cultural capitals of Europe, Brugge developed cultural links to different parts of the world. It is closely associated with the school of Flemish Primitive painting.

Butrint

Albania District of Sarandë, County of Vlorë Inhabited since prehistoric times, the city was abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. A repository of ruins representing periods as a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric, Byzantine, briefly Venetian in the city's development. Butrint was linked to the Mediterranean by the Vivari canal, which runs from the Butrint Lake to the Ionian Sea.

Berat and Gjirokastra

Albania Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra are inscribed as rare examples of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period. Located in central Albania, Berat features a castle, locally known as the Kala, most built in the 13th century, origins from 4th century BC. many Byzantine churches, as well as mosques built under the Ottoman era. Gjirokastra, in the Drinos river valley in southern Albania, developed in the 17th century. The town also retains a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period.

Tipasa

Algeria Commune and Wilaya (province) of Tipasa On the shores of the Mediterranean, Tipasa was an ancient Punic trading-post conquered by Rome and turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania. It comprises a unique group of Phoenician, Roman, palaeochristian and Byzantine ruins alongside indigenous monuments such as the Kbor er Roumia, the great royal mausoleum of Mauretania. Tipasa is located 70 km west of Algiers. It is a serial property comprising three sites: two archaeological parks located in the vicinity of the present urban complex and the Royal Mauritanian Mausoleum, on the west Sahel plateau of Algiers, at 11 km south-east of Tipasa.

Timgad

Algeria Commune of Timgad, Wilaya (province) of Batna Timgad lies on the northern slopes of the Aurès mountains, 480 km south-east of Algiers and 110 km to the south of Constantine. The Colonia Marciana Traiana Thamugadi was founded in 100 A.D. by Trajan, probably as an encampment for the 3rd Augustan Legion which, thereafter, was quartered at Lambaesis. With its square enclosure and orthogonal design based on the cardo and decumanus, the two perpendicular routes running through the city, it is an excellent example of Roman town planning.

Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots

Armenia Armavir Region The Cathedral of Holy Echmiatzin is the most ancient Christian place of worship in Armenia, built in 301-3 by Gregor Lousavorich, the founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in Vagharshapat, the capital and religious centre of Armenia at that time.

Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley

Armenia Kotayk' Region, near the village of Goght The monastery is situated at the head of the Azat valley, surrounded by towering cliffs. It was founded in the 4th century, according to tradition by St Gregory the Illuminator. The site is that of a spring arising in a cave which had been sacred in pre-Christian times, hence one of the names by which it was known, Ayvirank (the Monastery of the Cave).

Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens

Australia Melbourne, Victoria The Royal Exhibition Building and its surrounding Carlton Gardens were designed for the great international exhibitions of 1880 and 1888 in Melbourne. The building and grounds were designed by Joseph Reed. The building is constructed of brick and timber, steel and slate. It combines elements from the Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance styles. The property is typical of the international exhibition movement which saw over 50 exhibitions staged between 1851 and 1915.

Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad

Bosnia and Herzegovina Republika Srpska, Sarajevo Macro Region The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge of Višegrad across the Drina River in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina was built at the end of the 16th century by the court architect Mimar Koca Sinan on the orders of Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović. Characteristic of the apogee of Ottoman monumental architecture and civil engineering, the bridge has 11 masonry arches with spans of 11 m to 15 m, and an access ramp at right angles with four arches on the left bank of the river. The 179.5 m long bridge is a representative masterpiece of Sinan, one of the greatest architects and engineers of the classical Ottoman period and a contemporary of the Italian Renaissance, with which his work may be compared. The unique elegance of proportion and monumental nobility of the whole site bear witness to the greatness of this style of architecture.

Sewell Mining Town

Chile Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Province of Cachapoal, Municipality of Machali Situated at 2,000 m in the Andes, 60 km to the east of Rancagua, in an environment marked by extremes of climate, Sewell Mining Town was built by the Braden Copper company in 1905 to house workers at what was to become the world's largest underground copper mine, El Teniente.

Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso

Chile Fifth Region, Province Valparaíso Located on central Chile's Pacific coast, the Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso represents an extraordinary example of industrial-age heritage associated with the international sea trade of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The city was the first and most important merchant port on the sea routes of the Pacific coast of South America that linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Strait of Magellan. It had a major commercial impact on its region from the 1880s until the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. After this date its development slowed, allowing its harbour and distinctive urban fabric to survive as an exceptional testimony to the early phase of globalisation. The city of Valparaíso, the second largest in Chile, is exceptional testimony to the early phase of globalization in the late 19th century. It is located on the Pacific coast some 100 km north of Santiago, in the centre of the country. The geography of Valparaíso consists of a bay, a narrow coastal plain and a series of hills. The World Heritage site is located between the sea and the first terrace, in the area where the city first developed; it comprises part of the plain and surrounding hills, and is composed of five interlaced neighbourhoods

Area de Conservación Guanacaste

Costa Rica Guanacaste and Alajuela provinces Guanacaste is located in north-western Costa Rica. It stretches 105 km from the Pacific, across the Pacific coastal lowlands, over three tall volcanoes and down into the Atlantic coastal lowlands. It includes the Guanacaste Cordillera and surrounding flatlands and coastal areas. The most notable volcano is Rincon de la Vieja, which has three craters and one lagoon. Its last eruption was observed in the 1970s, but some fumarole activity still occurs in one of the craters. At the base of the volcano are several minor craters. On the Naranjo and Nancite beaches during the breeding and mating season (August to December), over 250,000 turtles nest. The majority of them are olive ridley turtles.

Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments

France rles is a good example of the adaptation of an ancient city to medieval European civilization. It has some impressive Roman monuments, of which the earliest - the arena, the Roman theatre and the cryptoporticus (subterranean galleries) - date back to the 1st century B.C. During the 4th century Arles experienced a second golden age, as attested by the baths of Constantine and the necropolis of Alyscamps. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Arles once again became one of the most attractive cities in the Mediterranean. Within the city walls, Saint-Trophime, with its cloister, is one of Provence's major Romanesque monuments. The amphitheatre, built around AD 90, ranks among the great amphitheatres and could hold 20,000 spectators. Gladiator fights and animal hunts took place here until the end of the 5th century. During the Middle Ages, the building became a fortress, sheltering two chapels and 212 houses within its walls. These parasitic constructions were destroyed in 1825.

Kunta Kinteh Island and Related Sites

Gambia Lower Niumi and Upper Niumi districts and Banjul Municipality Kunta Kinteh Island is a small island in the Gambia River which joins the Atlantic Ocean. Its location in the middle of the river made it a strategic place to control the waterway. Visited by explorers and merchants in their search for a sea route to India it became one of the first cultural exchange zones between Africa and Europe. By 1456 the Island had been acquired by Portugal from local rulers and the construction of a fort began. James Island and Related Sites present a testimony to the main periods and facets of the encounter between Africa and Europe along the River Gambia, a continuum stretching from pre-colonial and pre-slavery times to independence. The site is particularly significant for its relation to the beginning of the slave trade and its abolition. It also documents early access to the interior of Africa.

Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura

Holy See Italy Province of Roma, Lazio region (IT) / Vatican City State (VA) Founded, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus in 753 BC, Rome was first the centre of the Roman Republic, then of the Roman Empire, and it became the capital of the Christian world in the 4th century. The World Heritage site, extended in 1990 to the walls of Urban VIII, includes some of the major monuments of antiquity such as the Forums, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the religious and public buildings of papal Rome.

Shirakami-Sanchi

Japan Ajigasawa-machi, Nishitsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture; Fukaura-machi, Nishitsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture; Iwasaki-mura, Nishitsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture; Fujisato-machi, Yamamoto-gun, Akita Prefecture Shirakami-Sanchi World Heritage Property is a wilderness area covering one third of Shirakami mountain range with the largest remaining virgin beech forest in East Asia. The property is located along the Sea of Japan in northern Honshu at an altitude ranging from 100 to 1,243 m above sea level. It is the remnant of the cool-temperate beech forests that have covered the hills and mountain slopes of northern Japan since eight to twelve thousand years ago.

Wadi Rum Protected Area

Jordan Wadi Rum Protected Area (WRPA) is located in the southern part of Jordan, east of the Rift Valley and south of the steep escarpment of the central Jordanian plateau. These landforms have been developed under the influence of a combination of various controlling factors, such as lithology, tectonic activities (including rapid uplift, numerous faults and joints) and surface processes (including various types of weathering and erosion associated with desert climate as well as humid climates in the past), representing million years of ongoing landscape evolution. Widespread petroglyphs, inscriptions and archaeological remains testify to 12,000 years of human occupation and interaction with the natural environment, illustrating the evolution of pastoral, agricultural and urban human activity in the Arabian Peninsula and the environmental history of the region.

Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest

Kenya Mount Kenya straddles the equator about 193 km north-east of Nairobi and about 480 km from the Kenyan coast. At 5,199 m, Mount Kenya is the second highest peak in Africa and is an ancient extinct volcano. There are 12 remnant glaciers on the mountain, all receding rapidly, and four secondary peaks that sit at the head of the U-shaped glacial valleys. With its rugged glacier-clad summits and forested middle slopes, Mount Kenya is one of the most impressive landscapes in East Africa. The evolution and ecology of its afro-alpine flora also provide an outstanding example of ecological processes.

Archaeological Site of Cyrene

Libya District of Ghebel Akhdar Cyrene was founded in the 4th century BC by Greeks of Thera (Santorini) guided by Battos, within a zone where Carthaginian influence was preponderant. From 631 BC (the traditional accepted date of its foundation) to 440 BC, this trading centre, situated in the interior, away from the sea, was dominated by the dynasty of the Battiadae. Within little less than a century (430-331), this kingdom was succeeded by a democratic regime; following which the city spontaneously submitted itself to the rule of Alexander the Great and, at his death, was annexed to the kingdom of the Lagids

Old Towns of Djenné

Mali Djenné Circle, Region of Mopti Djenné, chief town of the Djenné Circle, located 130 km south-west of Mopti (the regional capital) and roughly 570 km north-east of Bamako (the national capital), is one of the oldest towns of sub-Saharan Africa. Inhabited since 250 B.C., Djenné became a market centre and an important link in the trans-Saharan gold trade. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it was one of the centres for the propagation of Islam. Its traditional houses, of which nearly 2,000 have survived, are built on hillocks (toguere) as protection from the seasonal floods.

Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro

Mexico Etat Querétaro, municipalité de Querétaro The old colonial town of Querétaro is unusual in having retained the geometric street plan of the Spanish conquerors side by side with the twisting alleys of the Indian quarters. The Otomi, the Tarasco, the Chichimeca and the Spanish lived together peacefully in the town, which is notable for the many ornate civil and religious Baroque monuments from its golden age in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Schokland and Surroundings

Netherlands Noordoostpolder, Province of Flevoland Schokland was a peninsula that by the 15th century had become an island. Occupied and then abandoned as the sea encroached, it had to be evacuated in 1859. But following the draining of the Zuider Zee, it has, since the 1940s, formed part of the land reclaimed from the sea. S

Convent of Christ in Tomar

Portugal Tomar (Santarem Originally designed as a monument symbolizing the Reconquest, the Convent of the Knights Templar of Tomar (transferred in 1344 to the Knights of the Order of Christ) came to symbolize just the opposite during the Manueline period - the opening up of Portugal to other civilizations.

Historic Centre of Sighişoara

Romania Mureş County, Region of Transylvania Sighişoara, an example of a small fortified city in the border region between the Latin-oriented culture of central Europe and the Byzantine-Orthodox culture of south-eastern Europe, is outstanding testimony to the fast-disappearing culture of the Transylvanian Saxons. The city, which lies in the heart of Transylvania, developed on a plateau, and is dominated by a hill overlooking a bend in the river Tirnava

San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano

San Marino San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano covers 55 ha, including Mount Titano and the historic centre of the city which dates back to the foundation of the republic as a city-state in the 13th century. San Marino is inscribed as a testimony to the continuity of a free republic since the Middle Ages. San Marino is one of the world's oldest republics and the only surviving Italian city-state, representing an important stage in the development of democratic models in Europe and worldwide. Thanks to its position on top of Mount Titano, it was not affected by the urban transformations that have occurred from the advent of the industrial era to today.

Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang

Seat of supreme power for over five centuries (1416-1911), the Forbidden City in Beijing, with its landscaped gardens and many buildings (whose nearly 10,000 rooms contain furniture and works of art), constitutes a priceless testimony to Chinese civilization during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Imperial Palace of the Qing Dynasty in Shenyang consists of 114 buildings constructed between 1625-26 and 1783. It contains an important library and testifies to the foundation of the last dynasty that ruled China, before it expanded its power to the centre of the country and moved the capital to Beijing. This palace then became auxiliary to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. This remarkable architectural edifice offers important historical testimony to the history of the Qing Dynasty and to the cultural traditions of the Manchu and other tribes in the north of China.

Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary

Senegal Delta of the River Senegal Located in the delta of the Senegal River, near Senegal's border with Mauritania, Djoudj covers some 16,000 ha of river channels, backwaters, streams, ponds and a large lake (which covers about a quarter of the sanctuary). In addition, the waters also hold populations of crocodile and African manatee, and the forests and grasslands hold species typical of the Sahelian zone of Africa. The park is in a vast basin of impermeable halomorphic soils forming saline flats in the Senegal River Delta between the main channel to the north, the Djoudj bayou and the Gorom, or bayou to the south. This delta, of which Djoudj is a small part, has been subject to flooding and to the development of dyke systems for many years, the latest in 1963

Golden Temple of Dambulla

Sri Lanka Central Province, Matale District A sacred pilgrimage site for 22 centuries, this cave monastery, with its five sanctuaries, is the largest, best-preserved cave-temple complex in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist mural paintings (covering an area of 2,100 m2 ) are of particular importance, as are the 157 statues. The rock of Dambulla is the centre of a Buddhist cave-temple complex established in the 3rd century B.C. and occupied continuously to this day. Its location has marked a transportation node between the Eastern and Western Dry Zones and between the Dry Zones and the central mountains throughout the history of Sri Lanka.

Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans

Ukraine Situated within the boundaries of the town of Chernivtsi, on the river promontory, named Mount Dominic, the architectural ensemble comprises the former Residence of the Metropolitans with its St. Ivan of Suceava Chapel. The Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans represents a masterful synergy of architectural styles built by Czech architect Josef Hlavka from 1864 to 1882. The property, an outstanding example of 19th-century historicist architecture, also includes a seminary and monastery and is dominated by the domed, cruciform Seminary Church with a garden and park. The complex expresses architectural and cultural influences from the Byzantine period onward and embodies the powerful presence of the Orthodox Church during Habsburg rule, reflecting the Austro-Hungarian Empire policy of religious tolerance.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Viet Nam Bo Trach and Minh Hoa Districts - Quang Binh Province The karst formation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has evolved since the Palaeozoic (some 400 million years ago) and so is the oldest major karst area in Asia. Subject to massive tectonic changes, the park's karst landscape is extremely complex with many geomorphic features of considerable significance. The vast area, extending to the border of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, contains spectacular formations including 65 km of caves and underground rivers. Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park is located in the middle of the Annamite Mountain Range in Quang Binh province, Vietnam and shares its boundary with the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in the Lao PDR to the west.

Ha Long Bay

Viet Nam Province: Quang Ninh Ha Long Bay, located in the Gulf of Tonkin, within Quang Ninh Province, in the northeast of Vietnam, is165 km from the capital of Ha Noi. Covering an area of 43,400 ha and including over 1600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabitated and unaffected by humans, it forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars and is an ideal model of a mature Karst landscape developed during a warm and wet tropical climate. T

Citadel of the Ho Dynasty

Viet Nam The 14th -century Ho Dynasty citadel, built according to the feng shui principles, testifies to the flowering of neo-Confucianism in late 14th century Viet Nam and its spread to other parts of east Asia. According to these principles it was sited in a landscape of great scenic beauty on an axis joining the Tuong Son and Don Son mountains in a plain between the Ma and Buoi rivers. It is located in accordance with geomantic principles in a landscape of great scenic beauty between the Ma and Buoi rivers in Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province of Viet Nam.

Socotra Archipelago

Yemen Socotra Archipelago, in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden, is 250 km long and comprises four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. has been termed the "Galápagos of the Indian Ocean".

Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad

Algeria Commune of Maadid "Bechara", Wilaya (province) of M'Sila Located 36 km to the north-east of the town of M'Sila, in a mountainous setting on the southern flank of Djebel Maâdid. Founded at the beginning of the 11th century by Hammad, son of Bologhine (founder of Algiers). It was the first capital of the Hammadid emirs, an original architecture and the palatial culture of North Africa.

Willandra Lakes Region

Australia Balranald and Wentworth shires, New South Wales The Willandra Lakes Region, in the semi-arid zone in southwest New South Wales (NSW), contains a relict lake system whose sediments, geomorphology and soils contain an outstanding record of a low-altitude, non-glaciated Pleistocene landscape. Willandra contains some of the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens sapiens outside Africa. The evidence of occupation deposits establishes that humans had dispersed as far as Australia by 42,000 years ago.

Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape

Austria States of Upper Austria, Styria and Salzburg Human activity in the magnificent natural landscape of the Salzkammergut began in prehistoric times, with the salt deposits being exploited as early as the 2nd millennium BC. The name of the medieval town, derived from the West German hal (salt) and the Old High German stat (settlement), first recorded in a deed of 1305, testifies to its primary function. This resource formed the basis of the area's prosperity until the mid-20th century, a prosperity that is reflected in the fine architecture of the town of Hallstatt. The southern part of the town, known as In der Lahn, located at the mouth of the Echterntal, is largely of 18th-century date, much of it built after the 1750 fire. The property also includes the Dachstein Mountains, rising to some 3,000 m, which form the highest of the karst massifs in the northern limestone Alps.The Dachstein-Rieseneishöhle is the most impressive ice cave in Austria. The Dachstein massif is exceptional among Alpine karstic areas for retaining its glaciation. Its landscape takes eight distinct forms: each of these zones has its own distinct climate and hence a characteristic flora and fauna.

Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison

Barbados Historic Bridgetown's fortified port spaces were linked along the Bay Street corridor from the historic town's centre to St. Ann's Garrison. The property's natural harbour, Carlisle Bay, was the first port of call on the trans-Atlantic crossing and was perfectly positioned as the launching point for the projection of British imperial power, to defend and expand Britain's trade interests in the region and the Atlantic World. Used as a base for amphibious command and control, the garrison housed the Eastern Caribbean headquarters of the British Army and Navy. Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison participated not only in the international trade of goods and enslaved persons but also in the transmission of ideas and cultures that characterized the developing colonial enterprise in the Atlantic World.

Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo

Bulgaria Village of Ivanovo, 16 km from the town of Ruse, Province of Ruse In the valley of the Roussenski Lom River, in north-east, a complex of rock-hewn churches, chapels, monasteries and cells developed in the vicinity of the village of Ivanovo. The 14th-century murals testify to the exceptional skill of the artists of the Tarnovo school of painting.

Rapa Nui National Park

Chile Easter Island province of the Valparaíso Region Rapa Nui, the indigenous name of Easter Island, bears witness to a unique cultural phenomenon. A society of Polynesian origin that settled there c. A.D. 300 established a powerful, imaginative and original tradition of monumental sculpture and architecture, free from any external influence. From the 10th to the 16th century this society built shrines and erected enormous stone figures known as moai , which created an unrivalled cultural landscape that continues to fascinate people throughout the world.

Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Colombia An exceptional example of a sustainable and productive cultural landscape that is unique and representative of a tradition that is a strong symbol for coffee growing areas worldwide - encompasses six farming landscapes, which include 18 urban centres on the foothills of the western and central ranges of the Cordillera de los Andes in the west of the country. It reflects a centennial tradition of coffee growing in small plots in the high forest and the way farmers have adapted cultivation to difficult mountain conditions.

Historic Centre of Camagüey

Cuba Camagüey Province One of the first seven villages founded by the Spaniards in Cuba, Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe (now Camagüey) , played a prominent role as the urban centre of an inland territory dedicated to cattle breeding and the sugar industry. Settled in its current location in 1528.

Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town

Ethiopia Harari Region The fortified historic town of Harar is located in the eastern part of Ethiopia, 525 km from the capital of Addis Ababa, on a plateau with deep gorges surrounded by deserts and savannah. The walls surrounding this sacred city, considered "the fourth holy city" of Islam, were built between the 13th and 16th centuries and served as a protective barrier. There were five historic gates, which corresponded to the main roads to the town and also served to divide the city into five neighbourhoods, but this division is not functional anymore. The Harar gate, from where the main streets lead to the centre, is of recent construction.

Stone Circles of Senegambia

Gambia Senegal Central River Division - Gambia, Kaolack Region - Senegal These sites, Wassu, and Kerbatch in Gambia, and Wanar and Sine Ngayene in Senegal, represent an extraordinary concentration of more than 1,000 stone circles and related tumuli spread over a territory of 100 km wide and 350 km in length, along the River Gambia , cover 93 stone circles and numerous tumuli, burial mounds, some of which have been excavated to reveal material that suggest dates between 3rd century BC and 16th century AD. Together the stone circles of laterite pillars and their associated burial mounds present a vast sacred landscape created over more than 1,500 years. It reflects a prosperous, highly organized and lasting society.

Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery

Georgia City of Kutaisi, Region of Imereti Bagrati Cathedral is located on a hill on the left bank of the Rioni, and it is reached by a long, winding stairway. The construction of Bagrati Cathedral, named after Bagrat III, the first king of united Georgia, started at the end of the 10th century and was completed in the early years of the 11th century. Although partly destroyed by the Turks in 1691, its ruins still lie in the centre of Kutaisi. The Gelati Monastery, whose main buildings were erected between the 12th and 17th centuries, is a well-preserved complex, with wonderful mosaics and wall paintings. The cathedral and monastery represent the flowering of medieval architecture in Georgia.

Masada

Israel To the west lies the Judaean Desert, with its hills and terraces. To the east is a wildly broken terrain, running down to the brilliant colours of the Dead Sea. A giant scarp stretches to the south away to the horizon - the western wall of the Syrian-African rift valley - and Masada forms part of this scarp. It is a symbol of the ancient kingdom of Israel, its violent destruction and the last stand of Jewish patriots in the face of the Roman army, in 73 A.D. It was built as a palace complex, in the classic style of the early Roman Empire, by Herod the Great, King of Judaea, (reigned 37 - 4 B.C.).

Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site

Marshall Islands In the wake of World War II, in a move closely related to the beginnings of the Cold War, the United States of America decided to resume nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean, on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall archipelago. After the displacement of the local inhabitants, 67 nuclear tests were carried out from 1946 to 1958, including the explosion of the first H-bomb (1952).The emergence of the atolls forming the Marshall archipelago is relatively recent. The arrival and settlement of the Micronesian populations in the islands goes back to the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE The traditional Micronesian way of life was little affected by the visits in the 16th-18th centuries of the first European explorers such as Captain Marshall, after whom the islands were named. The same was true of the first colonial episode, as a German protectorate at the end of the 19th century. Coconut plantations were developed. After World War I the islands were made a Japanese mandate by the League of Nations.

Land of Frankincense

Oman Dhofar Province Shisr lies about 180 km north of Salalah in the desert. This agricultural oasis and caravan site on the route along which frankincense was brought from the Nejd to the port of Sumhuram was dominated by an Iron Age fortress and continued to be used in the Islamic periods. The archaeological remains occur near a large collapsed limestone dome in which there is a cave from which a perpetual spring flows. The frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah and the remains of the caravan oasis of Shisr/Wubar and the affiliated ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed vividly illustrate the trade in frankincense that flourished in this region for many centuries, as one of the most important trading activities of the ancient and medieval world.

Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue

Paraguay Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue are part of a series of 30 missions in the Río de la Plata basin established by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) during the 17th and 18th centuries. Seven of these missions were located in Paraguay and the rest in the present-day countries of Argentina and Brazil. The mission complexes were attached to reducciones (settlements) and are evidence of a unique urban scheme. While each period had a singular style, all combined indigenous elements with Christian attributes and symbolism exhibiting Baroque, Romanesque and Greek influences, as part of an unprecedented process of acculturation.

Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas

Patagonia Region, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina The Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas, contains an exceptional assemblage of cave art, executed between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago. It takes its name (Cave of the Hands) from the stencilled outlines of human hands in the cave, but there are also many depictions of animals, such as guanacos (Lama guanicoe ), still commonly found in the region, as well as hunting scenes. The people responsible for the paintings may have been the ancestors of the historic hunter-gatherer communities of Patagonia found by European settlers in the 19th century.

Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary

Philippines Forming a mountain ridge running north-south along the Pujada Peninsula in the south-eastern part of the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary has an elevation range of 75-1,637 m above sea level and provides critical habitat for a range of plant and animal species. The property showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats at different elevations, and includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, eight of which are found only at Mount Hamiguitan. These include critically endangered trees, plants and the iconic Philippine eagle and Philippine cockatoo.

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Philippines Municipality of Cagayancillo, Province of Palawan Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park lies in a unique position in the centre of the Sulu Sea, and includes the Tubbataha and Jessie Beazley Reefs. It protects an area of almost 100,000 hectares of high quality marine habitats containing three atolls and a large area of deep sea. The property is home to a great diversity of marine life. Whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and Napoleon wrasse are amongst the key species found here. The reef ecosystems support over 350 species of coral and almost 500 species of fish. The reserve also protects one of the few remaining colonies of breeding seabirds in the region

Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine

Poland Ukraine Located at the eastern fringes of Central Europe within the Polish and Ukrainian Carpathian mountain range, the sixteen wooden tserkvas (churches) are outstanding examples of the once widespread Orthodox ecclesiastical timber-building tradition in the Slavic countries that survives to this day. They include Hutsul types in the Ukrainian south-eastern Carpathians at Nyzhniy Verbizh and Yasynia; Halych types in the northern Carpathians either side of the Polish/Ukrainian border at Rohatyn, Drohobych, Zhovkva, Potelych, Radruż and Chotyniec; Boyko types either side of the Polish/Ukrainian border near the border with Slovakia at Smolnik, Uzhok and Matkiv, and western Lemko types in the Polish west Carpathians at Powroźnik, Brunary Wyźne, Owczary, Kwiatoń and Turzańsk.

Old City of Zamość

Poland City and County of Zamość, Lublin Voivodship (formerly Zamość Voivodship) Zamosc was founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on Italian theories of the 'ideal city' and built by the architect Bernando Morando, a native of Padua, Zamosc is a perfect example of a late-16th-century Renaissance town. It has retained its original layout and fortifications and a large number of buildings that combine Italian and central European architectural traditions.

Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks

Republic of Korea The Janggyeong Panjeon in the Temple of Haeinsa, on the slopes of Mount Gayasan, is home to the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, laws and treaties extant, engraved on approximately 80,000 woodblocks between 1237 and 1248.

Ensemble of the Ferapontov Monastery

Russian Federation Vologda region The Ferapontov Monastery, in the Vologda region in northern Russia, is an exceptionally well-preserved and complete example of a Russian Orthodox monastic complex of the 15th-17th centuries, a period of great significance in the development of the unified Russian state and its culture. The architecture of the monastery is outstanding in its inventiveness and purity. The interior is graced by the magnificent wall paintings of Dionisy, the greatest Russian artist of the end of the 15th century.

Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah

Saudi Arabia Historic Jeddah is situated on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. From the 7th century AD it was established as a major port for Indian Ocean trade routes, channelling goods to Mecca. It was also the gateway for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca who arrived by sea.

Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih)

Saudi Arabia The Archaeological Site of Al-Hijr (Madâin Sâlih) is the first World Heritage property to be inscribed in Saudi Arabia. Formerly known as Hegra it is the largest conserved site of the civilization of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan. At its apogee and for around two centuries, the Nabataean kingdom extended over southern Syria, the Negev and Hedjaz. To the west it came up against the ambitions of the Roman world, and it remained essentially a continental power. The Nabataeans are well known for their role in the commerce of incense, spices and aromatic plants during late Antiquity and the pre-Islamic period. They then controlled the land routes between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea and Mediterranean. Land routes were important as navigation remained difficult, particularly in the Red Sea.

At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah

Saudi Arabia This property was the first capital of the Saudi Dynasty, in the heart of the Arabian Penisula, north-west of Riyadh. Founded in the 15th century, it bears witness to the Najdi architectural style, which is specific to the centre of the Arabian peninsula. In the 18th and early 19th century, its political and religious role increased, and the citadel at at-Turaif became the centre of the temporal power of the House of Saud and the spread of the Wahhabi reform inside the Muslim religion.

Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea

The city of Rio de Janeiro, shaped by interaction with mountains and sea, lies in the narrow strip of alluvial plain between Guanabara Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Its exceptionally dramatic landscape is punctuated by a series of forested mountains that tower over the city, rising to the uppermost peak of the Tijuca massif at 1,021 m high, and cascading down to the coast where the steep cone shapes of Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar), Urca, Cara de Cão and Corcovado frame the wide sweeps of Guanabara Bay that shelters Rio de Janeiro from the Atlantic Ocean.

Australian Convict Sites

The property includes a selection of eleven penal sites, among the thousands established by the British Empire on Australian soil in the 18th and 19th centuries. The sites are spread across Australia, from Fremantle in Western Australia to Kingston and Arthur's Vale on Norfolk Island in the east; and from areas around Sydney in New South Wales in the north, to sites located in Tasmania in the south. Around 166,000 men, women and children were sent to Australia over 80 years between 1787 and 1868, condemned by British justice to transportation to the convict colonies.

Wet Tropics of Queensland

This area, which stretches along the north-east coast of Australia for some 450 km, from just south of Cooktown to just north of Townsville, is made up largely of tropical rainforests.

Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba

Togo Kara Region Koutammakou is the name of a large semi-mountainous region located in north-eastern Togo and which extends into neighbouring Benin. Koutammakou of Togo covers approximately 50 000 ha and joins the border of Benin for 15 km. This living cultural landscape is inhabited by the Batammariba people, whose remarkable earth tower houses, called « takienta », have become a symbol of Togo.

Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Municipality of Libertador, Caracas Located in Caracas, capital city of Venezuela, South America, the main campus of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, was established in the colonial period by Simon Bolivar. Covering an area of 164,203 hectares, the site includes masterpieces of architecture and modern art built to the design of architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, between 1940 and 1960, and includes the Botanical Garden

Xinjiang Tianshan

Xinjiang Tianshan comprises four components—Tomur, Kalajun-Kuerdening, Bayinbukuke and Bogda— that total 606,833 hectares. They are part of the Tianshan mountain system of Central Asia, one of the largest mountain ranges in the world. The site also extends into the Taklimakan Desert, one of the world's largest and highest deserts, known for its large dune forms and great dust storms.

Old Walled City of Shibam

Yemen Hadramaut Governorate, in the Wadi Hadramaut, Seiyun District The tall cluster of sun-dried mud brick tower houses of the 16th century walled city of Shibam, which rises out of the cliff edge of Wadi Hadramaut has been described as a 'Manhattan' or 'Chicago' of the desert. Located at an important caravan halt on the spice and incense route across the Southern Arabian plateau, the city of dwellings up to seven storeys high developed on a fortified, rectangular grid plan of streets and squares. The city is built on a rocky spur several hundred metres above the wadi bed, and superseded an earlier settlement that was partly destroyed by a massive flood in 1532-3.

Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh / Naracoorte)

Australia States of Queensland and South Australia Riversleigh and Naracoorte are among the world's 10 greatest fossil sites: Riversleigh comprises the southern section of Lawn Hill National Park in north-west Queensland; and Naracoorte lies in the south-east of South Australia. The two sites are representative of the development of Australia's mammal fauna during the Cenozic era (65 million years ago to the present).

City of Graz - Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg

Austria The historic centre of the city of Graz reflects artistic and architectural movements originating from the Germanic region, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean, for which it served as a crossroads for centuries. The first traces of continuous human settlement go back to the Neolithic period. The site was not a Roman settlement, even though crossed by a few roads. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was invaded, successively by Avars, Hungarians, and finally by German settlers. Graz was included in the March of Carinthia and mentioned for the first time in an official deed of 1128-29. Around this time an open market began to flourish, leading to urban development with the immigration of Bavarian settlers. After the Treaty of Neuberg (1379) and the first division of the Habsburg heritage, Graz came under the rule of the line established by Leopold III.

Historic City of Sucre

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Department de Chuquisaca, Province Oropeza The Historic City of Sucre, located in the foothills of the Sica Sica and Churuquella in central-south of Bolivia, is an excellent, intact and well-preserved illustration of the architectural blending achieved in Latin America through the assimilation of local traditions and styles imported from Europe. Founded by the Spanish in 1538 as Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo (Silver Town of New Toledo) on the lands of the Yampara, indigenous culture of the Characas confederation, La Plata was for many years the judicial, religious and cultural centre of the region. The city was renamed in honour of the deceased leader of the fight for Independence, Antonio Jose de Sucre in 1839, when it was declared the first capital of Bolivia

Iguaçu National Park

Brazil Paraná State The park shares with Iguazú National Park in Argentina one of the world's largest and most impressive waterfalls, extending over some 2,700 m. It is home to many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, among them the giant otter and the giant anteater. The clouds of spray produced by the waterfall are conducive to the growth of lush vegetation.

Historic Centre of the Town of Goiás

Brazil State of Goiás The Historic Centre of the Town of Goiás is built between two series of hills, along a small river, the Rio Vermelho. The areas on the right bank are tight up against the north-western hills, and have a popular character, indicated by the church of Rosario, which was traditionally reserved for slaves. The areas on the left bank, limited by the hills to the south-east, are reserved for the more representative groups of buildings, including the parish church (today the cathedral) of Santana, the Governor's Palace, the barracks, the Casa de Fundição (foundry), extending to the Praça do Chafariz and climbing towards the hill of Chapeu do Padre. Here are also to be found the historic residential quarter and a characteristic market place.The urban layout is an example of the organic development of a mining town, adapted to the conditions of the site. Although modest, both public and private architecture form a harmonious whole, due to the coherent use of local materials and vernacular techniques. Goiás testifies to the occupation and colonization of the lands of central Brazil in the 18th and 19th centuries. The origins of the town of Goiás are closely related with the history of the more or less official expeditions (bandeiras), which left from São Paulo to explore the interior of the Brazilian territory. It was the first officially recognized urban core, the first borough to be planned West of the demarcation line of the Treaty of Tordesillas that defined the boundaries of the Portuguese possessions.

Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari

Bulgaria Razgrad Province The tomb is located in a region declared an archaeological reserve, near the town of Razgra between the villages of Malak Porovetz and Sveshtari in Isperih municipality, in the river Krapinetz canyon and on the hills around. The time when the Sveshtari tomb was built (mid-3rd century BC) coincided with the period of a great political, economic and cultural upsurge of the Thracian tribe of the Getae. The rich decoration and perfect architecture of the tomb demonstrate the political power of the ruler. The tomb is an exceptional testimony to the culture of the Getae, a Thracian people living in the north of Hemus, in contact with the Greek and Hyperborean worlds according to ancient geographers. The discovery in 1982 of the Thracian tomb of Sveshtari was one of the most spectacular archaeological events of the 20th century.

Angkor

Cambodia Province Siem Reap Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings. At the beginning of the 9th century the two states that covered the territory of modern Cambodia were united by Jayavarman II, who laid the foundations of the Khmer Empire, the major power in south-east Asia for some five centuries. One of the sites was in central Cambodia, to the north of Tonle Sap (Great Lake), where half a century later Jayavarman's son, Yashovarman, was to establish Yashodapura (later called Angkor), the permanent capital of the Khmer Empire until the 15th century.

Dja Faunal Reserve

Cameroon Provinces du Sud et de l'Est (Départments: du Dja-et-LOBO pour la partie Ouest, du Haut-Nyong pour la partie Est) Founded in 1950, the Dja Faunal Reserve is an integral part of the dense rain forests that form the Congo Basin. This is one of the largest and best-protected rainforests in Africa, with 90% of its area left undisturbed. Almost completely surrounded by the Dja River, which forms a natural boundary, the reserve is especially noted for its biodiversity and a wide variety of primates. It contains 107 mammal species, five of which are threatened.

Gros Morne National Park

Canada Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador Located on the western shore of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, the park provides a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the Earth's mantle lie exposed. More recent glacial action has resulted in some spectacular scenery, with coastal lowland, alpine plateau, fjords, glacial valleys, sheer cliffs, waterfalls and many pristine lakes. The park comprises part of the Long Range Mountains on the Gulf of St Lawrence. The park includes coastal lowlands and an alpine plateau. The marine areas included in the park covers the inner portion of St Paul's Inlet, intertidal zones and estuaries. The shoreline features beaches, steep cliffs, and dune formations up to 30 m in height.

Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc

Czech Republic Olomouc Region This memorial column, erected in the early years of the 18th century, is the most outstanding example of a type of monument specific to central Europe. In the characteristic regional style known as Olomouc Baroque and rising to a height of 35 m, it is decorated with many fine religious sculptures, the work of the distinguished Moravian artist Ondrej Zahner. In the reconstruction following the Thirty Years' War (1648-50) the city of Olomouc took on a new appearance.

Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca

Ecuador Province of Azuay Located in the heart of the Andean mountains, the town of Cuenca is entrenched in a valley irrigated by four rivers: Tomebamba, Yanuncay, Tarqui and Machangara. This location has over a long period of time favoured close contact with the natural environment. The Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Rios de Cuenca includes the territory that was occupied by the town of Cuenca until the first half of the 20th century, as well as the archaeological site of Pumapungo and the corridors that include the ancient access routes to the town. Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca is set in a valley surrounded by the Andean mountains in the south of Ecuador. This inland colonial town (entroterra ), now the country's third city, was founded in 1557 on the rigorous planning guidelines issued 30 years earlier by the Spanish king Charles V. Cuenca still observes the formal orthogonal town plan that it has respected for 400 years. One of the region's agricultural and administrative centres, it has been a melting pot for local and immigrant populations. Cuenca's architecture, much of which dates from the 18th century, was 'modernized' in the economic prosperity of the 19th century as the city became a major exporter of quinine, straw hats and other products.

Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region

Ethiopia Amhara Region Flanked by twin mountain streams at an altitude of more than 2,300 m, Gondar was founded by Emperor Fasilidas who, tiring of the pattern of migration that had characterized the lifestyle of so many of his forefathers, moved his capital here in 1636, a role that it filled until 1864. It is famous for its many medieval castles and the design and decoration of its churches. No one knows exactly why Fasilidas chose to establish his headquarters there

Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski

Germany Poland The site is the core zone of an extensive landscape park laid out by a leading European personality of the mid-19th century, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, around the New Castle of Muskauer on either side of the River Neisse, the border between Poland and Germany. The entire park extended around the town of Muskau and out into the surrounding farmed landscape. it was created by Prince Hermann von Puckler-Muskau from 1815 to 1844. Blending seamlessly with the surrounding farmed landscape, the park pioneered new approaches to landscape design and influenced the development of landscape architecture in Europe and America. Designed as a 'painting with plants', it did not seek to evoke classical landscapes, paradise, or some lost perfection, instead using local plants to enhance the inherent qualities of the existing landscape. This integrated landscape extends into the town of Muskau with green passages that formed urban parks framing areas for development. The town thus became a design component in a utopian landscape. The site also features a reconstructed castle, bridges and an arboretum.

Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof

Germany Bavaria Located on the Danube River in Bavaria, this medieval town contains many buildings of exceptional quality that testify to its history as a trading centre and to its influence on the region from the 9th century. A notable number of historic structures span some two millennia and include ancient Roman, Romanesque and Gothic buildings. Regensburg's 11th- to 13th-century architecture - including the market, city hall and cathedral - still defines the character of the town marked by tall buildings, dark and narrow lanes, and strong fortifications. The buildings include medieval patrician houses and towers, a large number of churches and monastic ensembles as well as the 12th-century Old Bridge. The town is also remarkable for the vestiges testifing to its rich history as one of the centres of the Holy Roman Empire that turned to Protestantism.

Upper Middle Rhine Valley

Germany States of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and Hesse (Hessen) The strategic location of the dramatic 65km stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley between Bingen, Rüdesheim und Koblenz as a transport artery and the prosperity that this engendered is reflected in its sixty small towns, the extensive terraced vineyards and the ruins of castles that once defended its trade. The river breaks through the Rhenish Slate Mountains, connecting the broad floodplain of the Oberrheingraben with the lowland basin of the Lower Rhine. The property extends from the Bingen Gate (Binger Pforte), where the River Rhine flows into the deeply gorged, canyon section of the Rhine Valley, through the 15km long Bacharach valley, with smaller V-shaped side valleys, to Oberwesel where the transition from soft clay-slates to hard sandstone, results. In a series of narrows, the most famous of which is the Loreley, no more than 130m wide (and at 20m the deepest section of the Middle Rhine), and then up to the Lahnstein Gate (Lahnsteiner Pforte), where the river widens again into the Neuwied Valley. The property also includes the adjoining middle and upper Rhine terraces (Upper Valley) which bear witness to the course taken by the river in ancient times.

Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra

Indonesia Provinces of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Sumatra Utara (North Sumatra), Jambi, Sumatra Barat (West Sumatra), Sumatra Selatan (South Sumatra), Bengkulu, and Lampung on the Island of Sumatra The 2.5 million hectare Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra site comprises three national parks: Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. The site is located on Bukit Barisan range and holds the greatest potential for long-term conservation of the diverse biota of Sumatra, including many endangered species. The TRHS includes the highest volcano in Indonesia, Gunung Kerinci (3,805 m asl) along with many other physical features of exceptional natural beauty, including; Lake Gunung Tujuh the highest lake in Southeast Asia.

Meidan Emam, Esfahan

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Esfahan Built by Shah Abbas I the Great at the beginning of the 17th century, and bordered on all sides by monumental buildings linked by a series of two-storeyed arcades, the site is known for the Royal Mosque, the Mosque of Sheykh Lotfollah, the magnificent Portico of Qaysariyyeh and the 15th-century Timurid palace. The Shah of the Iranian dynasty of the Safawids, Abbas, who reigned from 1587 to 1628, chose as his capital Esfahan, which he magnificently embellished and remodelled. The centre of the city was accented by a vast Royal Square (Meidan-e Shah) which was so beautiful and so large that it was called 'The Image of the World'

Historic Centre of Florence

Italy City and Province of Florence, Tuscany Founded in 59 BC as a Roman colony known as Florentia, only in the 11th century did the free commune of Florence begin to succeed - both politically and economically - where other cities of Tuscany had failed, with the slow but unrestrainable process culminating in the annexation of Siena in 1557. In the 15th century, the city reached the apex of its splendour, thanks partly to the presence in Florence of such geniuses as the architects Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, the painters Masaccio, Paolo Uccello and Sandro Botticelli, and the sculptors Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Luca della Robbia, as well as the unforgettable Michelangelo Buonarotti and Leonardo da Vinci.

Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy

Italy Regions of Lombardy and Piedmont The phenomenon of sacri monti ("sacred mountains") began at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries with the aim of creating in Europe places of prayer as alternative to the Holy Places in Jerusalem and Palestine, access to which was becoming more difficult for pilgrims owing to the rapid expansion of Muslim culture. The Minorite guardians of the Holy Sepulchre selected three sites - Varallo in Valsesia, belonging to the Duchy of Milan, Montaione in Tuscany, and Braga in northern Portugal - at which to build "New Jerusalems" designed to be similar in topography to the original.

Longobards in Italy. Places of the Power (568-774 A.D.)

Italy The Longobards in Italy, Places of Power, 568 - 774 A.D. comprises seven groups of important buildings (including fortresses, churches, and monasteries) throughout the Italian Peninsula. They testify to the high achievement of the Lombards, who migrated from northern Europe and developed their own specific culture in Italy where they ruled over vast territories in the 6th to 8th centuries. The Lombards synthesis of architectural styles marked the transition from Antiquity to the European Middle Ages, drawing on the heritage of Ancient Rome, Christian spirituality, Byzantine influence and Germanic northern Europe. The serial property testifies to the Lombards' major role in the spiritual and cultural development of Medieval European Christianity, notably by bolstering the monastic movement.

Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama

Japan Gifu and Toyama prefectures The Gassho-style houses found in the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama are rare examples of their kind in Japan. Located in a river valley surrounded by the rugged high-mountain Chubu region of central Japan, these three villages were remote and isolated, and access to the area was difficult for a long period of time. The inscribed property comprises the villages of "Ogimachi" in the Shirakawa-go region, and "Ainokura" and "Suganuma" in the Gokayama region, all situated along the Sho River in Gifu and Toyama Prefectures. In response to the geographical and social background, a specific housing type evolved: rare examples of Gassho-style houses, a unique farmhouse style that makes use of highly rational structural systems evolved to adapt to the natural environment and site-specific social and economic circumstances in particular the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses have steeply-pitched thatched roofs and have been preserved in groups, many with their original outbuildings which permit the associated landscapes to remain intact.

Hiraizumi - Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land

Japan Hiraizumi - Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land comprises five sites, including the sacred Mount Kinkeisan. It features vestiges of government offices dating from the 11th and 12th centuries when Hiraizumi was the administrative centre of the northern realm of Japan and rivalled Kyoto. The realm was based on the cosmology of Pure Land Buddhism, which spread to Japan in the 8th century. It represented the pure land of Buddha that people aspire to after death, as well as peace of mind in this life. In combination with indigenous Japanese nature worship and Shintoism, Pure Land Buddhism developed a concept of planning and garden design that was unique to Japan.

Himeji-jo

Japan Hyogo Prefecture Himeji-jo is the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture. It is located in Himeji City, in the Hyogo Prefecture, an area that has been an important transportation hub in West Japan since ancient times. The castle property, situated on a hill summit in the central part of the Harima Plain, covers 107 hectares and comprises eighty-two buildings. It is centred on the Tenshu-gun, a complex made up of the donjon, keeps and connecting structures that are part of a highly developed system of defence and ingenious protection devices dating from the beginning of the Shogun period.

Megalithic Temples of Malta

Malta Islands of Gozo and Malta Being among the remarkable megalithic temples of the Maltese archipelago, the prehistoric ensemble of Ġgantija on the island of Gozo may be favourably compared with the three great temples of the island of Malta: Mnajdra, Ħagar Qim and Tarxien. Within a completely preserved enclosure wall, Ġgantija consists of two temples of multi-foil plan. even megalithic temples are found on the islands of Malta and Gozo, each the result of an individual development. The two temples of Ggantija on the island of Gozo are notable for their gigantic Bronze Age structures. On the island of Malta, the temples of Hagar Qin, Mnajdra and Tarxien are unique architectural masterpieces, given the limited resources available to their builders. The Ta'Hagrat and Skorba complexes show how the tradition of temple-building was handed down in Malta.

Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco

Mexico District Federal. Delegations: Cuauhtemoc, Venustiano Carranza et Xochimilco Built in the 16th century by the Spanish on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the old Aztec capital, Mexico City is now one of the world's largest and most densely populated cities. The Aztecs built what was to become the capital of their empire on a small island in the Lake of Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Testimonies from the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquerors at Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, account for the existence of the great lake dotted with a multitude of canoes and the island city, full of oratories like towers and fortresses and all gleaming white. The conquering Spaniards destroyed the island city of Tenochtitlan and started to drain the lake that surrounded it. Xochimilco: The lacustrine landscape of Xochimilco, located 28 km south of the city, constitutes the only reminder of traditional Pre-Hispanic land-use in the lagoons of the Mexico City basin. With its network of canals and artificial islands, it testifies to the efforts of the Aztec people to build a habitat in the midst of an unfavourable environment. Its characteristic urban and rural structures, built since the 16th century and during the colonial period; have been preserved in an exceptional manner.

Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche

Mexico The site is located in the central/southern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula, in southern Mexico and includes the remains of the important Maya city Calakmul, set deep in the tropical forest of the Tierras Bajas. The city played a key role in the history of this region for more than twelve centuries and is characterized by well-preserved structures providing a vivid picture of life in an ancient Maya capital. The property also falls within the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot, the third largest in the world, encompassing all subtropical and tropical ecosystems from central Mexico to the Panama Canal.

Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in "The Centre of Heaven and Earth"

Mount Songshang is considered to be the central sacred mountain of China. At the foot of this 1500 metre high mountain, close to the city of Dengfeng in Henan province and spread over a 40 square-kilometre circle, stand eight clusters of buildings and sites, including three Han Que gates - remains of the oldest religious edifices in China -, temples, the Zhougong Sundial Platform and the Dengfeng Observatory. whose name is now associated with an area to the south of Mount Shaoshi and Mount Taishi, two peaks of Mount Songshan, came to be associated with the concept of the centre of heaven and earth - the only point where astronomical observations were considered to be accurate. The natural attribute of the centre of heaven and earth was seen to be Mount Songshan and worship of Mount Songshan was used by the Emperors as a way of reinforcing their power.

Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal (D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station)

Netherlands Lemmer, Lemsterland Municipality, Province of Friesland The Wouda Pumping Station at Lemmer in the province of Friesland opened in 1920. It is the largest steam-pumping station ever built and is still in operation. It represents the high point of the contribution made by Netherlands engineers and architects in protecting their people and land against the natural forces of water. The complex is located along the IJsselmeer, west of Lemmer in the Municipality of Lemsterland. The pumping station is at the end of a supply canal, dug in 1915, the Stroomkanaal and the Afwateringskanaal, through which the waters of the Frisian Reservoir flow into the IJsselmeer through the Groote Brekken Lake. The inlet sluice, built in 1936-38, is located a little to the east at the Teroelsterkolk. To the west of the pumping station is the Princess Margriet Lock and canal, in use since 1951 to handle the heavy traffic from the IJsselmeer. Centuries of battling against water has created the Dutch landscape

Defence Line of Amsterdam

Netherlands Provinces of Noord-Holland (NH), Utrecht (UT) Extending 135 km around the city of Amsterdam, this defence line (built between 1883 and 1920) is the only example of a fortification based on the principle of controlling the waters. Since the 16th century, the people of the Netherlands have used their expert knowledge of hydraulic engineering for defence purposes. The centre of the country was protected by a network of 45 armed forts, acting in concert with temporary flooding from polders and an intricate system of canals and locks.

Van Nellefabriek

Netherlands Van Nellefabriek was designed and built in the 1920s on the banks of a canal in the Spaanse Polder industrial zone north-west of Rotterdam. The site is one of the icons of 20th-century industrial architecture, comprising a complex of factories, with façades consisting essentially of steel and glass, making large-scale use of the curtain wall principle. It was conceived as an 'ideal factory', open to the outside world, whose interior working spaces evolved according to need, and in which daylight was used to provide pleasant working conditions.

Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore

Pakistan Lahore, Punjab Destroyed and rebuilt several times by the Mughals from the 13th to the 15th centuries, it was definitively rebuilt and reorganized starting with the reign of Emperor Akbar (1542-1605). Based on the 21 monuments preserved within its boundaries, it comprises the most beautiful repertory of the forms of Mughal architecture, whose evolution may be followed over more than two centuries. The monuments from the reign of Akbar are characterized by the use of regular wall masonry consisting of baked bricks and blocks of red sandstone. Hindu influence may be noted, especially in the zoomorphic corbels which do not belong to the Mughal tradition. These are two masterpieces from the time of the brilliant Mughal civilization, which reached its height during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan. The fort contains marble palaces and mosques decorated with mosaics and gilt. The elegance of these splendid gardens, built near the city of Lahore on three terraces with lodges, waterfalls and large ornamental ponds, is unequalled.

Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro

Pakistan Sind The archaeological site is located on the right bank of the Indus River, 400 km from Karachi, in Pakistan's Sind Province. It flourished for about 800 years during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Centre of the Indus Civilization, one of the largest in the Old World, this 5,000-year-old city is the earliest manifestation of urbanization in South Asia. Its urban planning surpasses that of many other sites of the oriental civilizations that were to follow.

Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa

Peru Province of Arequipa Arequipa was founded in 1540 by a handful of conquistadores. The site was in a valley that had been intensively farmed by pre-Hispanic communities, a fact that has contributed to the topography of the place. The layout of an indigenous hamlet has survived close to the Historic Centre in the district of San Lázaro. The World Heritage site consists of 49 original blocks of the Spanish layout (excluding three blocks adjacent to the Mercado San Camilo not considered to be adequate because of their style). In addition there are 24 blocks from the colonial period and the 19th century.

Centennial Hall in Wrocław

Poland Silesia Region, Lower Silesian Voivodship The Centennial Hall, a landmark in the history of reinforced concrete architecture, was erected in 1911-1913 by the architect Max Berg as a multi-purpose recreational building, situated in the Exhibition Grounds. In form it is a symmetrical quatrefoil with a vast circular central space that can seat some 6,000 persons. The 23m-high dome is topped with a lantern in steel and glass. The Centennial Hall is a pioneering work of modern engineering and architecture, which exhibits an important interchange of influences in the early 20th century, becoming a key reference in the later development of reinforced concrete structures

Laurisilva of Madeira

Portugal Island of Madeira The Laurisilva of Madeira consists of approximately 15,000 ha within the 27,000 ha Madeira Nature Reserve. The site conserves primary laurel forest (laurisilva), a vegetation type that is now confined to the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. The laurisilva on Madeira is the largest area of laurel forest surviving and is in very good condition, with around 90% believed to be primary forest.

Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple

Republic of Korea Established in the 8th century on the slopes of Mount Toham, the Seokguram Grotto contains a monumental statue of the Buddha looking at the sea in the bhumisparsha mudra position. With the surrounding portrayals of gods, Bodhisattvas and disciples, all realistically and delicately sculpted in high and low relief, it is considered a masterpiece of Buddhist art in the Far East. The Temple of Bulguksa (built in 774) and the Seokguram Grotto form a religious architectural complex of exceptional significance.

Gyeongju Historic Areas

Republic of Korea Gyeongju City, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province The Gyeongju Historic Areas contain a remarkable concentration of outstanding examples of Korean Buddhist art, in the form of sculptures, reliefs, pagodas, and the remains of temples and palaces from the flowering, in particular between the 7th and 10th centuries, of this unique form of artistic expression. The Korean peninsula was ruled for almost 1,000 years by the Silla dynasty, and the sites and monuments in and around Gyeongju bear outstanding testimony to its cultural achievements. These monuments are of exceptional significance in the development of Buddhist and secular architecture in Korea. There has been human settlement at and around the site of the present-day town of Gyeongju from the prehistoric period. The property comprises five distinct areas or belts situated in the centre of Gyeongju and in its suburbs

Golden Mountains of Altai

Russian Federation 450 km southwest of Novosibirsk, in the Altai Republic The Altai mountains in southern Siberia form the major mountain range in the western Siberia biogeographic region and provide the source of its greatest rivers - the Ob and the Irtysh. Three separate areas are inscribed: Altaisky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Lake Teletskoye; Katunsky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mount Belukha; and the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok plateau. The site is in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia in the territory of the Altai Republic, comprising the high mountainous areas of Altai, the headwaters of the Katun and Chulyshman rivers and Lake Teletskoye. The World Heritage site consists of three separate areas: Altaisky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Lake Teletskoye; Katunsky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mount Belukha; and the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau. Two of the areas are located along the borders with China and Mongolia. This extensive mountainous area is the watershed between central Asia and the Arctic Ocean and includes the headwaters of the Katun and Baya rivers. The confluence of these two rivers, beyond the boundary of the nominated site, forms the River Ob at 5,410 km, the fifth-longest river in the world, which flows north into the Arctic Ocean.

Island of Gorée

Senegal Cape Verde Region The island of Gorée lies off the coast of Senegal, opposite Dakar. From the 15th to the 19th century, it was the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast. Ruled in succession by the Portuguese, Dutch, English and French, its architecture is characterized by the contrast between the grim slave-quarters and the elegant houses of the slave traders. Today it continues to serve as a reminder of human exploitation and as a sanctuary for reconciliation.

Niokolo-Koba National Park

Senegal Eastern Senegal and Upper Casamance regions Located in the Sudano-Guinean zone, Niokolo-Koba National Park is characterized by its group of ecosystems typical of this region, over an area of 913 000ha. Watered by large waterways (the Gambia, Sereko, Niokolo, Koulountou), it comprises gallery forests, savannah grass floodplains, ponds, dry forests -- dense or with clearings -- rocky slopes and hills and barren Bowés. This remarkable plant diversity justifies the presence of a rich fauna characterized by: the Derby Eland (the largest of African antelopes), chimpanzees, lions, leopards, a large population of elephants as well as many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Vlkolínec

Slovakia Ružomberok District, Zilina Regi Vlkolínec, situated in the centre of Slovakia, is a remarkably intact settlement of 45 buildings with the traditional features of a central European village. It is the region's most complete group of these kinds of traditional log houses, often found in mountainous areas.

Levoča, Spišský Hrad and the Associated Cultural Monuments

Slovakia Spišsky Hrad (castle) stands on a dramatic site, a hill rising out of the plain of western Slovakia. The earliest occupation on the site dates back to as early as the Neolithic period (5th millennium BC), and it was subsequently occupied in the Bronze Age and in the 1st century AD, when a fortified settlement was built there, serving as the political and administrative centre of the contemporary Púchov people. It was also fortified during the Great Moravian Period (9th century AD).

Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve

Slovakia Town and District of Bardejov, Prešov Region Bardejov is situated on a floodplain terrace of the Topl'a River, in north-eastern Slovakia in the hills of the Beskyd Mountains. Bardejov is a small but exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a fortified medieval town, which typifies the urbanisation in this region. Among other remarkable features, it also contains a small Jewish quarter around a fine 18th-century synagogue.

East Rennell

Solomon Islands Southernmost of the Solomon Islands, Rennell and Bellona Province East Rennell, and is located 250km due south of the Solomon's capital, Honiara, makes up the southern third of Rennell Island, the southernmost island in the Solomon Island group in the western Pacific. Rennell, 86 km long x 15 km wide, is the largest raised coral atoll in the world. The site includes approximately 37,000 ha and a marine area extending 3 nautical miles to sea. A major feature of the island is Lake Tegano, which was the former lagoon on the atoll. The lake, the largest in the insular Pacific (15,500 ha), is brackish and contains many rugged limestone islands and endemic species. . Rennell was formed by the uplift of corals which formed on an undersea ridge and then were subject to faulting.

Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzona

Switzerland Bellinzona - Canton of Ticino The Bellinzona site consists of a group of fortifications grouped around the castle of Castelgrande, which stands on a rocky peak looking out over the entire Ticino valley. Running from the castle, a series of fortified walls protect the ancient town and block the passage through the valley. A second castle (Montebello) forms an integral part of the fortifications, while a third but separate castle (Sasso Corbaro) was built on an isolated rocky promontory south-east of the other fortifications. The fortified ensemble of Bellinzone is a unique example of European architecture erected in defence of the feudal structure guarding a key strategic Alpine pass. The Bellinzone ensemble is the sole remaining example in the entire Alpine region of medieval military architecture, comprising three castles, a wall that once closed off the whole Ticino valley, and the ramparts which surrounded the town for the protection of its citizens. Bellinzone owes its origins to its strategic position controlling access, via the Ticino valley, to the main Alpine passes into the Milanese, i.e. the whole north of Italy.

Old City of Berne

Switzerland Canton of Berne The Old City of Berne, federal city of Switzerland and capital of the canton of Berne, is located on the Swiss plateau between the Jura and the Alps. Built on a rocky promontory which fits tightly into a loop of the Aar River, the old city of Berne still retains the imprint and original character of the successive periods of its very rich history in its plan and its monuments. It was founded, on a hill site surrounded by the Aar, by Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen (most likely in 1191)

Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

Switzerland The Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region is the most glaciated part of the European Alps, containing Europe's largest glacier and a range of classic glacial features, and provides an outstanding record of the geological processes that formed the High Alps. A diverse flora and fauna is represented in a range of habitats, and plant colonization in the wake of retreating glaciers provides an outstanding example of plant succession. The Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region is located in the south central Swiss Alps midway between the cities of Brig and Interlaken, 77% in Valais and 23% in Bern. Nine peaks in the site are higher than 4,000 m. The geology of the site derives from the 'Helvetic nappe' (a large body of rock that was thrust over younger rock in Europe during the Miocene epoch). The folding and over-thrusting of rock layers during the formation of the Alps have produced very complex rock formations that have since been exposed by glacial activity. The physiography of the area is characterized by steep north-facing slopes and relatively gentle southern ones. Classic examples of glacial phenomena occur in the site, such as U-shaped valleys, valley glaciers, cirques, horn peaks and moraines.

Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces

Switzerland The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, stretching for about 30 km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the Vaud region, cover the lower slopes of the mountainside between the villages and the lake. Although there is some evidence that vines were grown in the area in Roman times, the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area. It is an outstanding example of a centuries-long interaction between people and their environment, developed to optimize local resources so as to produce a highly valued wine that has always been important to the economy.

Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din

Syrian Arab Republic Municipalities of Al Hosn and Haffeh These two castles represent the most significant examples illustrating the exchange of influences and documenting the evolution of fortified architecture in the Near East during the time of the Crusades (11th - 13th centuries). The Crac des Chevaliers was built by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem from 1142 to 1271. With further construction by the Mamluks in the late 13th century, it ranks among the best-preserved examples of the Crusader castles. The Qal'at Salah El-Din (Fortress of Saladin), even though partly in ruins, represents an outstanding example of this type of fortification, both in terms of the quality of construction and the survival of historical stratigraphy. It retains features from its Byzantine beginnings in the 10th century, the Frankish transformations in the late 12th century and fortifications added by the Ayyubid dynasty (late 12th to mid-13th century).

Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries

Thailand Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani provinces The site comprises two contiguous wildlife sanctuaries: Thung Yai and Huai Kha Khaeng, alongside the western international border with Myanmar, 300 km north-west of Bangkok. The property combines two contiguous sanctuaries, Thung Yai Naresuan and Huai Kha Khang, separately established as sanctuaries in 1972 and 1974, respectively. Thung Yai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary encompasses two important river systems, the Upper Khwae Yai and the Huai Khakhaeng. The property, encompassing 622,200 hectares, is the largest conservation area in Mainland Southeast Asia and is one of Thailand's least accessible and least disturbed forest area

Ichkeul National Park

Tunisia Bizerta District, 25 km southwest of Bizerta Garaet el Ichkeul National Park is situated on the Mateur plain and is approximately 30 km south-west of the Mediterranean coast. Lake Ichkeul is the last great freshwater lake of a chain that once stretched the length of North Africa. Characterised by a very specific hydrological functioning based on a double seasonal alternance of water levels and salinity, the lake and the surrounding marshes constitute an indispensible stop-over for the hundreds of thousands of migratory birds that winter at Ichkeul.

Kairouan

Tunisia Gouvernorat de Kairouan Located in the centre of Tunisia in a plain at an almost equal distance from the sea and the mountain, Kairouan is the most ancient Arabo-Muslim base of the Maghreb (670 AD) and one of its principal holy cities. Capital of Ifriqiya for five centuries, it was a place of outstanding diffusion of Arabo-Muslim civilisation.

Archaeological Site of Troy

Turkey Province of Çanakkale Troy is a unique example in an Aegean context of the oriental city at the junction between Anatolia, the Aegean and the Balkans. Troy, with its 4,000 years of history, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The first excavations at the site were undertaken by the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1870. In scientific terms, its extensive remains are the most significant demonstration of the first contact between the civilizations of Anatolia and the Mediterranean world. Moreover, the siege of Troy by Spartan and Achaean warriors from Greece in the 13th or 12th century B.C., immortalized by Homer in the Iliad, has inspired great creative artists throughout the world ever since.

Xanthos-Letoon

Turkey Provinces of Muğla and Antalya Xanthos, which was the capital of ancient Lycia, illustrates the blending of Lycian traditions with the Hellenic influence, especially in its funerary art. East of the Xanthos River (Eşen Çayı), the first monumental zone includes the old Lycian Acropolis, which was remodeled during the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods. Letoon, on the other hand, was the cult center of Xanthos, the ancient federal sanctuary of the Lycian province and Lycian League of Cities. The Lycians were one of the 'Sea Peoples' who invaded the Hittite Empire around 1200 BC. Herodotus relates that they came from Crete to take part in the Trojan War.

Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Uganda District of Kabarole, Kasese and Bundibugyo The Rwenzori Mountains National Park provides stunning views of glacier and snow-capped mountains just kilometres from the equator, where it is contiguous with the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Having the third highest mountain in Africa at 5,109 m (after Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya), the Park includes a much larger alpine area than either, covering an area of 99,600 ha of which 70% lies at over 2,500 m in height. The Rwenzori Mountains are the highest and most permanent sources of the River Nile, and constitute a vital water catchment. Their multitude of fast flowing rivers, magnificent waterfalls and stratified vegetation make the property exceptionally scenic and beautiful. The mountains are well-known for their unique alpine flora which includes many species endemic to the Albertine Rift in the higher altitude zones including giant heathers, groundsels and lobelias. The Park also supplies local communities with various wild resources and is an important cultural heritage. Covering an area of 99,600 ha, 70% of which exceeds an altitude of 2,500 m, the Rwenzori mountains comprise an extremely steep and rugged mountain range which includes three mountains: Albert, Alexandra and Africa's third highest peak, Margherita (5,109 m). Covering an area of 99,600 ha, 70% of which exceeds an altitude of 2,500 m, the Rwenzori mountains comprise an extremely steep and rugged mountain range which includes three mountains: Albert, Alexandra and Africa's third highest peak, Margherita (5,109 m).

Tassili n'Ajjer

Algeria Wilayas (provinces) of Illizi and Tamanghasset Tassili n'Ajjer is a vast plateau in south-east Algeria at the borders of Libya, Niger and Mali, covering an area of 72,000 sq. km. The exceptional density of paintings and engravings, and the presence of many prehistoric vestiges, are remarkable testimonies to Prehistory. From 10,000 BC to the first centuries of our era, successive peoples left many archaeological remains, habitations, burial mounds and enclosures which have yielded abundant lithic and ceramic material. However, it is the rock art (engravings and paintings) that have made Tassili world famous as from 1933, the date of its discovery. 15,000 engravings have been identified to date,one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world.

Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley

Andorra Part of Communes of Encamp, Andorra la Vella, Saint Julia de Loria and Escaldes-Engordany Part of Communes of Encamp, Andorra la Vella, Saint Julia de Loria and Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra The Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley is an exceptional geographical unit located in the south-eastern part of the Principality of Andorra, in the heart of the Pyrenees. It reflects past changes in climate, economic fortune and social systems, as well as the persistence of pastoralism and a strong mountain culture, notably the survival of a communal land-ownership system dating back to the 13th century. A secondary valley, the Perafita-Claror Valley, merges with the Madriu Valley from the South-West.

Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis:

Argentina Brazil State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Province of Misiones, Argentina 1.San Ignacio Miní, founded in 1611, was moved on two successive occasions, settling in its present site in 1696. It is the most eminent example of a reduccion preserved on Argentinean territory. 2.Santa Ana, founded in 1633 on the Sierra del Tape, was removed in 1638 to the bank of the Paraná river and once more to its present site, 45 km from Posadas. 3.Nuestra Señora de Loreto, founded in 1610, was moved in 1631 to its present site 53 km from Posadas. 4.Santa María la Mayor, founded in 1626, was moved to its present site in 1633. 5.Saõ Miguel, founded on the site of the Itaiaceco in 1632, was transferred first to Concepción, and then in 1687 to its present site on the banks of the Piratini.

Península Valdés

Argentina Península Valdés in the Argentinean province of Chubut is a 4,000 km2 promontory, protruding 100 km eastwards into the South Atlantic. The 400 km shoreline includes a series of gulfs, rocky cliffs, shallow bays and lagoons with extensive mudflats, sandy and pebble beaches, coastal sand dunes and small islands.Península Valdés in the Argentinean province of Chubut is a 4,000 km2 promontory, protruding 100 km eastwards into the South Atlantic. The 400 km shoreline includes a series of gulfs, rocky cliffs, shallow bays and lagoons with extensive mudflats, sandy and pebble beaches, coastal sand dunes and small islands. Peninsula Valdés contains very important and significant natural habitats for the in-situ conservation of several threatened species of outstanding universal value, and specifically its globally important concentration of breeding southern right whales, which is an endangered species. It is also important because of the breeding populations of southern elephant seals and southern sea lions. The area exhibits an exceptional example of adaptation of hunting techniques by the orca to the local coastal conditions.

Los Glaciares National Park

Argentina Santa Cruz Los Glaciares National Park is located in the Southwest of Santa Cruz Province in the Argentine part of Patagonia. Comprised of a National Park and a National Reserve,with rugged, towering mountains and numerous glacial lakes, including Lake Argentino, which is 160 km long. At its farthest end, three glaciers meet to dump their effluvia into the milky grey glacial water, launching massive igloo icebergs into the lake with thunderous splashes. Many of these glaciers are fed by the massive South Patagonian Ice Field, the most extensive South American relict of the glaciological processes of the Quaternary Period.

