Map of World Heritage Sites

2007 World Heritage Map

Produced through a UNESCO World Heritage Center, National Geographic and Hewlett Packard Partnership!

You can obtain a free copy of this large format full-color map featuring the 830 World Heritage sites!

Click here!

Map of World Heritage Sites

2007 World Heritage Map

Produced through a UNESCO World Heritage Center, National Geographic and Hewlett Packard Partnership!

You can obtain a free copy of this large format full-color map featuring the 830 World Heritage sites!

Click here!

Friends of World Heritage

The mission of Friends of World Heritage is:

to foster a constituency of World Heritage supporters and travelers to ensure the protection of World Heritage sites for today’s travelers and future generations.

Expedia, Inc., UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, and the UN Foundation are working together to support this mission.

The World Heritage program is, in my opinion, the flagship of UNESCO -- its most visible as well as its most cost-effective program. JAD

World Heritage sites are places around the world that have been internationally recognized for their outstanding value as natural and cultural treasures. Sites currently on the World Heritage List include Independence Hall, Stonehenge, the Galapagos Islands, the parks, forests and wildlife reserves of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the historic Centre of Prague, the Pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.

All sites are protected by the 1972 World Heritage Convention, signed to date by 180 countries and administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), making it one of the most universal international legal instruments for the protection of cultural and natural heritage. While fully respecting the national sovereignty, the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention recognize that the protection of our World Heritage is the duty of the international community as a whole. There are currently 830 World Heritage sites (644 cultural, 162 natural and 24 mixed properties in 138 States Parties) in 138 countries.

Friends of World Heritage also manages a Fund, Donations to the Fund go to World Heritage projects and priorities, mainly in the developing world -- where money is so scarce. Furthermore, contributions from individuals may be matched twice over - turning every $1 into $3 - by the support of Expedia, Inc. and the UN Foundation.

Friends of World Heritage

The mission of Friends of World Heritage is:

to foster a constituency of World Heritage supporters and travelers to ensure the protection of World Heritage sites for today’s travelers and future generations.

Expedia, Inc., UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, and the UN Foundation are working together to support this mission.

The World Heritage program is, in my opinion, the flagship of UNESCO -- its most visible as well as its most cost-effective program. JAD

World Heritage sites are places around the world that have been internationally recognized for their outstanding value as natural and cultural treasures. Sites currently on the World Heritage List include Independence Hall, Stonehenge, the Galapagos Islands, the parks, forests and wildlife reserves of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the historic Centre of Prague, the Pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.

All sites are protected by the 1972 World Heritage Convention, signed to date by 180 countries and administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), making it one of the most universal international legal instruments for the protection of cultural and natural heritage. While fully respecting the national sovereignty, the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention recognize that the protection of our World Heritage is the duty of the international community as a whole. There are currently 830 World Heritage sites (644 cultural, 162 natural and 24 mixed properties in 138 States Parties) in 138 countries.

Friends of World Heritage also manages a Fund, Donations to the Fund go to World Heritage projects and priorities, mainly in the developing world -- where money is so scarce. Furthermore, contributions from individuals may be matched twice over - turning every $1 into $3 - by the support of Expedia, Inc. and the UN Foundation.

Two Early Books on UNESCO

UNESCO: its purpose and its philosophy by Julian Huxley

Huxley, the first Director General of UNESCO wrote this as UNESCO was being conceived. It was published by the UNESCO preparatory commission in 1946.

UNESCO: Peace In The Minds Of Men by Theodore Besterman

This is the first book published on UNESCO (in 1951). Besterman was an early employee of the organization.

Two Early Books on UNESCO

UNESCO: its purpose and its philosophy by Julian Huxley

Huxley, the first Director General of UNESCO wrote this as UNESCO was being conceived. It was published by the UNESCO preparatory commission in 1946.

UNESCO: Peace In The Minds Of Men by Theodore Besterman

This is the first book published on UNESCO (in 1951). Besterman was an early employee of the organization.

UNESCO's History

The opening of UNESCO's first General Conference
at the Sorbonne, Paris (20 November to 10 December 1946).
© UNESCO/Eclair Mondial

There are a number of resources on the web that might be useful to those interested in the history of UNESCO.

"The Organization's History" on the UNESCO website. This site has a brief statement of early history, plus some interesting archival photos.

The history of UNESCO's headquarters.

UNESCO's Directors General

On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, UNESCO hosted, in its Paris headquarters, an international symposium on the Organization’s history. Click here for a copy of the program for the meeting.

UNESCO at 60: 60 weeks 60 themes

60 Women Contributing to the 60 years of UNESCO.

Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945-2005

The Association of Former Employees of UNESCO has produced a number of publications on UNESCO history, and in fact has a history club.

"UNESCO Celebrates 60 Years of History" by Caroline Haddad of the UNESCO Bangkok office.

A timeline of UNESCO's communications history.

Read The MacBride Report, "Many Voices, One World" of 1980.

You might also find "A New World Order in Communication" by William F. Fore interesting about one of the controversies that resulted in the departure of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore from UNESCO.

Related is "The United States and the Founding of the United Nations, August 1941 - October 1945" published by the U.S. State Department.

The United Nations History Project.

Links to related projects on history of UN agencies.