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National_parks | Shimen National Forest Park | Shimen National Forest Park is the largest forest park in Guangdong Province.
== Geography ==
Located in the Tsunghua District of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province , with a total area of 2626.67 hectares and a forest coverage rate of 96.76%. It is 86 kilometers from Guangzhou city and 13 kilometers from the famous Tsunhua hot spring, bordered by the Nankun Mountain Nature Reserve to the east,, and overlooks the Guangzhou Hydroelectric Storage Power Plant and Liushihe National Forest Park to the north. Located in the subtropical zone, the climate is warm all year round with an average annual temperature of 21.4°C, an average maximum temperature of 28.5°C from July to August and an average minimum temperature of 12.4°C from January to February.
== Establishment History ==
Shimen Park was established on the basis of the state-owned Dalinshan Forest Farm, founded in 1960. In 1995, Shimen National Forest Park was established with the approval of the Ministry of Forestry, which is the first international forest bathing resort approved by the former Ministry of Forestry.
== Flora and Fauna ==
There are mainly three categories of trees in the park: maple, sapium discolor, and red maple.
== References == |
National_parks | Touron | Touron is a derogatory term combining the words "Tourist" with "Moron" to describe any person who, while on vacation, commits an act of pure stupidity. The term is considered park ranger slang that describes how some tourists act when entering a national park. The phrase indicates an act of ignorance and is known to be used in different subcultures. It is also used to describe tourists in general when they are outside their normal "comfort zone".
== Etymology ==
Early mentions are '="touron n. A tourist, usually an annoying one. —"Say wha?", The Washington Post, September 20, 1987". In 1991 the term was cited in: "Over at U.S. 192 and State Road 535, westbound touron — (a combo of tourists and morons, according to a local dj) are constantly making sudden U-turns from the left lane, causing oodles of rear-end wrecks. —"The Road Toad," Orlando Sentinel, September 29, 1991". The National Park Service constantly warns park guests about the dangers of wildlife and the natural surroundings. Images and video of tourist in dangerous situations are uploaded to the internet and demonstrate their, often stunning, behavior. Tourists acting as Tourons can drive erratically. A common occurrence is to see vehicles stopped in the middle of the road at the first sighting of deer. Drivers and occupants leave the vehicle to take pictures, backing traffic up for miles. The term is used as humor to defend against the usual aggravation of continued exposure to tourists by even local residents of tourist areas.It has been argued that everyone is a touron outside their own home and away from familiar surroundings. Just being a traveler in a foreign location could make one a touron. Author Kelsey Timmerman believes that: "A touron is one part eager tourist and one part well-meaning moron. You yourself have likely been a touron at one time or another." Tourists become touronic out of an innocent reaction to places they have never been due to a greater curiosity.
== References ==
== External links ==
Don't be a Touron blog as mentioned by Kelsey Timmerman in article. |
National_parks | Wilsons Promontory | Wilsons Promontory, also known as Yiruk and Wamoon in the Gunai and Boonwurrung languages respectively, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria.
South Point at 39°08′06″S 146°22′32″E is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearby South East Point, (39°07′S 146°25′E) is the Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse. Most of the peninsula is protected by the Wilsons Promontory National Park and the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.
== Human history ==
The promontory was first occupied by indigenous Koori people at least 6,500 years prior to European arrival. Middens along the western coast indicate that the inhabitants subsisted on a seafood diet.The promontory is mentioned in dreamtime stories, including the Bollum-Baukan, Loo-errn and Tiddalik myths. It is considered the home of the spirit ancestor of the Brataualung clan - Loo-errn. The area remains highly significant to the Gunai/Kurnai and the Boon wurrung people, who consider the promontory to be their traditional country/land.The first European to see the promontory was George Bass in January 1798. He initially referred to it as "Furneaux's Land" in his diary, believing it to be what Captain Furneaux had previously seen. But on returning to Port Jackson and consulting Matthew Flinders he was convinced that the location was so different it could not be that land. Bass and Flinders recommended the name Wilsons Promontory to Governor Hunter, honouring Flinders's friend from London Thomas Wilson. Little is known of Wilson except that he was a merchant engaged in trade with Australia.Seal hunting was conducted in the area in the 19th century. Shore-based whaling was also carried out in a cove at Wilsons Promontory from at least 1837. It was still underway in 1843 at Lady's Bay (Refuge Cove).Throughout the 1880s and '90s a public campaign to protect the area as a national park was waged, including by the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. The promontory has been a national park, to one degree or another, since 1898. Wilsons Promontory National Park, also known locally as "the Prom", contains the largest coastal wilderness area in Victoria. Until the 1930s, when the road was completed, it was accessible only by boat. The site was closed to the public during World War II, as it was used as a commando training ground. The only settlement within Wilsons Promontory is Tidal River which lies 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the park boundary and is the focus for tourism and recreation. This park is managed by Parks Victoria.
In 2005 a burn started by staff got out of control and burnt 13% of the park, causing the evacuation of campers. In 2009, a lightning strike near Sealer's Cove started a fire that burned over 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres). Much of the area had not been burned since 1951. The fire began on 8 February, the day after "Black Saturday", where an intense heat wave, combined with arson, faulty electrical infrastructure and natural causes, led to hundreds of bushfires burning throughout the state of Victoria. Although the fire burned to within 1 kilometre (0.62 mi), the Tidal River camping area and park headquarters were unaffected. The park reopened to the public one month after the incident and the burned areas quickly regrew. Despite the damage, the natural beauty of the area remained largely intact.In March 2011 a significant rainfall event led to major flooding of the Tidal River camping area. The bridge over Darby River was cut, leaving no vehicle access to Tidal River, leading to the evacuation of all visitors by helicopter over the following days, and the closure of the southern section of the park. In September 2011 public access to Tidal River was reopened following repair of the main access road, and the bridge at Darby River. All sections of the park south of Tidal River were closed while further repairs of tracks and footpaths were undertaken. The park was fully re-opened by Easter of 2012.
Tourists may choose basic or glam, cabins or camping (powered/unpowered) if they wish to stay inside Wilsons Promontory National Park. Many however choose to stay in accommodation just outside the Park in Yanakie, where they can still view the Wisons Promontory mountains and scenery and be only minutes from the Park's free entrance.
There are overnight hiking tracks with two key circuits, one in the north and one in the south. The southern circuit is more popular with overnight hikers with several camping areas suited to wild camping. Camping is only allowed in the designated areas to reduce damage to the bush.
== Geography and wildlife ==
Coastal features include expansive intertidal mudflats, sandy beaches and sheltered coves interrupted by prominent headlands and plunging granite cliffs in the south, backed by coastal dunes and swamps. The promontory is surrounded by a scatter of small granite islands which, collectively, form the Wilsons Promontory Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for breeding seabirds.Tidal River is the main river in Wilsons Promontory. The river runs into Norman Bay and swells with the tide. The river is a very fascinating color, a purple-yellow. This is due to the large number of tea trees in the location, which stain the water with tannin, giving it a tea-like appearance. Darby River is the second major river, with extensive alluvial flats and meanders. It was the site of the original park entrance and accommodation area from 1909 to the Second World War.Wilsons Promontory is home to many marsupials, native birds and other creatures. One of the most common marsupials found on the promontory is the common wombat, which can be found in much of the park (especially around campsites where it has been known to invade tents searching for food). The peninsula is also home to kangaroos, snakes, wallabies, koalas, long-nosed potoroos, white-footed dunnarts, broad-toothed rats, feather-tailed gliders and emus. Some of the most common birds found on the promontory include crimson rosellas, yellow-tailed black cockatoos and superb fairywrens. There are also many pests, including hog deer, foxes, feral cats, rabbits, common starlings, and common blackbirds.
As the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park and Corner Inlet Marine National Park have been established, the area holds a variety of marine life and coral reefs. In recent years, after a long disappearance, due to illegal hunting by the Soviet Union with help by Japan, Southern right whales started to return to the area to rest and calve in the sheltered bays along with Humpback whales. Killer whales are also known to pass the area, and dolphins, seals, sea lions, and penguins still occur today.
The peninsula is also home to two large sets of dunes, the Big Drift and Little Drift. They are not very well-known but sometimes visited by hikers and suitable for sandboarding.
== Climate ==
Wilsons Promontory has an oceanic climate heavily influenced by the Roaring Forties, bringing summer temps far below what is the norm. Winters are dominated by low-pressure systems and high rainfall.
== Gallery ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Wilsons Promontory Resources, Parks Victoria.
A map of the burned area from Prom Map, Parks Victoria. |
National_parks | Category:National parks by continent | null |
National_parks | Category:National parks by country | null |
National_parks | Category:IUCN Category II | Protected areas listed as IUCN Category II (National Park) by the World Conservation Union / International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
Note: Articles tagged as "II" in the Protected Area Infobox are automatically added to this Wikipedia category. |
National_parks | Category:Lists of national parks | null |
National_parks | Category:National park administrators | National park administrators.The government departments, agencies, services, ministries, &/or boards which administer nature conservation and management of the national parks of countries. |
National_parks | Category:Films set in national parks | null |
National_parks | Category:Former national parks | null |
Tourist_attractions | Tourist attraction | A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
== Types ==
Places of natural beauty such as beaches, tropical island resorts, national parks, mountains, deserts and forests, are examples of traditional tourist attractions which people may visit. Cultural tourist attractions can include historical places, sites of significant historic event, monuments, ancient temples, zoos, aquaria, museums and art galleries, botanical gardens, buildings and structures (such as forts, castles, libraries, former prisons, skyscrapers, bridges), theme parks and carnivals, living history museums, public art (sculptures, statues, murals), ethnic enclave communities, historic trains and cultural events. Factory tours, industrial heritage, creative art and crafts workshops are the object of cultural niches like industrial tourism and creative tourism. Many tourist attractions are also landmarks. But sports events such as a soccer game, Formula 1 race or sailing regatta can also attract tourists.
Tourists' expectations when visiting a particular place are related to several features of the chosen destination: culture, architecture, gastronomy, infrastructure, landscape, events, shopping, etc. These features attract people to the destination and contribute to the overall experience of the trip. The ultimate primary purpose of attractions is to attract the customer's attention so that they can come to a specific location and explore the various attractions on vacation. In the travel and tourism industry, attractions therefore play a particularly important role as this attracts tourists from all over the world.Tourist attractions are also created to capitalize on legends such as a supposed UFO crash site near Roswell, New Mexico and the alleged Loch Ness monster sightings in Scotland. Ethnic communities may become tourist attractions, such as Chinatowns in the United States and the black British neighborhood of Brixton in London, England. Tourists also look for special local culinary experiences such as street kitchens in Asian metropolises or the coffeehouse culture in Central Europe. In particular, cultural property and the individual places of the UNESCO World Heritage Site have developed into tourist attractions. If too many tourists frequent individual places, this can lead to environmental pollution and resistance from the local population, such as in Barcelona or Venice. With regard to this whole subject, there are already lists of destinations that are not recommended to tourists.
There are innumerable lists and reviews of tourist attractions. Visitor statistics, cultural significance, beauty or age are used and these always reflect the author's personal assessments. Sometimes it is particularly emphasized that this particular tourist attraction has not yet been in the focus of the international tourism industry. Some of the sights are internationally known or target the national or local market. Some attractions are reserved for the local population or are rarely advertised because the main traffic routes and main airports are too far away.
In the United States, owners and marketers of attractions advertise tourist attractions on billboards along the sides of highways and roadways, especially in remote areas. Tourist attractions often distribute free promotional brochures to be displayed in rest areas, information centers, fast food restaurants, and motel rooms or lobbies.
While some tourist attractions provide visitors a memorable experience for a reasonable admission charge or even for free, others may be of low quality and overprice their goods and services (such as admission, food, and souvenirs) in order to profit excessively from tourists. Such places are commonly known as tourist traps. Within cities, rides on boats and sightseeing buses are sometimes popular.
== Examples ==
=== Human-made attractions ===
=== Natural tourist attractions ===
=== Cultural tourist attractions ===
=== Novelty attractions ===
Novelty attractions are oddities such as the "biggest ball of twine" in Cawker City, Kansas, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, or Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska, where old cars serve in the place of stones in a replica of Stonehenge. Novelty attractions are not limited to the American Midwest, but are part of Midwestern culture.
== Tourist destination ==
A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is significantly dependent on revenues from tourism, or "a country, state, region, city, or town which is marketed or markets itself as a place for tourists to visit". It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps". Fátima town, for example, is a popular tourist destination in Portugal. Siem Reap town is a popular tourist destination in Cambodia, mainly owing to its proximity to the Angkor temples. The Loire valley, the third tourist destination in France, is a good example of a region marketed and branded as a place for tourists to visit, mainly known for its Châteaux of the Loire valley.
A tropical island resort is an island or archipelago that depends on tourism as its source of revenue. The Bahamas in the Caribbean, Bali in Indonesia, Phuket in Thailand, Hawaii in the United States, Fiji in the Pacific, and Santorini and Ibiza in the Mediterranean are examples of popular island resorts.
France, the United States, and Spain were the three most popular international destinations in 2017. The total number of international travelers arriving in those countries was about 234 million, contributing 8.9%, 7.7%, and 14.9%, respectively, to the total GDP of those countries.Although some years back, Africa was lean on tourism, the continent is currently regarded as the second fastest growing tourism region with over 67 million tourists visits to Africa in 2018. Ethiopia, with a growth rate of 48.6% in 2018, is at the top of the list of African tourist centers. Other tourist locations in Africa include Cape Town, South Africa, Giza Necropolis, Egypt, The Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Zambia.From the tourism industry supply perspective, a destination is usually defined by a geo-political boundary, and destination marketing is most commonly funded by governments. From the traveler perspective, a destination might be perceived quite differently.
== Economic impact and protection ==
Tourism generates substantial economic benefits for both host countries and tourists' home countries. Especially in developing countries, one of the primary motivations for a region to promote itself as a tourism destination is the expected economic benefit. According to the World Tourism Organization, 698 million people travelled to a foreign country in 2000, spending more than US$478 billion. International tourism receipts combined with passenger transport currently total more than US$575 billion – making tourism the world's number one export earner.Tourist attractions can:
contribute to government revenues; direct contributions are generated by taxes on incomes from tourism employment and tourism businesses, and by direct levies on tourists, such as departure taxes
provide employment
support conservation of habitats, species and historic sites
stimulate infrastructure investment
contribute to local economies
provide foreign currency earningsIn the event of war, many tourist attractions are a special goal in order to cause lasting damage to the enemy or to finance the war. International attempts are therefore made to protect and preserve these economic and cultural foundations of a community, city or country. There is intensive cooperation between the United Nations, UNESCO and Blue Shield International on the protection of cultural goods and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. However, cooperation between organizations and state authorities is not enough to prevent destruction, robbery and looting. The founding president of Blue Shield International Karl von Habsburg summed it up with the words: “Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible”.
== See also ==
Cultural tourism
Impacts of tourism
Lists of tourist attractions
Overtourism
Tourism
World Heritage Site
Sustainable Tourism
World Tourism Day
== References ==
== External links ==
Attractions at Curlie |
Tourist_attractions | Lists of tourist attractions | The following lists of tourist attractions include tourist attractions in various countries.
