Celebrate World Heritage Day at UNESCO’s newest World Heritage sites Celebrate World Heritage Day at UNESCO’s newest World Heritage sites

At its last induction ceremony, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added 26 new properties to its World Heritage Site list.

From Germany’s fairy tale castles to petroglyphs in South Korea, the additions include 24 cultural, four natural, and two mixed sites.

Looking to explore them for yourself? Here are all 26 sites, split by region.

50 years on from the Khmer Rouge regime’s rise to power in Cambodia, three genocide sites have been inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The three sites include the former M-13 prison, the former S-21 prison (which now serves as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum), and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, which is one of the approximately 300 killing fields found across the country where more than 1.3 million people were executed and buried between 1975 and 1979.

Two years ago, memorial sites for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda were also inscribed onto the list.

Read next: Where to experience Cambodia’s traditional Indigenous culture

The medieval kingdom of Khuttal, which had an important role in Silk Roads trade between the 7th and 16th centuries, joins four other properties inscribed in Tajikistan. Archaeological remains found here include Buddhist temples, palaces, settlements, manufacturing centres, and caravanserais.

This man-made tropical rainforest was created from the 1920s onwards. Having been built on the site of degraded tin-mining land, Forest Park Selangor is the world’s oldest and largest re-created tropical rain forest. The UNESCO listing includes the site’s water bodies and trails, as well as its scientific, residential, and service buildings.

Read next: Borneo up close: Uncovering the secrets of wild Sabah

Twelve fortifications built by the Marathas in India between the late 17th and early 19th century make up this newly inscribed property. Eleven are found in Maharashtra State, with another in Tamil Nadu, and this complex defence system ‘played a key role in the Marathas’ rise as a major political and military force’.

The forts included in the heritage site property are as follows: Salher, Shivneri, Lohagad, Khanderi, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Vijaydurg, Singhudurg and Gingee.

Along South Korea’s Bangucheon stream near Ulsan, there are two sets of petroglyphs: The Petroglyphs of Bangudae Terrace in Daegok-ri, and the Petroglyphs of Cheonjeon-ri. Separated by just three kilometres, the two sites demonstrate the historic multi-generational rock-carving tradition, with depictions dating back to between 5,000BCE and the ninth century CE. Alongside shapes like circles and rhombuses, the site has highly-detailed animal imagery, with one section showing the different stages of whale hunting.

Discover them for yourself by paying a visit to the Ulsan Petroglyph Museum.

Read next: South Korea trip planner

Had Italy not had a new inscription itself for 2025 (more on that in a moment), the addition of Xixia Imperial Tombs would have seen China equalise the European country’s record for most UNESCO World Heritage Sites with 60. The latest addition, found at the foothills of the Helan Mountains in northwestern China, dates back to the Xixia Dynasty, which lasted between 1038 and 1227, when it was defeated by Genghis Khan’s Mongol army. Consisting of 9 imperial mausoleums and 271 subordinate tombs, the site covers more than five hectares. More than 7,000 objects have been excavated from the site, which you can see at the Xixia Imperial Tombs Museum.

Read next: Beyond the Great Wall: 15 lesser-known UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China

Vietnam’s ninth UNESCO World Heritage Site consists of 20 locations across the Yen Tu Mountain Range in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, and Hai Duong. The birthplace of Vietnamese Truc Lam Zen Buddhism, and the homeland of the Tran Dynasty (1224-1400), the site includes pagodas, temples, shrines, and other archaeological remains, including Kiep Bac Temple.

Among the newly inscribed mixed properties, valued for their cultural and natural elements, Mount Kumgang is found in southeastern North Korea, around 30km from the DMZ. The site was added to the list as a key site of mountain Buddhism, with temples dating back to the 6th century still found here, as well as the stele and stupa of Saint Sosan, a key player in Buddhist theory in the 17th century.

North Korea is still closed to most foreign tourists, with the exception of a few guided tours that have taken place over the past few months.

Read next: 6 things I wish I’d known about North Korea

Among the oldest sites on the list, the domus de janas, a series of hypogean burials and necropolises in Sardinia, date back to between 5000 and 3000BCE. The prehistoric rock-cut tombs are able to demonstrate the funerary practices, spiritual beliefs, and social evolution of those living here thousands of years ago.

You can visit one of the best-known domus de janas in Sedini, as the tomb was later lived in by farmers in the Middle Ages, then turned into a prison, and now contains a museum.

Read next: Sardinia’s secret places: 5 hidden corners you must visit

France’s Stonehenge, the Megaliths of Carnac, dates back more than 7,000 years. Much like the British landmark, it’s unknown why there were erected, but visitors today can see 3,000 menhirs standing in 10 to 13 rows over a distance of 4 kilometres, all perfectly aligned to the area’s geomorphology.

The site is the first to be recognised by UNESCO in Brittany, and visitors can discover more about the stones at the Maison des Mégalithes.

Read next: 12 of Britain’s most mysterious ancient sites

Six of Crete’s Minoan archaeological sites have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list: Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros, Zominthos and Kydonia. Built between 1900 to 1100 BCE, the palaces were at the heart of the Minoan civilisation.

Visitors can discover the remains of these brilliant buildings alongside frescoes and other artefacts.

Read next: Culture awaits in Crete

Another of the oldest properties on this list, the rock art within Russia’s Shulgan-Tash Cave in the Southern Ural Mountains of Bashkortostan dates back to the Late Palaeolithic period. The cave’s prehistoric inhabitants depicted mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, horses, and a Bactrian camel as well as anthropomorphic figures, abstract signs, and geometric motifs.

Best known for inventing coinage, the Lydians were a prominent empire that rose to power in the the eighth through sixth centuries BC, with Sardis being their capital. The UNESCO World Heritage Site includes the citadel of Sardis, the lower city, which is surrounded by a 20m thick fortification that is still standing today, and the tumulus (burial bound) cemetery at Bin Tepe to the north of the city.

Read next: Facing the past: Türkiye’s Gobekli Tepe and other ancient sites

Four palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the late 19th century make up this UNESCO site, the most famous of which being Neuschwanstein Palace, the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle. King Ludwig II himself was inspired by Wartburg Castle in Versailles, German fairy tales, and Wagner’s operas, and the palaces ‘reflect the romantic and eclectic spirit of the era’ while ‘showcasing historicist styles and advanced 19th-century techniques’.

Found on the island of Møn, which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Møns Klint is best known for its 70 million-year-old white chalk cliffs, which are slowly eroding, exposing more and more fossils. Aside from its beauty, Møns Klint is also the home of 18 species of orchid, and the almost-threatened large blue butterfly, which thrive in the area’s calcareous grasslands and beech forests.

Just a two-hour drive south of Copenhagen, Møns Klint is a popular stargazing spot, having been named Scandinavia’s first Dark Sky Park in 2017.

Read next: In the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersen

Diy-Gid-Biy, meaning ‘ruin of the chief’s residence’ in the Mafa language, is a series of sixteen archaeological sites spread across seven villages in northern Cameroon. Believed to have been built between the 12th and 17th centuries, the area is surrounded by homes, tombs, and places of worship, and was chosen by UNESCO as the site reflects ‘a long-standing cultural and spiritual connection between the people and their environment’.

After spending a quarter of a century on the tentative list, this mountain range in southern Malawi was finally added to UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list. Believed to be inhabited by gods, spirits, and ancestors, Mount Mulanje is connected to the belief systems of the Yao, Mang’anja, and Lhomwe peoples. Alongside the intangible elements of this, Mount Mulanje Cultural Landscape is home to historical paths, burial grounds, ritual sites and ancient caves.

Read next: A wildlife guide to Malawi, Africa’s unsung safari destination

One of four natural landscapes inscribed this year, Guinea-Bissau’s Bijagós Archipelago is a biodiversity hotspot. Just a few active deltaic archipelagos (i.e., a series of islands formed by a river) exist in the world, and the area is home to over 870,000 migratory shorebirds alongside manatees, dolphins, and the endangered green and leatherback turtles. On the flora side of things, there are mangroves, mudflats and intertidal zones which support rare plant species, diverse fish populations, and bird colonies.

Read next: Exploring wildlife and ancient culture in Guinea-Bissau

Within the Gola Rainforest National Park and the Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, you can find more than 1,000 plant species – 113 of which are endemic – more than 400 bird species, including the endangered white-necked rockfowl, and 55 mammals, including 19 globally threatened species and key species like the African forest elephant and the pygmy hippopotamus.

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Port Royal in southeastern Jamaica offers ‘rare insights into urban colonial life’, with its original 17th century urban layout preserved alongside a number of defensive forts. An earthquake in 1692 saw much of the town submerged, and this UNESCO World Heritage Site encompasses sites both on land and underwater.

Read next: Trying to connect with Bob Marley’s legacy in Jamaica

During the colonial period, Panama played a key role in the transportation of goods and people between the Old and New Worlds. The 80km isthmus between the Atlantic/Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean bears testament to this through historic towns and archaeological sites as well as a defensive system to stop buccaneers attacking. The new UNESCO site includes the Castle of San Lorenzo, sections of Camino de Cruces National Park, the archaeological site of Panamá Viejo and the historic district of Panamá.

Read next: 9 things you must do in Panama

This 500km ‘braid of trails’, known as Tatehuarí Huajuyé, or path of our grandfather fire, connects 20 sites across five states in north-central Mexico. Beginning in the Huichol Sierra through to Wirikuta in the Chihuahuan Desert, with additional sacred sites in Nayarit and Durango, the route is a ‘living remnant of the ancient pre-Columbian pilgrimage routes of America’.

Read next: How ecotourism in Oaxaca is helping communities reconnect with their Indigenous roots

Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu is well-known for its vast caves, with Janelão Cave standing out in particular as being home to the world’s largest stalactite. Aside from its dramatic landscapes, the park is also known for its biodiversity, as it lies at the intersection of the Cerrado, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest biomes and supports more than 2,000 plant and animal species.

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Only the second UNESCO World Heritage Site in the UAE, the Faya Palaeolandscape is located in the emirate of Sharjah and encompasses the area around Jebel Mleiha, Jebel Faya and Jebel Buhais. Archaeological finds here span from the Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods (210,000–6,000 years ago), and have demonstrated how hunter-gatherers and pastoralists adapted to extreme climates, alternating between arid and rainy periods every 20,000 years.

Read next: 15 extraordinary things to do in the United Arab Emirates

These five caves and rock shelter in Iran’s Khorramabad Valley occupied from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods, more than 63,000 years ago. Decorative objects and advanced stone tools found here offer an insight into early human evolution and Mousterian and Baradostian cultures.

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Murujuga, meaning ‘hip bone sticking out’, is a landscape of ancient rocks in northwest Australia encompassing the Burrup Peninsula and the Dampier Archipelago’s 42 islands. The Ngarda-Ngarli, Traditional Owners and Custodians of the site, have been using and caring for Murujuga Cultural Landscape for at least 50,000 years, and the site is home to many petroglyphs and stone structures crated in this time.

Read next: The Indigenous-owned tours that are making waves across Australia