Sites Added in 2026

Boma–Badingilo Migratory Landscape

South Sudan

The property comprises Boma National Park, Badingilo National Park, and the surrounding floodplain and savanna landscapes in South Sudan. Located at the interface between the Sudd wetland system and the East Sudanian Savanna, it encompasses an extensive mosaic of seasonally flooded grasslands, wetlands, floodplains, woodlands, and savannas shaped by seasonal rainfall and flood dynamics. These interconnected ecosystems sustain one of the world’s largest remaining terrestrial mammal migrations, with an estimated six million White-eared Kob, Tiang, and Mongalla Gazelle moving across a vast and largely unimpeded landscape in response to changing environmental conditions. The site also reflects important cultural, and linguistic diversity of the region with the Murle, Dinka, Nuer, Anyuak and Toposa and other ethnic groups who have been custodians of this landscape through herding, farming and fishing for centuries and even millennia. The property also supports important populations of numerous large mammal species, including Nile Lechwe, African Savanna Elephant, African Wild Dog, Lion, Leopard, Northeastern Africa Cheetah, and Beisa Oryx, as well as significant assemblages of waterbirds, raptors, and migratory bird species. Its exceptional scale, ecological connectivity, habitat diversity, and relative intactness sustain ecological and biological processes that have become increasingly rare globally.

The Medinas of the Historic Sultanates of the Comoros

Comoros

The serial property is composed of six historic towns which developed from urban nuclei that emerged around at least the 11th century and evolved into city-states around the 14th-15th century. They eventually became the principal urban centres of the sultanates established on the islands of the archipelago of Comoros. With a common hierarchical system of social organisation, based on matrilineal and matrilocal customs, age-group systems, and patrilineal Islamic traditions still alive today, the property showcases insular urban forms and architectural expressions that resulted from cultural exchanges related to migration and Indian Ocean trade networks, embedded in the local social, geographical, and environmental context.

The Roças of Sao Tome and Principe: Colonial Agricultural System and Forced Migration

Sao Tome and Principe

The serial property comprises six geographically separate roças (Portuguese colonial agricultural plantations) located on the islands of Sao Tome and Principe: Monte Café, Agua Izé, Diogo Vaz, Sao Joao, Sundy, and Belo Monte. Together, they represent a planned colonial plantation system dedicated primarily to coffee and cocoa production, combining agricultural land, industrial infrastructure, residential areas, and social facilities within highly structured spatial layouts. The property illustrates the operation of a large-scale colonial agro-industrial system, based on forced migration and labour, from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, to sustain global commodity production after the abolition of slavery.

Aqaba Marine Reserve

Jordan

The property, located at the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, comprises a mosaic of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mesophotic reefs that sustain diverse marine life and ecological processes. Recognized as the world’s northernmost tropical coral reef system, the property is notable for its thermally resilient corals, which have adapted over the last 10,000 years to marine heatwaves, high salinity, and elevated summer temperatures. The reserve safeguards important marine genetic resources and supports exceptional biodiversity, including more than 150 species of hard coral, over 500 species of fish, and 1,000 species of molluscs. Its coral endemism is globally significant, supporting approximately 61% of all Red Sea endemic hard coral species, while more than 80 fish species are endemic to the Red Sea or Gulf of Aqaba.

Mount Amel Castles

Lebanon

The serial property comprises five fortified sites located across the historic region of Jabal Amel in southern Lebanon: Qalaat Al Chakif (Beaufort Castle), Qalaat Tibnin (Toron Castle), Qalaat Chakra (Dubieh Castle), Qalaat Deir Kifa (Maron Castle), and Qalaat Chama’ (Chama’ Castle). Occupying prominent hilltops and strategic ridges overlooking major regional routes, the castles formed an integrated defensive and administrative network that controlled movement, communication, and agricultural resources across a vast territory. Developed between the medieval period and the 19th century, they illustrate successive phases of occupation and adaptation by Crusader, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and local feudal rulers. Their fortifications, keeps, towers, gateways, and residential quarters preserve evidence of the continuous exchange of military knowledge, construction techniques, and territorial management practices between European and Near Eastern traditions, while demonstrating the evolution of defensive architecture and fortified network over nearly a millennium.