== By type ==
List of airshows
List of amusement parks
List of aquaria
List of beaches
List of botanical gardens
List of buildings
List of casino hotels
List of casinos
List of castles
List of festivals
List of forts
List of gardens
List of heritage railways
List of memorials
List of monuments
List of museums
List of most visited art museums in the world
List of national parks
List of Renaissance fairs
List of shopping malls
List of ski areas and resorts
List of sports facilities
List of indoor arenas
List of motor racing tracks
List of stadia
List of tennis venues
List of velodromes
List of tourist attractions providing reenactment
List of World Heritage Sites
List of zoos
See also: Category:Nature reserves
Tourist traps
=== Tall buildings and structures ===
List of tallest buildings and structures in the world
List of tallest buildings in the world
List of tallest freestanding structures in the world
List of tallest structures in the world
List of tallest towers in the world
Observation decks
== By country ==
=== Algeria ===
Tourism in Algeria
=== Australia ===
List of attractions in Brisbane
List of attractions in Sydney
Attractions in Victor Harbor, South Australia
=== Austria ===
Category: Tourist attractions in Austria
List of World Heritage Sites in Austria
Tourist attractions in Vienna
=== Azerbaijan ===
Category: Tourist attractions in Azerbaijan
List of World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan
List of tourist attractions in Baku
=== Botswana ===
Visitor attractions in Botswana
=== Brazil ===
List of attractions in Brazil
=== Bulgaria ===
=== Cambodia ===
=== Canada ===
=== China ===
List of landmarks in Beijing
List of attractions in Shanghai
World Heritage Sites in China
=== Colombia ===
List of national parks of Colombia
=== Croatia ===
=== Denmark ===
List of tourist attractions in Denmark
=== Egypt ===
Tourism in Egypt
=== Finland ===
List of tourist attractions in Helsinki
=== France ===
List of tourist attractions in Paris
=== Georgia ===
=== Germany ===
List of sights in Berlin
List of sights of Potsdam
List of castles in Germany
List of cathedrals in Germany
List of museums in Germany
List of tallest structures in Germany
=== Greece ===
List of museums in Greece
List of Archaeological sites in Greece
=== Hong Kong ===
List of museums in Hong Kong
=== Hungary ===
List of tourist attractions in Budapest
List of national parks of Hungary
List of World Heritage Sites in Hungary
=== India ===
Tourism in Tamil Nadu
Tourism in Chennai
List of tourist attractions in Delhi
Tourism in Telangana
List of tourist attractions in Hyderabad
Tourism in Andhra Pradesh
List of tourist attractions and events in Visakhapatnam
List of tourist attractions in Vijayawada
Tourism in Karnataka
List of tourist attractions in Bangalore
Tourist attractions in Mysore
Tourism in Madhya Pradesh
Tourism in Jharkhand
Tourist attractions in West Bengal
Places of interest in Kolkata
Tourism in Uttarakhand
Tourism in Kerala
Tourism in Thiruvananthapuram
Tourism in Gujarat
Tourism in Bihar
Tourism in Goa
Tourism in Himachal Pradesh
Tourism in Jammu and Kashmir
Tourism in Ladakh
Tourism in Haryana
Tourism in Rajasthan
Tourism in Uttar Pradesh
List of tourist attractions in Allahabad
=== Indonesia ===
Tourism in Indonesia
=== Iran ===
Visitor attractions in Isfahan
Visitor attractions in Kermanshah
Visitor attractions in Shiraz
Visitor attractions of Tabriz
Visitor attractions in Tehran
Zagros Paleolithic Museum
Visitor Attractions of Yazd
Visitor Attractions of Khuzestan
Visitor Attractions of Kerman
=== Ireland ===
=== Israel ===
List of Israeli museums
National parks and nature reserves of Israel
=== Italy ===
List of tourist attractions in Rome
List of tourist attractions in Sardinia
=== Jamaica ===
List of beaches in Jamaica
=== Japan ===
Groups of Traditional Buildings
Japanese museums
Japan's Top 100 Castles
List of castles in Japan
List of lakes of Japan
List of museums in Japan
List of National Geoparks in Japan
List of national parks of Japan
List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments
World Heritage Sites in Japan
National Treasures of Japan
Three Views of Japan
Tourism in Tokyo
=== Jordan ===
Main tourist destinations in Jordan
=== Kenya ===
Visitor attractions in Kenya
=== Kuwait ===
Tourism in Kuwait
=== Lebanon ===
Tourism in Lebanon
=== Macau ===
List of museums in Macau
=== Madagascar ===
Tourist attractions in Madagascar
=== Morocco ===
Tourism in Morocco
=== Nepal ===
Nepal is the country where Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world, is located. Mountaineering and other types of adventure tourism and ecotourism are important attractions for visitors. The world heritage site Lumbini, birthplace of Gautama Buddha, is located in southern Nepal, and there are other important religious pilgrimage sites throughout the country.
Tourism in Nepal
=== Netherlands ===
List of tourist attractions in Amsterdam
=== New Zealand ===
Auckland
List of World Heritage Sites in New Zealand
=== Nicaragua ===
Tourist attractions in Nicaragua
=== North Korea ===
List of tourist attractions in Pyongyang
=== Pakistan ===
Archaeological sites in Pakistan
Biosphere reserves of Pakistan
List of barrages and headworks in Pakistan
List of beaches in Pakistan
List of birds of Pakistan
List of botanical gardens in Pakistan
List of bridges in Pakistan
List of cathedrals in Pakistan
List of caves in Pakistan
List of dams and reservoirs in Pakistan
List of endangered species in Pakistan
List of faults in Pakistan
List of festivals in Pakistan
List of forts in Pakistan
List of glaciers of Pakistan
List of hydroelectric power stations in Pakistan
List of lakes of Pakistan
List of mammals of Pakistan
List of mausolea and shrines in Pakistan
List of minerals of Pakistan
List of mosques in Pakistan
List of museums in Pakistan
List of mountain passes in Pakistan
List of mountains in Pakistan
List of national monuments of Pakistan
List of national parks of Pakistan
List of parks and gardens in Pakistan
List of rivers of Pakistan
List of Shiva Temples in Pakistan
List of shopping malls in Pakistan
List of stadiums in Pakistan
List of Pakistani sweets and desserts
List of valleys in Pakistan
List of waterfalls of Pakistan
List of World Heritage Sites in Pakistan
List of zoos in Pakistan
Tourism in Azad Jammu & Kashmir
Tourism in Balochistan
Tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan
List of tourist attractions in Islamabad
Tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Tourism in Punjab, Pakistan
List of tourist sites in Lahore
List of parks and gardens in Lahore
Tourism in Sindh
Tourism in Karachi
List of tourist attractions in Karachi
List of parks and gardens in Karachi
=== Papua New Guinea ===
Attractions in Papua New Guinea
=== Philippines ===
Tourist attraction in the Philippines
=== Poland ===
Tourism in Poland
Tourist attractions in Warsaw
=== Portugal ===
List of World Heritage Sites in Portugal
Christ the King statue in Almada
Sanctuary of Our Lady in Fátima
Marinha Beach in Lagoa, Algarve
=== Russia ===
List of Moscow tourist attractions
Landmarks of Saint Petersburg
=== Singapore ===
List of tourist attractions in Singapore
=== South Africa ===
List of tourist attractions in South Africa
=== South Korea ===
List of South Korean tourist attractions
=== Spain ===
List of national parks of Spain
List of World Heritage Sites in Spain
=== Sri Lanka ===
Visitor attractions in Sri Lanka
=== Switzerland ===
Lists of tourist attractions in Switzerland
=== Taiwan ===
List of museums in Taiwan
List of tourist attractions in Taipei
List of tourist attractions in Taiwan
=== Thailand ===
Tourism in Bangkok
List of national parks of Thailand
World Heritage Sites in Thailand
=== Tunisia ===
Attractions in Tunisia
=== Turkey ===
Attractions in Turkey
=== Ukraine ===
List of museums in Ukraine
List of World Heritage Sites in Ukraine
=== United Arab Emirates ===
List of tourist attractions in the United Arab Emirates
=== United Kingdom ===
=== United States ===
List of heritage railroads in the United States
List of botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States
List of museums in the United States
Art museums
=== Uruguay ===
=== Venezuela ===
== See also ==
Vacation spot (disambiguation)
Landmark |
Tourist_attractions | Beach | A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. Sediments settle in different densities and structures, depending on the local wave action and weather, creating different textures, colors and gradients or layers of material.
Though some beaches form on inland freshwater locations such as lakes and rivers, most beaches are in coastal areas where wave or current action deposits and reworks sediments. Erosion and changing of beach geologies happens through natural processes, like wave action and extreme weather events. Where wind conditions are correct, beaches can be backed by coastal dunes which offer protection and regeneration for the beach. However, these natural forces have become more extreme due to climate change, permanently altering beaches at very rapid rates. Some estimates describe as much as 50 percent of the earth's sandy beaches disappearing by 2100 due to climate-change driven sea level rise.Sandy beaches occupy about one third of global coastlines. These beaches are popular for recreation, playing important economic and cultural roles—often driving local tourism industries. To support these uses, some beaches have man-made infrastructure, such as lifeguard posts, changing rooms, showers, shacks and bars. They may also have hospitality venues (such as resorts, camps, hotels, and restaurants) nearby or housing, both for permanent and seasonal residents.
Human forces have significantly changed beaches globally: direct impacts include bad construction practices on dunes and coastlines, while indirect human impacts include water pollution, plastic pollution and coastal erosion from sea level rise and climate change. Some coastal management practices are designed to preserve or restore natural beach processes, while some beaches are actively restored through practices like beach nourishment.
Wild beaches, also known as undeveloped or undiscovered beaches, are not developed for tourism or recreation. Preserved beaches are important biomes with important roles in aquatic or marine biodiversity, such as for breeding grounds for sea turtles or nesting areas for seabirds or penguins. Preserved beaches and their associated dune are important for protection from extreme weather for inland ecosystems and human infrastructure.
== Location and profile ==
Although the seashore is most commonly associated with the word beach, beaches are also found by lakes and alongside large rivers.
Beach may refer to:
small systems where rock material moves onshore, offshore, or alongshore by the forces of waves and currents; or
geological units of considerable size.The former are described in detail below; the larger geological units are discussed elsewhere under bars.
There are several conspicuous parts to a beach that relate to the processes that form and shape it. The part mostly above water (depending upon tide), and more or less actively influenced by the waves at some point in the tide, is termed the beach berm. The berm is the deposit of material comprising the active shoreline. The berm has a crest (top) and a face—the latter being the slope leading down towards the water from the crest. At the very bottom of the face, there may be a trough, and further seaward one or more long shore bars: slightly raised, underwater embankments formed where the waves first start to break.
The sand deposit may extend well inland from the berm crest, where there may be evidence of one or more older crests (the storm beach) resulting from very large storm waves and beyond the influence of the normal waves. At some point the influence of the waves (even storm waves) on the material comprising the beach stops, and if the particles are small enough (sand size or smaller), winds shape the feature. Where wind is the force distributing the grains inland, the deposit behind the beach becomes a dune.
These geomorphic features compose what is called the beach profile. The beach profile changes seasonally due to the change in wave energy experienced during summer and winter months. In temperate areas where summer is characterised by calmer seas and longer periods between breaking wave crests, the beach profile is higher in summer. The gentle wave action during this season tends to transport sediment up the beach towards the berm where it is deposited and remains while the water recedes. Onshore winds carry it further inland forming and enhancing dunes.
Conversely, the beach profile is lower in the storm season (winter in temperate areas) due to the increased wave energy, and the shorter periods between breaking wave crests. Higher energy waves breaking in quick succession tend to mobilise sediment from the shallows, keeping it in suspension where it is prone to be carried along the beach by longshore currents, or carried out to sea to form longshore bars, especially if the longshore current meets an outflow from a river or flooding stream. The removal of sediment from the beach berm and dune thus decreases the beach profile.
If storms coincide with unusually high tides, or with a freak wave event such as a tidal surge or tsunami which causes significant coastal flooding, substantial quantities of material may be eroded from the coastal plain or dunes behind the berm by receding water. This flow may alter the shape of the coastline, enlarge the mouths of rivers and create new deltas at the mouths of streams that had not been powerful enough to overcome longshore movement of sediment.
The line between beach and dune is difficult to define in the field. Over any significant period of time, sediment is always being exchanged between them. The drift line (the high point of material deposited by waves) is one potential demarcation. This would be the point at which significant wind movement of sand could occur, since the normal waves do not wet the sand beyond this area. However, the drift line is likely to move inland under assault by storm waves.
== Formation ==
Beaches are the result of wave action by which waves or currents move sand or other loose sediments of which the beach is made as these particles are held in suspension. Alternatively, sand may be moved by saltation (a bouncing movement of large particles). Beach materials come from erosion of rocks offshore, as well as from headland erosion and slumping producing deposits of scree. A coral reef offshore is a significant source of sand particles. Some species of fish that feed on algae attached to coral outcrops and rocks can create substantial quantities of sand particles over their lifetime as they nibble during feeding, digesting the organic matter, and discarding the rock and coral particles which pass through their digestive tracts.
The composition of the beach depends upon the nature and quantity of sediments upstream of the beach, and the speed of flow and turbidity of water and wind. Sediments are moved by moving water and wind according to their particle size and state of compaction. Particles tend to settle and compact in still water. Once compacted, they are more resistant to erosion. Established vegetation (especially species with complex network root systems) will resist erosion by slowing the fluid flow at the surface layer. When affected by moving water or wind, particles that are eroded and held in suspension will increase the erosive power of the fluid that holds them by increasing the average density, viscosity, and volume of the moving fluid.
Coastlines facing very energetic wind and wave systems will tend to hold only large rocks as smaller particles will be held in suspension in the turbid water column and carried to calmer areas by longshore currents and tides. Coastlines that are protected from waves and winds will tend to allow finer sediments such as clay and mud to precipitate creating mud flats and mangrove forests. The shape of a beach depends on whether the waves are constructive or destructive, and whether the material is sand or shingle. Waves are constructive if the period between their wave crests is long enough for the breaking water to recede and the sediment to settle before the succeeding wave arrives and breaks.
Fine sediment transported from lower down the beach profile will compact if the receding water percolates or soaks into the beach. Compacted sediment is more resistant to movement by turbulent water from succeeding waves. Conversely, waves are destructive if the period between the wave crests is short. Sediment that remains in suspension when the following wave crest arrives will not be able to settle and compact and will be more susceptible to erosion by longshore currents and receding tides. The nature of sediments found on a beach tends to indicate the energy of the waves and wind in the locality.
Constructive waves move material up the beach while destructive waves move the material down the beach. During seasons when destructive waves are prevalent, the shallows will carry an increased load of sediment and organic matter in suspension. On sandy beaches, the turbulent backwash of destructive waves removes material forming a gently sloping beach. On pebble and shingle beaches the swash is dissipated more quickly because the large particle size allows greater percolation, thereby reducing the power of the backwash, and the beach remains steep. Compacted fine sediments will form a smooth beach surface that resists wind and water erosion.
During hot calm seasons, a crust may form on the surface of ocean beaches as the heat of the sun evaporates the water leaving the salt which crystallises around the sand particles. This crust forms an additional protective layer that resists wind erosion unless disturbed by animals or dissolved by the advancing tide. Cusps and horns form where incoming waves divide, depositing sand as horns and scouring out sand to form cusps. This forms the uneven face on some sand shorelines. White sand beaches look white because the quartz or eroded limestone in the sand reflects or scatters sunlight without absorbing other colors.
=== Sand colors ===
The composition of the sand varies depending on the local minerals and geology. Some of the types of sand found in beaches around the world are:
White sand: Mostly made of quartz and limestone , it can also contain other minerals like feldspar and gypsum .
Light-colored sand: This sand gets its color from quartz and iron , and is the most common sand color in Southern Europe and other regions of the Mediterranean Basin , such as Tunisia .
Tropical white sand: On tropical islands, the sand is composed of calcium carbonate from the shells and skeletons of marine organisms, like corals and mollusks , as found in Aruba .
Pink coral sand: Like the above, is composed of calcium carbonate and gets its pink hue from fragments of coral, such as in Bermuda and the Bahama Islands .
Black sand: Black sand is composed of volcanic rock, like basalt and obsidian, which give it its gray-black color. Hawaii 's Punaluu Beach, Madeira's Praia Formosa and Fuerteventura's Ajuy beach are examples of this type of sand.
Red sand: This kind of sand is created by the oxidation of iron from volcanic rocks. Santorini 's Kokkini Beach or the beaches on Prince Edward Island in Canada are examples of this kind of sand.
Orange sand: Orange sand is high on iron. It can also me a combination of orange limestone, crushed shells, and volcanic deposits. Ramla Bay in Gozo , Malta or Porto Ferro in Sardinia are examples of each, respectively.
Green sand: In this kind of sand, the mineral olivine has been separated from other volcanic fragments by erosive forces. A famous example is Hawaii's Papakolea Beach , which has sand containing basalt and coral fragments. Olivine beaches have high potential for carbon sequestration , and artificial greensand beaches are being explored for this process by Project Vesta .
== Erosion and accretion ==
=== Natural erosion and accretion ===
==== Causes ====
Beaches are changed in shape chiefly by the movement of water and wind. Any weather event that is associated with turbid or fast-flowing water or high winds will erode exposed beaches. Longshore currents will tend to replenish beach sediments and repair storm damage. Tidal waterways generally change the shape of their adjacent beaches by small degrees with every tidal cycle. Over time these changes can become substantial leading to significant changes in the size and location of the beach.
==== Effects on flora ====
Changes in the shape of the beach may undermine the roots of large trees and other flora. Many beach adapted species (such as coconut palms) have a fine root system and large root ball which tends to withstand wave and wind action and tends to stabilize beaches better than other trees with a lesser root ball.
==== Effects on adjacent land ====
Erosion of beaches can expose less resilient soils and rocks to wind and wave action leading to undermining of coastal headlands eventually resulting in catastrophic collapse of large quantities of overburden into the shallows. This material may be distributed along the beach front leading to a change in the habitat as sea grasses and corals in the shallows may be buried or deprived of light and nutrients.
=== Humanmade erosion and accretion ===
Coastal areas settled by man inevitably become subject to the effects of human-made structures and processes. Over long periods of time, these influences may substantially alter the shape of the coastline, and the character of the beach.
==== Destruction of flora ====
Beachfront flora plays a major role in stabilizing the foredunes and preventing beach head erosion and inland movement of dunes. If flora with network root systems (creepers, grasses, and palms) are able to become established, they provide an effective coastal defense as they trap sand particles and rainwater and enrich the surface layer of the dunes, allowing other plant species to become established. They also protect the berm from erosion by high winds, freak waves and subsiding floodwaters.
Over long periods of time, well-stabilized foreshore areas will tend to accrete, while unstabilized foreshores will tend to erode, leading to substantial changes in the shape of the coastline. These changes usually occur over periods of many years. Freak wave events such as tsunami, tidal waves, and storm surges may substantially alter the shape, profile and location of a beach within hours.
Destruction of flora on the berm by the use of herbicides, excessive pedestrian or vehicle traffic, or disruption to freshwater flows may lead to erosion of the berm and dunes. While the destruction of flora may be a gradual process that is imperceptible to regular beach users, it often becomes immediately apparent after storms associated with high winds and freak wave events that can rapidly move large volumes of exposed and unstable sand, depositing them further inland, or carrying them out into the permanent water forming offshore bars, lagoons or increasing the area of the beach exposed at low tide.
