Each year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reviews nominations for and selects new sites of “outstanding universal value” to its World Heritage List. This week, the organization announced 24 new UNESCO World Heritage sites for 2024, ranging from historic buildings and archeological areas to natural and cultural wonders.
The UNESCO World Heritage designation helps protect diverse sites of profound importance for future generations. In total, there are 1223 properties on the list spanning nearly 170 nations. “What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application,” the organization’s website says. “World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located.”
The new UNESCO World Heritage sites added to the list this year include archaeological sites in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa that “provide the most varied and best-preserved record known of the development of modern human behavior, reaching back as far as 162,000 years;” Brazil’s Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, whose stunning landscape of dunes and lagoons are a “rare beauty” of significant biodiversity value; and the historic architectural complex of the Royal Court of Tiébélé, located in Burkina Faso.
UNESCO also added Tell Umm Amer, an ancient monastery located in the Gaza Strip, to both the World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Founded by Saint Hilarion, it’s one of the oldest sites in the Middle East and was home to the first monastic community in the Holy Land. The site’s dual-designation recognizes “the site’s value and the need to protect it from danger” amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, UNESCO said in a statement.
The 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites added in 2024
- Beijing Central Axis, China
- Brâncuși Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu, Romania
- Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake, Russia
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Romania
- Hegmataneh, Iran
- Nelson Mandela Legacy sites, South Africa
- Melka Kunture and Balchit, Ethiopia
- Moidams, India
- Phu Phrabat Bat Historical Park, Thailand
- Royal Court of Tiébélé, Burkina Faso
- Sado Island Gold Mines, Japan
- Saint Hilarion Monastery / Tell Umm Amer, Palestine
- Schwerin Residence Ensemble, Germany
- Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex, Malaysia
- Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area, Saudi Arabia
- Pleistocene Occupation Sites, South Africa
- Historic Town and Archeological Site of Gedi, Kenya
- Umm Al-Jimāl, Jordan
- Via Appia, Italy
- Badain Jaran Desert, China
- Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil
- The Flow Country, UK
- Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Te Henua Enata, The Marquesas Islands, France
