User:Bamse/List of World Heritage Sites in Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.[1] Italy ratified the convention on June 23, 1978, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.[2]
Sites in Italy were first inscribed on the list at the 3rd Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairo and Luxor, Egypt in 1979. At that session, one site was added: the "Rock Drawings in Valcamonica".[3] A total of 25, i.e. half of all Italian sites was added during the 1990s with 10 sites added at the 21st session held in Naples, Italy in 1997. As of July 2014, Italy has 50 total sites inscribed on the list, making it the country with most World Heritage Sites (followed by China with 47 sites). Of these four sites are shared with other countries: "Monte San Giorgio" and "Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes" with Switzerland; "Historic Centre of Rome" with the Vatican; and "Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps" with Austria, France, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland. Four World Heritage Sites in Italy are of the natural type, all others are cultural sites.[2]