A site goes through a nomination process before being considered for inscription by the World Heritage Committee. A site can be proposed for inscription only by the country in which the property is located.
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The List
KML layer including key information on the natural and mixed World Heritage sites that were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as of 7 August 2012.
unep-wcmc.org
There are 10 criteria for the nomination of World Heritage Sites. Click here to see them in detail.
The World Heritage Committee relies on citizens to play an active role in protecting World Heritage sites. If you have any concern about an existing site, do not hesitate to contact the National Commission of the country in charge of the site. To see the contact details of the National Commission, click on the name of the country in the list of States Parties. You may also contact the World Heritage Centre
If you have a suggestion for a World Heritage site, you may wish to send your proposal to the UNESCO National Commission in the country concerned. To see the contact details of the National Commission, click on the name of the country in the list of States Parties.
Countries (or States Parties) submit nomination proposals to the World Heritage Committee. If the Committee determines, based on the recommendations of its Advisory Bodies (ICOMOS and IUCN), that the nomination meets at least one of the necessary criteria, then the property proposed by the State Party is inscribed on the World Heritage List. In general, the Committee adds about 25-30 sites per year to the list. Today there are 1007 sites on the list, located in 161 countries around the world. For more information please refer to the Operational Guidelines.
The site is the property of the country on whose territory it is located, but it is considered in the interest of the international community to protect the site for future generations. Its protection and preservation becomes a concern of the international World Heritage community as a whole.