World Heritage Centre Names 18 New Sites

The World Heritage Committee inscribed 18 new sites on the World Heritage List at the annual meeting in July 2006. The new sites are:

Sewell Mining Town (Chile) : Sewell is the only mountain industrial mining settlement of considerable size of the 20th century to have been built for year-round use. Sewell Mining Town was built by the Braden Copper company in the early 20th century to house workers at what was the world's largest underground copper mine, El Teniente.

Yin Xu (China): The archaeological site of Yin Xu testifies to the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences, a time of great prosperity of the Chinese Bronze Age. The large number and superb craftsmanship of the burial accessories found at Yin Xu bear testimony to the advanced level of Shang handicraft industry, and form now one of the national treasures of China.

Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof (Germany): Located on the Danube river in Bavaria, this medieval town contains many buildings of exceptional quality that testify to its history as a trading center and to its influence on the region as of the 9th century. The town is also remarkable for the vestiges that testify to its rich institutional and religious history as one of the centers of the Holy Roman Empire that turned to Protestantism.

Bisotun (Islamic Republic of Iran): Bisotun is located along the ancient trade route linking the Iranian high plateau with Mesopotamia and features remain from the prehistoric times to the Median, Achaemenid, Sassanian, and Ilkhanid periods. There are also remains from the Median period (8th to 7th centuries B.C.) as well as from the Achaemenid (6th to 4th centuries B.C.) and post-Achaemenid periods.

Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli (Italy):The Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli, in Genoa's historic centre (late 16th and early 17th centuries) represent the first example in Europe of an urban development project with a unitary framework, where the plans were specially parcelled out by a public authority and a particular system of 'public lodging', based on legislation.

The aflaj irrigation system (Oman):The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and represents some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to 500 A.D., but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2,500 B.C. Other buildings listed in association with the aflaj are mosques, houses, sundials, and water auction buildings.

Centennial Hall in Wroclaw (Poland): The Centennial Hall, a landmark in the history of reinforced concrete architecture, was erected in 1911-1913 by Max Berg. It is a pioneering work of modern engineering and architecture, which exhibits an important interchange of influences in the early 20th century, becoming a key reference in the later development of reinforced concrete structures.

Vizcaya Bridge (Spain) straddles the mouth of the Ibaizabal estuary west of Bilbao. It was designed by the Basque architect, Alberto de Palacio and completed in 1893. It was the first bridge in the world to carry people and traffic on a high suspended gondola and was used as a model for many similar bridges in Europe, Africa and the Americas but only a few of which survive.

Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din (Syrian Arab Republic): The two castles represent the most significant examples illustrating the exchange of influences and documenting the evolution of fortified architecture in the Near East during the time of the Crusades (11th to 13th century).

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (United Kingdom) The landscapes of Cornwall and West Devon include deep underground mines, engine houses, foundries, new towns, smallholdings, ports and harbors, and ancillary industries together reflect prolific innovation which, in the early 19th century, enabled the region to produce two thirds of the world's supply of copper.

Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries (China) , home to more than 30% of the world's highly endangered pandas has seven nature reserves and nine scenic parks. The sanctuaries constitute the largest remaining contiguous habitat of the giant panda. It is also the species' most important site for captive breeding.

Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary (Colombia) : This vast marine park, the largest no-fishing zone in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, provides a critical habitat for internationally threatened marine species. As one of the top diving sites in the world, because of steep walls and caves, these deep waters support important populations of large predators and pelagic species in an undisturbed environment.

Harar Jugol (Ethiopia): This sacred Muslim city was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. Harar Jugol, is said to be the fourth holiest city of Islam. From 1520 to 1568 it was the capital of the Harari Kingdom. From the late 16th century to the 19th century, Harar was a center of trade and Islamic learning. In the 17th century it became an independent emirate. It was then occupied by Egypt for ten years and became part of Ethiopia in 1887.

Stone Circles of Senegambia (Gambia and Senegal): Four large groups of stone circles that represent over 1,000 monuments in a band 100 km wide cover 93 stone circles and numerous burial mounds, some of which have been excavated to reveal material that suggest dates between 3rd century BC and 16th century AD. The finely worked individual stones display precise and skillful working practices and contribute to the imposing order and grandeur of the overall complexes.

Chongoni Rock Art Area (Malawi): This area features the richest concentration of rock art in Central Africa on 127 sites. They reflect the comparatively scarce tradition of farmer rock art, as well as paintings by BaTwa hunter-gatherers from the Late Stone Age. The symbols in the rock art have cultural relevance, and the sites are actively associated with ceremonies and rituals.

Aapravasi Ghat (Mauritius): In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called "the great experiment" in the use of "free" labor to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured laborers arrived from India. The buildings of Aapravasi Ghat are among the earliest buildings of what was to become a global economic system and one of the greatest migrations in history.

Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila (Mexico) An expansive landscape of blue agave has been used since the 16th century to produce tequila spirit. Within the landscape are working distilleries reflecting the growth in the international consumption of tequila in the 19th and 20th centuries. Archaeological sites which bear testimony to the Teuchitlan culture which shaped the Tequila area from 200 to 900 A.D. are also in the area.

Kondoa Rock Art Sites (United Republic of Tanzania): Natural rock shelters have been used for rock paintings for at least two millennia. The images from over 150 shelters over 2,336 km2 display sequences show the changing socio-economic base of the area from hunter-gatherer to agro-pastoralist societies, and the beliefs associated with them. Some of the shelters are still considered to have ritual associations.

Kvarken Archipelago / High Coast (Sweden and Finland) was created as a new site that extends the High Coast of Sweden (inscribed in 2000) with the Kvarken Archipelago. The archipelago is located in the Gulf of Bothnia off the coast of Finland. The new transboundary property features unusual ridged washboard moraines, "De Greer moraines", formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago.