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World Heritage Site

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Environment

   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. (This is similar to the United Nations Security Council.)

   The programme aims to catalogue, name, and conserve sites of
   outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of
   humankind. 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, which
   was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.
   Since then, over 180 State Parties have ratified the convention.

   As of 2006, a total of 830 sites are listed: 644 cultural, 162 natural,
   and 24 mixed properties, in 138 States Parties. UNESCO references each
   World Heritage Site with a unique identification number; but new
   inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger
   descriptions. As a result, the numbering system currently ends above
   1200, even though there are fewer on the actual list.

   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 humankind. The protection and conservation of these
   sites are a concern of all the World Heritage countries.

History

   Site #86: Memphis and its Necropolis, including the Pyramids of Giza
   (Egypt).
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   Site #86: Memphis and its Necropolis, including the Pyramids of Giza
   (Egypt).
   Site #114: Persepolis (Iran).
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   Site #114: Persepolis (Iran).
   Site #307: The Statue of Liberty (United States).
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   Site #307: The Statue of Liberty (United States).
   Site #438: The Great Wall of 10,000 Li (China).
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   Site #438: The Great Wall of 10,000 Li (China).
   Site #444: The Ksar of Aït Benhaddou (Morocco).
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   Site #444: The Ksar of Aït Benhaddou (Morocco).
   Site #524: The Great Stupa at Sanchi (India).
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   Site #524: The Great Stupa at Sanchi (India).
   Site #540: Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and its suburbs (Russia).
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   Site #540: Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and its suburbs (Russia).
   Site #541: Vilnius Historic Centre (Lithuania).
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   Site #541: Vilnius Historic Centre (Lithuania).
   Site #708: Historical Monuments of Mtskheta, including the
   Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (Georgia).
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   Site #708: Historical Monuments of Mtskheta, including the
   Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (Georgia).
   Site #772: The Banaue Rice Terraces in the mountains of Ifugao
   (Philippines).
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   Site #772: The Banaue Rice Terraces in the mountains of Ifugao
   (Philippines).
   Site #776: The Shinto Itsukushima Shrine of Miyajima, Hiroshima
   (Japan).
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   Site #776: The Shinto Itsukushima Shrine of Miyajima, Hiroshima
   (Japan).
   Site #917: The Greater Blue Mountains Area, including the Blue
   Mountains National Park (Australia).
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   Site #917: The Greater Blue Mountains Area, including the Blue
   Mountains National Park (Australia).
   Site #936: The Cueva de las Manos in a remote region of Patagonia
   (Argentina).
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   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).
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   Site #946: Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar (Bosnia and
   Herzegovina).
   Site #960: Geghard Monastery (Armenia).
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   Site #960: Geghard Monastery (Armenia).

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
   Moenjodaro 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 humankind.

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." 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 16 November
   1972.

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 that have not
   already been included on the Tentative List. Next, it can select a
   property off this list to make into a Nomination File. The World
   Heritage Centre offers advice and help in preparing this file, which
   needs to be as comprehensive as possible.

   At this point, the file is 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. 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.

   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-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those
       containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from
       the point of view of science or conservation."

Statistics

   There are currently 830 World Heritage Sites located in 138 State
   Parties. Of these, 644 are cultural, 162 are natural and 24 are mixed
   properties. 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.

   Note that 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 & North
   America region since it was the United Kingdom which nominated the
   site.

   For a detailed statistics of sites according to State Party, refer to
   this article.

   The table below includes a breakdown of the sites according to these
   zones and their classification:
   Zone                      Natural Cultural Mixed Total
   Africa                    32      36       2     70
   Arab States               4       57       1     62
   Asia-Pacific              43      121      11    175
   Europe & North America    49      351      7     407
   Latin America & Caribbean 34      79       3     116

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 where sites are
   officially inscribed on the World Heritage List, after presentations
   made by the IUCN and/or ICOMOS, and deliberations made among the State
   Parties.

   The annual session takes place in various cities all over the world.
   With the exception of those held in Paris (France), where the UNESCO
   headquarter office is located, only State Parties who are members of
   the World Heritage Committee have the right to host a future Session,
   pending approval by the Committee, as well as provided that 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 Flag of France  France
   2 1978 5 September - 8 September Washington, D.C. Flag of United States
    United States
   3 1979 22 October - 26 October Cairo & Luxor Flag of Egypt  Egypt
   4 1980 1 September - 5 September Paris Flag of France  France
   5 1981 26 October - 30 October Sydney Flag of Australia  Australia
   6 1982 13 December - 17 December Paris Flag of France  France
   7 1983 5 December - 9 December Florence Flag of Italy  Italy
   8 1984 29 October - 2 November Buenos Aires Flag of Argentina
   Argentina
   9 1985 2 December - 6 December Paris Flag of France  France
   10 1986 24 November - 28 November Paris Flag of France  France
   11 1987 7 December - 11 December Paris Flag of France  France
   12 1988 5 December - 9 December Brasilia Flag of Brazil  Brazil
   13 1989 11 December - 15 December Paris Flag of France  France
   14 1990 7 December - 12 December Banff Flag of Canada  Canada
   15 1991 9 December - 13 December Carthage Flag of Tunisia  Tunisia
   16 1992 7 December - 14 December Santa Fe Flag of United States  United
   States
   17 1993 6 December - 11 December Cartagena Flag of Colombia  Colombia
   18 1994 12 December - 17 December Phuket Flag of Thailand  Thailand
   19 1995 4 December - 9 December Berlin Flag of Germany  Germany
   20 1996 2 December - 7 December Mérida Flag of Mexico  Mexico
   21 1997 1 December - 6 December Naples Flag of Italy  Italy
   22 1998 30 November - 5 December Kyoto Flag of Japan  Japan
   23 1999 29 November - 4 December Marrakesh Flag of Morocco  Morocco
   24 2000 27 November - 2 December Cairns Flag of Australia  Australia
   25 2001 11 December - 16 December Helsinki Flag of Finland  Finland
   26 2002 24 June - 29 June Budapest Flag of Hungary  Hungary
   27 2003 30 June - 5 July Paris Flag of France  France
   28 2004 28 June - 7 July Suzhou Flag of People's Republic of China
   China
   29 2005 10 July - 17 July Durban Flag of South Africa  South Africa
   30 2006 8 July - 16 July Vilnius Flag of Lithuania  Lithuania
   31 2007 23 June - 1 July Christchurch Flag of New Zealand  New Zealand

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