Large and rapid movements of exposed sand can bury and smother flora in adjacent areas, aggravating the loss of habitat for fauna, and enlarging the area of instability. If there is an adequate supply of sand, and weather conditions do not allow vegetation to recover and stabilize the sediment, wind-blown sand can continue to advance, engulfing and permanently altering downwind landscapes.
Sediment moved by waves or receding floodwaters can be deposited in coastal shallows, engulfing reed beds and changing the character of underwater flora and fauna in the coastal shallows.
Burning or clearance of vegetation on the land adjacent to the beach head, for farming and residential development, changes the surface wind patterns, and exposes the surface of the beach to wind erosion.
Farming and residential development are also commonly associated with changes in local surface water flows. If these flows are concentrated in stormwater drains emptying onto the beach head, they may erode the beach creating a lagoon or delta.
Dense vegetation tends to absorb rainfall reducing the speed of runoff and releasing it over longer periods of time. Destruction by burning or clearance of the natural vegetation tends to increase the speed and erosive power of runoff from rainfall. This runoff will tend to carry more silt and organic matter from the land onto the beach and into the sea. If the flow is constant, runoff from cleared land arriving at the beach head will tend to deposit this material into the sand changing its color, odor and fauna.
==== Creation of beach access points ====
The concentration of pedestrian and vehicular traffic accessing the beach for recreational purposes may cause increased erosion at the access points if measures are not taken to stabilize the beach surface above high-water mark. Recognition of the dangers of loss of beach front flora has caused many local authorities responsible for managing coastal areas to restrict beach access points by physical structures or legal sanctions, and fence off foredunes in an effort to protect the flora. These measures are often associated with the construction of structures at these access points to allow traffic to pass over or through the dunes without causing further damage.
==== Concentration of runoff ====
Beaches provide a filter for runoff from the coastal plain. If the runoff is naturally dispersed along the beach, water borne silt and organic matter will be retained on the land and will feed the flora in the coastal area. Runoff that is dispersed along the beach will tend to percolate through the beach and may emerge from the beach at low tide.
The retention of the freshwater may also help to maintain underground water reserves and will resist salt water incursion. If the surface flow of the runoff is diverted and concentrated by drains that create constant flows over the beach above the sea or river level, the beach will be eroded and ultimately form an inlet unless longshore flows deposit sediments to repair the breach.
Once eroded, an inlet may allow tidal inflows of salt water to pollute areas inland from the beach and may also affect the quality of underground water supplies and the height of the water table.
==== Deprivation of runoff ====
Some flora naturally occurring on the beach head requires freshwater runoff from the land. Diversion of freshwater runoff into drains may deprive these plants of their water supplies and allow sea water incursion, increasing the saltiness of the groundwater. Species that are not able to survive in salt water may die and be replaced by mangroves or other species adapted to salty environments.
==== Inappropriate beach nourishment ====
Beach nourishment is the importing and deposition of sand or other sediments in an effort to restore a beach that has been damaged by erosion. Beach nourishment often involves excavation of sediments from riverbeds or sand quarries. This excavated sediment may be substantially different in size and appearance to the naturally occurring beach sand.
In extreme cases, beach nourishment may involve placement of large pebbles or rocks in an effort to permanently restore a shoreline subject to constant erosion and loss of foreshore. This is often required where the flow of new sediment caused by the longshore current has been disrupted by construction of harbors, breakwaters, causeways or boat ramps, creating new current flows that scour the sand from behind these structures and deprive the beach of restorative sediments. If the causes of the erosion are not addressed, beach nourishment can become a necessary and permanent feature of beach maintenance.
During beach nourishment activities, care must be taken to place new sediments so that the new sediments compact and stabilize before aggressive wave or wind action can erode them. Material that is concentrated too far down the beach may form a temporary groyne that will encourage scouring behind it. Sediments that are too fine or too light may be eroded before they have compacted or been integrated into the established vegetation. Foreign unwashed sediments may introduce flora or fauna that are not usually found in that locality.
Brighton Beach, on the south coast of England, is a shingle beach that has been nourished with very large pebbles in an effort to withstand the erosion of the upper area of the beach. These large pebbles made the beach unwelcoming for pedestrians for a period of time until natural processes integrated the naturally occurring shingle into the pebble base.
== Use for recreation ==
=== History ===
Even in Roman times, wealthy people spent their free time on the coast. They also built large villa complexes with bathing facilities (so-called maritime villas) in particularly beautiful locations. Excavations of Roman architecture can still be found today, for example on the Amalfi Coast near Naples and in Barcola in Trieste.The development of the beach as a popular leisure resort from the mid-19th century was the first manifestation of what is now the global tourist industry. The first seaside resorts were opened in the 18th century for the aristocracy, who began to frequent the seaside as well as the then fashionable spa towns, for recreation and health. One of the earliest such seaside resorts, was Scarborough in Yorkshire during the 1720s; it had been a fashionable spa town since a stream of acidic water was discovered running from one of the cliffs to the south of the town in the 17th century. The first rolling bathing machines were introduced by 1735.
The opening of the resort in Brighton and its reception of royal patronage from King George IV, extended the seaside as a resort for health and pleasure to the much larger London market, and the beach became a centre for upper-class pleasure and frivolity. This trend was praised and artistically elevated by the new romantic ideal of the picturesque landscape; Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon is an example of that. Later, Queen Victoria's long-standing patronage of the Isle of Wight and Ramsgate in Kent ensured that a seaside residence was considered as a highly fashionable possession for those wealthy enough to afford more than one home.
==== Seaside resorts for the working class ====
The extension of this form of leisure to the middle and working classes began with the development of the railways in the 1840s, which offered cheap fares to fast-growing resort towns. In particular, the completion of a branch line to the small seaside town of Blackpool from Poulton led to a sustained economic and demographic boom. A sudden influx of visitors, arriving by rail, led entrepreneurs to build accommodation and create new attractions, leading to more visitors and a rapid cycle of growth throughout the 1850s and 1860s.The growth was intensified by the practice among the Lancashire cotton mill owners of closing the factories for a week every year to service and repair machinery. These became known as wakes weeks. Each town's mills would close for a different week, allowing Blackpool to manage a steady and reliable stream of visitors over a prolonged period in the summer. A prominent feature of the resort was the promenade and the pleasure piers, where an eclectic variety of performances vied for the people's attention. In 1863, the North Pier in Blackpool was completed, rapidly becoming a centre of attraction for upper class visitors. Central Pier was completed in 1868, with a theatre and a large open-air dance floor.Many of the popular beach resorts were equipped with bathing machines, because even the all-covering beachwear of the period was considered immodest. By the end of the century the English coastline had over 100 large resort towns, some with populations exceeding 50,000.
==== Expansion around the world ====
The development of the seaside resort abroad was stimulated by the well-developed English love of the beach. The French Riviera alongside the Mediterranean had already become a popular destination for the British upper class by the end of the 18th century. In 1864, the first railway to Nice was completed, making the Riviera accessible to visitors from all over Europe. By 1874, residents of foreign enclaves in Nice, most of whom were British, numbered 25,000. The coastline became renowned for attracting the royalty of Europe, including Queen Victoria and King Edward VII.Continental European attitudes towards gambling and nakedness tended to be more lax than in Britain, so British and French entrepreneurs were quick to exploit the possibilities. In 1863, Charles III, Prince of Monaco, and François Blanc, a French businessman, arranged for steamships and carriages to take visitors from Nice to Monaco, where large luxury hotels, gardens and casinos were built. The place was renamed Monte Carlo.
Commercial sea bathing spread to the United States and parts of the British Empire by the end of the 19th century. The first public beach in the United States was Revere Beach, which opened in 1896. During that same time, Henry Flagler developed the Florida East Coast Railway, which linked the coastal sea resorts developing at St. Augustine, FL and Miami Beach, FL, to winter travelers from the northern United States and Canada on the East Coast Railway. By the early 20th century surfing was developed in Hawaii and Australia; it spread to southern California by the early 1960s. By the 1970s cheap and affordable air travel led to the growth of a truly global tourism market which benefited areas such as the Mediterranean, Australia, South Africa, and the coastal Sun Belt regions of the United States.
=== Today ===
Beaches can be popular on warm sunny days. In the Victorian era, many popular beach resorts were equipped with bathing machines because even the all-covering beachwear of the period was considered immodest. This social standard still prevails in many Muslim countries. At the other end of the spectrum are topfree beaches and nude beaches where clothing is optional or not allowed. In most countries social norms are significantly different on a beach in hot weather, compared to adjacent areas where similar behavior might not be tolerated and might even be prosecuted.
In more than thirty countries in Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Costa Rica, South America and the Caribbean, the best recreational beaches are awarded Blue Flag status, based on such criteria as water quality and safety provision. Subsequent loss of this status can have a severe effect on tourism revenues.
Beaches are often dumping grounds for waste and litter, necessitating the use of beach cleaners and other cleanup projects. More significantly, many beaches are a discharge zone for untreated sewage in most underdeveloped countries; even in developed countries beach closure is an occasional circumstance due to sanitary sewer overflow. In these cases of marine discharge, waterborne disease from fecal pathogens and contamination of certain marine species are a frequent outcome.
=== Artificial beaches ===
Some beaches are artificial; they are either permanent or temporary (For examples, see Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Manila, Monaco, Nottingham, Paris, Rotterdam, Singapore, Tianjin, and Toronto).
The soothing qualities of a beach and the pleasant environment offered to the beachgoer are replicated in artificial beaches, such as "beach style" pools with zero-depth entry and wave pools that recreate the natural waves pounding upon a beach. In a zero-depth entry pool, the bottom surface slopes gradually from above water down to depth. Another approach involves so-called urban beaches, a form of public park becoming common in large cities. Urban beaches attempt to mimic natural beaches with fountains that imitate surf and mask city noises, and in some cases can be used as a play park.
Beach nourishment involves pumping sand onto beaches to improve their health. Beach nourishment is common for major beach cities around the world; however the beaches that have been nourished can still appear quite natural and often many visitors are unaware of the works undertaken to support the health of the beach. Such beaches are often not recognized by consumers as artificial. A famous example of beach nourishment came with the replenishment of Waikīkī Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, where sand from Manhattan Beach, California was transported via ship and barge throughout most of the 20th century in order to combat Waikiki's erosion problems. The Surfrider Foundation has debated the merits of artificial reefs with members torn between their desire to support natural coastal environments and opportunities to enhance the quality of surfing waves. Similar debates surround beach nourishment and snow cannon in sensitive environments.
=== Restrictions on access ===
Public access to beaches is restricted in some parts of the world. For example, most beaches on the Jersey Shore are restricted to people who can purchase beach tags. Many beaches in Indonesia, both private and public, require admission fees.
Some beaches also restrict dogs for some periods of the year.
==== Private beaches ====
Private beaches may belong to owners of abutting land, or neighborhood associations. Signs are usually posted the entrance. A permit or special use occasion event may be granted upon executing the proper channels to legally obtain one.
In some places, such as Florida, it is not always clear which parts of a beach are public or private.
==== Public beaches ====
The first public beach in the United States opened on 12 July 1896, in the town of Revere, Massachusetts, with over 45,000 people attending on the opening day. The beach was run bay the Metropolitan Parks Commission and the new beach had a bandstand, public bathhouses, shade pavilions, and lined by a broad boulevard that ran along the beach.Public access to beaches is protected by law in the U.S. state of Oregon, thanks to a 1967 state law, the Oregon Beach Bill, which guaranteed public access from the Columbia River to the California state line, "so that the public may have the free and uninterrupted use". Public access to beaches in Hawaii (other than those owned by the U.S. federal government) is also protected by state law.
== Access design ==
Beach access is an important consideration where substantial numbers of pedestrians or vehicles require access to the beach. Allowing random access across delicate foredunes is seldom considered good practice as it is likely to lead to destruction of flora and consequent erosion of the fore dunes.
A well-designed beach access should:
provide a durable surface able to withstand the traffic flow;
aesthetically complement the surrounding structures and natural landforms;
be located in an area that is convenient for users and consistent with safe traffic flows;
be scaled to match the traffic flow (i.e. wide and strong enough to safely carry the size and quantity of pedestrians and vehicles intended to use it);
be maintained appropriately; and
be signed and lit to discourage beach users from creating their own alternative crossings that may be more destructive to the beachhead.
=== Concrete ramp or steps ===
A concrete ramp should follow the natural profile of the beach to prevent it from changing the normal flow of waves, longshore currents, water and wind. A ramp that is below the beach profile will tend to become buried and cease to provide a good surface for vehicular traffic. A ramp or stair that protrudes above the beach profile will tend to disrupt longshore currents creating deposits in front of the ramp, and scouring behind. Concrete ramps are the most expensive vehicular beach accesses to construct requiring use of a quick-drying concrete or a cofferdam to protect them from tidal water during the concrete curing process. Concrete is favored where traffic flows are heavy and access is required by vehicles that are not adapted to soft sand (e.g. road registered passenger vehicles and boat trailers). Concrete stairs are commonly favored on beaches adjacent to population centers where beach users may arrive on the beach in street shoes, or where the foreshore roadway is substantially higher than the beach head and a ramp would be too steep for safe use by pedestrians. A composite stair ramp may incorporate a central or side stair with one or more ramps allowing pedestrians to lead buggies or small boat dollies onto the beach without the aid of a powered vehicle or winch. Concrete ramps and steps should be maintained to prevent a buildup of moss or algae that may make their wet surfaces slippery and dangerous to pedestrians and vehicles.
=== Corduroy (beach ladder) ===
A corduroy road or beach ladder (or board and chain) is an array of planks (usually hardwood or treated timber) laid close together and perpendicular to the direction of traffic flow, and secured at each end by a chain or cable to form a pathway or ramp over the sand dune. Corduroys are cheap and easy to construct and quick to deploy or relocate. They are commonly used for pedestrian access paths and light duty vehicular access ways. They naturally conform to the shape of the underlying beach or dune profile, and adjust well to moderate erosion, especially longshore drift. However, they can cease to be an effective access surface if they become buried or undermined by erosion by surface runoff coming from the beach head. If the corduroy is not wide enough for vehicles using it, the sediment on either side may be displaced creating a spoon drain that accelerates surface runoff and can quickly lead to serious erosion. Significant erosion of the sediment beside and under the corduroy can render it completely ineffective and make it dangerous to pedestrian users who may fall between the planks.
=== Fabric ramp ===
Fabric ramps are commonly employed by the military for temporary purposes where the underlying sediment is stable and hard enough to support the weight of the traffic. A sheet of porous fabric is laid over the sand to stabilize the surface and prevent vehicles from bogging. Fabric Ramps usually cease to be useful after one tidal cycle as they are easily washed away, or buried in sediment.
=== Foliage ramp ===
A foliage ramp is formed by planting resilient species of hardy plants such as grasses over a well-formed sediment ramp. The plants may be supported while they become established by placement of layers of mesh, netting, or coarse organic material such as vines or branches. This type of ramp is ideally suited for intermittent use by vehicles with a low wheel loading such as dune buggies or agricultural vehicles with large tyres. A foliage ramp should require minimal maintenance if initially formed to follow the beach profile, and not overused.
=== Gravel ramp ===
A gravel ramp is formed by excavating the underlying loose sediment and filling the excavation with layers of gravel of graduated sizes as defined by John Loudon McAdam. The gravel is compacted to form a solid surface according to the needs of the traffic. Gravel ramps are less expensive to construct than concrete ramps and are able to carry heavy road traffic provided the excavation is deep enough to reach solid subsoil. Gravel ramps are subject to erosion by water. If the edges are retained with boards or walls and the profile matches the surrounding beach profile, a gravel ramp may become more stable as finer sediments are deposited by percolating water.
== Longest beaches ==
Amongst the world's longest beaches are:
Eighty Mile Beach (220 kilometres [140 mi]) in north-west Australia;
Praia do Cassino (212 kilometres [132 mi]) in Brazil;
Padre Island beach (about 182 kilometres [113 mi]) in Gulf of Mexico, Texas.
Ninety Mile Beach, Victoria (151 kilometres [94 mi]) in Victoria, Australia;
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (150 kilometres [93 mi] unbroken);
Playa Novillera beach (about 90 kilometres [56 mi]) in Mexico.
90 Mile Beach in New Zealand (88 kilometres [55 mi]);
Fraser Island beach (about 65 kilometres [40 mi]) in Queensland, Australia;
Troia-Sines Beach (63 kilometres [39 mi]) in Portugal;
the Jersey Shore, 204 km/127 miles; and
Long Beach, Washington (which is about 40 kilometres [25 mi]).
== Wildlife ==
A beach is an unstable environment that exposes plants and animals to changeable and potentially harsh conditions. Some animals burrow into the sand and feed on material deposited by the waves. Crabs, insects and shorebirds feed on these beach dwellers. The endangered piping plover and some tern species rely on beaches for nesting. Sea turtles also bury their eggs in ocean beaches. Seagrasses and other beach plants grow on undisturbed areas of the beach and dunes.
Ocean beaches are habitats with organisms adapted to salt spray, tidal overwash, and shifting sands. Some of these organisms are found only on beaches. Examples of these beach organisms in the southeast US include plants like sea oats, sea rocket, beach elder, beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae), and beach peanut, and animals such as mole crabs (Hippoidea), coquina clams (Donax), ghost crabs, and white beach tiger beetles.
== See also ==
== References ==
== Works cited ==
Andrews, Robert (2002). The Rough Guide to Britain. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-881-9.
== Further reading ==
Bascom, W. 1980. Waves and Beaches. Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, New York. 366 p.