Qhapaq Ñan,

Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador PeruQhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System: This site is an extensive Inca communication, trade and defence network of roads covering 30,000 km. Constructed by the Incas over several centuries and partly based on pre-Inca infrastructure, this extraordinary network through one of the world's most extreme geographical terrains linked the snow-capped peaks of the Andes - at an altitude of more than 6,000 m - to the coast, running through hot rainforests, fertile valleys and absolute deserts. It reached its maximum expansion in the 15th century, when it spread across the length and breadth of the Andes. The Qhapac Ñan, Andean Road System includes 273 component sites spread over more than 6,000 km .

Kakadu National Park

Australia Northern territory The largest national park in Australia and one of the largest in the world's tropics, Kakadu preserves the greatest variety of ecosystems on the Australian continent including extensive areas of savanna woodlands, open forest, floodplains, mangroves, tidal mudflats, coastal areas and monsoon forests. Kakadu has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years, and many of the park's extensive rock art sites date back thousands of years. Kakadu's rock art provides a window into human civilisation in the days before the last ice age. Detailed paintings reveal insights into hunting and gathering practices, social structure and ritual ceremonies of Indigenous societies from the Pleistocene Epoch until the present.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Australia Northern territory This park, formerly called Uluru (Ayers Rock - Mount Olga) National Park, features spectacular geological formations that dominate the vast red sandy plain of central Australia. Uluru, an immense monolith, and Kata Tjuta, the rock domes located west of Uluru, form part of the traditional belief system of one of the oldest human societies in the world. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people.

Great Barrier Reef

Australia Off the east coast of the Queensland mainland Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) - The Great Barrier Reef is a site of remarkable variety and beauty on the north-east coast of Australia. It contains the world's largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc. It also holds great scientific interest as the habitat of species such as the dugong ('sea cow') and the large green turtle, which are threatened with extinction.Today the GBR forms the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, ranging from inshore fringing reefs to mid-shelf reefs, and exposed outer reefs, including examples of all stages of reef development.

Fraser Island

Australia State of Queensland Fraser Island, also known by its Aboriginal name of K'gari, lies just off the east coast of Australia. At 122 km long, it is the largest sand island in the world. Majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on sand and half the world's perched freshwater dune lakes are found inland from the beach.

Tasmanian Wilderness

Australia State of Tasmania Covering an area of over 1 million hectares, the Tasmanian Wilderness constitutes one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world. It comprises a contiguous network of reserved lands that extends over much of south-western Tasmania including several coastal islands.The insularity of Tasmania, and of the Tasmanian Wilderness in particular, has contributed to its uniqueness and has helped to protect it from the impact of exotic species which has seriously affected the mainland fauna. Tasmania was cut off from mainland Australia by the flooding of Bass Strait at least 8000 years ago, thereby isolating the aboriginal inhabitants. The Tasmanian Aborigines were, until the advent of the European explorer Abel Tasman, the longest isolated human group in world history, surviving some 500 generations without outside influence. Southwest National Park was designated a biosphere reserve in October 1977. A conglomerate of national parks, comprising Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair, Franklin-Lower Gordon Wild Rivers and Southwest, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982 and named Western Tasmanian Wilderness National Parks. It was renamed Tasmanian Wilderness in 1989. Full details on the progress of reservation, except in the case of state forests and Sarah Island Historic Reserve, are given in the World Heritage nomination (Government of Australia, 1988).

Macquarie Island

Australia State of Tasmania Macquarie Island (34 km long x 5 km wide) is an oceanic island in the Southern Ocean, lying 1,500 km south-east of Tasmania and approximately halfway between Australia and the Antarctic continent. The island is the exposed crest of the undersea Macquarie Ridge, raised to its present position where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate meets the Pacific plate. It is a site of major geoconservation significance, being the only place on earth where rocks from the earth's mantle (6 km below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea-level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks.

Shark Bay,

Australia State of Western Australia At the most westerly point of the Australian continent, on the Indian Ocean, Shark Bay, with its islands and the land surrounding it, has three exceptional natural features: its vast sea-grass beds, which are the largest (4,800 km2) and richest in the world; its dugong ('sea cow') population; and its stromatolites (colonies of algae which form hard, dome-shaped deposits and are among the oldest forms of life on earth). Shark Bay is also home to five species of endangered mammals.consisted of small island nature reserves, Bernier and Dorre Islands and the Hamelin Pool Nature Reserve. Specific suggestions to increase the conservation tenure boundaries included expanding the northern boundary of the Hamelin Pool Class A Marine Nature Reserve; extending the southern boundary of the terrestrial park on the northern end of the Peron Peninsula; the inclusion of the Gladstone Embayment in the Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve; the extension of the northern boundary line of the Marine Park in the Denham Sound area; securing reserve status for Dirk Hartog Island and the incorporation of the southern part of Nanga pastoral station into the reserve system.

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

Australia States of New South Wales and Queensland The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia is a serial property comprising the major remaining areas of rainforest in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. It represents outstanding examples of major stages of the Earth's evolutionary history, ongoing geological and biological processes, and exceptional biological diversity. When Australia separated from Antarctica following the breakup of Gondwana, new continental margins developed. resulted in the Great Divide and the Great Escarpment. This eastern continental margin experienced volcanicity during the Cenozoic Era as the Australian continental plate moved over one of the planet's hot spots. Volcanoes erupted in sequence along the east coast resulting in the Tweed, Focal Peak, Ebor and Barrington volcanic shields. The Tweed Shield erosion caldera is possibly the best preserved erosion caldera in the world, notable for its size and age, for the presence of a prominent central mountain mass (Wollumbin/Mt Warning), and for the erosion of the caldera floor to basement rock. All three stages relating to the erosion of shield volcanoes (the planeze, residual and skeletal stages) are readily distinguishable. Further south, the remnants of the Ebor Volcano also provides an outstanding example of the ongoing erosion of a shield volcano. With the opening of the Gwydir Highway in December 1960, the Gibraltar Range became accessible and moves were initiated to establish a national park.

Heard and McDonald Islands

Australia Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located in the Southern Ocean, approximately 1,700 km from the Antarctic continent and 4,100 km south-west of Perth. As the only volcanically active subantarctic islands they 'open a window into the earth', thus providing the opportunity to observe ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics. The distinctive conservation value of Heard and McDonald - one of the world's rare pristine island ecosystems - lies in the complete absence of alien plants and animals, as well as human impact. Heard Island is the principal island of the property. Mawson Peak, at 2,745 m, is the summit of Big Ben, an active, towering volcano that dominates the group, the last recorded major eruption on Big Ben was in 1992. McDonald Island, 43.5 km due west of Heard Island, is the major island in the McDonald Islands group, which also includes Flat Island and Meyer Rock.

Purnululu National Park

Australia Western Australia Purnululu National Park is located in the East Kimberley Region of Western Australia located 300 km by road south of Kununurra in Western Australia's Ord Region; the listed area is almost 240,000 ha. There is an adjacent buffer zone to the north and west (the Purnululu Conservation Zone) of approximately 79,600 ha, which is not part of the nominated area. The park comprises four major ecosystems: the Bungle Bungle Mountain Range, a deeply dissected plateau that dominates the centre of the park; wide sand plains surrounding the Bungle Bungles; the Ord River valley to the east and south of the park; and limestone ridges and ranges to the west and north of the park.

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

Austria France Germany Italy Slovenia Switzerland his serial property of 111 small individual sites encompasses the remains of prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. Excavations, only conducted in some of the sites, have yielded evidence that provides insight into life in prehistoric times during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Alpine Europe and the way communities interacted with their environment. Fifty-six of the sites are located in Switzerland. The settlements are a unique group of exceptionally well-preserved and culturally rich archaeological sites, which constitute one of the most important sources for the study of early agrarian societies in the region.

Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape

Austria Hungary State of Burgenland (AT) / County of Györ-Moson-Sopron (HU) Fertő/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape incorporates the westernmost steppe lake in Eurasia. The lake lies between the Alps, 70 km distant, and the lowlands in the territory of two states, Austria and Hungary. The lake itself is in an advanced state of sedimentation, with extensive reed stands. It has existed for 500 years within an active water management regime. In the 19th century, canalization of Hanság shut the lake off from its freshwater marshland. Since 1912 completion of a circular dam ending at Hegykö to the south has prevented flooding.

Semmering Railway

Austria Between Gloggnitz, State of Lower Austria and Simmering, State of Styria The Semmering Railway, built over 41 km of high mountains between 1848 and 1854, is one of the greatest feats of civil engineering from this pioneering phase of railway building. The line can be divided into four sections. The first runs from Gloggnitz to Payerbach stations, following the left-hand slopes of the Schwarza valley; the next section crosses the valley by taking the Schwarza viaduct to reach Eichberg Station, and the third section enters the Auerbach valley to continue through dense forest to Klamm-Schottwien station. After passing through the Klamm Tunnel, it reaches the Adlitzgraben and the Alpine terrain itself. After a series of tunnels and viaducts, the trains pass through the Weinzettelwand, the Krauselklause, and the Polleroswand, taking several tunnel sections. In the last and most dramatic section of the whole route, the two-storey curving viaduct goes over the Kalte Rinne, and after passing through the Wolfsberg and the Kartnerkogels, the train passes through the 1,431 m Semmering Tunnel before reaching Semmering station. It then descends gradually along the right-hand slope of the Roschnitz valley, through Stienhaus and Spital am Semmering, before arriving at Mürzzuschlag.

Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg

Austria Salzburg Salzburg has managed to preserve an extraordinarily rich urban fabric, developed over the period from the Middle Ages to the 19th century when it was a city-state ruled by a prince-archbishop. Its Flamboyant Gothic art attracted many craftsmen and artists before the city became even better known through the work of the Italian architects Vincenzo Scamozzi and Santini Solari, to whom the centre of Salzburg owes much of its Baroque appearance. This meeting-point of northern and southern Europe perhaps sparked the genius of Salzburg's most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose name has been associated with the city ever since.

Wachau Cultural Landscape

Austria Towns of Krems and Melk, Lower Austria The Wachau is a stretch of the Danube Valley between Melk and Krems, a landscape of high visual quality.

Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn

Austria Vienna From the 18th century to 1918, Schönbrunn was the residence of the Habsburg emperors. It was designed by the architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Nicolaus Pacassi and is full of outstanding examples of decorative art. Together with its gardens, the site of the world's first zoo in 1752, it is a remarkable Baroque ensemble and a perfect example of Gesamtkunstwerk

Historic Centre of Vienna

Austria Vienna The property consists of the medieval core (based on the Roman settlement), the principal Baroque ensembles with their axes, and the Gründerzeit constructions from the beginning of the modern period. The city of Vienna is situated on the Danube in the eastern part of Austria. The ancient Roman military camp, traces of which are still visible in the medieval urban fabric of present-day Vienna, was situated on a plain, west of an old branch of the Danube. Vienna developed from early Celtic and Roman settlements into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower

Azerbaijan Apsheron peninsula Rising from the south shore of the Apsheron Peninsular at the western edge of the Caspian Sea, the Walled City of Baku was founded on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period. The city reveals, along with the dominant Azerbaijani element, evidence of Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity.

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape

Azerbaijan Garadagh District and Apsheron District, Baku City Administrative Territory Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The site, which covers an area of 537 ha, is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation.

Qal'at al-Bahrain - Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun

Bahrain Northern Region The property is situated in the Northern Governorate, in Al Qalah village district on the northern coast about 5.5 km West of Manama, the present capital of Bahrain. Qal'at al-Bahrain is a typical tell - an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata of the 300 × 600 m tell testify to continuous human presence from about 2300 BC to the 16th century AD. About 25% of the site has been excavated, revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site, a trading port, over the centuries. On the top of the 12 m mound there is the impressive Portuguese fort, which gave the whole site its name, qal'a (fort). The site was the capital of the Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilizations of the region. It contains the richest remains inventoried of this civilization, which was hitherto only known from written Sumerian references.

Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy

Bahrain The site consists of seventeen buildings in Muharraq City, three offshore oyster beds, part of the seashore and the Qal'at Bu Mahir fortress on the southern tip of Muharraq Island, from where boats used to set off for the oyster beds. The listed buildings include residences of wealthy merchants, shops, storehouses and a mosque. The site is the last remaining complete example of the cultural tradition of pearling and the wealth it generated at a time when the trade dominated the Gulf economy (2nd century to the 1930s, when Japan developed cultured pearls).

Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat

Bangladesh Khulna District Situated in the suburbs of Bagerhat, at the meeting-point of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, this ancient city, formerly known as Khalifatabad, was founded by the Turkish general Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century. The city's infrastructure reveals considerable technical skill and an exceptional number of mosques and early Islamic monuments, many built of brick, can be seen there.

Ruins of the Buddhist Vihara at Paharpur

Bangladesh Naogaon Subdivision of Rajshahi District Geographically located to the north-west of Bangladesh in the district of Naogaon, the heart-land of ancient "Varendra", close to the village of Paharpur the extensive ruins of the Buddhist monastic complex are the most spectacular and important pre-Islamic monument in Bangladesh. The first builder of the monastery was Dharmapala Vikramshila (770-810AD), the king of Varendri-Magadha, as inscribed on a clay seal discovered in the monastery compound.

The Sundarbans

Bangladesh South-Western Region (Khulna Division) The Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest such forests in the world (140,000 ha), lies on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. It is adjacent to the border of India's Sundarbans World Heritage site inscribed in 1987. The site is intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests, and presents an excellent example of ongoing ecological processes. The area is known for its wide range of fauna, including 260 bird species, the Bengal tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python.

Baroque Churches of the Philippines

Baroque Churches of the Philippines The Church of the Immaculate Conception of San Agustín was the first church built on the island of Luzon in 1571, immediately after the Spanish conquest of Manila. the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria with its convento are on a hill surrounded by a defensive wall. The Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva stands on the highest point of Miag-ao, its towers serving as lookouts against Muslim raids. It is the finest surviving example of 'Fortress Baroque'. The Church of San Agustín at Paoay is the most outstanding example in the Philippines of 'Earthquake Baroque'. Fourteen buttresses are ranged along the lines of a giant volute supporting a smaller one and surmounted by pyramidal finials.

Struve Geodetic Arc

Belarus Estonia Finland Latvia Lithuania Norway Republic of Moldova Russian Federation Sweden Ukraine The first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian, helping to establish the exact size and shape of the world, exhibits an important step in the development of earth sciences. The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelis

Białowieża Forest

Belarus Poland Bialowieza Forest is a large forest complex located on the border between Poland and Belarus. Thanks to several ages of protection the Forest had survived in its natural state to this day. The Bialowieza National Park, Poland, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979 and extended to include Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus, in 1992. A large extension of the property in 2014 results in a property of 141,885 ha with a buffer zone of 166,708 ha.

Mir Castle Complex

Belarus Grodno Province (oblast), Korelichi District The Mir Castle complex is situated on the bank of a small lake at the confluence of the Miryanka river and a small tributary. The castle was built in the late 15th or early 16th century (the first reference to it dates from 1531) by the Ilyinichi family. The initial work consisted of building the walls and towers in Gothic style, but work came to an end for some unknown reason. Building had been completed by the beginning of the 17th century with the addition of palatial accommodation, with some Renaissance features (including an Italian-style garden and a system of ponds), after it had passed to the Radzivill family in 1569. This work was probably supervised by the Italian architect Gian Maria Bernardoni.

Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh

Belarus Minsk Province (Minskaya Voblasts') The Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh is located in central Belarus. Built and occupied by the Radziwill family from the 16th to 20th centuries, the ensemble is located in the town of Nesvizh, in the Province of Minsk, in central Belarus. The Radziwill dynasty, who built and kept the ensemble from the 16th century until 1939, gave birth to some of the most important personalities in European history and culture. Due to their efforts, the town of Nesvizh came to exercise great influence in the sciences, arts, crafts and architecture. The complex consists of the residential castle and the mausoleum Church of Corpus Christi with their setting. The castle has ten interconnected buildings, which developed as an architectural whole around a six-sided courtyard. The palaces and church became important prototypes marking the development of architecture throughout Central Europe and Russia.

Belfries of Belgium and France

Belgium France High towers built in the heart of urban areas, often dominating the principal square, the belfries are essential elements in the organization and representation of the towns to which they belong. The site inscribed on the World Heritage List comprises 33 belfries located in Belgium (26 in Flanders and 7 in Wallonia) and 23 belfries located in northern France. Twenty-three belfries in the north of France and the belfry of Gembloux in Belgium were inscribed as a group, an extension to the 32 Belgian belfries inscribed in 1999 as Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia. Built between the 11th and 17th centuries, they showcase the Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles of architecture. They are highly significant tokens of the winning of civil liberties.

The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Roeulx

Belgium (Hainaut) The four hydraulic boat-lifts on this short stretch of the historic Canal du Centre are industrial monuments of the highest quality. Together with the canal itself and its associated structures, they constitute a remarkably well-preserved and complete example of a late-19th-century industrial landscape. Of the eight hydraulic boat-lifts built at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the only ones in the world which still exist in their original working condition are these four lifts on the Canal du Centre. Hainaut does not have a large natural navigable waterway. This led to difficulties in transporting the coal discovered in the region in the Borinage and around Charleroi at the end of the 12th century on the poor roads of the time. It was carried on the backs of men to the shore of the winding Haine River and loaded into small boats.

Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex

Belgium City of Antwerp, Flanders Region The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a printing plant and publishing house dating from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Situated in Antwerp, one of the three leading cities of early European printing along with Paris and Venice, it is associated with the history of the invention and spread of typography. Its name refers to the greatest printer-publisher of the second half of the 16th century: Christophe Plantin (c. 1520-89). The monument is of outstanding architectural value. It contains exhaustive evidence of the life and work of what was the most prolific printing and publishing house in Europe in the late 16th century. The building of the company, which remained in activity until 1867, contains a large collection of old printing equipment, an extensive library, invaluable archives and works of art, among them a painting by Rubens.

La Grand-Place

Belgium City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region It is located on former marshland on the right bank of the River Senne, to the east of the castellum, a defensive outwork of the castle built around 977 by Charles of France, Duke of Lower Lotharingia. The marsh was drained in the 12th century. The present rectangular outline of the Grand'Place has developed over the centuries as a result of successive enlargements and other modifications, and did not take up its definitive form until after 1695. It has, however, always had seven streets running into it. In the 13th and 14th centuries the market-place was surrounded by haphazardly disposed steenen (the stone-built Cloth, Bread, and Meat Halls or Markets) and timber-framed houses, separated by yards, gardens, or ambiti (passages serving as fire-breaks). During the 15th century the houses on the south side were replaced by the east and west wings of the City Hall (1401-44) and its bell tower (1449). A new Bread Hall was built on the north side in 1405.

Flemish Béguinages

Belgium Flanders Region, Provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Eastern Flanders, Western Flanders, and Flemish Brabant The Béguines were women who dedicated their lives to God without retiring from the world. In the 13th century they founded the béguinages , enclosed communities designed to meet their spiritual and material needs. The Flemish béguinages are architectural ensembles composed of houses, churches, ancillary buildings and green spaces, with a layout of either urban or rural origin and built in styles specific to the Flemish cultural region. They are a fascinating reminder of the tradition of the Béguines that developed in north-western Europe in the Middle Ages.

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

Belgium Province of Hainaut, Wallonia Region Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai bears witness to a considerable exchange of influence between the architecture of the Île de France, the Rhineland and Normandy during the short period at the beginning of the 12th century that preceded the flowering of Gothic architecture. In the case of the nave and transept, the early date of the elevation to four levels and its subsequent widespread extension meets the criterion of considerable influence and is further reinforced in the transept by the masterly integration of a 'corridor triforium' and by the unusual composition of volumes. The early 12th-century construction in the nave of a 'viaduct' structure on a four-storey elevation is unique in a period where church builders limited themselves to three levels.

Major Mining Sites of Wallonia

Belgium The Grand-Hornu, Bois-du-Luc, Bois du Cazier and Blegny-Mine sites represent the best preserved places of coal mining, from the early 19th to the second half of the 20th centuries. The Walloon Coal Basin is one of the oldest, and most emblematic of the industrial revolution, on the European continent. Site of the Bois du Cazier disaster (1956).

Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta

Belgium (Brussels) The four major town houses - Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel Solvay, Hôtel van Eetvelde, and Maison & Atelier Horta - located in Brussels and designed by the architect Victor Horta, one of the earliest initiators of Art Nouveau, are some of the most remarkable pioneering works of architecture of the end of the 19th century. The stylistic revolution represented by these works is characterised by their open plan, the diffusion of light, and the brilliant joining of the curved lines of decoration with the structure of the building.

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes

Belgium (Mons) Province of Hainaut, Wallonia Region The Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes, covering more than 100 ha, are the largest and earliest concentration of ancient mines in Europe. They are also remarkable for the diversity of technological solutions used for extraction and for the fact that they are directly linked to a settlement of the same period.The Neolithic Flint Mines of Spiennes occupy two chalk plateaux located to the south-east of the city of Mons. They cover an area essentially devoted to agriculture. The site appears on the surface as a large area of meadows and fields strewn with millions of scraps of worked flint. Underground, the site is an immense network of galleries linked to the surface by vertical shafts dug by Neolithic populations.

Stoclet House

Belgium, Brussels The Stoclet House is an outstanding testimony to the creative genius of the Wiener Werkstätte. Ever since its creation the Stoclet House has been and remains one of the most consummate and emblematic realisations of this artistic movement, characterising the aesthetic research and renewal of architecture and decoration in the west at the start of the 20th century.

Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

Belize Belize District (sites I, II, III), Stann Creek District ( IV,V,VI), Toledo District (VII) The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (BBRRS), inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, is comprised of seven protected areas; Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve, Blue Hole Natural Monument, Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, South Water Caye Marine Reserve, Glover's Reef Marine Reserve, Laughing Bird Caye National Park and Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve. The largest reef complex in the Atlantic-Caribbean region it represents the second largest reef system in the world. The seven protected areas that constitute the BBRRS comprise 12% of the entire Reef Complex.

Royal Palaces of Abomey

Benin Province du Zou The West African Kingdom of Abomey (formerly Dahomey), founded in 1625 by the Fon people, developed into a powerful military and commercial empire. Under the twelve kings who succeeded one another from 1695 to 1900, the kingdom became one of the most powerful on the west coast of Africa. Until the late 19th century its primary source of wealth was from selling of prisoners of war as slaves to European slave traders for transport across the Atlantic to the New World. The Royal Palaces of Abomey are the major material testimony to the Kingdom of Dahomey which developed from the mid-17th century in accordance with the precept enunciated by its founder, Wegbaja, "that the kingdom shall always be made greater". Under the twelve kings who succeeded from 1625 to 1900, the kingdom established itself as one of the most powerful of the western coast of Africa. The site of the Royal Palaces of Abomey covers an area of 47 ha, and consists of a set of ten palaces, some of which are built next to each other and others which are superimposed, according to the succession to the throne.

Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Department of Santa Cruz Between 1691 and 1760, a series of remarkable reducciones de indios (mission settlements of Christianized Indians) largely inspired by the "ideal cities" envisioned by 16th-century humanist philosophers was founded by the Society of Jesus in the Chiquitos territory of eastern Bolivia. Here on the semi-arid frontier of Spanish South America now known as Chiquitanía the Jesuits and their indigenous charges blended European architecture with local traditions. The six historic missions that remain intact - San Francisco Javier, Concepción, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Rafael and San José - today make up a living yet vulnerable heritage in the territory of Chiquitanía.

City of Potosí

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Potosi, Province of Potosi Potosí is the example par excellence of a major silvers mine of the modern era, reputed to be the world's largest industrial complex in the 16th century. A small pre-Hispanic-period hamlet perched at an altitude of 4,000 m in the icy solitude of the Bolivian Andes, Potosí became an "Imperial City" following the visit of Francisco de Toledo in 1572. It and its region prospered enormously following the discovery of the New World's biggest silver lodes in the Cerro de Potosí south of the city. The major colonial-era supplier of silver for Spain, Potosí was directly and tangibly associated with the massive import of precious metals to Seville, which precipitated a flood of Spanish currency and resulted in globally significant economic changes in the 16th century. The whole industrial production chain from the mines to the Royal Mint has been conserved, and the underlying social context is equally well illustrated, with quarters for the Spanish colonists and for the forced labourers separated from each other by an artificial river. Potosí also exerted a lasting influence on the development of architecture and monumental arts in the central region of the Andes by spreading the forms of a baroque style that incorporated native Indian influences.

Fuerte de Samaipata

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Province of Florida, Department of Santa Cruz Located in the Province of Florida, Department of Santa Cruz, the archaeological site of Fuerte de Samaipata consists of two clearly identified parts: Ceremonial Centre and administrative and residential district and the political administration. The site is known to have been occupied by people belonging to the Mojocoyas culture as early as AD 300. It was occupied in the 14th century by the Inca, who made it a provincial capital. The silver mines of the Cerro Rico at Potosí began to be worked in 1545 and the colonial settlement of Samaipata became an important staging post on the highway from Asunción and Santa Cruz to the colonial centres in the High Andes such as La Plata (modern Sucre), Cochabamba and Potosí.

Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Province of Ingavi, Department of La Paz Tiwanaku is located near the southern shores of Lake Titicaca on the Altiplano, at an altitude of 3,850 m., in the Province of Ingavi, Department of La Paz. Most of the ancient city, which was largely built from adobe, has been overlaid by the modern town. However, the monumental stone buildings of the ceremonial centre survive in the protected archaeological zones. Tiwanaku began as a small settlement, in what is known as its 'village period', around 1200 BCE. It was self-sufficient, with a non-irrigated form of farming based on frost-resistant crops, essential at this high altitude, producing tubers such as potatoes, oca and cereals, notably quinoa. In more sheltered locations near Lake Titicaca, maize and peaches were also cultivated. The inhabitants lived in rectangular adobe houses that were linked by paved streets.

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Velasco Province, Santa Cruz Department The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin. With an altitudinal range of 200 m to about 1,000 m, it contains a rich mosaic of habitat types from cerrado savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests. The park boasts an evolutionary history dating back over a billion years to the Precambrian. Located on the border with Brazil, the site includes a large section of the Huanchaca Plateau and surrounding lowlands. There are rugged cliffs in the northern, western and southern sides of the plateau, with several valleys and steep slopes in its eastern side. Several rivers have their sources on the plateau and form spectacular waterfalls. The largest river in the area is the Iténez, which marks the border with Brazil, to the north of the park, and the Paraguá River dominates the lowlands to the west.

Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

Bosnia and Herzegovina Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Of special significance is the Radoboija stream, which enters the Neretva on its right bank. This provided a source of water for the growing settlement, and from it springs a number of small canals used for irrigation and for driving the wheels of water-mills. There has been human settlement on the Neretva between the Hum Hill and the Velez Mountain since prehistory, as witnessed by discoveries of fortified enceintes and cemeteries. Evidence of Roman occupation comes from beneath the present town. The historic town of Mostar, spanning a deep valley of the Neretva River, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries as an Ottoman frontier town and during the Austro-Hungarian period in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mostar has long been known for its old Turkish houses and Old Bridge, Stari Most, after which it is named. In the 1990s conflict, however, most of the historic town and the Old Bridge, designed by the renowned architect Sinan, was destroyed. The Old Bridge was recently rebuilt and many of the edifices in the Old Town have been restored or rebuilt with the contribution of an international scientific committee established by UNESCO. The Old Bridge area, with its pre-Ottoman, eastern Ottoman, Mediterranean and western European architectural features, is an outstanding example of a multicultural urban settlement. The reconstructed Old Bridge and Old City of Mostar is a symbol of reconciliation, international co-operation and of the coexistence of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious communities.

Tsodilo

Botswana The Ngamiland District, north-west Botswana Located in north-west Botswana near the Namibian Border in Okavango Sub-District, the Tsodilo Hills are a small area of massive quartzite rock formations that rise from ancient sand dunes to the east and a dry fossil lake bed to the west in the Kalahari Desert. They are prominent isolated residual small mountains surrounded by an extensive lowland erosion surface in a hot dry region, known as inselbergs. Their height, shape and spatial relationship have given rise to a distinctive name for each: Male, Female, Child, Grandchild. The Hills have provided shelter and other resources to people for over 100,000 years. It now retains a remarkable record, in its archaeology, its rock art, and its continuing traditions, not only of this use but also of the development of human culture and of a symbiotic nature/human relationship over many thousands of years.

Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves

Brazil Atlantic Coast, states of Bahia and Espirito Santo, northeast Brazil The Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves consist of eight separate protected areas containing 112,000 ha of Atlantic forest and associated shrub (restingas). The rainforests of Brazil's Atlantic coast are the world's richest in terms of biodiversity. The site contains a distinct range of species with a high level of endemism and reveals a pattern of evolution that is not only of great scientific interest but is also of importance for conservation. A limestone plateau with tabular hills (sierras) covers much of the site, forming a line of white or reddish cliffs near the sea. Sediments and sands from river and sea deposits form an irregular coastal stretch of sand plains and dunes, and accumulate in large river valleys. The highest formations of the Discovery Coast are the round-shaped hills of volcanic and metamorphic origin that are concentrated in the south, the most famous being Monte Pascoal. The rainforests of southern Bahia and northern Espirito Santo states are considered the world's richest in terms of the number of species of tree per hectare.

Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves

Brazil Atlantic coast, states of Parana and Sao Paolo The 25 Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves contain some of the best and most extensive examples of remaining Atlantic forest in Brazil displaying the biological wealth and evolutionary history of the one of the world's richest and most endangered habitats. From mountains covered by dense forests, down to wetlands, coastal islands with isolated mountains and dunes, the area comprises a rich natural environment of great scenic beauty. Partially isolated since the Ice Age, the Atlantic forests have evolved into a complex ecosystem with exceptionally high endemism (70% of the tree species, 85% of the primates and 39% of the mammals) and are considered to be among the world's richest forests for tree species. The nominated site comprises the Serra do Mar Mountain Chain, which runs parallel to the Atlantic coast and separates the Brazilian high plateau (planalto) from the lower sea plains; part of the Estuarine Lagoon Complex of Iguape-Cananéira-Paranagua, which includes a great variety of wetlands, from the flooded plains of the Ribeira de Iguape River to saline waters of the lagoon complex itself. There is also a vast extension of beaches showing a succession of opened ocean-sand dunes.

Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia

Brazil Bahia State, north-east region of Brazil As the first capital of Brazil, from 1549 to 1763. Founded in 1549 on a small peninsula that separates Todos os Santos Bay from the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast coast of Brazil, Salvador de Bahia became Portuguese America's first capital and remained so until 1763. Its founding and historic role as colonial capital associate it with the theme of world exploration. Salvador de Bahia's historic centre - an eminent example of Renaissance urban structuring adapted to a colonial site - is the Cidade Alta (Upper Town), a defensive, administrative and residential neighbourhood perched atop an 85-m-high escarpment. This densely built colonial city par excellence of the Brazilian northeast is distinguished by its religious, civil and military colonial architecture dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Salvador de Bahia is also notable as one of the major points of convergence of European, African and American Indian cultures of the 16th to 18th centuries. The upper city, located in the area of Bahia de Todos los Santos, was discovered in 1502 by Amerigo Vespucci, and has been preserved by its historical evolution. It was built upon a ridge parallel to the Atlantic coast, which made possible defence against Spanish (1580) and Dutch (1624) attacks.

Rila Monastery

Bulgaria On the slopes of Rila, the highest Balkan Peninsula Mountain, in the valley of the Rilska River, 29 km east of the Sofia-Thessaloniki Highway. Rila, Kyustendil Province Rila Monastery, the oldest in the Slav world and still the largest active religious centre in Bulgaria, is first and foremost an exceptionally fine artistic complex, in which architecture and painting merge harmoniously. Apart from this, it has been for centuries the seat of the development, preservation, and diffusion of Slav religious culture in all its various manifestations, including literary and artistic, and it became the symbol of Bulgarian cultural identity that was continually threatened by Turkish domination. The monastery stands about 120 km from Sofia, in the heart of the Rila Massif, located at the north-western extremity of the Rodopi Mountains, a mountainous system with peaks that rise to almost 3,000 m. In this area, which was still covered by forest in AD 876-946, lived the hermit Ivan Rilski (Saint John of Mila), the evangelizer of the Slavic peoples.

Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks

Brazil Central Brazil Plateau, State of Goiás The Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park is part of the highest plain in Central Brazil, with its highest point being the Serra da Santana. The main watercourse is the Preto River, which flows on a north-west to south-west direction; the northern extremity of the park is drained by the Santana and Bartolomeu rivers. In the region of the park and its surroundings, three landscape areas can be recognized: the Rio Claro Valley Region is a lowland area, with relatively flat, undulating terrain; the Ridge Region is located in the middle-northern portion of the park, including the Rio Preto, Santana, Capim Branco and upland areas to the south; and the Highlands Region is distributed along the central portion of the park and is characterized by a plain relief pattern with some isolated tabular hills that dot landscape. The Emas National Park is located in the south-west of Goiás State, close to its border with the Mato Grosso do Sul State; it is part of Serra dos Caiapós plateau. It forms the major water divide between the La Plata to the south and the Amazon to the north. The plateau is a gently rolling plain which descends to the Araguaia basin to the north, to the Jacub-Correntes rivers system to the east and to the Taquarí river and Pantanal complex to the west. The main watercourses inside the National Park are the Jacuba and Formosa rivers and tributaries, both of which drain into Paranaíba River.

Brasilia

Brazil Federal District Brasilia, a capital created ex nihilo in the centre of the country in 1956, was a landmark in the history of town planning. The 20th-century principles of urbanism, as expressed by Le Corbusier, have rarely been applied on the scale of capital cities. Only two noteworthy exceptions exist: Chandigarh and Brasilia. Its creators intended that every element, from the layout of the residential and administrative districts (often compared to the shape of a bird in flight) to the symmetry of the buildings themselves, should be in harmony with the city's overall design. The official buildings, in particular, are innovative and imaginative.

Historic Centre of São Luís

Brazil Maranhão State, Brasil's North-East Region Located on the promontory formed by the Rivers Anil and Bacanga, northwest of São Luís Island, the Historic Centre of São Luís do Maranhão is characterized by its urban grid of streets lined with residential buildings of various heights, many with tiled roofs, painted ornamented cornices, tall narrow windows set in decorated surrounds and balconies with forged or cast iron railings. They date from the 1615 plan laid out by Portugal's chief engineer in Brazil, following conquest of the fort that had been established on the site by the French in 1612. The late 17th-century core of this historic town, founded by the French and occupied by the Dutch before coming under Portuguese rule, has preserved the original rectangular street plan in its entirety. Thanks to a period of economic stagnation in the early 20th century, an exceptional number of fine historic buildings have survived, making this an outstanding example of an Iberian colonial town.

Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves

Brazil Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte States Peaks of the Southern Atlantic submarine ridge form the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Rocas Atoll off the coast of Brazil. They represent a large proportion of the island surface of the South Atlantic and their rich waters are extremely important for the breeding and feeding of tuna, shark, turtle and marine mammals. The islands are home to the largest concentration of tropical seabirds in the Western Atlantic. Baia de Golfinhos has an exceptional population of resident dolphin and at low tide the Rocas Atoll provides a spectacular seascape of lagoons and tidal pools teeming with fish.

Pantanal Conservation Area

Brazil Southwest of the State of Mato Grosso and Northwest of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, adjacent to the Brazil/Bolivian borders The Pantanal Conservation Complex consists of a cluster of four protected areas with a total area of 187,818 ha. Located in western central Brazil at the south-west corner of the State of Mato Grosso, the site represents 1.3% of Brazil's Pantanal region, one of the world's largest freshwater wetland ecosystems. The headwaters of the region's two major river systems, the Cuiabá and the Paraguay rivers, are located here, and the abundance and diversity of its vegetation and animal life are spectacular. The Pantanal is an immense alluvial plain. Surrounded by mountain ridges and plains, the region presents a flat landscape with a small inclination which follows a north-south, east-west direction. The main source of water for the Pantanal is the Cuiaba River.

Central Amazon Conservation Complex

Brazil State of Amazonas The Central Amazon Conservation Complex makes up the largest protected area in the Amazon Basin (over 6 million hectares) and is one of the planet's richest regions in terms of biodiversity. The site is made up of Jaú National Park, Demonstration area of Mamairauá Sustainable Development Reserve, Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve and the Anavilhanas Ecological Station located in Amazonas State The site includes an important sample of annually flooded (várzea) ecosystems, igapó forests, lakes and channels which take the form of a constantly evolving aquatic mosaic that is home to the largest array of electric fish in the world. The forest cover is linked to the extensive and continuous forests of the Amazon Central Plain. It encompasses a landscape, which is characteristic of the lower Negro River

Historic Centre of the Town of Diamantina

Brazil State of Minas Gerais Diamantina shows how explorers of the Brazilian territory, diamond prospectors, and representatives of the Crown were able to adapt European models to an American context in the 18th century, thus creating a culture that was faithful to its roots yet completely original. This urban and architectural group, perfectly integrated into a wild landscape, is a fine example of an adventurous spirit combined with a quest for refinement that is so typical of human nature. The town lies in the heart of the arid, rocky mountains of East-Central Brazil. It is in the State of Minas Gerais, 350 km from Belo Horizonte and 710 km from Brasilia, on the slope of a hill, spread over a difference of height of 150 m. The land of the Diamantina region is composed almost exclusively of quartzite rocks and schist, which give this region its mountainous and colourful aspect, but it also has a poor, permeable soil with a rupestrine vegetation.

Ruins of Loropéni

Burkina Faso The 11,130m2 property, the first to be inscribed in the country, with its imposing stone walls is the best preserved of ten fortresses in the Lobi area and is part of a larger group of 100 stone enclosures that bear testimony to the power of the trans-Saharan gold trade. Situated near the borders of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, the ruins have recently been shown to be at least 1,000 years old. The settlement was occupied by the Lohron or Koulango peoples, who controlled the extraction and transformation of gold in the region when it reached its apogee from the 14th to the 17th century.

Historic Town of Ouro Preto

Brazil State of Minas Gerais Founded in the early 18th century 513km north of Rio de Janeiro, the Historic Town of Ouro Preto (Black Gold) covers the steep slopes of the Vila Rica (Rich Valley), centre of a rich gold mining area and the capital of Minas Gerais Province from 1720-1897. Along the original winding road and within the irregular layout following the contours of the landscape lie squares, public buildings, residences, fountains, bridges and churches which together form an outstanding homogenous group exhibiting the fine curvilinear form of Baroque architecture.The Historic City of Ouro Preto was the symbolic center of the Inconfidência Mineira in 1789, a Brazilian independence movement, and home to exceptional artists responsible for many of the most significant works of the Brazilian Baroque period, including the Church of São Francisco of Assisi by the distinguished architect and sculptor Antônio Francisco Lisboa (Aleijadinho). The area's isolation for the better part of the 19th and 20th centuries generated economic stagnation, fostering preservation of the original colonial constructions and urban pattern.

Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas

Brazil State of Minas Gerais, City of Congonhas This sanctuary in Minais Gerais, south of Belo Horizonte was built in the second half of the 18th century. It consists of a church with a magnificent Rococo interior of Italian inspiration; an outdoor stairway decorated with statues of the prophets; and seven chapels illustrating the Stations of the Cross, in which the polychrome sculptures by Aleijadinho are masterpieces of a highly original, moving, expressive form of Baroque art.

Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda

Brazil State of Pernambuco, North-East Region of Brazil The historical centre of Olinda, which is located several kilometres to the north of the harbour installations, industrial zones and skyscrapers of Recife, still retains the charm of a city museum of the colonial period. Olinda was founded in 1537 by the Portuguese Duarte Coelho Pereira and owed its rapid rise to the cultivation of sugar cane in the region of Pernambuco using slave labour.

Serra da Capivara National Park

Brazil Sud-est de Etat du Piaui - Communes de Sao Raimundo Nonato, Sao Joao do Piaui et Canto do Butriti Established in 1979, the Serra da Capivara National Park stretched across the municipalities of São Raimundo Nonato, São João do Piauí, and Canto do Buriti in the south-eastern section of Piauí state in Brazil's Northeast Region. In 1994, the municipality of Brejo do Piauí and, in 1995 the municipality of João Costa were dismembered of São João do Piauí. The municipality of Coronel José Dias was dismembered of São Raimundo Nonato in 1992. These three municipalities, plus São Raimundo Nonato, are partially located in the area of the Serra da Capivara National Park. Many of the numerous rock shelters in the Serra da Capivara National Park are decorated with cave paintings, some more than 25,000 years old. They are an outstanding testimony to one of the oldest human communities of South America. The park is situated near the town of São Raimondo Nonato, 220 km south of Floriano and 5,230 km from Teresina. The main body of the park is the Serra do Congo massif and the central Chapada da Capivara in the State of Piauì. Over 300 archaeological sites have been found within the park, the majority consisting of rock and wall paintings dating from 50,000-30,000 years ago. Certain geological formations and palaeofauna that included giant sloths, horses, camelids and early llamas indicate that the Ice Age environment was quite different from the existing semi-arid conditions.

Boyana Church

Bulgaria Boyana district, Sofia Located on the outskirts of Sofia, Boyana Church consists of three buildings. The frescoes in this second church, painted in 1259, make it one of the most important collections of medieval paintings. The ensemble is completed by a third church, built at the beginning of the 19th century. This site is one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of east European medieval art.

Ancient City of Nessebar

Bulgaria Burgas Province Confined to a rocky promontory of the Bulgarian coast, Nessebar is a rich city-museum with more than three millennia of history. The Thracians were the first to establish themselves on this natural defensive site, as attested by numerous discoveries of Bronze Age objects. Strabo records, moreover, the legendary foundation by the Thracian, Mena, from whom the city took its original name, Menebria. Dorian colonists from Megara made it one of the oldest Greek colonies of Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea) under the name of Messembria: according to Herodotus it was already in existence in 513 BC.

Pirin National Park

Bulgaria Extending over an area of 27,400 ha and lying at an altitude of 1,008-2,914 m in the Pirin mountains, south-west Bulgaria, Pirin National Park has a limestone Balkan landscape, with lakes, waterfalls, caves and pine forests. The rugged mountains, with some 70 glacial lakes scattered throughout them, are home to hundreds of endemic and rare species, many of which are representative of the Balkan Pleistocene flora. The mountains also have diverse and unique landscapes of great aesthetic value. Pirin Mountain stretches from north-west to south-east between the valleys of the Strouma and Mesta rivers. There are many rivers and waterfalls. Winter in the upper parts is cold and long with snow cover remaining for five to eight months. Summer is cool and short.

Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande

Cabo Verde The island of Santiago was discovered around 1460 and claimed for the Crown of Portugal. There was no human presence on the island. Exploration of the islands of the archipelago led to the development of the port of call of Ribeira Grande in the years that followed. As early as 1466 it was granted a royal charter entitling its inhabitants to practise the slave trade. It became an essential port of call for Portuguese sea traffic, first towards the coasts of Africa and later on to the Cape. The town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Located in the south of the island of Santiago, the town features some of the original street layout impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th century marble pillar.

Temple of Preah Vihear

Cambodia Situated on the edge of a plateau that dominates the plain of Cambodia, the Temple of Preah Vihear is dedicated to Shiva. The Temple is composed of a series of sanctuaries linked by a system of pavements and staircases over an 800 metre long axis and dates back to the first half of the 11th century AD.

Sangha Trinational

Cameroon Central African Republic Congo Sangha Trinational (TNS) is a transboundary conservation complex in the North-western Congo Basin where Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo meet. TNS encompasses three contiguous national parks totalling a legally defined area of 746,309 hectares. These are Lobéké National Park in Cameroon, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic and Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. Dzanga-Ndoki National Park is comprised of two distinct units. The parks are embedded in a much larger forest landscape, sometimes referred to as the TNS Landscape. A buffer zone of 1,787,950 hectares has been established in recognition of the importance of the broader landscape and its inhabitants for the future of the property. The buffer zone inlcudes Dzanga-Sanga Forest Reserve in the Central African Republic, which connects the two units of Dzanga-Ndoki National Park.

Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek

Canada United States of America Kluane: Yukon Territory (Canada) and Alaska (USA) Glacier Bay: Alaska (USA) Tatshenshini: Province of British Columbia (Canada) The Wrangell-St Elias region represents the most extensive array of glaciers and ice fields outside the polar region. These features and the high mountains of the Wrangell-St Elias, Chugach and Kluane ranges have resulted in the region becoming known as the 'Mountain Kingdom' of North America. Geologically the mountains are included in the Pacific mountain system and include the 130 km long Bagley ice field, the second-highest peak in the USA (Mount St Elias) and the largest piedmont glacier on the North American continent (Malaspina Glacier). Extensive lowlands are found only in the centre and along north-western fringes of the region. Elsewhere lowlands are sandwiched between mountains and sea or occur as narrow valleys and plateaux grading into upland and serrated peaks. Principal drainages include the Copper, Chitina, White, Alsek and Donjek rivers and tributaries. The Malaspina foreland coastal area comprises mainly long, straight piedmont glacial beaches cut through by numerous often sizeable glacial-melt drainage-ways.

Waterton Glacier International Peace Park

Canada United States of America Province of Alberta, Canada; State of Montana, USA The park is situated in the extreme south-west of the Province of Alberta, along the eastern slopes of the Continental Divide and at the western margin of the Canadian Great Plains region; it includes prairie, lakes and mountains. Local relief is dominated by the 2,500 m peaks of the Border and Clark Ranges, which are generally less rugged than their Glacier National Park counterparts. The park is centred on a long, narrow 'glacier trough' lake.

Dinosaur Provincial Park

Canada Dinosaur Provincial Park - located at the heart of Alberta's badlands - contains some of the most important fossil discoveries ever made from the 'Age of Reptiles', in particular about 35 species of dinosaur, dating back some 75 million years. Dinosaur Provincial Park is located in the Dry Mixedgrass Subregion of the Grassland Natural Region. This is the warmest and driest subregion in Alberta. Permanent streams are relatively rare, although the ones that do exist are deeply carved into the bedrock in some places. This as exposed Cretaceous shales and sandstones, creating extensive badlands, the largest in Canada.

Historic District of Old Québec

Canada Province of Quebec, City of Quebec Québec illustrates one of the major stages in the population and growth of the Americas during the modern and contemporary period. When Samuel de Champlain founded Québec, the capital of New France, in 1608 he chose the natural site of a steep plateau overlooking the St Laurent River. The old heart of the city was established on this promontory, Cap-aux-Diamants, which is protected by Fort St Louis.

Miguasha National Park

Canada Gaspé Peninsula, Province of Quebec The palaeontological site of Miguasha National Park, in south-eastern Quebec on the southern coast of the Gaspé Peninsula, is considered to be the world's most outstanding illustration of the Devonian period known as the 'Age of Fishes'. This 1 km wide formation extends for a distance of 8 km along the north shore of the Ristigouche River. The formation, extending 300-600 m underground, is represented by four distinct outcrops. The most important of these extends for a distance of 3 km and basically constitutes the park. Constituted essentially of grey rock sediments, the Escuminac Formation (dating from 350-375 million years ago) is composed of alternating layers of thick sandstone, silt and calcareous schists. The Fleurant Formation is found at the base of the Formation, while the summit is lined by the carboniferous Bonaventure Formation, whose reddish colour is the origin of the word Miguasha in the language of the Micmacs.

Nahanni National Park

Canada Northwest Territories Located in the south-west corner of Northwest Territories, along the course of the South Nahanni and Flat rivers, the park lies in a diverse mountainous area comprising mountain ranges, rolling hills, elevated plateaus, deep canyons and huge waterfalls, as well as a unique limestone cave system. The dissected sandstone, shale and limestone mountains ranges in the east and central areas of the park sharply contrast the Ragged Range of harder igneous rocks in the park's western extremity. The park encompasses parts of the Hyland Plateau, Selwyn Mountains, Liard Plateau, Mackenzie Plain and Mackenzie Mountains and a major part of the Nahanni River, one of North America's finest wild rivers.

Wood Buffalo National Park

Canada Northwest Territories and Alberta Situated on the Northern Boreal Plains in the north-central region of Canada, Wood Buffalo comprises a vast wilderness area (44,807 km2 ) which is home to North America's largest population of wild bison. It is also the natural nesting place of the whooping crane. Another of the park's attractions is the world's largest inland delta, located at the mouth of the Peace and Athabasca rivers. The park has four main landscape featues: a glacially eroded plateau; glaciated plains; a major freshwater delta formed by three major rivers; and alluvial river lowlands. The lowlands and floodplains of Peace, Athabasca and Slave rivers and the delta in Lake Athabasca exhibit classic fluvial landforms, with a complex series of meander scars, oxbow lakes and former river terraces, and good examples of birds-foot delta development. During dry periods, the mudflats of one plain are dominated by mineral salts. These salt plains are unique in Canada.

Old Town Lunenburg

Canada Nova Scotia Lunenburg is a remarkably well-preserved town, and one which retains most of the qualities of the original British model colonial settlement, without losing its status as a fully functioning community in the modern world. The narrow peninsula on which Lunenburg was built was first settled formally in 1753, when German, Swiss and Montbéliardian French immigrants were brought to Nova Scotia under a British colonization plan. A rigid gridiron plan was superimposed on the slope of the steep hill rising up from the harbour. The new settlement was named Lunenburg after the Royal House of Brunswick-Luneberg, from which the Hanoverian kings of England were descended. The 1453 largely German-speaking Protestants who migrated to Lunenburg in 1752-53 represent the most northerly German settlement in North America in the 18th century. German customs and the German language survived an unusually long time in Lunenburg, owing to its relative isolation.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Canada Province of Alberta Situated in south-west Alberta, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the most important hunting sites identified to date. At the edge of a landscape of hills and of highlands cut by natural passes, a high sandstone cliff falls off to the east. This coastal relief lends itself ideally to primitive hunting methods. For thousands of years the native people of the plains hunted the North American bison. The plains Indian lifestyle became dependent on hunting buffalo, and they adapted numerous hunting techniques to obtain their livelihood. The most sophisticated technique developed by the native people to kill buffalo was the buffalo jump. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the oldest and best preserved sites of this kind with its elaborate drive lane complex and deep archaeological deposits still intact.

SGang Gwaay

Canada Province of British Columbia The village of Ninstints (Nans Dins) is located on a small island off the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), and it bears a unique testimony to the vanished civilization of the Haida Indians, a tribe living essentially from hunting and fishing in the archipelago. The San Christoval Mountains form the backbone of Gwaii Haanas, rising to 1,123 m at Mount de la Touche. The higher elevations of this range are dominated by mountain hemlock and alpine tundra vegetation zones. The lower elevations are mainly cedar, pine and western hemlock. The hemlock-Sitka spruce zone is on the islands of the eastern part of Gwaii Haanas, including the eastern fringe of Moresby Island. The distinct island flora and fauna have evolved over thousands of years. The species here often differ from those found on the mainland. Many common continental species are not found on the islands at all, or have evolved into unique subspecies such as the black bear and pine marten (both larger than mainland cousins), deer mouse, dusky shrew and short-tailed weasel.

L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site

Canada Province of Newfoundland and Labrador At the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, the remains of an 11th-century Viking settlement are evidence of the first European presence in North America. The excavated remains of wood-framed peat-turf buildings are similar to those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland.

Rideau Canal

Canada Province of Ontario The Rideau Canal, a monumental early 19th-century construction covering 202 km of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers from Ottawa south to Kingston Harbour on Lake Ontario, was built primarily for strategic military purposes at a time when Great Britain and the United States vied for control of the region. The site, one of the first canals to be designed specifically for steam-powered vessels, also features an ensemble of fortifications. It is the best-preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America, demonstrating the use of this European technology on a large scale. It is the only canal dating from the great North American canal-building era of the early 19th century to remain operational along its original line with most of its structures intact.

Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž

Czech Republic City and District of Kroměříž, Zlin Region Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava, at the foot of the Chriby mountain range which dominates the central part of Moravia. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens.

Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks

Canada Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks comprises Banff National Park, Hamber Provincial Park, Jasper National Park, Kootenay National Park, Mount Robson Provincial Park, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park and Yoho National Park. The Canadian Rocky Mountains are oriented in a south-eastern to north-western direction along the Continental Divide and consist of the Western Ranges, the Main Ranges, the Front Ranges and the Foothills, all of which are represented within the parks. Active glaciers and ice fields still exist throughout the region, particularly in the Main Ranges. The most significant is the Columbia ice field, the largest in North America's subarctic interior. Covering 325 km2 , the ice field spans the Continental Divide and the boundary between Jasper and Banff National Parks. The Columbia ice fields of Jasper National Park are regarded as the hydrographic apex of North America and are the headwaters to three major river systems: the North Saskatchewan River, the Athabasca River and the Columbia River. The park waters of Yoho flow to the Pacific along Kicking Horse. Mount Robson Park encompasses the headwaters of Fraser River while Hamber Park encompasses Fortress Lake watershed. There are numerous lakes in Mount Assiniboine Park, most of which are located in broad alpine valleys and plateaus where they occupy glacially scoured depressions in the limestone bedrock.

Red Bay Basque Whaling Station

Canada Red Bay, established by Basque mariners in the 16th century at the north-eastern tip of Canada on the shore of the Strait of Belle Isle is an archaeological site that provides the earliest, most complete and best preserved testimony of the European whaling tradition. Gran Baya, as it was called by those who founded the station in 1530s, was used as a base for coastal hunting, butchering, rendering of whale fat by heading to produce oil and storage. It became a major source of whale oil which was shipped to Europe where it was used for lighting. The site, which was used in the summer months, includes remains of rendering ovens, cooperages, wharves, temporary living quarters and a cemetery, together with underwater remains of vessels and whale bone deposits. The station was used for some 70 years, before the local whale population was depleted.

Joggins Fossil Cliffs

Canada The Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a 689 ha palaeontological site along the coast of Nova Scotia (eastern Canada), have been described as the "coal age Galápagos" due to their wealth of fossils from the Carboniferous period (354 to 290 million years ago). The rocks of this site are considered to be iconic for this period of the history of Earth and are the world's thickest and most comprehensive record of the Pennsylvanian strata (dating back 318 to 303 million years) with the most complete known fossil record of terrestrial life from that time. These include the remains and tracks of very early animals and the rainforest in which they lived, left in situ, intact and undisturbed. With its 14.7 km of sea cliffs, low bluffs, rock platforms and beach, the site groups remains of three ecosystems: estuarine bay, floodplain rainforest and fire prone forested alluvial plain with freshwater pools. It offers the richest assemblage known of the fossil life in these three ecosystems with 96 genera and 148 species of fossils and 20 footprint groups. The site is listed as containing outstanding examples representing major stages in the history of Earth.

Landscape of Grand Pré

Canada The nominated property consists of 1323 hectares of dykelands, known elsewhere as polders, and uplands on the southern edge of the Minas Basin, an eastern arm of the Bay of Fundy in western mainland Nova Scotia. It is bordered by the Gaspereau River to the east, the Cornwallis River to the west, Long Island to the north, and parts of the communities of Grand Pré, Hortonville, and Lower Wolfville to the south. Dominating the distant background, beyond the nominated property, Cape Blomidon extends into the basin as an instantly recognizable landmark. The nominated property includes the dykeland area that the Acadians created in the 17th century, which successive generations of farmers have expanded. It also includes distinctive representative sections of the Acadian settlement and of the current agricultural community, as well as the entire planned settlement for the New England Planters, a British town grid.

Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park

Central African Republic Bamingui-Bangoran The area occupies most of the eastern end of Bamingui-Bangoran Province in the north of the country, on the international border with Chad. The boundaries on three sides of the park are formed by the international border, the eastern and southern borders of the province, whereas the western boundary is mainly marked by the Manovo River. The park comprises three main zones: the flood plain of the Bahr Aouk and Bahr Kameur rivers in the north, the Massif des Bongo in the south, and a gently undulating transitional plain between. The lowland areas, which are seasonally flooded, have fine, deep, alluvial soils, although drainage in these areas may be quite poor. This gives way to a flat plain with coarse, generally ferruginous and well-drained soils, in which some areas, particularly the depressions, have developed a lateritic or ironstone shield, on which woody vegetation is noticeably sparse or absent. The massif, which is separated from the plain by an escarpment, is chiefly composed of sandstone and is highly dissected. Five major rivers run down from the massif through the park to the Bahr Aouk and Bahr Kameur. These are the Vakaga, Goro, Gounda, Koumbala and Manovo. However, the flow may be interrupted towards the end of the dry season, and may actually only reach the Bahr Aouk and Bahr Kameur during the wettest months. The predominant vegetation type over much of the park is Sudanese-Guinean woodland savannah which can be divided into five types: Terminalia laxiflora wooded savannah; Isoberlinia doka and Monotes kerstingii woodland; Pseudocedrela kotschyi and Terminalia macroptera woodland; mixed lowland woodland or wooded savannah; and Anogeissus leiocarpus and Khaya senegalensis .

Lakes of Ounianga

Chad The site includes eighteen interconnected lakes in the hyper arid Ennedi region of the Sahara desert covering an area of 62,808 ha. It constitutes an exceptional natural landscape of great beauty with striking colours and shapes. The saline, hyper saline and freshwater lakes are supplied by groundwater and are found in two groups 40 km apart. Ounianga Kebir comprises four lakes, the largest of which, Yoan, covers an area of 358 ha and is 27 m deep. Its highly saline waters only sustain algae and some microorganisms. The second group, Ounianga Serir, comprises fourteen lakes separated by sand dunes. Floating reeds cover almost half the surface of these lakes reducing evaporation. At 436 ha, Lake Teli has the largest surface area but is less than 10 m deep. With their high quality freshwater, some of these lakes are home to aquatic fauna, particularly fish.

Churches of Chiloé

Chile Municipalities of Castro, Chonchi, Dalcahue, Puqueldón, Quemchi, and Quinchao, Chiloé Province, X Region de los Lagos The Churches of Chiloé are outstanding examples of the successful fusion of European and indigenous cultural traditions to produce a unique form of wooden architecture. The mestizo culture resulting from Jesuit missionary activities in the 17th and 18th centuries has survived intact in the Chiloé archipelago, and achieves its highest expression in the outstanding wooden churches. In the 16th century the inhabitants of the Chiloé archipelago, which extends from the Chacao Canal to the Corcovado Gulf, followed a sedentary way of life, based on a mixed farming and fishing economy. Spanish navigators had discovered the archipelago by the mid-16th century, but colonization did not begin until 1567, when Martín Ruiz de Gamboa founded the towns of Santiago de Castro and Chacao on the Isla Grande de Chiloé.

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

Chile Province of Iquique The two abandoned saltpeter works lie in the Tamarugal Pampa and are 1.5 km apart, separated by Route A16. Saltpeter (sodium nitrate) deposits are found in an arid, desert altiplano in the far north of Chile, in the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta - the Pampa, which is one of the driest deserts in the world with virtually no annual rainfall, and large differences in temperature between day and night. The porous Pampa filters water coming down from the Andes Mountains. Near the coastal ridge, the water formed small lakes in the impermeable granite-like rock, giving rise to 'salt pans' as a result of the evaporation of water, and 'saltpeter' beds in fissures between the hard and softer rocks

Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

China Fangshanxian County, Beijing Municipality The site at Choukoutien (today Zhoukoudian), located 42 km south-west of Peking (Beijing), was explored as early as 1921 by the Swedish geologist J. G. Anderson. Scientific work at the site, which lies 42 km south-west of Beijing, is still underway. So far, it has led to the discovery of the remains of Sinanthropus pekinensis, who lived in the Middle Pleistocene, along with various objects, and remains of Homo sapiens sapiens dating as far back as 18,000-11,000 B.C. The site is not only an exceptional reminder of the prehistorical human societies of the Asian continent, but also illustrates the process of evolution.

Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

China Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan This property is a 5,000 km section of the extensive Silk Roads network, stretching from Chang'an/Luoyang, the central capital of China in the Han and Tang dynasties, to the Zhetysu region of Central Asia. Starting on the Loess plateau at Chang'an, the central capital of China in the Han and Tang Dynasties, the routes of the Tian-shan corridor passed westwards through the Hosi Corridor across the Qin and Qilian Mountains to the Yumen Pass of Dunhuang. From Loulan/Hami, they continued along the northern and southern flanks of the Tian-shan Mountain and then through passes to reach the Ili, Chuy and Talas valleys in the Zhetysu Region of Central Asia, linking two of the great power centres that drove the Silk Roads trade. Thirty-three sites along the corridor include capital cities palace complexes of various empires and Khan Kingdoms, trading settlements, Buddhist cave temples, ancient paths, posthouses, passes, beacon towers, sections of the Great Wall, fortifications, tombs and religious buildings. The formal system of posthouses and beacon towers provided by the Chinese Empire facilitated trade, as did the system of forts, caravanserai and way stations operated by states in the Zhetysu region.

Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing

China 10 km northwest of Beijing The Summer Palace in Beijing - first built in 1750, largely destroyed in the war of 1860 and restored on its original foundations in 1886 - is a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The Summer Palace covers an area of 2.97 km2 , three-quarters of which is covered by water. The main framework is supplied by the Hill of Longevity and Kunming Lake, complemented by man-made features.

Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde

China Chengde City, Hebei Province Building began in 1703 and the last project was completed in 1792, covering the reigns of three successive emperors of the Qing dynasty. The work was carried out in two stages: from 1703 to 1714 opening up the lake area, construction of islets and dykes preparatory to building of palaces, pavilions and palace walls; and from 1741 to 1754 addition of further palaces and scenic gardens. Between 1713 and 1780 the Outlying Temples were also being built. With the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 the resort was abandoned; restoration work began after the foundation of the People's Republic of China. The palace area, which covers 102,000 m2 , is in the south part of the resort. The Lake Area, which covers 496,000 m2 in the south-eastern part of the resort. The Lake Area, which covers 496,000 m2 in the south-eastern part of the resort. The Plain Area, to the north of the Resort, covers 607,000 m2 and is divided into two parts - the western grasslands and the eastern forests.

Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains

China Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province Situated in the scenic valleys and on the slopes of the Wudang Mountains in Hubei Province, the site, which was built as an organized complex during the Ming dynasty (14th-17th centuries). To commemorate the success of the Governor of the Wudang Administrative Region in bringing rain by prayer, Emperor Taizong ordered the Five Dragon Hall to be built (627-49). This was quickly followed by the Taiyi and Yanchang Temples, and in 869 the Weiwu Gong Temple. In 1018 Song Emperor Zhenzong converted the Five Dragon Hall into a temple, and his successor had the Purple Heaven Hall built beneath the Zhanqi Peak. Then came the Laojun Monastery and the Xianguan Terrace. In 1304 the mountains became known as 'The Blessed Land', at which time the Gate to the Blessed Land was constructed. The Tianyi-Zhenqing Palace, the Yuxu Cliff Temple, the Thunder God's Cave, and the Yinxian Cliff Temple were also built around this time. After his enthronement Ming Emperor Zhu Di started construction work in the Wudang Mountains.

Yungang Grottoes

China Datong City, Shanxi Province The Yungang Grottoes, known as Wuzhoushan Grottoes in ancient times, are located on the southern foot of the Wuzhou Mountains, in the Shi Li River valley, 16 km west of Datong City. They consist of 252 caves of various sizes housing more than 51,000 statues; the site extends much as 1 km east-west. Three main periods can be identified in the construction: the Early Period (460-65), the Middle Period (c . 471-94) and the Late Period (494-525).

Dazu Rock Carvings

China Dazu County, Chongqing Municipality The steep hillsides of the Dazu area contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the 9th to the 13th century. They are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System

China Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province Construction of the Dujiangyan irrigation system began in the 3rd century B.C. This system still controls the waters of the Minjiang River and distributes it to the fertile farmland of the Chengdu plains. Mount Qingcheng was the birthplace of Taoism, which is celebrated in a series of ancient temples. In 256 BC Li Bing, Shu Kingdom magistrate of the Qin dynasty, selected the mountain outlet of the Minjiang River, with its abundant water flow, as the site for an irrigation system. This involved cutting the Lidui platform, digging canals to avoid the risk of flooding, and opening up a navigation route; at the same time the neighbouring farmland would be irrigated, creating a 'Land of Abundance'.

Mogao Caves

China Dunhuang County, Gansu Province. At the eastern foot of Mount Mingsha, 25 kilometres southeast of the County seat. Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural and intellectual influences, the 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. In the desert landscape of the extreme north-west of Gansu Province are the cliffs of Mogao, which form the eastern edge of Mount Mingsha. The cliffs rise above the Dachuan River, which is 25 km south-east of the Dunhuang oasis. Within the cliffs are the 492 natural cells and rock sanctuaries extending over 1,600 m that make up the famous Caves of a Thousand Buddhas (Qianfodong). The history of these caves is inseparably linked with that of the first Chinese expeditions against the nomads of the Mongolian steppes and Central Asia.

Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area

China Eimeishan City, Sichuan Province The first Buddhist temple in China was built here in Sichuan Province in the 1st century A.D. in the beautiful surroundings of the summit Mount Emei. The most remarkable is the Giant Buddha of Leshan, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century and looking down on the confluence of three rivers. At 71 m high, it is the largest Buddha in the world.

Kaiping Diaolou and Villages

China Guangdong Province Kaiping Diaolou and Villages feature the Diaolou, multi-storeyed defensive village houses in Kaiping, which display a complex and flamboyant fusion of Chinese and Western structural and decorative forms. They reflect the significant role of émigré Kaiping people in the development of several countries in South Asia, Australasia and North America, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.In the Han period (255BC-220AD) Han people from the Central Plains of China began to move into the area and intermingled with the Yue people, who cultivated rice and fished. From the mid 16th century, many villagers began to trade from the nearby coast, sailing in wooden junks to south-east Asia. In 1839 a poor farmer left his village and travelled to America. This was the start of a large migration of people drawn on the one hand by work on gold-fields and railroads, and prompted on the other by an increasingly difficult situation at home, brought about by warfare against Hakka migrants from the north and an increase in population which had led to food shortages. Many thousands of Kaiping villagers left the area, travelling to Macao and Hong Kong and then on to USA, Canada or Australia. In North America the immigrants had to take jobs involving hard manual labour.

Yin Xu

China Henan Province The archaeological site of Yin Xu, close to Anyang City, some 500 km south of Beijing, is an ancient capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1300 - 1046 BC). Situated on both banks of the Huanhe River to the northwest of the nationally famous historic and cultural city Anyang, in Henan Province of central China, the archaeological remains of Yin Xu dated from 1,300 BCE and comprise two sites: the Palace and Royal Ancestral Shrines Area and the Royal Tombs Area covering a total 414 hectares with an enclosing buffer zone of 720 hectares.

Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom

China Huanren County, Liaoning Province and Ji'an, Jilin Province The site includes archaeological remains of three cities and 40 tombs: Wunu Mountain City, Guonei City and Wandu Mountain City, 14 tombs are imperial, 26 of nobles. All belong to the Koguryo culture, named after the dynasty that ruled over parts of northern China and the northern half of the Korean Peninsula from 277 BC to AD 668. Wunu Mountain City is only partly excavated. Guonei City, within the modern city of Ji'an, played the role of a 'supporting capital' after the main Koguryo capital moved to Pyongyang. Wandu Mountain City, one of the capitals of the Koguryo Kingdom, contains many vestiges including a large palace and 37 tombs.

Lushan National Park

China Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province Mount Lushan(Mount Lu), in Jiangxi, is one of the spiritual centres of Chinese civilization. n 1982, Mount Lushan became one of the first National Scenic Areas and one of the First Class National Nature Reserves, with the property area and buffer zone delimited. Mount Lushan is located in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. The property area of Lushan National Park occupies a total area of 30,200 hectaresand its highest Peak, Hanyang Peak, is 1,474 meters above sea level. Bordered on the north by the Yangtze River and on the south by Poyang Lake, Buddhist and Taoist temples, along with landmarks of Confucianism. Other great religions, such as Islam and Christianity, also established centres at Lushan.The cultural properties in Lushan National Park fall into four groups: archaeological sites; inscriptions; historic buildings; and Chinese and foreign villas.

Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa

China Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region The Potala Palace, winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century, symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration of Tibet. The complex, comprising the White and Red Palaces with their ancillary buildings, is built on Red Mountain in the centre of Lhasa Valley, at an altitude of 3,700m. Also founded in the 7th century, the Jokhang Temple Monastery is an exceptional Buddhist religious complex. Norbulingka, the Dalai Lama's former summer palace, constructed in the 18th century, is a masterpiece of Tibetan art.

The Great Wall

China Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Qinghai provinces, municipalities and autonomous Regions Known to the Chinese as the 'Long Wall of Ten Thousand Li', the formidable defensive structures built to ward off invasion of the Celestial Empire by barbarians goes back to the Chunqiu period (722-481 BC) and to the Warring States period (453-221 BC). In c. 220 B.C., under Qin Shi Huang, sections of earlier fortifications were joined together to form a united defence system against invasions from the north. Construction continued up to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), when the Great Wall became the world's largest military structure. Its historic and strategic importance is matched only by its architectural significance.

Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas

China Lijiang Prefecture, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province Consisting of eight geographical clusters of protected areas within the boundaries of the Three Parallel Rivers National Park, in the mountainous north-west of Yunnan Province, the 1.7 million hectare site features sections of the upper reaches of three of the great rivers of Asia: the Yangtze (Jinsha), Mekong and Salween run roughly parallel, north to south, through steep gorges which, in places, are 3,000 m deep and are bordered by glaciated peaks more than 6,000 m high.