Village of Sidi Bou Saïd

Tunisia

The property is a picturesque village perched on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, harmoniously integrated into the cliff topography. It developed around the tomb of a Sufi master and saint, known as Sidi Bou Saïd, who lived in the 12th-13th centuries. Through its architectural fabric and urban planning in symbiosis with the natural environment, its recognisable aesthetic created by emblematic colours, and a mystic aura associated with the Sufi spirituality that permeates the site, the property brings together geomorphology, architecture, and spirituality. It has long inspired artists and continues to attract visitors seeking spiritual serenity.

Wadi Wurayah

United Arab Emirates

The property is located entirely within the Hajar mountain range in the Emirate of Fujairah. Geologically, the Hajar Mountains represent extensive and well-preserved exposures of ophiolite sequences, formed during Late Cretaceous tectonic processes. Ecologically, the property is situated within the Al Hajar Foothill Xeric Woodlands and Shrublands, recognised for its ecological distinctiveness, high species richness, and significant levels of endemism. Wadi Wurayah hosts 1,099 recorded species (883 fauna and 216 flora), including at least ten globally threatened species. These represent approximately half of the terrestrial mammal species and nearly half of the terrestrial reptile species recorded in the country.

Alamūt Castle and Related Fortifications

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

The serial property comprises of Alamūt Castle and six associated fortifications—Lambesar, Navizaršāh, Šams Kelāyeh, Qosṭinlār, Širkūh, and Ilān—strategically positioned within the rugged landscape of the Alborz Mountains in Qazvin Province, northern Iran. From the late 11th century CE, Alamūt served as the political, military, and intellectual centre of the Nezāri Ismaʿilis, an influential Islamic movement whose reach extended across Iran and the wider Islamic world. This fortified network functioned both as a refuge and as a scholarly and cultural hub, sustaining the Nezāri community until the fall of Alamūt in 1256 and continuing to shape regional religious and intellectual history long thereafter. Together, the fortifications illustrate the strategic organisation, resilience, and cultural significance of the Nezāri Ismaʿili state.

Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath

India

The serial property contains the architectural and archaeological remains of Sarnath, the sacred site where the Buddha is believed to have delivered his first sermon in the 6th century BCE and met his earliest disciples. Identified by the Buddha himself as one of the four principal Buddhist pilgrimage sites, Sarnath grew over many centuries through royal, monastic, and lay patronage, resulting in the construction of numerous stupas, temples, and viharas. After flourishing as a major Buddhist centre, Sarnath declined in the 12th century CE and fell into obscurity until its rediscovery in the 18th century. Today preserved as two archaeological zones, it remains both an important tourist destination and a revived pilgrimage site for Buddhists worldwide.

Ancient Capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara

Japan

Located in the southern part of the Nara Basin, Asuka and Fujiwara were the two ancient capitals of the Japanese archipelago that marked the establishment of a centralised state system modelled after the Chinese codified law known as ritsuryō. Nineteen component parts, comprising palaces/government offices, Buddhist temples and mounded tombs, contain archaeological evidence of the Asuka Capital (588-694 CE) and the Fujiwara Capital (694-710 CE). The Asuka capital was established at the site of the Asuka-dera Temple, the first Buddhist temple in Japan. Together, the sites illustrate the introduction and consolidation of key elements of early centralized governance and influenced the later Japanese capitals of Nara and Kyoto.

Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites

China

The serial property portrays the evolution of the production of handicraft porcelain from the 10th to 19th centuries that had profound industrial, artistic and trading influences in China and beyond globally. The five component parts reflect the processes of the production of porcelain, including the extraction and transportation of raw materials, innovations in kiln design and the spatial and social organisation of production on an immense scale. The town area featured the Imperial Kiln alongside civilian kilns, guilds and merchant associations. Jingdezhen was a centre of technological innovation in porcelain production, including the “binary formula” of mixing kaolin and porcelain stone. Porcelain of the highest quality was produced at Jingdezhen, and its blue-and-white porcelain and designs became a prized global commodity and a symbol of Chinese culture and artistry.

Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites of Mangystau

Kazakhstan

The serial property, located on the Mangystau Peninsula bordering the Caspian Sea, consists of five sacred sites carved into the rock along with adjacent extensive burial grounds. Beket-Ata, Shopan-Ata, Karaman-Ata, Shakpak-Ata and Sultan-Epe, each associated with a Sufi master, date from the 12th to the 18th centuries. The complexes, known locally as “underground mosques”, are a particular type of structure created in natural caves, carved into steep rocks or dug into the ground in the semi-desert landscape. Originating in the nomadic environment of the Mangystau and Ustyurt plateaus, the component parts represent a culture that is the result of the evolution of sacred practices in which Islamic Sufi spirituality organically continued and transformed more ancient practices related to ancestor worship, the sacredness of the landscape and the role of spiritual leaders. They have been important pilgrimage destinations throughout the centuries. The rock-carved sacred sites range from smaller structures to more complex spaces. They have different architectural layouts and organisation, including prayer halls, mihrabs, rooms for contemplation and self-reflection, multifunctional spaces and tombs of saints. The complexes comprise courtyards, water sources, sacred trees, paths and cemeteries, the latter dating from the 10th to the 20th centuries.

Tashkent Modernist Architecture. Modernity and Tradition in Central Asia

Uzbekistan

The property embodies a representative ensemble of ten modernist buildings and urban complexes constructed between the 1960s and early 1990s, a formative period in the reconstruction and transformation of Tashkent following the 1966 earthquake. The series includes museums, exhibition halls, residential ensembles, cultural institutions, and scientific or infrastructural facilities, reflecting the broad functional spectrum of late‑Soviet architectural production. Nine out of ten component parts are situated along the newly planned urban axes of the reconstructed city centre, as defined in successive masterplans that reshaped Tashkent into a modern socialist metropolis. Together, they articulate the city’s principal public spaces and demonstrate the integration of modernist planning principles with local climatic, seismic, and cultural conditions. Collectively, the serial property illustrates a distinct phase of architectural modernism characterised by industrialised construction, seismic‑resilient engineering, and the adaptation of standardised systems to regional materials, traditions, and environmental constraints.

The Cemetery Complexes of the Xiongnu Nobility

Mongolia

This serial property comprises eight funerary complexes of the Xiongnu nobility. The Xiongnu, ancient predecessors of a confederation of Eurasian nomadic peoples, established a powerful empire between the 3rd century BCE and the 2nd century CE that eventually occupied a vast territory centred on what is now Mongolia. They interacted with the Han Chinese and controlled nodes along the main parts of the Steppe Route of the Silk Roads. Among the numerous archaeological remains found across the former expanse of the empire, their cemeteries provide important insights into Xiongnu burial culture. The main burials, notable for their substantial size and depth, are accompanied by satellite graves marked by small ring-shaped mounds, as well as sacrificial structures consisting of alignments of paired stones. A wide range of artefacts found in the tombs, including horse tack and chariots as well as weapons, tools and food for the afterlife, provides a window into the Xiongnu way of life and social structure. The tombs of the Xiongnu nobility highlight the engineering and organisational skills of this predominantly nomadic culture.