Schwartz, Maurice L. (1982). The Encyclopedia of Beaches and Coastal Environments: Volume 15 of Encyclopedia of earth sciences. Virginia: Hutchinson Ross Pub. Co. pp. 940. ISBN 0879332131.
== External links ==
Coping with beach erosion – UNESCO |
Tourist_attractions | Canopy walkway | Canopy walkways – also called canopy walks, treetop walks or treetop walkways – provide pedestrian access to a forest canopy. Early walkways consisted of bridges between trees in the canopy of a forest; mostly linked up with platforms inside or around the trees. They were originally intended as access to the upper regions of ancient forests for scientists conducting canopy research. Eventually, because they provided only limited, one-dimensional access to the trees, they were abandoned for canopy cranes. Today they serve as ecotourism attractions in places such as Dhlinza Forest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia, Sedim River, Kulim, Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda and Kakum National Park, Ghana.
== Australia ==
Canopy or treetop walkways are especially popular attractions in Australia. They can be found in most states and a variety of environments.
=== Tasmania ===
The Tahune AirWalk is located in state forest near Geeveston in southern Tasmania. Opened in 2001 it consists of a 619-metre-long elevated walkway incorporating a 37-metre-high observation tower and a cantilever 50 metres above the Huon River. Other activities at the complex include zip-line hang gliding.
=== Victoria ===
The Otway Fly claims to be the longest and highest 'steel canopy walk' in the world, It is 600 metres long with a maximum height of 47 metres. Located on freehold land in the Otway Range in western Victoria, the walk traverses mixed species forest with trees such as Myrtle beech and Mountain ash, the tallest hardwood species in the world. The mid story environment includes an abundance of soft tree ferns and other smaller trees. The Otway Fly also offers zip-line tours where customers can glide 30 metres above the floor of the rainforest. The walkway was built in 2003 for $6.5 million and features a raised walking platform as well as a cantilever over Young's Creek and a 47 metre tall 'spiral tower' viewing platform that takes the person into the upper canopy. It was originally operated by MFS Living and Leisure before being sold in 2011 to Merlin Entertainments, one of the world's largest operators of tourist attractions.
Victoria also boasts the Donna Buang Rainforest Gallery. Located east of Melbourne at Cement Creek on the slopes of Mount Donna Buang, it consists of a 350-metre-long metal walkway elevated one metre above ground level plus a cantilever platform 15 metres above the ground which allows canopy level views of the cool temperate rainforest. While there is interpretive signage, the Rainforest Gallery is unstaffed and entry is free.
In 2018 a small, 120-metre-long, 10-metre-high, canopy walkway opened at the seaside resort town of Lorne as part of Live Wire Park, a mainly zip line oriented business. Unlike other canopy walkways in the state which are in rainforest, this one traverses scenic, open coastal woodland.
=== New South Wales ===
The Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventure includes a 500-metre-long steel walkway up to 30 metres above the ground and a 45-metre-high tower with views over the nearby Tasman Sea. The facility also includes zip-line tours. Built in 2008 for a cost of $6.5 million, like the Ottway Fly it was initially operated by MFS Living and Leisure until 2011 when it was sold to Merlin Entertainments.
The Skywalk at Dorrigo National Park is a short, 70-metre-long canopy walk that leads over the edge of an escarpment to a point 21 metres above the forest.
=== Queensland ===
The Mamu Tropical Skywalk is located near Innisfail in the north of the state. Owned by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, it was opened in 2008. It features a 350-metre-long elevated walkway that makes its way through tropical rainforest 15 metres above the ground and includes a 37-metre-high observation tower.
The Tree Top Walk, was the first canopy walkway constructed in Australia. It can be found in Lamington National Park at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat, in southern Queensland. Built in 1988, it is 180 metres in length and constructed using 9 small suspension bridges. At its highest point it reaches 34 metres above ground level.Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk is a 1.5 km walk with 300 metres on bridges and a cantilever extension over the forest. It opened in 2009.The Daintree Discovery Centre Aerial Walkway in far north Queensland traverses tropical rainforest at 11 metres above the ground. It leads to a five-level, 23-metre-high observation tower.
=== Western Australia ===
Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk near Denmark in southern Western Australia is 620 metres long and includes sections up to 40 metres above the ground. It is owned by the state government's Department of Parks and Wildlife.
== Brunei ==
The Ulu Temburong National Park features an especially high (60 metres) forest canopy walkway that connects a series of treehouses. It is accessed by longboat.
== Costa Rica ==
The Sky Walk is a walk above the canopy of the trees of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Sky Walk features a combination of suspension bridges and trails with heights exceeding the treetops. Sky Walk is part is part of a larger forest tourism complex that includes walking tracks, a pulsed gondola and ziplines.
== Germany ==
The Baumwipfelpfad in Neuschonau, Bavaria is a 1,300-metre-long walkway between 8 and 25 metres above the forest floor. It ends with a spiral climb up a 44-metre-high wooden dome.The Baumwipfelpfad Harz (also Baumwipfelpfad Bad Harzburg) (de) is an educational and treetop path in the Harz Mountains in the area of the town of Bad Harzburg in the district of Goslar, Lower Saxony. The treetop path can be reached via an entry crown that spirals upwards over a length of around 300 meters. The construction costs amounted to approx. 4.6 million euros and the construction project was carried out from November 2014 to March 2015. The treetop path was put into operation on 8 May 2015.
The Baumwipfelpfad – Saarschleife in Mettlach, Saarland is a 1,250-metre-long walkway reaching up to 23 meters above the ground. The observation tower at the end of the path reaches a height of 43 meters.
The "Baumkronenpfad" at Hainich National Park. Only a 10 km drive away you can discover the Canopy Walkway at the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Hainich National Park. Walk in the tree tops up to 24 meters in height or climb the viewer tower with 44 meters. Insights into the biospheres offer the National park exhibition and the latest milestone the "Root hole". Nature lovers can hike and bike 18 trails and 3 cycle trails in untouched nature. www.baumkronen-pfad.de
== Ghana ==
The Kakum Canopy Walkway extends for more than 300 metres and includes a viewing platform and seven bridges up to 35 metres above the forest floor.
== Malaysia ==
The Danum Valley Canopy Walkway, located in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo gives visitors views of spectacular tropical rainforest from a 300-metre-long, 27-metre-high canopy walkway.
The Sungai Sedim Treetop Walkway located in Kedah, is 925 meters long.
== New Zealand ==
Located on the rugged West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the West Coast Treetop Walk traverses rimu forest and was built by Australian eco-tourism company Canopy01 in 2012. It comprises a 450-metre-long elevated steel walkway and cantilever at heights up to 25 metres above the forest floor with a 47-metre-high viewing tower.
At Rotorua on the North Island, Rotorua Canopy Tours operate zipline tours that incorporate sections of canopy walkway.
== Nigeria ==
The country has the largest land mass in west Africa. It has 3 canopy walkways sited in Lagos and Cross river states. The longest Canopy walkway in Africa is at Lekki Conservation Centre which is a project sponsored by Chevron but managed and supervised by The Nigerian Conservation Foundation. The walkway is 401 metres long transversing the unique nature reserve, 22.5 metres high, the canopy walkway was handed over to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation by the Lagos state government 23-12-2015.
== Peru ==
The Inkaterra Canopy Walkway in the Peruvian Amazon is a 344-metre-long system of seven hanging bridges, six treetop observation platforms and two 29-metre-tall towers.
== Samoa ==
At Falealupo, a village in Samoa situated at the west end of Savai'i island is the short Falealupo Rainforest Canopy Aerial Walkway which is up to 40 metres above the ground and passes through Banyan trees. It was built in 1997 and is part of a project to protect the rainforest and generate income for the local community through tourism.
== Singapore ==
The Southern Ridges Forest Walk is a 1.3 km elevated metal walkway soaring as high as 18 meters above the ground, on level with the treetops. One of the most impressive sections of the Southern Ridges Walk. About halfway through, the walk returns to earth for a moment, paralleling Preston Road and its "black and white" bungalows originally built for the officers of the British army and now much favored by wealthy expats in Singapore. The Southern Ridges Canopy Walk is a 280 m elevated metal walkway similar to the forest walk, somewhat shorter but among higher trees and closer to the trees as well.The HSBC Treetop Walk is a 250-metre suspension bridge connecting the two highest points in MacRitchie – Bukit Pierce and Bukit Kalang. At the highest point, the bridge hangs 25 metres from the forest floor.The SPH Walk of Giants in the Singapore Botanic Gardens is a 260 m long elevated boardwalk with a maximum height from the ground of 8 m. It leads the visitor through a collection of trees which, can grow up to at least 60m in height, some up to 80 m.
== United Kingdom ==
The 200-metre-long Treetop Walkway is at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London. It opened in 2008 and is not a forest walkway, but rather gives views over a mostly open park. It claims to give visitors an insight into forest canopies and the birds, insects and fungi that live there. Near the walkway is a unique tunnel allowing visitors to learn about tree roots before they climb to the walkway.
== Thailand ==
The 400-metre-long Canopy Walkway at Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden in Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai Province opened in 2015.
== United States ==
=== Florida ===
Myakka River State Park in Southwest Florida hosts North America's first canopy walkway, which runs 100 feet among oak and palm trees.Discovery Island in Bay Lake at Walt Disney World operated from 1974 to 1999 and featured a canopy walkway in the Avian Way attraction. In 2017 it was dilapidated but still largely intact.
=== Georgia ===
The Kendeda Canopy Walk in the Atlanta Botanical Garden is a more recent variation that provides visitors with the ability to move through a 180-metre-long (600 ft) the Storza Woods section of urban forest at an elevation of 12 metres (40 ft). The walkway construction is a somewhat unusual reverse suspension design. It opened in 2010 and cost $55 million to build.
=== Michigan ===
The 426-meter-long (1,400-foot) Whiting Forest of Dow Gardens canopy walk overlooks 54 acres of forest trails, ponds, meadows, and an apple orchard. Located in mid-Michigan, the canopy walk is currently the longest in the United States of America, with the highest point being 12 meters (40 feet) above the ground. It opened in the fall of 2018 with an investment of $20 million.
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Doors Open Days | Doors Open Days (also known as Open House or Open Days in some communities) provide free access to buildings not normally open to the public. The first Doors Open Day took place in France in 1984, and the concept has spread to other places in Europe (see European Heritage Days), North America, Australia and elsewhere.
Doors Open Days promotes architecture and heritage sites to a wider audience within and beyond the country's borders. It is an opportunity to discover hidden architectural gems and to see behind doors that are rarely open to the public for free.
Open Doors Days trace their origin to the 1990 Door Open Day held as part of Glasgow's year as European City of Culture.
== Heritage Open Days in England ==
Heritage Open Days established in 1994 celebrate English architecture and culture allowing visitors free access to historical landmarks that are either not usually open to the public, or would normally charge an entrance fee.
=== List of Doors Open events in England ===
Open House London
== Doors open days in Scotland ==
Doors Open Days is organised by the Scottish Civic Trust. Alongside Scottish Archaeology Month, the open days form Scotland's contribution to European Heritage Days. This joint initiative between the Council of Europe and the European Union aims to give people a greater understanding of each other through sharing and exploring cultural heritage. 49 countries across Europe take part annually, in September.
During Glasgow's year as European City of Culture in 1990, organisers ran an Open Doors event, an event credited with popularizing the Doors Open concept and spreading it to other countries. Its popularity encouraged other areas to take part the following year and were coordinated by the Scottish Civic Trust. Doors Open Days now take place throughout Scotland thanks to a dedicated team of area coordinators. These coordinators work for a mixture of organisations: local councils, civic trusts, heritage organisations and archaeological trusts.
Scotland is one of the few participating countries where events take place every weekend in September, with different areas choosing their own dates. More than 900 buildings now take part. In 2008, over 225,000 visits were made generating £2 million for the Scottish economy. It is estimated that 5,000 or more volunteers give their time to run activities and open doors for members of the public.
Doors Open Days was supported in 2009 by Homecoming Scotland 2009, a year-long initiative that marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. It was funded by the Scottish Government and part financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund. Its aim was to engage Scots at home, as well as motivate people of Scottish descent and those who simply love Scotland, to take part in an inspirational celebration of Scottish culture and heritage.
== Open house in Australia ==
Open House events are organised in Australia in partnership with Open House Worldwide. The first Open House event took place in Melbourne in 2008. This was followed by Brisbane in 2010, and Adelaide and Perth in 2012.
== Canada ==
Doors Open Canada began in 2000.
=== List of Doors Open events in Canada ===
Doors Open Newfoundland and Labrador
Doors Open Ottawa
Doors Open Toronto
Doors Open Saskatoon
== United States ==
=== List of Doors Open events in the U.S. ===
Doors Open Baltimore, first weekend in October
Doors Open Buffalo
Open House Chicago
Open House New York
Doors Open Milwaukee
Doors Open Minneapolis
Doors Open Pittsburgh, first weekend in October
Doors Open Rhode Island
Passport DC, embassy open houses in Washington, D.C., in May.
== See also ==
Brisbane Open House
Open House Brno
Tourism in Scotland
== Notes ==
== External links ==
Open House Worldwide |
Tourist_attractions | Honeypot (tourism) | A honeypot site is a location attractive to tourists who, due to their numbers, place pressure on the environment and local people.Honeypots are often used by cities or countries to manage their tourism industry. The use of honeypots can protect fragile land away from major cities while satisfying less discerning tourists. One such example is the construction of local parks to prevent tourists from damaging more valuable ecosystems farther from their main destination. Honeypots have the added benefit of concentrating many income-generating visitors in one place, therefore developing that area, and in turn making the area more appealing to tourists.However, honeypots can suffer from problems of overcrowding, including litter, vandalism, and strain on facilities and transport networks. Honeypots attract tourists because of parking spaces, shopping centres, parks and public toilets. The tourist shops are normally placed all over the shopping centre, which creates pressure on the whole centre to keep the place looking tidy. For example, Stratford-upon-Avon has shops that are aimed mostly at tourists. On a particular street, there were five shops that were aimed towards the locals and ten shops catering to tourists, reflecting the business opportunity that tourism presents for shopkeepers and other business people in the local economy.
The once sleepy medieval village has attracted an increasing number of visitors over recent years and is a classic example of a tourist 'honeypot' . . . Ste. Enimie is one of these 'designated' places that are designed to attract people to it and therefore reduce the impact on the surrounding area.
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Imaginarium | An imaginarium is a place devoted to the imagination. There are various types of imaginaria, centers largely devoted to stimulating and cultivating the imagination, towards scientific, artistic, commercial, recreational, or spiritual ends.
== Examples ==
The Imaginarium Discovery Center is a children's science discovery center within the Anchorage Museum in Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska.
The Imaginarium of South Texas is a children's museum and informal science center at Mall del Norte in Laredo, Texas.
The Imaginarium Science Center is a science museum and aquarium in Fort Myers, Florida. It features science exhibits, a 3-D theatre, dinosaurs, aquarium displays, a touch tank with stingrays and more.
The Imaginarium Science Centre of Devonport, Tasmania is a hands-on science museum that is part of Pandemonium: Discovery and Adventure Centre.
== In popular culture ==
In The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the immortal mystic Doctor Parnassus runs a nomadic theater troupe who lure people through a mirror that shows them a world of their deepest subconscious desires, where their souls are put to the test.
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Kinshasa National Zoological Park | The Kinshasa National Zoological Park (French: Parc Zoologique National de Kinshasa) or Kinshasa Zoological Garden (French: Jardin Zoologique de Kinshasa), also known as Kinshasa Zoo (French: zoo de Kinshasa), is an animal park located in the Gombe commune, next to the Kinshasa Grand Market (Marché Central) and the Kinshasa General Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The zoo is home to over 500 species of animals, including mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians, totaling more than 5,000 animals.The zoo attracts approximately 1,000 visitors and serves as an educational hub, providing practical training opportunities for children and students interested in zoological science, with nearly 4,000 students from various schools in the capital taking guided tours from December to July.
== History ==
The Jardin Zoologique, along with the Jardin Botanique de Kinshasa, was established by Fernand De Bock, the Administrator of Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), in 1933. He christened the zoo "Parc de Bock." Originally located west across Ave. des Palmiers, which later became Prince Baudouin (now Ave. Kasa-Vubu), it opened on July 17, 1938, and has been managed by the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature; ICCN) since its inception. The complex had an Art Deco entryway and a restaurant in the same architectural style at the far end.In June 1939, a series of animal postage stamps was issued, with the proceeds amounting to Fr.300,000 to benefit the zoo. On its fifth anniversary, the zoo held an exhibition attended by Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot and a soirée at the restaurant. In August 1954, the zoo received its first Okapi, the elusive creature discovered in the Ituri Forest in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Zoo also featured a Chimpanzee that mooched and smoked cigarettes cadged from visitors. King Baudouin of Belgium visited the zoo in May 1955 during his successful tour of the colony.By 1956, the zoo's fortunes began to decline, and controversies arose regarding the possibility of closure, with a portion of the complex being ceded to the nearby Kinshasa General Hospital. The zoo's cultural center, with a seating capacity of five hundred, served as a venue for meetings and conferences, complemented by catering from the Zoo Restaurant. Notably, in 1961, Premier Cyrille Adoula hosted his peers there after the election of the new Parliament.Over the years, the zoo underwent various transformations and rehabilitations. In 1988, the National Institute of Arts (Institut National des Arts) rehabilitated the Cultural Center.In the tumultuous periods of the First and Second Congo Wars, the zoo faced immense tribulations. The devastating effects of war led to dire conditions for the animals, as food shortages and lack of rejuvenation took a toll on their well-being. Tragically, many chimpanzees were reduced to drinking dirty water from bowls, resulting in starvation and the unfortunate demise of several animals by late 1999. In October 2009, it was announced that the French Embassy would rehabilitate the Zoo.
