World Heritage Site facts for kids

The World Heritage emblem, used to identify places protected by the World Heritage Convention

World Heritage Sites are special places around the world. They are protected by an international agreement managed by UNESCO. These sites are chosen because they are very important for culture, history, or science. They are seen as "outstanding" and valuable to everyone on Earth.

To become a World Heritage Site, a country must suggest a place. An international group then decides if it is unique and important. It must have a special cultural or natural meaning. It also needs to be legally protected. For example, World Heritage Sites can be old ruins, historic buildings, cities, forests, or mountains.

These sites show amazing things humans have done. They also show the beauty of nature. As of April 2024, there are 1,199 World Heritage Sites. They are found in 168 countries. Most are cultural sites (933), some are natural (227), and 39 are a mix of both. Italy has the most sites with 59. China is next with 57. France and Germany each have 52.

The main goal is to protect these places for the future. This stops them from being damaged by people, animals, or neglect. UNESCO marks these sites as protected areas. The World Heritage Sites list is managed by the World Heritage Committee. This committee has 21 countries elected by the United Nations General Assembly. Experts also help by giving advice.

The program lists and helps save important cultural or natural places. These places are part of humanity's shared history. The program started with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. This agreement was made on November 16, 1972. Since then, 195 countries have agreed to follow it. This makes it one of the most popular cultural programs in the world. For a place to be considered, it must already have some protection from its country.

History of World Heritage Sites
- How it Started
- The World Heritage Agreement
Why World Heritage Sites are Important
How Sites are Chosen
What Makes a Site Special?
- Cultural Sites
- Natural Sites
Changes and Dangers to Sites
World Heritage by the Numbers
- Countries with Many Sites
Images for kids
See also

History of World Heritage Sites

How it Started

A UNESCO World Heritage plaque at Þingvellir in Iceland

A UNESCO World Heritage plaque at Takht-e Soleymān in Iran

This graph shows how many UNESCO sites were added each year for different parts of the world.

In 1954, the government of Egypt decided to build a new dam. It was called the Aswan High Dam. This dam would create a huge lake. This lake would cover many ancient treasures in the Nile valley. These treasures were from ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia.

In 1959, Egypt and Sudan asked UNESCO for help. They wanted to save these important monuments and sites. In 1960, UNESCO started a big project. It was called the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. This project found and recorded hundreds of sites. It also saved thousands of objects. Several important temples were moved to higher ground. The most famous temples saved were Abu Simbel and Philae.

The campaign finished in 1980 and was a big success. To thank the countries that helped, Egypt gave away four temples. The Temple of Dendur went to New York City. The Temple of Debod went to Madrid, Spain. The Temple of Taffeh went to Leiden, Netherlands. The Temple of Ellesyia went to Turin, Italy.

A UNESCO World Heritage plaque at Doñana National Park in Andalucía, Spain

This project cost about $80 million. About $40 million came from 50 different countries. Because this project worked so well, other saving campaigns started. These included saving Venice in Italy and the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan. The Borobodur Temple in Indonesia was also saved. After these successes, UNESCO worked with the International Council on Monuments and Sites. They started to write an agreement to protect cultural heritage.

The World Heritage Agreement

The agreement that guides the World Heritage Committee took seven years to create. It was developed between 1965 and 1972. The United States first suggested the idea of protecting important cultural or natural places. In 1965, a meeting at the White House called for a "World Heritage Trust." This trust would save "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites." The goal was to preserve them for everyone, now and in the future.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature also made similar suggestions in 1968. These ideas were presented in 1972 at a United Nations meeting in Stockholm. Countries that sign the World Heritage agreement must regularly report on their sites. This report tells the committee how the agreement is being followed. It also gives an update on the condition of the World Heritage sites.

Based on these ideas, one main agreement was created. The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was approved by UNESCO on November 16, 1972. It officially started on December 17, 1975. As of May 2023, 195 countries have signed it. This includes 191 UN member states. It also includes two UN observer states (Holy See and Palestine). Two states in free association with New Zealand (Cook Islands and Niue) have also signed. Only two UN member states, Liechtenstein and Nauru, have not signed.

Why World Heritage Sites are Important

When places are named World Heritage Sites, UNESCO helps protect them. The goal is to save them for future generations. UNESCO believes that "heritage is our legacy from the past." It is "what we live with today." Both cultural and natural heritage are "irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration."

UNESCO has eight main goals for World Heritage. These include:

Encouraging countries and local people to help protect sites.
Giving emergency help to sites that are in danger.
Offering expert help and training.
Helping countries raise awareness about these sites.