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan, Nakhon Si Thammarat

Thailand

Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan (or Phra Mahathat monastery), located in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province in Peninsular Thailand on a narrow ridge between the Pacific and Indian oceans, has served as a major regional Buddhist centre since its founding in the 8th century. Benefiting from the transoceanic trade networks, the monastery was influenced by various religious and architectural traditions including Brahmanism, Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism from northeastern India, central Java, Sri Lanka and the Mon region of southern Myanmar. These influences have been integrated into its religious buildings, rituals and cultural traditions. Its distinctive artistic and architectural expressions have exerted a wide-ranging and enduring influence throughout Thailand and across Southeast Asia. The religious and local traditions have continued at the monastery for more than 1,500 years, including the Nakhon Si Thammarat chronicle tradition, the annual cloth-wrapping ceremony for the Great Reliquary and the Nora dance drama.

Aalto Works

Finland

The property consists of thirteen modern buildings and ensembles across Finland (1928–1988) that exemplify the 20th‑century Modern Movement and its response to broad social needs. These civic, community, and residential structures—found in both urban and rural settings—are internationally associated with Alvar Aalto, yet they reflect the collaborative creativity of Aalto, Aino Marsio‑Aalto, Elissa Aalto, the Aalto studio, and their design partners. Rooted in Finnish building traditions while drawing on global modernist ideas, the works express a human‑centred, site‑specific, and empathetic vision that distinguishes Finland’s contribution to modern architecture.

Beaches of the D-Day Landings, Normandy, 1944

France

The serial property comprises six component parts along approximately 80 km of the Normandy coastline, encompassing Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches, as well as Pointe du Hoc. These sites are directly associated with the Allied landings of 6 June 1944, the opening phase of Operation Overlord, which marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation during the Second World War. The property preserves significant remains of the German Atlantic Wall, including casemates, artillery batteries, fire‑control posts, and resistance nests, alongside battlefield traces, original wartime equipment, and major commemorative landscapes such as the American Cemetery at Colleville‑sur‑Mer. Together, these elements form an exceptional cultural landscape shaped both by the events of 1944 and by their enduring remembrance.

Gdynia Modernist City Centre

Poland

Located on the Baltic Sea coast, “Gdynia Modernist City Centre” encompasses the two most significant east-west and north-south streets, featuring interwar planning blocks and the majority of the city centre’s preserved buildings from that period, which reflect the large-scale application of modernist ideas in architectural design. The result is an urban organism that harnesses a building-block-based planning approach to develop a characteristic, compact complex of modernist architecture, with robust individual architectural expressions. The city centre, with its buildings, villas on Kamienna Góra hill, and other residential buildings of this period, illustrates a critical break with historicism in the progression of turning the village of Gdynia into a new major sea gateway of the first Polish Republic between the First and Second World Wars.

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

United States of America

The property, located in southeastern Georgia and northeastern Florida, protects the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest lowland freshwater peatland in the subtropical zone worldwide and one of the largest and most intact ecosystems within the North American Coastal Plain global biodiversity hotspot. The property comprises a diverse mosaic of wetlands, savannas, and forests shaped by the ongoing interaction of water, fire, vegetation, and wildlife, with alternating fire and rainfall processes driving peat formation, vegetation structure, and biodiversity. The site also contains significant areas of endangered Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) savanna, of which less than 3% remains, supporting high concentrations of plant species endemic to the region. Its extensive peat deposits provide an important archive of palaeo-environmental history and critical carbon storage. The property supports exceptional biodiversity, including at least 856 plant species, 48 mammal species, 238 bird species, 39 fish species, and 90 reptile and amphibian species, and provides important habitat for migratory birds, threatened species, and a significant population of American alligators.

Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc

France

The serial property comprises eight fortified sites – Castle and ramparts of Carcassonne and the fortresses of Aguilar, Lastours, Montségur, Peyrepertuse, Puilaurens, Quéribus, and Termes – representing a core part of the Capetian defensive system established in the 13th–14th centuries following the Albigensian Crusade. Built on rugged rocky ridges in strategically significant locations, these fortifications formed the backbone of the newly created seneschalty of Carcassonne, asserting the authority of the seneschal over the former territories of independent feudal lineages. Together, they illustrate the political, military and territorial consolidation of the Capetian Crown in Languedoc through ostentatious architecture adapted to dramatic topography.