== Main exhibits ==
The zoo is committed to providing a safe haven for endangered species indigenous to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The current exhibits include pythons, cobras, rattlesnakes, vultures, crows, cattle guards, eagles, turkeys, African marabous, crowned cranes, turtles, servals, civets, hawks, horses, pigs, jackals, buffalos, monitor lizards, kites, parrots, and donkeys. The zoo also houses a variety of primates, such as chimpanzees, black crested mangabeys, malbroucks, gorillas, and yellow baboons. Moreover, the zoo features several species of crocodiles, including Nile crocodiles. The oldest residents of the zoo are Simon and Antoinette, a crocodile couple who have been living in the zoo since 1938. They reside in the grass near the muddy water of their large pond, each in their own corner. The pair arrived at the zoo five years following its establishment.
== Efforts for conservation ==
Since the First and Second Congo Wars, the zoo has experienced a decrease in the number of animals due to environmental degradation, lack of treatment, insufficient funding, and inadequate site rejuvenation. Consequently, animals like lions, zebras, leopards, tigers, elephants, hippos, okapis, antelopes, bears, cheetahs, and giraffes have descreases. The animals currently residing in the park are in a state of destitution, with some species, like monkeys, beseeching for food from visitors by stretching out their hands when they approach the cage. The park sustains itself through self-financing obtained from the sale of tickets to visitors, with entry costing 2,500FC per adult and 2,000FC per child. This money is used to purchase food for the animals, primarily consisting of meat, vegetables, and herbs. Parenthetically, the Kinshasa National Zoological Park receives unsold food from generous restaurants and supermarkets.The workers at the park have been urging the Minister of the Environment to invest more in ensuring the conservation and continuity of the site. As of 2020, the zoo has over 129 animals, comprising approximately thirty species, according to Doctor Kazadi Fernand of the ICCN.
== Rehabilitation ==
On July 29, 2021, the National Minister of Tourism, Modero Nsimba Matondo, launched the rehabilitation works on the site. This rehabilitation will help reconnect with the frequentation of visitors. In a city of about 17 million inhabitants, the frequency of visits is estimated at 500 visitors per week, according to the director of the zoo, Simon Dinganga tra Ndeto.
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Observation deck | An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from weather, and a few may include coin-operated telescopes for viewing distant features.
== List of public observation decks ==
== List of highest observation decks by type ==
== Timeline of world's highest observation decks ==
This is a timeline of the development of world's highest observation decks since the inauguration of the Washington Monument in 1885.
=== Under construction ===
Unknown Jeddah Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 637 m, Level 157
Unknown Goldin Finance 117, Tianjin, China. 578.7 m, Level 116
2023 (est.) Merdeka 118, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 517.7 m , Level 117 (Spire observation level at 566 m)
2026 (est) Torre Rise, Monterrey, Mexico. 365 m, Level 83
2027 (est) Taipei Twin Towers, Taipei, Taiwan. 347 m, Level 73Approved
2025 (est.) Signature Tower Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. 515.8 m, Level 111
2027 (est.) Torch Tower, Tokyo, Japan. 300 m, Level 55
2030 (est.) Millennium Tower, Frankfurt, Germany. 280 m, Level 67See also List of tallest buildings and structures in the world#World's highest observation deck
== Observation deck gallery ==
== See also ==
Observation car
Observation wheel
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Scenic viewpoint | A scenic viewpoint – also called an observation point, viewpoint, viewing point, vista point, lookout, scenic overlook, etc. – is an elevated location where people can view scenery (often with binoculars) and photograph it. Scenic viewpoints may be created alongside scenic routes or mountain roads, often as simple turnouts or lay-bys where motorists can pull over onto pavement, gravel, or grass on the right-of-way.
Many viewpoints are larger, having parking areas, while some (typically on larger highways) are off the road completely. Viewing points may also be found on hill or mountain tops or on rocky spurs overlooking a valley and reached via a hiking trail. They may be protected by railings to protect the public or be enhanced by a viewing tower designed to elevate visitors above the surrounding terrain or trees in order to offer panoramic views.
Overlooks are frequently found in national parks, and in the U.S. along national parkways such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has numerous individually named overlooks for viewing the Blue Ridge Mountains and its valleys. Other overlooks are next to waterfalls, especially since mountain roads tend to follow streams.
Many overlooks are accessible only by trails and wooden walkways and stairs, especially in ecologically sensitive areas. These overlooks are often wooden decks, which minimize the impact on the land by reducing the need to disturb it for construction.
== History ==
The word viewpoint is from 1856, but it was thought to have been used as a physical sense in 1858. From time on, many scenic viewpoints have since become tourist attractions, with numerous vistas inscribed as world heritage-listed natural sites.
== See also ==
Observation deck
Observation post
Stratum Pier by artist Kendall Buster
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Tourist gateway | A tourist gateway (sometimes called a "Tourism Gateway" or "Gateway City") is a place or settlement through which tourists typically first visit on their way to a tourist attraction or tourism region.
Tourist gateways may not offer significant attractions themselves. Although the term suggests that they must be passed through en route, a gateway may not be the only way to reach the tourist destination. They may be the last, largest or only settlement en route to the tourist attraction or in a tourism region, the closest in proximity to, or the first encountered within a tourism region. As such, tourist gateways are often associated with a major international or domestic airport, major road, railway station or seaport.Sometimes the terms are used in the context of information, such as websites that tourist visit in order to find out more about attractions and regions.
Tourist gateways, unlike tourist destinations, may have developed a niche in their economy for the role or may have degrees of dependency on the tourist attraction or region for economic development. As such the focus of their tourism promotion is on their role in the provision of related services, such as transport, accommodation and hospitality. Sometimes these services can be in direct competition with those offered at the tourist attractions themselves.
Tourist gateways may also be associated with roadside attractions and tourist traps.
Often, tourist gateways are associated with a moniker such as "Gateway to the ..."; for example, Gateway to the West.
== Examples of tourist gateways ==
=== Americas ===
Williams, Arizona - gateway to the Grand Canyon
Iquitos, Peru - gateway to the Amazon rainforest
Ushuaia, Argentina - gateway to Antarctica
Green Bay and Algoma - gateways to Door County, Wisconsin
=== Australia ===
Alice Springs, Northern Territory - gateway to the Red Centre and Uluru
Torquay, Victoria - gateway to the Great Ocean Road
Stawell, Victoria - gateway to the Grampians National Park
Karratha, Western Australia - gateway to the Pilbara
Broome, Western Australia - gateway to the Kimberley
Cairns, Queensland - gateway to the Great Barrier Reef
Ballarat, Victoria - gateway to the Goldfields region of Victoria
Bright, Victoria - gateway to the Australian Alps
Devonport, Tasmania - gateway to Tasmania
=== Europe ===
Zurich - gateway to the Alps
== References ==
== External links == |
Tourist_attractions | Tourist trap | A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) that has been created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps will typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs and other products for tourists to purchase. Tourist trap derives from the information asymmetry between tourists and the market.
== United States ==
In some areas, simple facilities may be a sufficient draw to entice tourists to stop. Wall Drug, in South Dakota, began its tourist trade by offering free ice water.Breezewood, Pennsylvania represents a physical tourist trap at the intersection of Interstate 70 and Interstate 76, where the two major highways are not directly connected; forcing transiting drivers off the interstate and "into several suddenly urban blocks with traffic lights and a dense bazaar of gas stations, fast food restaurants and motels."South of the Border is an attraction on Interstate 95 (I-95), US Highway 301 (US 301) and US 501 in Dillon, South Carolina, just south of Rowland, North Carolina. It is so named because it is just south of the border between North Carolina and South Carolina, and was the halfway point to Florida from New York in the early days of motor travel. The area is themed in tongue-in-cheek, faux-Mexican style. The rest area contains restaurants, gas stations, a video arcade, a motel, a truck stop as well as a small amusement park, a mini golf course, shopping and fireworks stores. Its mascot is Pedro, a caricature of a Mexican bandido. South of the Border is known for its roadside billboard advertisements, which begin many miles away from, and incorporates a mileage countdown to the attraction itself. The stop has since fallen on hard times as more modern hotel areas have grown along I-95.
Alice's Restaurant, a restaurant in Sky Londa, California named after its founder Alice Taylor, accidentally became a tourist trap after singer Arlo Guthrie released his signature song of the same name, which was based on a totally unrelated Massachusetts restaurant established by Alice Brock. After Taylor sold the restaurant, her successors themed the restaurant after the song, adding a "Group W bench" for example, when they realized the confusion was good for business.A few establishments take pride in the term and embody it into their names, such as "Da Yoopers Tourist Trap", run by the comedy troupe Da Yoopers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and "The Tourist Trap" at Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
== See also ==
Gift shop
List of confidence tricks
Lists of tourist attractions
Overtourism
Roadside attraction
Tourist attraction
== References == |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Tourist attractions by location | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Tourist attractions by country subdivision | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Defunct tourist attractions | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Lists of tourist attractions | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Archaeological sites | Sites of archaeological interest, where excavations or other archaeological investigations have taken place. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Arts venues | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Aviation attractions | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Beaches | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Brothels | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Bungee jumping sites | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Doors Open Days | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Entertainment districts | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Entertainment events | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Event venues | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Folly buildings | Folly buildings and structures – pavilions, pseudo-temples, and constructed ruins created in gardens and landscape parksOften designed in the neoclassical style for traditional English landscape gardens.
For popular culture folly buildings, see: Novelty architecture.. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Game reserves | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Glass-bottomed bridges | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Heraldic sites | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Hiking trails | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Hindu pilgrimage sites | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Historic districts | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Landmarks | Originally, a landmark meant a geographic feature used by explorers and others to find their way.
In modern usage, it is anything that is easily recognisable, such as a monument, building, or other structure.
In American English this is extended to mean anything which might interest visitors – the British English equivalent is visitor attraction. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Military attractions | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Museums | A museum is a building or institution which houses and cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary.
Modern museums concentrate on a particular subject or field, such as fine arts, applied arts, archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, history, cultural history, natural history, science and/or technology. Some specialize further, such as museums of modern art, local history, aviation history, agriculture, geology, etc. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Nature reserves | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Observation decks | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Palaces | Usage of the term "palace" and its equivalent in other languages varies from country to country. In some countries it is reserved for royal residences, while in others it is applied quite widely to mansions. There is a separate category for royal residences. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Parks | For science parks, research parks and technology parks: see Category:Urban planning.
For Urban parks, pocket parks, parklets, municipal parks, city parks, greenway - parkways: See also Category: Urban public parks.
For Regional parks, Urban open space, greenbelts: See also Category: Regional parks.
For landmark gardens and landscapes open to the public: See also Category:Gardens
For public botanical gardens and arboreta: See also Category: Botanical gardens
For Protected areas including National parks : See also Category:Protected areas and Category:National parks |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Protected areas | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Pueblos | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Railroad attractions | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Roadside attractions | A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road, that is frequently advertised with billboards to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere else, rather than being a final or primary destination in and of themselves. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Royal residences | This category overlaps extensively with category:Palaces, but not all royal residences are palaces and not all palaces are royal residences. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Scenic routes | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Scenic viewpoints | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Shopping malls | See also: Category:Shopping districts and streets, a parallel category. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Show caves | Show caves, sometimes called "commercial caves", are caves open for the general public without the need of special caving gear. Show caves often have paths, rails, electric lights, guided tours and often require a fee. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Space-related tourist attractions | Space science and astronautics related science centers and tourist attractions. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Theatres | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Underground cities | For more information, see the article Underground city. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Underwater diving sites | Underwater diving sites are specific places in bodies of water that recreational divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or are used for training purposes
– Dive resorts are not dive sites, and dive sites are not dive resorts.
Marine reserves, marine protected areas, lakes, and islands are generally not dive sites unless very small, with only one place used as a dive site, though they may contain dive sites. When they do they are more accurately classed as recreational diving regions.
To keep the number of categories down, diving regions may be categorised with dive sites, but if a category of dive sites by country gets large it may be split into dive sites by country and dive regions by country.
A terrestrial settlement is not a dive site, but may contain a dam, cave, or other water filled feature which is a dive site. The actual dive site belongs in this category. If the dive site is mentioned in an article but does not have a specific article, it may be appropriate to include in this category. |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Venues | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Visitor centers | null |
Tourist_attractions | Category:Waterfronts | null |
World_Heritage_Sites | World Heritage Site | A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity".To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natural beauty. As of January 2023, a total of 1,157 World Heritage Sites (900 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties) exist across 167 countries. With 58 selected areas, Italy is the country with the most sites on the list; China is the second with 56 sites, and Germany is the third with 51.The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored, uncontrolled or unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence. Sites are demarcated by UNESCO as protected zones. The World Heritage Sites list is maintained by the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 "states parties" that are elected by their General Assembly. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture and heritage of humanity. The programme began with the "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage", which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. Since then, 195 states have ratified the convention, making it one of the most widely recognised international agreements and the world's most popular cultural programme.
== History ==
=== Origin ===
In 1954, the government of Egypt decided to build the new Aswan High Dam, whose resulting future reservoir it would eventually inundate a large stretch of the Nile valley containing cultural treasures of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia. In 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist them to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. This International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia resulted in the excavation and recording of hundreds of sites, the recovery of thousands of objects, as well as the salvage and relocation to higher ground of several important temples. The most famous of these are the temple complexes of Abu Simbel and Philae. The campaign ended in 1980 and was considered a success. To thank countries which especially contributed to the campaign's success, Egypt donated four temples; the Temple of Dendur was moved to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Temple of Debod to the Parque del Oeste in Madrid, the Temple of Taffeh to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, and the Temple of Ellesyia to Museo Egizio in Turin.The project cost US$80 million (equivalent to $284.14 million in 2022), about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries. The project's success led to other safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. Together with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, UNESCO then initiated a draft convention to protect cultural heritage.
=== Convention and background ===
The convention (the signed document of international agreement) guiding the work of the World Heritage Committee was developed over a seven-year period (1965–1972).
The United States initiated the idea of safeguarding places of high cultural or natural importance. A White House conference in 1965 called for a "World Heritage Trust" to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry". The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, which were presented in 1972 at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. Under the World Heritage Committee, signatory countries are required to produce and submit periodic data reporting providing the committee with an overview of each participating nation's implementation of the World Heritage Convention and a 'snapshot' of current conditions at World Heritage properties.Based on the draft convention that UNESCO had initiated, a single text was eventually agreed upon by all parties, and the "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. The Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of May 2023, it has been ratified by 195 states: 191 UN member states, 2 UN observer states (the Holy See and the State of Palestine), and 2 states in free association with New Zealand (the Cook Islands and Niue). Only two UN member states have not ratified the convention: Liechtenstein and Nauru.
== Objectives and positive results ==
By assigning places as World Heritage Sites, UNESCO wants to help to pass them on to future generations. Its motivation is that "[h]eritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today" and that both cultural and natural heritage are "irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration". UNESCO's mission with respect to World Heritage consists of eight sub targets. These include encouraging the commitment of countries and local population to World Heritage conservation in various ways, providing emergency assistance for sites in danger, offering technical assistance and professional training, and supporting States Parties' public awareness-building activities.Being listed as a World Heritage Site can positively affect the site, its environment, and interactions between them. A listed site gains international recognition and legal protection, and can obtain funds from among others the World Heritage Fund to facilitate its conservation under certain conditions. UNESCO reckons the restorations of the following four sites among its success stories: Angkor in Cambodia, the Old City of Dubrovnik in Croatia, the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Kraków in Poland, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. Additionally, the local population around a site may benefit from significantly increased tourism revenue. When there are significant interactions between people and the natural environment, these can be recognised as "cultural landscapes".
== Nomination process ==
A country must first identify its significant cultural and natural sites in a document known as the Tentative List. Next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File, which is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on its Tentative List. The two international bodies make recommendations to the World Heritage Committee for new designations. The Committee meets once a year to determine what nominated properties to add to the World Heritage List; sometimes it defers its decision or requests more information from the country that nominated the site. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one to be included on the list.
== Selection criteria ==
Until 2004, there were six sets of criteria for cultural heritage and four for natural heritage. In 2005, UNESCO modified these and now has one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value" and must meet at least one of the ten criteria.
=== Cultural ===
"To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius"
"To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design"
"To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living, or which has disappeared"
"To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history"
"To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change"
"To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance"
=== Natural ===
"To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance"
"To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features"
"To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals"
"To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation"
== Extensions and other modifications ==
A country may request to extend or reduce the boundaries, modify the official name, or change the selection criteria of one of its already listed sites. Any proposal for a significant boundary change or to modify the site's selection criteria must be submitted as if it were a new nomination, including first placing it on the Tentative List and then onto the Nomination File. A request for a minor boundary change, one that does not have a significant impact on the extent of the property or affect its "outstanding universal value", is also evaluated by the advisory bodies before being sent to the committee. Such proposals can be rejected by either the advisory bodies or the Committee if they judge it to be a significant change instead of a minor one. Proposals to change a site's official name are sent directly to the committee.
