World_Heritage_Site

The official World Heritage Emblem, Designed by Belgian artist Michel Olyff and adopted in 1978, represents "the interdependence of the world’s natural and cultural diversity".
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State Parties (countries) which are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a fixed term. [1](This is similar to the United Nations Security Council.)
The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972. Since then, over 180 State Parties have ratified the convention.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Pre-convention
1.2 Convention and background


2 Benefits of a World Heritage Site designation
3 Nominating process
4 Selection criteria

4.1 Cultural criteria
4.2 Natural criteria


5 Statistics
6 World Heritage Committee Session
7 Notes
8 External links
9 Credits



The goal of the program is the conservation of sites deemed to be of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humankind. UNESCO funds numerous efforts to preserve and restore sites in developing nations through the World Heritage Fund. In addition, World Heritage designations often boost local economies by encouraging tourism. Each World Heritage Site is the property of the country on whose territory the site is located, but it is considered in the interest of the international community to preserve each site for future generations of humanity. The protection and conservation of these sites are a concern of all the World Heritage countries and its citizens.

History

 Site #86: Memphis and its Necropolis, including the Pyramids of Giza (Egypt).
 Site #114: Persepolis (Iran).
 Site #307: The Statue of Liberty (United States).
 Site #393: Delphi, including the ancient Tholos at the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia (Greece).
 Site #438: The Great Wall of 10,000 Li (China).
 Site #444: The Ksar of Aït Benhaddou (Morocco).
 Site #483: Chichen Itza in Yucatán (Mexico).
 Site #524: The Great Stupa at Sanchi (India).
 Site #540: Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and its suburbs (Russia).
 Site #541: Vilnius Historic Centre (Lithuania).
 Site #708: Historical Monuments of Mtskheta, including the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (Georgia).
 Site #772: The Banaue Rice Terraces in the mountains of Ifugao (Philippines).
 Site #776: The Shinto Itsukushima Shrine of Miyajima, Hiroshima (Japan).
 Site #936: The Cueva de las Manos in a remote region of Patagonia (Argentina).
 Site #946: Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
 Site #960: Geghard Monastery (Armenia).
 Site #983: St. George's, Bermuda & related forts (UK).

Pre-convention
In 1959, the government of Egypt decided to build the Aswan High Dam, an event that would flood a valley containing treasures of ancient civilization such as the Abu Simbel temples. UNESCO then launched a worldwide safeguarding campaign, despite appeals from the governments of Egypt and Sudan. The Abu Simbel and Philae temples were taken apart, moved to a higher location, and put back together piece-by-piece.
The cost of the project was approximately US $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 different countries. It was widely regarded as a total success, and led to other safeguarding campaigns (saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia). UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a draft convention to protect the common cultural heritage of humanity.

Convention and background
The United States initiated the idea of combining cultural conservation with nature conservation. A White House 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."[2] The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, and they were presented in 1972 to the United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden.
A single text was ultimately agreed on by all parties involved, and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972.

Benefits of a World Heritage Site designation
The designation as a World Heritage Site brings a certain prestige to a location and its home country. Increasing the awareness of a site and its history also increases awareness of the need to preserve and protect.
The value of a WHS designation is understood throughout the world to the extent that it enlists international cooperation in preservation efforts. A comprehensive management plan accompanies a site's designation including adequate preservation measures and monitoring mechanisms. Experts offer technical training to local sites' management teams.
An additional benefit is financial support. Approximately $4 million dollars is made available annually to assist in identifying, preserving and promoting World Heritage sites. There is an emergency fund specified for urgent actions necessitated by damage caused by man-made or natural disasters.
If a site is listed on the List of World Heritage in Danger the attention and the funds of both the national and the international community are focused on the conservation needs of these particularly threatened sites.[3]

Nominating process
A country must first take an inventory of all its significant cultural and natural properties. This is called the Tentative List, and is important because a country may not nominate properties as a World Heritage Site unless they have first been included on this Tentative List. Next, it selects a property from this list and prepares a special file on it, called a 'Nomination File'. The World Heritage Centre offers advice and help in preparing this file, which needs to be as comprehensive as possible.
The file is then independently evaluated by two organizations: the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union. 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 States Parties (States Parties are defined as countries that signed and ratified The World Heritage Convention). There are ten selection criteria that a site must meet 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.[4]

