A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place or landmark that has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having outstanding cultural or natural significance. The purpose of designating such sites is to preserve them for future generations and promote international cooperation in protecting cultural and natural heritage.
To be considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a site must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- It represents a masterpiece of human creative genius.
- It exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town planning, or landscape design.
- It bears a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization that is living or which has disappeared.
- It is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble, or landscape that illustrates a significant stage(s) in human history.
- It is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land use, or sea use which is representative of a culture, or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
- It is directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.
Some examples of UNESCO World Heritage Sites include the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, and the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. In Sri Lanka, there are eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the ancient city of Anuradhapura, the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, and the sacred city of Kandy.