Being a World Heritage Site can be very good for a place. A listed site gets international attention and legal protection. It can also get money from the World Heritage Fund to help with its care. UNESCO considers these four sites as success stories: Angkor in Cambodia, the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia, the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. Also, local people near a site can benefit from more tourism. When people and nature interact a lot, these places can be called "cultural landscapes."

How Sites are Chosen

First, a country must list its important cultural and natural places. This list is called the Tentative List. Then, the country can choose sites from this list to nominate. This is called a Nomination File. Experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union review this file. A country cannot nominate a site that is not on its Tentative List first.

These two expert groups suggest new sites to the World Heritage Committee. The Committee meets once a year. They decide which nominated places to add to the World Heritage List. Sometimes, they ask for more information from the country. There are ten rules, or criteria, for choosing a site. A site must meet at least one of these rules to be added to the list.

What Makes a Site Special?

Until 2004, there were six rules for cultural sites and four for natural sites. In 2005, UNESCO changed this. Now, there is one set of ten rules. Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value." They must meet at least one of these ten rules.

Cultural Sites

Site No. 252: The Taj Mahal in India, a famous cultural heritage site.

"To show a masterpiece of human creative genius."
"To show an important exchange of human values over time. This can be in architecture, technology, art, or city planning."
"To be a unique example of a cultural tradition or a civilization. This can be one that still exists or one that has disappeared."
"To be an amazing example of a building, group of buildings, or landscape. It should show an important time in human history."
"To be an amazing example of a traditional human settlement or how land/sea was used. This shows a culture or how humans interact with nature, especially if it's now at risk."
"To be directly linked to events, traditions, ideas, or beliefs. It can also be linked to great art or literature."

Natural Sites

Site No. 156: Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, a natural heritage site.

Site No. 685: Doñana National Park in Spain, home to many Iberian lynxes.

Site No. 274: The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Peru, a mixed heritage site.

"To contain amazing natural features or areas of exceptional natural beauty."
"To be great examples of Earth's history. This includes records of life and ongoing geological processes."
"To be great examples of ongoing natural processes. This includes how ecosystems and communities of plants and animals develop."
"To contain the most important natural homes for plants and animals. This includes places with threatened species that are very important for science or conservation."

Changes and Dangers to Sites

Site No. 1, the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, was on the danger list from 2007 to 2010.

A country can ask to change a site's borders or name. They can also ask to change the reasons it was chosen. If a border change is big, it must go through the whole nomination process again. Small changes are reviewed by experts before going to the committee. Name changes go directly to the committee.

A site can be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger. This happens if something threatens what makes the site special. Threats can include wars, natural disasters, pollution, or too much building. This danger list helps make people aware of the threats. It also encourages action to protect the site. Threats can be immediate or potential dangers.

The committee checks the condition of sites on the danger list every year. They might ask for more actions to be taken. If the threats are gone, the site can be removed from the danger list. Very rarely, a site is removed from the main World Heritage List. Only three sites have ever been delisted:

The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman was delisted in 2007. This happened because the Omani government made the protected area 90% smaller.
The Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany was put on the danger list in 2006. Plans for a new bridge would change the valley's look. The valley was removed from the list in 2009 after the bridge was built.
Liverpool's World Heritage status was removed in 2021. New buildings on its docks caused "irreversible loss" to the site's special features.

A study found that 63% of Natural World Heritage Sites have been damaged. This is due to more human activity like roads and buildings. These activities put the sites at risk. They could harm their unique value. For sites with forests, 91% have lost some forest since 2000. Many sites are more threatened than people thought. They need help right away.

Destroying cultural places is a goal in some modern conflicts. Terrorists and armies sometimes smash old sites and monuments. They also loot libraries and museums. The UN, United Nations peacekeeping, and UNESCO work with Blue Shield International to stop this. They also create "no strike lists" to protect cultural places from air attacks.

Karl von Habsburg, a leader of Blue Shield International, said it well: "Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible."

World Heritage by the Numbers

UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world.

The World Heritage Committee divides the world into five areas: Africa, Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia and the Caucasus countries are in the European area. Mexico and the Caribbean are in the Latin America area. UNESCO's areas are based more on administration than geography. For example, Gough Island is in the South Atlantic. But it's part of the Europe and North America region because the British government nominated it.

Here is a table showing the sites by area as of September 2023:

Zone/region	Cultural	Natural	Mixed	Total	Percentage	Countries with sites
Africa	56	42	5	103	8.6%	36
Arab states	84	6	3	93	7.8%	18
Asia and the Pacific	206	72	12	289	24.1%	36
Europe and North America	485	69	11	565	47.1%	50
Latin America and the Caribbean	103	38	8	149	12.4%	28
Total	934	227	39	1,199	100%	168