Old Town of Lijiang

China Lijiang's old town (including the Dayan old town, Basha housing cluster and Shuhe housing cluster) A sluice on the former uses the different levels of the two waterways to wash the streets, a unique form of municipal sanitation. The streets are paved with slabs of a fine-grained red breccia. Water flows from here to the Shuangshi Bridge, where it branches into three tributaries. These subdivide into a network of channels and culverts to supply every house in the town. This water supply is supplemented by many springs and wells within the town itself. A system of watercourses of this complexity necessitates a large number of bridges of varying sizes. There are 354 bridges altogether; they take several forms. It is from these structures that Lijiang derives its name, the 'City of Bridges'.

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

China Lintong County, Shaanxi Province Located at the northern foot of Lishan Mountain, 35 kilometers northeast of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Qinshihuang Mausoleum is the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang, founder of the first unified empire in Chinese history during the 3rd century BCE.No doubt thousands of statues still remain to be unearthed at this archaeological site, which was not discovered until 1974. Qin (d. 210 B.C.), the first unifier of China, is buried, surrounded by the famous terracotta warriors, at the centre of a complex designed to mirror the urban plan of the capital, Xianyan. The small figures are all different; with their horses, chariots and weapons, they are masterpieces of realism and also of great historical interest.

Longmen Grottoes

China Luoyang City, Henan Province The Longmen Grottoes lie 12 km south of the historic Chinese city of Luoyang. Two hills flank the Yishui River at a place that combines considerable strategic importance and great natural beauty. The slopes of the West and East Hills become very steep and cliff-like as they approach the river valley, and it is here that the easily worked limestone was carved to produce the Longmen Caves. In total 2,345 niches or grottoes have been recorded on the two sides of the river. They house more than 100,000 Buddhist statues, about 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, and over 60 Buddhist pagodas. On the West Hill cliffs there are more than 50 large and medium-sized caves cut in the Northern, Sui and Tang dynasties (316-907); the caves on the East Hill cliffs are exclusively from the Tang dynasty (618-907).

Historic Centre of Macao

China Macao Special Administrative Region The World Heritage site of Macao, located on the south-east coast of China to the west of the Pearl River Delta, consists of the Macao peninsula and the two islands of Taipa and Coloane. It was settled by fishing people long before the arrival of foreigners. The Portuguese first arrived in China in 1513, visiting the famous market of Canton. In 1557, they created in what was to become the oldest permanent European settlement in East Asia. The name of Macao derives from the Ma Kwok temple, built in the 14th century. At the time, the native inhabitants were scattered in small villages. Barra village and Patane village were small settlements of seafaring merchants, whereas the other villagers were farmers.

Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

China Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province (Xiaoling Tomb); Changping District, Beijing (Ming Tombs) The Xianling tombs of the Ming dynasty are situated near the town of Zhongxiang, in Hubei Province, over 1,000 km from Beijing. The first work on the mausoleum was carried out by Xing, who planned to be buried there. On genealogical grounds, he was declared Emperor posthumously in 1519.

Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area

China Nanping County, Sichuan Province The valley lies in the southern part of the Min Shan Range, approximately 330 km from the provincial capital of Chengdu and includes the catchment areas of the Shizheng, Rize and Zechawa gullies, which join Jiuzhaigou Valley. Lying on the edge of the diverging belt between the Qinghai-Tibet Plate and the Yangtze Plate, there are major fault lines running through the site: earthquakes are not uncommon and have been a major influence on the geological landscape. Of greater geological interest, are the high-altitude karst landforms that have been strongly influenced by glacial, hydrological and tectonic activity. The best known features are the large number of lakes in the area: many are classic ribbon lakes, at the base of glacially formed valleys, which have been dammed naturally, for example behind rock falls from avalanches.

Ancient City of Ping Yao

China Ping Yao County, Shan Xi Province Ping Yao City is located at the end of the alluvial fan resulting from the confluence of the Hui Ji and Liu Gen rivers. The area enclosed is 2.25 km2 , comprising six large temple complexes, administrative offices for county and municipal administrations, and other public buildings as well as office buildings. The internal street layout is symmetrical and rectilinear. The Ancient City of Ping Yao is a well-preserved ancient county-level city in China. Located in Ping Yao County, central Shanxi Province, the property includes three parts: the entire area within the walls of Ping Yao, Shuanglin Temple 6 kilometers southwest of the county seat, and Zhenguo Temple 12 kilometers northeast of the county seat. The Ancient City of Ping Yao well retains the historic form of the county-level cities of the Han people in Central China from the 14th to 20th century.

Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu

China Qufu City, Shandong Province Located 1,100 meters to the north of Qufu City, the Cemetery of Confucius covers an area of 183 hectares. It contains Confucius' tomb and more than 100,000 graves of his descendants. The temple, cemetery and family mansion of Confucius, the great philosopher, politician and educator of the 6th-5th centuries B.C., are located at Qufu, in Shandong Province. Built to commemorate him in 478 B.C., the temple has been destroyed and reconstructed over the centuries; today it comprises more than 100 buildings. The cemetery contains Confucius' tomb and the remains of more than 100,000 of his descendants. The small house of the Kong family developed into a gigantic aristocratic residence, of which 152 buildings remain. The Qufu complex of monuments has retained its outstanding artistic and historic character due to the devotion of successive Chinese emperors over more than 2,000 years.

Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries - Wolong, Mt Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains

China Sichuan Province Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, home to more than 30% of the world's pandas which are classed as highly endangered, covers 924,500 ha with seven nature reserves and nine scenic parks in the Qionglai and Jiajin Mountains. The sanctuaries constitute the largest remaining contiguous habitat of the giant panda, a relict from the paleo-tropic forests of the Tertiary Era. It is also the species' most important site for captive breeding.

Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area

China Songpan County, Sichuan Province Situated in the north-west of The property lies in the southern part of the Min Shan Range, approximately 150 km north/north-west of the provincial capital of Chengdu. It is divided into two distinct sites: the Huanglong subdivision and the Mouni Gully subdivision. Tectonic activity, in the form of earthquakes, is fairly frequent. The relief is predominantly precipitous, a particularly spectacular example being where the Fujiang River flows through the Danyun Gorge. Xuebaoding, or Snow Mountain Peak, is permanently snow-covered and bears the easternmost glacier in China. Of greatest geologically interest is the extensive calcite deposition that has taken place, notably along the 3.6 km Huanglonggou (Yellow Dragon Gully) where there are several extensive areas of travertine pools.

Mount Taishan

China Spanning the cities of Tai'an and Jinan in central Shandong Province with the main peak in the city of Tai'an The majestic site of the sacred Mount Tai (Taishan), Located in central Shandong Province, just north of Tai'an City, Taishan rises abruptly from the vast plain of central Shandong. Referred to as the Taishan Complex, formed in the Archaean era 170-200 million years ago. Subsequently, in the Proterozoic era, the Taishan region began to rise, and this uplift continued until the middle of the Cenozoic era. The gneiss that emerged in the Taishan region is the foundation for all of North China.

Classical Gardens of Suzhou

China Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province Classical Chinese garden design, which seeks to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens in the historic city of Suzhou. They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. Dating from the 11th-19th century

Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area

China The Wulingyuan District of the City of Dayong, Hunan Province The site lies in the Wulingyuan District of the city of Dayong and covers the entire drainage basin of the Suoxi Brook, which winds for 69 km through the site. The most notable feature, dominating about two-thirds of the site, are more than 3,000 quartzite sandstone pillars and peaks. There are two spectacular natural bridges in the area: Xianrenqias (Bridge of the Immortals) and Tianqiashengkong (Bridge Across the Sky). Wulingyuan lies in the Central China Botanic Region of the Sino-Japanese Botanic Zone.

Mount Huangshan

China The property, located in the humid subtropical monsoon climate zone of China's Anhui Province and covering an area of 15,400 ha with a buffer zone of 14,200 ha, is also of outstanding importance for its botanical richness and for the conservation of a number of locally or nationally endemic plant species, some of which are threatened with extinction. Huangshan, known as 'the loveliest mountain of China', was acclaimed through art and literature during a good part of Chinese history (e.g. the Shanshui 'mountain and water' style of the mid-16th century). It features numerous imposing peaks, whose formation dates back some 100 million years to the Mesozoic era, when the ancient Yangtse Sea disappeared as a result of crustal movements and subsequent uplift.

Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing

China Tiantan Park, Beijing The Temple of Heaven was built on a site 3.5 km south-east of the Zhengyang Gate of Beijing. The area that it occupies is almost square, the two southern corners being right-angled and those on the north rounded. This symbolizes the ancient Chinese belief that Heaven is round and the Earth square. It is a spatial representation of Chinese cosmogony on which the political power and legitimacy of the imperial dynasties was based for more than two millennia.

Mount Wuyi

China Wuyishan City, Fujian Province Mount Wuyi is the most outstanding area for biodiversity conservation in south-east China and a refuge for a large number of ancient, relict species, many of them endemic to China. The serene beauty of the dramatic gorges of the Nine Bend River, with its numerous temples and monasteries, many now in ruins, provided the setting for the development and spread of neo-Confucianism, which has been influential in the cultures of East Asia since the 11th century. In the 1st century B.C. a large administrative capital was built at nearby Chengcun by the Han dynasty rulers. Its massive walls enclose an archaeological site of great significance. The property consists of four protected areas: Wuyishan National Nature Reserve (56,527 ha) in the west, Nine-Bend Stream Ecological Protection Area (36,400 ha) in the centre and Wuyishan National Scenic Area (7,000 ha) in the east are contiguous, and the Protection Area for the Remains of Ancient Han Dynasty (48 ha) is a separate area, about 15km to the south-east.

Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui - Xidi and Hongcun

China Yi county, Huangshan city, Anhui Province Xidi was originally called Xichuan (West River), because of the streams that pass through it. It owes its growth to the Hu family from Wuyuan (Xinan). Xidi is located in an area surrounded by mountains. Streams enter from the north and east respectively, converging at the Huiyuan Bridge in the south of the village. The streets are all paved with granite from Yi County.

China Danxia

China Danxia is the name given in China to landscapes developed on continental red terrigenous sedimentary beds influenced by endogenous forces (including uplift) and exogenous forces (including weathering and erosion). The inscribed site comprises six areas found in the sub-tropical zone of south-west China. China Danxia is a serial property comprising six component parts (Chishui, Taining, Langshan, Danxiashan, Longhushan, and Jianglangshan) found in the sub-tropical zone of south-eastern China within approximately 1700 km crescent shaped arc from Guizhou Province in the west to Zhejiang Province in the east.

Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments

Colombia Bolivar Department Cartagena Situated in a bay in the Caribbean Sea, Cartagena has the most extensive fortifications in South America.Cartagena, together with La Habana and San Juan de Puerto Rico, was one of the three most important ports in the West Indies. It is an outstanding example of the military architecture of the 16th-18th centuries - the most extensive in the New World and one of the most complete. A system of zones divides the city into three neighbourhoods: San Pedro, with the cathedral and many Andalusian-style palaces; San Diego, where merchants and the middle class lived; and Gethsemani, the 'popular quarter'.

Historic Centre of Santa Cruz de Mompox

Colombia Bolívar Department Santa Cruz de Mompox, located in the swampy inland tropics of northern Colombia's Bolívar Department, was founded about 1539 on the Magdalena River, the country's principal waterway. Mompox was founded in 1540 by Juan de Santa Cruz, Governor of Cartagena, who gave his name to the site. Its history forms an integral part of the processes of colonial penetration and dominion during the Spanish conquest and of the growth of communications and commerce during the 17th to early 19th centuries. It is a riverside settlement on the country's main waterway into the interior highlands, the Magoarena River, close to its confluence with the Cauca River, the other main communication waterway.

National Archeological Park of Tierradentro

Colombia Department of Cauca, in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Inza, in the "corregimiento" of San Andres de Pisimbalá The National Archaeological Park of Tierradentro is located in the south-western of Colombia in Andean's central cordillera, in the municipality of Inzá, department of Cauca. Four areas, dispersed over a few square kilometres, make up the archaeological park: Alto de San Andrés, Alto de Segovia, Alto del Duende, El Tablón and as a site of importance but outside the park boundary the Alto del Aguacate. The park contains all known monumental shaft and chamber tombs of Tierradentro culture, the largest and most elaborate tombs of their kind.

San Agustín Archaeological Park

Colombia Department of Huila: Municipalities of San Augustin and San José de Isnos The San Agustín Archaeological Park is located in the Colombian Massif of the Colombian southwestern Andes, on terrains of the municipalities of San Agustín and Isnos, in the department of Huila. Three separate properties, totalling 116 ha, comprise the Archaeological Park: San Agustín (conformed by the Mesita A, Mesita B, Mesita C, La Estación, Alto de Lavapatas and Fuente de Lavapatas sites), Alto de los Ídolos and Alto de Las Piedras. The park is at the core of San Agustín archaeological zone featuring the largest complex of pre-Columbian megalithic funerary monuments and statuary, burial mounds, terraces, funerary structures, stone statuary and the Fuente de Lavapatas site, a religious monument carved in the stone bed of a stream.

Los Katíos National Park

Colombia Provinces of Antioquia and Choco' Los Katíos National Park has great biological wealth and a privileged role in the South American continent's biogeographical history. Contiguous to the much larger Darién National Park of Panama which is also a World Heritage Site, these two areas together protect a representative sample of one of the world's most species-rich areas of moist lowland and highland rainforest, with exceptional endemism. Extending over 72,000 ha in north-western Colombia, the park comprises two main regions: the mountains of the Serranía del Darién in the west and in the east the floodplain of the Atrato River, the fastest-flowing in the world, emptying 4,900 m3 of water into the Caribbean every second. The area is composed of alluvial plains with regularly flooded terraces, alluvial plains with rarely flooded high terraces, low hills up to 250 m high, hills up to 600 m high and marshes. Within the sites there are the cascades of Tilupo and Tendal, the Stops of Guillermina and Limo'n.

Jesuit Block and Estancias of Córdoba

Cordoba, Argentina The 38-ha ensemble of the Jesuit Block and five of its estancias (rural farming and manufacturing establishments) in the province of Córdoba, near the geographical centre of Argentina, contains 17th and 18th century religious and secular buildings that illustrate an unprecedented 150-year-long religious, social, and economic experiment.

Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

Costa Rica Panama Provincias de Bocas del Toro y Chiriqui, Panama; San Jose, Cartago, Limon and Puntarenas Provinces, Costa Rica The park lies in the foothills and mountains of Cordillera de Talamanca between the mountain ranges of Las Vueltas, Cartago and Echandi on the Panamanian/Costa Rican border.The transboundary property covers large tracts of the highest and wildest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America and is one of that region's outstanding conservation areas. The Talamanca Mountains contain one of the major remaining blocks of natural forest in Central America with no other protected area complex in Central America containing a comparable altitudinal variation. The scenic mountains and foothills contain impressive footprints of Quaternary glaciation, such as glacial cirques, lakes and valleys shaped by glaciers, phenomena not found elsewhere in the region.

Cocos Island National Park

Costa Rica Province of Puntarenas, South Eastern Tropical Pacific Cocos Island National Park, located 550 km off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, includes the entire Isla del Coco and the marine ecosystems up to a distance of 15 km around the island. Is the only island in the tropical Eastern Pacific with a tropical rainforest. The island is of volcanic origin consisting of basaltic rock which presents a rugged relief characterized by an irregular coastline with cliffs rising almost vertically from a narrow shore to heights of 200m. There are two bays (Bahía Wafer and Bahía Chatham) with sandy beaches. Inland, the terrain is mountainous with numerous rivers and streams, many of which plunge over the peripheral cliffs in spectacular waterfalls.

Precolumbian Chiefdom Settlements with Stone Spheres of the Diquís

Costa Rica The serial nomination of four archaeological sites (Finca 6, Batambal, El Silencio and Grijalba-2) located in the Diquís Delta in southern Costa Rica illustrates a collection of unique stone spheres located in chiefdom settlement structures of the Precolumbian period.

Old City of Dubrovnik

Croatia County of Dubrovnik-Neretva, Adriatic Coast The 'Pearl of the Adriatic', situated on the Dalmatian coast, became an important Mediterranean sea power from the 13th century onwards. Dubrovnik was founded in the first half of the 7th century by a group of refugees from Epidaurum, who established their settlement at the island and named it Laus. The Latin name Ragusa (Rausa), in use until the 15th century, originated from the rock (Lat. lausa = rock). Opposite that location, at the foot of Srđ Mountain, the Slavs developed their own settlement under the name of Dubrovnik, derived from the Croatian word dubrava, which means oak woods. The island of Lokrum lies to the south-east of Dubrovnik, some 500 m from the coast. In 1023 it became a Benedictine abbey, the first of several in the Republic of Dubrovnik

Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Poreč

Croatia County of Istria The Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč is the most integrally preserved early Christian cathedral complex in the region and unique by virtue of the fact that all the basic components - church, memorial chapel, atrium, baptistry and episcopal palace - are preserved. The Basilica, including its earlier phases (oratory, basilica gemina and basilica proper), is a characteristic example of 5th- and 6th-century religious architecture, showing significant Byzantine influence

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Croatia County of Lika-Senj, 10km east of Bihac Plitvice Lakes National Park contains a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls. These have been formed by processes typical of karst landscapes such as the deposition of travertine barriers, creating natural dams. These geological processes continue today. The Plitvice Lakes basin is a geomorphologic formation of biological origin, a karst river basin of limestone and dolomite, with approximately 20 There are 16 interlinked lakes between Mala Kapela Mountain and Pljesevica Mountain. The lake system is divided into the upper and lower lakes: The lower lakes were formed by crumbling and caving-in of the vaults above subterranean cavities through which water of the upper lakes disappeared.

Historic City of Trogir

Croatia County of Split-Dalmatia The ancient town of Tragurion (island of goats) was founded as a trading settlement by Greek colonists from the island of Vis in the 3rd century BC on an islet at the western end of the bay of Manios, in a strait between the mainland and one of the Adriatic islands, where there was already a small settlement. rogir is a remarkable example of urban continuity. The orthogonal street plan of this island settlement dates back to the Hellenistic period and it was embellished by successive rulers with many fine public and domestic buildings and fortifications. Its beautiful Romanesque churches are complemented by the outstanding Renaissance and Baroque buildings from the Venetian period.

Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian

Croatia County of Split-Dalmatia The importance of Diocletian's Palace far transcends local significance because of its level of preservation and the buildings of succeeding historical periods, starting in the Roman period, which form the very tissue of old Split. The palace is one of the most famous and integral architectural and cultural buildings on the Croatian Adriatic coast. The ruins of Diocletian's Palace, built between the late 3rd and the early 4th centuries AD, can be found throughout the city. The Roman Emperor Diocletian spent his declining years in an enormous palace that he had built near his birthplace, Aspalthos, in Dalmatia.

The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik

Croatia County of Šibenik-Knin Šibenik is a small town on the Dalmatian coast, opening out on a bay separated from the Adriatic by the Sveti Ante (St Anthony) channel and a multitude of tiny islands. The town was founded in the 10th century by the Subic family. The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik (1431-1535), on the Dalmatian coast, bears witness to the considerable exchanges in the field of monumental arts between Northern Italy, Dalmatia and Tuscany in the 15th and 16th centuries. The three architects who succeeded one another in the construction of the Cathedral - Francesco di Giacomo, Georgius Mathei Dalmaticus and Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino - developed a structure built entirely from stone and using unique construction techniques for the vaulting and the dome of the Cathedral.

Stari Grad Plain

Croatia Split and Dalmatia Counties Stari Grad Plain on the Adriatic island of Hvar is a cultural landscape that has remained practically intact since it was first colonized by Ionian Greeks from Paros in the 4th century BC. The original agricultural activity of this fertile plain, mainly centring on grapes and olives, has been maintained since Greek times to the present. The site is also a natural reserve. The landscape features ancient stone walls and trims, or small stone shelters, and bears testimony to the ancient geometrical system of land division used by the ancient Greeks, the chora which has remained virtually intact over 24 centuries.

Desembarco del Granma National Park

Cuba Desembarco del Granma National Park, south-east corner of the the Republic of Cuba Desembarco del Granma National Park, with its uplifted marine terraces and associated ongoing development of karst topography and features, represents a globally significant example of geomorphologic and physiographic features and ongoing geological processes. The property lies within the tectonically active zone between the Caribbean and the North American Plate and conserves the limestone terraces of Cabo Cruz at the western end of the Sierra Maestra Mountains. The area, which is situated in and around Cabo Cruz in south-east Cuba, includes spectacular terraces and cliffs, as well as some of the most pristine and impressive coastal cliffs bordering the western Atlantic.

Alejandro de Humboldt National Park

Cuba Guantánamo and Holguín Provinces Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (AHNP) is located in the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa Mountains on the North Coast of Eastern Cuba. The largest and best-conserved remnant of forested mountain ecosystems in theCaribbean , AHNP is widely considered to be Cuba's most important protected area for its extraordinary biodiversity values. The property is embedded into the much larger Cuchillas del Toa Biosphere Reserve, which exceeds 200,000 ha. The altitude ranges from 220 m below in the marine parts to 1,175 m above sea level at El Toldo Peak. mportant rivers, including the Toa River, Cuba's largest river,

Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos

Cuba Municipality of Cienfuegos It was founded, as the Colony Fernandina de Jagua, in the Spanish territory in 1819, but settled by French from Bordeaux, Louisiana, Philadelphia and Guarico. The colonial town of Cienfuegos was founded in 1819 in the Spanish territory but was initially settled by immigrants of French origin. It became a trading place for sugar cane, tobacco and coffee. Situated on the Caribbean coast of southern-central Cuba at the heart of the country's sugar cane, mango, tobacco and coffee production area, the town first developed in the neoclassical style.

Old Havana and its Fortification System

Cuba Province of Ciudad de la Habana Founded about 1519 on Cuba's north-western shore,Havana, last of the cities founded in Cuba by the Spanish conquistadores, had become by 1550 the most important on the island, a position that it has continued to hold. Havana was established at its present location in 1519 by the Spanish and became one of the Caribbean's main centres for shipbuilding. Its location made of the city a perfect gathering point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru: Havana became the front door to the vast Spanish colonial empire, and in 1607 it became also the capital of Cuba. In 1762, during the Seven Years' War, England seized Havana and held on to it for 11 months, then exchanging it for Florida.

Viñales Valley

Cuba Province of Pinar del Rio he Viñales Valley in the Sierra de los Organos near the western end of the island of Cuba is an outstanding karst landscape encircled by mountains and dotted with spectacular dome-like limestone outcrops (mogotes) that rise as high as 300 m. Traditional methods of agriculture have survived largely unchanged on this plain for several centuries, particularly for growing tobacco. Following the emergence and considerable expansion of tobacco cultivation, the village of Viñales was founded in 1875, along the road leading from Pinar del Rio, the capital of the province, to Puerto Esperanza, the main outlet to the sea The cimarrones (escaped slaves) often found refuge in the caves of the valley. The Pan de Azúcar site contains the ruins of the biggest hacienda, where slaves were taught different trades.

Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios

Cuba Province of Sancti Spiritus Founded in the early 16th century in honour of the Holy Trinity, the city was a bridgehead for the conquest of the American continent. Trinidad, located in the central Cuban province of Sancti Spíritus, was founded in the early 16th century but owes its existence and its historical raison d'être to the sugar industry that flourished there and in the nearby Valley de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills) from the late 18th century to the late 19th century Its 18th- and 19th-century buildings, such as the Palacio Brunet and the Palacio Cantero, were built in its days of prosperity from the sugar trade. After Spain decided to conquer and colonize the island of Cuba, Don Diego Velázquez was sent to the New World. Between 1512 and 1519 he founded the first seven Cuban townships: Nuestra Señora de La Asunción de Baracoa, San Salvador de Bayamo, Santiago de Cuba, Santísima Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe (now Camaguey) and San Cristóbal de La Habana.

San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba

Cuba Provincia de Santiago de Cuba San Pedro de la Roca Castle, a multi-level stone fortress built into a rocky promontory (El Morro) at the south-eastern end of the island of Cuba, has guarded the entrance to Santiago de Cuba Bay since 1638. The Castle of San Pedro de la Roca and its associated defensive works are of exceptional value because they constitute the largest and most comprehensive example of the principles of Renaissance military engineering adapted to the requirements of European colonial powers in the Caribbean.

Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba

Cuba Santiago and Guantanamo Provinces, South-Eastern Region The remains of the 19th- and early 20th-century coffee plantations in eastern Cuba are unique and eloquent testimony to a form of agricultural exploitation of virgin forest, the traces of which have disappeared elsewhere in the world. The production of coffee in eastern Cuba during the 19th and early 20th centuries resulted in the creation of a unique cultural landscape, illustrating a significant stage in the development of this form of agriculture. Coffee production was established in the island of Saint Domingue (Hispaniola) by French settlers in the 18th century

Choirokoitia

Cyprus District of Larnaca The Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia, occupied from the 7th to the 4th millennium B.C., is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Its remains and the finds from the excavations there have thrown much light on the evolution of human society in this key region. Located in the District of Larnaka, about 6 km from the southern coast of Cyprus, the Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia lies on the slopes of a hill partly enclosed in a loop of the Maroni River.

Paphos

Cyprus District of Paphos Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was a centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. Aphrodite's legendary birthplace was on this island, where her temple was erected by the Myceneans in the 12th century B.C. Paphos, situated in the District of Paphos in western Cyprus, is a serial archaeological property consisting of three components at two sites: the town of Kato Paphos (Site I), and the village of Kouklia (Site II).

Painted Churches in the Troodos Region

Cyprus Troodos Region, Districts of Nicosia and Limassol The Troodos mountain region of Cyprus contains one of the largest groups of churches and monasteries of the former Byzantine Empire. The ten monuments included on the World Heritage List, all richly decorated with murals, provide an overview of Byzantine and post-Byzantine painting in Cyprus and bear testimony to the variety of artistic influences affecting Cyprus over a period of 500 years.

Kutná Hora:

Czech Republic City and District of Kutná Hora, Central Bohemian Region Historical Town Centre withThe Church of St Barbara, a jewel of the late Gothic period, and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec, which was restored in line with the Baroque taste of the early 18th century, were to influence the architecture of central Europe. Kutná Hora was one of the most important political and economic centres of Bohemia in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its medieval centre and the churches are outstanding examples of architectural development and testify to the cultural vivacity of the area. The town is built above the steep descent of the Vrchlice Creek, in the Kutna Hora plateau, 254 m above sea level and some 60 km east of Prague, developed as a result of the exploitation of the silver mines.

Litomyšl Castle

Czech Republic Pardubice Region Litomyšl Castle is an outstanding and immaculately preserved example of the arcade castle, a type of building first developed in Italy and modified in the Czech lands to create an evolved form of special architectural quality. It illustrates in an exceptional way the aristocratic residences of central Europe in the Renaissance and their subsequent development under the influence of new artistic movements. There has been a settlement since at least the 10th century at Litomyšl, which is located at an important communications junction on the main road between Bohemia and Moravia, with its fortified core on the hill where the castle now stands

Historic Centre of Prague

Czech Republic Prague Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town speak of the great architectural and cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the Middle Ages. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe in terms of its setting on both banks of the Vltava River, its townscape of burger houses and palaces punctuated by towers, and its individual buildings. The many magnificent monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th century under the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV.

Holašovice Historical Village Reservation

Czech Republic South Bohemian Region Holašovice is situated in the heart of South Bohemia, 15 km west of České Budějovice and 18 km north of Český Krumlov. Holašovice is an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a traditional central European village. It has a large number of outstanding 18th- and 19th-century vernacular buildings in a style known as 'South Bohemian folk Baroque', and preserves a ground plan dating from the Middle Ages.

Historic Centre of Český Krumlov

Czech Republic South Bohemian Region Situated on the banks of the Vltava river, the town was built around a 13th-century castle with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements. It is an outstanding example of a small central European medieval town whose architectural heritage has remained intact thanks to its peaceful evolution over more than five centuries.

Tugendhat Villa in Brno

Czech Republic South Moravian Region The Tugendhat Villa is a masterpiece of the Modern Movement in architecture. The German architect Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) applied the radical new concepts of the Modern Movement triumphantly in the Tugendhat Villa to the design of residential buildings. The villa was designed by van der Rohe for Grete Weiss and her husband Fritz Tugendhat, members of wealthy industrial families in the city of Brno in former Czechoslovakia

Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora

Czech Republic South Moravian Region This pilgrimage church, built in honour of St John of Nepomuk, stands at Zelená Hora, not far from Ždár nad Sázavou in Moravia. Constructed at the beginning of the 18th century on a star-shaped plan, it is the most unusual work by the great architect Jan Blazej Santini, whose highly original style falls between neo-Gothic and Baroque.

Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Třebíč

Czech Republic Trebíc district, Vysocina Region The Jewish Quarter of Třebíč is an exceptional testimony to the cultural traditions related to the Diaspora in central Europe, and bears witness to the coexistence of and interchange of values between two different cultures, Jewish and Christian, over many centuries. The World Heritage site is in the town of Třebíč, and it has three distinct components: the Jewish Quarter, the Jewish cemetery and St Procopius Basilica, all situated on the north bank of the River Jihlava.

Historic Centre of Telč

Czech Republic Vysocina Region The later Middle Ages in central Europe saw the 'plantation' of planned settlements in areas of virgin forest for reasons of political control and economic expansion, and Telč is the best-preserved surviving example. It preserves its original layout and the castle-settlement relationship very clearly. The town is located near the south-western border between Moravia and Bohemia, in a region that was thickly forested until the 13th century. The origins of the settlement are unclear: there was an early medieval settlement at Stare Město to the south-east of the present town, but there is no mention of Telč in documentary records before 1333-35.

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve

Côte d'Ivoire Guinea Région de Lola Located on the borders of Guinea, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire, Mount Nimba rises above the surrounding savannah. A veritable « water tower » with about fifty springs between the Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve is dominated by a chain of mountains that culminate at 1,752 m altitude at Mount Nimba. The slopes, covered with dense forest at the lower levels, with grassy mountain pastures, overflow with particularly rich endemic flora and fauna.

Comoé National Park

Côte d'Ivoire Northeast region, Bouna and Ferkessedougou prefectures, Bouna, Kong, Nassian and Tehin sub-prefectures Comoé National Park, situated in the north-east of Côte d'Ivoire, with the surface of 1149450 ha, is one of the largest protected areas in West Africa. It is characterized by its great plant diversity. The Comoé River, which runs through the Park, explains the presence of group of plants that are usually found further south, such as the shrub savannas and patches of thick rainforest. The park comprises the land between the Comoé and Volta rivers, with mean altitude of 250-300 m and a series of ridges and granite inselbergs rising to 600 m. The River Comoé and its tributaries form the principal drainage and the Comoé runs through the park for 230 km. Watercourses also drain to the Volta in the east. Permanent and semi-permanent water occurs in many places. The soils are infertile and unsuitable for cultivation in some areas.

Taï National Park

Côte d'Ivoire Southwest region, Guiglo and Sassandra Districts This park is one of the last major remnants of the primary tropical forest of West Africa. The park lies in south-west Côte d'Ivoire about 200 km south of Man and 100 km from the coast, between the Cavally River (which marks the western border with Liberia) and the Sassandra River on the east. It comprises an ancient sloping granitic peneplain. This is broken by several inselbergs formed from volcanic intrusions, including the Niénkoué Hills in the south. The park is one of the last remaining portions of the vast primary forest that once stretched across present-day Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and is the largest island of forest remaining in West Africa.

Historic Town of Grand-Bassam

Côte d'Ivoire The first capital of Côte d'Ivoire, the Historic Town of Grand-Bassam, is an example of a late 19th- and early 20th-century colonial town planned with quarters specializing in commerce, administration, housing for Europeans and for Africans. The site includes the N'zima African fishing village alongside colonial architecture marked by functional houses with galleries, verandas and gardens. Grand-Bassam was the most important port, economic and judicial centre of Côte d'Ivoire. It bears witness to the complex social relations between Europeans and Africans, and to the subsequent independence movement. As a vibrant centre of the territory of French trading posts in the Gulf of Guinea, which preceded modern Côte d'Ivoire, it attracted populations from all parts of Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean Levant.

Complex of Koguryo Tombs

Democratic People's Republic of Korea Pyongyang, South Phyongan Province, Nampho, South Hwangghae Province The property includes several group and individual tombs - totalling about 30 individual tombs - from the later period of the Koguryo Kingdom, one of the strongest kingdoms in nowadays northeast China and half of the Korean peninsula between the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD. As Koguryo extended from what is now Jilin Province in north-eastern China to Pyongyang in North Korea, the historical sites in the two nations have long been a point of conflict over their ancestry.

Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong

Democratic People's Republic of Korea The geomantic setting of the property is contained within the buffer zone, which encloses all the property components and covers the basin in which Kaesong City is sited including areas of traditional architecture, and the hilly areas to the west where the royal tombs are located. It includes the geomantic markers around the city: Mt Songak to the north, Mt Jine to the west, Mt Puhung and Tokam Peak to the east and Mt Ryongsu to the south. Situated in Kaesong city, in the south of the country, the site consists of 12 separate components, which together testify to the history and culture of the Koryo Dynasty from the 10th to 14th centuries. The geomantic layout of the former capital city of Kaesong, its palaces, institutions and tomb complex, defensive walls and gates embody the political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values of a crucial era in the region's history. The monuments inscribed also include an astronomical and meteorological observatory, two schools (including one dedicated to educating national officials) and commemorative steles. The site testifies to the transition from Buddhism to neo-Confucianism in East Asia and to the assimilation of the cultural spiritual and political values of the states that existed prior to Korea's unification under the Koryo Dynasty. The integration of Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist and geomantic concepts is manifest in the planning of the site and the architecture of its monuments.

Garamba National Park

Democratic Republic of the Congo Orientale Province Covering vast grass savannas and woodlands interspersed with gallery forests and marshland depressions, Garamba National Park is located in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the transition zone between the dense tropical forests of the Congo Basin and the Guinea-Sudano savannas.The site is located in the north-east of the country, on the Sudanese border. It contains the last worldwide population of the northern white rhinoceros, endemic sub-species of Congolese giraffe and a mixed population of elephants, combining forest elephants, bush elephants and individuals demonstrating morphological characteristics common to the two elephant sub-species. It is also characterized by an exceptionally high level of biomass of great herbivores as a result of the vegetation productivity of the environment.

Okapi Wildlife Reserve

Democratic Republic of the Congo Orientale Province The park is located in the north-east of the country in the Ituri Forest. Some 90% of the reserve lies within the Zone of Mambasa in the Ituri subregion, and the remainder within the Zones of Wamba and Watsa in Haut-Uele subregion. The park's northern boundary is the Nepoko River. The Ituri River, a major tributary of the Zaire River, forms part of the southern boundary. From an elevation of about 600 m in the west, where the rolling plateaux of the Ituri drop onto the central Zaire basin, the forest rises to more than 1,000 m in the east, giving way abruptly to the savannah hills of the Albert Rift. The majority of the reserve is composed of gently rolling forested uplands. The most important geomorphological features are the Zaire drainage system and the mountains of the Albertine rift. The Zaire basin is one of the largest and most important drainage systems in Africa. Other important watercourses include the Lenda, Ngayu and Agamba rivers. The Okapi Wildlife Reserve occupies about one-fifth of the Ituri forest in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo river basin, of which the reserve and forest are a part, is one of the largest drainage systems in Africa. The reserve contains threatened species of primates and birds and about 5,000 of the estimated 30,000 okapi surviving in the wild.

Virunga National Park

Democratic Republic of the Congo Province of North-Kivu and Orientale province Virunga National Park is unique with its active chain of volcanoes and rich diversity of habitats that surpass those of any other African park. Its range contains an amalgamation of steppes, savannas and plains, marshlands, low altitude and afro-montane forest belts to unique afro-alpine vegetation and permanent glaciers and snow on Monts Rwenzori whose peaks culminate in 5000 m height. The property includes the spectacular massifs of Rwenzori and Virunga Mountains containing the two most active volcanoes of Africa. The wide diversity of habitats produces exceptional biodiversity, notably endemic species and rare and globally threatened species such as the mountain gorilla.

Salonga National Park

Democratic Republic of the Congo Provinces of Equateur, Bandundu and Kasaï Oriental and Occidental The park lies in a large section of the central basin of the Zaire River in Bandundu and Kasaï equatorial regions, a very isolated region mainly accessible by boat. Salonga National Park is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve. Situated at the heart of the central basin of the Congo river, the park is very isolated and accessible only by water. It is the habitat of many endemic endangered species, such as the dwarf chimpanzee, the Congo peacock, the forest elephant and the African slender-snouted or 'false' crocodile.

Kahuzi-Biega National Park

Democratic Republic of the Congo Provinces of South-Kivu and Maniena Straddling the Albertine Rift and the Congo Basin, Kahuzi-Biega National Park is situated in the eastern part of the country, 50 km west of the town of Bukavu, near Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border. It consists of a smaller sector on the eastern side covering part of the Mitumba Mountains, and a larger western sector in the Zairean central basin. The two zones are connected by a narrow corridor. The entrance to the park is at Tshivanga, on the eastern side. An exceptional habitat for the protection of the rainforest and the eastern lowland gorillas, Gorilla berengei graueri. The 75,000 ha eastern sector is entirely montane. The massif is part of the Mitumba Mountain range, the western mountains of the Great Rift Valley. The two main peaks, Mount Kahuzi (3,308 m) and Mount Biéga (2,790 m) are extinct volcanoes, and the massif dates from the late Tertiary or early Quaternary. The lowland sector in the Zairean central basin covers the watersheds of the tributaries of the Luka and Lugulu rivers. These both drain into the River Lualaba

Wadden Sea

Denmark Germany Netherlands The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in the world. The site covers the Dutch Wadden Sea Conservation Area, the German Wadden Sea National Parks of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, and most of the Danish Wadden Sea maritime conservation area. It is a large, temperate, relatively flat coastal wetland environment, formed by the intricate interactions between physical and biological factors that have given rise to a multitude of transitional habitats with tidal channels, sandy shoals, sea-grass meadows, mussel beds, sandbars, mudflats, salt marshes, estuaries, beaches and dunes. It is considered one of the most important areas for migratory birds in the world, and is connected to a network of other key sites for migratory birds. Its importance is not only in the context of the East Atlantic Flyway but also in the critical role it plays in the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory waterbirds. In the Wadden Sea up to 6.1 million birds can be present at the same time, and an average of 10-12 million pass through it each year.

Kronborg Castle

Denmark Island of Sjaelland, City of Helsingör, Capital Region of Denmark Located on a strategically important site commanding the Sund, the stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden, the Royal castle of Kronborg at Helsingør (Elsinore) is of immense symbolic value to the Danish people and played a key role in the history of northern Europe in the 16th-18th centuries. The Sound is the gateway to the Baltic Sea and from 1429 to 1857, Denmark controlled this passage thanks to Kronborg Castle, positioned at the narrowest part of the Sound, which is only four kilometres wide. Work began on the construction of this outstanding Renaissance castle in 1574, and its defences were reinforced according to the canons of the period's military architecture in the late 17th century. After he began to levy duty on ships passing through the Sound between Sjaelland and Skåne around 1425, King Erik of Pomerania built a castle known as Krogen on the site occupied today by Kronborg. It has remained intact to the present day. It is world-renowned as Elsinore, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Roskilde Cathedral

Denmark Island of Sjaelland, City of Roskilde, Sealand Region The first religious structure on the site was a wooden church built around 980 by King HaraId Bluetooth. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, on the Island of Zealand is a large brick-built aisled Gothic-style basilica, with twin spires and a semi-circular gallery within. this was Scandinavia's first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and it encouraged the spread of this style throughout northern Europe. It has been the mausoleum of the Danish royal family since the 15th century. Porches and side chapels were added up to the end of the 19th century. Thus it provides a clear overview of the development of European religious architecture.

Stevns Klint

Denmark This geological site comprises a 15 km-long fossil-rich coastal cliff, offering exceptional evidence of the impact of the Chicxulub meteorite that crashed into the planet at the end of the Cretaceous, about 65 million years ago. Researchers think that this caused the most remarkable mass extinction ever, responsible for the disappearance of over 50 per cent of all life on Earth

Jelling Mounds, Runic Stones and Church

Denmark Vejle Commune, Region of Southern Denmark The Jelling burial mounds and one of the runic stones are striking examples of pagan Nordic culture, while the other runic stone and the church illustrate the Christianization of the Danish people towards the middle of the 10th century. Located in central Jutland, Jelling was a royal monument during the reigns of Gorm, and his son Harald Bluetooth, in the 10th century, and may possibly pre-date this era.

Ilulissat Icefjord

Denmark West coast of Greenland, Bay of Disko Bugt (bight), Municipality of Ilulissat Located on the west coast of Greenland, 250 km north of the Arctic Circle, Greenland's Ilulissat Icefjord (40,240 ha) is the sea mouth of Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the few glaciers through which the Greenland ice cap reaches the sea. Sermeq Kujalleq is one of the fastest (19 m per day) and most active glaciers in the world. It annually calves over 35 km3 of ice, i.e. 10% of the production of all Greenland calf ice and more than any other glacier outside Antarctica.

Hierapolis-Pamukkale

Deriving from springs in a cliff almost 200 m high overlooking the plain of Cürüksu in south-west Turkey, calcite-laden waters have created an unreal landscape, made up of mineral forests, petrified waterfalls and a series of terraced basins given the name of Pamukkale (Cotton Palace). Located in the province of Denizli, this extraordinary landscape was a focus of interest for visitors to the nearby Hellenistic spa town of Hierapolis, founded by the Attalid kings of Pergamom at the end of the 2nd century B.C., at the site of an ancient cult

Morne Trois Pitons National Park

Dominica South central part of the island Morne Trois Pitons is located 13 km east of the town of Roseau in the highlands of south-central Dominica and it is the basaltic spike-like remains of a former volcano rising to approximately 1,300 m, within 8 km of the sea. The landscape is characterized by volcanic piles with precipitous slopes, and deeply incised valleys (glacis slopes). There is also a fumarole known as Valley of Desolation (or Grand Soufriere), with fumaroles, hot springs, mud pots, sulphur vents and the Boiling Lake, which is the world's second largest of its kind. The Valley of Desolation drains into the Pointe Mulatre River, which flows into the Atlantic. Luxuriant natural tropical forest blends with scenic volcanic features of great scientific interest in this national park centred on the 1,342-m-high volcano known as Morne Trois Pitons. With its precipitous slopes and deeply incised valleys, 50 fumaroles, hot springs, three freshwater lakes, a 'boiling lake' and five volcanoes, located on the park's nearly 7,000 ha, together with the richest biodiversity in the Lesser Antilles, Morne Trois Pitons National Park presents a rare combination of natural features of World Heritage value.

Colonial City of Santo Domingo

Dominican Republic Distrito Nacional After Christopher Columbus's arrival on the island in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas. This colonial town, founded in 1498, was laid out on a grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World.

Sangay National Park

Ecuador Provinces of Morona Santiago, Chimborazo and Tungurahua The site is situated in the Cordillera Oriental region of the Andes in central Ecuador. The park is dominated by three volcanoes, Tungurahua (5,016 m) and El Altar (5,139 m) to the north-west and Sangay (5,230 m) in the central section of the park. Tungurahua and Sangay are both still active. Sangay regularly ejects hot rocks and tephra, and the last violent eruptions of Tungurahua occurred from 1916 to 1925. El Altar has an eroded and glaciated caldera and is considered extinct. The park has three landscapes: alluvial fans, eastern foothills and the High Andes. Major rivers drain eastwards into the Amazon Basin and are characterized by rapid and dramatic variations in level. Numerous waterfalls occur, especially in the hanging valleys of the glaciated zone and along the eastern edge of the Cordillera. Numerous lakes are present, including Laguna Pintada which measures 5 km in length.

Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)

Egypt Faiyum Governorate Wadi Al-Hitan, Whale Valley, in the Western Desert of Egypt, contains invaluable fossil remains of the earliest, and now extinct, suborder of whales, the archaeoceti. These fossils represent one of the major stories of evolution: the emergence of the whale as an ocean-going mammal from a previous life as a land-based animal. This is the most important site in the world for the demonstration of this stage of evolution.

Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae

Egypt Governorate of Aswan The open-air Museum of Nubia and Aswan brings together cultural properties closely associated with the unfolding of a long sequence of Egyptian Pharaonic history. In addition to the complexes of Abu Simbel and Philae the site includes the temples of Amada, of Derr, those of Ouadi Es Sebouah, Dakka and Maharraqah, the temple of Talmis, and the kiosk of ak-Kartassi, the temple of Beit el Ouali which are both rare and ancient. To these must be added the astonishing granite quarries of Aswan, exploited by pharaohs from early antiquity, where colossal unfinished obelisk-like monuments have been discovered. An archaeological zone of primary importance extends from Aswan to the Sudanese border

Memphis and its Necropolis - the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

Egypt Governorate of Giza The ensemble at Memphis embraces a number of exceptional monuments of great antiquity. The step pyramid of the first pharaoh of the Memphis period, constructed entirely in limestone, is the oldest known architectural structure of this type, from regularly cut stone. At Giza, one of the oldest boats preserved today, the solar barge, was discovered intact in the complex around the Pyramid of Cheops. The archaic necropolis of Saqqara dates back to the period of the formation of the pharaonic civilization. The exceptional historic, artistic and sociological interest of these monuments bears witness to one of the most brilliant civilizations of this planet. The capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt has some extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate mastabas, temples and pyramids. In ancient times, the pyramids were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Saint Catherine Area

Egypt Governorate of Janub Sina' (South Sinai) The Orthodox Monastery of St Catherine stands at the foot of Mount Horeb where, the Old Testament records, Moses received the Tablets of the Law. The mountain is known and revered by Muslims as Jebel Musa. The entire area is sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The Monastery, founded in the 6th century, is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its initial function. Its walls and buildings of great significace to studies of Byzantine architecture and the Monastery houses outstanding collections of early Christian manuscripts and icons. The rugged mountainous landscape, containing numerous archaeological and religious sites and monuments, forms a perfect backdrop to the Monastery.

Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis

Egypt Governorate of Qina Thebes contains the finest relics of the history, art and religion of ancient Egypt, of which it was the capital in its period of greatest splendour. Hundred of sovereigns, from pharaohs to Roman emperors, glorified the city with architecture, obelisks and sculpture. The exaltation of life found expression in the Thebes of the Living, identifiable in the fabulous site of Luxor and Karnak, on the right bank of the Nile, the site of the temples dedicated to the divine triad of Montu, Amon and Mut, while the celebration of death took shape in the Thebes of the Dead.

Historic Cairo

Egypt Governorate of al-Qahirah (Cairo) The historic centre of Cairo bears impressive material witness to the international importance, on the political, strategic, intellectual and commercial levels, of the city during the medieval period. There are few cities in the world as rich as Cairo in old buildings: the historic centre on the eastern bank of the Nile includes no less than 600 classified monuments dating from the 7th to 20th centuries, distributed over various parts of the well-preserved urban fabric, which represent forms of human settlement that go back to the Middle Ages. In the 7th century, following the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, Arab armies marched with great speed to conquer neighbouring lands. In 640 the army of the Caliph Omar reached the Nile, occupied Babylon, and founded across from it his own capital al-Fustat, surrounded by an enclosure wall. There the caliph built the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina: enclosing a simple courtyard surrounded by brick walls, it perfectly embodies the essence of Islam, severe and almost military in characte

Abu Mena

Egypt Mariut desert, District of Burg al-Arab, Gouvernate of Al Iskandariyah (Alexandria) Abu Mena is located south of Alexandria, between Wadi el-Natrun and Alexandria itself. The church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops in this early Christian holy city were built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in AD 296.

Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn

Estonia County of Harju The origins of Tallinn date back to the 13th century, when a castle was built there by the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order. It developed as a major centre of the Hanseatic League, and its wealth is demonstrated by the opulence of the public buildings (the churches in particular) and the domestic architecture of the merchants' houses, which have survived to a remarkable degree despite the ravages of fire and war in the intervening centuries. Archaeological investigations have shown that a fort on the limestone plateau of Toompea and a trading post and harbour at its foot, on the Viking route to Constantinople, have existed since the 10th-11th centuries. With the expansion of Baltic trade, the settlement known at that time as Lyndanise (Reval in German, Kolyvan in Russian) was occupied in 1219 by troops of Waldemar II of Denmark, who strengthened the fortifications on Toompea and built the first church.

Lower Valley of the Awash

Ethiopia Afar region The Lower Awash Valley paleo-anthropological site is located 300 km northeast of Addis Ababa, in the west of the Afar Depression. It covers an area of around 150 km2. The Awash Valley contains one of the most important groupings of paleontological sites on the African continent. The remains found at the property, the oldest of which date back over 4 million years, provide evidence of human evolution, which has modified our conception of the history of humankind. The most spectacular discovery came in 1974, when 52 fragments of a skeleton enabled the famous Lucy to be reconstructed.

Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela

Ethiopia Amhara Region In a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia, some 645 km from Addis Ababa, eleven medieval monolithic churches were carved out of rock. Their building is attributed to King Lalibela who set out to construct in the 12th century a 'New Jerusalem', after Muslim conquests halted Christian pilgrimages to the holy Land. Lalibela flourished after the decline of the Aksum Empire.

Simien National Park

Ethiopia Gondar Region The site is located in the western Simen Mountains, 120 km north-east of Gondar in Begemder Province, north-west Ethiopia. With its abundance of creviced basalt rock, Simen serves as an ideal water catchment area, replenished by two wet seasons and the Mayshasha River, which weaves its way north to south through the national park. Consequently the park is rich in a wide range of wildlife and vegetation. Simien National Park, in northern Ethiopia is a spectacular landscape, where massive erosion over millions of years has created jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and sharp precipices dropping some 1,500 m. The park is of global significance for biodiversity conservation because it is home to globally threatened species, including the iconic Walia ibex, a wild mountain goat found nowhere else in the world, the Gelada baboon and the Ethiopian wolf.

Konso Cultural Landscape

Ethiopia Konso Cultural Landscape is a 55km2 arid property of stone walled terraces and fortified settlements in the Konso highlands of Ethiopia. It constitutes a spectacular example of a living cultural tradition stretching back 21 generations (more than 400 years) adapted to its dry hostile environment. The landscape demonstrates the shared values, social cohesion and engineering knowledge of its communities. The site also features anthropomorphic wooden statues - grouped to represent respected members of their communities and particularly heroic events - which are an exceptional living testimony to funerary traditions that are on the verge of disappearing. Stone steles in the towns express a complex system of marking the passing of generations of leaders.

Tiya

Ethiopia Sodo woreda, Gurage zone, Southern Nation Nationalities & Peoples Region Tiya is among the most important of the roughly 160 archaeological sites discovered so far in the Soddo region, south of Addis Ababa. The site contains 36 monuments, including 32 carved stelae covered with symbols, most of which are difficult to decipher. They are the remains of an ancient Ethiopian culture whose age has not yet been precisely determined. The stelae from the Soddo region, with their enigmatic configuration, are highly representative of an expression of the Ethiopian megalithic period. Soddo lies to the south of Addis Ababa, beyond the Aouache river. It is remarkable because of the numerous archaeological sites of the megalithic period, comprising hundreds of sculptured stelae, that have been discovered there. The carved monoliths vary in size from 1 m to 5 m

Lower Valley of the Omo

Ethiopia Southern Nation Nationalities & Peoples Region A prehistoric site near Lake Turkana, the lower valley of the Omo is renowned the world over. The discovery of many fossils there, especially Homo gracilis, has been of fundamental importance in the study of human evolution. The Lower Valley of the Omo is located in south-western Ethiopia. It extends over an area of 165 km2. The age old sedimentary deposits in the Lower Omo Valley are now world renowned for the discovery of many hominid fossils, that have been of fundamental importance in the study of human evolution. The Lower Omo Valley includes the Konso and Fejej paleontological research locations with sedimentary deposit going back to the plio-pleistocene period.

Aksum

Ethiopia Tigrai Region Situated in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, Aksum symbolizes the wealth and importance of the civilization of the ancient Aksumite kingdom, which lasted from the 1st to the 8th centuries AD. The kingdom was at the crossroads of the three continents: Africa, Arabia and the Greco-Roman World, and was the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia. In command of the ivory trade with Sudan, its fleets controlled the Red Sea trade through the port of Adulis and the inland routes of north eastern Africa.

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago

Finland Sweden The Kvarken Archipelago (Finland) and the High Coast (Sweden) are situated in the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern extension of the Baltic Sea. The 5,600 islands of the Kvarken Archipelago feature unusual ridged washboard moraines, 'De Geer moraines', formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Archipelago is continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, and lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. The High Coast has also been largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciation, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea. Since the last retreat of the ice from the High Coast 9,600 years ago, the uplift has been in the order of 285 m which is the highest known ''rebound''.

Fortress of Suomenlinna

Finland Helsinki Harbour, Region of Uusimaa, Province of Southern Finland In 1747, when Finland was part of the Swedish realm, the Diet in Stockholm decided to build a fortress to serve as the main base for the armed forces stationed in Finland. A group of islands close to Helsinki were chosen to be the site of the fortress, which was to be called Sveaborg, the 'Fortress of Sweden', and construction began in 1748. The purpose was to link and fortify several islands so that entry into the city's harbour could be controlled.

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill

Finland Municipalities of Jaala and Valkeala, Region of Kymenlaakso, Province of Southern Finland Verla Groundwood and Board Mill, located in the northern part of the Kymi River Valley in southeast Finland, consists of the Mill, the associated residential area and the power plants. and its associated residential area is an outstanding, remarkably well-preserved example of the small-scale rural industrial settlements associated with pulp, paper and board production that flourished in northern Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only a handful of such settlements survive to the present day.

Petäjävesi Old Church

Finland Petäjävesi, Region of Central Finland, Province of Western Finland Petäjävesi Old Church, in central Finland, was built of logs between 1763 and 1765. Built for a small Lutheran parish in central Finland, Petäjävesi Old Church is located on a peninsula at Lake Solikkojärvi and is surrounded by an agricultural landscape with lakes and forests, typical of the region. is a typical example of an architectural tradition that is unique to eastern Scandinavia. It combines the Renaissance conception of a centrally planned church with older forms deriving from Gothic groin vaults.

Bronze Age Burial Site of Sammallahdenmäki

Finland Region of Satakunta, Province of Western Finland Situated on the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bronze Age Burial Site of Sammallahdenmäki forms the largest, most varied and complete burial site from the Scandinavian Bronze Age, 1500-500 B.C This Bronze Age burial site features more than 30 granite burial cairns, providing a unique insight into the funerary practices and social and religious structures of northern Europe more than three millennia ago.

Old Rauma

Finland Region of Satakunta, Province of Western Finland (formerly Province of Turku-Pori) The city, located on the Gulf of Bothnia, is one of the oldest harbours in Finland, mentioned first in 1441. It is built around a Franciscan monastery where the mid-15th-century Holy Cross Church still stands. This is the former monastery church of a Franciscan friary, which was built in the mid-14th century. There are medieval wall and vault paintings in the choir of the two-aisle stone church. The church nowadays serves as the town and rural parish church of Raum

Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley

France Communes of Les Eyzies de Tayac, Tursac, Montignac-sur-Vézère, Saint-Leon-sur-Vézère, Marquay, Manaurie-Rouffignac and Saint-Cirq-du Bugue, Department of the Dordogne, Region of Aquitaine The Vézère valley contains 147 prehistoric sites dating from the Palaeolithic and 25 decorated caves. It is particularly interesting from an ethnological and anthropological, as well as an aesthetic point of view because of its cave paintings, especially those of the Lascaux Cave, whose discovery in 1940 was of great importance for the history of prehistoric art. The hunting scenes show some 100 animal figures, which are remarkable for their detail, rich colours and lifelike quality.

Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne

France Department of Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon Region The historic city of Carcassonne is an excellent example of a medieval fortified town whose massive defences were constructed on walls dating from late antiquity. It is of exceptional significance by virtue of the restoration work carried out in the second half of the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc, which had a profound influence on subsequent developments in conservation principles and practice. Since the pre-Roman period, a fortified settlement has existed on the hill where Carcassonne now stands. The earliest known occupation of the site dates from the 6th century BC, when a protohistoric hill fort (oppidum ) was built on this rocky spur overlooking the valley of the Aude and the ancient routes linking the Atlantic with the Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula with the rest of Europe.

Bourges Cathedral

France Department of Cher, Centre Region Bourges Cathedral is of considerable importance in the development of Gothic architecture and as a symbol of the strength of Christianity in medieval France. However, its principal claim lies in its striking beauty, combining masterly management of space with harmonious proportions and decoration of the highest quality. As the figurehead of the Capetian domain facing the south of France, the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne had to be unique in design. The architectural style chosen by the unknown master-builder is based on a plan with no transept and plastic effects of great modernity for their time. The cathedral is still surrounded by the half-timbered houses of the medieval town. A royal city since the year 1100, Bourges has grown in size and prosperity; the new Gothic cathedral was a hymn to the authority of the Archbishops of Bourges, primates of Aquitaine. There had been a Christian cult centre on this site since the 3rd century, when Roman Avaricum became the first Christian community in Gaul.

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay

France Department of Côte d'Or, Burgundy Region This stark Burgundian monastery was founded by St Bernard in 1119. With its church, cloister, refectory, sleeping quarters, bakery and ironworks, it is an excellent illustration of the ideal of self-sufficiency as practised by the earliest communities of Cistercian monks.

Chartres Cathedral

France Department of Eure-et-Loire, Centre Region Partly built starting in 1145, and then reconstructed over a 26-year period after the fire of 1194, Chartres Cathedral marks the high point of French Gothic art. The vast nave, in pure ogival style, the porches adorned with fine sculptures from the middle of the 12th century, and the magnificent 12th- and 13th-century stained-glass windows, all in remarkable condition, combine to make it a masterpiece.

Bordeaux, Port of the Moon

France Department of Gironde, Region of Aquitaine The Port of the Moon, port city of Bordeaux in south-west France, is inscribed as an inhabited historic city, an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the age of the Enlightenment, whose values continued up to the first half of the 20th century, with more protected buildings than any other French city except Paris.

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims

France Department of Marne, Champagne Ardenne Region The outstanding handling of new architectural techniques in the 13th century, and the harmonious marriage of sculptural decoration with architecture, has made Notre-Dame in Reims one of the masterpieces of Gothic art. The former abbey still has its beautiful 9th-century nave, in which lie the remains of Archbishop St Rémi (440-533), who instituted the Holy Anointing of the kings of France. The former archiepiscopal palace known as the Tau Palace, which played an important role in religious ceremonies, was almost entirely rebuilt in the 17th century.

Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance in Nancy

France Department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine Region Nancy, the temporary residence of a king without a kingdom - Stanislas Leszczynski, later to become Duke of Lorraine - is paradoxically the oldest and most typical example of a modern capital where an enlightened monarch proved to be sensitive to the needs of the public. Built between 1752 and 1756 by a brilliant team led by the architect Héré, this was a carefully conceived project that succeeded in creating a capital that not only enhanced the sovereign's prestige but was also functional.

Historic Site of Lyons

France Department of Rhône, Region of Rhône-Alpes The long history of Lyons, which was founded by the Romans in the 1st century B.C. as the capital of the Three Gauls and has continued to play a major role in Europe's political, cultural and economic development ever since, is vividly illustrated by its urban fabric and the many fine historic buildings from all periods. The site of Lyons is dominated by two hills: to the west Fourvière and to the east Croix-Rousse, the latter prolonged by a peninsula formed by alluvial deposits laid down at the confluence of the two rivers. The Rhône is a strongly flowing river that comes from the Alps. The Saône, by contrast, is a gentler and more easily navigable river, linking Lyons with the plains of north-eastern France. The present city began with the Roman settlement on Fourvière, although the area of the confluence had been used by man for many centuries before. The Roman town spread to Croix-Rousse and the Peninsula, but shrank during the troubled 3rd century AD to two fortified areas: on the right bank of the Saône, at the foot of Fourvière, around the bishop's estate, and a commercial district around the church of Saint-Nizier on the Peninsula.

Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret

France Department of Seine-Maritime, Region of Haute-Normandie The city of Le Havre, on the English Channel in Normandy, at the mouth of the river Seine, the site of Le Havre was always strategic for access inland, to Rouen and Paris, was severely bombed during the Second World War. The destroyed area was rebuilt according to the plan of a team headed by Auguste Perret, from 1945 to 1964.

Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs

France Department of Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France At the beginning of the 2nd millennium, Provins was one of several towns in the territory of the Counts of Champagne that became the venues for great annual trading fairs linking northern Europe with the Mediterranean world. It preserves to a high degree the architecture and urban layout that characterize these great medieval fair towns. In the Gallo-Roman period, the site of present-day Provins was related to two important regional axes: the route from Soissons to Troyes towards the north and the route to Sens to the south-west. The earliest document related to Provins, an ordinance by Charlemagne of 802, indicates that the site was already an established fort. Provins is thus one of the four towns (together with Troyes, Lagny and Bar-sur-Aube) where medieval fairs were held in the reign of the Counts of Champagne, developing here from the 11th to the 14th centuries. Provins is the only one to retain its original medieval fabric

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

France Department of Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France Used by the kings of France from the 12th century, the medieval royal hunting lodge of Fontainebleau, standing at the heart of a vast forest in the Ile-de-France, was transformed, enlarged and embellished in the 16th century by François I, who wanted to make a 'New Rome' of it. Surrounded by an immense park, the Italianate palace combines Renaissance and French artistic traditions.

Amiens Cathedral

France Department of Somme, Picardie Region Amiens Cathedral, in the heart of Picardy, is one of the largest 'classic' Gothic churches of the 13th century. It is notable for the coherence of its plan, the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation and the particularly fine display of sculptures on the principal facade and in the south transept.

Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge

France Department of Vacluse, Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur In the 14th century, this city in the South of France was the seat of the papacy. The Palais des Papes, an austere-looking fortress lavishly decorated by Simone Martini and Matteo Giovanetti, dominates the city, the surrounding ramparts and the remains of a 12th-century bridge over the Rhone. Beneath this outstanding example of Gothic architecture, the Petit Palais and the Romanesque Cathedral of Notre-Dame-des-Doms complete an exceptional group of monuments that testify to the leading role played by Avignon in 14th-century Christian Europe. In 1309 the Frenchman Bertrand de Got, who had been elected and crowned Supreme Pontiff in 1305, refused to go to Rome, choosing instead to install himself temporarily in the Dominican Convent at Avignon. Seven Popes were to reign there until the election of Martin v in 1417 and the return of the seat of the Papacy to Rome

Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange

France Department of Vacluse, Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Situated in the Rhone valley, the ancient theatre of Orange, with its 103-m-long facade, is one of the best preserved of all the great Roman theatres. Built between A.D. 10 and 25, the Roman arch is one of the most beautiful and interesting surviving examples of a provincial triumphal arch from the reign of Augustus. It is decorated with low reliefs commemorating the establishment of the Pax Romana.

Abbey Church of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe

France Department of Vienne, Poitou-Charentes Region Known as the 'Romanesque Sistine Chapel', the Abbey-Church of Saint-Savin contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-century murals which are still in a remarkable state of preservation.

Vézelay, Church and Hill

France Department of Yonne, Bourgogne Region Shortly after its foundation in the 9th century, the Benedictine abbey of Vézelay acquired the relics of St Mary Magdalene and since then it has been an important place of pilgrimage. St Bernard preached the Second Crusade there in 1146 and Richard the Lion-Hearted and Philip II Augustus met there to leave for the Third Crusade in 1190. With its sculpted capitals and portal, the Madeleine of Vézelay - a 12th-century monastic church - is a masterpiece of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture.

Palace and Park of Versailles

France Department of Yvelines, Ile-de-France The Palace of Versailles was the principal residence of the French kings from the time of Louis XIV to Louis XVI. Embellished by several generations of architects, sculptors, decorators and landscape architects, it provided Europe with a model of the ideal royal residence for over a century.

Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion

France Department of the Gironde, Region of Aquitaine Viticulture was introduced to this fertile region of Aquitaine by the Romans, and intensified in the Middle Ages. The Saint-Emilion area benefited from its location on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and many churches, monasteries and hospices were built there from the 11th century onwards. It was granted the special status of a 'jurisdiction' during the period of English rule in the 12th century. It is an exceptional landscape devoted entirely to wine-growing, with many fine historic monuments in its towns and villages.

Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve

France Departments of Corse du Sud and Haute Corse, Corsica The site lies on the central western coast of the island of Corsica. The natural reserve, which is part of the Regional Natural Park of Corsica, occupies the Scandola peninsula, an impressive, porphyritic rock mass. The reserve is divided into two sectors: the Elpa Nera inlet (between Pointe Bianca and Pointe Validori) and the Scandola peninsula. This area, which includes the massif of Cinto and the valley of Fango, is part of a large geological complex that appears to have undergone two distinct cycles of volcanic activity in the Permian. The jagged and sheer cliffs contain many grottos and are flanked by numerous stacks and almost inaccessible islets and coves, such as Tuara. The coastline is also noted for its red cliffs, some 900 m high, sand beaches, and headlands such as Cape Osani and the peninsula of Elbo.

Fortifications of Vauban

France Fortifications of Vauban consists of 12 groups of fortified buildings and sites along the western, northern and eastern borders of France. They represent the finest examples of the work of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), a military engineer of King Louis XIV. The serial property includes towns built from scratch by Vauban, citadels, urban bastion walls and bastion towers. There are also mountain forts, sea forts, a mountain battery and two mountain communication structures. This property is inscribed as bearing witness to the peak of classic fortifications, typical of western military architecture. Vauban also played a major role in the history of fortification in Europe and on other continents until the mid-19th century. La citadella d'Arras La citadelle, l'enceinte urbaine et le fort Griffon de Besançon La citadelle et le fort Paté et Médoc de Blaye/Cussac-Fort-Médoc L'enceinte urbaine, les forts des Salettes, des Trois-Tête, du Randoouillet et Dauphin, la communication Y et le pont d'Asfeld de Briançon La tour Dorée de Camaret-sur-Mer La place forte de Longwy La place forte de Mont-Dauphin L'enceinte et la citadelle de Mont-Louis La place forte de Neuf-Brisach La citadelle el l'enceinte de Saint-Martin-de-Ré Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de la Hougue L'enceinte, le fort et la Cova Bastera de Villefranche-de-Conflent

Paris, Banks of the Seine

France Ile de France From the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, from the Place de la Concorde to the Grand and Petit Palais, the evolution of Paris and its history can be seen from the River Seine. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle are architectural masterpieces while Haussmann's wide squares and boulevards influenced late 19th- and 20th-century town planning the world over. The choice of the zone between Pont de Sully and Pont d'léna is based on the age-old distinction between Paris upstream and Paris downstream. Upstream, beyond the Arsénal, begins Paris the port and river transport town; downstream is the royal and subsequently aristocratic Paris, which had only limited commercial activity. It is this latter section of the city which was selected for the World Heritage List.

Decorated Cave of Pont d'Arc, known as Grotte Chauvet-Pont d'Arc, Ardèche

France Located in a limestone plateau of the Ardèche River in southern France, the property contains the earliest-known and best-preserved figurative drawings in the world, dating back as early as the Aurignacian period (30,000-32,000 BP), making it an exceptional testimony of prehistoric art.

Episcopal City of Albi

France On the banks of the Tarn river in south-west France, the old city of Albi reflects the culmination of a medieval architectural and urban ensemble. Today the Old Bridge (Pont-Vieux), the Saint-Salvi quarter and its church are testimony to its initial development (10th -11th centuries). Following the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics (13th century) it became a powerful episcopal city. Built in a unique southern French Gothic style from local brick in characteristic red and orange colours, the lofty fortified Cathedral (late 13th century) dominates the city, demonstrating the power regained by the Roman Catholic clergy. Alongside the Cathedral is the vast bishop's Palais de la Berbie, overlooking the river and surrounded by residential quarters that date back to the Middle Ages

Canal du Midi

France Region of Midi-Pyrénées (departments of Haute-Garonne and Tarn); Region of Languedoc-Roussillon (departments of l'Aude and l'Herault) There are five components of this property, and the total length of the waterway is 360 km. The main Canal du Midi runs from Toulouse to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean coast at Marseillan; there is a branch between Moussan and Port-la-Nouvelle, incorporating part of the earlier Canal de la Robine. The waters of the Montagne-Noire are brought to the canal through two channels that join together and flow into the Canal at Naurouze. The canal de Saint-Pierre is the link between the main canal and the Garonne at Toulouse. Finally, there is a short section joining the Hérault River to the round lock at Agde. The ensemble contains 328 works of art - locks, aqueducts, bridges, spillways, tunnels, etc. One of its most noteworthy features is the Saint-Ferréol dam on the Laudot River in the Montagne-Noire region. This is the largest project on the entire canal and the greatest work of civil engineering of its time, Riquet was conscious that he was creating a symbol of the power of 17th-century France as well as a functional communication waterway.

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

France Regions of Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Midi-Pyrénées, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur After Jerusalem was captured by the Caliph Omar in 638, Christians were hesitant about going to the Holy City as pilgrims. Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where the tomb of the apostle St James the Great, who brought Christianity to the Iberian peninsula, had been founded around 800, benefited from the decline of Jerusalem as a pilgrimage centre. The four main pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in France began at Paris, Vézelay, Le Puy, and Arles respectively, and each of these was fed by a number of subsidiary routes. Thus, the start of the Paris route saw the convergence of routes from Boulogne, Tournai, and the Low Countries, while routes from Caen, Mont-Saint-Michel, and Brittany joined it at intermediate points such as Tours, Poitiers, Saint-Jean d'Angély and Bordeaux (the port for pilgrims coming by sea from England and coastal areas of Brittany and Normandy). Le Puy was the link with the Rhône valley, whereas those coming from Italy passed through Arles. The three western routes converged at Ostabat, crossing the Pyrenees by means of the Ibaneta pass, while the eastern route from Arles used the Somport pass; the two routes joined in Spain at Puente-la-Reina.

The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape

France The Causses and Cévennes demonstrate almost every type of pastoral organisation to be found around the Mediterranean (agro-pastoralism, silvi-pastoralism, transhumance and sedentary pastoralism). This 302,319 ha property, in the southern part of central France, is a mountain landscape interspersed by deep valleys that is representative of the relationship between agro-pastoral systems and their biophysical environment, notably through drailles or drove roads. Villages and substantial stone farmhouses on deep terraces of the Causses reflect the organization of large abbeys from the 11th century. Mont Lozère, inside the property, is one of the last places where summer transhumance is still practiced in the traditional way, using the drailles.

The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes

France The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape along a major river which bears witness to an interchange of human values and to a harmonious development of interactions between human beings and their environment over two millennia. It is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Blois, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur and Tours, but in particular in its world-famous castles, such as the Château de Chambord. The basin of the River Loire occupies a huge area in central and western France, stretching from the southern part of the Massif Central to an estuary on the Atlantic coast. Some 200 km of the central part of the main river valley, stretching from Sully east of Orleans to the junction of the Loire and the Maine near Angers in the west. Essentially this is the 'new' Loire, for the river originally drained north-eastwards into the Paris basin.

Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin

France The Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin corresponds to the French part of the northwest European coal seam. On a broad open plain, it extends some 120 km, through the two administrative departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Remarkable as a landscape shaped over three centuries of coal extraction from the 1700s to the 1900s, the site consists of 109 separate components over 120,000 ha. It features mining pits (the oldest of which dates from 1850) and lift infrastructure, slag heaps (some of which cover 90 ha and exceed 140 m in height), coal transport infrastructure, railway stations, workers' estates and mining villages including social habitat, schools, religious buildings, health and community facilities, company premises, owners and managers' houses, town halls and more. The site bears testimony to the quest to create model workers' cities from the mid 19th century to the 1960s and further illustrates a significant period in the history of industrial Europe. It documents the living conditions of workers and the solidarity to which it gave rise.

Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island

France The Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island site coincides with the core zone of La Réunion National Park. The property covers more than 100,000 ha or 40 % of La Réunion, an island comprising two adjoining volcanic massifs located in the south-west of the Indian Ocean. Dominated by two towering volcanic peaks, massive walls and three cliff-rimmed cirques, the property includes a great variety of rugged terrain and impressive escarpments, forested gorges and basins creating a visually striking landscape. It is the natural habitat for a wide diversity of plants, presenting a high level of endemism. There are subtropical rainforests, cloud forests and heaths creating a remarkable and visually appealing mosaic of ecosystems and landscape features.

Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)

France The Pont du Gard was built shortly before the Christian era to allow the aqueduct of Nîmes (which is almost 50 km long) to cross the Gard river. The Roman architects and hydraulic engineers who designed this bridge, which stands almost 50 m high and is on three levels - the longest measuring 275 m - created a technical as well as an artistic masterpiece.

From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the Production of Open-pan Salt

France The Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, near Besançon, was built by Claude Nicolas Ledoux. Its construction, begun in 1775 during the reign of Louis XVI, was the first major achievement of industrial architecture, reflecting the ideal of progress of the Enlightenment. The Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains was active for at least 1200 years until stopping activity in 1962. From 1780 to 1895, its salt water travelled through 21 km of wood pipes to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans. It was built near the immense Chaux Forest to ensure its supply of wood for fuel. The Saltworks of Salins shelters an underground gallery from the 13th century including a hydraulic pump from the 19th century that still functions. The boiler house demonstrates the difficulty of the saltworkers' labour to collect the "White Gold".

Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems

France This serial site comprises six marine clusters that represent the main diversity of coral reefs and associated ecosystems in the French Pacific Ocean archipelago of New Caledonia and one of the three most extensive reef systems in the world. These Lagoons are of exceptional natural beauty. They feature an exceptional diversity of coral and fish species and a continuum of habitats from mangroves to seagrasses with the world's most diverse concentration of reef structures.

Fujian Tulou

Fujian Tulou is a property of 46 buildings constructed between the 15th and 20th centuries over 120 km in south-west of Fujian province, inland from the Taiwan Strait. Set amongst rice, tea and tobacco fields the Tulou are earthen houses. Several storeys high, they are built along an inward-looking, circular or square floor plan as housing for up to 800 people each. They were built for defence purposes around a central open courtyard with only one entrance and windows to the outside only above the first floor. Housing a whole clan, the houses functioned as village units and were known as "a little kingdom for the family" or "bustling small city." The Fujian Tulou are the most representative and best preserved examples of the tulou of the mountainous regions of south-eastern China. The large, technically sophisticated and dramatic earthen defensive buildings, built between the 13th and 20th centuries.

Historical Monuments of Mtskheta

Georgia City of Mtskheta, Region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti The Historical Monuments of Mtskheta are located in the cultural landscape at the confluence of the Aragvi and Mtkvari Rivers, in Central-Eastern Georgia, some 20km northwest of Tbilisi in Mtskheta. The property consists of the Jvari Monastery, the Svetitstkhoveli Cathedral and the Samtavro Monastery. Mtskheta was the ancient capital of Kartli, the East Georgian Kingdom from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD, and was also the location where Christianity was proclaimed as the official religion of Georgia in 337. To date, it still remains the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church.

Upper Svaneti

Georgia Village of Chajashi, Mestia district, Region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svateni Preserved by its long-lasting geographical isolation, the mountain landscape of the Upper Svaneti region is an exceptional example of mountain scenery with medieval villages and tower houses. The property occupies the upper reaches of the lnguri River Basin between the Caucasus and Svaneti ranges. It consists of several small villages forming a community that are dominated by the towers and situated on the mountain slopes, with a natural environment of gorges and alpine valleys and a backdrop of snow-covered mountains. The most notable feature of the settlements is the abundance of towers. The village of Chazhashi in Ushguli community, situated at the confluence of the lnguri and Black Rivers, has preserved more than 200 medieval tower houses, churches and castles.

Frontiers of the Roman Empire

Germany United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The 'Roman Limes' represents the border line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The remains of the Limes today consist of vestiges of built walls, ditches, forts, fortresses, watchtowers and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed and a few destroyed. The two sections of the Limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube in the south-east. The 118-km-long Hadrian's Wall (UK) was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian c. AD 122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. It is a striking example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques and geopolitical strategies of ancient Rome. The Antonine Wall, a 60-km long fortification in Scotland was started by Emperor Antonius Pius in 142 AD as a defense against the "barbarians" of the north. It constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes.

Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin

Germany Berlin (city-state) The museum as a social phenomenon owes its origins to the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. The five museums on the Museumsinsel in Berlin, built between 1824 and 1930, are the realization of a visionary project and show the evolution of approaches to museum design over the course of the 20th century. Each museum was designed so as to establish an organic connection with the art it houses. The importance of the museum's collections - which trace the development of civilizations throughout the ages - is enhanced by the urban and architectural quality of the buildings. The Altes Museum Neues Museum The Nationalgalerie The Bodemuseum Pergamonmuseum

Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen

Germany Bremen (city-state) The Town Hall and the statue of Roland on the marketplace of Bremen in north-west Germany are outstanding representations of civic autonomy and sovereignty, as these developed in the Holy Roman Empire in Europe. The old town hall was built in the Gothic style in the early 15th century, after Bremen joined the Hanseatic League. The building was renovated in the so-called Weser Renaissance style in the early 17th century. A new town hall was built next to the old one in the early 20th century as part of an ensemble that survived bombardment during the Second World War. The statue stands 5.5 m tall and dates back to 1404. The city of Bremen is situated in north-western Germany, on the river Weser. The site of the medieval town has an oblong form, limited by the river on the south side and by the Stadtgraben, the water moat of the ancient defence system, on the north side.The Bremen Roland is the most representative and one of the oldest of the Roland statues erected as a symbol of commercial rights and freedom.

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

Germany City of Kassel Descending a long hill dominated by a giant statue of Hercules, the monumental water displays of Wilhelmshöhe were begun by Landgrave Carl of Hesse-Kassel in 1689 around an east-west axis and were developed further into the 19th century. Reservoirs and channels behind the Hercules Monument supply water to a complex system of hydro-pneumatic devices that supply the site's large Baroque water theatre, grotto, fountains and 350-metre long Grand Cascade

Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch

Germany District of Bergstrasse, State of Hesse (Hessen) The religious complex represented by the former Lorsch Abbey with its 1,200-year-old gatehouse, which is unique and in excellent condition, comprises a rare architectural document of the Carolingian era with impressively preserved sculpture and painting of that period. It gives architectural evidence of the awakening of the West to the spirit of the early and high Middle Ages under the first king and emperor, Charlemagne. In the small town of Lorsch, between Worms and Darmstadt, is the renowned Torhalle, one of the rare Carolingian buildings that has retained its original appearance

Messel Pit Fossil Site

Germany District of Darmstadt-Dieburg, State of Hesse (Hessen) Messel Pit is the richest site in the world for understanding the living environment of the Eocene, between 57 million and 36 million years ago. In particular, it provides unique information about the early stages of the evolution of mammals and includes exceptionally well-preserved mammal fossils, ranging from fully articulated skeletons to the contents of stomachs of animals of this period. As the Messel Pit is the former site of an oil shale mine, the land surface has been significantly disturbed. Paradoxically, if there had been no mine, the scientific values of the property would have never been discovered

Maulbronn Monastery Complex

Germany District of Enz, State of Baden-Württemberg Founded in 1147, the Cistercian Maulbronn Monastery is considered the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastic complex north of the Alps. Surrounded by fortified walls, the main buildings were constructed between the 12th and 16th centuries. The monastery's church, mainly in Transitional Gothic style, had a major influence in the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe. The water-management system at Maulbronn, with its elaborate network of drains, irrigation canals and reservoirs, is of exceptional interest. The Cistercian Order was notable for its innovations in the field of hydraulic engineering, and this is admirably illustrated in the Maulbronn monastery complex.

Town of Bamberg

Germany District of Upper Franconia Bamberg is located in southern Germany in the north of Bavaria. From the 10th century onwards, Bamberg became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of this town strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century Bamberg was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and E.T.A. Hoffmann living there.

Wartburg Castle

Germany Eisenach, State of Thuringia (Thüringen) Wartburg Castle blends superbly into its forest surroundings and is in many ways 'the ideal castle'. Although it has retained some original sections from the feudal period, the form it acquired during the 19th-century reconstitution gives a good idea of what this fortress might have been at the height of its military and seigneurial power. It was during his exile at Wartburg Castle that Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German.

Fagus Factory in Alfeld

Germany Fagus Factory in Alfeld is a 10-building complex - began around 1910 to the design of Walter Gropius, which is a landmark in the development of modern architecture and industrial design. Serving all stages of manufacture, storage and dispatch of lasts used by the shoe industry, the complex, which is still operational today, is situated in Alfeld an der Leine in Lower Saxony. With its groundbreaking vast expanses of glass panels and functionalist aesthetics, the complex foreshadowed the work of the Bauhaus school and is a landmark in the development of architecture in Europe and North America

Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar

Germany State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries they became Swedish administrative and defensive centres for the German territories. They contributed to the development of the characteristic building types and techniques of Brick Gothic in the Baltic region, as exemplified in several important brick cathedrals, the Town Hall of Stralsund, and the series of houses for residential, commercial and crafts use, representing its evolution over several centuries. Wismar has preserved its medieval harbour basin, whereas the island location of Stralsund has remained unchanged since the 13th century.

Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl

Germany State of North Rhine-We Set in an idyllic garden landscape, begun by architect Johann Conrad Schlaun, and finished by François de Cuvilliés, Augustusburg Castle, the sumptuous residence of the prince-archbishops of Cologne, and the Falkenlust hunting lodge, a small rural folly, are among the earliest and best examples of 18-century Rococo architecture in Germany. The Castle of Falkenlust stands in its own small park. It was built by François de Cuvilliés between 1729 and 1737 for Prince-Elector of Cologne, Clemens August, to practise his favourite sport of falconry.

Aachen Cathedral

Germany State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) It is Emperor Charlemagne´s own Palatine Chapel, which constitutes the nucleus of the Cathedral of Aachen, located in western Germany. The construction of the chapel between 793 and 813 symbolises the unification of the West and its spiritual and political revival under the aegis of Charlemagne. Originally inspired by the churches of the eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire, the octagonal core was splendidly enlarged in the Middle Ages. In 814, Charlemagne was buried here.

Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin

Germany States of Brandenburg and Berlin With 500 ha of parks and 150 buildings constructed between 1730 and 1916, Potsdam's complex of palaces and parks forms an artistic whole, whose eclectic nature reinforces its sense of uniqueness. It extends into the district of Berlin-Zehlendorf, with the palaces and parks lining the banks of the River Havel and Lake Glienicke. Voltaire stayed at the Sans-Souci Palace, built under Frederick II between 1745 and 1747.

Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen

Germany State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) The construction of the stretch of the Cologne-Minden railway between Oberhausen and Hamm in 1847 was decisive for the location of the early Zollverein shafts, which were sunk 500m from the new line so as to facilitate transport of the coal and coke produced. The Zollverein XII Coal Mine Industrial Complex is an important example of a European primary industry of great economic significance in the 19th and 20th centuries. It consists of the complete installations of a historical coal-mining site: the pits, coking plants, railway lines, pit heaps, miner's housing and consumer and welfare facilities. The mine is especially noteworthy of the high architectural quality of its buildings of the Modern Movement. Zollverein XII was created at the end of a phase of political and economic upheaval and change in Germany, which was represented aesthetically in the transition from Expressionism to Cubism and Functionalism. At the same time, Zollverein XII embodies this short economic boom between the two World Wars, which has gone down in history as the "Roaring Twenties." Zollverein is also, and by no means least, a monument of industrial history reflecting an era, in which, for the first time, globalisation and the worldwide interdependence of economic factors played a vital part.

Speyer Cathedral

Germany State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) Speyer Cathedral in the southwest of Germany, a basilica with four towers and two domes, was founded as a flat-ceiling basilica by Konrad II in 1030, probably soon after his imperial coronation. It was rebuilt by Henry IV, following his reconciliation with the Pope in 1077, as the first and largest consistently vaulted church building in Europe. The Cathedral was the burial place of the German emperors for almost 300 years. Today - after the destruction of the Abbey of Cluny - Speyer Cathedral is the biggest Romanesque church in the world.

Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier

Germany State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) Trier, which is located on the Moselle river in the West of Germany, was a Roman colony from the 1st century A.D. and then a great trading centre in the beginning of the next century. It became one of the capitals of the Tetrarchy at the end of the 3rd century, when it was known as the 'second Rome'. The number and quality of the surviving monuments are an outstanding testimony to Roman civilization. There is no place north of the Alps where so many important Roman buildings and such a concentration of traces of Roman settlement have been preserved as in Trier, the "Rome of the North".

Völklingen Ironworks

Germany State of Saarland Although the Völklingen Ironworks went out of production comparatively recently, they are the only intact example, in the whole of western Europe and North America, of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the 19th and 20th centuries and has remained intact. Historically this plant was a model for many other similar installations throughout the world.

Dresden Elbe Valley Delisted in 2009

Germany State of Saxony (Sachsen) The 18th- and 19th-century cultural landscape of Dresden Elbe Valley extends some 18 km along the river from Übigau Palace and Ostragehege fields in the north-west to the Pillnitz Palace and the Elbe River Island in the south-east. It features low meadows, and is crowned by the Pillnitz Palace and the centre of Dresden with its numerous monuments and parks from the 16th to 20th centuries. The landscape also features 19th- and 20th-century suburban villas and gardens and valuable natural features. Some terraced slopes along the river are still used for viticulture and some old villages have retained their historic structure and elements from the industrial revolution, notably the 147-m Blue Wonder steel bridge (1891-93), the single-rail suspension cable railway (1898-1901), and the funicular (1894-95). The passenger steamships (the oldest from 1879) and shipyard (c. 1900) are still in use.

Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg

Germany State of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-Ottonian ruling dynasty. It has been a prosperous trading town since the Middle Ages. The number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings make Quedlinburg an exceptional example of a medieval European town. The Collegiate Church of St Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture. Situated in a hilly region to the north of the Harz Mountains, villa Quitilingaburg is first mentioned in 922 in an official document of Henry I (the Fowler), who was elected German King in 919. The town owes its wealth and importance during the Middle Ages to Henry I and his successors. On the death of Henry I in 936 his widow Mathilde remained in Quedlinburg at the collegiate church of St Servatius on the Castle Hill, founded by Henry's son and successor Otto I as a collegial establishment for unmarried daughters of the nobility.

Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz

Germany State of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is an exceptional example of landscape design and planning of the Age of the Enlightenment, the 18th century. Its diverse components - outstanding buildings, landscaped parks and gardens in the English style, and subtly modified expanses of agricultural land - serve aesthetic, educational, and economic purposes in an exemplary manner.

Hanseatic City of Lübeck

Germany State of Schleswig-Holstein Founded in 1143 on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, Lübeck was from 1230 to 1535 one of the principal cities of the Hanseatic League, a league of merchant cities which came to hold a monopoly over the trade of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The plan of the Old Town island of Lübeck, with its blade-like outline determined by two parallel routes of traffic running along the crest of the island, dates back to the beginnings of the city and attests to its expansion as a commercial centre of Northern Europe.

Classical Weimar

Germany State of Thuringia (Thüringen) In the late 18th and early 19th century the small Thuringian town of Weimar witnessed a remarkable cultural flowering, attracting many writers and scholars, notably Goethe (1749-1832) and Schiller (1759-1805). This development is reflected in the high quality of many buildings and parks in the surrounding area. It was in the lifetime of Duchess Anna Amalia (1739-1809) that Weimar's Classical period began. Goethe's House City Church, Herder House and Old High School City Castle The Dowager's Palace Park on the Ilm with the Roman House, Goethe's Garden, and Garden House Belvedere Castle, Orangery and Park Tiefurt Castle and Park Ettersburg Castle and Park

Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau

Germany States of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) and Thuringia (Thüringen) Between 1919 and 1933, the Bauhaus School, based first in Weimar and then in Dessau, revolutionized architectural and aesthetic concepts and practices. The buildings put up and decorated by the school's professors (Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky) launched the Modern Movement, which shaped much of the architecture of the 20th century.

Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg

Germany States of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt) and Thuringia (Thüringen) These places in Saxony-Anhalt are all associated with the lives of Martin Luther and his fellow-reformer Melanchthon. They include Melanchthon's house in Wittenberg, the houses in Eisleben where Luther was born in 1483 and died in 1546, his room in Wittenberg, the local church and the castle church where, on 31 October 1517, Luther posted his famous '95 Theses', which launched the Reformation and a new era in the religious and political history of the Western world

Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System

Germany The Upper Harz mining water management system, which lies south of the Rammelsberg mines and the town of Goslar, has been developed over a period of some 800 years to assist in the process of extracting ore for the production of non-ferrous metals. Rammelsberg lies 1 km south-east of Goslar, in the Harz Mountains. It has been the site of mining for metalliferous ores and metal production (silver, copper, lead, zinc and gold) since as early as the 3rd century BC. Its construction was first undertaken in the Middle Ages by Cistercian monks, and it was then developed on a vast scale from the end of the 16th century until the 19th century. The copper, lead and tin mines of Rammelsberg mountain, in the Harz region, were worked continuously from the 11th century until the 1980s.

Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey

Germany The site is located along the Weser River on the outskirts of Höxter where the Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey were erected between AD 822 and 885 in a largely preserved rural setting. The Westwork is the only standing structure that dates back to the Carolingian era, while the original imperial abbey complex is preserved as archaeological remains that are only partially excavated.

Pilgrimage Church of Wies

Germany Town of Steingaden, District of Weilheim-Schongau, Region of Upper Bavaria, State of Bavaria (Bayern) The sanctuary of Wies, a pilgrimage church miraculously preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and a masterpiece of creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared. The hamlet of Wies, near Steingaden in Bavaria, was the setting of a miracle in 1738: a simple wooden image of Christ mounted on a column, which was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensians, appeared to some of the faithful to be in tears.

Asante Traditional Buildings

Ghana Asante Region Near Kumasi, a group of traditional buildings are the last remaining testimony of the great Asante civilization, which reached its peak in the 18th century. The buildings include ten shrines/fetish houses (Abirim, Asawase, Asenemaso, Bodwease, Ejisu Besease, Adarko Jachie, Edwenase, Kentinkrono, Patakro and Saaman). Most are to the north-east of Kumasi, and Patakro, to the south.

Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions

Ghana Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions The remains of fortified trading-posts, erected between 1482 and 1786, can still be seen along the coast of Ghana between Keta and Beyin, spanning a distance of approximately 500 km along the coast of Ghana between Keta in the east and Beyin in the west,. They were links in the trade routes established by the Portuguese in many areas of the world during their era of great maritime exploration. The castles and forts were built and occupied at different times by traders from Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Germany and Britain. They served the gold trade of European chartered companies. Latterly they played a significant part in the developing slave trade, and therefore in the history of the Americas, and, subsequently, in the 19th century, in the suppression of that trade.

Mount Athos

Greece Autonomous region of Mount Athos Covering an area of just over 33,000 hectares, the property includes the entire narrow rocky strip of the easternmost of the three peninsulas of Chalcidice which jut into the Aegean Sea in northern Greece. An Orthodox spiritual centre since 1054, Mount Athos has enjoyed an autonomous statute since Byzantine times. The 'Holy Mountain', which is forbidden to women and children, is also a recognized artistic site. The layout of the monasteries (about 20 of which are presently inhabited by some 1,400 monks) had an influence as far afield as Russia, and its school of painting influenced the history of Orthodox art.

Old Town of Corfu

Greece Ionian Islands, Corfu Prefecture Corfu, the first of the Ionian Islands encountered at the entrance to the Adriatic, was annexed to Greece by a group of Eretrians (775-750 BCE). In 734 BCE the Corinthians founded a colony known as Kerkyra to the south of where the Old Town now stands. The town became a trading post on the way to Sicily and founded further colonies in Illyria and Epirus. The coast of Epirus and Corfu itself came under the sway of the Roman Republic (229 BCE) and served as the jumping-off point for Rome's expansion into the east. In the reign of Caligula two disciples of the Apostle Paul, St Jason, Bishop of Iconium, and Sosipater, Bishop of Tarsus, introduced Christianity to the island.

Acropolis, Athens

Greece Prefecture and Region of Attica The Acropolis is located on a rocky promontory 156m above the valley of Ilissos; it covers a surface area of less than 3ha. From the 2nd millennium BC it was a fortress protecting places of worship and royal palaces. Access to the plateau was protected by a wall, the Pelasgicon, which existed prior to the invasions of the Dorians who threatened Athens beginning in 1200. After the fall of the tyrants, Hipparchus in 514 and Hippias in 510, the Acropolis was reconstructed. The Pelasgicon, which a Delphic oracle declared cursed, was destroyed. The upper town, deprived of its ramparts, was weakened, and in 480 the Persians under Xerxes took it over, looting and burning the sanctuaries. Paradoxically, the looting of the Acropolis in 480 BC guaranteed the conservation of one of the most impressive collections of archaic sculpture in the Greek world. The rampart was destroyed in 472-471, at the same time as the 'Long Walls,' which enclosed Athens and its port at Piraeus. With Pericles the 5th century BC marks the apogee of Athenian democracy.

Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus

Greece Prefecture of Argolis, Region of the Peloponnesos In a small inner Argolid valley surrounded by rocky heights only thinly covered by the meagre vegetation of Mediterranean scrub, the archaeological site of Epidaurus sprawls over several levels. In a small valley in the Peloponnesus, the shrine of Asklepios, the god of medicine, developed out of a much earlier cult of Apollo (Maleatas), during the 6th century BC at the latest, as the official cult of the city state of Epidaurus. Its principal monuments, particularly the temple of Asklepios, the Tholos and the Theatre - considered one of the purest masterpieces of Greek architecture - date from the 4th century. The vast site, with its temples and hospital buildings devoted to its healing gods, provides valuable insight into the healing cults of Greek and Roman times.

Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns

Greece Prefecture of Argolis, Region of the Peloponnesos The archaeological sites of Mycenae and Tiryns are the imposing ruins of the two greatest cities of the Mycenaean civilization, which dominated the eastern Mediterranean world from the 15th to the 12th century B.C. and played a vital role in the development of classical Greek culture. These two cities are indissolubly linked to the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey , which have influenced European art and literature for more than three millennia.

Delos

Greece Prefecture of Cyclades, Region of the South Aegean According to Greek mythology, Apollo was born on this tiny island in the Cyclades archipelago. Delos is a minuscule island stretching only 5 km north to south and a scant 1.3 km from east to west. It was here, that Apollo, son of Zeus and Leto, was born: like Delphi, Delos is the major sanctuary dedicated to Apollo, the Titan god par excellence, one of the most important in the Hellenic pantheon. Apollo's sanctuary attracted pilgrims from all over Greece and Delos was a prosperous trading port. The island of Delos bears unique witness to the civilizations of the Aegean world in the 3rd millennium BC. During the palaeo-Christian era, it was the seat of the bishopric of the Cyclades which ruled over the islands of Mykonos, Syros, Seriphos, Kythnos and Keos. From the 7th century BC to the pillage by Athenodoros, Delos was one of the principal Pan-Hellenic sanctuaries. The feast of the Delians, which was celebrated every four years in May until 316 BC The island bears traces of the succeeding civilizations in the Aegean world, from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the palaeochristian era. The archaeological site is exceptionally extensive and rich and conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port.

The Historic Centre (Chorá) with the Monastery of Saint-John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse on the Island of Pátmos

Greece Prefecture of Dodecanese, Region of the South Aegean Pátmos is the northernmost island of the Dodecanese group with an area of some 88 km2 , is largely barren, formed from three volcanic masses connected by narrow isthmuses. There are three settlements: the medieval Chorá, the 19th-century harbour of Skála, and the small rural Kampos. The site selected by Christodoulos for his Monastery of Hagios Ioannis Theologos dominates the whole island. The small island of Pátmos in the Dodecanese is reputed to be where St John the Theologian wrote both his Gospel and the Apocalypse. A monastery dedicated to the 'beloved disciple' was founded there in the late 10th century and it has been a place of pilgrimage and Greek Orthodox learning ever since. The fine monastic complex dominates the island. The old settlement of Chorá, associated with it, contains many religious and secular buildings.

Medieval City of Rhodes

Greece Prefecture of Dodecanese, Region of the South Aegean The Order of St John of Jerusalem occupied Rhodes from 1309 to 1523 and set about transforming the city into a stronghold. It subsequently came under Turkish and Italian rule. With the Palace of the Grand Masters, the Great Hospital and the Street of the Knights, the Upper Town is one of the most beautiful urban ensembles of the Gothic period. In the Lower Town, Gothic architecture coexists with mosques, public baths and other buildings dating from the Ottoman period.

Archaeological Site of Olympia

Greece Prefecture of Ilia, Region of West Greece in the Western Peloponnese In north-western Peloponnesos the archaeological site of Olympia at the foot of the Kronion Hill stretches over a triangular alluvial terrace at the confluence of the Alpheios and the Kladeos. In this area of very ancient settlement, religious centres of worship succeeded one another during the Hellenic period: those to Kronos, Gala, and other Chtonian divinities, those to Pelops, the hero who gave his name to Peloponnesus, and those to Hippodamia, whose hand Pelops won in a chariot race against Oenomaos, her father. Olympia became a centre of worship to Zeus in the 10th century BC.

Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina)

Greece Prefecture of Imathia, Region of Central Macedonia The ancient city in the northern foothills of the Pierian range is the capital of the kingdom of Lower Macedonia, Aigai, traditionally founded by Perdiccas I when the Macedonians of the Argive spread northwards over the plain of Emathia. This region was already settled in the early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC), as evidenced by a tumulus (grave-mound) near the river Haliakmon. The wealth and density of over 300 grave-mounds in the Cemetery of the Tumuli testifies to the importance of Aigai in the early Iron Age (1100-700 BC).

Archaeological Site of Mystras

Greece Prefecture of Laconia, Region of the Peloponnesos Archaeological Site of Mystras Mystras, the 'wonder of the Morea', was built as an amphitheatre around the fortress erected in 1249 by the prince of Achaia, William of Villehardouin. Reconquered by the Byzantines, then occupied by the Turks and the Venetians, the city was abandoned in 1832, leaving only the breathtaking medieval ruins, standing in a beautiful landscape.

Archaeological Site of Delphi

Greece Prefecture of Phokis, Region of Central Greece The pan-Hellenic sanctuary of Delphi, where the oracle of Apollo spoke, was the site of the omphalos, the 'navel of the world'. Blending harmoniously with the superb landscape and charged with sacred meaning, Delphi in the 6th century B.C. was indeed the religious centre and symbol of unity of the ancient Greek world. Temple of Apollo Treasury of the Athenians Altar of the Chians Stoa of the Athenians Theatre Stadium Castalian Spring Tholos Polygonal Wall

Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos

Greece Prefecture of Samos, Region of the North Aegean Many civilizations have inhabited this small Aegean island, near Asia Minor, since the 3rd millennium B.C. Samos was the leading maritime and mercantile power in the Greek world in the 6th century BC, and this importance is reflected in the extent and richness of the archaeological remains, which are largely untouched by subsequent developmentThe site is an area on the north-east coast of the island that is clearly defined by the surrounding mountains. It consists of the ancient city (Pythagoreion) and the classical Temple of Hera (Heraion).The ancestors of the classical Samians arrived from the Epidauros region in the 11th century BC, following the turmoil of the Trojan War

Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika

Greece Prefecture of Thessaloniki, Region of Central Macedonia Founded in 315 B.C., the provincial capital and sea port of Thessalonika was one of the first bases for the spread of Christianity. Among its Christian monuments are fine churches, some built on the Greek cross plan and others on the three-nave basilica plan. Constructed over a long period, from the 4th to the 15th century, they constitute a diachronic typological series, which had considerable influence in the Byzantine world. The mosaics of the rotunda, St Demetrius and St David are among the great masterpieces of early Christian art.

Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

Greece Prefectures of Messenia, Arcadia, and Ilia in the Western Peloponnese This famous temple to the god of healing and the sun was built towards the middle of the 5th century B.C. in the lonely heights of the Arcadian mountains. The temple, which has the oldest Corinthian capital yet found, combines the Archaic style and the serenity of the Doric style with some daring architectural features. Its ruins rise majestically to 1,130 m high in the mountainous region of Arcadia in the heart of the Peloponnese, near Andritsaina. Built in the second half of the 5th century BC (c. 420-410 BC?), it belongs to the first generation of post-Parthenonian edifices.

Monasteries of Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios

Greece Regions of Attica, Central Greece, North Aegean Although geographically distant from each other, these three monasteries (the first is in Attica, near Athens, the second in Phocida near Delphi, and the third on an island in the Aegean Sea, near Asia Minor) belong to the same typological series and share the same aesthetic characteristics. The churches are built on a cross-in-square plan with a large dome supported by squinches defining an octagonal space. In the 11th and 12th centuries they were decorated with superb marble works as well as mosaics on a gold background, all characteristic of the 'second golden age of Byzantine art'.

Tikal National Park

Guatemala Department of El Peten Tikal National Park is located in Northern Guatemala's Petén Province within a large forest region often referred to as the Maya Forest, which extends into neighbouring Mexico and Belize. Embedded within the much larger Maya Biosphere Reserve, Tikal National Park is one of the few World Heritage properties inscribed according to both natural and cultural criteria for its extraordinary biodiversity and archaeological importance. Five cats, including Jaguar and Puma, several species of monkeys and anteaters and more than 300 species of birds are among the notable wildlife. The forests comprise more than 200 tree species and over 2000 higher plants have been recorded across the diverse habitats.

Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua

Guatemala Department of Izabal Inhabited since the 2nd century A.D., Quirigua had become during the reign of Cauac Sky (723-84) the capital of an autonomous and prosperous state. The ruins of Quirigua contain some outstanding 8th-century monuments and an impressive series of carved stelae and sculpted calendars that constitute an essential source for the study of Mayan civilization. Quirigua is, together with that of Copán (Honduras), one of the major testimonies to the Mayan civilization. At Quirigua, traces of human occupation are attested to from about AD 200, but the zenith of the city may be placed during the period known as Late Classic, about AD 600-900.

Antigua Guatemala

Guatemala Department of Sacatepéquez, Panchoy Valley Built 1,530.17 m above sea level in an earthquake-prone region, Antigua Guatemala, the capital of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, was founded in 1524 as Santiago de Guatemala. It was subsequently destroyed by fire caused by an uprising of the indigenous population, re-established in 1527 and entirely buried as a result of earthquakes and an avalanche in 1541. The third location, in the Valley of Panchoy or Pacán, was inaugurated in March 1543 and served for 230 years. It survived natural disasters of floods, volcanic eruptions and other serious tremors until 1773 when the Santa Marta earthquakes destroyed much of the town. At this point, authorities ordered the relocation of the capital to a safer location region, which became Guatemala City, the county's modern capital. Some residents stayed behind in the original town, however, which became referred to as "La Antigua Guatemala".

Vatican City

Holy See Vatican City State The Vatican City, one of the most sacred places in Christendom, attests to a great history and a formidable spiritual venture. A unique collection of artistic and architectural masterpieces lie within the boundaries of this small state. At its centre is St Peter's Basilica, with its double colonnade and a circular piazza in front and bordered by palaces and gardens. The basilica, erected over the tomb of St Peter the Apostle, is the largest religious building in the world, the fruit of the combined genius of Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini and Maderno.

Maya Site of Copan

Honduras Copán; westernmost part of the country Discovered in 1570 by Diego García de Palacio, the Maya site of Copan is one of the most important sites of the Mayan civilization. The site is functioned as the political, civil and religious centre of the Copan Valley. It was also the political centre and cultural focus of a larger territory that covered the southeast portion of the Maya area and its periphery.The first evidence of population in the Copan Valley dates back to 1500 B.C., but the first Maya-Cholan immigration from the Guatemalan Highlands is dated around 100 A.D. The Maya leader Yax Kuk Mo, coming from the area of Tikal (Petén), arrived in the Copan Valley in 427 A.D., and started a dynasty of 16 rulers that transformed Copan into one of the greatest Maya cities during the Classic Maya Period. The main complex consists of the Acropolis and important plazas. Among the five plazas are the Ceremonial Plaza, the Hieroglyphic Stairway Plaza, the Eastern Plaza , on its western side is a stairway sculptured with figures of jaguars originally inlaid with black obsidian.

Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve

Honduras Northeast of the country in the area known as the "Mosquitia Hondureña Located on the watershed of the Río Plátano, the reserve is one of the few remains of a tropical rainforest in Central America and has an abundant and varied plant and wildlife. In its mountainous landscape sloping down to the Caribbean coast, over 2,000 indigenous people have preserved their traditional way of life. Situated in the Mosquita region of north-east Honduras, the site comprises a belt of approximately 15 km by 150 km which extends inland from Laguna de Ibans and Laguna de Brus on the Caribbean coast in a south-westerly direction. The coastal towns of Palacios and Brus Laguna lie approximately 5 km from the park boundaries on either side of the reserve.

Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst

Hungary Slovakia Districts of Rožnava and Spišská Nová Ves, Region of Košice (SK) The Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst are outstanding for the large number of complex, diverse and relatively intact caves concentrated into a relatively small area. Located at the north-eastern border of Hungary and the south-eastern border of Slovakia, this exceptional group of 712 caves, recorded at time of inscription, lies under a protected area of 56,651 ha and a larger buffer zone. Today more than 1000 caves are known. Karst processes have produced a rich diversity of structures and habitats that are important from a biological, geological and paleontological point of view.

Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue

Hungary Budapest This stretch of the Danube has been the location of human settlement since the Palaeolithic. It was the site of the Roman city of Aquincum, situated to the north of the inscribed property which comprises parts of two originally quite separate cities: Buda on the spur on the right bank and Pest on the plain on the left bank. Pest was the first medieval urban centre, devastated in 1241-2. A few years later the castle of Buda was built on a rocky spur on the right bank by King Bela IV. Thereafter, the city reflected the history of the Hungarian monarchy. After the end of the Turkish occupation, recovery did not really begin until the 18th century. In the 19th century, the city's role as a capital was enhanced by the foundation of the Hungarian Academy

Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta

Hungary Counties of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok The Hortobágy National Park is part of the Tisza plain of eastern Hungary. It is surrounded by settlements to the south, east and west. The two main settlements are Tiszafüred on the Tisza River and the city of Debrecen. The two are linked by the main historic communication ridge route. The nearly 75 000 ha area of the World Heritage property "Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta", located on the Great Hungarian Plain in the eastern part of Hungary, is an outstanding example of a cultural landscape which preserves intact and visible evidence of its traditional pastoral use over more than two millennia and represents the harmonious interaction between people and nature. The Puszta consists of vast plains where specific land-use practices such as animal husbandry, including grazing of hardy livestock breeds adapted to the natural conditions of alkaline pastures, steppes, meadows and wetlands.

Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae)

Hungary County of Baranya In the 4th century A.D. a remarkable series of decorated tombs were constructed in the cemetery in the town of Sopianae, in the Roman Province of Pannonia, the ruins of which survived under the ground and are situated in the current city of Pécs, in South Hungary. In the 4th century, a remarkable series of decorated tombs were constructed in the cemetery of the Roman provincial town of Sopianae (modern Pécs). These are important both structurally and architecturally, since they were built as underground burial chambers with memorial chapels above the ground. The tombs are important also in artistic terms, since they are richly decorated with murals of outstanding quality depicting Christian themes.

Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape

Hungary County of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén Located at the foothills of the Zemplén Mountains (in North-East Hungary), along the Bodrog river and at the confluence of the Bodrog and the Tisza Rivers, the Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2002. The World Heritage property and its buffer zone together cover the administrative area of 27 settlements (13,245 ha and 74,879 ha, so 88,124 ha in total). The entire landscape, its organisation and its character are specially shaped in interaction with the millennial and still living tradition of wine production. Documented history of the wine region since 1561 attests that grape cultivation as well as the making of the 'aszú' wine has been permanent for centuries in the area surrounded by the three Sátor-hegy (the Tokaj-hill, the Sátor - hill of Abaújszántó, and the Sátor-hill of Sátoraljaújhely). The legal base of delimitation of the wine region is among the first in the world and dates back to 1737 when the decree of Emperor Charles VI (Charles III, King of Hungary) established the area as a closed wine region.

Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment

Hungary County of Györ-Moson-Sopron The first Benedictine monks, from Italy, settled here in 996. They went on to convert the Hungarians, to found the country's first school and, in 1055, to write the first document in Hungarian. From the time of its founding, this monastic community has promoted culture throughout central Europe. Its 1,000-year history can be seen in the succession of architectural styles of the monastic buildings (the oldest dating from 1224), which still today house a school and the monastic community.The site of the present monastery has been settled since prehistoric times. when the monastery was created the area was occupied by Bavarian and Slav farmers, who came were in the wake of Charlemagne's armies.

Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings

Hungary County of Nógrád The Old Village of Hollókő is a Palócz settlement located in the County of Nógrád in Northern Hungary, about 100 km north-east of Budapest. The Old Village, which has been deliberately preserved, is a living example of rural life before the agricultural revolution of the 20th century. The rural architectural ensemble, which covers 145 ha, consists of 55 residential buildings, farm buildings and the church. At the end of the Ottoman occupation (1683) the castle and the village were finally abandoned and the present village established below.

Þingvellir National Park

Iceland Bláskógabyggð municipality, district of Arnessysla Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is the National Park where the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798. Over two weeks a year, the assembly set laws - seen as a covenant between free men - and settled disputes. The Althing has deep historical and symbolic associations for the people of Iceland. The property includes the Þingvellir National Park and the remains of the Althing itself: fragments of around 50 booths built from turf and stone. Remains from the 10th century are thought to be buried underground. The site also includes remains of agricultural use from the 18th and 19th centuries. The park shows evidence of the way the landscape was husbanded over 1,000 years.

Surtsey

Iceland Surtsey, a volcanic island approximately 32 km from the south coast of Iceland, is a new island formed by volcanic eruptions that took place from 1963 to 1967. It is all the more outstanding for having been protected since its birth, providing the world with a pristine natural laboratory. Free from human interference, Surtsey has been producing unique long-term information on the colonisation process of new land by plant and animal life. Since they began studying the island in 1964, scientists have observed the arrival of seeds carried by ocean currents, the appearance of moulds, bacteria and fungi, followed in 1965 by the first vascular plant, of which there were 10 species by the end of the first decade. By 2004, they numbered 60 together with 75 bryophytes, 71 lichens and 24 fungi. Eighty-nine species of birds have been recorded on Surtsey, 57 of which breed elsewhere in Iceland. The 141 ha island is also home to 335 species of invertebrates.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)

India City of Mumbai, Maharashtra State The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, in Mumbai, is an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India, blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture. The building, designed by the British architect F. W. Stevens, became the symbol of Bombay as the 'Gothic City' and the major international mercantile port of India. The terminal was built over 10 years, starting in 1878, according to a High Victorian Gothic design based on late medieval Italian models. The site on which this property is situated is associated with the origins of Mumbai as a city. Bombay Island had formed a coastal outpost of the Hindu in western India, but was not used for commerce. It was first passed to the Portuguese and then, in 1661, to the British. In 1667, the island was transferred to the East India Company, who was principally responsible for its commercial development. Merchants settled here from elsewhere, and the shipbuilding industry and the cotton trade prospered.

Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi

India Delhi Built in the early 13th century a few kilometres south of Delhi, the red sandstone tower of Qutb Minar , notably the magnificent Alai-Darwaza Gate, the masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art (built in 1311), and two mosques, including the Quwwatu'l-Islam, the oldest in northern India, built of materials reused from some 20 Brahman temples. Lalkot is the first of the seven cities of Delhi, established by the Tomar Rajput ruler, Anang Pal, in 1060. The Qutb complex lies in the middle of the eastern part of Lalkot. Building of the Quwwatu'l-Islam (Might of Islam) congregational mosque was begun in 1192 by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak and completed in 1198, using the demolished remains of Hindu temples. It was enlarged by Iltutmish (1211-36) and again by Alauld-Din Khalji (1296-1316). The Qutb Minar was also begun by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak, in around 1202 and completed by his successor, Muhammad-bin-Sam

Humayun's Tomb

India Delhi This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal. Exemplifying the formative stage of the Mughal structural style, Humayun's Tomb stands as a landmark in the development of Mughal architecture, and also represents the earliest extant specimen of the Mughal scheme of the garden tomb, with causeways and channels. It is a well-developed specimen of the double-domed elevation with kiosks on a grand scale. This building tradition culminated in the Taj Mahal, constructed a century later. Despite being the first standardized example of this style, Humayun's Tomb is an architectural achievement of the highest order. The tomb of Humayun, second Mughal Emperor of India, was built by his widow, Biga Begum (Hajji Begum), in 1569-70, 14 years after his death, at a cost of 1.5 million rupees. The architect was Mirak Mirza Ghiyath.

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park

India Gujarat state, district of Panchmahal The Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park with its ancient Hindu architecture, temples and special water-retaining installations, together with its religious, military and agricultural structures, dating back to the regional capital city built by Mehmud Begda in the 16th century, represents a perfect blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture, mainly in the Great Mosque (Jami Masjid), which was a model for later mosque architecture in India. This special style comes from the significant period of regional sultanates. It is furthermore an outstanding example of a very short-lived capital, making the best use of its setting, topography and natural The sites are at the foot of and around the Pavagadh hill, surrounded by lower hillocks, escarpments and plateaux, all result of volcanic eruptions and lava flows. At the top of the hill is the temple of Kalikameta.

The Jantar Mantar

India Jaipur The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. It includes a set of some twenty main fixed instruments. They are monumental examples in masonry of known instruments but which in many cases have specific characteristics of their own. The Jantar Mantar is an expression of the astronomical skills and cosmological concepts of the court of a scholarly prince at the end of the Mughal period. The Jantar Mantar observatory in Jaipur constitutes the most significant and best preserved set of fixed monumental instruments built in India in the first half of the 18th century; some of them are the largest ever built in their categories. Designed for the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye, they embody several architectural and instrumental innovations. The observatory forms part of a tradition of Ptolemaic positional astronomy which was shared by many civilizations. It contributed by this type of observation to the completion of the astronomical tables of Zij.

Group of Monuments at Hampi

India Karnataka, Bellary District The austere, grandiose site of Hampi was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Its fabulously rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces which won the admiration of travellers between the 14th and 16th centuries. Hampi's spectacular setting is dominated by river Tungabhadra, craggy hill ranges and open plains, with widespread physical remains. Conquered by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565, the city was pillaged over a period of six months before being abandoned.

Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi

India Madhya Pradesh On a hill overlooking the plain and about 40 km from Bhopal, the site of Sanchi comprises a group of Buddhist monuments (monolithic pillars, palaces, temples and monasteries) all in different states of conservation most of which date back to the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. It is the oldest Buddhist sanctuary in existence and was a major Buddhist centre in India until the 12th century A.D. From the time that the oldest preserved monument on the site (Asoka's column with its projecting capital of lions inspired by Achaemenid art) was erected, Sanchi's role as intermediary for the spread of cultures and their peripheral arts throughout the Maurya Empire, and later in India of the Sunga, Shatavahana, Kushan and Gupta dynasties, was confirmed. Sanchi is the oldest extant Buddhist sanctuary.

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka

India Madhya Pradesh The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka are in the foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains on the southern edge of the central Indian plateau. Within massive sandstone outcrops, above comparatively dense forest, are five clusters of natural rock shelters, displaying paintings that appear to date from the Mesolithic Period right through to the historical period. The cultural traditions of the inhabitants of the twenty-one villages adjacent to the site bear a strong resemblance to those represented in the rock paintings.

Ajanta Caves

India Maharashtra State, Aurangabad District , Soyagon Taluka, Lenapur Village The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries A.D.).The caves are situated 100 km north-east of Ellora, 104 km from Aurangabad and 52 km from Jalgaon Railway Station. They are cut into the volcanic lava of the Deccan in the forest ravines of the Sahyadri Hills and are set in beautiful sylvan surroundings. These magnificent caves containing carvings that depict the life of Buddha, and their carvings and sculptures are considered to be the beginning of classical Indian art. The style of Ajanta has exerted a considerable influence in India and elsewhere, extending, in particular, to Java.

Golestan Palace

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Golestan Palace The lavish Golestan Palace is a masterpiece of the Qajar era, embodying the successful integration of earlier Persian crafts and architecture with Western influences. The walled Palace, one of the oldest groups of buildings in Teheran, became the seat of government of the Qajar family, which came into power in 1779 and made Teheran the capital of the country. Golestan Palace is located in the heart and historic core of Tehran. The palace complex is one of the oldest in Tehran, originally built during the Safavid dynasty in the historic walled city.

Ellora Caves

India Maharashtra State, Aurangabad District, Khulatabad Taluk , Verul Village These 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff, not far from Aurangabad, in Maharashtra. Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from AD 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life. The Ellora Caves not only bear witness to three great religions (Buddhism, Brahminism and Jainism) but they also illustrate the spirit of tolerance, characteristic of ancient India, which permitted these three religions to establish their sanctuaries and their communities in a single place, which thus served to reinforce its universal value

Elephanta Caves

India Maharashtra State, District Kolaba (Island of Elephanta) The 'City of Caves', on an island in the Sea of Oman close to Bombay, contains a collection of rock art linked to the cult of Shiva. Here, Indian art has found one of its most perfect expressions, particularly the huge high reliefs in the main cave. The Elephanta Caves are located in Western India on Elephanta Island (otherwise known as the Island of Gharapuri), which features two hillocks separated by a narrow valley. The small island is dotted with numerous ancient archaeological remains that are the sole testimonies to its rich cultural past. These archaeological remains reveal evidence of occupation from as early as the 2nd century BC. The rock-cut Elephanta Caves were constructed about the mid-5th to 6th centuries AD

Red Fort Complex

India New Delhi State, Central District, New Delhi The Red Fort Complex was built as the palace fort of Shahjahanabad - the new capital of the fifth Mughal Emperor of India, Shah Jahan. Named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone, it is adjacent to an older fort, the Salimgarh, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546, with which it forms the Red Fort Complex. The planning of the palace is based on Islamic prototypes, but each pavilion reveals architectural elements typical of Mughal building, reflecting a fusion of Persian, Timurid and Hindu traditions

Western Ghats

India Older than the Himalaya mountains, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes. The Western Ghats are internationally recognized as a region of immense global importance for the conservation of biological diversity, besides containing areas of high geological, cultural and aesthetic values. A chain of mountains running parallel to India's western coast, approximately 30-50 km inland, the Ghats traverse the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. These mountains cover an area of around 140,000 km² in a 1,600 km long stretch that is interrupted only by the 30 km Palghat Gap at around 11°N. The mountains of the Western Ghats and their characteristic montane forest ecosystems influence the Indian monsoon weather patterns that mediate the warm tropical climate of the region, presenting one of the best examples of the tropical monsoon system on the planet.

Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen's Stepwell)

India Patan, Gujarat Rani-ki-Vav is an exceptional example of a distinctive form of subterranean water architecture of the Indian subcontinent, the stepwell, which is located on the banks of the Saraswati River in Patan. Initially built as a memorial in the 11th century CE, the stepwell was constructed as a religious as well as functional structure and designed as an inverted temple highlighting the sanctity of water. Rani-ki-Vav is a single-component, water management system divided into seven levels of stairs and sculptural panels of high artistic and aesthetic quality

Kaziranga National Park

India State of Assam In the heart of Assam, this park is one of the last areas in eastern India undisturbed by a human presence. It is inhabited by the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, as well as many mammals, including tigers, elephants, panthers and bears, and thousands of birds. The site is on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River at the foot of the Mikir Hills. The park lies in the flood plains of the Brahmaputra. The riverine habitat consists primarily of tall, dense grasslands interspersed with open forests, interconnecting streams and numerous small lakes (bheels ). Three-quarters or more of the area is submerged annually by the flood waters of the Brahmaputra. Soils are alluvial deposits of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

India State of Assam Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the State of Assam in North-East India, a biodiversity hotspot. Covering an area of 39,100 hectares, it spans the Manas river and is bounded to the north by the forests of Bhutan. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the core zone of the 283,700 hectares Manas Tiger Reserve, and lies alongside the shifting river channels of the Manas River. The site's scenic beauty includes a range of forested hills, alluvial grasslands and tropical evergreen forests. The site provides critical and viable habitats for rare and endangered species, including tiger, greater one-horned rhino, swamp deer, pygmy hog and Bengal florican. Manas has exceptional importance within the Indian sub-continent's protected areas, as one of the most significant remaining natural areas in the region, where sizeable populations of a large number of threatened species continue to survive

Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya

India State of Bihar, Eastern India The Mahabodhi Temple Complex is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha, and particularly to the attainment of Enlightenment. The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C., and the present temple dates from the 5th or 6th centuries. It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in brick, still standing in India, from the late Gupta period. The Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bodh Gaya lies 115 km south of the state capital of Bihar, Patna and 16 km from the district headquarters at Gaya, in Eastern India. The most important of the sacred places is the giant Bodhi Tree (Ficus religiosa ). This tree is to the west of the main temple and is supposed to be a direct descendant of the original Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha spent his First Week and where he had his enlightenment

Churches and Convents of Goa

India State of Goa The churches and convents of Goa, the former capital of the Portuguese Indies - particularly the Church of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb of St Francis-Xavier - illustrate the evangelization of Asia. These monuments were influential in spreading forms of Manueline, Mannerist and Baroque art in all the countries of Asia where missions were established.The Portuguese explorer Alfonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa in 1510 and the Portuguese ruled the territory until 1961. The colony of Goa, which has its centre in Old Goa, became the capital of the vast eastern Portuguese Empire, sharing the same civic privileges as Lisbon. By 1635, the successive waves of Europeans brought about the inevitable decline of Goa.

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal

India State of Karnataka, Bijapur District, Badami Taluk Situated between the Malaprabha River to the north, and a minuscule village to the south, Pattadakal possesses a sort of holy city comprised of an impressive series of eight Hindu temples dedicated to Siva. Pattadakal, in Karnataka, represents the high point of an eclectic art which, in the 7th and 8th centuries under the Chalukya dynasty, achieved a harmonious blend of architectural forms from northern and southern India. An impressive series of nine Hindu temples, as well as a Jain sanctuary, can be seen there. One masterpiece from the group stands out - the Temple of Virupaksha, built c. 740 by Queen Lokamahadevi to commemorate her husband's victory over the kings from the South.

Khajuraho Group of Monuments

India State of Madhya Pradesh Khajuraho is one of the capitals of the Chandella rulers, a dynasty of Rajput origin which came into power at the beginning of the 10th century, and reached its apogee between 950 and 1050. Of the 85 temples which were constructed at Khajuraho during the Chandella period (and which were still resplendent: when the great traveller Ibn Battuta noted them in 1335), 22 still exist, disseminated within an area of about 6 km2. As, monuments of two distinct religions, Brahminism and Jainism, the temples of Khajuraho are nonetheless distinguished by a common typology: they comprise an elevated substructure, over which rises the body of the richly decorated building, the 'jangha', covered with several registers of sculpted panels on to which open-work galleries are opened. This is crowned by a series of bundled towers with curvilinear contours, the Sikharas.

Sun Temple, Konârak

India State of Orissa, Puri District On the shores of the Bay of Bengal, bathed in the rays of the rising sun, the temple at Konarak is a monumental representation of the sun god Surya's chariot,outstanding testimony to the 13th-century kingdom of Orissa; its 24 wheels are decorated with symbolic designs and it is led by a team of six horses. Built in the 13th century, it is one of India's most famous Brahman sanctuaries. The Sun Temple is the culmination of Kalingan temple architecture, with all its defining elements in complete and perfect form. On the eastern coast of India, south of the Mahanadi Delta, is the Brahmin temple of Kimarak (still spelled as Konârak or Konârka), one of the most famous Brahmin sanctuaries of Asia. Konârak derives its name from Konârka, the presiding deity of the Sun Temple. Konârka is a combination of two words, kona (corner) and arka (Sun). It was one of the earliest centres of Sun worship in India. The present Sun Temple was probably built by King Narashimhadev I (1238-64) of the Ganga dynasty to celebrate his victory over the Muslims.

Keoladeo National Park

India State of Rajasthan, 50 km west of Agra Keoladeo National Park, located in the State of Rajasthan, is an important wintering ground of Palaearctic migratory waterfowl and is renowned for its large congregation of non-migratory resident breeding birds. A green wildlife oasis situated within a populated human-dominated landscape, some 375 bird species and a diverse array of other life forms have been recorded in this mosaic of grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps and wetlands of just 2,873 ha. This 'Bird Paradise' was developed in a natural depression wetland that was managed as a duck shooting reserve at the end of the 19th century. While hunting has ceased and the area declared a national park in 1982, its continued existence is dependent on a regulated water supply from a reservoir outside the park boundary. The park's well-designed system of dykes and sluices provides areas of varying water depths which are used by various avifaunal species. Due to its strategic location in the middle of Central Asian migratory flyway and presence of water, large congregations of ducks, geese, coots, pelicans and waders arrive in the winter.

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks

India State of Uttaranchal Nestled high in West Himalaya, India's Valley of Flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty. This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep. The gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park. Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya, praised by mountaineers and botanists for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer. One of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the Himalayas, Nanda Devi National Park is dominated by the 7,817 m peak of Nanda Devi, India's second highest mountain which is approached through the Rishi Ganga gorge, one of the deepest in the world. The park lies in Chamoli district, within the Garhwal Himalaya. It comprises the catchment area of the Rishi Ganga, an eastern tributary of Dhauli Ganga which flows into the Alaknanda River at Joshimath. The area is a vast glacial basin, divided by a series of parallel, north-south oriented ridges. These rise up to the encircling mountain rim along which are about a dozen peaks, the better known including Dunagiri, Changbang and Nanda Devi East.

Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram

India Tamil Nadu State, Chingleput District This group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is known especially for its rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air reliefs such as the famous 'Descent of the Ganges', and the temple of Rivage, with thousands of sculptures to the glory of Shiva. Founded in the 7th century by the Pallavas sovereigns south of Madras, the harbour of Mahabalipuram traded with the distant kingdoms of South-East Asia: Kambuja (Cambodia) and Shrivijaya (Malaysia, Sumatra, Java) and with the empire of Champa (Annam). But the fame of its role as a harbour has been transferred to its rock sanctuaries and Brahmin temples which were constructed or decorated at Mahabalipuram between 630 and 728.

Great Living Chola Temples

India Tamil Nadu? The Great Living Chola Temples were built by kings of the Chola Empire, which stretched over all of south India and the neighbouring islands. The site includes three great 11th- and 12th-century Temples: the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. The Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram, built by Rajendra I, was completed in 1035. Its 53-m vimana (sanctum tower) has recessed corners and a graceful upward curving movement, contrasting with the straight and severe tower at Thanjavur. The Airavatesvara temple complex, built by Rajaraja II, at Darasuram features a 24-m vimana and a stone image of Shiva. The temples testify to the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting. The great Cholas established a powerful monarchy in the 9th CE at Thanjavur and in its surroundings.

Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area

India The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area is located in the western part of the Himalayan Mountains in the northern Indian State of Himachal Pradesh. The 90,540 ha property includes the upper mountain glacial and snow melt water source origins of the westerly flowing Jiwa Nal, Sainj and Tirthan Rivers and the north-westerly flowing Parvati River which are all headwater tributaries to the River Beas and subsequently, the Indus River. The property includes an elevational range from high alpine peaks of over 6,000m a.s.l to riverine forest at altitudes below 2,000m a.s.l. The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area encompasses the catchments of water supplies which are vital to millions of downstream users. The property lies within the ecologically distinct Western Himalayas at the junction between two of the world's major biogeographic realms, the Palearctic and Indomalayan Realms.

Hill Forts of Rajasthan

India The serial site, situated in the state of Rajastahan, includes six majestic forts in Chittorgarh; Kumbhalgarh; Sawai Madhopur; Jhalawar; Jaipur, and Jaisalmer. The ecclectic architecture of the forts, some up to 20 kilometres in circumference, bears testimony to the power of the Rajput princely states that flourished in the region from the 8th to the 18th centuries. The extensive fortifications up to 20 kilometres in circumference optimized various kinds of hill terrain, specifically the river at Gagron, the dense forests at Ranthambore, and the desert at Jaisalmer, and exhibit an important phase in the development of an architectural typology based on established "traditional Indian principles".

Mountain Railways of India

India This site includes three railways. All three railways are still fully operational. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was the first, and is still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway. Opened in 1881, its design applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty. oothills of the Himalayas in West Bengal (Northeast India) The construction of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a 46-km long metre-gauge single-track railway in Tamil Nadu State was first proposed in 1854, but due to the difficulty of the mountainous location the work only started in 1891 and was completed in 1908. This railway, scaling an elevation of 326 m to 2,203 m, represented the latest technology of the time. the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu (South India) The Kalka Shimla Railway, a 96-km long, single track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla is emblematic of the technical and material efforts to disenclave mountain populations through the railway. in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh (Northwest India)

Taj Mahal

India Uttar Pradesh, Agra District An immense mausoleum of white marble,The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal with construction starting in 1632 AD and completed in 1648 AD, with the mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD.

Fatehpur Sikri

India Uttar Pradesh, Agra District Built during the second half of the 16th century by the Emperor Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri (the City of Victory) was the capital of the Mughal Empire for only some 10 years. The complex of monuments and temples, all in a uniform architectural style, includes one of the largest mosques in India, the Jama Masjid. The 'City of Victory' had only an ephemeral existence as the capital of the Mughal empire. The Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) decided to construct it in 1571, on the same site where the birth of his son, the future Jahangir, was predicted by the wise Shaikh Salim Chisti (1480-1572). The work, supervised by the great Mughal himself, was completed in 1573. In 1585, however, Akbar abandoned Fatehpur Sikri to fight against the Afghan tribes and choose a new capital, Lahore. Fatehpur Sikri was to be the seat of the great Mughal court only once more for three months in 1619, when Jahangir sought refuge there from the plague that devastated Agra.

Agra Fort

India Uttar Pradesh, Agra District The Red Fort and the Taj Mahal bear an exceptional and complementary testimony to a civilization which has disappeared, that of the Mogul Emperors. Agra's history goes back more than 2,500 years, but it was not until the reign of the Mughals that Agra became more than a provincial city. Humayun, son of the founder of the Mogul Empire, was offered jewellery and precious stones by the family of the Raja of Gwalior, one of them the famous Koh-i-Noor. The heyday of Agra came with the reign of Humayun's son, Akbar the Great. During his reign, the main part of the Agra Fort was built. The Red Fort of Agra is a powerful fortress founded in 1565 by the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) on the right bank of the Yamuna; it is placed today on the north-west extremity of the Shah Jahan Gardens which surround the Taj Mahal and clearly form, with them, a monumental unity

Sundarbans National Park

India West Bengal The Sundarbans contain the world's largest mangrove forests and one of the most biologically productive of all natural ecosystems. Located at the mouth of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers between India and Bangladesh, its forest and waterways support a wide range of' fauna including a number of species threatened with extinction. The mangrove habitat supports the single largest population of tigers in the world which have adapted to an almost amphibious life, being capable of swimming for long distances and feeding on fish, crab and water monitor lizards. They are also renowned for being "man-eaters", most probably due to their relatively high frequency of encounters with local people. The islands are also of great economic importance as a storm barrier, shore stabiliser, nutrient and sediment trap, a source of timber and natural resources, and support a wide variety of aquatic, benthic and terrestrial organisms.

Komodo National Park

Indonesia East Nusa Tenggara Province Komodo National Park, located in the center of the Indonesian archipelago, between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores, is composed of three major islands (Rinca, Komodo, and Padar) and numerous smaller ones, all of them of volcanic origin. Located at the juncture of two continental plates, this national park constitutes the "shatter belt" within the Wallacea Biogeographical Region, between the Australian and Sunda ecosystems. These volcanic islands are inhabited by a population of around 5,700 giant lizards, whose appearance and aggressive behaviour have led to them being called 'Komodo dragons'. They exist nowhere else in the world and are of great interest to scientists studying the theory of evolution. The rugged hillsides of dry savannah and pockets of thorny green vegetation contrast starkly with the brilliant white sandy beaches and the blue waters surging over coral.

Prambanan Temple Compounds

Indonesia Province of Central Java Built in the 10th century, this is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. Rising above the centre of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Ramayana, dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) and three temples dedicated to the animals who serve them. Prambanan Temple Compounds consist of Prambanan Temple (also called Loro Jonggrang), Sewu Temple, Bubrah Temple and Lumbung Temple. Prambanan Temple itself is a complex consisting of 240 temples. All the mentioned temples form the Prambanan Archaeological Park and were built during the heyday of Sailendra's powerful dynasty in Java in the 8th century AD. These compounds are located on the border between the two provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java on Java Island.

Sangiran Early Man Site

Indonesia Province of Central Java Sangiran Early Man Site is situated about 15 kilometers in the north of Solo town in Central Java, Indonesia, covering an area of 5,600 hectares. It became famous after the discovery of Homo erectus remains and associated stone artifacts (well-known as Sangiran flake industry) in the 1930s. Excavations here from 1936 to 1941 led to the discovery of the first hominid fossil at this site. Palaeolithic stone tools (Sangiran flakes) found at Ngebung include flakes, choppers and cleavers in chalcedony and jasper and, more recently, bone tools. The site has also produced Neolithic axes. Later, 50 fossils of Meganthropus palaeo and Pithecanthropus erectus/Homo erectus were found - half of all the world's known hominid fossils. Inhabited for the past one and a half million years, Sangiran is one of the key sites for the understanding of human evolution.

Lorentz National Park

Indonesia Province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) Lorentz National Park is located in Indonesia's Papua Province, along the 'Pegunungan Mandala' range, whose Puncak Cartenz (4884 m asl) is the highest peak in Southeast Asia. The property covers an area of 2.35 million hectares, making it the largest conservation area in Southeast Asia and stretches for over 150 km from Irian Jaya's central cordillera mountains in the north to the Arafura Sea in the south. It is the only protected area in the world to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland wetlands. Located at the meeting-point of two colliding continental plates, the area has a complex geology with ongoing mountain formation as well as major sculpting by glaciation. The area also contains fossil sites which provide evidence of the evolution of life on New Guinea, a high level of endemism and the highest level of biodiversity in the region.

Ujung Kulon National Park

Indonesia Provinces of Banten (formerly West Java) and Lampung This national park, located in the extreme south-western tip of Java, in Banten Province, on the Sunda shelf, includes the Ujung Kulon peninsula and several offshore islands and encompasses the natural reserve of Krakatoa. Ujung Kulon National Park lies on the extreme south-western tip of Java within the administrative province of Java Barat (West Java) and the Kebupaten of Pandeglang. Ujung Kulon is a triangular peninsula protruding from the south-west extremity of mainland Java, to which it is joined by a low isthmus some 1-2 km wide. The topography is dominated in the south-west by the three north-south aligned ridges of the Gunung Payung massif, with the peaks of Gunung Payung, Gunung Guhabendang and Gunung Cikuja forming the highest points on the peninsula. To the north-east, the relief attenuates to the low rolling hills and plains of the Telanca Plateau, and ultimately to the low-lying swamps in the region of the isthmus.

Borobudur Temple Compounds

Indonesia Regency of Magelang, Province of Central Java Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Founded by a king of the Saliendra dynasty, it was built to honour the glory of both the Buddha and its founder, a true king Bodhisattva. The name Borobudur is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit words vihara Buddha uhr, meaning the Buddhist monastery on the hill. Borobudur temple is located in Muntilan, Magelang, and is about 42 km from Yogyakarta city. This colossal temple was built between AD 750 and 842: 300 years before Cambodia's Angkor Wat, 400 years before work had begun on the great European cathedrals. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa.

Sheikh Safi al-din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble in Ardabil

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Built between the beginning of the 16th century and the end of the 18th century, this place of spiritual retreat in the Sufi tradition uses Iranian traditional architectural forms to maximize use of available space to accommodate a variety of functions (including a library, a mosque, a school, mausolea, a cistern, a hospital, kitchens, a bakery, and some offices). It incorporates a route to reach the shrine of the Sheikh divided into seven segments, which mirror the seven stages of Sufi mysticism, separated by eight gates, which represent the eight attitudes of Sufism. Sufism (tasawwuf, from sūf 'wool' in Arabic or safā 'purity') is generally considered to be the inner mystical dimension of Islam rather than a distinct sect. It began to develop into a spiritual movement in the 9th and 10th centuries. Sufism is claimed to have been a definitive factor in the spread of Islam and in the creation of an integrated Islamic culture in Africa and Asia. Sufism flourished between the 13th and 16th centuries throughout the Islamic world as a vigorous religious and intellectual culture with specific directions given by the different tariqats or orders founded by Sufi teachers.

Persepolis

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Fars The magnificent ruins of Persepolis lie at the foot of Kuh-i-Rahmat (Mountain of Mercy) in the plain of Marv Dasht about 650 km south of the present capital city of Teheran. Founded by Darius I in 518 BC (although more than a century passed before it was finally completed by Artaxerxes I), Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. An inscription carved on the southern face of the terrace proves that Darius the Great was the founder of Persepolis. It was built on an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, where the King of Kings created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models.

Bam and its Cultural Landscape

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Kerman Province, Bam Distric The property of Bam and its Cultural Landscape is located on the southern edge of the Iranian high plateau, in Kerman Province, in south-eastern Iran, close to the Pakistan border. Bam lies 1,060 metres above sea level in the centre of the valley dominated to the north by the Kafut Mountains and to the south by the Jebal-e Barez Mountains. This valley forms the wider cultural landscape of the Bam County. Beyond the mountains lies the vast Lut Desert of Central Iran. Water from the Jebal-e Barez Mountains supplies the seasonal Posht-e Rud River that skirts Bam City between Arg-e Bam and Qal'eh Doktar. The Chelekhoneh River and its tributaries gather water from the central parts of the Jebal-e Barez Mountain range. It now runs northeast, although it formerly flowed through the Bam City until it was diverted by a dam into a new course that met with the Posht-e Rud northwest of Bam City. Water from the Kafut Mountains also supplies the catchment area.The origins of Bam can be traced back to the Achaemenid period (6th to 4th centuries BC). Its heyday was from the 7th to 11th centuries, being at the crossroads of important trade routes and known for the production of silk and cotton garments. The existence of life in the oasis was based on the underground irrigation canals, the qanāts, of which Bam has preserved some of the earliest evidence in Iran. Arg-e Bam is the most representative example of a fortified medieval town built in vernacular technique using mud layers (Chineh ).

