| dbpedia-owl:abstract
|
- A World Heritage Site is a cultural or natural conserved site that the world community regards as having outstanding universal value. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 121 World Heritage Sites in Africa. These sites are located in 39 countries (also called state parties); Ethiopia has the most with nine sites, and eleven countries have only a single site each. Three sites are shared between two countries: Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, Stone Circles of Senegambia and Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls. The first two sites, the Island of Gorée of Senegal and the Rock-Hewn Churches of Ethiopia, were inscribed in 1978. Each year, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list, or delist sites that that no longer meet the criteria. Selection is based on ten criteria: six for cultural heritage (i–vi) and four for natural heritage (vii–x). Some sites, designated "mixed sites," represent both cultural and natural heritage. In Africa there are 76 cultural, 39 natural and 4 mixed sites. UNESCO may also specify that a site is in danger, stating "conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List. " Fourteen African sites have been defined as in danger, accounting for 12% of the African sites and one short of half the total endangered sites.
|