== Endangerment ==
A site may be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger if conditions threaten the characteristics for which the landmark or area was inscribed on the World Heritage List. Such problems may involve armed conflict and war, natural disasters, pollution, poaching, or uncontrolled urbanisation or human development. This danger list is intended to increase international awareness of the threats and to encourage counteractive measures. Threats to a site can be either proven imminent threats or potential dangers that could have adverse effects on a site.The state of conservation for each site on the danger list is reviewed yearly; after this, the Committee may request additional measures, delete the property from the list if the threats have ceased or consider deletion from both the List of World Heritage in Danger and the World Heritage List. Only three sites have ever been delisted: the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany, and the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City in the United Kingdom. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was directly delisted in 2007, instead of first being put on the danger list, after the Omani government decided to reduce the protected area's size by 90 per cent. The Dresden Elbe Valley was first placed on the danger list in 2006 when the World Heritage Committee decided that plans to construct the Waldschlösschen Bridge would significantly alter the valley's landscape. In response, Dresden City Council attempted to stop the bridge's construction. However, after several court decisions allowed the building of the bridge to proceed, the valley was removed from the World Heritage List in 2009. Liverpool's World Heritage status was revoked in July 2021, following developments (Liverpool Waters and Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium) on the northern docks of the World Heritage site leading to the "irreversible loss of attributes" on the site.The first global assessment to quantitatively measure threats to Natural World Heritage Sites found that 63 per cent of sites have been damaged by increasing human pressures including encroaching roads, agriculture infrastructure and settlements over the last two decades. These activities endanger Natural World Heritage Sites and could compromise their unique values. Of the Natural World Heritage Sites that contain forest, 91 per cent experienced some loss since 2000. Many of them are more threatened than previously thought and require immediate conservation action.Furthermore, the destruction of cultural assets and identity-establishing sites is one of the primary goals of modern asymmetrical warfare. Therefore, terrorists, rebels and mercenary armies deliberately smash archaeological sites, sacred and secular monuments and loot libraries, archives and museums. The UN, United Nations peacekeeping and UNESCO in cooperation with Blue Shield International are active in preventing such acts. "No strike lists" are also created to protect cultural assets from air strikes. However, only through cooperation with the locals can the protection of World Heritage Sites, archaeological finds, exhibits and archaeological sites from destruction, looting and robbery be implemented sustainably. The founding president of Blue Shield International Karl von Habsburg summed it up with the words: "Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible".
== Criticism ==
The UNESCO-administered project has attracted criticism. This was caused by perceived under-representation of heritage sites outside Europe, disputed decisions on site selection and adverse impact of mass tourism on sites unable to manage rapid growth in visitor numbers. A large lobbying industry has grown around the awards, because World Heritage listing can significantly increase tourism returns. Site listing bids are often lengthy and costly, putting poorer countries at a disadvantage. Eritrea's efforts to promote Asmara are one example.In 2016, the Australian government was reported to have successfully lobbied for the World Heritage Site Great Barrier Reef conservation efforts to be removed from a UNESCO report titled "World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate". The Australian government's actions, involving considerable expense for lobbying and visits for diplomats, were in response to their concern about the negative impact that an "at risk" label could have on tourism revenue at a previously designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2021, international scientists recommended UNESCO to put the Great Barrier Reef on the endangered list, as global climate change had caused a further negative state of the corals and water quality. Again, the Australian government campaigned against this, and in July 2021, the World Heritage Committee, made up diplomatic representatives of 21 countries, ignored UNESCO's assessment, based on studies of scientists, "that the reef was clearly in danger from climate change and so should be placed on the list." According to environmental protection groups, this "decision was a victory for cynical lobbying and that Australia, as custodians of the world's biggest coral reef, was now on probation."Several listed locations, such as Casco Viejo in Panama and Hội An in Vietnam, have struggled to strike a balance between the economic benefits of catering to greatly increased visitor numbers after the recognition and preserving the original culture and local communities.Another criticism is that there is a homogeneity to these sites, which contain similar styles, visitor centres, etc., meaning that a lot of the individuality of these sites has been removed to become more attractive to tourists.UNESCO has also been criticized for alleged geographic bias, racism, and colorism in world heritage inscription. A major chunk of all world heritage inscriptions are located in regions whose populations generally have lighter skin, including Europe, East Asia, and North America.
== Statistics ==
The World Heritage Committee has divided the world into five geographic zones which it calls regions: Africa, Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia and the Caucasus states are classified as European, while Mexico and the Caribbean are classified as belonging to the Latin America and Caribbean zone. The UNESCO geographic zones also give greater emphasis on administrative, rather than geographic associations. Hence, Gough Island, located in the South Atlantic, is part of the Europe and North America region because the British government nominated the site.
The table below includes a breakdown of the sites according to these zones and their classification as of January 2023:
=== Countries with 15 or more sites ===
This overview lists the 23 countries with 15 or more World Heritage Sites:
== See also ==
GoUNESCO – initiative to promote awareness and provide tools for laypersons to engage with heritage
Index of conservation articles
Lists of World Heritage Sites
Former UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Memory of the World Programme
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
Ramsar Convention – international agreement on wetlands recognition
== Footnotes ==
== References ==
=== Bibliography ===
== External links ==
UNESCO World Heritage portal – Official website (in English and French)
The World Heritage List – Official searchable list of all Inscribed Properties
KML file of the World Heritage List – Official KML version of the list for Google Earth and NASA Worldwind
UNESCO Information System on the State of Conservation of World Heritage properties – Searchable online tool with over 3,400 reports on World Heritage Sites
Official overview of the World Heritage Forest Program
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage – Official 1972 Convention Text in seven languages
The 1972 Convention at Law-Ref.org – Fully indexed and crosslinked with other documents
Protected Planet – View all Natural World Heritage Sites in the World Database on Protected Areas
World Heritage Site – Smithsonian Ocean Portal
UNESCO chair in ICT to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites
UNESCO World Heritage Sites showcased in Google Arts & Culture |
World_Heritage_Sites | Lists of World Heritage Sites | This is a list of the lists of World Heritage Sites. A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having special cultural or physical significance.
== General lists ==
== Lists by continent ==
=== Africa ===
=== Americas ===
=== Asia ===
=== Europe ===
=== Oceania ===
List of World Heritage Sites in Oceania (Australia, Kiribati, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and other Pacific Islands) |
World_Heritage_Sites | Organization of World Heritage Cities | The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization of 250 cities in which sites of the UNESCO World Heritage list are located. It was founded in 1993 in Fez, Morocco, during the second International Symposium of World Heritage Cities. The headquarters of the OWHC are located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Altogether the 250 member cities of the OWHC have a population of more than 130 million.
== History ==
During the first International Symposium of World Heritage Cities in Québec City in 1991, the participating 41 cities adopted the Québec City Declaration. This declaration states the desire to build a network of World Heritage Cities.
At the second International Symposium of World Heritage Cities in Fez, Morocco, the OWHC was founded in 1993. 56 participating cities decided on the mission, goals and powers of the organisation. At the Founding General Assembly, the member cities elected the first Board of Directors and Secretary General.
Since the first General Assembly, the member cities have been meeting every two years. Listed below are the years, locations and topics of the previous General Assemblies.
1995 Bergen (Norway): Communication between World Heritage Cities
1997 Evora (Portugal): Tourism and World Heritage – Challenges and Opportunities
1999 Santago de Compostela (Spain): Innovation in the Management of World Heritage Cities
2001 Puebla (Mexico): Prevention and Protection Measures for World Heritage Cities in Case of Disaster
2003 Rhodes (Greece)
2005 Cusco (Peru): Heritage of Humanity, Heritage with Humanity
2007 Kazan (Russian Federation): Heritage and Economics
2009 Quito (Ecuador): The revitalization of historic centres: how to involve all social actors?
2011 Sintra (Portugal): World Heritage Cities and Climate Change
2013 Oaxaca (Mexico): Heritage Cities, Sustainable Cities
2015 Arequipa (Peru): World Heritage Cities, Resilent Cities
2017 Ahmedabad (India): World Heritage cities
2017 Asmara (Eritrea): World Heritage cities, Africa's Modernest city
== Organization ==
Any city may become a member of the OWHC if it possesses the following two characteristics. Firstly the city has to be the location of a living urban fabric of historic or contemporary interest. Its outstanding universal value has been recognized by the UNESCO and therefore has been registered in the World Heritage List. Secondly the city has to adhere to the values of the OWHC.
The General Assembly is the paramount authority of the OWHC. In it the member cities are represented by their mayor. To be able to take part in the General Assembly and have the right to vote the city has to be a member in good standing (pay the annual membership fee). The General Assembly meets every two years. Special Assemblies may be called by members or the Board of Directors.
At the General Assembly the mayors discuss issues concerning the mission and objectives of the OWHC and formulate relevant recommendations to the Board of Directors. The Assembly guides the activities of the Organization, studies and approves the Organization's work program and controls the financial policy of the Organization.
The Board of Directors consists of eight mayors of members in good standing. It is elected by the General Assembly for two years. Directors may be elected two more times and therefore be directors for a maximum of six consecutive years. The Board of Directors meets at least once a year.
Among its duties are the implementation of the requests formulated and the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the planning of the organizations activities according to set up priorities. Furthermore, the Board of Directors examines the financial reports, authorizes the annual budget plan, prepares budget estimates and proposes their adoption to the general assembly. The Board of Directors also draws up the organization chart, the recruiting criteria and standards for the personnel of the General Secretariat and performs any other duty that could be assigned to it by the General Assembly. It is empowered to take all the measures required for the administration of the Organization and the attainment of its objectives.
The Board of Directors elects the President of the OWHC from among themselves. He is the chief executive officer of the OWHC and is tasked with the supervision, administration and management of the affairs of the Organization. He represents the OWHC at the national and international levels and binds the Organization in official acts.
The General Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General who is appointed by the General Assembly for a four-year term. He oversees the execution of mandates by the members, the day-to-day administration and personnel management and hiring. He also coordinates the activities of the OWHC, prepares the budget and the financial reports and ensures that the decisions of the Board of Directors and those of the members taken at the General Assembly are carried out.
The General Secretariat is supported in its duties by seven Regional Secretariats. They are groupings of cities that share cultural, linguistic or geographical affinities and/or have the same concerns and needs. Every member city of the OWHC is allowed to be part of one or more regions. The members of one region have to choose a city from among themselves as domicile for the Regional Secretariat, choose a Regional Coordinator and meet at least once a year. They serve as a link between the member cities of their particular region and the General Secretariat.
The seven Regional Secretariats are
Regensburg (Germany) for the North-West European Region
Budapest (Hungary) for the Central and Eastern European Region
Córdoba (Spain) for the South-European and Mediterranean Region
Valparaiso (Chile) for the Latinamerican and Caribbean Region
Kazan (Russian Federation) for the Euro-Asian Region
Tunis (Tunisia) for Africa and the Middle East
Gyeongju (South Korea) for the Asia-Pacific RegionTo support the General Secretariat the Regional Secretariats assist in producing documents intended for members, data collection and the organization of relevant events. They aim to make it possible for each member to participate more extensively in the activities of the Organization, to foster communication and the exchange of information amongst themselves and to promote the development of the Organization and its presence and influence. To accomplish those aims the Regional Secretariats organize activities intended to promote the Organization's values and objectives.
The OWHC has five official languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. Of those English, French and Spanish are working languages.
== Goals ==
During the founding of the OWHC in 1993 the member cities defined the goals and mission the Organization should have in the future. At the fourth General Assembly in Evora (Portugal) in 1997 the OWHC confirmed the Organization's association with the UNESCO and their joint efforts regarding World Heritage Cities in the UNESCO-OWHC agreement.
The OWHC aims for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention (Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted by the UNESCO in 1972). It encourages cooperation and exchange of information and expertise among its member cities on both regional and international levels. The OWHC works in close collaboration with other organizations pursuing similar goals while promoting action likely to support the efforts of cities located in developing countries. It assists members to adapt and improve their management methods in relation to the specific requirements of having a site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Moreover, the organization ensures better links between research undertaken by specialists and the needs of the local managements. In addition the Organization intends to help develop a sense of solidarity among its member cities and to sensitize the populations to heritage values and their protection.
== Tasks and projects ==
The OWHC organizes meetings on international and regional levels. In addition to the biennial General Assemblies there are World Congresses, conferences, seminars and workshops. All those meetings deal with the challenges in the realm of management and strategies pertaining to the preservation and development of historic cities. To accomplish its goals the OWHC additionally offers various activities, programs and projects which aim to promote and support the maintenance, recognition and development of world heritage.
Current projects include Youth on the Trail of World Heritage, City2City, The Jean-Paul-L’Allier Prize for Heritage, an International Video Production Competition, the Solidarity day of World Heritage Cities, Mayors&Heritage and Case Studies.
== Member cities ==
=== Africa ===
Agadez ( Niger)
Cidade Velha ( Cape Verde)
Dakar ( Senegal)
Grand-Bassam ( Côte d'Ivoire)
Harar Jugol ( Ethiopia)
Island of Mozambique ( Mozambique)
Kashusha ( Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Lamu ( Kenya)
Mombasa ( Kenya)
Saint-Louis ( Senegal)
Timbuktu ( Mali)
Zanzibar ( Tanzania)
=== Arab states ===
Aleppo ( Syria)
Algiers ( Algeria)
Cairo ( Egypt)
Damascus ( Syria)
Erbil ( Iraq)
Essaouira ( Morocco)
Fez ( Morocco)
Ghadames ( Libya)
Ghardaïa ( Algeria)
Jeddah ( Saudi Arabia)
Kairouan ( Tunisia)
Marrakesh ( Morocco)
Meknes ( Morocco)
Muharraq ( Bahrain)
Rabat ( Morocco)
Sana'a ( Yemen)
Shibam ( Yemen)
Sousse ( Tunisia)
Tétouan ( Morocco)
Tunis ( Tunisia)
Zabid ( Yemen)
=== Asia and the Pacific ===
Ahmedabad ( India)
Akko ( Israel)
Aktau ( Kazakhstan, observer)
Amer ( India)
Andong ( South Korea)
Anuradhapura ( Sri Lanka)
Bam ( Iran)
Bergama ( Turkey)
Bhaktapur ( Nepal)
Boeun ( South Korea)
Bursa ( Turkey)
Buyeo County ( South Korea)
Chengde ( China)
Denpasar ( Indonesia)
Diyarbakir ( Turkey)
Dujiangyan ( China)
Galle ( Sri Lanka)
George Town ( Malaysia)
Gianyar ( Indonesia)
Gochang County ( South Korea)
Gongju ( South Korea)
Goris City ( Armenia, observer)
Gwangju ( South Korea)
Gyeongju ( South Korea)
Haenam ( South Korea)
Hapcheon County ( South Korea)
Hoi An ( Vietnam)
Hué ( Vietnam)
Hwasun County ( South Korea)
Icherisheher ( Azerbaijan)
Istanbul ( Turkey)
Iksan ( South Korea)
Jerusalem ( Israel)
Jongno-Gu ( South Korea)
Kandy ( Sri Lanka)
Karangasem ( Indonesia, observer)
Kathmandu ( Nepal)
Khiva ( Uzbekistan)
Konya ( Turkey)
Kyoto ( Japan)
Lalitpur (Patan) ( Nepal)
Levuka ( Fiji)
Lijiang ( China)
Luang Prabang ( Laos)
Macao ( China)
Melaka ( Malaysia)
Miagao ( Philippines)
Nara ( Japan)
Pyay ( Myanmar, observer)
Safranbolu ( Turkey)
Selçuk ( Turkey)
Seongbuk ( South Korea)
Singapore ( Singapore)
Surakarta ( Indonesia, observer)
Suwon ( South Korea)
Suzhou ( China)
Tel-Aviv-Yafo ( Israel)
Turkistan ( Kazakhstan)
Vigan ( Philippines)
Yangsan ( South Korea)
Yazd ( Iran)
Yeongju ( South Korea)
Yerevan ( Armenia, observer)
=== Europe ===
Alcalá de Henares ( Spain)
Amsterdam ( Netherlands)
Angra do Heroísmo ( Portugal)
Aranjuez ( Spain)
Augsburg ( Germany)
Avila ( Spain)
Baeza ( Spain)
Bamberg ( Germany)
Banská Štiavnica ( Slovakia)
Bardejov ( Slovakia)
Bath ( United Kingdom)
Beemster ( Netherlands)
Bergen ( Norway)
Berlin ( Germany)
Bern ( Switzerland)
Bernau ( Germany)
Biertan ( Romania)
Bolgar ( Russia)
Bordeaux ( France)
Brugge ( Belgium)
Brussels ( Belgium)
Budapest ( Hungary)
Cáceres ( Spain)
Carcassonne ( France)
Český Krumlov ( Czech Republic)
Chorá of Patmos ( Greece)
Coimbra ( Portugal)
Córdoba ( Spain)
Cuenca ( Spain)
Derbent ( Russia)
Dessau ( Germany)
Dubrovnik ( Croatia)
Edinburgh ( United Kingdom)
Ejmiatsin ( Armenia)
Elvas ( Portugal)
Évora ( Portugal)
Fontainebleau ( France)
Granada ( Spain)
Graz ( Austria)
Guimarães ( Portugal)
Hamburg ( Germany)
Ibiza ( Spain)
Istanbul ( Turkey)
Karlskrona ( Sweden)
Kazan ( Russia)
Kolding ( Denmark)
Kotor ( Montenegro)
Kraków ( Poland)
Kutná Hora ( Czech Republic)
L'viv ( Ukraine)
Le Havre ( France)
Lübeck ( Germany)
Luxembourg ( Luxembourg)
Lyon ( France)
Mérida ( Spain)
Modena ( Italy)
Mont-Saint-Michel ( France)
Moscow ( Russia)
Mostar ( Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Nancy ( France)
Naumburg ( Germany)
Nessebar ( Bulgaria)
Notodden ( Norway)
Novgorod ( Russia)
Ohrid ( Macedonia)
Oporto ( Portugal)
Oviedo ( Spain)
Padula ( Italy)
Palazzolo Acreide ( Italy)
Paris ( France)
Potsdam ( Germany)
Prague ( Czech Republic)
Provins ( France)
Quedlinburg ( Germany)
Rauma ( Finland)
Regensburg ( Germany)
Rhodes ( Greece)
Riga ( Latvia)
Roros ( Norway)
Rotterdam ( Netherlands)
Saint Petersburg ( Russia)
Salamanca ( Spain)
Salzburg ( Austria)
San Cristóbal de La Laguna ( Spain)
San Gimignano ( Italy)
Santiago de Compostela ( Spain)
Segovia ( Spain)
Sighisoara ( Romania)
Sintra ( Portugal)
Split ( Croatia)
Stockholm ( Sweden)
Stralsund ( Germany)
Strasbourg ( France)
Suzdal ( Russia)
Tallinn ( Estonia)
Tarragona ( Spain)
Telč ( Czech Republic)
Telford ( United Kingdom)
Tinn ( Norway)
Toledo ( Spain)
Torun ( Poland)
Trebíc ( Czech Republic)
Trogir ( Croatia)
Úbeda ( Spain)
Urbino ( Italy)
Valletta ( Malta)
Vatican City ( Holy See)
Vienna ( Austria)
Vilnius ( Lithuania)
Vinje ( Norway)
Visby ( Sweden)
Warsaw ( Poland)
Wismar ( Germany)
Yaroslavl ( Russia)
Zamość ( Poland)
=== Americas ===
Arequipa ( Peru)
Belo Horizonte ( Brazil)
Brasilia ( Brazil)
Bridgetown ( Barbados)
Camaguey ( Cuba)
Campeche ( Mexico)
Cartagena ( Colombia)
Colonia del Sacramento ( Uruguay)
Coro ( Venezuela)
Cuenca ( Ecuador)
Cuernavaca ( Mexico)
Cuzco ( Peru)
Diamantina ( Brazil)
Fray Bentos ( Uruguay)
Guadalajara ( Mexico)
Guanajuato ( Mexico)
Havana ( Cuba)
Lima ( Peru)
Lunenburg ( Canada)
Mexico City ( Mexico)
Morelia ( Mexico)
Oaxaca ( Mexico)
Olinda ( Brazil)
Ouro Preto ( Brazil)
Panama ( Panama)
Philadelphia ( United States)
Potosí ( Bolivia)
Puebla ( Mexico)
Quebec ( Canada)
Querétaro ( Mexico)
Quito ( Ecuador)
Rimac ( Peru)
Rio de Janeiro ( Brazil)
Salvador de Bahia ( Brazil)
San Antonio ( United States)
San Miguel de Allende ( Mexico)
San Pablo Villa de Mitla ( Mexico)
Santa Cruz de Mompox ( Colombia)
São Luís ( Brazil)
St George's ( Bermuda)
Sucre ( Bolivia)
Tlacotalpan ( Mexico)
Trinidad ( Cuba)
Trujillo ( Peru, observer)
Valparaíso ( Chile)
Willemstad ( Curaçao)
Xochimilco ( Mexico)
Zacatecas ( Mexico)
== See also ==
List of micro-regional organizations
== References ==
http://www.ovpm.org/
https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044101/http://www.ovpm.org/sites/ovpm/files/documents/general_by-laws.pdf
== Links ==
Cities |
World_Heritage_Sites | World Heritage Sites by country | As of January 2023, there are a total of 1,157 World Heritage Sites located across 167 countries, of which 900 are cultural, 218 are natural and 39 are mixed properties. The countries have been divided by the World Heritage Committee into five geographic zones: Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. With 58 selected areas, Italy is the country with the most sites on the list.Of the 195 state parties of the World Heritage Convention, 28 have no properties inscribed on the World Heritage List: The Bahamas, Bhutan, Brunei, Burundi, Comoros, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kuwait, Liberia, Maldives, Monaco, Niue, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, and Tuvalu.
