Almost 50 sites worldwide are being considered for UNESCO World Heritage status.
They run the gamut from a 2,000-year-old earthworks in Ohio to a Viking fortress in Denmark.
UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This is the 45th anniversary of the organization, with Yellowstone National Park and the Galapagos Islands being named as the first two places to the list.
A site or landmark can be nominated more than once. This year’s convention to add places to the list is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Once a landmark is able to achieve status on the site, it is eligible for UNESCO advice and even financial support to help preserve the site.
Nearly 200 nations belong to the organization and are eligible to nominate a landmark.
The list this year includes an ancient burial site in South Korea, as well as the aforementioned Viking fortress in Denmark, among others including:
The archaeological site Tak'alik Ab'aj in Guatemala.
Santiniketan, India
Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor, Tajikistan
Talayotic Menorca, Spain
The Gedeo Cultural Landscape, Ethiopia
The Persian Caravanserai, Iran
Tr’ondëk-Klondike, Canada
Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua, Congo
Volcanoes and Forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique, France
Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba, Benin
Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago, Vietnam
Hyrcanian Forests, Iran/Azerbaijan
Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan, Palestinian Territories
Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University, Russia
Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route, Azerbaijan
PHOTO: Djerba, Tunisia. (photo via mazzo1982/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Djerba: cultural landscape, Tunisia
Funerary and memory sites of the First World War Western Front, Belgium/France
Jodensavanne Archaeological Site, Suriname
Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Netherlands
Medieval Mosques of Anatolia with Wooden Posts and Upper Structure, Turkey
Memorial sites of the Genocide: Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero, Rwanda
Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, India
The Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta, Indonesia
The Cultural Landscape of Masouleh, Iran
Anticosti, Canada
Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
Cold Winter Deserts of Turan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, Italy
Chimpanzees play in the treetops in Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. (photo via Visit Rwanda) (Photo Credit: (photo via Visit Rwanda))
Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda
Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve, Tajikistan
Highlands of the Mongolian Altai, Mongolia
Zagori Cultural Landscape, Greece
Historic Center of Guimarães and Couros Zone, Portugal
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