List of new UNESCO World Heritage sites

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Agence France-Presse

Snow capped Mt. Fuji and Kaesong Namdae Gate (above) are among the new sites on the UNESCO list. AP photo

UNESCO is currently holding its 37th annual session in Phnom Penh. On June 23 it completed an update of new sites to be added the World Heritage List. The main decisions include the following:

Mount Etna (Italy), Mount Fuji (Japan), Agadez (Niger), Tajikistan National Park, Terraced rice fields of Honghe Hani (China), Xinjiang Tianshan (China), Namib Sand Sea (Namibia), Hill Forts of Rajasthan (India), Monuments of Kaesong (North Korea), Medici Villas and Gardens (Italy), Wooden tserkvas (churches) in the Carpathian mountains (Poland and Ukraine) and Red Bay Basque Whaling Station (Canada).

The following were classed as “in danger” heritage sites by UNESCO: All six of Syria’s World Heritage Sites because of ongoing civil war: the ancient cities of Damascus, Bosra and Aleppo; the oasis of Palmyra; the castles of Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din, which counts as one site, the ancient villages of northern Syria as well as East Rennell area of the Solomon Islands, the largest raised coral atoll in the world endangered by logging.

Also, Iran’s ancient citadel of Bam, almost completely destroyed by a major earthquake in 2003, was removed from the UNESCO list of “World Heritage in Danger.”