== List of countries with World Heritage Sites ==
== Countries with major concentrations of World Heritage Sites ==
This overview lists the 32 countries with 10 or more World Heritage Sites:
== See also ==
Index of conservation articles
Lists of World Heritage Sites
Former UNESCO World Heritage Sites
List of World Heritage in Danger
List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription
World Heritage Earthen Architecture Programme § Sites
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Official website
List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Official website
World Heritage Site – World Heritage Details website
360° panophotography – The World Heritage List in pano-photography and virtual tours
VRheritage.org – Documentation of World Heritage Sites
UNESCO World Heritage List – Complete list with links and map of all sites
whc.unesco.org – The Official World Heritage List in Google Earth (en français)
whc.kmz – The World Heritage List in Google Earth (en français)
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage at Law-Ref.org – Fully indexed and crosslinked with other documents
Organization of World Heritage Cities – Dealing with urban sites only |
World_Heritage_Sites | International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia | The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was the relocation of 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. The success of the project, in particular the creation of a coalition of 50 countries behind the project, led to the creation of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, and thus to the modern system of World Heritage Sites.The project began as a result of the building of the Aswan Dam, at the Nile's first cataract (shallow rapids), a location which defined the traditional boundary of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The building of the dam was to result in the creation of Lake Nasser, which would submerge the banks of the Nile along its entire 479 km (298 mi) length south of the dam – flooding the entire area of historical Lower Nubia. Vittorino Veronese, director general of UNESCO described it in 1960: "It is not easy to choose between a heritage of the past and the present well-being of a people, living in need in the shadow of one of history's most splendid legacies, it is not easy to choose between temples and crops."It was described in the UNESCO Courier as "the greatest archaeological rescue operation of all time".In April 1979, the monuments were inscribed on the World Heritage List as the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae, as one of the second group of properties added to the list (the first 12 had been added in 1978).
== Overview ==
In 1959, an international donations campaign was launched by Egypt and Sudan to save the monuments of Lower Nubia: the southernmost relics of the Ancient Egyptian civilization were under threat from the impending creation of Lake Nasser, that was about to result from the construction of the Aswan High Dam.The number of relocated monuments have been stated as 22 or 24 depending on how an individual site is defined. Only one archaeological site in Lower Nubia, Qasr Ibrim, remains in its original location and above water; previously a cliff-top settlement, it was transformed into an island. The relocated sites can be grouped as follows:
Two temple groups moved nearby to nearly identical sites
Eleven temples rebuilt and grouped in three oases overlooking Lake Nasser
Seven temples placed in two museums
Five sent to Western museums as "grants-in-return" for technical and financial assistanceThe list of relocated monuments is as follows:
=== Historical images, monuments in situ ===
== Description and contributions ==
=== Abu Simbel ===
One scheme to save the Abu Simbel temples was based on an idea by William MacQuitty to build a clear freshwater dam around the temples, with the water inside kept at the same height as the Nile. There were to be underwater viewing chambers. In 1962 the idea was made into a proposal by architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry and civil engineer Ove Arup. They considered that raising the temples ignored the effect of erosion of the sandstone by desert winds. However, the proposal, though acknowledged to be extremely elegant, was rejected.The salvage of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964 by a multinational team of archeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators working together under the UNESCO banner; it cost some US$40 million at the time (equal to $300 million in 2017 dollars). Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons, averaging 20 tons), dismantled, lifted and reassembled in a new location 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the river, in one of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history. Some structures were even saved from under the waters of Lake Nasser.
=== Philae ===
In 1902, the Aswan Low Dam was completed on the Nile River by the British. This threatened to submerge many ancient landmarks, including the temple complex of Philae. The height of the dam was raised twice, from 1907 to 1912 and from 1929 to 1934, and the island of Philae was nearly always flooded. In fact, the only times that the complex was not underwater was when the dam's sluices were open from July to October. During this period it was proposed that the temples be relocated, piece by piece, to nearby islands, such as Bigeh or Elephantine. However, the temples' foundations and other architectural supporting structures were strengthened instead. Although the buildings were physically secure, the island's attractive vegetation and the colors of the temples' reliefs were washed away. Also, the bricks of the Philae temples soon became encrusted with silt and other debris carried by the Nile. With each inundation the situation worsened and in the 1960s the island was submerged up to a third of the buildings all year round.The work began in 1972, and in 1974 a large coffer dam was built, constructed of two rows of steel plates between which a 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of sand was tipped. Any water that seeped through was pumped away. Next the monuments were cleaned and measured, by using photogrammetry, a method that enables the exact reconstruction of the original size of the building blocks that were used by the ancients. Then every building was dismantled into about 40,000 units from 2 to 25 tons, and then transported to the nearby Island of Agilkia, situated on higher ground some 500 metres (1,600 ft) away. Foundations of the Philae monuments were ready on Agilkia by April 1977, and the transfer itself took place between 1977 and 1980.
=== Individual Egyptian campaigns ===
In addition to participating directly in the high profile salvage operations of Abu Simbel and Philae, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization carried out the rescue of many smaller temples and monuments alone using their own financial and technical means. As early as 1960 Egypt had started to rescue the temples of Taffa, Debod and Qertassi, followed by Dakka and Maharraqa in 1961 and Dendur in 1962. The temples of Wadi es-Sebua and Beit el Wali and the rock tomb of Pennut at Aniba were moved in 1964 with the support of a US grant, whilst the subsequent re-erection was carried out with Egyptian resources. The Temple of Derr was rescued in 1965, and the temples of Gerf Husein, the chapel of Abu Oda (cut out of rock), the chapels of Qasr Ibrim (the rest of which has remained in situ), and many rock inscriptions and drawings, were also saved.
=== West German operation at Kalabsha ===
Early in the campaign, the West German authorities offered to dismantle and re-erect the Temple of Kalabsha, the largest temple in all of Lower Nubia, with costs paid by West Germany. Germany's interest in making a significant contribution stemmed from its Egyptological heritage, including Lepsius' milestone work Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien, as more specifically the work of Franz Christian Gau who had documented Kalabsha as early as 1819.
=== French operation at Amada ===
In addition to the work of French archaeologists at Abu Simbel, the French government provided significant technical and financial support for the removal of the Temple of Amada. Amada was considered "one of the most distinctive and best preserved examples of the art of the 18th dynasty."
=== Wider archaeological campaign ===
Given the impending flooding of a wide area, Egypt and Sudan encouraged archaeological teams from across the world to carry out work as broadly as possible. Approximately 40 teams from across the world came to the region, to explore an area of approximately 500 km in length.In addition to the relocation operations, many countries participated in excavation and preservation work. Some of this work took place at the CEDAE (Centre d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte, in English the Documentation and Study Centre for the History of the Art and Civilization of Ancient Egypt), founded in Cairo in 1955 to coordinate the academic efforts:
Egypt: Five campaigns by the University of Cairo at Aniba. One campaign by the University of Alexandria at Gebel Adda. Eight excavation campaigns by the Antiquities Service on various sites. Three campaigns by the Antiquities Service for cutting out rock drawings. Removal of eight monuments, work in two others, dismantling of the front part of the temple of Amada and financial contribution to the work for saving this temple and those of Wadi es-Sebua, Beit el-Wali and Aniba.
Sudan: Since 1960, successive expeditions by the Antiquities Service, led by a Unesco expert, for a general survey of Sudanese Nubia; excavations at some of the most important sites.Argentina: Three archaeological campaigns in the Sudan by the National University of La Plata
Austria: Six archaeological campaigns in Egypt by the University of Vienna, in Egypt. Sending of an epigraphist to the CEDAE.
Belgium: Sending of three experts to the CEDAE. Photogrammetric and epigraphic records of five monuments in the Sudan. Contribution to the cost of transferring the temple of Semna, Sudan.
Canada: One archaeological campaign in Egypt by the Royal Ontario Museum
Czechoslovakia: Five expeditions in Egypt by the Institute of Classical Archaeology of Charles University
Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden: Four campaigns in Sudan by a joint mission. Finland alone: General surveying to the south of Gemai (near Wadi Halfa in Sudan).
France: Six campaigns in Egypt by the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. Two campaigns in Egypt by the University of Strasbourg. Photogrammetric study. Sending of nine experts to the CEDAE. Removal and reconstruction of the Temple of Amada, together with Egypt. Seven campaigns in Sudan by the Commission Nationale des Fouilles". Payment of the costs involved in transferring the temple of Aksha, Sudan
West Germany: Three campaigns by the German Archaeological Institute
East Germany: Expeditions by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina to record the rock inscriptions and drawings and the ground-plan of the ruins of Attiri, Sudan.
Ghana: Three campaigns in the Sudan by the University of Ghana
Hungary: One campaign in Egypt by Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)
India: One campaign in Egypt by the Archaeological Survey of India
Italy: Six campaigns in Egypt by the University of Milan, as well as the sending of three experts to the CEDAE. One campaign in Egypt by the Sapienza University of Rome. Three campaigns in Egypt by Museo Egizio (Turin), including financial contribution from city and museum for cutting out of the chapel of the Temple of Ellesyia. Experimental work with sounding methods by the Fondazione Lerici.
Netherlands: Two campaigns by Leyden Museum, in Egypt. Preliminary studies for saving the Island of Philae. Contribution to the cost of saving the temple of Kumna (Sudan).
Poland: One campaign in Egypt and four in Sudan by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw. Sending of four architects to the CEDAE.
Spain: Four excavation campaigns and four campaigns to record and cut out rock inscriptions, in Egypt. Three excavation campaigns, in the Sudan.
Switzerland: Two excavation campaigns in Egypt by the Schweizerisches Institut für Ägyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde in Kairo, one in co-operation with the University of Chicago, and one in co-operation with the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. Architectural records of a temple and leadership of the Antiquities service expedition to cut out rock inscriptions in 1964. Sending of an expert to the CEDAE by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
United Kingdom: Four campaigns in Egypt and two in Sudan by the Egypt Exploration Society. Two campaigns by the Egypt Exploration Society and the University of London for the general survey of Nubia. Sending of two experts to the CEDAE. Sending of an epigraphist (in co-operation with Brown University). Contribution to the dismantling of the temple of Buhen.
United States: In Egypt: Four campaigns by the University of Chicago in Egypt, including one in co-operation with the Swiss Institute of Architectural Research. Complete surveying and recording of a temple by the University of Chicago. Four campaigns by Yale and Pennsylvania Universities. Pre-history research on the Abu Simbel site by Columbia University. Four campaigns by Yale University. Sending of an epigraphist by Brown University (Provi-dence) in collaboration with the Egypt Exploration Society. Four campaigns by the Museum of New Mexico (pre-history survey). Four campaigns by the American Research Centre. Contribution by the United States Government for saving the temples of Beit el- Wali, Wadi es-Sebua and Aniba. In Sudan: Three excavation campaigns by the University of Chicago. One pre-history survey campaign by Columbia University. Three pre-history survey campaigns by the Museum of New Mexico. Two excavation campaigns and one architectural survey campaign by the University of California. Sending of an epigraphist by Brown University (Providence). Three pre-history investigation campaigns by the University of Colorado Museum. Contribution by the United States Government for the transfer and re-erection of the temple of Buhen.
Soviet Union: One survey and excavation campaign, in Egypt. General surveying and recording of rock inscriptions, in Egypt.
Yugoslavia: Sending of two architects to the CEDAE. Removal of Christian wall paintings (two experts), in Egypt. Removal of Christian wall paintings (two experts), in the Sudan.
=== Financial contributions ===
The table below summarizes the contributions towards the project by the global coalition of nations. The vast majority of these contributions funded the operations at Abu Simbel and Philae.
== Timeline ==
A timeline of the key dates of the campaign is shown below:
== World Heritage Site ==
In April 1979, the monuments were inscribed on the World Heritage List as the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae". The inscribed area includes ten sites, five of which were relocated (all south of the city of Aswan), and five of which remain in their original position (near to the city of Aswan):Relocated sites, south of the Aswan Low Dam
Abu Simbel
New Amada
New Wadi Sebua
New Kalabsha
Philae temple complex (Agilkia Island)Sites in their original location, north of the Aswan Low Dam – although these five sites are grouped within the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae", they are neither Nubian, nor between Abu Simbel and Philae
Qubbet el-Hawa (Old and Middle Kingdom Tombs)
Ruins of town of Elephantine
Stone quarries and Unfinished obelisk, Aswan
Monastery of St. Simeon, Aswan
Fatimid Cemetery of Aswan
== Gallery ==
== Bibliography ==
=== UNESCO publications ===
A Common trust: the preservation of the ancient monuments of Nubia, 1960, UNESCO CUA.60/D.22/A
Save the treasures of Nubia: UNESCO launches a world appeal, 1960, UNESCO Courier
Abu Simbel: now or never, 1961, UNESCO Courier
Nubia's sands reveal their last secrets, 1964, UNESCO Courier
Victory in Nubia: the greatest archaeological rescue operation of all time, 1980, UNESCO Courier
Säve-Söderbergh, Torgny (1987). Temples and Tombs of Ancient Nubia: The International Rescue Campaign at Abu Simbel, Philae and Other Sites. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-92-3-102383-5. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
Success stories, 2019, UNESCO
=== Other publications ===
Desroches-Noblecourt, Christiane (1993). La Grande Nubiade ou Le parcours d'une égyptologue. Le Livre de poche (in French). Stock. ISBN 978-2-253-06366-7. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
Larson, J.A. (2006). Lost Nubia: A Centennial Exhibit of Photographs from the 1905-1907 Egyptian Expedition of the University of Chicago (PDF). Oriental Institute Museum publications. Oriental Institute. ISBN 978-1-885923-45-5. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
Zurinaga Fernández-Toribio, Salomé (6 January 2017). "Rescue Archaeology and Spanish Journalism: The Abu Simbel Operation". AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology. JAS Arqueologia. 3: 46. doi:10.23914/ap.v3i0.29. ISSN 2171-6315.
