World Heritage Sites are places in the world which are very important from acultural ornatural point of view. A part of theUnited Nations calledUNESCO selects these sites.
The World Heritage Convention ("Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage")[1] is a United Nationstreaty. It governs how World Heritage Sites are selected andprotected.Nations that have agreed to the treaty elect 21 countries to the UNESCOWorld Heritage Committee.[2] That committee sets the list of sites.[3]
Each site is a place or a thing (such as aforest,mountain,lake,desert,monument,building, complex, orcity).As of 2014[update], there were 1007 sites in 161 different countries. These included 779 cultural sites, 197 natural sites, and 31 mixed properties (which are both naturally and culturally important).[4][5]Italy has 50 World Heritage Sites - more than any other country.
Each World Heritage Site is part of the legal territory of the nation where the site is located.
UNESCO wants everyone in the world to work toprotect each site. Sometimes UNESCO provides funds to help protect a site.Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have destroyed some sites.
The UNESCO selection committee has held a session each year since 1977.[6] The first session was held inParis,France. At these sessions, the committee choses which applications for World Heritage Site status are added to their list. When something is added to the list, it is said to be "inscribed" on the list. The entry on the list is called anInscription.
Until the end of 2004, there were sixcriteria for culturalheritage sites and four criteria for natural heritage sites. In 2005, a single set of ten criteria replaced the old cultural and natural heritage criteria. To qualify as a World Heritage Site, nominated sites must meet at least one of the ten criteria; they must also be of "outstanding universal value." If a site meets both cultural and natural criteria, it is called a "mixed site".[7]
"to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a culturaltradition or to acivilization which is living or which has disappeared"
"is an outstanding example of a type ofbuilding, architectural, ortechnological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history"
"is an outstanding example of a traditional humansettlement, land-use, orsea-use which isrepresentative of a culture, or human interaction with theenvironment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change"
"is directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic andliterary works of outstanding universal significance"
"is an outstanding example representing major stages ofEarth's history, including the record oflife, significant on-goinggeological processes in the development oflandforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features"
"contains the most important and significant naturalhabitats for in-situconservation ofbiological diversity, including those containingthreatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation"
"Article 53. PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954,' and of other relevant international instruments, it is prohibited:[9]
(a) To commit any acts of hostility directed against the historic monuments, works of art or places ofworship which constitute the cultural orspiritual heritage of peoples;
(b) To use such objects in support of themilitary effort;
(c) To make such objects the object of reprisals."
↑"The World Heritage Committee". UNESCO World Heritage Site. RetrievedOctober 16, 2011. As of 2011, World Heritage Committee members are: Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Iraq, Jordan, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates.
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