UNESCO has added 19 new World Heritage sites for 2018, bringing the total to 1,092, but it put off considering a joint request by Belgium and France to recognize battlefields and cemeteries from World War I.
World Heritage sites, recognized by a UNESCO committee, are selected for their cultural or historical significance. New sites are picked from lists submitted by governments. The new sites are spread around the world, with 6 in Europe, 4 in the Middle East, 4 in Asia, 3 in the Americas and 2 in sub-Saharan Africa.
The French-Belgian application had listed 130 sites. Earlier this year, an advisory committee to the board had recommended that the application, made originally in 2007, be rejected because of concerns that recognizing the sites might be seen as glorifying war. The final decision was not to reject, but to postpone consideration until 2021.
Proponents of the proposal reject the idea that recognition would glorify war; in their view, “Peace and reconciliation are at the very heart of this unique request.
Here are the 19 new World Heritage sites:
- Aasivissuit – Nipisat in Denmark
- Al-Ahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia
- Ancient City of Qalhat, Oman
- Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke, Germany
- Caliphate City of Medina Azahara, Spain
- Göbekli Tepe, Turkey
- Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region, Japan
- Ivrea, Italy
- Naumburg Cathedral, Germany
- Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries, Republic of Korea
- Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars Region, Iran
- Thimlich Ohinga Archaeological Site, Kenya
- Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai, India
- Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains, South Africa
- Chaine des Puys – Limagne fault tectonic arena, France
- Fanjingshan, China
- Chiribiquete National Park – “The Maloca of the Jaguar”, Colombia
- Pimachiowin Aki, Canada
- Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: original habitat of Mesoamerica, Mexico
Photo of Göbekli Tepe excavation by Teomancimit/Wikimedia
