Białowieża Forest

countries. Belarus and Poland

year of inscription. 1979 (extension: 1992, 2014)

criteria. Natural

The Białowieża Forest WHS is located on the border of Belarus and Poland, located in the Belarusian oblasts (regions) of Brest and Grodno and Polish voivodeship (province) of Podlaskie. The WHS covers a large area of undisturbed, old growth primary forests with a rich biodiversity in both flora and fauna, including, what is arguably the most iconic species here, the European bison. Originally, only the Bialowieza National Park in Poland was listed in 1979; the Belarusian part of Belovezhskaya Pushcha was added in 1992. Another large extension of the site occurred in 2014.

The Sundarbans

country. Bangladesh

year of inscription. 1997

criteria. Natural

Sundarbans WHS is located in the division of Khulna. Sited on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers, on the Bay of Bengal, it is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world. It is an important area ecologically for its complex labyrinth of tidal waterways, mudflats and islets of salt-tolerant mangrove vegetation, which provide a home for a wide range of terrestrial, marine and aquatic fauna, including endangered species like the Bengal tiger, the estuarine crocodile, and the Ganges and Irrawaddy dolphins.

The WHS is composed of the following constituent sites:

• Sundarbans East Sanctuary, 
• Sundarbans South Sanctuary, and
• Sundarbans West Wildlife Sanctuary.

Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps

countries. Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland

year of inscription. 2011

criteria. Cultural

Of the 937 known archaeological pile-dwelling sites in six Alpine and sub-Alpine European countries, 111 of these small individual sites compose this WHS. Pile-dwellings settlements are made up of stilt houses located on the edges of lakes, rivers, or wetlands, dating back to between 5,000BCE and 500BCE. These rich archaeological sites provide an insight into life in agrarian societies during the prehistoric Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

These 111 sites are found in the following places:

• Austria: states of Carinthia and Upper Austria
• France: regions of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
• Germany: states of Baden-Wurttemburg and Bavaria
• Italy: regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Veneto
• Slovenia: statistical region of Central Slovenia
• Switzerland: cantons of Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Lucerne, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Vaud, Zug, and Zurich

Fagus Factory in Alfeld

country. Germany

year of inscription. 2011

criteria. Cultural

The Fagus Factory in Alfeld is a complex of ten industrial buildings in the state of Lower Saxony. Designed by Walter Gropius, development began in 1910. Representing a break from factory designs of that era, it serves as a landmark for modern industrial architecture, brought in part by its determination to provide a humanist angle to the social and aesthetic changes caused by industrialisation, and established major elements of functionalist architecture.

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

country. United States of America

year of inscription. 1982 (modification: 2016)

criteria. Cultural

The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site WHS is located in the state of Illinois. It is the site of the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico. It was the cultural, religious, and economic centre of an agricultural society during the Mississippian Period (800CE – 1400CE), with a population of 10,000 – 20,000 people at its peak between 1050CE and 1150CE. There is up to 120 platform, ridgetop, and conical mounds of varying heights, which served as foundations for buildings or as funerary tumuli. The largest of these is Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthern structure in the New World. The organization of the settlement represents a hierarchical, complex chiefdom society with specialised roles and activities.

Kakadu National Park

country. Australia

year of inscription. 1981 (extension: 1987, 1992; modification: 2011)

criteria. Mixed

The Kakadu National Park WHS is located in the territory of the Northern Territory. It is an important reserve for archaeology and ethnology as well as flora and fauna biology. Continuously inhabited by the Australian Aboriginal people from some 50,000 years ago, well-preserved art (cave paintings, rock carvings), anthropological, and archaeological sites record the histories, practices, and cultures of the region’s indigenous inhabitants. The wide range of ecosystems here, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands, plateau, mangroves, savanna woodlands, open forests, and monsoon forests, provide habitat for an array of rare or endemic species of animals and plants.

K'gari (Fraser Island)

country. Australia

year of inscription. 1992

criteria. Natural

Fraser Island – also known as K’gari, its Australian Aboriginal name – is in the state of Queensland. It is the longest sand island in the world. Distinctive natural features found here include: majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on sand, perched freshwater dune lakes, a large unconfined aquifer, sandy long stretches of ocean beach, strikingly coloured sand cliffs, and spectacular blowouts. All of these showcase the ongoing biological, hydrological, and geomorphological processes found here.

In 2021, the official name of the World Heritage Site was changed from Fraser Island to K'gari (Fraser Island).