Tchogha Zanbil

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Khuzestan The current name of Tchogha-Zanbil corresponds with the ancient city of Dur Untash, dominating the course of the Ab-e Diz, a tributary of the Karun. The city was founded as a religious capital during the Elamite period by Untash-Napirisha (1275-1240 BC) in a site half-way between Anshân and Suse. Roman Ghirshman carried out the complete exploration of the site from 1951 to 1962. The site contains the best preserved and the largest of all the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. To supply the population of the city with water, Untash-Napirisha made a channel of about 50 km long, leading to a reservoir outside the northern rampart; from there, nine conduits carried the filtered water to a basin arranged inside the rampart.

Masjed-e Jāmé of Isfahan

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Located in the historic centre of Isfahan, the Masjed-e Jāmé ('Friday mosque') can be seen as a stunning illustration of the evolution of mosque architecture over twelve centuries, starting in ad 841. It is the oldest preserved edifice of its type in Iran and a prototype for later mosque designs throughout Central Asia. The complex, covering more than 20,000 m2, is also the first Islamic building that adapted the four-courtyard layout of Sassanid palaces to Islamic religious architecture.

Pasargadae

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Pars Province Founded in the 6th century BC in the heartland of the Persians (today the province of Fars in southwestern Iran), Pasargadae was the earliest capital of the Achaemenid (First Persian) Empire. The city was created by Cyrus the Great with contributions from the different peoples who comprised the first great multicultural empire in Western Asia.It includes, among other monuments, the compact limestone tomb on the Morgab plain that once held Cyrus the Great's gilded sarcophagus; Tall-e Takht ("Solomon's Throne"), a great fortified platform built on a hill and later incorporated into a sprawling citadel with substantial mud-brick defences; and the royal ensemble, which consists of several palaces originally located within a garden layout (the so-called "Four Gardens"). Pasargadae became a prototype for the Persian Garden concept of four quadrants formally divided by waterways or pathways, its architecture characterised by refined details and slender verticality.

Bisotun

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Province of Kermanshah Bisotun is located along the ancient trade route linking the Iranian high plateau with Mesopotamia and features remains from the prehistoric times to the Median, Achaemenid, Sassanian, and Ilkhanid periods. The principal monument of this archaeological site is the bas-relief and cuneiform inscription ordered by Darius I, The Great, when he rose to the throne of the Persian Empire, 521 BC.The inscription is written in three languages. The oldest is an Elamite text referring to legends describing the king and the rebellions. This is followed by a Babylonian version of similar legends. The last phase of the inscription is particularly important, as it is here that Darius introduced for the first time the Old Persian version of his res gestae (things done). This is the only known monumental text of the Achaemenids to document the re-establishment of the Empire by Darius I. It also bears witness to the interchange of influences in the development of monumental art and writing in the region of the Persian Empire. There are also remains from the Median period (8th to 7th centuries B.C.) as well as from the Achaemenid (6th to 4th centuries B.C.) and post-Achaemenid periods.

Shahr-i Sokhta

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Shahr-i Sokhta, meaning 'Burnt City', is located at the junction of Bronze Age trade routes crossing the Iranian plateau. The remains of the mudbrick city represent the emergence of the first complex societies in eastern Iran. Founded around 3200 BC, it was populated during four main periods up to 1800 BC, during which time there developed several distinct areas within the city: those where monuments were built, and separate quarters for housing, burial and manufacture. Diversions in water courses and climate change led to the eventual abandonment of the city in the early second millennium.

Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Shushtar, Historical Hydraulic System, inscribed as a masterpiece of creative genius, can be traced back to Darius the Great in the 5th century B.C. It involved the creation of two main diversion canals on the river Kârun one of which, Gargar canal, is still in use providing water to the city of Shushtar via a series of tunnels that supply water to mills. It forms a spectacular cliff from which water cascades into a downstream basin. It then enters the plain situated south of the city where it has enabled the planting of orchards and farming over an area of 40,000 ha. known as Mianâb (Paradise). The property has an ensemble of remarkable sites including the Salâsel Castel, the operation centre of the entire hydraulic system, the tower where the water level is measured, damns, bridges, basins and mills. It bears witness to the know-how of the Elamites and Mesopotamians as well as more recent Nabatean expertise and Roman building influence.

Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena

Italy City and Province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna Region The magnificent 12th-century cathedral at Modena, the work of two great artists (Lanfranco and Wiligelmus), is a supreme example of early Romanesque art. Modena is located in the Po plain at the crossroads of the ancient Via Aemilia linking Piacenza with Rimini and the road leading to the Brenner Pass. The construction of the cathedral, dedicated to San Geminiano, and of the bell tower was decided when the Bishop's See was vacant.

Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Tabriz has been a place of cultural exchange since antiquity and its historic bazaar complex is one of the most important commercial centres on the Silk Road. Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex consists of a series of interconnected, covered, brick structures, buildings, and enclosed spaces for different functions. Tabriz and its Bazaar were already prosperous and famous in the 13th century, when the town, in the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, became the capital city of the Safavid kingdom. Between 1316 and 1331 Tabriz experienced the high point of its economic and social life. Travellers such as Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta described it as one of the richest trading centres in the world.

Gonbad-e Qābus

Iran (Islamic Republic of) The 53 m high tomb built in ad 1006 for Qābus Ibn Voshmgir, Ziyarid ruler and literati, near the ruins of the ancient city of Jorjan in north-east Iran, bears testimony to the cultural exchange between Central Asian nomads and the ancient civilization of Iran. The tower is the only remaining evidence of Jorjan, a former centre of arts and science that was destroyed during the Mongols' invasion in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran

Iran (Islamic Republic of) The Armenian monasteries of Iran-have terminal continuous testimony, since the origins of Christianity and since the 7th century Certainly, to Armenian Culture in ict relationships and contacts with the Persian and later the Iranian civilizations. They bear testimony to a very large and refined panorama of architectural and decorative happy-associated with Armenian culture, in interaction with --other regional cultures: Byzantine, Orthodox, Assyrian, Persian and Muslim. The monasteries-have survived Some 2,000 years of destruction, both, of human origin and as a result of natural disasters. They Are Today the only significant vestiges of Armenian Culture in this area. St. Thaddeus, the presumed rental of the tomb of the apostle of Jesus Christ, St. Thaddeus, HAS always beens instead of a high spiritual value for Christians and --other habitants in the area. It is still today a living site of pilgrimage for the Armenian Church.

The Persian Garden

Iran (Islamic Republic of) The property includes nine gardens in as many provinces. They exemplify the diversity of Persian garden designs that evolved and adapted to different climate conditions while retaining principles that have their roots in the times of Cyrus the Great, 6th century BC. Always divided into four sectors, with water playing an important role for both irrigation and ornamentation, the Persian garden was conceived to symbolize Eden and the four Zoroastrian elements of sky, earth, water and plants.

Takht-e Soleyman

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Western Azerbaijan Province The archaeological site of Takht-e Soleyman, in north-western Iran, is situated in a valley set in a volcanic mountain region. The site includes the principal Zoroastrian sanctuary partly rebuilt in the Ilkhanid (Mongol) period (13th century) as well as a temple of the Sasanian period (6th and 7th centuries) dedicated to Anahita. The site has important symbolic significance. The designs of the fire temple, the palace and the general layout have strongly influenced the development of Islamic architecture. Takht-e Soleyman is situated in Azerbaijan province, within a mountainous region, some 750 km from Teheran. It is formed from plain, surrounded by a mountain range and it contains a volcano and an artesian lake as essential elements of the site.

Soltaniyeh

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Zanjan province he mausoleum of Oljaytu was constructed in 1302-12 in the city of Soltaniyeh, the capital of the Ilkhanid dynasty, which was founded by the Mongols. Situated in the province of Zanjan, Soltaniyeh is one of the outstanding examples of the achievements of Persian architecture and a key monument in the development of its Islamic architecture. Soltaniyeh is located some 240 km from Tehran in north-western Iran. In the 13th century, Persia was devastated by the Mongol invasions. They captured Baghdad in 1258, terminating the Abbasid caliphate there. They also founded the Ilkhanid Empire in Persia with the capital in Tabriz, in the northwestern part of present-day Iran. The title "ilkhan" indicated: 'subordinate or peaceful khan' in deference to the Great Khan in China. After Kublai Khan died in 1294, and the Ilkhanids converted to Islam, the links with China became weaker. The Ilkhanid dynasty governed Persia until 1335.

Erbil Citadel

Iraq Erbil Citadel is a fortified settlement on top of an imposing ovoid-shaped tell (a hill created by many generations of people living and rebuilding on the same spot) in the Kurdistan region, Erbil Governorate. A continuous wall of tall 19th-century façades still conveys the visual impression of an impregnable fortress, dominating the city of Erbil. The citadel features a peculiar fan-like pattern dating back to Erbil's late Ottoman phase. Written and iconographic historical records document the antiquity of settlement on the site - Erbil corresponds to ancient Arbela, an important Assyrian political and religious centre - while archaeological finds and investigations suggest that the mound conceals the levels and remains of previous settlements.

Hatra

Iraq Governorate of Ninawa A large fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab Kingdom, Hatra withstood invasions by the Romans in A.D. 116 and 198 thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by towers. The remains of the city, especially the temples where Hellenistic and Roman architecture blend with Eastern decorative features, attest to the greatness of its civilization. With this historical background, the site of Hatra, a large fortified city, the remains of which are to be seen in the middle of the desert 110km south-west of Mosul, can be taken as a symbol of the struggles which opposed Parthians and Romans for the spoils of the old empire of Alexander.

Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat)

Iraq Governorate of Salah ad Din The ancient city of Ashur is located on the Tigris River in northern Mesopotamia in a specific geo-ecological zone, at the borderline between rain-fed and irrigation agriculture. The city dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. From the 14th to the 9th centuries BC it was the first capital of the Assyrian Empire, a city-state and trading platform of international importance. It also served as the religious capital of the Assyrians, associated with the god Ashur. The city was destroyed by the Babylonians, but revived during the Parthian period in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The ancient city of Ashur (Assur, modern Qal'at Sherqat) is located 390km north of Baghdad.

Samarra Archaeological City

Iraq Samarra Township, Salah al-Din Governorate Samarra Archaeological City is the site of a powerful Islamic capital city that ruled over the provinces of the Abbasid Empire extending from Tunisia to Central Asia for a century. Located on both sides of the River Tigris 130 km north of Baghdad, the length of the site from north to south is 41.5 km; its width varying from 8 km to 4 km. The ancient capital of Samarra dating from 836-892 provides outstanding evidence of the Abbasid Caliphate which was the major Islamic empire of the period, extending from Tunisia to Central Asia. It is the only surviving Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and arts, such as mosaics and carvings. Samarra has the best preserved plan of an ancient large city, being abandoned relatively early and so avoiding the constant rebuilding of longer lasting cities. Samarra was the second capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after Baghdad. Following the loss of the monuments of Baghdad, Samarra represents the only physical trace of the Caliphate at its height.

Sceilg Mhichíl

Ireland County Kerry This monastic complex, perched since about the 7th century on the island of Skellig Michael lies 11.6 km off Bolus Head, the westernmost tip of the lveragh Peninsula of County Kerry. Faulting of Devonian sandstone and gravels has created a U-shaped depression, known today as 'Christ's Valley' or 'Christ's Saddle', 130 m above sea level in the centre of the island, and this is flanked by two peaks, that to the north-east rising to 185 m and that to the west-south-west 218 m.

Brú na Bóinne - Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne

Ireland County Meath The three main prehistoric sites of the Brú na Bóinne Complex, Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, are situated on the north bank of the River Boyne 50 km north of Dublin. This is Europe's largest and most important concentration of prehistoric megalithic art.

Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Judean Lowlands as a Microcosm of the Land of the Caves

Israel The archaeological site contains some 3,500 underground chambers distributed among distinct complexes carved in the thick and homogenous soft chalk of Lower Judea under the former towns of Maresha and Bet Guvrin. Situated on the crossroads of trade routes to Mesopotamia and Egypt, the site bears witness to the region's tapestry of cultures and their evolution over more than 2,000 years from the 8th century BCE—when Maresha, the older of the two towns was built—to the time of the Crusaders. These quarried caves served as cisterns, oil presses, baths, columbaria (dovecotes), stables, places of religious worship, hideaways and, on the outskirts of the towns, burial areas. Some of the larger chambers feature vaulted arches and supporting pillars.

Bahá'i Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee

Israel Haifa and Northern Districts The Bahá'i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee are inscribed for their profound spiritual meaning and the testimony they bear to the strong tradition of pilgrimage in the Bahá'i faith. The property includes the two most holy places in the Bahá'í religion associated with the founders, the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acre and the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, together with their surrounding gardens, associated buildings and monuments. As summarised above, the Bahá'í faith originated in 1844 with the declaration of its Prophet-Herald, the Báb, in the city of Shíráz, Iran. The rapid spread of the new creed was met by savage persecution, and the execution of the Báb in 1850. The focal point of the Baha'i faith moved to Western Galilee in 1868 when, after 15 years of wandering in Iraq, Turkey and Egypt, the Prophet- Founder, Bahá'u'lláh, who had been expelled from Iran in 1853, was banished to Acre, then a remote part of the Turkish Empire, by the Ottoman Sultan, Abdu'l Aźiz. Bahá'u'lláh spent the remaining 24 years of his life in Acre compiling the scriptures that are the foundation of the Baha'i faith and establishing a spiritual and administrative centre for the religion.

Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev

Israel Negev Region The four Nabatean towns of Haluza, Mamshit, Avdat and Shivta, along with associated fortresses and agricultural landscapes in the Negev Desert, are spread along routes linking them to the Mediterranean end of the incense and spice route. They stretch across a hundred-kilometre section of the desert, from Moa on the Jordanian border in the east to Haluza in the northwest. Together they reflect the hugely profitable trade in Frankincense from south Arabia to the Mediterranean, which flourished from the third century BCE until the second century CE, and the way the harsh desert was colonised for agriculture through the use of highly sophisticated irrigation systems.

White City of Tel-Aviv -- the Modern Movement

Israel The city of Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 to the immediate north of the walled port city of Jaffa, on the hills along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. During the era of British rule in Palestine (1917-1948) it developed into a thriving urban centre, becoming Israel's foremost economic and metropolitan nucleus The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until the 1950s, based on the urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes, reflecting modern organic planning principles. The buildings were designed by architects who were trained in Europe where they practised their profession before immigrating. They created an outstanding architectural ensemble of the Modern Movement in a new cultural context.

Sites of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel: The Nahal Me'arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves

Israel The four Mount Carmel caves (Tabun, Jamal, el-Wad and Skhul) and their terraces are clustered adjacent to each other along the south side of the Nahal Me'arot/Wadi el-Mughara valley. The steep-sided valley opening to the coastal plain on the west side of the Carmel range provides the visual setting of a prehistoric habitat. Located in one of the best preserved fossilised reefs of the Mediterranean region, the site contains cultural deposits representing half a million years of human evolution from the Lower Palaeolithic to the present. It is recognised as providing a definitive chronological framework at a key period of human development.

Historic Centre of Naples

Italy City and Province of Naples, Campania Naples (Neapolis = New City) was founded in 470 BC, close to a Cumaean trading port of the 7th century BC, Partenope (later to become Palepolis or Old City when it merged with Naples), after the battle in which the combined forces of Cumae and Syracuse defeated the Etruscan fleet and ended its ambitions to dominate the Tyrrhenian Sea. From the Neapolis founded by Greek settlers in 470 B.C. to the city of today, Naples has retained the imprint of the successive cultures that emerged in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. This makes it a unique site, with a wealth of outstanding monuments such as the Church of Santa Chiara and the Castel Nuovo.

Biblical Tels - Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba

Israel The three tels extend across the State of Israel; Tel Hazor in the north, near the Sea of Galilee; Tel Megiddo 50 kilometres to the south west; and Tel Beer Sheba near the Negev Desert in the south. Tels (prehistoric settlement mounds), are characteristic of the flatter lands of the eastern Mediterranean, particularly Lebanon, Syria, Israel and eastern Turkey. Of more than 200 tels in Israel, Megiddo, Hazor and Beer Sheba are representative of those that contain substantial remains of cities with biblical connections. The three tels also present some of the best examples in the Levant of elaborate Iron Age, underground water-collecting systems, created to serve dense urban communities. Their traces of construction over the millennia reflect the existence of centralized authority, prosperous agricultural activity and the control of important trade routes.

Old City of Acre

Israel Western Galilee Acre is a historic walled port-city with continuous settlement from the Phoenician period. The present city is characteristic of a fortified town dating from the Ottoman 18th and 19th centuries, with typical urban components such as the citadel, mosques, khans and baths. The remains of the Crusader town, dating from 1104 to 1291, lie almost intact, both above and below today's street level, providing an exceptional picture of the layout and structures of the capital of the medieval Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. Ancient Acre was situated on Tel Akko, about 2.5 km east of the location of the old city. Around 1900 BC the town was fortified by a high earthen rampart with a brick gateway facing the direction of the sea. It was successively under Assyrian rule in the 9th century BC and a Phoenician town under Persian rule between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. Following the death of Alexander the Great the area around Acre was first ruled by the Hellenistic Ptolemid dynasty of Egypt and then the Seleucids of Syria. The present city, founded on the peninsula in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC, was named Antiocha Ptolemais after its founder, Ptolemy II of Egypt.

Monte San Giorgio

Italy Switzerland Monte San Giorgio is a pyramid-shaped, wooded mountain, which lies south of Lake Lugano in Ticino Canton. The site contains internationally important fossil remains from the Middle Triassic period. San Giorgio lies within an area identified as a Landscape Protection Zone under Swiss law. The Mid Triassic rock succession rests on older, Permian volcanic rocks exposed on the north face of Monte San Giorgio. The Mid Triassic sequence consists of approximately 1,000 m of reef limestones, dolomites and bituminous shales which formed in marine conditions on the margins of the Triassic 'Tethys' Ocean.

Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes

Italy Switzerland Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes, brings together two historic railway lines that cross the Swiss Alps through two passes. Opened in 1904, the Albula line in the north western part of the property is 67 km long. It features an impressive set of structures including 42 tunnels and covered galleries and 144 viaducts and bridges. The 61 km Bernina pass line features 13 tunnels and galleries and 52 viaducts and bridges. The Albula/Bernina road did not really exist until the 16th century, in connection with the French post, to maintain a safe route between Paris and Venice. The construction of roads across the Alps, in the modern sense of carriageway with even slopes and crossings made safe by engineering works, appeared at the start of the 19th century, subsequent to the Italian campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, including in particular the Saint- Bernard pass in Switzerland (completed in 1820). The Bernina pass road was completed in 1842 and the Albula pass road in 1866. A veritable staging post was built in 1871 (Ospizia Bernina). The first hotel was built at Saint-Moritz in 1857 and in the same year another at Lake Poschiavo, directly linked to the road.

Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites

Italy Assisi, a medieval city built on a hill, is the birthplace of Saint Francis, closely associated with the work of the Franciscan Order. The city of Assisi is built on the slopes of the hill of Asio, at the foot of Subasio Mountain. The form of the urban settlement is elongated and extends from the south-east towards the north-west. The Roman plan of the city is based on the set of terraces.

Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta

Italy City and Province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna Region Ferrara, which grew up around a ford over the River Po, became an intellectual and artistic centre that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Here, Piero della Francesca, Jacopo Bellini and Andrea Mantegna decorated the palaces of the House of Este. The humanist concept of the 'ideal city' came to life here in the neighbourhoods built from 1492 onwards by Biagio Rossetti according to the new principles of perspective. The completion of this project marked the birth of modern town planning and influenced its subsequent development.

The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera

Italy City and Province of Matera, Region of Basilicata This is the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem. The first inhabited zone dates from the Palaeolithic, while later settlements illustrate a number of significant stages in human history. Matera is in the southern region of Basilicata.

Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua

Italy City and Province of Padova, Veneto Region, The world's first university botanical garden was created in Padua in 1545, which makes the Botanical Garden of Padua the oldest surviving example of this type of cultural property. Many distinguished scholars in the disciplines of botany and medicine have worked at the University of Padua since its foundation in 1222. The library contains more than 50,000 volumes and manuscripts of immense historical and bibliographic importance. The herbarium is the second most extensive in Italy.

Piazza del Duomo, Pisa

Italy City and Province of Pisa, Tuscany Standing in a large green expanse, Piazza del Duomo houses a group of monuments known the world over. These four masterpieces of medieval architecture - the cathedral, the baptistry, the campanile (the 'Leaning Tower') and the cemetery - had a great influence on monumental art in Italy from the 11th to the 14th century.

Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna

Italy City and Province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna Region Ravenna was the seat of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and then of Byzantine Italy until the 8th century. It has a unique collection of early Christian mosaics and monuments. All eight buildings - the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neonian Baptistery, the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Church of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe - were constructed in the 5th and 6th centuries. They show great artistic skill, including a wonderful blend of Graeco-Roman tradition, Christian iconography and oriental and Western styles.

Historic Centre of Siena

Italy City and Province of Siena, Tuscany The situation Oof Siena, between the Arsia and Elsa valleys, away from the main communication routes, does not favour the growth of a town. Nevertheless, a modest settlement, Etruscan in origin, entered history under the name of Colonia Julia Saena in 29 BC. The historic centre of Siena is delimited by a 7km enceinte of ramparts (14th-16th centuries), the route of which follows the contours of the three hills on which the city is built. These walls, with their bastions and towers, are pierced by gates that are double at the strategic points, such as the Porta Camollia on the street of Florence. To the west they embrace the Fort of Santa Barbara, rebuilt by the Medici in 1560 and reconstructed in 1580.

Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica

Italy City and Province of Syracuse, Sicily The site consists of two separate elements, containing outstanding vestiges dating back to Greek and Roman times: The Necropolis of Pantalica contains over 5,000 tombs cut into the rock near open stone quarries, most of them dating from the 13th to 7th centuries BC. Vestiges of the Byzantine era also remain in the area, notably the foundations of the Anaktoron (Prince's Palace). The other part of the property, Ancient Syracuse, includes the nucleus of the city's foundation as Ortygia by Greeks from Corinth in the 8th century BC. The site of the city, which Cicero described as 'the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all', retains vestiges such as the Temple of Athena (5th century BC, later transformed to serve as a cathedral), a Greek theatre, a Roman amphitheatre, a fort and more.

City of Verona

Italy City and Province of Verona, Veneto Region The city is situated in northern Italy at the foot of Monte Lessini on the River Adige. It was founded by ancient tribes and became a Roman colony in the 1st century BC, rising rapidly in importance. It was occupied by the Ostrogoth Theodoric I (5th century), by the Lombards, and by Charlemagne (774). In the early 12th century, it became an independent commune, suffering during the wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines. It prospered under the rule of the Scaliger family and particularly under Cangrande I. It fell to Venice in 1405, was part of the Austrian Empire from 1797, and joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.

Castel del Monte

Italy Communes of Andria and Corato, Province of Bari, Puglia Region In its formal perfection and its harmonious blending of cultural elements from northern Europe, the Muslim world, and classical antiquity, Castel del Monte is a unique masterpiece of medieval military architecture, reflecting the humanism of its founder, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Frederick succeeded his father, Emperor Henry VI, in 1197 at the age of three. During his reign, which lasted until 1250, he brought order to his unruly kingdom of Sicily, which included much of southern Italy and introduced a period of intense cultural activity known as the 'Southern Renaissance'. The castle is sited 29 km south of Barletta in the Commune of Andria on a rocky peak that dominates the surrounding countryside

Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli

Italy Liguria Region, Genoa Province The Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli in Genoa's historic centre date from the late 16th and early 17th centuries when the Republic of Genoa was at the height of its financial and seafaring power. The site represents the first example in Europe of an urban development project parcelled out by a public authority within a unitary framework and associated to a particular system of 'public lodging' in private residences, as decreed by the Senate in 1576. The site includes an ensemble of Renaissance and Baroque palaces along the so-called 'new streets' (Strade Nuove).

Mantua and Sabbioneta

Italy Mantua and Sabbioneta, in the Po valley, in the north of Italy, represent two aspects of Renaissance town planning: Mantua shows the renewal and extension of an existing city, while 30 km away, Sabbioneta represents the implementation of the period's theories about planning the ideal city. Mantua originated as an Etruscan settlement and developed in Roman times to a small fortified town. It was situated on the highest point of what was then an island in a marshy area along the river Mincio. Some traces of the walls and main streets can still be found in today's urban fabric. In 804 AD Mantua was made a bishopric. Thanks to a relic of Christ's blood the city had become an important religious centre. In the 10th century, new walls and a moat were built and, in 1115, Mantua became a free commune. Sabbioneta was the capital of one of the smallest states in Italy, created when Mantua was divided into several parts in 1478. These parts were still ruled by different branches of the Gonzaga family. It has been known since Roman times as a locality along the Vitelliana road but, even though it has a long history, it can be considered a new foundation. Sabbioneta is the creation of one man, the ruler of the little state Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna (1531-1591).

Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands)

Italy Mediterranean Sea - Southern Tyrrhenian Sea The Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands) are located off the northern coast of Sicily. The group consists of seven islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea) and five small islets (Basiluzzo, Dattilo, Lisca Nera, Bottaro and Lisca Bianca) in the vicinity of Panarea. The total area of the Aeolian Islands is 1,216 km2. The islands range in size from Panarea which is 34 km2 to Lipari which is 376 km2. The Aeolian are all of volcanic origin, separated from the Sicilian coast by waters of 200m deep. It seems that they have never been in contact with the Sicilian Island. The islands have provided two of the types of eruptions (Vulcanian and Strombolian) to vulcanology and geology.

Mount Etna

Italy Mount Etna is an iconic site encompassing 19,237 uninhabited hectares on the highest part of Mount Etna, on the eastern coast of Sicily. Mount Etna is the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano in the world. Mount Etna is one of the world's most active and iconic volcanoes, and an outstanding example of ongoing geological processes and volcanic landforms. The stratovolcano is characterized by almost continuous eruptive activity from its summit craters and fairly frequent lava flow eruptions from craters and fissures on its flanks

Villa Romana del Casale

Italy Piazza Armerina, Province of Enna, Sicily Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina is the supreme example of a luxury Roman villa, graphically illustrating the predominant social and economic structure of its age. Its decorative mosaics are exceptional for their artistic quality and invention as well as their extent. An earlier rural settlement generally thought to have been a farm, although on slender evidence, existed on the site where the late Roman villa was built. Two portraits were discovered dating from the Flavian period (late 1st century AD) that may represent members of the owner's family.

Archaeological Area of Agrigento

Italy Province of Agrigento, Sicily According to tradition, the Greek town of Akragas was founded by colonists from Rhodes and Crete coming from the founder colony in Sicily, Gela, around 580 BC. However, excavations have indicated that there was an earlier classic Greek settlement here in the 7th century BC on the flanks of a hill on the coast, which allowed the city to expand and to prosper within a very short time after colonization. During the reign of the tyrant Phalaris (570-555 BC) defensive walls were built to reinforce the natural protection of the difficult topography. The political expansionism of Akragas begun under Phalaris reached its height during the rule of the tyrant Thero (488-473 BC). After defeating the in 480 BC he extended his rule to the northern and eastern coasts of Sicily. The wealth this brought to the city and the resulting cultural are illustrated by the great temples built at this time on the southern extremity of the hill.

The Trulli of Alberobello

Italy Province of Bari, Puglia Region The trulli , limestone dwellings found in the southern region of Puglia, are remarkable examples of drywall (mortarless) construction, a prehistoric building technique still in use in this region. The trulli are made of roughly worked limestone boulders collected from neighbouring fields. Characteristically, they feature pyramidal, domed or conical roofs built up of corbelled limestone slabs. Alberobello, the city of drystone dwellings known as trulli , is an exceptional example of vernacular architecture

Crespi d'Adda

Italy Province of Bergamo, Lombardy In 1875 Cristoforo Benigno Crespi, a textile manufacturer from Busto Arsizio (Varese), bought the 1 km2 valley between the rivers Bembo and Adda, to the south of Capriate, with the intention of installing a cotton mill on the banks of the Adda. He built three-storey multi-family houses for his workers around the mill in the early months of 1878, following a European model. The first company towns were built in Europe in Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, to house the large workforces assembled by the new generation of entrepreneurs to work in their factories, which were established close to sources of raw materials, power, etc. It was not until the creation of the national market following political unification that they were set up in Italy. Crespi, in Capriate San Gervasio (Bergamo), is the most characteristic and complete of these.

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica

Italy Province of Brescia, Lombardy Valcamonica, situated in the Lombardy plain, has one of the world's greatest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs - more than 140,000 symbols and figures carved in the rock over a period of 8,000 years and depicting themes connected with agriculture, navigation, war and magic.

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)

Italy Province of La Spezia, Liguria Region The area covers some 15 km along the extreme eastern end of the Ligurian coast, between Levanto and La Spezia. It is a very jagged, steep coastline, which the work of man over the millennia has transformed into an intensively terraced landscape so as to be able to wrest from nature a few hectares of land suitable for agriculture, such as growing vines and olive trees. The five villages of Cinque Terre date back to the later Middle Ages. Vernazza was founded in 1000 by people living on the Reggio hills. It became part of the Republic of Genoa in 1276. The houses are built along the Vernazza stream and up the slopes of the rocky spur that hides the village from those approaching it by sea. Portovenere is an important cultural centre. Among the remains there are those of a large Roman villa on the coast at Varignano and a Benedictine monasterywith a fine proto-Romanesque church dedicated to St Peter, on the Arpaia rocky promontory.

Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci

Italy Province of Milano, Lombardy The refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie forms an integral part of this architectural complex, begun in Milan in 1463 and reworked at the end of the 15th century by Bramante. On the north wall is The Last Supper, the unrivalled masterpiece painted between 1495 and 1497 by Leonardo da Vinci, whose work was to herald a new era in the history of art.

Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata

Italy Province of Naples, Campania The impressive remains of the towns of Pompei and Herculaneum and their associated villas, buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, provide a complete and vivid picture of society and daily life at a specific moment in the past that is without parallel anywhere in the world. Pompei was an Opician foundation of the 6th century BC, and Dionysus of Halicarnassus maintained that Herculaneum (Ercolano) was founded by Hercules

Historic Centre of Urbino

Italy Province of Pesaro, Marche Region The birthplace of Raphael is a small 14th-century building with a charming interior courtyard. What was probably the artist's first important work, a Madonna and Child, is in the first-floor room where he was born in 1483. The small hill town of Urbino, in the Marche, experienced a great cultural flowering in the 15th century, attracting artists and scholars from all over Italy and beyond, and influencing cultural developments elsewhere in Europe. Owing to its economic and cultural stagnation from the 16th century onwards, it has preserved its Renaissance appearance to a remarkable extent.

Villa d'Este, Tivoli

Italy Province of Rome, Region of Latium On 9 September 1550, Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este (1509-72) arrived in Tivoli, having obtained the post of governor of the town. The official residence assigned to him in Tivoli, part of the monastery of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, did not suit him. He therefore decided to build a splendid villa with gardens, the design of which is traditionally attributed to Pirro Ligorio (1500-83).

Villa Adriana (Tivoli)

Italy Province of Rome, Region of Latium The Villa Adriana (at Tivoli, near Rome) is an exceptional complex of classical buildings created in the 2nd century A.D. by the Roman emperor Hadrian. It combines the best elements of the architectural heritage of Egypt, Greece and Rome in the form of an 'ideal city'. The villa covers more than 120 ha on the slopes of the Tiburtine Hills. It was originally occupied by a late Republican villa, the property of Hadrian's wife, Vibia Sabina.

Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula

Italy Province of Salerno, Campania Cilento National Park is essentially a mountainous region cut by several river valleys sloping down to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The earliest human occupation identified in this region dates back over 250,000 years. The Cilento is an outstanding cultural landscape. The dramatic groups of sanctuaries and settlements along its three east-west mountain ridges vividly portray the area's historical evolution: it was a major route not only for trade, but also for cultural and political interaction during the prehistoric and medieval periods. The Cilento was also the boundary between the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia and the indigenous Etruscan and Lucanian peoples. The remains of two major cities from classical times, Paestum and Velia, are found there.

Costiera Amalfitana

Italy Province of Salerno, Campania Costiera Amalfitana is an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape, with exceptional cultural and natural scenic values resulting from its dramatic topography and historical evolution. The area covers 11,231 ha in 15 [16?]communes in the Province of Salerno. Its natural boundary is the southern slope of the peninsula formed by the Lattari hills which, stretching from the Picentini hills to the Tyrrhenian Sea, separate the Gulf of Naples from the Gulf of Salerno. It consists of four main stretches of coast (Amalfi, Atrani, Reginna Maior, Reginna Minor) with some minor ones (Positano, Praiano, Certaria, Hercle), with the mountain villages of Scala, Tramonti and Ravello and hamlets of Conca and Furore behind and above them.

Historic Centre of San Gimignano

Italy Province of Siena, Tuscany 'San Gimignano delle belle Torri' is in Tuscany, 56 km south of Florence. It served as an important relay point for pilgrims travelling to or from Rome on the Via Francigena. The patrician families who controlled the town built around 72 tower-houses (some as high as 50 m) as symbols of their wealth and power. Although only 14 have survived, San Gimignano has retained its feudal atmosphere and appearance. The town also has several masterpieces of 14th- and 15th-century Italian art.

Historic Centre of the City of Pienza

Italy Province of Siena, Tuscany The historic centre of Pienza represents the first application of the Renaissance humanist concept of urban design, and as such occupies a seminal position in the development of the concept of the planned 'ideal town' that was to play a significant role in subsequent urban development in ltaly and beyond. The leading humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405-64), who was elected to the papal Throne of St peter in 1458 as Pius II, was born in the village of Corsignano, Situated on a hill overlooking the Orcia and Asso valleys some 53 km south-east of Siena. When he returned there in February 1459, a few months after becoming Pope, he was struck by the extreme misery of its inhabitants, which he described in his Commentarii. This inspired him to endow his birthplace with new buildings, both public and private, and to make it his summer court

Val d'Orcia

Italy Province of Siena, Tuscany The landscape of Val d'Orcia is part of the agricultural hinterland of Siena, redrawn and developed when it was integrated in the territory of the city-state in the 14th and 15th centuries to reflect an idealized model of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture. The landscape's distinctive aesthetics, flat chalk plains out of which rise almost conical hills with fortified settlements on top, inspired many artists. Their images have come to exemplify the beauty of well-managed Renaissance agricultural landscapes. The inscription covers: an agrarian and pastoral landscape reflecting innovative land-management systems; towns and villages; farmhouses; and the Roman Via Francigena and its associated abbeys, inns, shrines, bridges, etc.

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy

Italy Province of Torino, Piedmont Region When Emmanuel-Philibert, Duke of Savoy, moved his capital to Turin in 1562, he began a vast series of building projects (continued by his successors) to demonstrate the power of the ruling house. This outstanding complex of buildings, designed and embellished by the leading architects and artists of the time, radiates out into the surrounding countryside from the Royal Palace in the 'Command Area' of Turin to include many country residences and hunting lodges.

Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia

Italy Province of Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region Aquileia was founded by the Romans as a Latin colony in 181 BC in the north-eastern corner of the plain of the Po at the northern end of the Adriatic. It communicated with the sea by means of the Natissa (Natiso) river. Originally conceived as an outpost against Gallic and Istrian barbarians, it quickly became a major trading centre, linking central Europe with the Mediterranean. Among the goods that it traded through its great river port were wine, oil, furs, iron, and slaves. It was also the southern terminus of the amber route, dating from prehistory, and this prized product from the Baltic was worked by Aquileian craftsmen for sale throughout the Empire. High-quality glassware became an important manufacture following the establishment of a workshop there in the 1st century AD by the celebrated Phoenician craftsman Ennion. By 90 BC it had been elevated to the status of municipium and its citizens were accorded full rights of Roman citizenship.

Venice and its Lagoon

Italy Province of Venezia, Veneto Region Founded in the 5th century and spread over 118 small islands, Venice became a major maritime power in the 10th century. The whole city is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece in which even the smallest building contains works by some of the world's greatest artists such as Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and other. In this lagoon covering 50,000 km², nature and history have been closely linked since the 5th century when Venetian populations, to escape barbarian raids, found refuge on the sandy islands of Torcello, Jesolo and Malamocco. These temporary settlements gradually became permanent and the initial refuge of the land-dwelling peasants and fishermen became a maritime power. Over the centuries, during the entire period of the expansion of Venice, when it was obliged to defend its trading markets against the commercial undertakings of the Arabs, the Genoese and the Ottoman Turks, Venice never ceased to consolidate its position in the lagoon. From Torcello to the north to Chioggia to the south, almost every small island had its own settlement, town, fishing village and artisan village (Murano). However, at the heart of the lagoon, Venice itself stood as one of the greatest capitals in the medieval world.

18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex

Italy Provinces of Caserta and Benevento, Campania In 1734 Charles III, son of Philip V, became King of Naples, a self-governing kingdom that was no longer part of the Spanish realm. He decided in 1750 to build a new royal palace, to rival the Palace of Versailles. It was designed to be the centre of a new town that would compete with leading European cities. He employed architect Luigi Vanvitelli, then engaged in the restoration o St Peter's in Rome. The Bosco di San Silvestro, on the two hills of Montemaiuolo and Montebriano, was covered with vineyards and orchards when in 1773 Ferdinand IV decided to enclose it and create a hunting park. The hill of San Leucio takes its name from the Lombard church at its top. A hunting lodge, the Belvedere, had been built at its foot in the 16th century by the Princes of Caserta.

Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily)

Italy Provinces of Catania, Ragusa, and Syracuse, Sicily The eight towns in south-eastern Sicily: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli, were all rebuilt after 1693 on or beside towns existing at the time of the earthquake which took place in that year. Some of the nominated towns (Caltagirone, Mitello) were of pre-medieval origin, and all were in existence in medieval times, characteristically around a castle and with monastic foundations. Most seem to have been changing during the 16th and 17th centuries and then been affected differentially by the 1693 earthquake, which resulted in some 93,000 casualties. Catania, for example, was destroyed, as was Noto on top of Mount Alveria, whereas Mitello was partially destroyed and Ragusa seriously damaged. Reactions to the earthquake also differed, ranging from Catania's complete rebuild on the same site, through Mitello's partial abandonment and Ragusa's combination of new and old, to Noto's complete rebuild on a new site. All the towns saw considerable building activity through the 18th century, notably of churches, large public buildings, and palazzi.

City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto

Italy Provinces of Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona and Vicenza, Veneto Region Vicenza is situated in the Veneto region of northern Italy on the low hills between the mountains of Berici and Lessini, on a natural communication route. The city of Vicenza was founded in the 2nd or 1st century BC by the Veneti and was granted Roman citizenship with the status of municipium in 49 BC. The ancient town plan is still recognizable in that of the modern town, Corso Palladio being the decumanus maximus and Contra Porti the cardo maximus . Among the public buildings erected from the time of Augustus that survive are the remains of the theatre, now incorporated in a more recent structure, and sections of the aqueduct to the north of the city.

Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia

Italy Provinces of Rome and Viterbo, Region of Latium These two large Etruscan cemeteries reflect different types of burial practices from the 9th to the 1st century BC, and bear witness to the achievements of Etruscan culture. Which over nine centuries developed the earliest urban civilization in the northern Mediterranean. Some of the tombs are monumental, cut in rock and topped by impressive tumuli (burial mounds). Many feature carvings on their walls, others have wall paintings of outstanding quality. The necropolis near Cerveteri, known as Banditaccia, contains thousands of tombs organized in a city-like plan, with streets, small squares and neighbourhoods. The site contains very different types of tombs: trenches cut in rock; tumuli; and some, also carved in rock, in the shape of huts or houses with a wealth of structural details. These provide the only surviving evidence of Etruscan residential architecture. The necropolis of Tarquinia, also known as Monterozzi, contains 6,000 graves cut in the rock. It is famous for its 200 painted tombs, the earliest of which date from the 7th century BC.

The Dolomites

Italy The site of the Dolomites comprises a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, numbering 18 peaks which rise to above 3,000 metres and cover 141,903 ha. It features some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys. A serial property of nine areas that present a diversity of spectacular landscapes of international significance for geomorphology marked by steeples, pinnacles and rock walls, the site also contains glacial landforms and karst systems. It is characterized by dynamic processes with frequent landslides, floods and avalanches. The property also features one of the best examples of the preservation of Mesozoic carbonate platform systems, with fossil records.

Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato

Italy This landscape covers five distinct wine-growing areas with outstanding landscapes and the Castle of Cavour, an emblematic name both in the development of vineyards and in Italian history. It is located in the southern part of Piedmont, between the Po River and the Ligurian Apennines, and encompasses the whole range of technical and economic processes relating to the winegrowing and winemaking that has characterized the region for centuries. Vine pollen has been found in the area dating from the 5th century BC, when Piedmont was a place of contact and trade between the Etruscans and the Celts; Etruscan and Celtic words, particularly wine-related ones, are still found in the local dialect. During the Roman Empire, Pliny the Elder mentions the Piedmont region as being one of the most favourable for growing vines in ancient Italy; Strabo mentions its barrels.Undoubtedly it is the red wines that lead the way in terms of quality and cellaring potential with wines made from the noble Nebbiolo grape. The DOCGs of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme and Roero all represent the grape at its finest

Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany

Italy Twelve villas and two gardens spread across the Tuscan landscape make up this site which bears testimony to the influence the Medici family exerted over modern European culture through its patronage of the arts. Built between the 15th and 17th centuries, they represent an innovative system of construction in harmony with nature and dedicated to leisure, the arts and knowledge. The villas embody an innovative form and function, a new type of princely residence that differed from both the farms owned by rich Florentines of the period and from the military might of baronial castles. The Medici villas form the first example of the connection between architecture, gardens, and the environment and became an enduring reference for princely residences throughout Italy and Europe. Their gardens and integration into the natural environment helped develop the appreciation of landscape characteristic Humanism and the Renaissance.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)

Japan Hiroshima Prefecture The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind; it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Itsukushima Shinto Shrine

Japan Hiroshima Prefecture The Island of Itsukushima, in the Seto inland sea, has been a holy place of Shintoism since the earliest times. The first shrine buildings here were probably erected in the 6th century. The present shrine dates from the 13th century but is an accurate reflection of the12th century construction style and was founded by the most powerful leader of the time, Taira no Kiyomori. The property covers 431.2 hectares on the Island of Itsukushima, and the buffer zone (2,634.3 ha) includes the rest of the island and part of the sea in front of Itukushima-jinia. The property comprises seventeen buildings and three other structures forming two shrine complexes (the Honsha complex forming the main shrine, and Sessha Marodo-jinja complex) and ancillary buildings as well as a forested area around Mt. Misen.

Shiretoko

Japan Hokkaido prefecture Shiretoko Peninsula is located in the north-east of Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The site includes the land from the central part of the peninsula to its tip (Shiretoko Cape) and the surrounding marine area. It provides an outstanding example of the interaction of marine and terrestrial ecosystems as well as extraordinary ecosystem productivity, largely influenced by the formation of seasonal sea ice at the lowest latitude in the northern hemisphere. It has particular importance for a number of marine and terrestrial species, some of them endangered and endemic, such as Blackiston's fish owl and the Viola kitamiana plant. The site is globally important for threatened seabirds and migratory birds, a number of salmonid species, and for marine mammals including Steller's sea lion and some cetacean species.

Yakushima

Japan Kamiyaku-cho and Yaku-cho, Kumage-gun Kagoshima Prefecture Yakushima is a primeval temperate rainforest extending from the centre of the almost round-shaped, mountainous Yakushima Island. Situated 60 km off the southernmost tip of Kyushu Island in the southwestern end of Japanese archipelago, the island is located at the interface of the palearctic and oriental biotic regions. Mountains reaching almost 2,000 m high dominate the island, and the property lies in the centre of the island, with arms stretching south, east and west to the coast. Located in the interior of Yaku Island, at the meeting-point of the palaearctic and oriental biotic regions, Yakushima exhibits a rich flora, with some 1,900 species and subspecies, including ancient specimens of the sugi (Japanese cedar). It also contains a remnant of a warm-temperate ancient forest that is unique in this region.

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)

Japan Kyoto and Shiga prefectures The Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) consist of seventeen component parts that are situated in Kyoto and Uji Cities in Kyoto Prefecture and Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture. Built in A.D. 794 on the model of the ancient Chinese capital, Kyoto has acted as the cultural centre while serving as the imperial capital until the middle of the 19th century.

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Japan Mie, Nara and Wakayama Prefectures Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites - Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan - linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, reflect the fusion of Shinto, rooted in the ancient tradition of nature worship in Japan, and Buddhism, which was introduced from China and the Korean Peninsula.

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

Japan Nara Prefecture In 710 the capital of Japan was transferred from Fujiwara to Nara, which prospered as the political, economic and cultural centre of the country for the next 74 years, during the Nara period. . During this period the framework of national government was consolidated and Nara enjoyed great prosperity, emerging as the fountainhead of Japanese culture. The city's historic monuments - Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and the excavated remains of the great Imperial Palace - provide a vivid picture of life in the Japanese capital in the 8th century, a period of profound political and cultural change.

Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area

Japan Nara Prefecture There are around 48 Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji area, in Nara Prefecture. Several date from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. These masterpieces of wooden architecture are important not only for the history of art, since they illustrate the adaptation of Chinese Buddhist architecture and layout to Japanese culture, but also for the history of religion, since their construction coincided with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from China by way of the Korean peninsula. Buddhism entered Japan from China via Korea in the mid-6th century AD. In the 7th century the pious Prince Regent Shotoku founded the religious centres of Horyu-ji and Chugu-ji. The Hokki-ji complex was founded later, in his memory, on the site of Shotoku's palace by his son, Yamashiro-no Oe-No O.

Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu

Japan Okinawa Prefecture Five hundred years of Ryukyuan history (12th-17th century) are represented by this group of sites and monuments. The ruins of the castles, on imposing elevated sites, are evidence for the social structure over much of that period, while the sacred sites provide mute testimony to the rare survival of an ancient form of religion into the modern age. The wide- ranging economic and cultural contacts of the Ryukyu Islands over that period gave rise to a unique culture. For several centuries the Ryukyu Islands served as a centre of economic and cultural interchange between South-East Asia, China, Korea and Japan, and this is vividly demonstrated by the surviving monuments. The culture of the Ryukyuan Kingdom evolved and flourished in a special political and economic environment.

Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly

Kazakhstan Almaty Oblast Set around the lush Tamgaly Gorge, amidst the vast, arid Chu-Ili mountains, is a remarkable concentration of some 5,000 petroglyphs (rock carvings) dating from the second half of the second millennium BC to the beginning of the 20th century. Middle Bronze Age - Tamgaly type petroglyphs Late Bronze Age - transitional Early Iron Age - Sakae, Wusun peoples Middle Ages - ancient Turks

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape

Japan Shimane Prefecture, Ohda City District The Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine in the south-west of Honshu Island is a cluster of mountains, rising to 600 m and interspersed by deep river valleys featuring the archaeological remains of large-scale mines, smelting and refining sites and mining settlements worked between the 16th and 20th centuries.According to the dossier, although there is some evidence to suggest that the silver seams were known in the 14th century, the Iwami Ginzan Silver bearing seams were 'discovered' in 1526, and almost immediately developed by Kamiya Jutei, a powerful merchant of Hakata, then the largest trading port in Japan. Jutei operated under the protection of the Ôuchi family, a feudal clan who controlled the Iwami region and whose wealth was based on trade with China and Korea.

Ogasawara Islands

Japan The Ogasawara Islands are located in the North-Western Pacific Ocean roughly 1,000 km south of the main Japanese Archipelago. The serial property is comprised of five components within an extension of about 400 km from north to south and includes more than 30 islands, clustered within three island groups of the Ogasawara Archipelago: Mukojima, Chichijima and Hahajima, plus an additional three individual islands: Kita-iwoto and Minami-iwoto of the Kazan group and the isolated Nishinoshima Island. These islands rest along the Izu-Ogasawara Arc Trench System.

Fujisan

Japan The beauty of the solitary, often snow-capped, stratovolcano, known around the world as Mount Fuji, rising above villages and tree-fringed sea and lakes has long been the object of pilgrimages and inspired artists and poets. The inscribed property consists of 25 sites which reflect the essence of Fujisan's sacred and artistic landscape. In the 12th century, Fujisan became the centre of training for ascetic Buddhism, which included Shinto elements.

Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites

Japan This property is a historic sericulture and silk mill complex established in the late 19th and early 20th century in the Gunma prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. It consists of four sites that correspond to the different stages in the production of raw silk: a large raw silk reeling plant whose machinery and industrial expertise were imported from France; an experimental farm for production of cocoons; a school for the dissemination of sericulture knowledge; and a cold-storage facility for silkworm eggs. The Tomioka Silk Mill dates from the early Meiji period. Tomioka Silk Mill and its related sites became the centre of innovation for the production of raw silk and marked Japan's entry into the modern, industrialized era, making it the world's leading exporter of raw silk, notably to Europe and the United States.

Shrines and Temples of Nikko

Japan Tochigi Prefecture The Shrines and Temples of Nikko form a single complex composed of one hundred three religious buildings within two Shinto shrines (The Tôshôgû and The Futarasan-jinja) and one Buddhist temple (The Rinnô-ji) located in an outstanding natural setting. The inscribed property is located in Tochigi Prefecture, in the northern part of Japan's Kanto region, on the slopes of the Nikko Mountain

Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls

Jerusalem (Site proposed by Jordan) Jerusalem District As a holy city for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem has always been of great symbolic importance. Among its 220 historic monuments, the Dome of the Rock stands out: built in the 7th century, it is decorated with beautiful geometric and floral motifs. It is recognized by all three religions as the site of Abraham's sacrifice. The Wailing Wall delimits the quarters of the different religious communities, while the Resurrection rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses Christ's tomb.

Quseir Amra

Jordan Eastern desert - Az Zarqa' Governorate Approximately 85 km east of Amman and not far from the caravan trail which passes through Azrak, Kharaneh and Tubah, Quseir Amra is one of the many residences which the Omayyad caliphs built in the desert of present-day Syria and Jordan. These 'castles of the desert' had various roles. They were fortresses where garrisons could be lodged, on at least an occasional basis; they were places of relaxation where the caliphs could come back into contact with the traditional existence of Bedouin nomads.

Um er-Rasas (Kastrom Mefa'a)

Jordan Madaba Governorate This is an archaeological site of the Roman, Byzantine and early Muslim periods. The site was founded in the 3rd century AD as a Roman military camp, closely associated with the frontier (limes) of the Roman Empire, the border with the desert and possibly with the eastern branch of the incense route. The large camp (castrum) gave the site its ancient name - Kastron Mefa'a

Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan protects substantial, largely undisturbed areas of Central Asian steppe and lakes in the Korgalzhyn and Naurzum State Nature Reserves. The property's wetland areas are of outstanding importance for migratory waterbirds, including substantial populations of globally threatened species, as they are key stopover points and crossroads on the Central Asian flyways. The property's steppe areas provide a valuable refuge for over half the species of the region's steppe flora, a number of threatened bird species and the critically endangered Saiga antelope.

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

Kazakhstan South Kazakhstan Oblast, City of Turkestan The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yaswi, a distinguished Sufi master of the 12th century, is situated in southern Kazakhstan, in the north-eastern section of the city of Turkestan (Yasi). Built between 1389 and 1405, by order of Timur (Tamerlane), the ruler of Central Asia, it replaced a smaller 12th century mausoleum. Construction of the building was halted in 1405, with the death of Timur, and was never completed.

Fort Jesus, Mombasa

Kenya Built by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century at the southern edge of the town of Mombasa, over a spur of coral rock, and kept under their control for one century, Fort Jesus, Mombasa, bears testimony to the first successful attempt by Western civilization to rule the Indian ocean trade routes, which, until then had remained under Eastern influence. The design of the fort, with its proportions, its imposing walls and five bastions, reflects the military architectural theory of the Renaissance.

Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests

Kenya Coast Province The Mijikenda Kaya Forests consist of 11 separate forest sites spread over some 200 km along the coast containing the remains of numerous fortified villages, known as kayas, of the Mijikenda people. The kayas, created as of the 16th century but abandoned by the 1940s, are now regarded as the abodes of ancestors and are revered as sacred sites and, as such, are maintained as by councils of elders. Oral tradition relates that the Mijikenda migrated south from a homeland known as Singwaya, said to be north of Tana in present day Somalia, sometime in the 16th century. Their migration was prompted by the expansion of pastoralists particularly the Akwavi Maasai, Galla or Orma. Tradition further relates that the original settlers founded six individual fortified villages known as makaya on the ridge running parallel to the Kenyan Coast. Three more kayas were added at some time later.

Lamu Old Town

Kenya Coast Province, Lamu District Lamu Old Town, located on an island known by the same name on the coast of East Africa some 350km north of Mombasa, is the oldest and best preserved example of Swahili settlement in East Africa. Built in coral stone and mangrove timber.Lamu represents the Swahili culture, resulting from interaction between the Bantu, Arabs, Persians, Indians and Europeans. The origins of the town date back to the 12th century, but the site was probably inhabited earlier. The present town flourished in the early 13th century among the independent city states on the East African coast. In 1506 it was invaded by the Portuguese, who monopolized shipping and suppressed coastal trade, causing the once prosperous city state to lose its position and gradually decline.

Lake Turkana National Parks

Kenya Lake Turkana National Parks are constituted of Sibiloi National Park, the South Island and the Central Island National Parks, covering a total area of 161,485 hectares located within the Lake Turkana basin whose total surface area is 7 million ha. The Lake is the most saline lake in East Africa and the largest desert lake in the world, surrounded by an arid, seemingly extraterrestrial landscape that is often devoid of life. The long body of Lake Turkana drops down along the Rift Valley from the Ethiopian border, extending 249 kilometers from north to south and 44 km at its widest point with a depth of 30 meters. It is Africa's fourth largest lake, fondly called the Jade Sea because of its breathtaking color.

Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley

Kenya The Kenya Lake System is composed of three alkaline lakes and their surrounding territories: Lake Bogoria, 10,700 ha; Lake Nakuru, 18,800 ha; and Lake Elementaita, 2,534 ha. These lakes are found on the floor of the Great Rift Valley where major tectonic and/or volcanic events have shaped a distinctive landscape. Some of the world's greatest diversities and concentrations of bird species are recorded within these relatively small lake systems. For most of the year, up to 4 million Lesser Flamingos move between the three shallow lakes in an outstanding wildlife spectacle. Surrounded by hot springs, geysers and the steep escarpment of the Rift Valley with its volcanic outcrops, the natural setting of the lakes provides an exceptional experience

Phoenix Islands Protected Area

Kiribati As a vast expanse of largely pristine mid-ocean environment, replete with a suite of largely intact uninhabited atolls, truly an oceanic wilderness, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (408,250 sq km), the largest marine protected area in the Pacific, is globally exceptional and as such is a superlative natural phenomenon of global importance. Phoenix Islands Protected Area contains an outstanding collection of large submerged volcanoes, presumed extinct, rising direct from the extensive deep sea floor with an average depth of more than 4,500 metres and a maximum depth of over 6,000 metres. Included are no less than 14 recognised seamounts, submerged mountains that don't penetrate to the surface. The collection of atolls and reef islands represent coral reef capping on 8 other volcanic mountains that approach the surface

Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain

Kyrgyzstan Sulaiman-Too Mountain dominates the surrounding landscape of the Fergana Valley and forms the backdrop to the city of Osh. In mediaeval times Osh was one of the largest cities of the fertile Fergana valley at the crossroads of important routes on the Central Asian Silk Roads system, and Sulaiman-Too was a beacon for travellers. For at least a millennium and a half Sulaiman-Too has been revered as a sacred mountain. Its five peaks and slopes contain a large assembly of ancient cult places and caves with petroglyphs, all interconnected with a network of ancient paths, as well as later mosques. The mountain is an exceptional spiritual landscape reflecting both Islamic and pre-Islamic beliefs and particularly the cult of the horse. Sulaiman-Too corresponds closely to iconic images in the Universe of Avesta and Vedic traditions: a single mountain with a peak dominating four others, standing in the virtual centre of a vast river valley, and surrounded by and related to other mountains in the landscape system.

Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape

Lao People's Democratic Republic Champasak Province The Champasak cultural landscape, including the Vat Phou Temple complex, is a remarkably well-preserved planned landscape more than 1,000 years old. It was shaped to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity, using an axis from mountain top to river bank to lay out a geometric pattern of temples, shrines and waterworks extending over some 10 km. Two planned cities on the banks of the Mekong River are also part of the site, as well as Phou Kao mountain. The whole represents a development ranging from the 5th to 15th centuries, mainly associated with the Khmer Empire.

Town of Luang Prabang

Lao People's Democratic Republic Province of Luang Prabang Luang Prabang is located in northern Laos at the heart of a mountainous region. The town is built on a peninsula formed by the Mekong and the Nam Khan River. Mountain ranges (in particular the PhouThao and PhouNang mountains) encircle the city in lush greenery. Known as Muang Sua, then Xieng Thong, from the 14th to the 16th century the town became the capital of the powerful kingdom of Lane Xang (Kingdom of a Million Elephants), whose wealth and influence were related to its strategic location on the Silk Route. After the establishment of the French Protectorate in 1893.religious capital during the reign of King Sisavang Vong. It played this role until Vientiane became the administrative capital in 1946.

Byblos

Lebanon City and district of Jbeil, Governorate of Mount Lebanon The coastal town of Byblos is located on a cliff of sandstone 40 km North of Beirut. Continuously inhabited since Neolithic times, Byblos bears outstanding witness to the beginnings of the Phoenician civilization. The Phoenicians, who considered Gublu (the Gebal of the Bible) to be one of their oldest cities, were in no way wrong: the site of Byblos has been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic period. Byblos is a testimony to a history of uninterrupted construction from the first settlement by a community of fishermen dating back 8000 years. Byblos is also directly associated with the history and diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet. The origin of our contemporary alphabet was discovered in Byblos with the most ancient Phoenician inscription carved on the sarcophagus of Ahiram.

Anjar

Lebanon District of Zahle, Beqaa Governorate Anjar is an outstanding and closely dated example of Umayyad urbanism and it also stands unique as the only historic example of an inland commercial centre. The ruins in the Beqaa, not far from the roads that link Homs and Baalbek to Tiberias and Mount Lebanon to Damascus, were discovered when archaeological explorations began in 1949. Located on a site that was occupied over a long period (re-employed elements of Greek, Roman and early Christian buildings are frequently found in the masonry of its walls), the city of Anjar was founded at the beginning of the 8th century by Caliph Walid I (705-15). It takes its name from the Arabic term ayn al-jaar (water from the rock), referring to the streams that flow from the nearby mountains. This surprising urban creation, which was never completed, had only a brief existence in 744.

Ouadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab)

Lebanon Qadisha Valley, Becharre District, Governorate of North Lebanon Ouadi Qadisha is one of the most important settlement sites of the first Christian monasteries in the world, and its monasteries, many of which of great age, are set in an extraordinarily rugged landscape. Nearby are the vestiges of the great cedar forest of Lebanon, highly prized in ancient times for the construction of great religious buildings. The Qadisha Valley site and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz el-Rab) are located in northern Lebanon. The Qadisha Valley is located North of Mount-Lebanon chain, at the foot of Mount al-Makmel and West of the Forest of the Cedars of God. The Holy River Qadisha, celebrated in the Scriptures, runs through the Valley. The Forest of the Cedars of God is located on Mount Makmel, between 1900 and 2050 m altitude and to the East of the village of Bcharré.

Maloti-Drakensberg Park

Lesotho South Africa The Maloti-Drakensberg Park is a transboundary site composed of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg National Park in South Africa and the Sehlathebe National Park in Lesotho. The site harbors endangered species such as the Cape vulture (Gyps coprotheres) and the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus). Lesotho's Sehlabathebe National Park also harbors the Maloti minnow (Pseudobarbus quathlambae), a critically endangered fish species only found in this park. This spectacular natural site contains many caves and rock-shelters with the largest and most concentrated group of paintings in Africa south of the Sahara. The Maloti Drakensberg range of mountains constitutes the principal water production area in Southern Africa. The areas along the international border between the two countries create a drainage divide on the escarpment that forms the watershed for two of southern Africa's largest drainage basins. The Thukela River from uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park flows eastwards into the Indian Ocean. The rivers of southern Maloti Drakensberg including SNP drain into the Senqu/Orange River which flows westwards into the Atlantic Ocean, and extension of the UDP WHS to include SNP will add special hydrologic qualities to the area. The Senqu/Orange River from Sehlabathebe National Park flows westwards into the Atlantic Ocean.

Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna

Libya District of Khoms The Phoenician port of Lpgy was founded at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC and first populated by the Garamantes. The city, which was part of the domain of Carthage, passed under the ephemeral control of Massinissa, King of Numidia. The Romans, who had quartered a garrison there during the war against Jugurtha, integrated it, in 46 BC, into the province of Africa while at the same time allowing it a certain measure of autonomy. Although Leptis (the latinization of its Phoenician name) Leptis Magna was enlarged and embellished by Septimius Severus, who was born there and later became emperor.

Archaeological Site of Sabratha

Libya District of Zawia A Phoenician trading-post of the Tripolitanian coast, Sabratha funnelled the products of Africa to the Gulf of the Lesser Syrtis, thanks to the route linking it to the continent via Cydamus (now Ghadamès). It was part of the short-lived Numidian Kingdom of Massinissa, together with Leptis and Oea, before being Romanized and absorbed into the Roman province of Africa, and subsequently rebuilt in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus

Libya Fezzan Tadrart Acacus has thousands of cave paintings in very different styles, dating from 12,000 BC to AD 100. They reflect marked changes in the fauna and flora, and also the different ways of life of the populations that succeeded one another in this region of the Sahara. The massif of Tadrart Acacus, a vast mountainous region (more than 250 km2) which is today a desert, is situated in the Fezzan, to the east of the city of Ghat. It contains some of the most extraordinary scenery in the world and has its unique natural wonders: dunes, isolated towers emerging from the sand and eroded into the most bizarre shapes, petrified arches, and canyons carved by ancient rivers.

Old Town of Ghadamès

Libya Ghadamès, known as 'the pearl of the desert', stands in an oasis. It is one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities and an outstanding example of a traditional settlement Today it is a small oasis city situated next to a palm grove. None of the surviving buildings date from the protohistoric Berber period, or the period of Roman domination, yet a remarkable domestic architectural style distinguishes Ghadamès as a unique site among a series of pre-Saharan cities and settlements stretching along the northern edge of the desert from Libya to Mauritania.

Curonian Spit

Lithuania Russian Federation Klaipeda Region, Neringa and Klaipeda (Lithuania); Kaliningrad Region, Zelenogradsk District (Russian Federation) The history of the Curonian Spit is dramatic: 5,000 years ago, a narrow peninsula (98 km in length and 0.4-3.8 km in width), the Great Dune Ridge separating the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon, was formed on moraine islands from sand transported by currents, and later covered by forest. After intensive logging in the 17th and 18th centuries, the dunes began moving towards the Curonian Lagoon, burying the oldest settlements. At the turn of the 19th century, it became evident that human habitation would no longer be possible in the area without immediate action. features small Curonian lagoon settlements. Human habitation of this elongated sand dune peninsula, 98 km long and 0.4-4 km wide, dates back to prehistoric times.

Vilnius Historic Centre

Lithuania City of Vilnius Political centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 13th to the end of the 18th century, Vilnius has had a profound influence on the cultural and architectural development of much of eastern Europe. Despite invasions and partial destruction, it has preserved an impressive complex of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and classical buildings as well as its medieval layout and natural setting.

Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė)

Lithuania Vilnius county, Širvintos district, Kernave town. From the 1st to the 4th centuries AD, large settlements were scattered over the banks of the Neris and in the Pajauta valley. Some hills were adapted to defence (Aukuro Kalnas, Mindaugo Sostas, Lizdeikos Kalnas hill forts). During the great migration of peoples at the end of the Roman period, the wooden fortifications of Aukuro Kalnas were burnt down by nomads, and the settlements in the Pajauta valley were deserted. The climate deteriorated; ground water rose, and living in the valley was no longer possible. The Kernavė Archaeological site, about 35 km north-west of Vilnius in eastern Lithuania, represents an exceptional testimony to some 10 millennia of human settlements in this region. Situated in the valley of the River Neris

City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications

Luxembourg Luxemburg The Old City of Luxembourg is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers, on a very steep rocky outcrop which is somewhat of a natural fortification that only needed to be completed on the west side. Due to its exceptional strategic position, the City of Luxembourg was one of the largest fortresses of modern Europe which was constantly strengthened and reinforced as it passed successively into the hands of the great European powers. Originally, the City of Luxembourg comprised only a small fort (the castle) built shortly after the middle of the 10th century on an almost inaccessible rock. In the 12th century, the settlement that developed near the castle was protected by a stone fortification wall, which was extended in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve

Madagascar Centre Ouest, dans le Fivondronana d'Antsalova et le Faritany de Mahajanga Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve comprises karstic landscapes and limestone uplands cut into impressive 'tsingy' peaks and a 'forest' of limestone needles, the spectacular canyon of the Manambolo river, rolling hills and high peaks. The undisturbed forests, lakes and mangrove swamps are the habitat for rare and endangered lemurs and birds. The Tsingy de Bemaraha Integral Nature Reserve is located in the District of Antsalova and in the region of the central west part of Madagascar. It is part of the Melaky region, in the autonomous province of Mahajanga, and localized between 44°34' to 44°57' longitude east and 18°12' to 19°09' latitude south. Its total area is 152,000 ha.

Royal Hill of Ambohimanga

Madagascar Municipality of Ambohimanga Rova, Province of Antananarivo Avaradrano The Royal Hill of Ambohimanga consists of a royal city and burial site, and an ensemble of sacred places. It is associated with strong feelings of national identity, and has maintained its spiritual and sacred character both in ritual practice and the popular imagination for the past 500 years. It remains a place of worship to which pilgrims come from Madagascar and elsewhere.

Rainforests of the Atsinanana

Madagascar The Rainforests of the Atsinanana comprise six national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island. These relict forests are critically important for maintaining ongoing ecological processes necessary for the survival of Madagascar's unique biodiversity, which reflects the island's geological history. Having completed its separation from all other land masses more than 60 million years ago, Madagascar's plant and animal life evolved in isolation. The rainforests are inscribed for their importance to both ecological and biological processes as well as their biodiversity and the threatened species they support. Many species are rare and threatened especially primates and lemurs.

Chongoni Rock-Art Area

Malawi Dedza District, Central Region Situated within a cluster of forested granite hills and covering an area of 126.4 km2, high up the plateau of central Malawi, the 127 sites of this area feature the richest concentration of rock art in Central Africa. They reflect the comparatively scarce tradition of farmer rock art, as well as paintings by BaTwa hunter-gatherers who inhabited the area from the Late Stone Age. The Chewa agriculturalists, whose ancestors lived there from the Early Iron Age, practiced rock painting until well into the 20th century.

Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca

Malaysia Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Malacca. Melaka demonstrates the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate and the Portuguese and Dutch periods beginning in the early 16th century. George Town represents the British era from the end of the 18th century. The two towns constitute a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.

Kinabalu Park

Malaysia State of Sabah Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. Geologically, Kinabalu Park is a granite intrusion formed 15 million years ago and thrust upward one million years ago by tectonic movements and shaped by forces that continue to define its landscape. Despite its geological youth it is exceptionally high in species with living relics of natural vegetation remaining, over 93% of the Park area. Kinabalu is a granite intrusion formed 15 million years ago by the hardening of a mass of molten rock that rose beneath the sedimentary rocks of Borneo's Crocker Range. 1 million years ago this pluton was thrust upward by tectonic movements which continue to this day.

Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley

Malaysia The lush Lenggong Valley on the Malay Peninsula contains evidence in open-air and cave sites along the Perak River spanning all the periods of hominid history outside Africa from 1.83 million to 1,700 years ago. A meteorite strike 1.83 million b.p. blocked and diverted the river preserving Palaeolithic tools at Bukit Bunuh, where hand axes are among the oldest so far discovered outside Africa. Analysis suggests these were made by hominids which thus provide an extremely early date for hominid presence in South-East Asia.

Gunung Mulu National Park

Malaysia northern Sarawak, island of Borneo Important both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features, Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the State of Sarawak. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,376 m-high sandstone pinnacle and the property is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The geological Melinau Formation contains a remarkable concentration of caves, revealing a geological history of over more than 1.5 million years. The 52,864-ha park contains seventeen vegetation zones, exhibiting some 3,500 species of vascular plants. The Sarawak Chamber, 600 m by 415 m and 80 m high, is the largest known cave chamber in the world.

Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)

Mali Bandiagara Circle, Mopti Region The Cliff of Bandiagara is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, representative of the Dogon culture, which has become vulnerable under the impact of tourism. The complex ritual relationships of the Dogon people with the environment include the use of curative and medicinal wild plants and the sacred associations with pale fox, jackal and crocodile. The zone stretches from Gani-do in the south-south-west to Koudianga in the north-north-east, along the road linking Bankas, Koporo, Madougou and Diankabou. The sanctuary lies at the southern limit of the Sahara in an arid Sahelian region with averages of 580 mm of rainfall per year. It exhibits three distinctive geomorphological features: Bandiagara plateau, Bandiagara escarpment, and the Plaine du Sìno.

Timbuktu

Mali Circle and Region of Tombouctou Located at the gateway to the Sahara desert, within the confines of the fertile zone of the Sudan and in an exceptionally propitious site near to the river, Timbuktu is one of the cities of Africa whose name is the most heavily charged with history. Home of the prestigious Koranic Sankore University and other madrasas, Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, recall Timbuktu's golden ag

Tomb of Askia

Mali City, Circle and Region of Gao The dramatic 17-m pyramidal structure of the Tomb of Askia was built by Askia Mohamed, the Emperor of Songhai, in 1495 in his capital Gao. It is the central commanding feature of the Great Mosque of Gao, which dominates the northern end of the town of Gao, next to the River Niger. Gao is one of the ancient towns of Africa south of the Sahara. Probably founded at the end of the 7th century, by the 11th century it appears in Arab chronicles as Kaw Kaw. In 1137 it became the capital of the Songhai Empire.

Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

Malta Commune of Paola, Island of Malta The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum (underground cemetery) was discovered in 1902 on a hill overlooking the innermost part of the Grand Harbour of Valletta, in the town of Paola. It is a unique prehistoric monument, which seems to have been conceived as an underground cemetery, originally containing the remains of about 7,000 individuals. The cemetery was in use throughout the Żebbuġ, Ġgantija and Tarxien Phases of Maltese Prehistory, spanning from around 4000 B.C. to 2500 B.C.

City of Valletta

Malta Island of Malta The capital of Malta is one of the rare urban inhabited sites that has preserved in near entirety its original features. It is inextricably linked to the history of the military and charitable Order of St John of Jerusalem. It was ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St John. The city has undergone no important modifications since 1798, the date when it was abandoned by the Knights of St John. Within the confines of the fortified peninsula of Valletta, which constitutes one of the most attractive natural sites of the Mediterranean, dominating the two ports of Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour.

Banc d'Arguin National Park

Mauritania Nouadhibou and Azefal Banc d'Arguin is located on the Atlantic desert-coast of Mauritania, midway between Nouakchott in the south and Nouadhibou in the north. The park extends from Cap Timiris in the south, includes the Ile de Tidra, Ile d'Arguin and Cap d'Arguin to Pointe Minou in the north. The boundary extends a maximum of 60 km into the shallow sea and 35 km inland into the Sahara. e park comprises sand-dunes, coastal swamps, small islands and shallow coastal waters. The contrast between the harsh desert environment and the biodiversity of the marine zone has resulted in a land- and seascape of outstanding natural significance. A wide variety of migrating birds spend the winter there. Several species of sea turtle and dolphin, used by the fishermen to attract shoals of fish, can also be found.

Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata

Mauritania Oudane, Chinguetti: region de l'Adrar; Tichitt: region du Tagant; Oualata: region du Hodh Echchargut These four ancient cities constitute exceptional examples of settlements built to serve the important trade routes of the Sahara, which were witness to cultural, social and economic contacts for many centuries. They are the only surviving places in Mauritania to have been inhabited since the Middle Ages. They were built originally to serve the caravan routes that began in the 11th century AD to cross the Sahara from north to south and from east to west. Sited on the outskirts of a fertile valley or oasis, their original function was to provide religious instruction, and so they developed around mosques, accompanied by houses for teachers and students

Le Morne Cultural Landscape

Mauritius Le Morne Cultural Landscape, a rugged mountain that juts into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of Mauritius was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, maroons, through the 18th and early years of the 19th centuries. Protected by the mountain's isolated, wooded and almost inaccessible cliffs, the escaped slaves formed small settlements in the caves and on the summit of Le Morne. The slaves were usually recorded as belonging to one of four groups: Creole or locally born, Malagasy, Mozambiquan and Indian.

Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape

Mongolia Orkhon-Kharkorin Region This cultural landscape is in central Mongolia, some 360 km south-west of Ulan Bator, the capital, along the Orkhon River, which flows north, draining into Lake Baikal across the border in Russia. Over 90% of Mongolia's huge land area is high-level pasture or desert wasteland, at an average altitude of around 1,500 m.

Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

Mexico Basse Californie Sud, Municipality of Mulege Located in the central part of the peninsula of Baja California, the sanctuary contains some exceptionally interesting ecosystems. The coastal lagoons of Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio are important reproduction and wintering sites for the grey whale, harbour seal, California sea lion, northern elephant-seal and blue whale. The lagoons are also home to four species of the endangered marine turtle. embedded in the much larger El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, Mexico's largest protected area, which in turn is contiguous with another large conservation area to the North. The lagoons are recognized as the World's most important place for the reproduction of the once endangered Eastern subpopulation of the North Pacific Grey Whale.

Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Mexico Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was the Royal Inland Road, also known as the Silver Route. The inscribed property consists of 55 sites and five existing World Heritage sites lying along a 1400 km section of this 2600 km route, that extends north from Mexico City to Texas and New Mexico, United States of America. The route was actively used as a trade route for 300 years, from the mid-16th to the 19th centuries, mainly for transporting silver extracted from the mines of Zacatecas, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí, and mercury imported from Europe. Although it is a route that was motivated and consolidated by the mining industry, it also fostered the creation of social, cultural and religious links in particular between Spanish and Amerindian cultures.

Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán

Mexico Etat de Oaxaca de Juarez, municipalites de Oaxaca, Xoxocotlan et Cuilapan The World Heritage property, located in the in the region known as central valleys of Oaxaca in the depression formed between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre del Sur, is composed of two distinct cultural sites: the historic centre of Oaxaca de Juarez and the archaeological site of Monte Albán. Inhabited over a period of 1,500 years by a succession of peoples - Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs - the terraces, dams, canals, pyramids and artificial mounds of Monte Albán were literally carved out of the mountain and are the symbols of a sacred topography. The nearby city of Oaxaca, which is built on a grid pattern, is a good example of Spanish colonial town planning. The solidity and volume of the city's buildings show that they were adapted to the earthquake-prone region in which these architectural gems were constructed.

Historic Centre of Puebla

Mexico Etat de Puebla, municipalites de Puebla, San Pedro Cholula et San Andres Cholula Puebla, which was founded ex nihilo in 1531, is situated about 100 km east of Mexico City, at the foot of the Popocatepetl volcano. The city of Puebla de los Ángeles was founded ex nihilo in 1531, among the boundaries of the indigenous dominions of Tlaxcala, Cholula and Cuauhtinchan, following Spain's regal recommendations to not take possession of indigenous territories. The original city Ciudad de los Angeles was laid out according to a Renaissance urban grid formed by rectangular squares laid out in a northeast-southeast orientation. The city is situated in the Valley of Cuetlaxcoapan at the foot of one of Mexico's highest volcanoes, known as Popocatepetl. It commands a strategic location on the commercial and cultural trade route betweeen the Port of Veracruz and Mexico City, approximately 100 kilometres to the west, which allowed Puebla to be an important intermediate point and a core part of the Atlantic axle for over two centuries.

El Tajin, Pre-Hispanic City

Mexico Etat de Veracruz, municipalité de Papantla Located in the state of Veracruz, El Tajin was at its height from the early 9th to the early 13th century. It became the most important centre in north-east Mesoamerica after the fall of the Teotihuacan Empire. Its cultural influence extended all along the Gulf and penetrated into the Maya region and the high plateaux of central Mexico. Its architecture, which is unique in Mesoamerica, is characterized by elaborate carved reliefs on the columns and frieze. The 'Pyramid of the Niches', a masterpiece of ancient Mexican and American architecture, reveals the astronomical and symbolic significance of the buildings. El Tajin has survived as an outstanding example of the grandeur and importance of the pre-Hispanic cultures of Mexico.

Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza

Mexico Etat de Yucatan, Municipalité de Tinum The town of Chichen-Itza was established during the Classic period close to two natural cavities (cenotes or chenes), which gave the town its name "At the edge of the well of the Itzaes". This sacred site was one of the greatest Mayan centres of the Yucatán peninsula. Throughout its nearly 1,000-year history, different peoples have left their mark on the city. The Maya and Toltec vision of the world and the universe is revealed in their stone monuments and artistic works. The fusion of Mayan construction techniques with new elements from central Mexico make Chichen-Itza one of the most important examples of the Mayan-Toltec civilization in Yucatán. Several buildings have survived, such as the Warriors' Temple, El Castillo and the circular observatory known as El Caracol.

Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal

Mexico Etat de Yucatan, municipalites Muna et Santa Elena The archaeological site of Uxmal is located 62 kilometers south of Merida, forming the centre of the Puuc ("hill" or "chain of low mountains") region which covers some 7500 km2 in the south-western part of the Mexican state of Yucatan. The region was a centre for trade and the exchange of ideas - and probably also people - with other parts of Mexico. The Mayan town of Uxmal, in Yucatán, was founded c. A.D. 700 and had some 25,000 inhabitants. The layout of the buildings, which date from between 700 and 1000, reveals a knowledge of astronomy. The Pyramid of the Soothsayer, as the Spaniards called it, dominates the ceremonial centre, which has well-designed buildings decorated with a profusion of symbolic motifs and sculptures depicting Chaac, the god of rain. The ceremonial sites of Uxmal, Kabah, Labna and Sayil are considered the high points of Mayan art and architecture.

Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines

Mexico Etat de: Guanajuato. Municipalite: Guanajuato Founded by the Spanish in the early 16th century, Guanajuato became the world's leading silver-extraction centre in the 18th century. This past can be seen in its 'subterranean streets' and the 'Boca del Inferno', a mineshaft that plunges a breathtaking 600 m.

Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco

Mexico Guanajuato Region The fortified town, first established in the 16th century to protect the Royal Route inland, reached its apogee in the 18th century when many of its outstanding religious and civic buildings were built in the style of the Mexican Baroque. Some of these buildings are masterpieces of the style that evolved in the transition from Baroque to neoclassical. Situated 14 km from the town, the Jesuit sanctuary, also dating from the 18th century, is one of the finest examples of Baroque art and architecture in the New Spain. It consists of a large church, and several smaller chapels, all decorated with oil paintings by Rodriguez Juárez and mural paintings by Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre. Because of its location, San Miguel de Allende acted as a melting pot where Spaniards, Creoles and Amerindians exchanged cultural influences while the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco constitutes an exceptional example of the exchange between European and Latin American cultures. Its architecture and interior decoration testify to the influence of Saint Ignacio de Loyola's doctrine.

Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara

Mexico Jalisco, Guadalajara Located in Guadalajara in the central region of western Mexico, Hospicio Cabañas was founded at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter to the needy including orphans, elderly, handicapped and chronic invalids. Architect Manuel Tolsá, designed a predominantly Neoclassical complex on a monumental scale, covering 2.34 hectares

Luis Barragán House and Studio

Mexico Mexico City Built in 1948, the House and Studio of architect Luis Barragán in the suburbs of Mexico City represents an outstanding example of the architect's creative work in the post-Second World War period. The concrete building, totalling 1,161 m2, consists of a ground floor and two upper storeys, as well as a small private garden. Barragán's work integrated modern and traditional artistic and vernacular currents and elements into a new synthesis, which has been greatly influential, especially in the contemporary design of gardens, plazas and landscapes.

Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Mexico Mexico City The ensemble of buildings, sports facilities and open spaces of the Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), was built from 1949 to 1952 by more than 60 architects, engineers and artists who were involved in the project. As a result, the campus constitutes a unique example of 20th-century modernism integrating urbanism, architecture, engineering, landscape design and fine arts with references to local traditions, especially to Mexico's pre-Hispanic past. The ensemble embodies social and cultural values of universal significance and is one of the most significant icons of modernity in Latin America.

Historic Centre of Morelia

Mexico Michoacan. Mairie de Morelia The Historic Centre of Morelia is located in central Mexico, at the foot of the Sierra Madre Occidental and near the agricultural valley of Morelia-Querendaro. Built in the 16th century according to a "checkerboard" layout, Morelia is an outstanding example of urban development combining town planning theories of Spain and the Mesoamerican experience. Founded in the 16th century under the name of Valladolid, the city was, at the beginning of the 19th century, one of the main centres of the struggle for independence of the country. Two priests received notoriety: Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos. It is to the glory of the latter, a native of Valladolid, that the city was renamed Morelia in 1828.

Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl

Mexico Morelos and Puebla States Municipalities: Atlatlauhcan, Cuernavaca, Tetela del Volcan, Yautepec, Ocuituco, Tepoztlan, Tlayacapan, Totolapan, Yecapixtla and Zacualpan de Amilpas in Morelos. Calpan, Huetotzingo and Tochimilco in Puebla. These 14 monasteries stand on the slopes of Popocatepetl, to the south-east of Mexico City. They are in an excellent state of conservation and are good examples of the architectural style adopted by the first missionaries - Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians - who converted the indigenous populations to Christianity in the early 16th century.

Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalco

Mexico Municipalities of Temixco and Miacatlan, Morelos State Xochicalco is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a fortified political, religious and commercial centre from the troubled period of 650-900 that followed the break-up of the great Mesoamerican states such as Teotihuacan, Monte Albán, Palenque and Tikal. This period, from ca. 650 to 900 A.D., is known as the Epiclassic Period.

Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan

Mexico Municipalities of Teotihuacan De Arista and San Martin De Las Piramides The holy city of Teotihuacan ('the place where the gods were created') is situated some 50 km north-east of Mexico City. Built between the 1st and 7th centuries A.D., it is characterized by the vast size of its monuments - in particular, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. As one of the most powerful cultural centres in Mesoamerica, Teotihuacan extended its cultural and artistic influence throughout the region, and even beyond. The city's urban plan integrated natural elements of the Teotihuacan Valley, such as the San Juan River, whose course was altered to cross the Avenue of the Dead.

Archaeological Zone of Paquimé, Casas Grandes

Mexico Municipality of Casas Grandes, State of Chihuahua The archaeological zone of Paquimé is located in the Municipality of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico. It is located at the foot of the Sierra Madre Occidental range near the headwaters of the Casas Grandes River. It is estimated to contain the remains of some 2,000 rooms in clusters of living rooms, workshops and stores, with patios. It is the largest archaeological zone that represents the peoples and cultures of the Chihuahua Desert. Paquimé, Casas Grandes, which reached its apogee in the 14th and 15th centuries, played a key role in trade and cultural contacts between the Pueblo culture of the south-western United States and northern Mexico and the more advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica.

Sian Ka'an

Mexico Quintana Roo, Cozumel et Felipe Carrillo Puerto Thousands of years ago the original Maya inhabitants appreciated the exceptional natural beauty of this stretch of coastline, naming it Sian Ka´an, or "Origin of the Sky". Located on the Eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in the State of Quintana Roo, Sian Ka´an is one of Mexico's largest protected areas, established to manage 528,148 hectares of intricately linked marine, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems. Along its roughly 120 kilometres of coastline, the property covers over 400,000 hectares of land ranging from sea level to only ten m.a.s.l. The property boasts diverse tropical forests, palm savannah, one of the most pristine wetlands in the region, lagoons, extensive mangrove stands, as well as sandy beaches and dunes. The 120,000 hectares of marine area protect a valuable part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and seagrass beds in the shallow bays.

Historic Fortified Town of Campeche

Mexico State of Campeche Campeche is a typical example of a harbour town from the Spanish colonial period in the New World. The historic centre has kept its outer walls and system of fortifications, designed to defend this Caribbean port against attacks from the sea. Campeche was founded in 1540 by Francisco Montejo El Mozo in the south-west of the Maya region of Ah Kin Pech, which had been explored and occupied by Spanish conquerors from 1517 onwards. From the start, the port played a major role as a starting point for expeditions to the Yucatán peninsula and the Petén region of Guatemala. Its commercial and military importance made it the second biggest town in the Gulf of Mexico, after Mérida.

Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque

Mexico State of Chiapas, Municipality of Palenque prime example of a Mayan sanctuary of the classical period, Palenque was at its height between AD 500 and 700, when its influence extended throughout the basin of the Usumacinta River. The elegance and craftsmanship of the buildings, as well as the lightness of the sculpted reliefs with their Mayan mythological themes, attest to the creative genius of this civilization.

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro

Mexico State of Querétaro de Arteaga (Sierra Gorda region) The five Franciscan missions of Sierra Gorda were built during the last phase of the conversion to Christianity of the interior of Mexico in the mid-18th century and became an important reference for the continuation of the evangelization of California, Arizona and Texas. Of the five missions, Santiago de Jalpan (the earliest, built 1751-58) and Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol are located in the municipality of Jalpan de Sierra, Santa Maria del Agua de Landa and San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco are in the municipality of Landa de Matamoros, and the mission of San Miguel Concá is in the municipality of Arroyo Seco.

Historic Monuments Zone of Tlacotalpan

Mexico State of Veracruz, Tlacotalpan Municipality Tlacotalpan, a Spanish colonial river port on the Gulf coast of Mexico, was founded in the mid-16th century. The ethnic origins of the prehispanic people inhabiting the region to the north and north-east of Tlacotalpan are not fully understood. However, the names of the river Papaloapan (Butterfly River) and other settlements nearby are Nahuatl, which suggests that it was under Aztec domination. The present name of the town is a Spanish version of Tlaxcotaliapan ("Land between the Waters), the name of the island where the initial settlement was established; following modification of the north bank of the river, it was joined to the mainland. The mouth of the Papaloapan river was discovered by Juan de Grijalba in 1518. Pedro de Alvarado sailed up it and in 1521 Cortés sent Gonzalo de Sandoval to find gold.

Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco

Mexico State: Lower California Sud Municipality From c. 100 B.C. to A.D. 1300, the Sierra de San Francisco (in the El Vizcaino reserve, in Baja California) was home to a people who have now disappeared but who left one of the most outstanding collections of rock paintings in the world. They are remarkably well-preserved because of the dry climate and the inaccessibility of the site. The most highly developed pre-Hispanic group in the region was that of the Guachimis, whose territory extended from San Javier and La Purisima in the south of the reserve to the extreme northern end of the Baja California peninsula. Little is known about this group, apart from the fact that they came from further north.

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California

Mexico States of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nayarit The site comprises 244 islands, islets and coastal areas that are located in the Gulf of California in north-eastern Mexico. The Sea of Cortez and its islands have been called a natural laboratory for the investigation of speciation. It is home to 695 vascular plant species, more than in any marine and insular property on the World Heritage List. Equally exceptional is the number of fish species: 891, 90 of them endemic. The site, moreover, contains 39% of the world's total number of species of marine mammals and a third of the world's marine cetacean species.

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

Mexico The 56,259 ha biosphere lies within rugged forested mountains about 100 km northwest of Mexico City. Every autumn, millions, perhaps a billion, butterflies from wide areas of North America return to the site and cluster on small areas of the forest reserve, colouring its trees orange and literally bending their branches under their collective weight. In the spring, these butterflies begin an 8 month migration that takes them all the way to Eastern Canada and back, during which time four successive generations are born and die. How they find their way back to their overwintering site remains a mystery. The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve World Heritage property protects key overwintering sites for the monarch butterfly. The overwintering concentration of butterflies in the property is a superlative natural phenomenon. The millions of monarch butterflies that return to the property every year bend tree branches by their weight, fill the sky when they take flight, and make a sound like light rain with the beating of their wings. Witnessing this unique phenomenon is an exceptional experience of nature.

El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve

Mexico The 714,566 hectare site comprises two distinct parts: the dormant volcanic Pinacate Shield of black and red lava flows and desert pavements to the east, and, in the west, the Gran Altar Desert with its ever changing and varied sand dunes that can reach a height of 200 metres. This landscape of dramatic contrast notably features linear, star and dome dunes as well as several arid granite massifs, some as high as 650 metres. The dunes emerge like islands from the sea of sand and harbour distinct and highly diverse plant and wildlife communities, including endemic freshwater fish species and the endemic Sonoran Pronghorn, which is only to be found in northwestern Sonora and in southwestern Arizona (USA). Ten enormous, deep and almost perfectly circular craters, believed to have been formed by a combination of eruptions and collapses, also contribute to the dramatic beauty of the site whose exceptional combination of features are of great scientific interest. The site is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (EPGDABR) is located in the Sonoran Desert. The Sonoran Desert is one of four great North American deserts along with the Chihuahuan Desert, the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert. In the West towards the Colorado River Delta and South towards the Gulf of California, is the Gran Altar Desert, North America's largest field of active sand dunes and only active Erg dunes.

Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca

Mexico This property lies on the northern slopes of the Tlacolula valley in subtropical central Oaxaca and consists of two pre-Hispanic archaeological complexes and a series of pre-historic caves and rock shelters. Some of these shelters provide archaeological and rock-art evidence for the progress of nomadic hunter-gathers to incipient farmers. Ten thousand-year-old Cucurbitaceae seeds in one cave, Guilá Naquitz, are considered to be the earliest known evidence of domesticated plants in the continent, while corn cob fragments from the same cave are said to be the earliest documented evidence for the domestication of maize. The cultural landscape of the Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla demonstrates the link between man and nature that gave origin to the domestication of plants in North America, thus allowing the rise of Mesoamerican civilizations.

Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila

Mexico Valles Region, Jalisco State The 34,658 ha site, between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the deep valley of the Rio Grande River, is part of an expansive landscape of blue agave, shaped by the culture of the plant used since the 16th century to produce tequila spirit and for at least 2,000 years to make fermented drinks and cloth. Within the landscape are working distilleries reflecting the growth in the international consumption of tequila in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, the agave culture is seen as part of national identity. The area encloses a living, working landscape of blue agave fields and the urban settlements of Tequila, Arenal, and Amatitan with large distilleries where the agave 'pineapple' is fermented and distilled. The property is also a testimony to the Teuchitlan cultures which shaped the Tequila area from AD 200-900, notably through the creation of terraces for agriculture, housing, temples, ceremonial mounds and ball courts.

Historic Centre of Zacatecas

Mexico Zacatecas State, Zacatecas Municipality The Historic Centre of Zacatecas, located in the south central part of the state of Zacatecas, between the Bufa and Grillo hills. Zacatecas was founded in 1546, following the discovery of the very rich San Bernabé silver lode. This was to be followed later by working of the Veta Grande, Panuco and Albarrada lodes in the same massif. Zacatecas reached the height of its prosperity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Built on the steep slopes of a narrow valley, the town has many historic buildings, both religious and civil. With Guanajuato, Zacatecas is among the most important mining towns of New Spain. It was a major centre of silver production, and also of colonization, evangelization and cultural expansion.

Uvs Nuur Basin

Mongolia Russian Federation Uvs Aimag, Zavhan Aimag, Huvsgul Aimag (Mongolia); Mongun-Taiga Kojuun, Ovur Kojuun, Tes-Khem Kojuun, Ersin Kojuun (Tuva) Uvs Nuur is the northernmost of the enclosed basins of Central Asia. It is enclosed on the north (Tuva) by the Tannu Ola Range and the Sangilen Mountains in the north-east. The main feeder to Uvs Nuur is the Tes-Khem River, which has its source in a fresh-water lake, Sangyn Dalai Nuur, in the alpine meadows and larch forests of the Sangilen uplands at the eastern extremity of the basin (in Mongolia). The Tes-Khem then flows 500 km westwards, through steppe and desert, into southern Tuva, and then back into Mongolia, before emptying into Uvs Nuur. For its last 100 km, the river meanders through an extensive wetland complex, a green swathe in an otherwise semi-desert landscape; its delta is some 40 km wide and is an important wildlife habitat. Uvs is relatively shallow (10-20 m depth) and very saline and alkaline. In all, the lakes display a range of hydrological characteristics, water quality and biomass productivity. Uvs is the 'sea' of western Mongolia; it is frequented by a range of seabirds, even though the nearest ocean is 3,000 km away.

Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor

Montenegro Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor), City of Kotor and surrounding territory, Republic of Montenegro The culturo-historical region of Kotor has exerted considerable influence, over a span of time and within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture and human settlement. Kotor and its neighbours were main bridgeheads of Venice on the southern Adriatic coast. Its art, goldsmithing and architecture schools had a profound and durable influence on the arts of the coast. It is among the most characteristic examples of a type of structure representing important cultural, social and artistic values. It is considered to possess outstanding universal value by the quality of its architecture, the successful integration of its cities to the Gulf of Kotor and by its unique testimony to the exceptionally important role that it played in the diffusion of Mediterranean culture in the Balkan lands.

Durmitor National Park

Montenegro Republic of Montenegro Durmitor National Park comprises Mount Durmitor plateau and the valley formed by the canyon of the River Tara, Tara river canyon, which has the deepest gorges in Europe. Because of its geographical location and range in altitude, the park is under the influence of both Mediterranean and alpine microclimates, which has resulted in an exceptional range of species. The River Tara, one of the last wild rivers in Europe, has pure, clear waters, a gorge 1,300 m deep and notable floristic and faunistic diversity. The 16 glacial lakes of the Durmitor and the canyons of the Tara, Susica and Draga rivers were formed during the Quaternary period, following the sudden thaw of the snow and the formation of glaciers on the Durmitor and neighbouring mountains. The waters of the largest lake, Black Lake, feed two separate river basins: the River Tara, and underground through the Durmitor Massif, the River Komarnica or Piva.

Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point

Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point owes its name to a 19th-century plantation close to the site, which is in the Lower Mississippi Valley on a slightly elevated and narrow landform. The complex comprises five mounds, six concentric semi-elliptical ridges separated by shallow depressions and a central plaza. It was created and used for residential and ceremonial purposes by a society of hunter fisher-gatherers between 3700 and 3100 BP. It is a remarkable achievement in earthen construction in North America that was unsurpassed for at least 2,000 years.

Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage

Morocco Located on the Atlantic coast in the north-west of Morocco, the site is the product of a fertile exchange between the Arabo-Muslim past and Western modernism. The inscribed city encompasses the new town conceived and built under the French Protectorate from 1912 to the 1930s. The new town is one of the largest and most ambitious modern urban projects built in Africa in the 20th century and probably the most complete. The older parts include Hassan Mosque (begun in 1184) and the Almohad ramparts and gates, the only surviving parts of the project for a great capital city of the Almohad caliphate as well as remains from the Moorish, or Andalusian, principality of the 17thcentury.

Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador)

Morocco Province of Essaouira, Tensift Region The Medina of Essaouira, formerly named Mogador (name originating from the Phoenician word Migdol meaning a « small fortress ») Essaouira is an exceptional example of a late-18th-century fortified town, built according to the principles of contemporary European military architecture in a North African context. Since its foundation, it has been a major international trading seaport, linking Morocco and its Saharan hinterland with Europe and the rest of the world.

Medina of Marrakesh

Morocco Province of Marrakesh The capital of the Almoravids and the Almohads played a decisive role in the development of medieval planning. Marrakesh (which gave its name to the Moroccan Empire) is the textbook example of a large Islamic capital in the Western world. Marrakesh was founded in 1071-72 by Youssef ben Tachfin on the site of the camp where Abou Bekr had left him in charge. From that point forward, Marrakesh was no longer an occasional stopping place for the Almoravids. It became the true capital of these conquering nomads who succeeded in stretching their empire from the Sahara to the Ebro and from the Atlantic to Kabylia.

Medina of Tétouan (formerly known as Titawin)

Morocco Region Nord-Ouest, Wilaya de Tétouan, Province of Tétouan, Medina of Tétoua Tétouan was of particular importance in the Islamic period, from the 8th century onwards, since it served as the main point of contact between Morocco and Andalusia. The Medina of Tétouan developed on the steep slopes of the Jebel Dersa.

Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida)

Morocco Region: Doukkala-Abda, Province El Jadida The Portuguese city of Mazagan, one of the early settlements of the Portuguese explorers in West Africa, on the route to India, illustrates the interchange of influences (well reflected in architecture, technology and town planning) between European and Moroccan cultures. It illustrates the realization of the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction technology. Mazagan is situated on the Atlantic coast, about 90 km south-west of Casablanca, and faces a natural bay of great beauty. The modern part of the city of El Jadida has developed around the landward side of the Mazagan fortress.

Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou

Morocco The ksar, a group of earthen buildings surrounded by high walls, is a traditional pre-Saharan habitat. The houses crowd together within the defensive walls, which are reinforced by corner towers. Ait-Ben-Haddou, in Ouarzazate province, is a striking example of the architecture of southern Morocco. Located in the foothills on the southern slopes of the High Atlas in the Province of Ouarzazate, the site of Ait-Ben-Haddou is the most famous ksar in the Ounila Valley.

Archaeological Site of Volubilis

Morocco Wilaya de Meknès - Province Meknès El Menzeh Meulay-Idriss Zerhoun The Mauritanian capital, founded in the 3rd century B.C., became an important outpost of the Roman Empire and was graced with many fine buildings. Extensive remains of these survive in the archaeological site, located in a fertile agricultural area. Volubilis was later briefly to become the capital of Idris I, founder of the Idrisid dynasty, who is buried at nearby Moulay Idris. easily defensible location at the foot of the Jebel Zerhoun. on the banks of Wadi Khoumane that runs round part of the site.

Historic City of Meknes

Morocco region centre sud, Wilaya de Meknes Geographically, it is remarkably located in the Saïss Plain between the Middle Atlas and the pre-rifan massif of Zerhoun. The name Meknes goes back to the Meknassa, the great Berber tribe that dominated eastern Morocco as far back as the Tafilliet and which produced Moulay Idriss I, founder of the Moroccan state and the Idrissid dynasty in the 8th century AD. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids as a military settlement, Meknes became a capital under Sultan Moulay Ismaïl (1672-1727), the founder of the Alawite dynasty

Mount Sanqingshan National Park

Mount Sanqingshan National Park, a 22,950 ha property located in the west of the Huyaiyu mountain range in the northeast of Jiangxi Province (in the east of central China) has been inscribed for its exceptional scenic quality, marked by the concentration of fantastically shaped pillars and peaks: 48 granite peaks and 89 granite pillars, many of which resemble human or animal silhouettes.

Mount Wutai

Mount Wutai, literally, 'the five terrace mountain', is the highest in Northern China and is remarkable for its morphology of precipitous slopes with five open treeless peaks. Temples have been built on this site from the 1st century AD to the early 20th century. According to the Records of Mount Qingliang, written by Buddhist master Zhencheng in the Ming Dynasty, the first temple built on Mount Wutai was created by the order of the Han Emperor in AD 68. This was at the time when India Buddhist masters visited China to promote Buddhism. They considered that in terms of topography Mount Wutai was identical to the Vulture Peak (Rajgir, India), where Sakyamuni lectured on the Lotus sutra.

Island of Mozambique

Mozambique Ilha de Mocambique District, Nampula Province The fortified city of Mozambique is located on this island, a former Portuguese trading-post on the route to India. Inhabited by a Bantu tribe, the territory of Mozambique was occupied around AD 900 by Arabs who set up trading posts. In their search for a maritime route to India to avoid Muslim forces, the Portuguese decided to go around the continent of Africa. King John II (1481-95) sent Bartolomeu Dias to explore the African coast. Sailing beyond the coast of the Congolese kingdom, the great navigator rounded the extreme southern tip of Africa, unaware of the feat he had accomplished. It was not until his return that he discovered the 'Cape of Storms', which John II renamed Cape of Good Hope.

Chitwan National Park

Nepal Chitwan District of the Narayani Zone Royal Chitwan National Park lies in the lowlands or Inner Terai of southern central Nepal on the international border with India. The park covers 932 km2 of subtropical lowland, wedged between two east-west river valleys at the base of the Siwalik range of the outer Himalayas. Chitwan is situated in a river valley basin or dun, along the flood plains of the Rapti, Reu and Narayani rivers. The Narayani is also called the Gandaki and is the third-largest river in Nepal. It originates in the high Himalaya and, drains into the Bay of Bengal.

Kathmandu Valley

Nepal Kathmandu Valley The valley embraces most of Nepal's ethnic groups, but Newars are the indigenous inhabitants and the creators of the valley's splendid civilization. Kathmandu Valley is composed of seven Monumental Zones with three historical palaces within their essential urban settings (Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur), two Hindu centres (Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan ), and two Buddhist centres (Swayambunath and Boudhanath ). Lalitpur or Patan, just across the holy Bagmati River about 14 km east of Kathmandu city, is a fabulous city of great historic and cultural interest. Bhaktapur (Bhadgaon) is situated at an altitude of 1,401 m. Shaped liked a conch-shell, Bhaktapur means the 'city of devotees'. Pashupatinath, 5 km north-east of Kathmandu Valley, is one of the most important Hindu temples. It is Nepal's most sacred Hindu shrines and one of the subcontinent's greatest Shiva sites, a sprawling collection of temples, ashrams, images and inscriptions raised over the centuries along the banks of the sacred Bagmati river.

Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha

Nepal Lumbini Zone, Rupandehi District, Western Terai The Lord Buddha, known as the Tathagata, was born in 623 BC in the sacred area of Lumbini located in the Terai plains of southern Nepal, testified by the inscription on the pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Asoka in 249 BC. Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from as early as the 3rd century BC. The Shakya Prince Siddharta Gautama, better known as the Lord Buddha, was born to Queen Mayadevi, wife of King Suddodhana, ruler of Kapilavastu, in 623 BC at the famous gardens of Lumbini, while she was on a journey from her husband's capital of Tilaurakot to her family home in Devadaha

Sagarmatha National Park

Nepal Solu-Khumbu District of the Sagarmatha Zone Including the highest point on the Earth's Surface, Mount Sagarmatha (Everest; 8,848 m) and an elevation range of 6,000 m Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) covers an area of 124,400 hectares in the Solu-Khumbu district of Nepal. The property hosts over 20 villages with over 6000 Sherpas who have inhabited the region for the last four centuries. The park encompasses the upper catchments of the Dudh Kosi River system, which is fan-shaped and forms a distinct geographical unit enclosed on all sides by high mountain ranges. The northern boundary is defined by the main divide of the Great Himalayan Range, which follows the international border with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. In the south, the boundary extends almost as far as Monjo. This is a dramatic area of high, geologically young mountains and glaciers. The deeply-incised valleys cut through sedimentary rocks and underlying granites to drain southwards into the Dudh Kosi and its tributaries, which form part of the Ganges River system. The upper catchments of these rivers are fed by glaciers at the head of four main valleys, Chhukhung, Khumbu, Gokyo and Nangpa La. Lakes occur in the upper reaches, notably in the Gokyo Valley, where a number are impounded by the lateral moraine of the Ngozumpa Glacier (at 20 km the longest glacier in the park). There are seven peaks over 7,000 m.

Rietveld Schröderhuis (Rietveld Schröder House)

Netherlands City and Province of Utrecht The Rietveld Schröderhuis in Utrecht was commissioned by Ms Truus Schröder-Schräder, designed by the architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, and built in 1924. This small one-family house, with its flexible interior spatial arrangement, and visual and formal qualities, was a manifesto of the ideals of the De Stijl group of artists and architects in the Netherlands in the 1920s, and has since been considered one of the icons of the Modern Movement in architecture.

Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

Netherlands Municipalities of Alblasserdam and Nieuw-Lekkerland, Province of Zuid-Holland It is located in the north-western comer of the Alblasserwaard. It drained the internal drainage districts of De Overwaard and De Nederwaard until 1950, when the mills were closed. The 19 mills that form this group of monuments are all in operating condition. The Alblasserwaard is bounded by the rivers Lek to the north, Merwede to the south, and Noord to the south. The properties consist of discharge sluices, Water Board Assembly Houses, pumping stations, and brick and wooden mills. Owing to changed technical requirements, the discharge sluices were reduced to two and reconstructed in the mid-1980s.

Droogmakerij de Beemster (Beemster Polder)

Netherlands Province of Noord-Holland The Beemster Polder is a cultural landscape located north of Amsterdam, dating from the early 17th century, and an exceptional example of reclaimed land in the Netherlands. It was created by the draining of Lake Beemster in 1612, in order to develop new agricultural land and space for country residences, and to combat flooding in this low-lying region. It also provided a means for capital investment in land. Other earlier land reclamation had taken place, but technical improvements in windmill technology permitted more ambitious undertakings. The Beemster Polder was the first large project covering an area of 7,208 hectares. Today it is a well-ordered agricultural landscape of fields, roads, canals, dykes and settlements.

W National Park of Niger

Niger Départment de Tillaberi, arrondisement de Say The 'W' National Park, so named because of the local configuration of the Niger River (220,000 ha), is located in a transition zone between Sudan and Guinea savannahs and contiguous to 'W' National Parks in both Burkina Faso and Benin, and the Reserve de Faune de Tamou to the north. Shrub savannah is the most widespread vegetation type occurring on shallow infertile soils. W hosts ecosystems representing the interaction between natural resources and humans since Neolithic times. This interaction has produced characteristic landscapes and plant formations and represents the evolution of biodiversity in the Sudan-Sahelian biome.

Historic Centre of Agadez

Niger Known as the gateway to the desert, Agadez, on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries when the Sultanate of Aïr was established and Touareg tribes were sedentarized in the city, respecting the boundaries of old encampments, which gave rise to a street pattern still in place today. The historic centre of the city, an important crossroads of the caravan trade, is divided into 11 quarters with irregular shapes

Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

Netherlands The historic urban ensemble of the canal district of Amsterdam was a project for a new 'port city' built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. It comprises a network of canals to the west and south of the historic old town and the medieval port that encircled the old town and was accompanied by the repositioning inland of the city's fortified boundaries, the Singelgracht. This was a long-term programme that involved extending the city by draining the swampland, using a system of canals in concentric arcs and filling in the intermediate spaces. These spaces allowed the development of a homogeneous urban ensemble including gabled houses and numerous monuments. This urban extension was the largest and most homogeneous of its time. It was a model of large-scale town planning, and served as a reference throughout the world until the 19th century. In the 13th century Amsterdam was a small fishing village on the banks of the Amstel River and its mouth on the IJ, an arm of the Zuiderzee inlet. The name comes from the combination of Amstel and Dam, the latter word indicating a dyke or dam built to hold back the sea. This earth levee was also used to carry traffic and was extended by a bridge over the Amstel, made toll-free by a decision of the Count of Holland, Floris V. Amsterdam was proclaimed a city in 1306, and by the end of the Middle Ages it had become an important centre for maritime trade in northern Holland as its port developed on the river mouth.

Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curaçao

Netherlands The people of the Netherlands established a trading settlement at a fine natural harbour on the Caribbean island of Curaçao in 1634. The town developed continuously over the following centuries. The modern town consists of several distinct historic districts whose architecture reflects not only European urban-planning concepts but also styles from the Netherlands and from the Spanish and Portuguese colonial towns with which Willemstad engaged in trade.Willemstad stands out for the diversity in the historical morphology of its four historic districts (Punda, Otrobanda, Pietermaai and Scharloo), separated by the open waters of a natural harbour. This area consists of a core area of Sint Anna Bay and part of the Caribbean Sea, Punda and most of Otrobanda, and two transmission areas, consisting of the urban districts of Pietermaai, Scharloo and Kortijn.

New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands

New Zealand New Zealand Subantartic zone The New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands consist of five island groups (the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island) in the Southern Ocean south-east, between latitudes 47o and 53o south, of New Zealand. The islands lie on the shallow continental shelf and three of the groups are eroded remnants of Pliocene volcanoes. The islands, lying between the Antarctic and Subtropical Convergences and the seas, have a high level of productivity, biodiversity, wildlife population densities and endemism among birds, plants and invertebrates.

Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand

New Zealand Southwest of South Island Located in the south-west corner of New Zealand's' South Island, Te Wähipounamu - South West New Zealand covers 10% of New Zeland's landmass (2.6 million hectares) and is spread over a 450km strip extending inland 40 - 90km from the Tasman Sea. The property exhibits many classic examples of the tectonic, climatic, and glacial processes that have shaped the earth. The great Alpine Fault divides the region and marks the contact zone of the Indo-Australian and Pacific continental plates making it one of only three segments of the world's major plate boundaries on land. Collision between the two tectonic plates constructs the main mountain range, known as the Southern Alps/Kä Tiritiri o te Moana, which rise to nearly 4 000m altitude within a mere 30km from the sea.

Tongariro National Park

New Zealand Tongariro National Park is situated on the central North Island volcanic plateau. The boundary encircles the Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro mountain massif at an altitude of 500-1,550 m. An outlier, 3 km north of the main park area and separated from it by Lake Rotoaira, includes Lake Rotopounamu, Mount Pihanga and Mount Kakaramea. The park lies at the southern end of a discontinuous 2,500 km chain of volcanoes that extends north-east into the Pacific. The mountains at the heart of the park have cultural and religious significance for the Maori people and symbolize the spiritual links between this community and its environment. MT NGAURUHOE Mt. Ngauruhoe is New Zealand's newest and historically most active volcano.(pic) MT TONGARIRO The famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing tracks over the volcanic massif of Mt Tongariro. MT RUAPEHU Mt Ruapehu has two of the largest ski fields in New Zealand, with Whakapapa the larger.

León Cathedral

Nicaragua Constructed between 1747 and the early 19th century, León Cathedral merges a basilica rectangular layout of Spanish derivation with regional architectural proportions and features. Stylistically, the monument shows the transition from late Baroque to Neo-Classic with sober decoration. León Cathedral exceptionally illustrates the Antigua Guatemala Baroque architectural style and, in its combination of Spanish art and regional features, shaped by the geographical environment and the groups that supported its erection, is a material expression of the formation of the Latin American society.

Ruins of León Viejo

Nicaragua Puerto Momotombo, Municipality of La Paz Centro, Department of León The Ruins of León Viejo are located near the town of Puerto Momotombo opposite the volcano of the same name, at the western end of Lake Managua, itself located 68 km from the capital of Managua. The archaeological site includes all vestiges unearthed to date and the surrounding area. The Ruins of León Viejo are an exceptional testimony of the first European settlements in the New World. Founded in 1524 by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, during its short history, the city has undergone a series of natural disasters. Partially destroyed by the Momotombo volcano that irrupted in 1578, the earthquake of 1610 struck the final blow by destroying what remained standing. The decision was taken to move the city and to rebuild it six leagues away

Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves

Niger Départment d'Agades, arrondissement d'Arlit Situated in the Saharan region of Niger, approximately 160 km north-east of Agadez, the reserve includes a smaller core area integral reserve called Sanctuaire des Addax. The Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves is one of the largest protected areas in Africa, covering 7,736,000 hectares. It is the last bastion of Saharo-Sahelian wildlife in Niger. It comprises two main zones : the mountain massifs of Aïr rising up to 2000 m in altitude and the vast plain of the Ténéré desert. In the heart of a desert environment, the Aïr represents a small pocket of Sahelian plant life with Sudanese and Saharo-Mediterranean elements.

Sukur Cultural Landscape

Nigeria Madagali Local Government Area, Adamawa State Sukur is located in Madagali local government area of Adamawa state of Nigeria along Nigeria/ Cameroon border, some 290 km from Yola, the Adamawa state capital of north eastern Nigeria. It is a hilltop settlement which stood at an elevation of 1045 m. The total land area covered by the site is 1942.50 ha with core zone having 764.40 ha and the buffer zone 1178.10 ha respectively. Sukur is an ancient settlement with a recorded history of iron smelting technology, flourishing trade, and strong political institution dating back to the 16th century.

Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove

Nigeria Osogbo, Osun State The grove covers 75 ha of ring-fenced forest alongside the Osun River on the outskirts of Osogbo town, Western Nigeria. The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove, on the outskirts of the city of Osogbo, is one of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Osun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods, the landscape of the grove and its meandering river is dotted with sanctuaries and shrines, sculptures and art works in honour of Osun and other deities. The sacred grove, which is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, is probably the last in Yoruba culture. It testifies to the once widespread practice of establishing sacred groves outside all settlements.

Bryggen

Norway City of Bergen, County of Hordaland Bryggen is a historic harbour district in Bergen, one of North Europe's oldest port cities on the west coast of Norway which was established as a centre for trade by the 12th century. In 1350 the Hanseatic League established a "Hanseatic Office" in Bergen. They gradually acquired ownership of Bryggen and controlled the trade in stockfish from Northern Norway through privileges granted by the Crown. The Hanseatic League established a total of four overseas Hanseatic Offices, Bryggen being the only one preserved today. Founded in about 1070 by King Olav the Peaceful (Olav Kyrre), the port of Bergen was initially a possession of the old Norwegian aristocracy that had acquired a monopoly on fish trading. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape due to fires.

West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord

Norway Counties of Møre & Romsdal and Sogn & Fjordane Situated in south-western Norway, north-east of Bergen, Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, set 120 km from one another, are part of the west Norwegian fjord landscape, which stretches from Stavanger in the south to Andalsnes, 500 km to the north-east. The two fjords, among the world's longest and deepest, are considered as archetypical fjord landscapes and among the most scenically outstanding anywhere. Their exceptional natural beauty is derived from their narrow and steep-sided crystalline rock walls that rise up to 1,400 m from the Norwegian Sea and extend 500 m below sea level.

Vegaøyan -- The Vega Archipelago

Norway Nordland, Vega The Vega Archipelago reflects the way generations of fishermen/farmers have, over the past 1,500 years, maintained a sustainable living in an inhospitable seascape near the Arctic Circle, based on the now unique practice of eider-down harvesting, and it also celebrates the contribution made by women to the eider-down process. The site is the major part of the Vega archipelago, a seascape made up of more than 6,500 islands, islets and 'skerries', and surrounding shallow water. It is an exposed landscape of sea and land, with many low, almost treeless islands dotting the surface of the sea against a backdrop of dramatic coastal mountains.

Røros Mining Town and the Circumference

Norway Røros Mining Town and the Circumference consist of three sites within the Circumference, i.e. the area of privileges awarded by the Danish-Norwegian King to Røros Copper Works in 1646. Røros Mining Town and the Circumference is linked to the copper mines, established in the 17th century and exploited for 333 years until 1977. The site comprises the Town and its industrial-rural cultural landscapes; Femundshytta, a smelter with its associated area; and the Winter Transport Route. The town and the cultural landscapes cover a large continuous area which includes the landscape surrounding the mining town, the urban agricultural areas, and the most important mining landscapes where agricultural practices and copper work operations were carried out.

Urnes Stave Church

Norway The wooden church of Urnes (the stavkirke) stands in the natural setting of Sogn og Fjordane. Urnes Stave Church is situated on a promontory in the remarkable Sognefjord on the west coast of Norway. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and is an outstanding example of traditional Scandinavian wooden architecture. It brings together traces of Celtic art, Viking traditions and Romanesque spatial structures.

Arabian Oryx Sanctuary Delisted 2007

Oman Central Region The World Heritage Committee deleted the property because of Oman's decision to reduce the size of the protected area by 90%, in contravention of the Operational Guidelines of the Convention. This was seen by the Committee as destroying the outstanding universal value of the site which was inscribed in 1994. In 1996, the population of the Arabian Oryx in the site, was at 450 but it has since dwindled to 65 with only about four breeding pairs making its future viability uncertain. This decline is due to poaching and habitat degradation. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary is an area within the Central Desert and Coastal Hills biogeographical regions of Oman.

Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman

Oman Dakhiliya, Sharqiya and Batinah Regions The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground sources or springs to support agriculture and domestic use. Numerous watchtowers built to defend the water systems form part of the site reflecting the historic dependence of communities on the aflaj system. Threatened by falling level of the underground water table, the aflaj represent an exceptionally well-preserved form of land use.

Bahla Fort

Oman Oasis of Bahla, 25 km west of Nazwa The immense, ruined Bahla Fort, with its walls and towers of mud brick on stone foundations and the adjacent Friday Mosque with its decoratively sculpted prayer niche (mihrab) dominate the surrounding mud brick settlement and palm grove. The fort and settlement, a mud-walled oasis in the Omani desert, owed its prosperity to the Banu Nebhan tribe (Nabahina), who dominated the central Omani region and made Bahla their capital from the 12th to the end of the 15th century. From there they established relationships with other tribal groups of the interior. Bahla was the centre of Ibadism (a branch of Islam), on which the ancient Omani Imamates were based and whose influence can be traced across Arabia, Africa and beyond.

Rohtas Fort

Pakistan Jhelum City, Punjab Rohtas is a complex of defensive works surrounding a small hill alongside the Kahan River. Qila Rohtas (Rohtas Fort) was built in 1541-43, at a strategic site on a high plain in the north of what is now Pakistan after the Mughal Emperor Humayun was expelled after his defeat at Chausa by Sher Khan, who was to take the name Sher Shah Suri. The fort was built to control the hostile local people, the Ghakkars, and as a precaution against the return of Humayuu, an event which did not take place until ten years after the death of Sher Shah in 1545, when it was surrendered by its Governor, Tatar Khan Kasi, WithOUt resistance. Its name derives from Rohtasgarh, the site of Sher Shah's victory in 1539 over a Hindu power. After falling to the Mughal invaders, the Fort continued in use until the reign of Aurangzeb (d 1707)

Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Neighbouring City Remains at Sahr-i-Bahlo

Pakistan North West Frontier Province The Buddhist monastic complex of Takht-i-Bahi (Throne of Origins) is situated on top of a 152 m high hill, about 80 km from Peshawar and 16 km north-west of the city of Mardan. It was founded in the early 1st century AD, and was successively occupied and expanded from that time until it fell into disuse through the discontinuation of charitable endowments in modern times. Owing to its location on the crest of a hill, it escaped the invasions of the Huns and other antagonistic peoples, leaving it today with much of its original character intact. The name Takht-i-Bahi derives from the spring on the hilltop and is literally translated as 'Spring Throne'

Taxila

Pakistan Province of Punjab Taxila lies 30 km north-west of Rawalpindi on the Grand Trunk Road. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Asia. Situated strategically on a branch of the Silk Road that linked China to the West, the city flourished both economically and culturally. Taxila reached its apogee between the 1st and 5th centuries AD. Buddhist monuments were erected throughout the Taxila valley, which was transformed into a religious heartland and a destination for pilgrims from as far afield as Central Asia and China. That Taxila was very famous can be deduced from the fact that it is mentioned in several languages. In Sanskrit, the city was called Takshaçila (Prince of the Serpent Tribe); in Pâli it was known as Takkasilâ; the Greeks knew the town as Taxila, which the Romans rendered as Taxilla; the Chinese called it Chu-ch'a-shi-lo. Taxila is a vast complex of ruins, some 30 km north-west of modern Islamabad, which includes a Mesolithic cave (Khanpur cave), four settlement sites (Saraidala, Bhir, Sirkap and Sirsukh), a number of Buddhist monasteries of various periods and above Giri, Muslim mosques and madrasas of the medieval period. The Bhir mound is the earliest historic city of Taxila and was probably founded in the 6th century BC by the Achaemenids

Historical Monuments at Makli, Thatta

Pakistan Province of Sind Near the apex of the delta of the Indus River in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh is an enormous cemetery possessing half a million tombs and graves in an area of about 10 km2. Massed at the edge of the 6.5 km-long plateau of Makli Hill, the necropolis of Makli - which was associated with the nearby city of Thatta, once a capital and centre of Islamic culture - testifies in an outstanding manner to the civilization of the Sindh from the 14th to the 18th centuries.

Rock Islands Southern Lagoon

Palau The Rock Islands Southern Lagoon consists of numerous large and small forested limestone islands, scattered within a marine lagoon protected by a barrier reef. The property lies within Koror State, immediately to the south of Palau's main volcanic island Babeldaob in the western Pacific Ocean. Rock Islands Southern Lagoon covers 100,200 ha and includes 445 uninhabited limestone islands of volcanic origin. Many of them display unique mushroom-like shapes in turquoise lagoons surrounded by coral reefs. The aesthetic beauty of the site is heightened by a complex reef system featuring over 385 coral species and different types of habitat.

Battir

Palestine Land of Olives and Vines - Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem This site is located a few kilometres south-west of Jerusalem, in the Central Highlands between Nablus and Hebron. The Battir hill landscape comprises a series of farmed valleys, known as widian, with characteristic stone terraces, some of which are irrigated for market garden production, while others are dry and planted with grapevines and olive trees. The development of terrace farming in such a mountainous region is supported by a network of irrigation channels fed by underground sources. A traditional system of distribution is then used to share the water collected through this network between families from the nearby village of Battir.

Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem

Palestine Bethlehem lies 10 kilometres south of the city of Jerusalem, in the fertile limestone hill country of the Holy Land. Since at least the 2nd century AD people have believed that the place where the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, now stands is where Jesus was born. One particular cave, over which the first Church was built, is traditionally believed to be the Birthplace itself. In locating the Nativity, the place both marks the beginnings of Christianity and is one of the holiest spots in Christendom. The original basilica church of 339 AD (St Helena), parts of which survive below ground, was arranged so that its octagonal eastern end surrounded, and provided a view of, the cave. This church is overlaid by the present Church of the Nativity, essentially of the mid-6th century AD (Justinian), though with later alterations. It is the oldest Christian church in daily use

Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá

Panama Panama' Province, Panama' District Panama City, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the Pacific coast of the Americas, was founded in 1519, as a consequence of the discovery by the Spanish of the South Sea in 1513. The archaeological remains of the original settlement (known today as the Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo) include the Pre-Columbian vestiges of the Cuevan aboriginal occupation of the same name, and currently encompass a protected heritage site covering 32 ha. In 1673 the city was moved some 7.5 km southeast, to a small peninsula at the foot of Ancón hill, closer to the islands that were used as the port and near the mouth of a river that eventually became the entrance of the Panama Canal. The relocated town, known today as Casco Antiguo or the Historic District of Panama, not only had better access to fresh water but could be fortified

Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo

Panama Province of Colon - Distric of Cristobal The Fortifications on the Caribbean side of Panamá: Portobelo and San Lorenzo are located along the coast of the Province of Colón. There are diverse fortification sites around the Bay of Portobelo, denominated San Fernando fortifications: The group of 17th- and 18th-century fortifications, the historic sites of Portobelo and San Lorenzo, are outstanding examples of Spanish colonial military architecture of this period. These fortifications, imbued with history, are a magnificent example of Spanish military architecture, located in a natural setting of great beauty.

Darien National Park

Panama Province of Darien Darien National Park is located in the Province of Darien to the east of Santa Fe and the Gulf of San Miguel. It extends along about 80% of the Colombian border and includes part of the Pacific coast. The Darién, Sapo, Jungurudo and Pirre mountain ranges are found within the site as well as the Jurado mountain chain and basins of the Tuira, Balsas, Sambu, Jaqué rivers and part of the Chucunaque River. Access is by river and heavy truck. The area has been under protection since 1972, with the establishment of Alto Darién Protection Forest and was declared a national park on 1980. This park is in a unique geographical position, as it forms a land-bridge between the Central and South American continents. It has emerged from below sea level on several occasions, the most recent being in the early Pleistocene. The Pacific tides influence the Chucunaque and Tuira rivers for many kilometres inland. Natural erosion has resulted in numerous landslides with deep cuts and gorges.

Kuk Early Agricultural Site

Papua New Guinea Until around 100 years ago the Kuk wetlands were farmed traditionally with bananas and root crops grown on land drained by ditches and around the margins of the valley grassland burned periodically to encourage good grazing for animals. This latter practice persisted until the 1930s when Europeans arrived to prospect for gold and as missionaries. The first coffee and tea plantations followed quickly after the access road had been created in the 1950s. In 1968 the Kuk swamp was leased from the Kawelkas people for 99 years by the Australian colonial administration and a research station was established first for tea and later for other crops. The swamp was drained with parallel drainage trenches across the landscape, and eucalyptus trees planted along parallel roads between experimental plots.

Chavin (Archaeological Site)

Peru Ancash Department, Huari Province, Chavin District The archaeological site of Chavin gave its name to the culture that developed between the 15th and the 5th century BC in this high valley of the Peruvian Andes, in the province of Huari, department of Ancash. Chavin was a ceremonial and pilgrimage centre for the Andean religious world and hosted people from different latitudes, distances and languages, becoming an important centre of ideological, cultural and religious convergence and dissemination around a cult spread over a wide territory of the Andes, as far as the north, central and south coasts, the northern highlands and high jungle of Peru.

City of Cuzco

Peru City of Cuzco The City of Cuzco, at 3,400 m above sea level, is located in a fertile alluvial valley fed by several rivers in the heart of the Central Peruvian Andes of South America. Under the rule of Inca Pachacuteq (Tito Cusi Inca Yupanqui), in the 15th century, the city was redesigned and remodelled after a pre-Inca occupation process of over 3,000 years, and became the capital of the Tawantinsuyu Inca Empire, which covered much of the South American Andes between the 15th and 16th centuries AD.

Historic Centre of Lima

Peru City of Lima The Historic Centre of Lima, known as the "Ciudad de los Reyes" (City of Kings), is located in the Rimac valley, and was founded by Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro in January 1535 on the territories led by the Chiefdom of Rimac. Lima was the political, administrative, religious and economic capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the most important city of the Spanish dominions in South America. The city played a leading role in the history of the New World from 1542 to the 18th century when the creation of the Viceroyalties of New Granada (1718) and of La Plata (1777) gradually put an end to the omnipotence of the oldest Spanish colony on South America.

Manú National Park

Peru Dep. Madre de Dios y Cusco, Provincias: Manu y Paucartambo The biological diversity found in Manú National Park exceeds that of any other place on Earth. The park is located in the provinces of Manú and Paucartambo, comprising lands on the eastern slopes of the Andes and the Peruvian Amazon. The area is situated within the Amazon River basin and protects almost the entire watershed of the River Manú and most of the tributaries of the River Alto Madre de Dios. Alluvial plains are found along the rivers where sediments may be deposited on a seasonal basis. The hills occupy the lowlands between the rivers and are relatively small with slopes, forming an undulating topography, which covers much of the park. The park is inhabited by at least four different native groups: the Machiguenga, the Mascho-Piro, the Yaminahua and the Amahuaca.

Huascarán National Park

Peru Department Ancash, Provincia: recuay, Carhuas, Huaráz, Yungay, Pomabamba, Mariscal Luzuriaga, Huari, Corongo, Sihuas y Bolognesi Huascarán National Park is located in the Cordillera Blanca Range, in the Sierra Central of the Peruvian Andes. The park covers the most of the Cordillera Blanca, the highest tropical mountain range in the world. It has 27 snow-capped peaks 6,000 m above sea level, of which El Huascarán (6,768 m) is the highest.

Río Abiseo National Park

Peru Department of San Martin, Province Mariscal Caceres, District of Huicungo Situated in the Andes mountain chain (Cordillera Oriental de los Andes), to the east of Huicungo on the Amazon slope of the Peruviar Andes, the park is located at a crossroads between the Marañon and Huallaga rivers. Founded in 1983, it encompasses the entire Abiseo River basin.The topography is mountainous, with very acidic soils and slopes often greater than 50%. Almost all the Rio Abiseo soils are characterized by never having been disturbed by agriculture or timber extraction.Research undertaken since 1985 has already uncovered 36 previously unknown archaeological sites at altitudes of between 2,500 and 4,000 m, which give a good picture of pre-Inca society.

Chan Chan Archaeological Zone

Peru District of Huanchaco The Chimu Kingdom reached its apogee in the 15th century, not long before falling to the Incas. Its capital Chan Chan, located in the once fertile river valley of Moche or Santa Catalina, was the largest earthen architecture city in pre-Columbian America. The Chimu kingdom reached its zenith in the 15th century, not long before falling under the sway of the Incas. In about 1470, after a long war, the Inca Tupac Yupanqui took King Minchancaman in captivity to Cuzco. The king's son, Chumun Caur, governed the kingdom of the north, thereafter weakened and divided, on behalf of the Inca. Some 60 years later, the Spanish conquistadores, favourably welcomed by the Chimus out of hate for the Incas, founded a new capital 5 km from Chan Chan which in 1535 was given the name of Pizarro's home town, Trujillo, when the site of Chan Chan was quickly abandoned.

Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu

Peru Embedded within a dramatic landscape at the meeting point between the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon Basin, the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is among the greatest artistic, architectural and land use achievements anywhere and the most significant tangible legacy of the Inca civilization. Recognized for outstanding cultural and natural values, the mixed World Heritage property covers 32,592 hectares of mountain slopes, peaks and valleys surrounding its heart, the spectacular archaeological monument of "La Ciudadela" (the Citadel) at more than 2,400 meters above sea level. Built in the fifteenth century Machu Picchu was abandoned when the Inca Empire was conquered by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. It was not until 1911 that the archaeological complex was made known to the outside world.

Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana

Peru Libertadores / Wari Region Located in the arid Peruvian coastal plain, some 400 km south of Lima, the geoglyphs of Nasca and the pampas of Jumana cover about 450 km2 . Intensive study of the geoglyphs and comparison with other manifestations of contemporary art forms suggests that they can be divided into three chronological phases. The first dates from the Chavin period (500-300 BC) and is characterized by the technique of forming figures by piling stones. This was an important period for cultural developments in the Andean region, with strong influence exerted in the lea region from the north by the Formative Middle Late Culture. The local development known as Paracas represents the second phase (400-200 BC), again strongly influenced from the north. The town of Paracas adapted its culture skillfully to its severe geographical location and>achieved a high level of artistic development. The third phase, which represents the great majority of the geoglyphs, is the Nazca phase proper (200 BC-AD 500). The Nazca culture derived directly from that of Paracas. The Andean towns developed a powerful religious system which produced, along with Moche on the northern coast of Peru, an outstanding culture represented by its handicrafts (notably pottery) and textiles. Most of the geoglyphs of this period are located close to villages of this culture, such as La Quebrada del Frayle, Cahuachi, Palpa, and lngenio, concentrated in Pampa de Jumana.

Sacred City of Caral-Supe

Peru The 5000-year-old 626-hectare archaeological site of The Sacred City of Caral-Supe is situated on a dry desert terrace overlooking the green valley of the Supe river. It dates back to the Late Archaic Period of the Central Andes and is the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas. A quipu (the knot system used in Andean civilizations to record information) found on the site testifies to the development and complexity of Caral society.

Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras

Philippines Ifugao Province, Cordillera Region, Luzon Island The Ifugao Rice Terraces: The five inscribed clusters are; (i) the Nagacadan terrace cluster in the municipality of Kiangan, a rice terrace cluster manifested in two distinct ascending rows of terraces bisected by a river; (ii) the Hungduan terrace cluster that uniquely emerges into a spider web; (iii) the central Mayoyao terrace cluster which is characterized by terraces interspersed with traditional farmers' bale (houses) and alang (granaries); (iv) the Bangaan terrace cluster in the municipality of Banaue that backdrops a typical Ifugao traditional village; and (v) the Batad terrace cluster of the municipality of Banaue that is nestled in amphitheatre-like semi-circular terraces with a village at its base.

Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park

Philippines Palawan Province It is located in the south-western part of the Philippine Archipelago on the mid western coast of Palawan, approximately 76 km northwest of Puerto Princesa and 360 km southwest of Manila. This park features a spectacular limestone karst landscape with an underground river. The underground river (the Cabayugan River) arises approximately 2 km south-west of Mount Saint Paul at an altitude of 100 m, and flows underground for almost its entire length to an outflow into St Paul's Bay, directly into the sea, and its lower portion is subject to tidal influences. All rivers and associated tributaries are within the park, which is important in relation to catchments impacts on the water quality of the Cabayugan River. The area also represents a significant habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full 'mountain-to-sea' ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia.

Historic Town of Vigan

Philippines Province of Ilocos Sur The town is located in the delta of the Abra River, off the coastal plain of the China Sea, close to the north-east tip of the island of Luzon. The present-day municipality divided into nine urban districts and thirty rural villages. Almost half the total area is still in use for agriculture. The Historic Core Zone is defined on two sides by the Govantes and Mestizo rivers. Established in the 16th century, Vigan is the best-preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia. Its architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from elsewhere in the Philippines, from China and from Europe, resulting in a culture and townscape that have no parallel anywhere in East and South-East Asia.

Historic Centre of Kraków

Poland City and County of Cracow, Lesser Poland (Malopolska) Voivodship The historic centre of Cracow, the former capital of Poland, is situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The 13th-century merchants' town has Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with magnificent interiors. Further evidence of the town's fascinating history is provided by the remnants of the 14th-century fortifications and the medieval site of Kazimierz with its ancient synagogues in the southern part of town, the Jagellonian University, and the Gothic cathedral where the kings of Poland were buried. The old city is separated from the old district of Kazimierz. Until the 1880 Diet Kazimierz was an island, forming the Jewish quarter of Cracow. As in every city, Jewish culture enriched Cracow, until in the Second World War the entire Jewish community of 64,000 individuals was deported to the nearby concentration camps at Auschwitz; only 6,000 returning at the end of the war.

Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork

Poland City and County of Malbork, Pomeranian Voivodship (formerly Elblag Voivodship) The spectacular fortress represents the phenomenon of the monastic state in Prussia, founded in the 13th century and developed in the 14th century by the German communities of military monks who carried out crusades against the pagan Prussians on the south Baltic coast. The fortified monastery on a peninsula on the right bank the River Nogat represents the drama of Christianity in the late Middle Ages, stretched between extremes of sanctity and violence. This 13th-century fortified monastery belonging to the Teutonic Order was substantially enlarged and embellished after 1309, when the seat of the Grand Master moved here from Venice

Medieval Town of Toruń

Poland City and County of Toruń, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship Toruń is situated in the region known in the Middle Ages as the Land of Chelmno (Terra Culmensis ). It was granted a town charter in 1233; a fort had been built in the early medieval period to the south-east of the town, facing the river, and this was rebuilt in the mid-13th century by the Teutonic Order. The original function of Toruń was a base for the conquest and colonization of Prussia.

Historic Centre of Warsaw

Poland City and County of Warsaw, Masovian Voivodship During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85% of Warsaw's historic centre was destroyed by Nazi troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign by its citizens resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces and market-place. It is an outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century.

Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture

Portugal Azores Pico, uninhabited until the mid-15th century, is the second largest of the nine islands of the Azores; Pico Mountain (a stratovolcano) dominates the island. It reaches a height of 2,351 m above sea level, the highest point in Portugal. Part of the site is an actively farmed viticulture area immediately south of the island's main town, Madalena; to the north the area was formerly used for growing vines and figs but has since been largely abandoned and is now extensively covered by vegetation, mainly clumps of heather as much as several metres high. Within the Criação Velha area, traditional winegrowing continues, producing a sweet, much-prized and once widely exported desert wine called Verdelho.

Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska

Poland Gorlice, Nowy Targ, and Bochnia counties, Voivodship of Lesser Poland (Malopolskie); Brzozów County, Subcarpathian (Podkarpackie) Voivodship The wooden churches of southern Little Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. Built using the horizontal log technique, common in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages. The Church of the Archangel Michael (Binarowa) was built around 1500, with a roof of zaskrzynienia type. The Church of All Saints (Blizne) The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael (Haczow) The Church of St Peter and St Paul . The Church of St Leonard (Lipnica Murowana). The Church of St John the Baptist. The Church of St Philip and St James the Apostles (Sekowa). The Church of Archangel Michael of Szalowa

Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica

Poland Jawor and Świdnica counties, Lower Silesian (Dolnoslaskie) Voivodship The Thirty Years' War in Europe ended with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), which upheld the principle of cuius regio eius religio , i.e. the faith professed by the ruler was obligatory for his subjects. At that time Silesia was part of the Catholic Habsburg monarchy. In most of the province Protestants were persecuted and deprived of the right and possibility to practise their faith. Through the agency of the Lutheran king of Sweden, the emperor finally allowed (1651-52) the erection of three churches, henceforth known as the Churches of Peace, in Silesian principalities under direct Habsburg rule - in Głogów, which ceased to exist in the 18th century, Jawor, and Swidnica in the south-west part of present-day Poland.

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park

Poland Lesser Poland (Malopolska).Voivodship (formerly Bielsko-Biala) Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a breathtaking cultural landscape of great spiritual significance. Its natural setting - in which a series of symbolic places of worship relating to the Passion of Jesus Christ and the life of the Virgin Mary was laid out at the beginning of the 17th century --The layout was the work of the distinguished mathematician, astronomer, and surveyor Feliks Żebrowski. He based it on the landscape of Jerusalem at the time of Christ, using a system of measurement that he developed to enable the urban landscape of Jerusalem to be reproduced symbolically on the natural landscape. - has remained virtually unchanged. It is still today a place of pilgrimage. Work on building the Calvary was begun in 1600 by Mikolaj Zebrzydowski, the Voyevode of Cracow, who built the Chapel of the Crucifixion on the slopes of Żar Mountain. Together with a small hermitage, this was used by him for personal meditation

Auschwitz Birkenau

Poland Oswiecim County, Lesser Poland (Malopolska) Voivodship (formerly Bielsko-Biala) German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) Auschwitz-Birkenau was the principal and most notorious of the six concentration and extermination camps established by Nazi Germany to implement its Final Solution policy which had as its aim the mass murder of the Jewish people in Europe. Built in Poland under Nazi German occupation initially as a concentration camp for Poles and later for Soviet prisoners of war, it soon became a prison for a number of other nationalities. Between the years 1942-1944 it became the main mass extermination camp where Jews were tortured and killed for their so-called racial origins. In addition to the mass murder of well over a million Jewish men, women and children, and tens of thousands of Polish victims, Auschwitz also served as a camp for the racial murder of thousands of Roma and Sinti and prisoners of several European nationalities

Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines

Poland The Wieliczka and Bochnia salt mines are located on the same geological rock salt deposit in southern Poland. Situated close to each other, they were worked in parallel and continuously from the 13th century until the late 20th century, constituting one of the earliest and most important European industrial operations. The two mines, which over a long period were combined as one company with royal status (Kraków Saltworks), were administratively and technically run from Wieliczka Saltworks Castle, which dates from the medieval period, but has been rebuilt several times in the course of its history. The deposit of rock salt in Wieliczka and Bochnia has been mined since the 13th century. This major industrial undertaking has royal status and is the oldest of its type in Europe. The site is a serial property consisting of Wieliczka and Bochnia salt mines and Wieliczka Saltworks Castle.

Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde

Portugal Spain The two Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley (Portugal) and Siega Verde (Spain) are located on the banks of the rivers Agueda and Côa, tributaries of the river Douro, documenting continuous human occupation from the end of the Paleolithic Age. consisting of rocky cliffs carved by fluvial erosion and embedded in an isolated rural landscape in which hundreds of panels with thousands of animal figures (5,000 in Foz Côa, around 440 in Siega Verde) have been engraved over several millennia. The rock-art sites of Foz Côa and Siega Verde represent the most remarkable open-air ensemble of Palaeolithic art on the Iberian Peninsula within the same geographical region

Monastery of Alcobaça

Portugal Alcobaça - Leiria The founding of the Monastery of Alcobaça, located in central Portugal, is closely associated with the beginning of the Portuguese monarchy. When Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King Alfonso I in 1139, he based his political reconquest on the Crusaders and on religious orders. Alcobaça was given to the Cistercians in recognition of their support to the conquest of Santarem (1152) with the understanding that they would colonise and work the surrounding lands.

Monastery of Batalha

Portugal Batalha (Leiria) The Monastery of the Dominicans of Batalha was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over the Castilians at the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It was to be the Portuguese monarchy's main building project for the next two centuries. Here a highly original, national Gothic style evolved, profoundly influenced by Manueline art, as demonstrated by its masterpiece, the Royal Cloister.

Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém

Portugal City of Lisbon Standing at the entrance to Lisbon harbour, the Monastery of the Hieronymites - construction of which began in 1502 - exemplifies Portuguese art at its best. The nearby Tower of Belém, built to commemorate Vasco da Gama's expedition, is a reminder of the great maritime discoveries that laid the foundations of the modern world.

Alto Douro Wine Region

Portugal Douro Region, Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Wine has been produced by traditional landholders in the Alto Douro region for some 2,000 years. Since the 18th century, its main product, port wine, has been world famous for its quality. Protected from the harsh Atlantic winds by the Marão and Montemuro mountains, the property is located in the north-east of Portugal, between Barqueiros and Mazouco, on the Spanish border. The terraces, by blending into infinity with the curves of the countryside, endow this property with its unique character. The Douro and its principal tributaries, the Varosa, Corgo, Távora, Torto and Pinhão, form the backbone of the nominated property, itself defined by a succession of watersheds. The boundaries correspond to identifiable natural features of the landscape - watercourses, mountain ridges, roads and paths. The landscape in the Demarcated Region of the Douro is formed by steep hills and boxed-in valleys that flatten out into plateaux above 400 m.

Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications

Portugal Guarding the key border crossing between Portugal's capital Lisbon and Spain's capital Madrid, in an undulating, riverine landscape, the Garrison Town of Elvas was fortified extensively from the 17th to the 19th centuries to become the largest bulwarked dry ditch system in the world, with outlying forts built on surrounding hills to accommodate the changing needs of defensive warfare. The town was supplied with water by the 7km-long Amoreira Aqueduct, built in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and a key feature enabling the stronghold to withstand a lengthy siege

Historic Centre of Oporto

Portugal Northern region The city of Oporto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year history. Its continuous growth, linked to the sea (the Romans gave it the name Portus, or port), can be seen in the many and varied monuments, from the cathedral with its Romanesque choir, to the neoclassical Stock Exchange and the typically Portuguese Manueline-style Church of Santa Clara.

Historic Centre of Guimarães

Portugal Province of Minho, District of Braga Guimarães was situated on the most important early medieval route of communication connecting Monçao and Braga with Viseu and Caminha, the seat of the Portuguese (Portucalense) Counts from the 10th century. This urban settlement developed as a result of two forces, a monastery and a fort, one in the valley, the other on the hill, surrounded by two rivers. The town thus dominated the fertile plain that extended towards the sea. The two focal points continued growing in parallel until they were brought together within a single enclosure in the 13th and 14th centuries. The early history of Guimarães is closely associated with the forming of the national identity and the language of Portugal, being associated with the early Portuguese sovereigns.

Historic Centre of Évora

Portugal Province: Alentejo, District: Evora This museum-city, whose roots go back to Roman times, reached its golden age in the 15th century, when it became the residence of the Portuguese kings. Its unique quality stems from the whitewashed houses decorated with azulejos and wrought-iron balconies dating from the 16th to the 18th century. Its monuments had a profound influence on Portuguese architecture in Brazil. Évora is the finest example of a city of the golden age of Portugal after the destruction of Lisbon by the earthquake of 1755.

Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroismo in the Azores

Portugal Région autonome des Açores Situated on one of the islands in the Azores archipelago, this was an obligatory port of call from the 15th century until the advent of the steamship in the 19th century. The 400-year-old San Sebastião and San João Baptista fortifications are unique examples of military architecture. Damaged by an earthquake in 1980, Angra is now being restored.

Cultural Landscape of Sintra

Portugal Sintra/Serra The cultural landscape of the Serra and the town of Sintra represents a pioneering approach to Romantic landscaping that had an outstanding influence on developments elsewhere in Europe. Its favourable climate, fertile soil, and proximity to the River Tagus have attracted human settlement in this area from early times. There are archaeological sites in the area dating from the early Neolithic (5tn millennium BC), Neolithic-Chalcolithic transition (3rd millennium BC), Beaker (3rd-2nd millennium BC), Bronze Age (15th-6th centuries BC), and Iron Age (4th-2nd centuries BC). The Serra stands out from the relatively flat surrounding landscape, its highest point being the Crux Alta.

University of Coimbra - Alta and Sofia

Portugal Situated on a hill (Alta) overlooking the city, the University of Coimbra with its colleges grew and evolved over more than seven centuries within the old town. Notable university buildings include the 12th century Cathedral of Santa Cruz and a number of 16th century colleges, the Royal Palace of Alcáçova, which has housed the University since 1537, the Joanine Library with its rich baroque decor, the 18th century Botanical Garden and University Press, as well as the large "University City" created during the 1940

Quebrada de Humahuaca

Province of Juyuy, Argentina Quebrada de Humahuaca, located in the Province of Jujuy, is a narrow and arid mountainous valley, flanked by the high plateau of the Puna and the eastern wooded areas. It is located in the north-westernmost portion of the Republic of Argentina and follows the line of a major cultural route, the Camino Inca, along the spectacular valley of the Rio Grande, from its source in the cold high desert plateau of the High Andean lands to its confluence with the Rio León, forming a 155-kilometre long, north-south striking natural corridor, where the Grande de Jujuy river flows.

Iguazu National Park

Province: Misiones - Region: Nord-Est, Argentina Located in Misiones Province in the Northeastern tip of Argentina and bordering the Brazilian state of Parana to the north, Iguazú National Park, jointly with its sister park Iguaçu in Brazil, is among the world's visually and acoustically most stunning natural sites for its massive waterfalls. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984. Across a width of almost three kilometres the Iguazú or Iguaçu River, drops vertically some 80 meters in a series of cataracts. The river, aptly named after the indigenous term for "great water" forms a large bend in the shape of a horseshoe in the heart of the two parks and constitutes the international border between Argentina and Brazil before it flows into the mighty Parana River less than 25 kilometres downriver from the park.

Ischigualasto / Talampaya Natural Parks

Provinces of San Juan and La Rioja, Argentina Ischigualasto-Talampaya Natural Parks are located in the northern part of central Argentina comprised of two adjoining protected areas. These are Ischigualasto Provincial Park (60,369 hectares) in San Juan Province and Talampaya National Park (215,000 hectares) in Rioja Province, jointly covering 275,369 hectares west of the Sierras Pampeanas. The property is situated within Argentina's Monte ecoregion, a warm scrub desert along the Eastern Andean foothills. Against the backdrop of an attractive mountain landscape the property is a scientific treasure of global importance. It harbours the sedimentary Ischigualasto-Villa Union Triassic Basin, consisting of continental sediments deposited during the entire Triassic Period.

Pyu Ancient Cities

Pyu Ancient Cities Pyu Ancient Cities includes the remains of three brick, walled and moated cities of Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra located in vast irrigated landscapes in the dry zone of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River basin. They reflect the Pyu Kingdoms that flourished for over 1,000 years between 200 BC and AD 900. The three cities are partly excavated archaeological sites. Remains include excavated palace citadels, burial grounds and manufacture sites, as well as monumental brick Buddhist stupas, partly standing walls and water management features - some still in use - that underpinned the organized intensive agriculture.

Al Zubarah Archaeological Site

Qatar The walled coastal town of Al Zubarah in the Arabian Gulf flourished as a pearling and trading centre for a short period of some fifty years in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Founded by Utub merchants from Kuwait, its prosperity related to its involvement in trade of high value commodities, most notably the export of pearls. At the height of its prosperity, Al Zubarah had trading links with the Indian Ocean, Arabia and Western Asia.

Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites

Republic of Korea Gochang-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province; Hwasun-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province; Ganghwa-gun County, Incheon Metropolitan City The Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen sites contain the highest density and greatest variety of dolmens in Korea, and indeed of any country. Dolmens are megalithic funerary monuments, which figured prominently in Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures across the world during the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE. Usually consisting of two or more undressed stone slabs supporting a huge capstone, it is generally accepted that they were simply burial chambers, erected over the bodies or bones of deceased worthies. The Gochang Dolmen Site (8.38 ha) features the largest and most diversified group, and is centered in the village of Maesan, along the southern foot of a group of hills running east/west. The Hwasun Dolmen Site (31 ha) is situated on the slopes of a low range of hills, along the Jiseokgang River. The Ganghwa Dolmen Sites (12.27 ha) are on the offshore island of Ganghwa, on mountain slopes.

Hwaseong Fortress

Republic of Korea Gyeonggi-do Province Hwaseong is a piled-stone and brick fortress of the Joseon Dynasty that surrounds the centre of Suwon City, of Gyeonggi-do Province. It was built in the late 18th century by King Jeongjo for defensive purposes, to form a new political basis and to house the remains of his father, Crown Prince Jangheon. The massive walls of the fortress, which are 5.74 km in length, enclose an area of 130 ha and follow the topography of the land. The Suwoncheon, the main stream in Suwon, flows through the centre of the fortress.

Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes

Republic of Korea Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes together comprise three sites that make up 18,846 ha. It includes Geomunoreum, regarded as the finest lava tube system of caves anywhere, with its multicoloured carbonate roofs and floors, and dark-coloured lava walls; the fortress-like Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone, rising out of the ocean, a dramatic landscape; and Mount Halla, the highest in Korea, with its waterfalls, multi-shaped rock formations, and lake-filled crater. The site, of outstanding aesthetic beauty, also bears testimony to the history of the planet, its features and processes.

Namhansanseong

Republic of Korea Namhansanseong was designed as an emergency capital for the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), in a mountainous site 25 km south-east of Seoul. Its earliest remains date from the 7th century, but it was rebuilt several times, notably in anticipation of an attack by the Sino-Manchu Qing dynasty, in the early 17th century. Built and defended by Buddhist soldier-monks, it embodies a synthesis of the defensive military engineering concepts of the period, drawing on Chinese and Japanese influences, and changes in the art of fortification following the introduction of firearms from the West. A permanently inhabited city that was the provincial capital over a long period, it includes inside its fortified walls evidence of various types of military, civil and religious buildings. It has become a symbol of Korean sovereignty

Changdeokgung Palace Complex

Republic of Korea Seoul Constructed in the 15th century during the Joseon Dynasty, the Changdeokgung Palace Complex occupies a 57.9 ha site in Jongno-gu, in northern Seoul at the foot of Ungbong Peak of Mount Baegaksan, the main geomantic guardian mountain. In the early years of the Joseon dynasty in Korea, the capital moved many times between Gaeseong and Hanyang (present-day Seoul). In 1405 the King Taejong (1400-18), moved the capital back to Hanyang. Considering the existing Gyeongbokgung Palace to be inauspicious, he ordered a new palace to be built, which he named Changdeokgung (Palace of Illustrious Virtue). This palace occupies an irregular rectangle of 57.9 ha, north of Seoul at the foot of Mount Eungbongsan, the main geomantic guardian mountain.

Jongmyo Shrine

Republic of Korea Seoul Jongmyo is the oldest and most authentic of the Confucian royal shrines to have been preserved. Dedicated to the forefathers of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), the shrine has existed in its present form since the 16th century and houses tablets bearing the teachings of members of the former royal family. Ritual ceremonies linking music, song and dance still take place there, perpetuating a tradition that goes back to the 14th century. Chongmyo is the royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Taejo, founder of the Choson Kingdom, transferred the seat of government to Hanyang (today's Seoul) in August 1394 and ordered Ch'oe Won, his director of government administration, to start building Chongmyo in December the same year. It was completed ten months later and named T'aemyo. The spirit tablets of four generations of T'aejo's ancestors were moved there from Kaesong.

Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong

Republic of KoreaThe two villages of Hahoe and Yangdong are located in the south-eastern region of the Korean peninsula, the heartland of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), that ruled the Korean Peninsula for more than five hundred years. There is a distance of 90km between them. Sheltered by forested mountains and facing out onto rivers and open agricultural fields, Hahoe and Yangdong in their landscape settings are seen as the two most representative historic, clan villages in Korea. They were founded in the 14th-15th century and subsequently expanded to their present size and composition in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Their layout and siting, reflect the distinctive aristocratic Confucian culture of the early part of the Joseon Dynasty.

Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania

Romania Counties of Alba, Brasov, Harghita, Mureş, Sibiu, Region of Transylvania Their geographical location in the foothills of the Carpathians exposed the Transylvanian Saxon communities to danger when the Ottoman Empire began to menace the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their reaction was to build defensive works within which they could take shelter from the invaders. Lacking the resources of the European nobility and rich merchants, who were able to fortify entire towns, the Transylvanian Saxons chose to create fortresses round their churches, enclosing storehouses within the enceintes to enable them to withstand long sieges. In the 13th century the kings of Hungary encouraged the colonization of the sub-Carpathian region of Transylvania (Erdely) by a German-speaking population of artisans, farmers and merchants, mainly from the Rhineland. Known as the Transylvanian Saxons, they enjoyed special privileges granted by the Hungarian Crown, especially in the period preceding the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Despite living in a country where the majority of the population was ethnic Hungarians or Romanians, the Transylvanian Saxons were able to preserve their language and their customs intact throughout the centuries. Their ethnic solidarity is vividly illustrated by their settlements, which remained resistant to external influences.

Wooden Churches of Maramureş

Romania Districts of Bârsana, Budesti, Desesti, Ieud, Sisesti, Poienile Izei, Târgu-Lapus; Maramureş County, Region of Transylvania The region of Maramureş, situated in the north of Transylvania, was formed over time by the fusion of very old geographical and socio-political entities called 'countries'. These 'countries' are united by their geographical environment, composed of mountains once covered by forests and numerous rivers, but also by their history and spiritual life. In the Middle Ages, the rural social structures were founded on community-type villages grouped in each valley, under the general leadership of the Voivodship of Maramureş. The churches of the region were placed under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox monastery of Peri. The eight churches of Maramureş are monuments based on traditional timber architecture, and stand on bases of stone blocks and pebble fillings.

Churches of Moldavia

Romania These eight churches of northern Moldavia, built from the late 15th century to the late 16th century, their external walls covered in fresco paintings, are masterpieces inspired by Byzantine art. They are authentic and particularly well preserved. Far from being mere wall decorations, the paintings form a systematic covering on all the facades and represent complete cycles of religious themes

Danube Delta

Romania Tulcea County, Dobruja Region The waters of the Danube, which flow into the Black Sea, form the largest and best preserved of Europe's deltas. The Danube delta hosts over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and marshes. This is the largest continuous marshland on Europe and the second-largest delta (the Volga being the largest), which includes the greatest stretch of reedbeds in the world.

Monastery of Horezu

Romania Vâlcea County, Region of Wallachia Founded in 1690 by Prince Constantine Brancovan, the monastery of Horezu, in Walachia, is a masterpiece of the 'Brancovan' style. It is known for its architectural purity and balance, the richness of its sculptural detail, the treatment of its religious compositions, its votive portraits and its painted decorative works. The school of mural and icon painting established at the monastery in the 18th century was famous throughout the Balkan region.

Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands

Russian Federation Arkhangelsky region, Solovetsky district. The six islands of the Solovetsky Archipelago are in the western part of the White Sea, 290 km from Arkhangelsky. Human occupation began on the islands as early as the Mesolithic period, when the climatic conditions were more favourable than at the present day. The main prehistoric settlement period was in the 3rd millennium BC, when villages, sacred sites, and irrigation systems were built on Big Zayatsky and Anzer Islands. They have been inhabited since the 5th century B.C. and important traces of a human presence from as far back as the 5th millennium B.C. can be found there. The archipelago has been the site of fervent monastic activity since the 15th century, and there are several churches dating from the 16th to the 19th century.

Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve

Russian Federation Chukot Autonomous Area Located well above the Arctic Circle, the site includes the mountainous Wrangel Island (7,608 km2), Herald Island (11 km2) and surrounding waters. Wrangel was not glaciated during the Quaternary Ice Age, resulting in exceptionally high levels of biodiversity for this region. The island boasts the world's largest population of Pacific walrus and the highest density of ancestral polar bear dens. It is a major feeding ground for the grey whale migrating from Mexico and the northernmost nesting ground for 100 migratory bird species, many endangered.

Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin

Russian Federation City of Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan Built on an ancient site, the Kazan Kremlin dates from the Muslim period of the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. It was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and became the Christian See of the Volga Land. The only surviving Tatar fortress in Russia and an important place of pilgrimage, the Kazan Kremlin consists of an outstanding group of historic buildings dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, integrating remains of earlier structures of the 10th to 16th centuries.

Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow

Russian Federation City of Moscow The Kremlin of Moscow, which according to chronicles dates from 1156, contains an ensemble of monuments of outstanding quality. Ever since the establishment of the Principality of Moscow in 1263 and the transfer to Moscow of the seat of Vladimir's Metropolitan in 1328, this was the centre of both temporal and spiritual power. Inextricably linked to all the most important historical and political events in Russia since the 13th century, the Kremlin (built between the 14th and 17th centuries by outstanding Russian and foreign architects) was the residence of the Great Prince and also a religious centre. At the foot of its ramparts, on Red Square, St Basil's Basilica is one of the most beautiful Russian Orthodox monuments.

Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent

Russian Federation City of Moscow The convent is situated in the south-western part of the historic town of Moscow, close to the Moscow River. The Novodevichy Convent, in south-western Moscow, built in the 16th and 17th centuries in the so-called Moscow Baroque style, was part of a chain of monastic ensembles that were integrated into the defence system of the city. The convent was directly associated with the political, cultural and religious history of Russia, and closely linked to the Moscow Kremlin. It was used by women of the Tsar's family and the aristocracy. Members of the Tsar's family and entourage were also buried in its cemetery.

Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent

Russian Federation Dagestan, Eastern Caucasus, Western coast of Caspian Sea The ancient city of Derbent has been crucial for the control of the north-south passage on the western side of the Caspian Sea since the 1st millennium BC. The defences built by the Sassanians in the 5th century AD, which were the most significant section of the strategic defence systems on their northern frontier, and were in continuous use by the Persian, Arabic, Mongol and Timurid governments for some 15 centuries. Derbent is situated on the western shores of the Caspian Sea, in the narrowest place between the sea and the slopes of the Tabasaran Mountains (part of the Larger Caucasus). The city has an important strategic location as it forms a natural pass (the Caspian Gates) between the Caucasian foothills and the sea

Lake Baikal

Russian Federation Irkutsk and Chita regions, Republic of Buryatia Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and isolation have produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science. Lake Baikal in south-east Siberia, the deepest lake in the world at 1,700 m, contains 20% of all fresh running water on the planet, making it the single largest reservoir

Kizhi Pogost

Russian Federation Karelian Autonomous S.S.R., Medvezhjegorskij Region The pogost is on a narrow strip of land on the southern tip of the large island of Kizhi. The pogost of Kizhi (i.e. the Kizhi enclosure) is located on one of the many islands in Lake Onega, in Karelia. Two 18th-century wooden churches, and an octagonal clock tower, also in wood and built in 1862, can be seen there. These unusual constructions, in which carpenters created a bold visionary architecture, perpetuate an ancient model of parish space and are in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

Virgin Komi Forests

Russian Federation Komi Republic The Virgin Komi Forests cover 3.28 million ha of tundra and mountain tundra in the Urals, as well as one of the most extensive areas of virgin boreal forest remaining in Europe. Located in the north-western region of the Komi Republic, on the western slopes of the Northern Urals, the Komi Forest is dominated by lowlands in the west that rise to form the mountains in the east. The eastern area of the forest is dominated by the Northern Ural mountains, which are oriented in a north-south direction. They are characterized by mountain-glacier formations, of which the southernmost glaciers occur within the Telpossky massif. The dissolution of limestone along the foothills has formed a karst landscape with subterranean caves, craters and river beds that are seasonally flooded. Weathering in the Ilych, Podcherema, Shchugora and Bolshaya Syn basins has given rise to columns and residual mountain structures.

Western Caucasus

Russian Federation Krasnodar Region The site is at the far western end of the Greater Caucasus Mountains within Krasnodar Kray and the republics of Adygea and Karachevo-Cherkessia. It includes a number of units. The largest of these is the Caucasus (Kavkazskiy) state biosphere reserve, together with its 1 km wide buffer zone which runs along much of the perimeter of the reserve except in Karachevo-Cherkessia Republic and where the reserve abuts Georgia (Abkhazia). The second main component of the site comprises the three elements of the most strictly protected zone of Sochi National Park (all in Krasnodar Kray). The remainder of the site comprises four small areas in Adygea Republic: Bolshoy Thach nature park; the nature monuments of Buiny Ridge, the headwaters of the River Tsitsa and the Pshecha and Pshechashcha rivers.

Lena Pillars Nature Park

Russian Federation Lena Pillars Nature Park is marked by spectacular rock pillars that reach a height of approximately 100 m along the banks of the Lena River in the central part of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). They were produced by the region's extreme continental climate with an annual temperature range of almost 100 degrees Celsius (from -60 °C in winter to +40 °C in summer). The pillars form rocky buttresses isolated from each other by deep and steep gullies developed by frost shattering directed along intervening joints. Penetration of water from the surface has facilitated cryogenic processes (freeze-thaw action), which have widened gullies between pillars leading to their isolation. Fluvial processes are also critical to the pillars. The site also contains a wealth of Cambrian fossil remains of numerous species, some of them unique.

Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad

Russian Federation Moscow region, town Sergiev-Posad (ex Zagorsk) This is a fine example of a working Orthodox monastery, with military features that are typical of the 15th to the 18th century, the period during which it developed. The main church of the Lavra, the Cathedral of the Assumption (echoing the Kremlin Cathedral of the same name), contains the tomb of Boris Godunov. Among the treasures of the Lavra is the famous icon, The Trinity , by Andrei Rublev.

Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye

Russian Federation Moscow, the South District The Church of the Ascension was built in 1532 on the imperial estate of Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, to celebrate the birth of the prince who was to become Tsar Ivan IV ('the Terrible'). One of the earliest examples of a traditional wooden tent-roofed church on a stone and brick substructure, it had a great influence on the development of Russian ecclesiastical architecture. The church is situated in the Kolomenskoye estate, first recorded in 1339, when it belonged to Ivan KaIita, Grand Prince of Moscow. The church is now situated near the centre of Moscow on the steep slope that descends to the floodplain of the Moscow River.

Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings

Russian Federation Situated on the ancient trade route between Central Asia and northern Europe, Novgorod was Russia's first capital in the 9th century. The town of Novgorod, the earliest documentary reference to which dates from the 10th century, lay on the trade route linking Central Asia with northern Europe (Baltic and Scandinavian countries). The urban aristocracy that governed the city-republic through a People's Assembly (Vece) invited a prince from the Swedish (Varangian) dynasty of the Rurikids to reign over them. In the Russian world, only the cities of Novgorod and Pskov had this sort of organization, which was similar to that of the Hanseatic cities, with which Novgorod had close trading contacts.

Central Sikhote-Ali

Russian Federation Ternejski, Krasnoarmejski, Dalnegorski, and Pozharski Districts, Primorski Region The Sikhote-Alin is not a major mountain range (1,100 km in length and up to 1,830 m in altitude) but a vast unmodified temperate forest wilderness lying within northern latitudes. The site stretches from the peaks of Sikhote-Alin to the Sea of Japan and is important for the survival of many endangered species such as the Amur tiger. The Central Sikhote-Alin site in Primorskii Krai consists of two units separated along the crest of the range by a distance of 70 km: The southern unit consists of two protected areas separated from each other by the town of Terney: Sikhote-Alin Nature Preserve on the eastern maritime slopes near the town of Terney (including a marine protected zone, extending 1km out from the coastline), this is a Strict Nature Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve; and Goralij Zoological Preserve, a coastal zone north of Terney. The second, northern, unit consists of two contiguous areas located on the Bikin River catchments: upstream of the town of Krasny Yar, Bikin Territory of Traditional Nature Use for the Udege people in the middle Bikin; and Verkhnebikinski Zakaznik, covering the entire upper Bikin catchments above the river junction at Ushaia.

Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments

Russian Federation The building of the capital of Peter the Great, symbol of Russia, began in the 18th century, thanks to the colossal forced labour of Russian soldiers, Swedish and Ottoman prisoners of war, and Finnish and Estonian workers and labourers. The 'Venice of the North', with its numerous canals and more than 400 bridges, is the result of a vast urban project begun in 1703 under Peter the Great. Later known as Leningrad (in the former USSR), the city is closely associated with the October Revolution. Its architectural heritage reconciles the very different Baroque and pure neoclassical styles, as can be seen in the Admiralty, the Winter Palace, the Marble Palace and the Hermitage.

Volcanoes of Kamchatka

Russian Federation The site comprises six distinct locations on the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East, in the central mountainous spine of the peninsula (Bystrinsky Nature Park), and coastal locations facing east towards the Bering Sea (Koronotsky Zapovednik, Nalychevo Nature Park and the contiguous Southern Kamchatka Nature Park and Southern Kamchatka State Nature Reserve). Kluchevskoy Nature Park was added in 2001 as the sixth component of the site. The property represents the most pristine parts of the Kamchatka Peninsula and a remarkable collection of volcanic areas, characteristic of the 'Pacific Volcanic Ring'. This is the surface expression of the subduction of the Pacific Ocean Continental Plate under the Eurasia Plate at rates of 10 cm annually. The addition of Kluchevskoy Nature Park, an outstanding example of geological processes and landforms, further adds to the range of natural features. More than 300 volcanoes are found in Kamchatka, 29 being currently active, including caldera, strata-volcano, somma-volcano and mixed types, the largest included in the World Heritage site being Kronotskaya Sopka (3,528 m)

Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex

Russian Federation This property lies on the shores of the Volga River, south of its confluence with the River Kama, and south of the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan. It contains evidence of the medieval city of Bolgar, an early settlement of the civilization of Volga-Bolgars, which existed between the 7th and 15th centuries AD, and was the first capital of the Golden Horde in the 13th century. Bolgar represents the historical cultural exchanges and transformations of Eurasia over several centuries that played a pivotal role in the formation of civilizations, customs and cultural traditions. The property provides remarkable evidence of historic continuity and cultural diversity. It is a symbolic reminder of the acceptance of Islam by the Volga-Bolgars in AD 22 and remains a sacred pilgrimage destination to the Tatar Muslims.

Putorana Plateau

Russian Federation This site coincides with the area of the Putoransky State Nature Reserve, and is located in the central part of the Putorana Plateau in northern Central Siberia. It is situated about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. The part of the plateau inscribed on the World Heritage List harbours a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems. A major reindeer migration route crosses the property, which represents an exceptional, large-scale and increasingly rare natural phenomenon.

White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal

Russian Federation Vladimir region 1. Vladimir The ancient city of Vladimir, founded in 1108 by the Kiev Prince Vladimir Monomach, contains an important group of religious and secular monuments. 2. Suzdal Suzdal, which lies some 25 km north of Vladimir on the bank of the Kamenka River, was the site of a settlement in the 9th and 10th centuries AD which became a fortress in the 11th century. 3. Kideksha On the right bank of the Nerl River, at Kideksha, 5 km to the east of Suzdal, is the Church of St Boris and St Gleb. It is of great architectural importance, since it was the first church in Russia to be built in white limestone

Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl

Russian Federation Yaroslavl Oblast The historic town of Yaroslavl with its 17th-century churches and its neoclassical radial urban plan and civic architecture is an outstanding example of the interchange of cultural and architectural influences between Western Europe and the Russian Empire, coupled with the town-planning reform ordered by Empress Catherine the Great in the whole of Russia, implemented between 1763 and 1830. Yaroslavl is situated on the Volga at its confluence with the Kotorosl River. The origins of the city go back to the early 11th century, when there was a small wooden fortress.

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park

Saint Kitts and Nevis Parish of St Thomas, St Christopher (St Kitts) Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is an outstanding, well-preserved example of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture in a Caribbean context. Designed by the British and built by African slave labour, the fortress is testimony to European colonial expansion, the African slave trade and the emergence of new societies in the Caribbean. Because of its reconstructed and very formidable defences, Saint Kitts became known as the 'Gibraltar of the Caribbean'. Known as Liamuiga (Fertile Island) to the native Amerindians, Saint Kitts was the first Caribbean island to be permanently settled by both the English (in 1623) and the French (1625), who shared it between 1627 and 1713, when it came under sole English control through the Treaty of Utrecht. Known as the 'Mother Island', it provided the model and springboard for English and French colonization in the Caribbean. African slaves were brought in from the earliest years of European settlement, and it was on Saint Kitts and the other early colonies that the plantation system, based on sugar production and slavery, had its roots.

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Par

Saint Kitts and Nevis Parish of St Thomas, St Christopher (St Kitts) Known as Liamuiga (Fertile Island) to the native Amerindians, Saint Kitts was the first Caribbean island to be permanently settled by both the English (in 1623) and the French (1625), who shared it between 1627 and 1713, when it came under sole English control through the Treaty of Utrecht. Known as the 'Mother Island', it provided the model and springboard for English and French colonization in the Caribbean. African slaves were brought in from the earliest years of European settlement, and it was on Saint Kitts and the other early colonies that the plantation system, based on sugar production and slavery, had its roots.

Pitons Management Area

Saint Lucia near the town of Soufriere, southwestern region of St Lucia Dominating the mountainous landscape of St Lucia are the Pitons, two steep-sided volcanic spires rising side by side from the sea. Gros Piton (770 m) is 3 km in diameter at its base, and Petit Piton (743 m) is 1 km in diameter and linked to the former by the Piton Mitan ridge. The Pitons are part of a volcanic complex, known to geologists as the Soufriere Volcanic Centre which is the remnant of one (or more) huge collapsed stratovolcano. The volcanic complex overlies a tectonic plate subduction (underthrusting) zone which stretches 700 km along Lesser Antilles, forming a volcanic arc. The Pitons are the eroded cores of two lava domes formed on the flanks of the stratovolcano. Today they tower above a caldera-like formation, produced by a gigantic gravity slide or structural collapse which formed the Qualibou Depression, 7 km in diameter. The Marine Management Area is a coastal strip 11 km long and about 1 km wide.

Saloum Delta

Senegal Fishing and shellfish gathering have sustained human life in the 5,000 km2 property, which is formed by the arms of three rivers. The site comprises brackish channels encompassing over 200 islands and islets, mangrove forest, an Atlantic marine environment, and dry forest. The site is marked by 218 shellfish mounds, some of them several hundreds metres long, produced by its human inhabitants over the ages. Burial sites on 28 of the mounds take the form of tumuli where remarkable artefacts have been found. They are important for our understanding of cultures from the various periods of the delta's occupation and testify to the history of human settlement along the coast of West Africa.

Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes

Senegal The cultural landscape of Bassari is located in south-eastern Senegal, close to the Mali and Guinean borders, in a hilly territory, formed by the northern foothills of the Fouta Djallon Massif. Two distinct geographic environments feature the region: the alluvial plain and the peneplain to the north and the mountains to the south. he property comprises three different geo-cultural areas: the Bassari - Salémata, the Bedik - Bandafassi and the Fula - Dindéfello areas, each exhibiting specific morphological and cultural traits.

Medieval Monuments in Kosovo

Serbia Autonomous province of Kosovo The four edifices of the site reflect the high points of the Byzantine-Romanesque ecclesiastical culture, with its distinct style of wall painting, which developed in the Balkans between the 13th and 17th centuries. The Dečani Monastery was built in the mid-14th century for the Serbian king Stefan Dečanski and is also his mausoleum. The Patriarchate of Peć Monastery is a group of four domed churches featuring series of wall paintings. The 13th-century frescoes of the Church of Holy Apostles are painted in a unique, monumental style. Early 14th-century frescoes in the church of the Holy Virgin of Ljevisa represent the appearance of the new so-called Palaiologian Renaissance style, combining the influences of the eastern Orthodox Byzantine and the Western Romanesque traditions. The style played a decisive role in subsequent Balkan art.

Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius

Serbia Eastern Serbia The Late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex of Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, in the east of Serbia, was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus, in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. It was known as Felix Romuliana, named after the emperor's mother. The site consists of fortifications, the palace in the north-western part of the complex, basilicas, temples, hot baths, memorial complex, and a tetrapylon. The group of buildings is also unique in its intertwining of ceremonial and memorial functions.

Stari Ras and Sopoćani

Serbia Vicinity of Novi Pazar, Raška District, Republic of Serbi Located at the confluence of the Raska and lbar, on the outskirts of Stari Ras, the ancient town of Ras became in 1159, with its accession to the Serb dynasty of Nemangic, the first Serb State capital. Situated on a hill at the border between the small kingdom of Raska and the Byzantine Empire, this old Balkan city drew its strength from its location at an important crossroads, influenced by its contacts with both Eastern and Western influences. Its many monuments make up a single architectural complex that testifies to the time when the capital of the Serb State became located at Stari Ras until the early years of the 14th century, when King Milutin transferred the capital to Skopje.

Studenica Monastery

Serbia Village of Studenica, Commune of Kraljevo, Raška District, Republic of Serbia The Studenica Monastery was established in the late 12th century by Stevan Nemanja, founder of the medieval Serb state, shortly after his abdication. It is the largest and richest of Serbia's Orthodox monasteries. Its two principal monuments, the Church of the Virgin and the Church of the King, both built of white marble, enshrine priceless collections of 13th- and 14th-century Byzantine painting.

Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve

Seychelles Praslin Island, 50km north-east of Mahé. n the heart of the small island of Praslin, the reserve has the vestiges of a natural palm forest preserved in almost its original state. The famous coco de mer , from a palm-tree once believed to grow in the depths of the sea, is the largest seed in the plant kingdom. Vallée de Mai is a valley in the heart of Praslin National Park, an area which was untouched until the 1930s and still retains primeval palm forest in a near-natural state. This palm forest includes the endemic species coca de mer, of outstanding universal value as the bearer of the largest nut in the world. There has also been a rich body of legend which has developed around the species; the nut has religious significance. in the 19th century the British General Gordon produced detailed 'proof' that the Vallée de Mai was the Garden of Eden and that coca de mer was the tree of knowledge.

Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam

Shahrak District, Ghur Province, Afghanistan The 65m-tall Minaret of Jam in the heart of the Ghur province. Built in 1194 by the great Ghurid Sultan Ghiyas-od-din (1153-1203), its emplacement probably marks the site of the ancient city of Firuzkuh, believed to have been the summer capital of the Ghurid dynasty.

Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area

Slovakia Prešov, Žilina, Banská Bystrica and Košice Regions The Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of Carpathian Mountain Area inscribed on the World Heritage List consist of two Roman Catholic, three Protestant and three Greek Orthodox churches built between the 16th and 18th centuries. The boundaries of the Eastern and Western Carpathians were in direct contact with two essential European religious and political cultures, Western Roman and Byzantine. The set of nominated properties illustrate the coexistence of different religious faiths within a relatively small territory in the mountainous area of the present Slovak Republic. Christianity was adopted in this area in the early Middle Ages. Once the Protestant Reform started to spread along Europe, complicated military, political and religious situations in the Habsburg's monarchy led the emperor Leopold I, in 1681, to admit some non-Catholic Christian churches into the then Upper Hungary.

Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity

Slovakia Town and District of Banská Štiavnica, Region of Banská Bystrica Banska Stiavnica is the oldest mining town in Slovakia; its town seal of 1275 is the earliest known bearing a mining emblem. It lies on the steep slopes of the Glanzenberg and Paradajz mountains. ver the centuries, the town of Banská Štiavnica was visited by many outstanding engineers and scientists who contributed to its fame. The old medieval mining centre grew into a town with Renaissance palaces, 16th-century churches, elegant squares and castles. The urban centre blends into the surrounding landscape, which contains vital relics of the mining and metallurgical activities of the past.

Heritage of Mercury. Almadén and Idrija

Slovenia Spain The property includes the mining sites of Almadén (Spain), where mercury (quicksilver) has been extracted since antiquity, and Idrija (Slovenia), where mercury was first found in AD1490. The Spanish property includes buildings relating to its mining history, including Retamar Castle, religious buildings and traditional dwellings. he sites bear testimony to the intercontinental trade in mercury which generated important exchanges between Europe and America over the centuries. Together they represent the two largest mercury mines in the world, operational until recent times.

Vredefort Dome

South Africa Northwest and Free State provinces Vredefort Dome, approximately 120 km south-west of Johannesburg, is a representative part of a larger meteorite impact structure, or astrobleme. Dating back 2,023 million years, it is the oldest astrobleme yet found on Earth. With a radius of 190 km, it is also the largest and the most deeply eroded. Vredefort Dome bears witness to the world's greatest known single energy release event, which had devastating global effects including, according to some scientists, major evolutionary changes.

Škocjan Caves

Slovenia Villages of Škocjan pri Divaci, Matavun and Betanja, Communes of Divaca and Sežana, Region of Obalno-kraška Škocjan Caves Regional Park is situated in the Kras Plateau of South-West Slovenia. The protected area of 413 ha conserves an exceptional limestone cave system which comprises one of the world's largest known underground river canyons, that was cut into the limestone bedrock by the Reka River. Along its course, the river suddenly disappears into the karst underground, before passing through a vast and picturesque channel of up to 150 meters in height and more than 120 meters in width, often in the form of dramatically roaring rapids and waterfalls. The canyon's most spectacular physical expression is the enormous Martel Chamber, which exceeds two million cubic meters in volume. It is no coincidence that karst research has its origin in this very part of Slovenia, which is scientifically referred to as "Classical Karst". The term "karst" itself is derived from the name of the plateau, and is one of many technical terms commonly used in geology and speleology that have their origin in the region.

Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa

South Africa Gauteng, Limpopo and North-west provinces The Taung Skull, found in a limestone quarry at Dart Pinnacle amongst numerous archaeological and palaeontological sites south-west of the Sterkfontein Valley area, is a specimen of the species Australopithecus Africanus. Fossils found in the many archaeological caves of the Makapan Valley have enabled the identification of several specimens of early hominids, more particularly of Paranthropus, dating back between 4.5 million and 2.5 million years, as well as evidence of the domestication of fire 1.8 million to 1 million years ago. Collectively these sites have produced abundant scientific information on the evolution of modern humans over at least the past 3.5 million years.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park

South Africa KwaZulu-Natal The ongoing fluvial, marine and aeolian processes in the site have produced a variety of landforms, including coral reefs, long sandy beaches, coastal dunes, lake systems, swamps, and extensive reed and papyrus wetlands. The interplay of the park's environmental heterogeneity with major floods and coastal storms and a transitional geographic location between subtropical and tropical Africa has resulted in exceptional species diversity and ongoing speciation. The mosaic of landforms and habitat types creates breathtaking scenic vistas. The site contains critical habitats for a range of species from Africa's marine, wetland and savannah environments.

Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape

South Africa Northern Cape The Khoi-Khoi people, ancestors of the Nama, once occupied lands across southern Namibia and most of the present-day Western and Northern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Over a century or more, those in the south were pushed north by the spread of European farms north from the Cape. The Khoi-Khoi and the San are considered to be the original indigenous inhabitants of southern Africa and thus custodians of ancient cultures. The 160,000 ha Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape of dramatic mountainous desert in north-western South Africa constitutes a cultural landscape communally owned and managed. This site sustains the semi-nomadic pastoral livelihood of the Nama people, reflecting seasonal patterns that may have persisted for as much as two millennia in southern Africa. It is the only area where the Nama still construct portable rush-mat houses (haru om ) and includes seasonal migrations and grazing grounds, together with stock posts. The pastoralists collect medicinal and other plants and have a strong oral tradition associated with different places and attributes of the landscape.

Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape

South Africa Northern Province Mapungubwe is set hard against the northern border of South Africa, joining Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is an open, expansive savannah landscape at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers. Mapungubwe developed into the largest kingdom in the sub-continent before it was abandoned in the 14th century. What survives are the almost untouched remains of the palace sites and also the entire settlement area dependent upon them, as well as two earlier capital sites, the whole presenting an unrivalled picture of the development of social and political structures over some 400 year Within the collectively known Zhizo sites are the remains of three capitals - Schroda; Leopard's Kopje; and the final one located around Mapungubwe hill - and their satellite settlements and lands around the confluence of the Limpopo and the Shashe rivers whose fertility supported a large population within the kingdom.

Robben Island

South Africa Western Cape Province Robben Island was possibly occupied by humans before the arrival of the Europeans, as it is the summit of a submerged mountain, linked by an undersea saddle to the coast of Table Bay. The Cape Peninsula, with Robben Island, fell halfway on sea voyages between Europe and the Orient. Robben Island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base. Its buildings, particularly those of the late 20th century such as the maximum security prison for political prisoners, witness the triumph of democracy and freedom over oppression and racism.

Cape Floral Region Protected Areas

South Africa Western Cape Province, Eastern Cape Province A serial site - in Cape Province, South Africa - made up of eight protected areas, covering 553,000 ha, the Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plants in the world. It represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa but is home to nearly 20% of the continent's flora. The site's eight clusters form a representative sample of the eight phytogeographical centres of the region. Elevations range from 2,077 m in the Groot Winterhoek to sea level in the De Hoop Nature Reserve. A great part of the area is characterized by rugged mountain passes, rivers, rapids, cascades and pools.

South China Karst

South China Karst is one of the world's most spectacular examples of humid tropical to subtropical karst landscapes. It is a serial site spread over the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan and Chongqing and covers 176,228 hectares. It contains the most significant types of karst landforms, including tower karst, pinnacle karst and cone karst formations, along with other spectacular characteristics such as natural bridges, gorges and large cave systems. The stone forests of Shilin are considered superlative natural phenomena and a world reference. The cone and tower karsts of Libo, also considered the world reference site for these types of karst, form a distinctive and beautiful landscape. Wulong Karst has been inscribed for its giant dolines (sinkholes), natural bridges and caves.

Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula

Spain Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Aragón, Castille-La Mancha, Catalonia, Murcia and Valencia The Iberian peninsula has a rich heritage of prehistoric rock art. A number of important sites from the Palaeolithic period are known from the region of eastern Spain, where the best examples are from the Solutrean culture (c 19,000-16,000 BC), derived from southern France. The corpus of late prehistoric mural paintings in the Mediterranean basin of eastern Spain is the largest group of rock-art sites anywhere in Europe, and provides an exceptional picture of human life in a seminal period of human cultural evolution

Route of Santiago de Compostela

Spain Autonomous Communities of Aragon, Navarre, la Rioja, Castile-Leon and Galicia The different pilgrimage routes converged on Santiago de Compostela, at the foot of the Apostle's tomb, and were lined with works of art and architectural creations. The cultural heritage scattered along the length of these routes is immensely rich. It represents the birth of Romanesque art; then came the Gothic cathedrals and the chains of monasteries. Santiago de Compostela was proclaimed the first European Cultural itinerary by the Council of Europe in 1987. This route from the French-Spanish border was - and still is - taken by pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Some 1,800 buildings along the route, both religious and secular, are of great historic interest. The route played a fundamental role in encouraging cultural exchanges between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. It remains a testimony to the power of the Christian faith among people of all social classes and from all over Europe.

Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture

Spain Balearic Islands Ibiza provides an excellent example of the interaction between the marine and coastal ecosystems. The dense prairies of oceanic Posidonia (seagrass), an important endemic species found only in the Mediterranean basin, contain and support a diversity of marine life. Ibiza preserves considerable evidence of its long history. The archaeological sites at Sa Caleta (settlement) and Puig des Molins (necropolis) testify to the important role played by the island in the Mediterranean economy in protohistory, particularly during the Phoenician-Carthaginian period. The fortified Upper Town (Alta Vila) is an outstanding example of Renaissance military architecture; it had a profound influence on the development of fortifications in the Spanish settlements of the New World.

Vizcaya Bridge

Spain Basque Country, Province of Bizjaia, Vizcaya Bridge straddles the mouth of the Ibaizabal estuary, west of Bilbao. It was designed by the Basque architect Alberto de Palacio and completed in 1893. The 45-m-high bridge with its span of 160 m, merges 19th-century ironworking traditions with the then new lightweight technology of twisted steel ropes. It was the first bridge in the world to carry people and traffic on a high suspended gondola and was used as a model for many similar bridges in Europe, Africa and the America only a few of which survive. With its innovative use of lightweight twisted steel cables, it is regarded as one of the outstanding architectural iron constructions of the Industrial Revolution.

Teide National Park

Spain Canary Island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Situated on the island of Tenerife, Teide National Park features the Teide-Pico Viejo stratovolcano that, at 3,718 m, is the highest peak on Spanish soil. Rising 7,500 m above the ocean floor, it is regarded as the world's third-tallest volcanic structure and stands in a spectacular environment. The visual impact of the site is all the greater due to atmospheric conditions that create constantly changing textures and tones in the landscape and a 'sea of clouds' that forms a visually impressive backdrop to the mountain. Teide is of global importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands.

Garajonay National Park

Spain Island of La Gomera, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands La Gomera lies to the west of Tenerife, and is one of seven islands that make up the Canary Islands archipelago off the north-west coast of Africa in the Atlantic. The island is accessible by ferry from Tenerife. The park can be reached by road from the island's major towns and village. La Gomera is the only island in the Canaries that has not experienced an eruption in recent times. Laurel forest covers some 70% of this park, situated in the middle of the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands archipelago. The presence of springs and numerous streams assures a lush vegetation resembling that of the Tertiary, which, due to climatic changes, has largely disappeared from southern Europe.

Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias

Spain Province and Autonomous Community of Asturias In the 9th century the flame of Christianity was kept alive in the Iberian peninsula in the tiny Kingdom of the Asturias. Here an innovative pre-Romanesque architectural style was created that was to play a significant role in the development of the religious architecture of the peninsula. Its highest achievements can be seen in the churches of Santa María del Naranco, San Miguel de Lillo, Santa Cristina de Lena, the Cámara Santa and San Julián de los Prados, in and around the ancient capital city of Oviedo. Associated with them is the remarkable contemporary hydraulic engineering structure known as La Foncalada.

University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares

Spain Province and Autonomous Community of Madrid Alcalá de Henares was the first city to be designed and built solely as the seat of a university, and was to serve as the model for other centres of learning in Europe and the Americas. The concept of the ideal city, the City of God (Civitas Dei ), was first given material express

Aranjuez Cultural Landscape

Spain Province and Autonomous Community of Madrid The Aranjuez cultural landscape is an entity of complex relationships: between nature and human activity, between sinuous watercourses and geometric landscape design, between the rural and the urban, between forest landscape and the delicately modulated architecture of its palatial buildings. Three hundred years of royal attention to the development and care of this landscape have seen it express an evolution of concepts from humanism and political centralization, to characteristics such as those found in its 18th century French-style Baroque garden, to the urban lifestyle which developed alongside the sciences of plant acclimatization and stock-breeding during the Age of Enlightenment.

La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia

Spain Province and Autonomous Community of Valencia Built between 1482 and 1533, this group of buildings was originally used for trading in silk (hence its name, the Silk Exchange) and it has always been a centre for commerce. It is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The grandiose Sala de Contratación (Contract or Trading Hall), in particular, illustrates the power and wealth of a major Mediterranean mercantile city in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)

Spain Province of A Coruña, Autonomous Community of Galicia This famous pilgrimage site in north-west Spain became a symbol in the Spanish Christians' struggle against Islam. Destroyed by the Muslims at the end of the 10th century, it was completely rebuilt in the following century. With its Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque buildings, the Old Town of Santiago is one of the world's most beautiful urban areas. The oldest monuments are grouped around the tomb of St James and the cathedral, which contains the remarkable Pórtico de la Gloria.

Palmeral of Elche

Spain Province of Alicante, Autonomous Community of Valencia The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab. The Palmeral is an oasis, a system for agrarian production in arid areas. It is also a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European continent. Cultivation of date palms in Elche is known at least since the Iberian times, dating around the fifth century B.C. The Palmeral (palm groves) of Elche represent a remarkable example of the transference of a characteristic landscape from one culture and continent to another, in this case from North Africa to Europe This is the only palm grove of its type anywhere on the European continent, which makes it an exceptional landscape in this geographical context.

Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida

Spain Province of Badajoz, Autonomous Community of Extremadura The colony of Augusta Emerita, which became present-day Mérida in Estremadura, was founded in 25 B.C. at the end of the Spanish Campaign and was the capital of Lusitania. The well-preserved remains of the old city include, in particular, a large bridge over the Guadiana (river), an amphitheatre, a theatre, a vast circus and an exceptional water-supply system. It is an excellent example of a provincial Roman capital during the empire and in the years afterwards.

Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona

Spain Province of Barcelona, Autonomous Community of Catalonia These are two of the finest contributions to Barcelona's architecture by the Catalan art nouveau architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The Palau de la Música Catalana is an exuberant steel-framed structure full of light and space, and decorated by many of the leading designers of the day. The Hospital de Sant Pau is equally bold in its design and decoration, while at the same time perfectly adapted to the needs of the sick.

Burgos Cathedral

Spain Province of Burgos, Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon Our Lady of Burgos was begun in the 13th century at the same time as the great cathedrals of the Ile-de-France and was completed in the 15th and 16th centuries. The entire history of Gothic art is summed up in its superb architecture and its unique collection of works of art, including paintings, choir stalls, reredos, tombs and stained-glass windows.

Historic Centre of Cordoba

Spain Province of Cordoba, Autonomous Community of Andalusia Cordoba's period of greatest glory began in the 8th century after the Moorish conquest, when some 300 mosques and innumerable palaces and public buildings were built to rival the splendours of Constantinople, Damascus and Baghdad. In the 13th century, under Ferdinand III, the Saint, Cordoba's Great Mosque was turned into a cathedral and new defensive structures, particularly the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos and the Torre Fortaleza de la Calahorra, were erected. This area extends to the other bank of the River GuadaIquivir (to include the Roman bridge and the Calahorra) in the south, to the Calle San Fernando in the east, to the boundary of the commercial centre in the north, and incorporating the AIcázar de los Reyes Cristianos and the San Basilio quarter in the west.

Historic Walled Town of Cuenca

Spain Province of Cuenca, Autonomous Community of Castile-La Mancha Built by the Moors in a defensive position at the heart of the Caliphate of Cordoba, Cuenca is an unusually well-preserved medieval fortified city. Conquered by the Castilians in the 12th century, it became a royal town and bishopric endowed with important buildings, such as Spain's first Gothic cathedral, and the famous casas colgadas (hanging houses), suspended from sheer cliffs overlooking the Huécar river. Taking full advantage of its location, the city towers above the magnificent countryside.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada

Spain Province of Granada, Autonomous Community of Andalusia Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills, form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends harmoniously. Archaeological excavations have shown that the hill where the Albayzín is now situated has been occupied continuously from as early as the Roman period. In the mid-8th century the region's governor Asap ben Abderrahman built a fortress where the Plaza de San Nicolas is now located (known as the Casbah until the Alhambra was built in the 13th century, when it became known as the Old Casbah)

Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza

Spain Province of Jaen, Autonomous Community of Andalusia The two small towns, Úbeda and Baeza, some 10 km from each other, are located in southern Spain between the regions of Castile and Andalusia, on the northern slopes of the valley of the Guadalquivir River. Being on the frontier of the two regions, the towns have assumed a character of contrasts, which is reflected in the urban fabric that is of Arabic and Andalusian origin and more northern influences. The urban morphology of the two small cities of Úbeda and Baeza in southern Spain dates back to the Moorish 9th century and to the Reconquista in the 13th century. An important development took place in the 16th century, when the cities were subject to renovation along the lines of the emerging Renaissance. This planning intervention was part of the introduction into Spain of new humanistic ideas from Italy, which went on to have a great influence on the architecture of Latin America.

Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí

Spain Province of Lleida, Autonomous Community of Catalonia The narrow Vall de Boí is situated in the high Pyrénées, in the Alta Ribagorça region and is surrounded by steep mountains. The Vall de Boí is screened by the high peaks of the Beciberri/Punta Alta massif, in the high Pyrenees. Each village in the valley contains a Romanesque church, and is surrounded by a pattern of enclosed fields. There are extensive seasonally-used grazing lands on the higher slopes

Roman Walls of Lugo

Spain Province of Lugo, Autonomous Community of Galicia The walls of Lugo were built in the later part of the 3rd century to defend the Roman town of Lucus. The entire circuit survives intact and is the finest example of late Roman fortifications in western Europe.

Las Médulas

Spain Province of Léon, Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon In the 1st century A.D. the Roman Imperial authorities began to exploit the gold deposits of this region in north-west Spain, using a technique based on hydraulic power. After two centuries of working the deposits, the Romans withdrew, leaving a devastated landscape. Since there was no subsequent industrial activity, the dramatic traces of this remarkable ancient technology are visible everywhere as sheer faces in the mountainsides and the vast areas of tailings, now used for agriculture.

Old City of Salamanca

Spain Province of Salamanca, Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon This ancient university town north-west of Madrid was first conquered by the Carthaginians in the 3rd century B.C. It then became a Roman settlement before being ruled by the Moors until the 11th century. The university, one of the oldest in Europe, reached its high point during Salamanca's golden age. The city's historic centre has important Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque monuments. The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive.

San Cristóbal de La Laguna

Spain Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands San Cristóbal de La Laguna is located on the Island of Tenerife, part of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands in Spain. It was founded in the late 15th century on an inland plateau 550 m above sea level next to an insalubrious lagoon. The property includes two original town centres each belonging to a different time of history: the so-called Upper Town is the initial founding site next to the lagoon, and has an unplanned urban structure; and the Lower Town, one kilometre to the East, which is designed on a grid. It is the first ideal territory-town, being designed according to philosophical principles and Royal regulations, organized around a founding square known as Plaza del Adelantado. San Cristóbal was founded in 1497 by Alonso Fernández de Lugo. The last town to be established in the Canary Islands takes its name from a shallow lake or marshy area (La Laguna), drained in 1837.

Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct

Spain Province of Segovia, Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon The Roman aqueducts of Sevilla, Toledo, and Calahorra in Spain did not survive. The 221 colossal piers bear witness to the magnitude of the Aquae Atilianae in the province of Zaragoza. The impressive monuments that survive in Mérida, Tarragona, and Segovia illustrate the political determination which, following the steps of the victorious armies, greatly increased the number of aqueducts which Frontinus described as 'the most solemn testimony of the Empire.' The Aqueduct of Segovia, the symbol of the city, is the best known of these civil engineering feats owing to its monumentality, to its excellent state of conservation, and in particular to its location in one of the most beautiful urban sites in the world. The Roman aqueduct of Segovia, probably built c. A.D. 50, is remarkably well preserved. This impressive construction, with its two tiers of arches, forms part of the setting of the magnificent historic city of Segovia. Other important monuments include the Alcázar, begun around the 11th century, and the 16th-century Gothic cathedral.

Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville

Spain Province of Seville, Autonomous Community of Andalusia Together these three buildings form a remarkable monumental complex in the heart of Seville. The cathedral and the Alcázar - dating from the Reconquest of 1248 to the 16th century and imbued with Moorish influences - are an exceptional testimony to the civilization of the Almohads as well as that of Christian Andalusia. The Giralda minaret is the masterpiece of Almohad architecture. It stands next to the cathedral with its five naves; the largest Gothic building in Europe, it houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus. The ancient Lonja, which became the Archivo de Indias, contains valuable documents from the archives of the colonies in the Americas.

Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco

Spain Province of Tarragona, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, There was possibly a trading settlement here, founded by Ionian Greeks, in the early 1st millennium BC. Recent research has proved that by the end of the 5th century BC the indigenous Iberians had created a settlement, called Kesse. It was seized and fortified by the Roman proconsul Scipio Africanus in 218 BC during the Second Punic War in order to cut off the flow of reinforcements from Carthage to Hannibal, then campaigning in Italy. Roman control over this part of the Iberian peninsula was strengthened when a Carthaginian fleet was destroyed in 217 BC at the mouth of the Ebro. After serving as one of the bases for the Roman conquest of the entire peninsula, Tárraco became the seat of Roman power. It supported Julius Caesar against Pompey and was rewarded with colonia status for its loyalty with the impressive title Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco. It later became the capital of the imperial province of Hispania Citerior (Tarraconensis), which covered much of the Iberian peninsula, following the reorganization by Augustus in 27 BC.

Historic City of Toledo

Spain Province of Toledo, Autonomous Community of Castile-La Mancha Successively a Roman municipium, the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom, a fortress of the Emirate of Cordoba, an outpost of the Christian kingdoms fighting the Moors and, in the 16th century, the temporary seat of supreme power under Charles V, Toledo is the repository of more than 2,000 years of history. Its masterpieces are the product of heterogeneous civilizations in an environment where the existence of three major religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - was a major factor. The city bears exceptional testimony to several civilizations which have disappeared: Rome, with vestiges of the circus, the aqueduct and the sewer; the Visigoths, with the remains of the walls of King Wamba and the artefacts conserved in the Santa Cruz Museum. The Emirate of Cordoba built many Islamic monuments.

Mudejar Architecture of Aragon

Spain Provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza, Autonomous Community of Aragon his art, influenced by Islamic tradition, also reflects various contemporary European styles, particularly the Gothic. Present until the early 17th century, it is characterized by an extremely refined and inventive use of brick and glazed tiles in architecture, especially in the belfries. The Mudejar art of Aragon symbolizes pacific coexistence between the Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures, exchanging knowledge and experiences. Within this special historical context Mudejar art came into being in Teruel, as in Toledo, Zaragoza and many other cities. The history of Mudéjar art in Aragón can be divided into three phases: a) the beginnings from 12th to 13th centuries, b) full development and expansion in the 14th and 15th centuries, and c) survival and extension in the 16th and 17th centuries.

San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries

Spain San Millán de la Cogolla, Province and Autonomous Community of La Rioja The Spanish language was born in these monasteries, San Millán Suso and Yuso, and they form an important part of the history of humanity. Because of the identification and inter-relationship of the two monasteries with elements of the Mozarabic, Visigothic, medieval, Renaissance and Baroque styles, the architecture and the natural landscape bring together highly significant periods in the history of Spain. In the mid-6th century the holy San Millán settled at a site, now known as the Suso Monastery, on the flanks of the Cogolla or Distercios hills, where he was joined by other eremitic monks to found the Cogolla Community. During the lifetime of the saint a small monastery was built on the hillside in Visigothic style. This was enlarged in the 7th century by the construction of a porch or hall up against the caves, in which to receive pilgrims. The church was rebuilt in 929, during the reign of García Sanchez of Navarre and Castille, in Mozarabic style and King Sancho Abarca and his wife, Doña Urraca, attended its dedication in 984.

Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain

Spain Santillana del Mar, Province and Autonomous Community of Cantabria Seventeen decorated caves of the Paleolithic age were inscribed as an extension to the Altamira Cave, inscribed in 1985. The property will now appear on the List as Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain. The property represents the apogee of Paleolithic cave art that developed across Europe, from the Urals to the Iberian Peninusula, from 35,000 to 11,000 BC

Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana

Spain The Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana located on a sheer-sided mountain range parallel to the north-western coast of the island of Mallorca. Millennia of agriculture in an environment with scarce resources has transformed the terrain and displays an articulated network of devices for the management of water revolving around farming units of feudal origins. The landscape is marked by agricultural terraces and inter-connected water works - including water mills - as well as dry stone constructions and farms.

Tower of Hercules

Spain The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century A.D. when the Romans built the Farum Brigantium. The Tower, built on a 57 metre high rock, rises a further 55 metres, of which 34 metres correspond to the Roman masonry and 21 meters to the restoration directed by architect Eustaquio Giannini in the 18th century, who augmented the Roman core with two octagonal forms. Immediately adjacent to the base of the Tower, is a small rectangular Roman building. The site also features a sculpture park, the Monte dos Bicos rock carvings from the Iron Age and a Muslim cemetery. The Roman foundations of the building were revealed in excavations conducted in the 1990s. Many legends from the Middle Ages to the 19th century surround the Tower of Hercules, which is unique as it is the only lighthouse of Greco-Roman antiquity to have retained a measure of structural integrity and functional continuity.

Archaeological Site of Atapuerca

Spain The site is located at the north-eastern corner of the Castilian plateau. Although more than 1,000 m above sea level, it is now no more than a gently sloping limestone ridge, largely covered with scrub and with some farming. The caves of the Sierra de Atapuerca contain a rich fossil record of the earliest human beings in Europe, from nearly one million years ago and extending up to the Common Era. They represent an exceptional reserve of data, the scientific study of which provides priceless information about the appearance and the way of life of these remote human ancestor

Poblet Monastery

Spain Vimbodí, Province of Tarragona, Autonomous Community of Catalonia This Cistercian abbey in Catalonia is one of the largest in Spain. At its centre is a 12th-century church. The austere, majestic monastery, which has a fortified royal residence and contains the pantheon of the kings of Catalonia and Aragon, is an impressive sight.

Sacred City of Kandy

Sri Lanka Central Province This sacred Buddhist site, popularly known as the city of Senkadagalapura, was the last capital of the Sinhala kings whose patronage enabled the Dinahala culture to flourish for more than 2,500 years until the occupation of Sri Lanka by the British in 1815.Kandy, founded in the 14th century, is the southern tip of Sri Lanka's 'Cultural Triangle'. The city became the capital of the kingdom in 1592, during a troubled time when many of the islanders were fleeing to the interior, away from the coastal areas the European powers were fighting over. Although taken several times, the city remained one of the bastions of Sinhalese independence until the British troops entered it on 14 February 1815. From Vimala Dharma Suriya I (1591-1604) to Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe (1798-1815), it was the last seat of royal power. It remains the religious capital of Buddhism and a sacred city for millions of believers. Enshrined in the Dalada Maligawa is the relic of the tooth of Buddha which has long been greatly venerated. The ceremonial high point each year is the splendid ritual of the great processions on the feast of Esala Perahera.

Ancient City of Sigiriya

Sri Lanka Central Province, Matale District The ruins of the capital built by the parricidal King Kassapa I (477-95) lie on the steep slopes and at the summit of a granite peak standing some 180m high (the 'Lion's Rock', which dominates the jungle from all sides). A series of galleries and staircases emerging from the mouth of a gigantic lion constructed of bricks and plaster provide access to the site.

Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications

Sri Lanka City of Galle, Southern Province The bay of Galle lies off the south-west coast of Sri Lanka, sheltered by a rocky peninsula. Mentioned as early as 545 in the cosmography of Cosmas Indicopleustes, it is one of the most ancient 'ports of call of the Levant'. When Ibn Batuta landed there in 1344, it was the principal port of Ceylon. Portuguese navigators settled there in 1505, two years before settling in Colombo. It seems that they preferred Colombo at first. In 1588, they decided to withdraw to Galle and they hastily constructed a rampart and three bastions to defend the peninsula on the northern landside. The seaward side was considered invulnerable and was not fortified.

Sacred City of Anuradhapura

Sri Lanka North Central Province, Anuradhapura District This sacred city was established around a cutting from the 'tree of enlightenment', the Buddha's fig tree, brought there in the 3rd century B.C. by Sanghamitta, the founder of an order of Buddhist nuns. Anuradhapura, a Ceylonese political and religious capital that flourished for 1,300 years, was abandoned after an invasion in 993. Hidden away in dense jungle for many years, the splendid site, with its palaces, monasteries and monuments, is now accessible once again.

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa

Sri Lanka North Central Province, Polonnaruva District Polonnaruwa was the second capital of Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. It comprises, besides the Brahmanic monuments built by the Cholas, the monumental ruins of the fabulous garden-city created by Parakramabahu I in the 12th century.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Sri Lanka Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces Encompassing the last extensive patch of primary lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka, Sinharaja Forest Reserve is situated in the south-west lowland wet zone of Sri Lanka. Covering an area of 8,864 ha and ranging from an altitude of 300 - 1,170 meters, it consists of 6,092 ha of Forest Reserve and 2,772 ha of Proposed Forest Reserve. This narrow strip of undulating terrain encompasses a series of ridges and valleys that are crisscrossed by an intricate network of streams. Draining to both the south and north, this detailed matrix of waterways flow into the Gin River on the southern boundary of the property and Kalu River via the Napola Dola, Koskulana Ganga and Kudawa Ganga on its northern boundary. Located in south-west Sri Lanka, Sinharaja is the country's last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. There is much endemic wildlife, especially birds, but the reserve is also home to over 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic species of mammals and butterflies, as well as many kinds of insects, reptiles and rare amphibians.

Central Highlands of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka's highlands are situated in the south-central part of the island. The property comprises the Peak Wilderness Protected Area, the Horton Plains National Park and the Knuckles Conservation Forest. These montane forests, where the land rises to 2,500 metres above sea-level, are home to an extraordinary range of flora and fauna, including several endangered species such as the western-purple-faced langur, the Horton Plains slender loris and the Sri Lankan leopard They include areas of Sri Lankan montane rain forests considered as a super-hotspot within the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot.

Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region

Sudan Northern state, province of Meroe Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region comprise five archaeological sites on both sides of the Nile in an arid area considered part of Nubia. Together they cover an area more than 60 km long. The sites (Gebel Barkal, Kurru, Nuri, Sanam and Zuma) represent the Napatan (900 - 270 BC) and Meroitic (270 BC - 350 AD) cultures of the second kingdom of Kush. They include tombs, with and without pyramids, temples, burial mounds and chambers, living complexes and palaces. They exhibit an architectural tradition that shaped the political, religious, social and artistic scene of the Middle and Northern Nile Valley for more than 2000 years (1500 BC- 6th Century AD).

Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe

Sudan The Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe, a semi-desert landscape between the Nile and Atbara rivers, was the heartland of the Kingdom of Kush, a major power from the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. The property consists of the royal city of the Kushite kings at Meroe, near the River Nile, the nearby religious site of Naqa and Musawwarat es Sufra. It was the seat of the rulers who occupied Egypt for close to a century and features, among other vestiges, pyramids, temples and domestic buildings as well as major installations connected to water management. Their vast empire extended from the Mediterranean to the heart of Africa, and the property testifies to the exchange between the art, architectures, religions and languages of both regions.

Central Suriname Nature Reserve

Suriname District Sipaliwini The Central Suriname Nature Reserve was established in 1998 to link up three pre-existing Nature Reserves named Raleighvallen, Eilerts de Haan and Tafelberg. Through the addition of significant areas in the process, the property now forms an immense protected area covering around eleven percent of the national territory. The 1,592,000 hectares are mostly comprised of primary tropical forest in west-central Suriname, a part of the Guiana Shield within the phylogeographic limits of Amazonia. The Reserve protects the upper watershed of the mighty Coppename River, as well as the headwaters of a number of other important rivers, covering a broad range of topography, ecosystems and habitats. Several distinctive geological and physical formations occur in the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, including granite inselbergs that rise up to 360 m.a.s.l. above the surrounding tropical forest. The eastern-most table top mountain or "Tepui" of the Guiana Shield is located in the Reserve and there is the Wilhelmina Mountain Range in the South culminating at Juliana Top, Suriname's highest elevation at 1,230 m.a.s.l.

