A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place (such as a forest A forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface (or 30% of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50% of total land area), in many different regions and function as habitats for, mountain A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them. The study of mountains is called Orography, lake A lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is not global). Another definition is a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land. On Earth a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland,, desert A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. In the Köppen, monument A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of past events. They are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location. Cities that are planned such as Washington D.C., New Delhi and Brasília are, building Buildings come in a wide amount of shapes and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, to land prices, ground conditions, specific uses and aesthetic reasons, complex, or city A city is a relatively large and permanent urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law) that is listed by UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of as of special cultural or physical significance. The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee The World Heritage Committee establishes the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It is composed of 21 state parties which are elected by the, composed of 21 state parties A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. While in abstract terms a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, unrecognised states will often find it hard to[1] which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year A year is the orbital period of the Earth moving around the Sun. For an observer on Earth, this corresponds to the period it takes the Sun to complete one course throughout the zodiac along the ecliptic term.[2]

The program catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. Often though, what is considered cultural heritage by one generation may be rejected by the next generation, only to be revived or natural Natural heritage is the legacy of natural objects and intangible attributes encompassing the countryside and natural environment, including flora and fauna, scientifically known as biodiversity, and geology and landforms importance to the common heritage of humanity The world population is the population of humans on the planet Earth. In 2009, the United Nations estimated the population to reach 7,000,000,000 in 2011; current estimates by the United States Census Bureau put the population at 6,859,100,000. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The programme was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage,[3] which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972. Since then, 186 state parties have ratified the convention.

As of 2009[update], 890 sites are listed: 689 cultural, 176 natural, and 25 mixed properties, in 148 states.[4][5] Italy Italy (pronounced /ˈɪtəli/ ; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites to date with 44 sites inscribed on the list. UNESCO references each World Heritage Site with an identification number; but new inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger descriptions. As a result, the identification numbers exceed 1200 even though there are fewer on the list.

Each World Heritage Site is the property of the state on whose territory the site is located, but it is considered in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.

Contents

History

Pre-convention

In 1954, the government of Egypt The government of Egypt consists of a semi-presidential republic whereby the president is both head of state and head of government, and of a system dominated by the National Democratic Party. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the People's Assembly decided to build the Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam is the general name for two dams, both of which are situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is the larger and newer of the two. The Old Aswan Dam, or Aswan Low Dam, was first completed in 1902 and raised twice, during the British colonial period. Construction of (Aswan High Dam), an event that would flood A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, a valley In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge containing treasures Treasure is a concentration of riches, often one which is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constitutes treasure, such as in the British Treasure Act 1996 of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next three millennia. Its history such as the Abu Simbel Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples in Nubia, southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 290 km southwest of Aswan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments," which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae (near Aswan) temples. UNESCO then launched a worldwide safeguarding campaign. The Abu Simbel and Philae Philae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt. The complex was dismantled and relocated to a nearby island in connection to the UNESCO project started because of the construction of the High Dam, after being partly flooded by the first Aswan Dam for half a century temples A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also were taken apart, moved to a higher location, and put back together piece by piece.[6]

The cost of the project was US$ The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents 80 million, about $ 40 million of which was collected from 50 countries. The project was regarded as a success, and led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsia] , Venetian: Venesia) is a city in northern Italy known both for tourism and for industry, and is the capital of the region Veneto, with a population of 271,367 (census estimate 1 January 2004). Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area (population 1,600,000). The name is and its lagoon The Venetian Lagoon is the enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Venetian language, Laguna Veneta— cognate of Latin lacus, "lake"— has provided the international name for an enclosed, shallow embayment of saltwater, a lagoon in Italy Italy (pronounced /ˈɪtəli/ ; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro was one of the largest city-settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization of South Asia situated in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built around 2600 BCE, the city was one of the early urban settlements in the world, existing at the same time as the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete. The archaeological ruins of in Pakistan Pakistan (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪsˈtaːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکِستان), is a country in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, and India in the, and the Borobodur Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside Temple Compounds in Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With a population of around 230 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of Muslims. Indonesia is a republic, with an. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites The International Council on Monuments and Sites (French: Conseil international des monuments et des sites) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. ICOMOS was founded in 1965 as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964 and offers advice to UNESCO on World Heritage, a draft convention to protect the common cultural heritage of humanity.

Convention and background

See also: World Heritage Committee The World Heritage Committee establishes the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. It is composed of 21 state parties which are elected by the

The United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language initiated the idea of combining cultural conservation with nature conservation. A White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S conference in 1965 called for a ‘World Heritage Trust’ to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry." The International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. It was founded in October 1948, as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUPN), following an international conference at Fontainebleau, France. Its headquarters are located in the Lake Geneva area in Gland, developed similar proposals in 1968, and they were presented in 1972 to the United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm Stockholm (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstɔkːɔlm] ) is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag (parliament), and the official residence of the Swedish monarch as well as the prime minister. Since 1980, the monarch has resided at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm and uses.