The Bony Fish Fossils of the Western Limfjord – Evolution and Climate Adaptation in the Earliest Eocene

Denmark

The serial property, located in the Western Limfjord sea of northern Jutland, Denmark, comprise the coastal cliffs of Hanklit and Knudeklint, which contain some of the world’s best-preserved fossil fishes. The property represents the oldest and most important site for understanding the early evolution and diversification of modern bony fishes (teleosts) following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Preserved within diatomite-rich deposits and volcanic ash layers, the exceptional fossil record spans the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and the subsequent cooling period, providing unique evidence of biotic responses to major climatic change. The property contains abundant and exceptionally well-preserved marine and terrestrial fossils, including fishes, sea turtles, birds, insects, plants, and microfossils, offering an unparalleled insight into the earliest Eocene biosphere. It preserves between 25 and 29 fish orders and more than 80 fish species, documenting the evolution and adaptation of early modern fish lineages during a period of rapid environmental change.

The system of Italian-style condominio theatres of the 18th and 19th centuries in Central Italy

Italy

The serial property comprises ten Italian‑style condominio theatres built between the mid‑18th and late 19th centuries across Emilia‑Romagna, Marche, and Umbria in central Italy. Architecturally representative of Neoclassicism with Late Baroque influences, these theatres feature tiered boxes, carefully designed auditoriums for optimal acoustics and visibility, stalls, foyers, ridotti, and historic stage machinery. They embody the innovative “condominio” system, a model of collective ownership and public‑private financing that enabled municipalities and private citizens to collaborate in constructing theatres in small and medium‑sized towns. This system fostered the growth of a widespread cultural network, providing new representational spaces for the emerging bourgeoisie and broadening public access to the performing arts. Located at the heart of historic town centres, these theatres became important civic meeting places, hosting performances and public events and contributing to the formation of public opinion.

The wider area of Mount Olympus

Greece

Mount Olympus is situated in northern Greece and is the highest mountain in the country. Its microclimate, resulting from its proximity to the sea and abrupt elevation, produces a remarkable diversity in terrain, climate, and vegetation. In this landscape, the ancient Greeks situated the abode of their Twelve Olympian Gods, with Zeus as their sovereign, as well as the Muses and Graces. Through the writings of Hesiod and Homer, Mount Olympus became a central point of reference for Greek mythology throughout the Greek and Roman worlds, rendering Mount Olympus an enduring emblem of Greek civilisation. The serial property features striking landforms, including glacial cirques, limestone cliffs, karstic sinkholes, and olistolith fields, while sharp ridges like the Mytikas-Stefani complex and deep gorges such as the Enipeas illustrate ongoing neotectonic activity. Mount Olympus has served as a glacial refugium for forest species and is also a Mediterranean plant biodiversity and endemism hotspot.

Amazonia Theaters

Brazil

The property consists of two component parts: The Theatro da Paz and the Praça da República in Belém, and the Teatro Amazonas and the Largo de São Sebastião in Manaus. These were built in the States of Pará and Amazonas in Brazil during the Amazonian ‘Golden Age’ as a result of the economic peak of the Rubber Cycle between 1879 and 1912. Inspired by French and European architecture and decorated with motifs evoking the Amazon, these ensembles were designed as symbols of political and urban ambition. Inaugurated in 1878 and 1889, the Theatro da Paz and the Praça da República asserted the strategic role of the city of Belém as a port and State capital and celebrated the Brazilian Republic, while the Teatro Amazonas, inaugurated in 1896, was part of the large-scale urban development of Manaus during the rubber boom and, along with the Largo de São Sebastião, expressed the wealth and prestige of the future capital of the Amazon.