Among the duties of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the cataloguing and preservation of World Heritage Sites — places both natural and human-made that are considered to be an outstanding part of humanity’s shared heritage.
The agency added twenty-four sites in 2015, bringing the total to 1,031 locations spanning 163 countries. These are the newest additions to the list until the World Heritage Committee meets again in Istanbul, Turkey this coming July.
The new sites, with hyperlinks to their official UNESCO profile and photo gallery, can be seen below. They include everything from 10,000 year old rock art, to unique Industrial Era complexes — a selection as varied as human ingenuity and ambitious.
- Blue and John Crow Mountains (Jamaica)
- Tusi sites (China)
- Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement (Denmark)
- The Par Force Hunting Landscape in North Zealand (Denmark)
- The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy (France)
- Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars (France)
- Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus (Germany)
- Susa (Islamic Republic of Iran)
- Cultural Landscape of Maymand (Islamic Republic of Iran)
- Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of Jewish Renewal (Israel)
- Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale (Italy)
- Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan)
- Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” (Al-Maghtas) (Jordan)
- Baekje Historic Areas (Republic of Korea)
- Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque Hydraulic System (Mexico)
- Great Burkhan Khaldun Mountain and its surrounding sacred landscape (Mongolia)
- Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site (Norway)
- Rock Art in the Hail Region of Saudi Arabia
- Singapore Botanic Gardens (Singapore)
- Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan)
- Ephesus (Turkey)
- Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (Turkey)
- Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape (Uruguay)
- The Forth Bridge (United Kingdom)
- San Antonio Missions (United States of America)
In addition to these new locations, UNESCO also announced the expansion of three existing sites:
- Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (South Africa)
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain [an extension of the “Routes of Santiago de Compostela”] (Spain)
- Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (Viet Nam)
The session also added three sites to its endangered list, all of them in the war-torn Middle East:
At least the biodiverse Los Katios National Park in Colombia was announced to no longer be in danger!
I am eager to see what exciting new monuments, buildings, natural features, and other unique places will be added to the World Heritage List. There is no shortage of contenders in this big, beautiful world of ours.