A single text was agreed on by all parties, and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.

Nominating process

A country must first take an inventory of its significant cultural and natural properties. This is called the Tentative List, and is important because a country may not nominate properties that have not already been included on the Tentative List. Next, it can select a property from this list to place into a Nomination File. The World Heritage Centre offers advice and help in preparing this file.

At this point, the file is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites The International Council on Monuments and Sites (French: Conseil international des monuments et des sites) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. ICOMOS was founded in 1965 as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964 and offers advice to UNESCO on World Heritage and the World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. It helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. These bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The Committee meets once per year to determine whether or not to inscribe each nominated property on the World Heritage List, and sometimes defers the decision to request more information from the country who nominated the site. There are ten selection criteria - a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list.

Selection criteria

Until the end of 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so that there is only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value" and meet at least one of the ten criteria.[7]

Cultural criteria

I. "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius A genius is an excellent intellect, excellent work or an excellent achievement. More than just originality, creativity, or intelligence, the adjective "genius" is associated with the achieving of unprecedented insight. This is called the spark of genius. The genius (the excellence, a noun) of a piece of work raises a perceiver's";
II. "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture A wider definition may comprise all design activity, from the macro-level to the micro-level (construction details and furniture). Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. It requires the creative or technology Technology is a term referring to whatever can be said at any particular historical period, concerning the state of the art in the whole general field of practical know-how and tool use. It therefore encompasses all that can be said about arts, crafts, professions, applied sciences, and skills. By extension it can also refer to any systems or, monumental arts A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of past events. They are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location. Cities that are planned such as Washington D.C., New Delhi and Brasília are, town-planning Urban, city, and town planning integrates land use planning and transport planning to improve the built, economic and social environments of communities. Regional planning deals with a still larger environment, at a less detailed level or landscape design Landscape design is similar to landscape architecture. Landscape design focuses more on the artistic merits of design, while Landscape architecture encompasses the artistic design as well as structural engineering. Landscape design and Landscape Architecture, both take into account soils, drainage, climate and other issues, because the survival of";
III. "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization Civilization is a term used to describe a certain kind of development of a human society. A civilized society is often characterized by advanced agriculture, long-distance trade, occupational specialization, and urbanism. Aside from these core elements, civilization is often marked by any combination of a number of secondary elements, including a which is living or which has disappeared";
IV. "to be an outstanding example of a type of building Buildings come in a wide amount of shapes and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, to land prices, ground conditions, specific uses and aesthetic reasons, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history The history of the world is the recorded memory of the experience of Homo sapiens. Ancient human history begins with the invention, independently at several sites on Earth, of writing, which created the infrastructure for lasting, accurately transmitted memories and thus for the diffusion and growth of knowledge. Nevertheless, an appreciation of";
V. "to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement A settlement is a general term used in archaeology, geography, landscape history and other subjects for a permanent or temporary community in which people live, without being specific as to size, population or importance. A settlement can therefore range in size from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change";
VI. "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria.)

Natural criteria

VII. "to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance";
VIII. "to be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features";
IX. "to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals";
X. "to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation."

Statistics

See also: Table of World Heritage Sites by country

There are 890 World Heritage Sites located in 148 countries (state parties). Of these, 689 are cultural, 176 are natural and 25 are mixed properties. The World Heritage Committee has divided the countries into five geographic zones: Africa, Arab States (composed of North Africa and the Middle East), Asia-Pacific (includes Australia and Oceania), Europe & North America (United States, and Canada) and Latin America & Caribbean.

Russia and the Caucasus states are classified as European, while Mexico is classified as belonging to the Latin America & Caribbean zone. The UNESCO geographic zones also give greater emphasis on administrative, rather than geographic associations. Hence, Gough Island, located in the South Atlantic, is part of the Europe & North America region because the government of the United Kingdom nominated the site.

The table below includes a breakdown of the sites according to these zones and their classification:[8]

Zone Natural Cultural Mixed Total
Africa 33 42 3 78
Arab States 4 60 1 65
Asia-Pacific 48 129 9 186[9]
Europe, United States, & Canada 56 375 9 440
Latin America & Caribbean 35 83 3 121
Total 176 689 25 890

Lists of World Heritage Sites

References

  1. ^ According to the UNESCO World Heritage website, States Parties are countries that signed and ratified The World Heritage Convention. As of November 2007, there are a total of 186 state parties.
  2. ^ "The World Heritage Committee". UNESCO World Heritage Site. http://whc.unesco.org/en/comittee/. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
  3. ^ Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage
  4. ^ World Heritage List, UNESCO World Heritage Sites official sites.
  5. ^ Twenty-seven new sites inscribed, UNESCO World Heritage Sites official sites.
  6. ^ Brief History, UNESCO World Heritage Sites official sites.
  7. ^ "Criteria for Selection". World Heritage. http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
  8. ^ Stats
  9. ^ The Uvs Nuur basin located in Russia and Mongolia is here included in Asia-Pacific zone.

External links

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