Historic Inner City of Paramaribo

Suriname District of Paramaribo Paramaribo is a former Dutch colonial town dating from the 17th and 18th centuries planted on the Northeastern coast of tropical South America. Composed of mainly wooden buildings, the plain and symmetrical architectural style illustrating the gradual fusion of Dutch and other European architectural and later North American influences as well as elements from Creole culture, reflects the multi-cultural society of Suriname. The historic inner city is located along the left bank of the Suriname River and is defined by the Sommelsdijkse Kreek to the north and the Viottekreek to the south. In addition to Fort Zeelandia, Paramaribo was also protected by the Nieuw-Amsterdam Fortress at the confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers, near the coast.

Naval Port of Karlskrona

Sweden Blekinge County Karlskrona was founded in 1680 when Sweden was a major power whose territory included modern Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Skåne, Blekinge and Gotland and parts of north Germany. Karl XI issued a charter for the foundation of a new town on the islands of Wämö and Trossö, to be known as Karlskrona and to serve both as a port and as a naval base. Danish tradesmen's and merchants' area were forced into the new town, and the region was progressively assimilated into Sweden. Karlskrona is an outstanding example of a late-17th-century European planned naval city It is a unique relic of Sweden's time as a major power, and of the North European Baroque movement's attempt to create unity between the layout of the city, the manufacturing areas, and the surrounding countryside.

Rock Carvings in Tanum

Sweden Bohuslan The rock carvings in Tanum, in the north of Bohuslän, are a unique artistic achievement not only for their rich and varied motifs (depictions of humans and animals, weapons, boats and other subjects) but also for their cultural and chronological unity. They reveal the life and beliefs of people in Europe during the Bronze Age and are remarkable for their large numbers and outstanding quality.

Grimeton Radio Station, Varberg

Sweden County of Halland The Varberg Radio Station site is located 7 km east of Varberg in the Parish of Grimeton, in south-western Sweden. The site comprises 109.9 ha of land with buildings housing the Alexanderson ultra-long wave radiotelegraph transmitter constructed in 1922-24. is an exceptionally well-preserved monument to early wireless transatlantic communication. he architect Carl Åkerblad designed the main buildings in the neoclassical style and the structural engineer Henrik Kreüger was responsible for the antenna towers, the tallest built structures in Sweden at that time. The site is an outstanding example of the development of telecommunications and is the only surviving example of a major transmitting station based on pre-electronic technology.

Laponian Area

Sweden County of Norrbotten. Municipalities - rural districts - Gällivare, Jokkmokk and Arjeplog The Arctic Circle region of northern Sweden is the home of the Saami, or Lapp people. It is the largest area in the world (and one of the last) with an ancestral way of life based on the seasonal movement of livestock. Every summer, the Saami lead their huge herds of reindeer towards the mountains through a natural landscape hitherto preserved, but now threatened by the advent of motor vehicles. The site lies close to the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden. It consists of two landscape types: an eastern taiga area of Archaean geological origin and a western mountainous landscape covering two-thirds of the area, formed more recently and comprising part of the Swedish-Norwegian Scandes, with a thinly vegetated mountainous landscape, steep valleys and powerful rivers. The region includes the four national parks Padjelanta, Sarek, Stora Sjofallet and Muddus, and the nature reserves Sjaunja and Stubba.

Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland

Sweden In a comparatively small area of north-eastern Sweden, bordering the Gulf of Bothnia and known as Hälsingland, are a concentration of large richly decorated, wooden farmhouses and associated farm buildings reflecting the peak of prosperity for the farming landscape in the 19th century and the social status of its farmers. The seven sites are, spread across an area 100 km from east to west and 50 km north to south. Six of these are in Hälsingland Province with a seventh just across the border in Dalarna Province - although this area was culturally part of Hälsingland in the 1800s. dating mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries that reflect a timber building tradition that originated in the Middle Ages (12th-16th centuries AD). The farmhouses, set in long fertile valleys within the Taiga forest landscape,

Hanseatic Town of Visby

Sweden Island region of Gotland A former Viking site on the island of Gotland, Visby was the main centre of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic from the 12th to the 14th century. Its 13th-century ramparts and more than 200 warehouses and wealthy merchants' dwellings from the same period make it the best-preserved fortified commercial city in northern Europe. Medieval Visby had more churches than any other town in Sweden - fifteen within the walls and two outside.

Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland

Sweden Kalmar County, Island of Öland The southern part of the island of Öland(Södra Öland) in the Baltic Sea is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. The main topographical feature is Västra Landborgen. To the west there is a 3 km wide coastal plain, which contains the most fertile soils on Öland. On the east is Stora alvaret: half of this limestone pavement (one of the largest in Europe) is either exposed or covered by a thin calcareous soil, with other parts covered by raised beaches or lenses of sediment, sometimes overlaid by fen peat.

Royal Domain of Drottningholm

Sweden Province of Stockholm, Region of Ekero The Royal Domain of The royal domain of Drottningholm is located on Queen's Island in Lake Mälaren, outside Stockholm. The island's name acknowledges the closely interwoven history of the castle with the different queens of Sweden. Drottningholm stands on an island in Lake Mälar in a suburb of Stockholm. With its castle, perfectly preserved theatre (built in 1766), Chinese pavilion and gardens, it is the finest example of an 18th-century north European royal residence inspired by the Palace of Versailles.

Skogskyrkogården

Sweden Stockholm County This Stockholm cemetery was created between 1917 and 1920 by two young architects, Asplund and Lewerentz, on the site of former gravel pits overgrown with pine trees. The design blends vegetation and architectural elements, taking advantage of irregularities in the site to create a landscape that is finely adapted to its function. It has had a profound influence in many countries of the world. In 1912 Stockholm City Council acquired a 96 ha tract of pineclad sand and gravel for the purpose of creating a new cemetery.

Birka and Hovgården

Sweden Stockholm County (Region of Uppland) The Birka archaeological site is located on Björkö Island in Lake Mälar and was occupied in the 9th and 10th centuries. Hovgården is situated on the neighbouring island of Adelsö. Together, they make up an archaeological complex which illustrates the elaborate trading networks of Viking-Age Europe and their influence on the subsequent history of Scandinavia. Birka was also important as the site of the first Christian congregation in Sweden, founded in 831 by St Ansgar.

Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun

Sweden Town of Falun, Dalarna Province The Great Copper Mountain (Stora Kopparberget) is the oldest and most important mine working in Sweden and one of the world's most remarkable industrial monuments. The man-made landscape surrounding the mine is very remarkable and unique by Swedish and international standards. The enormous mining excavation known as the Great Pit at Falun is the most striking feature of a landscape that illustrates the activity of copper production in this region since at least the 13th century. The 17th-century planned town of Falun with its many fine historic buildings, together with the industrial and domestic remains of a number of settlements spread over a wide area of the Dalarna region, provide a vivid picture of what was for centuries one of the world's most important mining areas.

Engelsberg Ironworks

Sweden Västmanland Engelsberg is the most complete surviving example of the traditional järnbruk upon which much of Sweden's prosperity was based in the 17th and 18th centuries. These self-contained estates comprised not only technical installations but also a range of administrative and residential buildings for management and workers, including those who worked on the associated farm. Production steadily increased during the 18th century as a result of improving the technology and acquiring neighbouring forges: between 1695 and 1767 it rose from 135 to 264 tons per year.

Abbey of St Gall

Switzerland Canton of St Gall, Town of St Gall It was in 612 that the lrish monk Gallus withdrew into the valley of Steinach to lead the existence of a hermit. In 747, the abbot Othmar established a community of Benedictine monks in the place made famous by St Gall and at the same time founded a school. The Convent of St Gall, a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery, was, from the 8th century to its secularization in 1805, one of the most important in Europe. Its library is one of the richest and oldest in the world and contains precious manuscripts such as the earliest-known architectural plan drawn on parchment. From 1755 to 1768, the conventual area was rebuilt in Baroque style. The cathedral and the library are the main features of this remarkable architectural complex, reflecting 12 centuries of continuous activity.

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona

Switzerland Cantons of Glarus, St. Gallen and Graubünden The Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona in the north-eastern part of the country covers a mountainous area of 32,850 ha which features seven peaks that rise above 3,000 m. The area displays an exceptional example of mountain building through continental collision and features .excellent geological sections through tectonic thrust, i.e. the process whereby older, deeper rocks are carried onto younger, shallower rocks. The site is distinguished by the clear three-dimensional exposure of the structures and processes that characterize this phenomenon and has been a key site for the geological sciences since the 18th century. The Glarus Alps are glaciated mountains rising dramatically above narrow river valleys and are the site of the largest post-glacial landslide in the Central Alpine region.

Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair

Switzerland The Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair, located in a valley of the Grisons in the extreme south-eastern part of Switzerland, south of the Alps, was founded around 775, probably on the orders of Charlemagne. The Convent of Müstair, which stands in a valley in the Grisons, is a good example of Christian monastic renovation during the Carolingian period. It has Switzerland's greatest series of figurative murals, painted c. A.D. 800, along with Romanesque frescoes and stuccoes.

La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning

Switzerland The site of La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle watchmaking town-planning consists of two towns situated close to one another in a remote environment in the Swiss Jura mountains, on land ill-suited to farming. Their planning and buildings reflect watchmakers' need of rational organization. Planned in the early 19th century, after extensive fires, the towns owed their existence to this single industry. Their layout along an open-ended scheme of parallel strips on which residential housing and workshops are intermingled reflects the needs of the local watchmaking culture that dates to the 17th century and is still alive today. The site presents outstanding examples of mono-industrial manufacturing-towns which are well preserved and still active. The urban planning of both towns has accommodated the transition from the artisanal production of a cottage industry to the more concentrated factory production of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The town of La Chaux-de-Fonds was described by Karl Marx as a "huge factory-town" in Das Kapital where he analyzed the division of labour in the watchmaking industry of the Jura.

Ancient City of Damascus

Syrian Arab Republic Administrative District of Damascus Founded in the 3rd millennium BC, Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. Dominated to the west by Mount Qasiyun and bounded to the east by the desert, Damascus was founded, with the name of Palmyra, in an oasis that was very fertile thanks to the presence of the River Barada, a meeting place for cultures and caravans. It was the capital of an Aramaic kingdom (11th-7th centuries BC), often at war with the kings of Israel and temporarily conquered by King David. After being defeated twice by the Assyrians, it was definitively conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 600 BC. It fell into Persian hands in 530 BC, and then in 333 BC it was annexed to the empire of Alexander the Great. The two adjoining areas were unified by the Romans, during the reigns of Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla (AD 197-217). The city was enclosed by a single ring of enclosure walls that are still be identified. After the interval of rule by the Sassanid Parthians, in 636 its fate was sealed permanently as part of the Arab world, becoming the prestigious and monumental capital of the Umayyad caliph

Ancient City of Aleppo

Syrian Arab Republic Aleppo Located 350 km north of Damascus at the crossroads of several trade routes, Aleppo was very prosperous from the 3rd millennium BC, a prosperity it preserved throughout its evolution and its settlement. The old city was surrounded by a defensive enclosure, flanked by towers and entered by fortified gates from the Islamic era. Aleppo is famous for its mosques, madrasas (the Fardos Madrassa is one of the outstanding religious buildings) and churches. Located at the crossroads of several trade routes since the 2nd millennium B.C., Aleppo was ruled successively by the Hittites, Assyrians, Akkadians, Greeks, Romans, Umayyads, Ayyubids, Mameluks and Ottomans who left their stamp on the city

Ancient City of Bosra

Syrian Arab Republic Governorate of Deraa The old city of Bosra was the northern capital of the Nabataean kingdom of the Roman province of Arabia, referred to in the Bible, in AD 106. The name of Bosra occurs in the precious Tell el-Amarna tablets in Egypt, which date from the 14th century B.C. and represent royal correspondence between the Pharaohs and the Phoenician and Amorite kings. It became the northern capital of the Nabataean kingdom. In the year of 106 A.D, a new era began for Bosra when it was incorporated into the Roman Empire

Ancient Villages of Northern Syria

Syrian Arab Republic Located in a vast Limestone Massif, in the northwest of Syria, some forty ancient villages provide a coherent and exceptionally broad insight into rural and village lifestyles in late Antiquity and the Byzantine Period. Abandoned in the 8th-10th centuries, they still retain a large part of their original monuments and buildings, in a remarkable state of preservation: dwellings, pagan temples, churches and Christian sanctuaries, funerary monuments, bathhouses, public buildings, buildings with economic or artisanal purposes, etc

Site of Palmyra

Syrian Arab Republic Province of Homs An oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences. Palmyra is a fertile oasis located close to a mountainous passage, in the heart of the Syrian desert. It developed into a staging post between Al-Shaam and Iraq, the Arab Gulf and Persia and the Mediterranean. It was to the exploitation of this rich caravan trade that the city owed its prosperity and importance. Palmyra established itself as the most important market for Eastern products and the leading caravan city of the Roman Empire, taking over a role that had previously been performed by Petra

São Francisco Square in the Town of São Cristóvão

São Cristóvão was the old capital of Sergipe del Rey; it demonstrates the occupation processes of the region and the development of towns founded during the reign of King Philip II, during the 60-year period when Portugal was under Spanish domain. São Francisco Square, in the town of São Cristovão, is a quadrilateral open space surrounded by substantial early buildings such as São Francisco Church and convent, the Church and Santa Casa da Misericórdia, the Provincial Palace and the associated houses of different historical periods surrounding the Square. This monumental ensemble, together with the surrounding 18th- and 19th- century houses, creates an urban landscape which reflects the history of the town since its origin. The Franciscan complex is an example of the typical architecture of the religious order developed in north-eastern Brazil.

Proto-urban Site of Sarazm

Tajikistan Sarazm, which means "where the land begins", is an archaeological site bearing testimony to the development of human settlements in Central Asia, from the 4th millennium BCE to the end of the 3rd millennium BCE. The ruins demonstrate the early development of proto-urbanization in this region. This centre of settlement, one of the oldest in Central Asia, is situated between a mountainous region suitable for cattle rearing by nomadic pastoralists, and a large valley conducive to the development of agriculture and irrigation by the first settled populations in the region. Sarazm also demonstrates the existence of commercial and cultural exchanges and trade relations with peoples over an extensive geographical area, extending from the steppes of Central Asia and Turkmenistan, to the Iranian plateau, the Indus valley and as far as the Indian Ocean

The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal is a vast waterway system in the north-eastern and central-eastern plains of China, running from Beijing in the north to Zhejiang province in the south. Constructed in sections from the 5th century BC onwards, it was conceived as a unified means of communication for the Empire for the first time in the 7th century AD (Sui dynasty). This led to a series of gigantic construction sites, creating the world's largest and most extensive civil engineering project prior to the Industrial Revolution.

Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs)

Tajikistan Tajik National Park (2,611,674 ha in area) encompasses almost the entire Pamir Mountains, the third highest mountain ecosystem in the world after the Himalaya and Karakorum Mountains. The Pamir Mountains lie at the centre of the 'Pamir Knot', the term used by geographers to describe the tangle of the highest mountain ranges on the Eurasian continent. Huge tectonic forces stemming from the collision of the Indian-Australian plate with the Eurasian Plate have progressively thrown up the Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Kunlun and Tien Shan - all radiating out from the Pamir Mountains. Along with the Karakoram Mountains, the Pamir region is one of the most tectonically-active locations in the world. It consists of high plateaux in the east and, to the west, rugged peaks, some of them over 7,000 meters high, and features extreme seasonal variations of temperature. The longest valley glacier outside the Polar region is located among the 1,085 glaciers inventoried in the site, which also numbers 170 rivers and more than 400 lakes.

Historic City of Ayutthaya

Thailand Ayutthaya Province The Historic City of Ayutthaya, founded in 1350, was the second capital of the Siamese Kingdom. It flourished from the 14th to the 18th centuries, during which time it grew to be one of the world's largest and most cosmopolitan urban areas and a center of global diplomacy and commerce. Ayutthaya was strategically located on an island surrounded by three rivers connecting the city to the sea. This site was chosen because it was located above the tidal bore of the Gulf of Siam as it existed at that time, thus preventing attack of the city by the sea-going warships of other nations. The location also helped to protect the city from seasonal flooding. Founded c. 1350, Ayutthaya became the second Siamese capital after Sukhothai. It was destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century. Its remains, characterized by the prang (reliquary towers) and gigantic monasteries, give an idea of its past splendour

Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex

Thailand Provinces of Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Rachisima, Prachinburi, Srakaew and Burirum Home to more than 800 species of fauna and located in northeast Thailand, Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex (DPKY-FC) covers 615,500 hectares and comprises five almost contiguous Protected Areas; Khao Yai National Park, Thap Lan National Park, Pang Sida National Park, Ta Phraya National Park, and Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary. The complex spans 230 kilometers from Ta Phraya National Park on the Cambodian border in the east and Khao Yai National Park at the western end of the complex. It lies in an east-west alignment along and below the Korat Plateau, the southern edge of which is formed by the Phanom Dongrek escarpment. The property falls inside the Central Indochina biogeographic unit and borders the Cardamom Mountains biogeographic unit. The complex also lies at the edge of the Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (WWF Global 200 Ecoregion 35) and the Indochina Dry Forest (Ecoregion 54).

Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns

Thailand Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Phet Provinces Situated in the lower northern region of present-day Thailand, the Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns is a serial property consisting of three physically closely related ancient towns. The total property area is 11,852 ha., comprising Sukhothai 7,000 ha., Si Satchanalai 4,514 ha., and Kamphaeng Phet 338 ha. Sukhothai was the capital of the first Kingdom of Siam in the 13th and 14th centuries. Si Satchanalai was the spiritual center of the kingdom and the site of numerous temples and Buddhist monasteries. Si Satchanalai was also the centre of the all-important ceramic export industry. The third town, Kamphaeng Phet, was located at the kingdom's southern frontier and had important military functions in protecting the kingdom from foreign intruders as well as providing security for the kingdom's extensive trading network. All three towns shared a common infrastructure to control water resources, and were linked by a major highway known as the Thanon Phra Ruang after the king who constructed it.

Ban Chiang Archaeological Site

Thailand Udon Thani Province The Ban Chiang Archaeological Site is a large, prehistoric earthen mound located in an agricultural area in the Ban Chiang Sub-district, Nong Han District of Udon Thani Province in northeast Thailand, within the watershed of the Mekong River. It is an oval-shaped mound formed by human habitation 500 meters x 1,350 meters and 8 meters high. The site was first discovered in 1966. Ban Chiang is considered the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in South-East Asia. It marks an important stage in human cultural, social and technological evolution. The site presents the earliest evidence of farming in the region and of the manufacture and use of metals.

Chengjiang Fossil Site

The Chengjiang Fossil Site, located in the Province of Yunnan, China, conserves fossil remains which are of exceptional significance. The rocks and fossils of the Chengjiang Fossil Site present an outstanding and extraordinarily preserved record that testifies to the rapid diversification of life on Earth during the early Cambrian period, 530 million years before present.

Greater Blue Mountains Area

The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of mostly forested landscape on a sandstone plateau inland from central Sydney, New South Wales. The property, which includes eight protected areas,is noted for its representation of the evolutionary adaptation and diversification of the eucalypts in post-Gondwana isolation on the Australian continent, in two blocks separated by a transportation and urban development corridor, is made up of seven national parks as well as the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve. These are the Blue Mountains, Wollemi, Yengo, Nattai, Kanangra-Boyd, Gardens of Stone and Thirlmere Lakes National Parks.

Ningaloo Coast

The Ningaloo Coast is located on Western Australia's remote coast along the East Indian Ocean. he 604,500 hectare marine and terrestrial property of Ningaloo Coast, on the remote western coast of Australia, includes one of the longest near-shore reefs in the world. On land the site features an extensive karst system and network of underground caves and water courses. Annual gatherings of whale sharks occur at Ningaloo Coast, which is home to numerous marine species, among them a wealth of sea turtles. The terrestrial part of the site features subterranean water bodies with a substantial network of caves, conduits, and groundwater streams.

Site of Xanadu

The Site of Xanadu is the site of a grassland capital characteristic of cultural fusion, witnessing clashes and mutual assimilation between the nomadic and agrarian civilisations in northern Asia. Located on the southeast edge of the Mongolian plateau, it was the first capital (1263-1273) of Kublai Khan and later the summer capital (1274-1364) of the Yuan Dynasty. The Site of Xanadu was abandoned in 1430. The large archaeological site now generally covered by grassland preserves the overall urban plan and city site of Xanadu as built and used in the 13th and 14th centuries. Wall lines of the Palace City, Imperial City and Outer City which together display the traditional urban planning of central China and arrangements for Mongolian tribal meetings and hunting can be clearly perceived, as can mounds indicating palace and temple buildings, some of which have been excavated, recorded and reburied. The remains of the neighbourhoods outside the gates, Tiefan'gan canal and the tomb areas, all within their natural and cultural environment. The latter preserves the natural elements crucial for the siting of the city - mountains to the north and water to the south, together with the four existing types of grassland landscape, especially the Xar Tala Globeflower plain associated with the river wetlands. The Site of Xanadu can be clearly read in the landscape.

Okavango Delta

The geology of the area, a part of the African Rift Valley System, has resulted in the 'capture' of the Okavango River that has formed the Delta and its extensive waterways, swamps, flooded grasslands and floodplains. The Okavango River, at 1,500kms, is the third largest in southern Africa. This delta in north-west Botswana comprises permanent marshlands and seasonally flooded plains. It is one of the very few major interior delta systems that do not flow into a sea or ocean, with a wetland system that is almost intact. One of the unique characteristics of the site is that the annual flooding from the River Okavango occurs during the dry season, with the result that the native plants and animals have synchronized their biological cycles with these seasonal rains and floods. It is an exceptional example of the interaction between climatic, hydrological and biological processes. The Okavango Delta is home to some of the world's most endangered species of large mammal, such as the cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion.

Archaeological Site of Carthage

Tunisia District of Tunis Founded by the Phoenicians, Carthage is an extensive archaeological site, located on a hill dominating the Gulf of Tunis and the surrounding plain. Metropolis of Punic civilization in Africa and capital of the province of Africa in Roman times, Carthage has played a central role in Antiquity as a great commercial empire. During the lengthy Punic wars, Carthage occupied the territories that belonged to Rome, which then destroyed its rival in 146 AD. The town was rebuilt by the Romans on the ruins of the ancient city. The state takes its name from the city of Carthage, out on the coast, 10 km from modern Tunis. Carthage was founded in the 9th century by Phoenician traders from Tyre, in today's Lebanon; it had two first class harbours, and therefore an advantage in possessing the most efficient means of communications of those days, the sea.

Amphitheatre of El Jem

Tunisia El-Mahdia The Amphitheatre of El Jem bears outstanding witness to Roman architecture, notably monuments built for spectator events, in Africa. Located in a plain in the centre of Tunisia, this amphitheatre is built entirely of stone blocks, with no foundations and free-standing. In this respect it is modelled on the Coliseum of Rome without being an exact copy of the Flavian construction. The impressive ruins of the largest colosseum in North Africa, a huge amphitheatre which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, are found in the small village of El Jem. This 3rd-century monument illustrates the grandeur and extent of Imperial Rome.

Dougga / Thugga

Tunisia Gouvernat de Beja The archaeological site of Thugga/Dougga is located in the North-west region of Tunisia, perched on the summit of a hill at an altitude of 571 m, dominating the fertile valley of Oued Khalled. Before the Roman annexation of Numidia, Thugga had existed for more than six centuries and was, probably, the first capital of the Numidian kingdom. It flourished under Roman rule but declined during the Byzantine and Islamic periods. The impressive ruins which are visible today give an idea of the resources of a Romanised Numidian town

Punic Town of Kerkuane and its Necropolis

Tunisia Gouvernorat de Nabeul This Phoenician city was probably abandoned during the First Punic War (c. 250 B.C.) and as a result was not rebuilt by the Romans. The remains constitute the only example of a Phoenicio-Punic city to have survived. The Punic Town of Kerkuane, located at the tip of Cape Bon on a cliff that dominates the sea, bears exceptional witness to Phoenician-Punic town planning.

Medina of Sousse

Tunisia Gouvernorat de Sousse Sousse was an important commercial and military port during the Aghlabid period (800-909) and is a typical example of a town dating from the first centuries of Islam. Sousse was part of a coastal defence system. The port of Sousse was the Phoenician outpost of Hadrumetum, a free Roman city, the capital of Byzacium under Diocletian, the Vandal city of Hunericopolis, and finally the Byzantine city of Justiniana or Justinianopolis. No monument, however, survives from these thousand years of history, for during his conquest of Ifriqiya, Oqba ibn Nafìi entirely destroyed Justinianopolis after a two-month siege. Built in the late 7th century on these ruins and given its present name, Sousse was a completely new city. The most ancient monument still standing, the Ribat, belongs to that period.

Medina of Tunis

Tunisia Tunis Located in a fertile plain region of north-eastern Tunisia, and a few kilometres from the sea, the Medina of Tunis is one of the first Arabo-Muslim towns of the Maghreb (698 A.D.). Under the Almohads and the Hafsids, from the 12th to the 16th century, Tunis was considered one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in the Islamic world. Some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains, testify to this remarkable past.

Nemrut Dağ

Turkey Adiyaman Province The mausoleum of Antiochus I (69-34 B.C.), who reigned over Commagene, a kingdom founded north of Syria and the Euphrates after the breakup of Alexander's empire, is one of the most ambitious constructions of the Hellenistic period. The monarchs of this dynasty bore the Greek names of Antiochos or Mithridates. They left behind, in the mountainous region that stretched from the north of the high valley of the Euphrates, not far from Adıyaman, several breathtakingly beautiful funerary sanctuaries. Locations include Eski Kâhta, Karakuş and, especially, Nemrut Dağ, where the most impressive of all the tomb sites is found, that of Antiochos I of Commagene (69-34 BC). Five giant seated limestone statues, identified by their inscriptions as deities, face outwards from the tumulus on the upper level of the east and west terraces. These are flanked by a pair of guardian animal statues - a lion and eagle - at each end. The heads of the statues have fallen off to the lower level, which accommodates two rows of sandstone stelae, mounted on pedestals with an altar in front of each stele. One row carries relief sculptures of Antiochos' paternal Persian ancestors, the other of his maternal Macedonian ancestors.

Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği

Turkey City and District of Divriği, Province of Sivas (Eastern Anatolia) Located on the slopes below the castle of Divriği, Sivas Province in central eastern Turkey, the Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği is a remarkable building combining a monumental hypostyle mosque with a two storey hospital, which includes a tomb.

City of Safranbolu

Turkey City and District of Safranbolu, Province of Karabuk From the 13th century to the advent of the railway in the early 20th century, Safranbolu was an important caravan station on the main East-West trade route. The Old Mosque, Old Bath and Süleyman Pasha Medrese were built in 1322. During its apogee in the 17th century, Safranbolu's architecture influenced urban development throughout much of the Ottoman Empire.

Historic Areas of Istanbul

Turkey City and Province of Istanbul Strategically located on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Istanbul was successively the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire and has been associated with major events in political history, religious history and art history for more than 2,000 years. The city is situated on a peninsula which is surrounded by the Golden Horn (Haliç), a natural harbor on the north, the Bosphorus on the east and the Marmara Sea on the south. The Historic Peninsula, on which the former Byzantium and Constantinople developed, was surrounded by ancient walls, built initially by Theodosius in the early fifth century. Its masterpieces include the ancient Hippodrome of Constantine, the 6th-century Hagia Sophia and the 16th-century Süleymaniye Mosque.

Hattusha: the Hittite Capital

Turkey District of Sungurlu, Çorum Province The ruins of ancient Hattusha, the modern village of Bogâzkale and the great capital of the Hittite empire, are framed by the grandiose backdrop of the high Anatolian plains 200 km to the east of Ankara. The site was partially occupied at the end of the 3rd millennium by a pre-Hittite population which, as was also the case in other regions, permitted Assyrian traders to settle there. The archaeological site of Hattusha, former capital of the Hittite Empire, is notable for its urban organization, the types of construction that have been preserved (temples, royal residences, fortifications), the rich ornamentation of the Lions' Gate and the Royal Gate, and the ensemble of rock art at Yazilikaya

Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex

Turkey Dominating the skyline of Edirne, former capital of the Ottoman Empire, the Selimiye Mosque Complex commissioned by Selim II is the ultimate architectural expression by the architect Sinan of the Ottoman külliye. The imposing mosque stepping up to its single great dome with four soaring slender minarets, spectacular decorated interior space, manuscript library, meticulous craftsmanship, brilliant Iznik tiles and marble courtyard together with its associated educational institutions, outer courtyard and covered bazaar, represent the apogee of an art form and the pious benefaction of 16th century imperial Islam. The architectural composition of the Selimiye Mosque Complex in its dominant location represents the culmination of the great body of work by Sinan, the most outstanding architect of the Ottoman Empire.

Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia

Turkey Nevşehir Province (Cappadocia) in Central Anatolia Located on the central Anatolia plateau within a volcanic landscape sculpted by erosion to form a succession of mountain ridges, valleys and pinnacles known as "fairy chimneys" or hoodoos, Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia cover the region between the cities of Nevşehir, Ürgüp and Avanos, the sites of Karain, Karlık, Yeşilöz, Soğanlı and the subterranean cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu. The area is bounded on the south and east by ranges of extinct volcanoes with Erciyes Dağ (3916 m) at one end and Hasan Dağ (3253 m) at the other. The density of its rock-hewn cells, churches, troglodyte villages and subterranean cities within the rock formations make it one of the world's most striking and largest cave-dwelling complexes. Though interesting from a geological and ethnological point of view, the incomparable beauty of the decor of the Christian sanctuaries makes Cappadocia one of the leading examples of the post-iconoclastic Byzantine art period

Bursa and Cumalıkızık: the Birth of the Ottoman Empire

Turkey This property is a serial nomination of eight component sites in the City of Bursa and the nearby village of Cumalıkızık, in the southern Marmara region. The site illustrates the creation of an urban and rural system establishing the Ottoman Empire in the early 14th century. The property embodies the key functions of the social and economic organization of the new capital which evolved around a civic centre. These include commercial districts of khans, kulliyes (religious institutions) integrating mosques, religious schools, public baths and a kitchen for the poor, as well as the tomb of Orhan Ghazi, founder of the Ottoman dynasty. One component outside the historic centre of Bursa is the village of Cumalıkızık, the only rural village of this system to show the provision of hinterland support for the capital.

Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape

Turkey This site rises high above the Bakirçay Plain in Turkey's Aegean region. The acropolis of Pergamon was the capital of the Hellenistic Attalid dynasty, a major centre of learning in the ancient world. Monumental temples, theatres, stoa or porticoes, gymnasium, altar and library were set into the sloping terrain surrounded by an extensive city wall. The rock-cut Kybele Sanctuary lies to the north-west on another hill visually linked to the acropolis. Later the city became capital of the Roman province of Asia known for its Asclepieion healing centre. The acropolis crowns a landscape containing burial mounds and remains of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires in and around the modern town of Bergama on the lower slopes.

Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük

Turkey Two hills form the 37 ha site on the Southern Anatolian Plateau. The taller eastern mound contains eighteen levels of Neolithic occupation between 7400 bc and 6200 bc, including wall paintings, reliefs, sculptures and other symbolic and artistic features. Together they testify to the evolution of social organization and cultural practices as humans adapted to a sedentary life. The western mound shows the evolution of cultural practices in the Chalcolithic period, from 6200 bc to 5200 bc. Çatalhöyük provides important evidence of the transition from settled villages to urban agglomeration, which was maintained in the same location for over 2,000 years. It features a unique streetless settlement of houses clustered back to back with roof access into the buildings.

Parthian Fortresses of Nisa

Turkmenistan Bagyr settlement, Etrap of Rukhabad, Akhal Vilayet The Parthian Fortresses of Nisa consist of two tells of Old and New Nisa, indicating the site of one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, a major power from the mid 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. They conserve the unexcavated remains of an ancient civilization which skilfully combined its own traditional cultural elements with those of the Hellenistic and Roman west.

Kunya-Urgench

Turkmenistan Dashoguz Vilayet (Province) Kunya-Urgench is situated in north-western Turkmenistan, on the left bank of the Amu Daria River. Urgench was the capital of the Khorezm region, part of the Achaemenid Empire. The old town contains a series of monuments mainly from the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a 60-m high minaret. The monuments testify to outstanding achievements in architecture and craftsmanship whose influence reached Iran and Afghanistan, and later the architecture of the Mogul Empire of 16th-century India.

State Historical and Cultural Park "Ancient Merv"

Turkmenistan Mary Vilayet The oasis of Merv in the Karakum Desert, at the crossing point of the Amu Darya on the main east-west route to Bukhara and Samarkand, has supported a series of urban centres since the 3rd millennium BC. The earliest Bronze Age centres (c . 2500-1200 BC) were located in the north of the oasis. With the development of more advanced irrigation techniques, the centres moved further south and east of the oasis. It consisted of a series of adjacent walled cities. The oasis formed part of the empire of Alexander the Great. The Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter (281-261 BC) rebuilt it and named it Margiana Antiochia; it is identified with Erk Kala and Gyaur Kala. Islam became dominant with the death of the last Sassanian king, Yazdigird III, in 651.

Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi

Uganda Kampala District The Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi constitute a site embracing almost 30 ha of hillside within Kampala district. Most of the site is agricultural, farmed by traditional methods. At its core on the hilltop is the former palace of the Kabakas of Buganda, built in 1882 and converted into the royal burial ground in 1884. Four royal tombs now lie within the Muzibu Azaala Mpanga, the main building, which is circular and surmounted by a dome. It is a major example of an architectural achievement in organic materials, principally wood, thatch, reed, wattle and daub. The Baganda belong to the Bantu-speaking people and date their political civilization from about the 13th century AD. Today, the Baganda are the major ethnic group in Uganda. The present tomb structure dates to around 1882.

L'viv - the Ensemble of the Historic Centre

Ukraine Halychyna, L'viv Oblast' The settlement on the banks of the Poltava River below Zamovka hill began in the mid-5th century AD, at the crossing point of important trade routes linking the Baltic, central Europe, the Mediterranean, and Asia. It gradually developed by the 13th century into an organized and well fortified town known as L'viv. It was the main town of the lands of the Eastern Slavs on the Bug, Sian, and Dnister, when it became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Kiev. King Roman Mstyoslavovych united Halychyna and Volyn' in a single state. L'viv had become the capital of the joint kingdom in 1272 and remained so until that disappeared in 1340, when it was annexed to Poland by Casimir III the Great. It was made the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric in 1412. The Ukrainian, Armenian, and Jewish communities were self-governing, unlike the Catholic (German, Polish, Italian and Hungarian) groups

Kiev: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

Ukraine Kiev Designed to rival Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Kiev's Saint-Sophia Cathedral symbolizes the 'new Constantinople', capital of the Christian principality of Kiev, which was created in the 11th century in a region evangelized after the baptism of St Vladimir in 988. The spiritual and intellectual influence of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra contributed to the spread of Orthodox thought and the Orthodox faith in the Russian world from the 17th to the 19th century. In a wooded area on two hills overlooking the right bank of the Dnieper River is Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, a monastery complex consisting of numerous monuments and grottoes. Now the area is surrounded by the urban agglomeration of Greater Kiev, which has undergone rapid expansion since 1980.

Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora

Ukraine The site features the remains of a city founded by Dorian Greeks in the 5th century BC on the northern shores of the Black Sea. It encompasses six component sites with urban remains and agricultural lands divided into several hundreds of chora, rectangular plots of equal size. The plots supported vineyards whose production was exported by the city which thrived until the 15th century. The site features several public building complexes and residential neighbourhoods, as well as early Christian monuments alongside remains from Stone and Bronze Age settlements; Roman and medieval tower fortifications and water supply systems; and exceptionally well-preserved examples of vineyard planting and dividing walls. In the 3rd century AD, the site was known as the most productive wine centre of the Black Sea and remained a hub of exchange between the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires and populations north of the Black Sea. It is an outstanding example of democratic land organization linked to an ancient polis, reflecting the city's social organization.

Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas)

United Arab Emirates The Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas) constitute a serial property that testifies to sedentary human occupation of a desert region since the Neolithic period with vestiges of many prehistoric cultures. Remarkable vestiges in the property include circular stone tombs (ca 2500 B.C.), wells and a wide range of adobe constructions: residential buildings, towers, palaces and administrative buildings. Hili moreover features one of the oldest examples of the sophisticated aflaj irrigation system which dates back to the Iron Age. The property provides important testimony to the transition of cultures in the region from hunting and gathering to sedentarization.

City of Bath

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Avon, England Founded by the Romans as a thermal spa, Bath became an important centre of the wool industry in the Middle Ages. In the 18th century, under George III, it developed into an elegant town with neoclassical Palladian buildings, which blend harmoniously with the Roman baths.

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Blaenavon,40 km NE of Cardiff, Wale The area around Blaenavon is evidence of the pre-eminence of South Wales as the world's major producer of iron and coal in the 19th century. All the necessary elements can still be seen - coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway system, furnaces, workers' homes, and the social infrastructure of their community.

Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret's Church

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland City of Westminster, London, England Westminster Palace, rebuilt from the year 1840 on the site of important medieval remains, is a fine example of neo-Gothic architecture. The site - which also comprises the small medieval Church of Saint Margaret, built in Perpendicular Gothic style, and Westminster Abbey, where all the sovereigns since the 11th century have been crowned - is of great historic and symbolic significance.

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Cornwall and Devon Counties Much of the landscape of Cornwall and West Devon was transformed in the 18th and early 19th centuries as a result of the rapid growth of pioneering copper and tin mining. Its deep underground mines, engine houses, foundries, new towns, smallholdings, ports and harbours, and their ancillary industries together reflect prolific innovation which, in the early 19th century, enabled the region to produce two-thirds of the world's supply of copper. The substantial remains are a testimony to the contribution Cornwall and West Devon made to the Industrial Revolution in the rest of Britain and to the fundamental influence the area had on the mining world at large. Cornish technology embodied in engines, engine houses and mining equipment was exported around the world. Cornwall and West Devon were the heartland from which mining technology rapidly spread.

Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland County Antrim, Northern Ireland The Giant's Causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs along the sea coast on the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. It is made up of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. The dramatic sight has inspired legends of giants striding over the sea to Scotland. Geological studies of these formations over the last 300 years have greatly contributed to the development of the earth sciences, and show that this striking landscape was caused by volcanic activity during the Tertiary, some 50-60 million years ago.

Durham Castle and Cathedral

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland County of Durham, England Durham Cathedral was built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries to house the relics of St Cuthbert (evangelizer of Northumbria) and the Venerable Bede. It attests to the importance of the early Benedictine monastic community and is the largest and finest example of Norman architecture in England. The innovative audacity of its vaulting foreshadowed Gothic architecture. Behind the cathedral stands the castle, an ancient Norman fortress which was the residence of the prince-bishops of Durham.

Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland County of Kent, England Canterbury, in Kent, has been the seat of the spiritual head of the Church of England for nearly five centuries. Canterbury's other important monuments are the modest Church of St Martin, the oldest church in England; the ruins of the Abbey of St Augustine, a reminder of the saint's evangelizing role in the Heptarchy from 597; and Christ Church Cathedral, a breathtaking mixture of Romanesque and Perpendicular Gothic, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170.

Derwent Valley Mills

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Derbyshire, England The Derwent Valley in central England contains a series of 18th- and 19th- century cotton mills and an industrial landscape of high historical and technological interest. The modern factory owes its origins to the mills at Cromford, where Richard Arkwright's inventions were first put into industrial-scale production. The workers' housing associated with this and the other mills remains intact and illustrate the socio-economic development of the area.

Dorset and East Devon Coast

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Dorset and East Devon, England The cliff exposures along the Dorset and East Devon coast provide an almost continuous sequence of rock formations spanning the Mesozoic Era, or some 185 million years of the earth's history. The area's important fossil sites and classic coastal geomorphologic features have contributed to the study of earth sciences for over 300 years.

Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Gwynedd, North Wales The castles of Beaumaris and Harlech (largely the work of the greatest military engineer of the time, James of St George) and the fortified complexes of Caernarfon and Conwy are located in the former principality of Gwynedd, in north Wales. These extremely well-preserved monuments are examples of the colonization and defence works carried out throughout the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) and the military architecture of the time.

Liverpool - Maritime Mercantile City

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Liverpool, England Six areas in the historic centre and docklands of the maritime mercantile City of Liverpool bear witness to the development of one of the world's major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries. Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management. The listed sites feature a great number of significant commercial, civic and public buildings, including St George's Plateau.

Maritime Greenwich

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland London Borough of Greenwich, England The ensemble of buildings at Greenwich, an outlying district of London, and the park in which they are set, symbolize English artistic and scientific endeavour in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Queen's House (by Inigo Jones) was the first Palladian building in England, while the complex that was until recently the Royal Naval College was designed by Christopher Wren. The park, laid out on the basis of an original design by André Le Nôtre, contains the Old Royal Observatory, the work of Wren and the scientist Robert Hooke.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest Greater London This historic landscape garden features elements that illustrate significant periods of the art of gardens from the 18th to the 20th centuries. The gardens house botanic collections (conserved plants, living plants and documents) that have been considerably enriched through the centuries. Since their creation in 1759, the gardens have made a significant and uninterrupted contribution to the study of plant diversity and economic botany.

Tower of London

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England The massive White Tower is a typical example of Norman military architecture, whose influence was felt throughout the kingdom. It was built on the Thames by William the Conqueror to protect London and assert his power. The Tower of London - an imposing fortress with many layers of history, which has become one of the symbols of royalty - was built around the White Tower.

Old and New Towns of Edinburgh

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Lothian Region, Scotland Edinburgh has been the Scottish capital since the 15th century. It has two distinct areas: the Old Town, dominated by a medieval fortress; and the neoclassical New Town, whose development from the 18th century onwards had a far-reaching influence on European urban planning. The harmonious juxtaposition of these two contrasting historic areas, each with many important buildings, is what gives the city its unique character.

Heart of Neolithic Orkney

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Mainland Orkney, Scotland Multiple locations The group of Neolithic monuments on Orkney consists of a large chambered tomb (Maes Howe), two ceremonial stone circles (the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar) and a settlement (Skara Brae), together with a number of unexcavated burial, ceremonial and settlement sites. The group constitutes a major prehistoric cultural landscape which gives a graphic depiction of life in this remote archipelago in the far north of Scotland some 5,000 years ago.

Blenheim Palace

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Oxfordshire, England Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, stands in a romantic park created by the famous landscape gardener 'Capability' Brown. It was presented by the English nation to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, in recognition of his victory in 1704 over French and Bavarian troops. Built between 1705 and 1722 and characterized by an eclectic style and a return to national roots, it is a perfect example of an 18th-century princely dwelling.

Henderson Island

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Pitcairn Island group Henderson Island, which lies in the eastern South Pacific, is one of the few atolls in the world whose ecology has been practically untouched by a human presence. Its isolated location provides the ideal context for studying the dynamics of insular evolution and natural selection. It is particularly notable for the 10 plants and four land birds that are endemic to the island.

Ironbridge Gorge

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Shropshire, England Ironbridge is known throughout the world as the symbol of the Industrial Revolution. It contains all the elements of progress that contributed to the rapid development of this industrial region in the 18th century, from the mines themselves to the railway lines. Nearby, the blast furnace of Coalbrookdale, built in 1708, is a reminder of the discovery of coke. The bridge at Ironbridge, the world's first bridge constructed of iron, had a considerable influence on developments in the fields of technology and architecture.

New Lanark

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland South Lanarkshire, Scotland New Lanark is a small 18th- century village set in a sublime Scottish landscape where the philanthropist and Utopian idealist Robert Owen moulded a model industrial community in the early 19th century. The imposing cotton mill buildings, the spacious and well-designed workers' housing, and the dignified educational institute and school still testify to Owen's humanism.

Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland St George, Bermuda The Town of St George, founded in 1612, is an outstanding example of the earliest English urban settlement in the New World. Its associated fortifications graphically illustrate the development of English military engineering from the 17th to the 20th century, being adapted to take account of the development of artillery over this period.

St Kilda

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland This volcanic archipelago, with its spectacular landscapes, is situated off the coast of the Hebrides and comprises the islands of Hirta, Dun, Soay and Boreray. It has some of the highest cliffs in Europe, which have large colonies of rare and endangered species of birds, especially puffins and gannets. The archipelago, uninhabited since 1930, bears the evidence of more than 2,000 years of human occupation in the extreme conditions prevalent in the Hebrides. Human vestiges include built structures and field systems, the cleits and the traditional Highland stone houses. They feature the vulnerable remains of a subsistence economy based on the products of birds, agriculture and sheep farming.

Gough and Inaccessible Islands

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Tristan da Cunha Island group, St Helena Dependency The site, located in the south Atlantic, is one of the least-disrupted island and marine ecosystems in the cool temperate zone. The spectacular cliffs of Gough and Inaccessible Islands, towering above the ocean, are free of introduced mammals and home to one of the world's largest colonies of sea birds. Gough Island is home to two endemic species of land birds, the gallinule and the Gough rowettie, as well as to 12 endemic species of plants, while Inaccessible Island boasts two birds, eight plants and at least 10 invertebrates endemic to the island.

Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Wiltshire, England Stonehenge and Avebury, in Wiltshire, are among the most famous groups of megaliths in the world. The two sanctuaries consist of circles of menhirs arranged in a pattern whose astronomical significance is still being explored. These holy places and the nearby Neolithic sites are an incomparable testimony to prehistoric times.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Wrexham County Borough, County of Denbighshire, Borough of Oswestry, County of Shropshire Situated in north-eastern Wales, the 18 kilometre long Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal is a feat of civil engineering of the Industrial Revolution, completed in the early years of the 19th century. Covering a difficult geographical setting, the building of the canal required substantial, bold civil engineering solutions, especially as it was built without using locks. The aqueduct is a pioneering masterpiece of engineering and monumental metal architecture, conceived by the celebrated civil engineer Thomas Telford. The use of both cast and wrought iron in the aqueduct enabled the construction of arches that were light and d strong, producing an overall effect that is both monumental and elegant. The property is inscribed as a masterpiece of creative genius, and as a remarkable synthesis of expertise already acquired in Europe. It is also recognized as an innovative ensemble that inspired many projects all over the world.

Selous Game Reserve

United Republic of Tanzania Coast, Morogoro, Lindi, Mtwara and Ruvuma Regions The Selous Game Reserve is an ecosystem (7,400,000 ha) and includes Mikumi National Park and Kilombero Game Controlled Area. A large area of the reserve is drained by the Rufiji River and tributaries that include the Luwegu, Kilombero, Great Ruaha, Luhombero and Mbarangardu. The Rufiji is formed by the Luwegu and Kilombero which join at Shughuli Falls. Soils are relatively poor and infertile. The Selous Game Reserve, covering 50,000 square kilometres, is amongst the largest protected areas in Africa and is relatively undisturbed by human impact.

Kilimanjaro National Park

United Republic of Tanzania Kilimanjaro region The national park and forest reserve occupy the upper part of Mount Kilimanjaro adjacent to the Kenyan border just north of Moshi. The national park comprises the whole of the mountain above the timberline and six forest corridors stretching down through the montane forest belt. Kilimanjaro is a volcanic massif (last showing signs of major activity in the Pleistocene) which is not only the highest mountain in Africa, rising 4,877 m above the surrounding plains to 5,895 m, but also one of the largest volcanoes in the world. It stands alone but is the largest of an east-west belt of volcanoes across northern Tanzania. It has three main volcanic peaks of varying ages lying on an east-south-east axis, and a number of smaller parasitic cones. o the west, the oldest peak Shira, the northern and eastern flanks having been covered by later material from Kibo. The rugged erosion-shattered peak of Mawenzi lies to the east.

Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara

United Republic of Tanzania Lindi Region, District of Kilwa Located on two islands close to each other just off the Tanzanian coast about 300km south of Dar es Salaam are the remains of two port cites, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara. The larger, Kilwa Kisiwani, was occupied from the 9th to the 19th century and reached its peak of prosperity in the13th and 14th centuries. In 1331-1332, the great traveler, Ibn Battouta made a stop here and described Kilwa as one of the most beautiful cities of the world.

Serengeti National Park

United Republic of Tanzania Mara, Arusha, and Shinyanga Provinces Serengeti is contiguous with Ngorongoro Conservation Unit, an area of 528,000 ha declared a World Heritage site in 1979. But even the combined Serengeti-Ngorongoro ecosystem of some 2 million hectares does not include the entire ecosystem. It is felt that the Serengeti National Park is sufficiently large to ensure the survival of all the species contained therein if it is maintained as at present, but that it does not by itself ensure the protection of the entire migratory ecosystem.

Kondoa Rock-Art Sites

United Republic of Tanzania Region Dodoma, District Kondoa On the eastern slopes of the Masai escarpment bordering the Great Rift Valley are natural rock shelters, overhanging slabs of sedimentary rocks fragmented by rift faults, whose vertical planes have been used for rock paintings over at least two millennia.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

United Republic of Tanzania The Ngorongoro Conservation Area spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests, from the plains of the Serengeti National Park in the north-west, to the eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest caldera. The open plains of the eastern Serengeti rise to the crater highlands of the volcanic massifs of Loolmalasin (3,587 m) and Oldeani (3,168 m) dating from the late Mesozoic and early Tertiary. Ngorongoro Crater is one of the largest inactive unbroken calderas in the world which is unflooded.

Stone Town of Zanzibar

United Republic of Tanzania Zanzibar The Stone Town of Zanzibar is a fine example of the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa. There was a loose confederation of small coastal city states known as the Zenj bar (Black Empire) which operated in the 8th-10th centuries. The best preserved of these towns is Zanzibar, the name of which is derived from the Perso-Arabic word meaning 'the coast of the blacks.' The Swahili economy was destabilized with the arrival of the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century. The slave trade, started by the Portuguese, assumed large proportions in the 18th century, when they were required in large numbers for the French sugar plantations in the islands of the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.

Redwood National and State Parks

United States of America California Redwood National Park comprises a region of coastal mountains bordering the Pacific Ocean, equidistant (560 kilometers or 350 miles) from San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon. It is covered with a magnificent forest of Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), the tallest living things and among the most impressive trees in the world. Several of the world's tallest known trees grow within the property. The area transcends two distinctive physiographic environments: the coastline, and the mountains of the Coast Range.

Yosemite National Park

United States of America California Yosemite National Park lies in the heart of California. With its 'hanging' valleys, many waterfalls, cirque lakes, polished domes, moraines and U-shaped valleys, it provides an excellent overview of all kinds of granite relief fashioned by glaciation. At 600-4,000 m, a great variety of flora and fauna can also be found here.

Mesa Verde National Park

United States of America Colorado A great concentration of ancestral Pueblo Indian dwellings, built from the 6th to the 12th century, can be found on the Mesa Verde plateau in south-west Colorado at an altitude of more than 2,600 m.

Mammoth Cave National Park

United States of America Counties of Barren, Edmonson, and Hart in the State of Kentucky The park includes by far the longest cave system in the world, with known passages extending some 550 km. It is of geological importance due to the 25 million years of cave-forming action by the Green River and its tributaries.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

United States of America Counties of Cocke, Blount, and Sevier in the State of Tennessee; and the counties of Swain and Haywood in the state of North Carolina Stretching over more than 200,000 ha, this exceptionally beautiful park is home to more than 3,500 plant species, including almost as many trees (130 natural species) as in all of Europe. Many endangered animal species are also found there, including what is probably the greatest variety of salamanders in the world. Since the park is relatively untouched, it gives an idea of temperate flora before the influence of humankind. The park contains 22 major watersheds and the water table is near the surface in almost all sections. Precambrian metamorphic rocks consisting of gneisses and schists, and sedimentary rocks.

Grand Canyon National Park

United States of America Counties of Coconino and Mohave in the State of Arizona Grand Canyon National Park Carved out by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon (nearly 1,500 m deep) is the most spectacular gorge in the world. Located in the state of Arizona, it cuts across the Grand Canyon National Park. Its horizontal strata retrace the geological history of the past 2 billion years. There are also prehistoric traces of human adaptation to a particularly harsh environment.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

United States of America Eddy County, State of New Mexico This karst landscape in the state of The park covers a segment of the Permian fossil Capitan Reef. New Mexico comprises over 80 recognized caves. They are outstanding not only for their size but also for the profusion, diversity and beauty of their mineral formations. Lechuguilla Cave stands out from the others, providing an underground laboratory where geological and biological processes can be studied in a pristine setting.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

United States of America Hawaii This site contains two of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mauna Loa (4,170 m high) and Kilauea (1,250 m high), both of which tower over the Pacific Ocean. Lies in the south-east part of the island of Hawaii (Big Island), the easternmost island of the State of Hawaii, and includes the summit and south-east slope of Mauna Loa and the summit and south-western, southern, and south-eastern slopes of the Kilauea Volcano.

Chaco Culture

United States of America New Mexico For over 2,000 years, Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States. Chaco Canyon, a major centre of ancestral Pueblo culture between 850 and 1250, was a focus for ceremonials, trade and political activity for the prehistoric Four Corners area. Chaco is remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings and its distinctive architecture - it has an ancient urban ceremonial centre that is unlike anything constructed before or since. In addition to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the World Heritage property includes the Aztec Ruins National Monument and several smaller Chaco sites managed by the Bureau of Land Management.The cultural sites of Chaco Culture National Historical Park They are part of the history and traditions of the Hopi, the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico, and the Navajo, who continue to respect and honour them.

Taos Pueblo

United States of America New Mexico Situated in the valley of a small tributary of the Rio Grande, this adobe settlement - consisting of dwellings and ceremonial buildings - represents the culture of the Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. Pueblo de Taos is similar to the settlements in the Four Corners area of the Anasazi, or ancient Pueblo people at such places as Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, and continues to be a thriving community with a living culture.Taos is the best preserved of the pueblos north of the borders defined by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). representative of a culture largely derived from the traditions of the prehistoric Anasazi Indian tribes who settled near the present borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.

Statue of Liberty

United States of America New York, New York Made in Paris by the French sculptor Bartholdi, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel (who was responsible for the steel framework), this towering monument to liberty was a gift from France on the centenary of American independence. Inaugurated in 1886, the sculpture stands at the entrance to New York Harbour and has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States ever since.

Yellowstone National Park

United States of America Northwest corner of the State of Wyoming and relatively small adjacent areas of the States of Montana and Idaho The vast natural forest of Yellowstone National Park covers nearly 9,000 km2 ; 96% of the park lies in Wyoming, 3% in Montana and 1% in Idaho. Yellowstone contains half of all the world's known geothermal features, with more than 10,000 examples. It also has the world's largest concentration of geysers (more than 300 geyers, or two thirds of all those on the planet). Established in 1872, Yellowstone is equally known for its wildlife, such as grizzly bears, wolves, bison and wapitis.

Papahānaumokuākea

United States of America Papahānaumokuākea is a vast and isolated linear cluster of small, low lying islands and atolls, with their surrounding ocean, roughly 250 km to the northwest of the main Hawaiian Archipelago and extending over some 1931 km. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Makumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons. It is one of the largest marine protected areas (MPAs) in the world.

Independence Hall

United States of America Philadelphia, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania The Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution of the United States (1787) were both signed in this building in Philadelphia. The building was designed by Andrew Hamilton to house the Assembly of the Commonwealth (colony) of Pennsylvania. Finished in 1753, it is a modest brick structure with a steeple that was intended to hold a 2,080 lb (943 kg) bell. The bell, however, has cracked twice and stands silently on the ground in a special shelter (a reproduction now hangs in the steeple). Independence Hall is important not for its architectural design but for the documents of fundamental importance to American history drafted and debated here that formed the democracy of the United States.

La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico

United States of America San Juan, Puerto Rico Between the 15th and 19th centuries, a series of defensive structures was built at this strategic point in the Caribbean Sea to protect the city and the Bay of San Juan. They represent a fine display of European military architecture adapted to harbour sites on the American continent.

Everglades National Park

United States of America Southern tip of the Florida peninsula, along the Gulf of Mexico, State of Florida This site at the southern tip of Florida has been called 'a river of grass flowing imperceptibly from the hinterland into the sea'. The exceptional variety of its water habitats has made it a sanctuary for a large number of birds and reptiles, as well as for threatened species such as the manatee. Everglades National Park is situated on the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula. The park is bounded by the Gulf of Mexico to the west, the Tamiami Trail and mostly state lands to the north and the Florida Keys to the south and south-east. It includes most of Florida Bay. The biosphere reserve includes Dry Tortugas National Park, a group of seven coral reefs and surrounding shoals, coral reefs and waters.

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

United States of America St. Louis, Illinois Cahokia Mounds, some 13 km north-east of St Louis, Missouri, is the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. It was occupied primarily during the Mississippian period (800-1400), when it covered nearly 1,600 ha and included some 120 mounds. It is a striking example of a complex chiefdom society, with many satellite mound centres and numerous outlying hamlets and villages. This agricultural society may have had a population of 10-20,000 at its peak between 1050 and 1150. Primary features at the site include Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthwork in the Americas, covering over 5 ha and standing 30 m high.

Olympic National Park

United States of America State of Washington Located in the north-west of Washington State, Olympic National Park is renowned for the diversity of its ecosystems. Glacier-clad peaks interspersed with extensive alpine meadows are surrounded by an extensive old growth forest, among which is the best example of intact and protected temperate rainforest in the Pacific Northwest. Eleven major river systems drain the Olympic mountains, offering some of the best habitat for anadromous fish species in the country. The park also includes 100 km of wilderness coastline, the longest undeveloped coast in the contiguous United States,

Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville

United States of America Virginia

Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento

Uruguay Department de Colonia Founded by the Portuguese in 1680, Colonia del Sacramento is located at the tip of a short peninsula with a strategic position on the north shore of the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires. In the region, the Historic Quarter of Colonia is the only example of an urban plan that does not conform to the rigid "checkerboard" grid imposed by Spain under the "Laws of the Indies." Instead, this city has a free plan adapted to the topographical features of the site, although strongly influenced by its military function.

Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas

Urungwe District, Mashonaland North region On the banks of the Zambezi, great cliffs overhang the river and the floodplains. The area is home to a remarkable concentration of wild animals, including elephants, buffalo, leopards and cheetahs. An important concentration of Nile crocodiles is also be found in the area Mana Pools, Sapi and Chewore (which total some 6,766 km2 ) are part of the Miombo woodland/savannah biogeographic realm. They front the lower Zambezi River, and include large areas of the rugged Zambezi escarpment (which rises to over 1,000 m from the valley floor). The area contains the last remaining natural stretch of the Middle Zambezi. The Mana Pools are former channels of the Zambezi. Much of the Chewore is heavily dissected and the Mupata Gorge (some 30 km long) occurs along the northern border of this part of the area. Above the Mupata Gorges the river is broad and sandy, flowing through numerous channels, sandbanks and islands.

Historic Centre of Bukhara

Uzbekistan Bukhara region Bukhara, which is situated on the Silk Route, is more than 2,000 years old. It is the most complete example of a medieval city in Central Asia, with an urban fabric that has remained largely intact. Monuments of particular interest include the famous tomb of Ismail Samani, a masterpiece of 10th-century Muslim architecture, and a large number of 17th-century madrasas.

Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz

Uzbekistan Kashkadarya region The Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz, located on the Silk Roads in southern Uzbekistan. The historic centre of Shakhrisyabz contains a collection of exceptional monuments and ancient quarters which bear witness to the city's secular development, and particularly to the period of its apogee, under the rule of Amir Temur and the Temurids, in the 15th-16th century.

Itchan Kala

Uzbekistan Khorezm region, Khiva Itchan Kala, the inner fortress of Khiva, is located to the South of the Amu Darya River (known as the Oxus in ancient times) in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan and it was the last resting-place of caravans before crossing the desert to Persia. Itchan Kala is the inner town (protected by brick walls some 10 m high) of the old Khiva oasis,

Samarkand - Crossroad of Cultures

Uzbekistan Samarkand Region The historic town of Samarkand, located in a large oasis in the valley of the Zerafshan River, in the north-eastern region of Uzbekistan, is a crossroad and melting pot of the world's cultures. Founded in the 7th century B.C. as ancient Afrasiab, Samarkand had its most significant development in the Timurid period from the 14th to the 15th centuries. The major monuments include the Registan Mosque and madrasas, Bibi-Khanum Mosque, the Shakhi-Zinda compound and the Gur-Emir ensemble, as well as Ulugh-Beg's Observatory.

Chief Roi Mata's Domain

Vanuatu Chief Roi Mata's Domain is the first site to be inscribed in Vanuatu. It consists of three early 17th century AD sites on the islands of Efate, Lelepa and Artok associated with the life and death of the last paramount chief, or Roi Mata, of what is now Central Vanuatu. The property includes Roi Mata's residence, the site of his death and Roi Mata's mass burial site. It is closely associated with the oral traditions surrounding the chief and the moral values he espoused. The site reflects the convergence between oral tradition and archaeology and bears witness to the persistence of Roi Mata's social reforms and conflict resolution, still relevant to the people of the region.

Canaima National Park

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Bolivar State Canaima was established as a national park in 1962 and its size was doubled to the present area in 1975. The park is best known for the unique table mountain (tepui ) formations: there are numerous waterfalls, including Angel Falls with a free drop of 1,002 m. The high level of endemism found on the summits of the tepuis has led to the recognition of Pantepui as a unique biogeographic entity. The park protects the headwaters of the Caronì River which supplies Guri, the country's largest hydroelectric power station and source of 60% of the nation's energy. The savannah portion of the park is inhabited by the indigenous Pemòn people, many of whom are settled and dependent on three Capuchin missions. A main road from Ciudad Bolivar runs along the eastern border of the park, bisecting its south-east corner and providing easy access for tourists. Canaima National Park is spread over 3 million ha in south-eastern Venezuela along the border between Guyana and Brazil.

Coro and its Port

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) State of Falcon Dating from the earliest years of Spanish colonisation of the Caribbean coast of South America, Coro and its Port with buildings of earthen construction in a rich fusion of local traditions and Spanish Mudéjar and Dutch architectural techniques, have maintained their original layout and urban landscape to a remarkable degree. Located in the coast of Falcón state, west Venezuela, between the mountain range of Sierra de San Luis and the Parque Nacional de los Médanos de Coro (Coro Dunes National Park. Coro was the first Capital of the Captaincy General of Venezuela and the first Bishopric of Continental America established in 1531. Its Port of La Vela was the first South American town to achieve independence from Spain.

My Son Sanctuary

Viet Nam Duy Phu Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province During the 4th to 13th centuries there was a unique culture on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owing its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of India. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower temples in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence. My Son Sanctuary dates from the 4th to the 13th centuries CE. The property is located in the mountainous border Duy Xuyen District of Quang Nam Province, in central Viet Nam. It is situated within an elevated geological basin surrounded by a ring of mountains, which provides the watershed for the sacred Thu Bon river. The source of the Thu Bon river is here and it flows past the monuments, out of the basin, and through the historic heartland of the Champa Kingdom, draining into the South China Sea at its mouth near the ancient port city of Hoi An.

Hoi An Ancient Town

Viet Nam Hoi An Town, Quang Nam Province Hoi An Ancient town is located in Viet Nam's central Quang Nam Province, on the north bank near the mouth of the Thu Bon River. Hoi An, an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port,

Complex of Hué Monuments

Viet Nam Province: Thua Thien - Hue Established as the capital of unified Viet Nam in 1802 The Complex of Hue Monuments is located in and around Hue City in Thua Thien-Hue Province in the geographical centre of Vietnam and with easy access to the sea. Established as the capital of unified Vietnam in 1802 CE, Hue was not only the political but also the cultural and religious centre under the Nguyen Dynasty, the last royal dynasty of Vietnamese history, from 1802 to 1945 CE. The Ngu Binh Mountain (known as the Royal Screen) and the Perfume River, which runs through the city, give this unique feudal capital an entire setting of great natural beauty as well defining its symbolic importance

Trang An Landscape Complex

Viet Nam Situated near the southern margin of the Red River Delta, the Trang An Landscape Complex is a spectacular landscape of limestone karst peaks permeated with valleys, many of them partly submerged and surrounded by steep, almost vertical cliffs. Exploration of caves at different altitudes has revealed archaeological traces of human activity over a continuous period of more than 30,000 years. They illustrate the occupation of these mountains by seasonal hunter-gatherers and how they adapted to major climatic and environmental changes, especially the repeated inundation of the landscape by the sea after the last ice age. The story of human occcupation continues through the Neolithic and Bronze Ages to the historical era. Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Viet Nam, was strategically established here in the 10th and 11th centuries AD. The property also contains temples, pagodas, paddy-fields and small villages.

Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Hanoi

Viet Nam The Thang Long Imperial Citadel was built in the 11th century by the Ly Viet Dynasty, marking the independence of the Dai Viet. It was constructed on the remains of a Chinese fortress dating from the 7th century, on drained land reclaimed from the Red River Delta in Hanoi.

Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin

Villages of Haghpat and Sanahin, Lorri Region, Armenia These two Byzantine monasteries in the Tumanian region from the period of prosperity during the Kiurikian dynasty (10th to 13th century) a blending of elements of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture and the traditional vernacular architecture of the Caucasian region. The Sanahin Monastery consists of a large group of buildings on the plateau above the Debet gorge and skilfully integrated into the impressive mountain landscape.

Old City of Sana'a

Yemen Governorate of the capital Sana'a The City of Sana'a, capital of Yemen since 1962,Situated in a mountain valley at an altitude of 2,200 m, Sana'a has been inhabited for more than 2,500 years. In the 7th and 8th centuries the city became a major centre for the propagation of Islam. This religious and political heritage can be seen in the 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century. Sana'a's many-storeyed tower-houses built of rammed earth (pisé) add to the beauty of the site.

Historic Town of Zabid

Yemen Province d'al-Hudayda Zabid is one of the coastal towns in Tehama area west of Yemen, sitting on a rise above the river junction and the fertile flood plain. It is a circular fortified town with four remaining gates, which was supplied with water by extensive canals. It was already flourishing when Islam was established in the region in the 7th century. Its development is due to Ibn Ziyad (the founder of the Zyadite dynasty), who was sent to the region by the Caliph al-Mamun in 820 AD to quell a rebellion.With the exception of Sana'a, Zabid has the highest concentration of mosques in any Yemeni city: 86 in all. Zabid was of great importance in the Arab and Muslim world for many centuries because of its Islamic University. In the 13th-15th centuries it was also the capital of Yemen during the Rasulid period.

Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls

Zambia Zimbabwe Livingstone District of Southern Province of the Republic of Zambia and Hwange District of Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe The Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls is the world's greatest sheet of falling water and significant worldwide for its exceptional geological and geomorphological features and active land formation processes with outstanding beauty attributed to the falls i.e. the spray, mist and rainbows. This transboundary property extends over 6860 ha and comprises 3779 ha of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park (Zambia), 2340 ha of Victoria Falls National Park (Zimbabwe), 741 ha of the riverine strip of Zambezi National Park (Zimbabwe). A riverine strip of the Zambezi National Park extending 9 km west along the right bank of the Zambezi and islands in the river are all within the Park as far as Palm and Kandahar Islands, with the Victoria Falls being one of the major attractions.

Matobo Hills

Zimbabwe Matebeleland, South Province The Matobo Hills some 35 km south of Bulawayo are a profusion of distinctive granite landforms, densely packed into a comparatively tight area, that rise up to form a sea of hills. Their forms have resulted from the varied composition and alignment of the granite rocks, which responded differently to millions of years of weathering. he Matobo Hills have one of the highest concentrations of rock art in Southern Africa dating back at least 13,000 years.

Great Zimbabwe National Monument

Zimbabwe The ruins of Great Zimbabwe - the capital of the Queen of Sheba, according to an age-old legend - are a unique testimony to the Bantu civilization of the Shona between the 11th and 15th centuries. When in 1505 the Portuguese settled in Sofala, the region was divided between the rival powers of the kingdoms of Torwa and Mwene-Mutapa. From the 11th to 15th centuries, the wealth of Great Zimbabwe was associated with gold trading, controlled by the Arabs, and extensive trade activities on the east coast of Africa where Kilwa was the main trading centre.

Khami Ruins National Monument

Zimbabwe Western Region, Matabeleland Khami, which developed after the capital of Great Zimbabwe had been abandoned in the mid-16th century, is of great archaeological interest. The discovery of objects from Europe and China shows that Khami was a major centre for trade over a long period of time. Khami Ruins National Monument is located to the west of the Khami River, 22 km from the City of Bulawayo. The property, located on a 1300 m hilltop downstream from a dam built during 1928-1929, covers an area of about 108 ha, spread over a distance of about 2 km from the Passage Ruin to the North Ruin. The property was the capital of the Torwa dynasty,

Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region

the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Ohrid (municipality) Situated on the shores of Lake Ohrid, the town of Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. Built mainly between the 7th and 19th centuries, it has the oldest Slav monastery (St Pantelejmon) and more than 800 Byzantine-style icons dating from the 11th to the end of the 14th century. After those of the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow, this is considered to be the most important collection of icons in the world. Within the very heart of the present city of Ohrid lies the antique city of Lichnid, significant and rich, as is its successor. The metamorphosis of ancient Lichnid into medieval Ohrid took from the 6th to the 9th century, creating one of the most significant medieval cities in the Balkans. The Ohrid saga reveals memories of the birth of Slavic literacy and culture .