Cultural criteria
I. "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius";
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 or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design";
III. "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared";
IV. "to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history";
V. "to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, 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
As of December 2007, there were 851 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.
These include 660 cultural, 166 natural, and 25 mixed properties in 141 States Parties. As of October 2006, 184 States Parties have ratified the World Heritage Convention. An updated listing of world heritage sites is maintained by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre branch of the United Nations.
Further site classification includes the classification of the State Parties among five geographic zones: Africa, Arab States (composed of northern Africa and the Middle East), Asia-Pacific (includes Australia and Oceania), Europe and North America (specifically, USA and Canada), and Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia is classified as belonging to the Europe and North America zone, together with Cyprus and the Caucasus States.
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 and North America region since it was the United Kingdom which nominated the site.
The table below includes a breakdown of the sites according to these zones and their classification:



Zone

Natural

Cultural

Mixed

Total

Percent


Africa

33

38

3

74

9 percent


Arab States

3

58

1

62

7 percent


Asia-Pacific

45

126

11

182

21 percent


Europe & North America

51

358

7

416

49 percent


Latin America & Caribbean

34

80

3

117

14 percent




World Heritage Committee Session
The World Heritage Committee meets several times a year to discuss measures on the management of existing World Heritage Sites, and accept the nominations from interested countries. A session, known as the World Heritage Committee Session, takes place annually in which sites are officially inscribed on the World Heritage List, following presentations made by the IUCN and/or ICOMOS, and deliberations made among the State Parties.
The annual session takes place in various cities throughout the world. With the exception of those held in Paris, the site of the UNESCO headquarter office, only State Parties who are members of the World Heritage Committee have the right to host a Session, pending approval by the Committee, provided the concerned State Party's term will not expire before it hosts the Session.



Session

Year

Date

Host City

State Party


1

1977

27 June - 1 July

Paris

 France


2

1978

5 September - 8 September

Washington, D.C.

 United States


3

1979

22 October - 26 October

Cairo & Luxor

 Egypt


4

1980

1 September - 5 September

Paris

 France


5

1981

26 October - 30 October

Sydney

 Australia


6

1982

13 December - 17 December

Paris

 France


7

1983

5 December - 9 December

Florence

 Italy


8

1984

29 October - 2 November

Buenos Aires

 Argentina


9

1985

2 December - 6 December

Paris

 France


10

1986

24 November - 28 November

Paris

 France


11

1987

7 December - 11 December

Paris

 France


12

1988

5 December - 9 December

Brasilia

 Brazil


13

1989

11 December - 15 December

Paris

 France


14

1990

7 December - 12 December

Banff

 Canada


15

1991

9 December - 13 December

Carthage

 Tunisia


16

1992

7 December - 14 December

Santa Fe

 United States


17

1993

6 December - 11 December

Cartagena

 Colombia


18

1994

12 December - 17 December

Phuket

 Thailand


19

1995

4 December - 9 December

Berlin

 Germany


20

1996

2 December - 7 December

Mérida

 Mexico


21

1997

1 December - 6 December

Naples

 Italy


22

1998

30 November - 5 December

Kyoto

 Japan


23

1999

29 November - 4 December

Marrakesh

 Morocco


24

2000

27 November - 2 December

Cairns

 Australia


25

2001

11 December - 16 December

Helsinki

 Finland


26

2002

24 June - 29 June

Budapest

 Hungary


27

2003

30 June - 5 July

Paris

 France


28

2004

28 June - 7 July

Suzhou

 China


29

2005

10 July - 17 July

Durban

 South Africa


30

2006

8 July - 16 July

Vilnius

 Lithuania


31

2007

23 June - 1 July

Christchurch

 New Zealand



Notes


↑  World Heritage. About World Heritage Retrieved December 7, 2007. 

↑ UNESCO World Heritage Centre.Brief History Retrieved March 13, 2008.

↑ UNESCO World Heritage Site. Benefits of Ratification Retrieved March 13, 2008.

↑  World Heritage. Criteria for Selection Retrieved March 13, 2008. 



External links
All links retrieved October 10, 2020.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites Official website of UNESCO World Heritage Sites
List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites Official website
World Heritage Site A personal travel guide to the entries on the World Heritage List
UNESCO World Heritage List Complete list with links and map of all sites


Lists of World Heritage Sites

Africa ·
Americas ·
Arab States ·
Asia and Australasia ·
Europe ·
Sites in danger




Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article
in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

World Heritage Site  history
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

History of "World Heritage Site"
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.