Allais, Lucia (2012). "The Design of the Nubian Desert: Monuments, Mobility, and the Space of Global Culture". Governing by Design: Architecture, Economy, and Politics in the Twentieth Century. The Aggregate Architectural History Collaborative. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 179ff. ISBN 978-0-8229-7789-6. Retrieved 12 October 2022. See also: [1]
== See also ==
Tabqa Dam#Rescue excavations in the Lake Assad region
== References ==
== External links ==
Video on YouTube
Video on YouTube
Video on YouTube |
World_Heritage_Sites | Kakum National Park | Kakum National Park, located in the coastal environs of the Central Region of Ghana, covers an area of 375 square kilometres (145 sq mi). Established in 1931 as a reserve, it was gazetted as a national park only in 1992 after an initial survey of avifauna was conducted. The area is covered with tropical forest. The uniqueness of this park lies in the fact that it was established at the initiative of the local people and not by the State Department of wildlife who are responsible for wildlife preservation in Ghana. It is one of only 3 locations in Africa with a canopy walkway, which is 350 metres (1,150 ft) long and connects seven tree tops which provides access to the forest.The most notable endangered species of fauna in the park are Diana monkey, giant bongo antelope, yellow-backed duiker and African elephant. It is also an Important Bird Area recognized by the Bird Life International with the bird area fully overlapping the park area. The bird inventory confirmed 266 species in the park, including eight species of global conservation concern. One of these species of concern is the white-breasted guineafowl. Nine species of hornbill and the grey parrot have been recorded. And it also has more than 600 butterflies as well, and a new species was discovered in 1993. As of 2012, the densest population of forest elephants in Ghana is located in Kakum.The Museums and Monuments Board of the Republic of Ghana has proposed that UNESCO declare the park a natural World Heritage Site under criteria vii and x. The submission made in 2000 is listed under the tentative List of World Heritage Sites.
== History ==
In 1931, the area drained by the headwater catchment of the Kakum River was declared a forest reserve and managed by the Forestry Division. During this period, logging operations were prevalent, particularly of the mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) tree species. The logging operations continued till 1989 when the management of the reserve was transferred to the Wildlife Department.A Feasibility Study and Preliminary 5-year Management Plan for the development of Kakum National Park as an ecotourism destination were developed in 1990 under a project conducted for the United Nations Development Program (Dudley 1990). The Feasibility Study included preliminary biodiversity assessments of the flora and fauna of Kakum Forest Reserve and adjoining Assin-Attandanso Forest Reserve, and an elephant population survey (Dudley 1990; Dudley, Mensah-Ntiamoah,& Kpelle 1992; Dudley 1995). The Feasibility Study and Preliminary 5-year Management Plan were developed in a collaborative and consultative process involving a consulting biologist, forestry officials, wildlife officials, local communities, Ghanaian universities, regional government officials, and other key stakeholders (Dudley 1992).
It must be recognized that one, Mr. Ebenezer Kwasi Agbley, the then Central Regional Manager for Ghana Tourist Board gave birth to this dream under a program he initiated and implemented - Tourism Development Scheme for Central Region (TODSCER)which was expanded and became CENTRAL REGION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM under a later created Commission - Central Region Development Commission(CECECOM). He showcased the TODSCER program in America and drew a number of sponsoring institutions both bilateral and multi-lateral from the donor community for the project to its maturity. The project later brought on board Game & Wildlife to manage and maintain the Park.
In 1992, the Wildlife Department gazetted Kakum to be a park under the Wildlife Reserves Regulations (Ll 1525) as the Kakum Conservation Area including the Assin Attandanso Forest Reserve. After a survey of the faunal richness of the conservation area, it was split into the Kakum National Park and the Assin Attandanso Forest Reserve during the same year. The split was justified with the argument that Cape Coast and 33 other towns and villages continue to need timber from the forest and potable water provided by the Kakum River.
== Geography ==
The Kakum River originates within the park, and hence the park is named after the river. Its tributaries which flow through the park are Obuo, Kakum, Afia, Sukuma, Nemimi, Aboabo and Ajuesu. It is located 33 kilometres (21 mi) north of Cape Coast and Elmina near the small village of Abrafo. It is easily accessible by taxis from the town center, and through organized tour buses. The park's welcome center contains a restaurant, lodge, picnic area, camping area, and a wildlife education center. The park is surrounded by 33 villages and also agricultural lands where food crops and coco are grown.
The park lies within an elevation range of 135–250 metres (443–820 ft). It is part of the Guineo-Congolian region under IUCN Category II. The reserve which borders this park is the Assin Attandanso Resource Reserve (game production reserve). Its habitat consists mainly of moist evergreen forest and also seasonal dry semi-deciduous forest. The habitat is formed of 90% forest area, 36% artificial terrestrial landscape while the remaining area has not been categorised. The park area receives an annual average rainfall of 1380 mm.
== Flora ==
The dominant vegetation type in Kakum is the wet forest. Other vegetation types encountered in the park include swamp forests (permanent and periodic) and riverine forests. Also reported are the Boval vegetation of Hildegardia barteri-Polycarpaea tenuifolia community found in exposed granite rocks and in shallow soils. 105 species of vascular plants consisting of 57 trees, 10 shrubs, 9 climbers, 17 herbs and 12 grasses are reported from the park. Epiphytic plants are also reported to grow on the trees and shrubs are orchids and ferns and also figs.Logging operations were prevalent in the park between 1975 and 1989. It is, however, noted that the logged areas have regenerated secondary forest consisting of a thick green mantle and vine tangles. This does not extend over the entire park, as much of the dense forest still remains conserved.Specifically IUCN identified list of flora are listed below under subheadings of Moist forests, Swamp forest, Periodic swamp forest, Riverine forest and Boval vegetation.
Moist forests
Swamp forests
Riverine forest (Edaphic forest)Pseudospondias microcarpa
Ceiba pentandra
Xylopia spp
Uapaca guineensisBoval vegetationSansevieria liberica
Commelina spp
Hildegardia barteri (bloom as red flowers during Christmas)
Elaeophorbia grandifolia
Sterculia tragacantha
Ceiba pathandra
Albizia ferruginea
Ricinodendron heudelotii
== Fauna ==
The park contains rare animals, including forest elephants, forest buffalo, civet and cats. Two hundred forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), potto (Perodicticus potto), Demidoff's galago (Galago demidovii), African civet (Viverra civetta), two-spotted palm civet (Nandinia binotata), leopard (Panthera pardus), bongo (Tragelaphus euryceros), many species of duikers (small antelopes), red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus pictus), giant forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni), long-tailed pangolin (Manis tetradactyla), white-belied pangolin (Manis tricuspis), giant pangolin (Manis gigantea), many species of forest squirrels, North African crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata), dwarf crocodile (Osteolamus tetraspis), monitor lizards, Home's hinged tortoise, serrated tortoise and many other fauna are reported from the park.Primates in the park include the Colobus vellerosus (VU), Procolobus verus (LR/nt), and Cercopithecus diana roloway (CR).The initial Feasibility Study for the establishment of Kakum National Park included a preliminary biodiversity survey of the fauna of the Kakum Forest Reserve and adjoining Assin-Attandanso Forest Reserve, and a survey of the area's resident African Forest Elephant population. The elephant population size in 1990 was estimated on the basis of spoor data to be 100-150 individuals (Dudley, Mensah-Ntiamoah, & Kpelle 1992).
=== Avifauna ===
The Bird Life International included the park area under its list of Bird Life Areas in Ghana in 2002 under the criteria A1, A2, A3. The species recorded are 266 and the species though identified but yet to be confirmed are 56. All the species are resident and most of them are under the Least Concern categorization. The globally threatened species listed under the Near Threatened category are: green-tailed bristlebill (Bleda eximius), red-fronted antpecker (Parmoptila rubrifrons), rufous-winged illadopsis (Illadopsis rufescens) and copper-tailed glossy-starling (Lamprotornis cupreocauda). The Vulnerable species identified are white-breasted guineafowl (Agelastes meleagrides), brown-cheeked hornbill (Bycanistes cylindricus), yellow-casqued hornbill (Ceratogymna elata) and yellow-bearded greenbul (Criniger olivaceus).
== Special features ==
A particular feature is the Komfo Boateng's Shrine, a circular rock near Aboabo, of approximately 100 metres (330 ft) diameter with Bovine flora of Ceiba pathandra, Albizia furruginea and Ricinodendron heudelotii.
The park has a long series of hanging bridges known as the Kakum Canopy Walkway at the forest canopy level to provide access to the forest, which is a unique feature in the entire African continent. At 40 m (130 ft) height, the visitor can approach the limits and view plants and animals from a vantage point that would otherwise be inaccessible to people. The canopy walkway passes over 7 bridges and runs over a length of 330 m (1,080 ft). Some of the tree canopies are more than 50 metres (160 ft) in height. Built with wire rope, aluminium ladders, wooden planks, it is secured by a series of netting for safety purposes. An additional viewing platform that will allow visitors to climb into the canopy without braving the canopy walkway is currently under construction. The Canopy Walkway was built by two Canadian engineers from Vancouver with the assistance of five (5) Ghanaians - the latter (staff of Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust- managers of the Kakum National Park Visitor Centre)have been maintaining the facility ever since.
The original concept for establishment of a canopy walkway at this location was the inspiration of Joseph Dudley, a conservation biologist recruited by Conservation International who coordinated the drafting of the Feasibility Study and Preliminary 5-year Management Plan for the development of Kakum National Park as an ecotourism destination under a project conducted for the United Nations Development Program (Dudley 1990).
The Park can now boast of a Tree House which sits about 20metres from the forest floor in the trees in the Secondary Forest. This facility which houses close to 25 people provides an adventurous opportunity for campers to especially at night experience forest life. Due to the thickness of the rainforest, a number of the fauna (genets, leopards, etc.) are active in the night searching for prey to feed on. The Tree House thus provide a close proximity to the wildlife of Kakum. A trained Tour Guide is always on hand to take campers on the night hikes as well as sharing Folklore of the Kakum Forest by a bonfire. It is an intriguing adventure.
== Threats and conservation ==
The threats faced in the park which are being addressed relate to poaching; visible proof has been recorded in the form of "camps, empty matchboxes, pieces of rubber tyres, used carbide, gunshots and cartridges"), hunting, land encroachments and chainsaw operation. Human-wildlife conflicts around the park are due to park elephants damaging the agricultural crops of the farmers. To prevent raids by elephants during the cropping season on the agricultural fields, farmers have adopted the practice of building pepper fences around their lands to protect their farms.The park is administered by the Wildlife Department of Ghana. Under the direction of Conservation International and with funding support from USAID, Kakum is considered the best protected forest in Ghana. As a result, it is now a major tourist spot. Though poaching is still prevalent, the management practice of involving local communities to share the benefits of the park would yield positive results. In the park, gamekeepers are specially trained in the medical and cultural significance of the local foliage.
== Tourism ==
Kakum is Ghana's first protected area which has received major support for visitor facilities. The visitor centre opened on Earth Day 1997 and the park received the Global Tourism for Tomorrow Award the following year. Tourism numbers have increased over the years: 2,000 in 1992; 27,000 in 1996; over 70,000 tourists in 1999; and it attracted 135,870 visitors during 2009.
== Gallery ==
== References ==
Dudley, J.P. (1995) Forest elephant conservation in West African rainforest fragments. Nature et Faune 11(2): 8-21. United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization, Accra.
Dudley, J.P., A.Y. Mensah-Ntiamoah, and D.G. Kpelle. (1992) Forest elephants in a rainforest fragment: preliminary findings from a wildlife conservation project in southern Ghana. African Journal of Ecology 30: 116–126.
Dudley, J.P. (1992) Community Involvement in Kakum and Assin-Attandanso Forest Reserves, Ghana. In The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests, Vol. II: AFRICA (J.A. Sayer, C.S. Harcourt, and N.M. Collins, eds.). World Conservation Monitoring Center, Cambridge U.K.
Dudley, J.P. (1990) Kakum and Assin-Attandanso Wildlife Reserves Project: UNDP – Central Region Development Project. International Science and Technology Institute, Washington, D.C.
Prince Edem Kumanya (2017) Site Manager of Kakum
== External links ==
Media related to Kakum National Park at Wikimedia Commons
Kakum National Park Official Website
Travel information from Conservation International.
Photo Gallery of Kakum National Forest's Canopy Walk |
World_Heritage_Sites | World Heritage Memory Net | World Heritage Memory Net (WHMNet), a partnership project with UNESCO World Heritage Centre, is a global digital library of cultural, historical, and heritage multimedia collections related to the current 962 UNESCO World Heritage Sites of 157 State Parties. Of these 962 sites, 745 are cultural sites, 188 natural, and 29 mixed and 38 of the total 962 are in danger. WHMNet was officially launched April 29, 2011, and can be thought of as “the world’s heritage at your fingertips.”The guiding conceptual principle for the development of the World Heritage Memory Net is to construct a framework that allows users to easily see, explore, discover, and visually experience the 936 Heritage Sites first, and then dig in for more detailed and descriptive information about each Site, as graphically shown on the home page. It is directed by Ching-chih Chen, currently of Global Connection and Collaboration, a nonprofit and tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization; prior to July 2010, Chen directed this project for three years at Simmons College until she became Professor Emeritus.
The goal of WHMNet is to provide an online library of material related to the 962 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and to provide universal access to a worldwide audience. WHMNet provides multimedia and multilingual content and retrieval, videos, timeline, map, as well as links to major resources, such as OCLC, Wikipedia, Internet Archive, Million Books, Google Scholar and Google Books.
All of the collections are available in at least 6 official UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. As of 2012, up to 103 languages are supported by WHMNet, as available.
== History ==
Directed by Ching-chih Chen of the US nonprofit and tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, Global Connection and Collaboration, Inc., and supported until August 2010 by the NSF/International Digital Library Program (IDLP) as a part of her Global Memory Net, WHMNet is the result of a multi-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2006 between the World Heritage Centre and Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA under the leadership of Chen, who was then information technology Professor at Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science. The WHMNet project, which began in July 2007, benefits greatly from Chen's GMNet, an online global image library and gateway to cultural, historical, and heritage images around the world, created with a multi-year grant from the International Digital Library Programme of the US National Science Foundation (NSF). WHMNet leverages GMNet's innovative integrated multimedia content retrieval system (i-M-C-S) with further system development. Chen became Professor Emeritus of Simmons College in June, 2010 and NSF grant ended in August 2010. Since September 2010 to the present, WHMNet has been supported by GlobalCC until its completion.
The goal is to bring an immersive, seamless, multimedia experience in a multilingual website to citizens, researchers, scholars and students of the world. The former World Heritage Centre Director and current UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, Francesco Bandarin, has stated that the project offers "great potential to enhance the humanities for universal access and enrichment through the use of emerging technologies." It exposes the world's cultural, natural, and mixed wonders as well as educates global citizens to the dangers of losing these properties through war and environmental factors. It also serves to better promote intercultural understanding during this troubled time.
== Collections ==
WHMNet is a fast, efficient, cutting-edge, online knowledge base which provides universal access to multilingual, multimedia and multiformat resources from museums, archives, libraries, and world bibliographic and Web resources, and includes photographs, videos, 360° Panophotographies, audio clips, and documents. Currently the WHMNet Collection has more than 40,000 images, 27 video tours, many more video documentaries from available sources, and access to more than 250 360° Panophotographies courtesy of Tito Dupret of patrimonium-mundi.org. Detailed descriptive information is presented in multilingual format in at least 6 UNESCO official languages (Arabic Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish) and in many additional languages when available. In total, 103 world languages are represented.
Multilingual multimedia collections of the 936 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are accessible by:
Geographical regions - such as Africa, Asia, Europe, etc.
Within each region by country or areas
Within each country or area, alphabetically by the name of the World Heritage Site
Alphabetically by World Heritage Site category: Cultural, Natural, Mixed, In Danger
Timeline, listing type of site, name of site, and a popup with information, an image, and a link to the main page for that World Heritage SiteIn addition to basic demographic information and descriptions, each site page includes a sliding image gallery of up to 75 images, and a link to the main image gallery of up to 250 images per site. Further bibliographic information and still images (photographs) of each site are available for both traditional and content-based image retrieval, and when videos, audio clips as well as 360° Panophotographies are available, they are also provided.
In addition to WHMNet's own image resources and UNESCO/WHC's images (approximately 5% of the total, used with permission), relevant open source images are identified, selected, and provided. These include those from websites such as Wikimedia Commons and Flickr. Video sources from WHC's partner, NHK World Heritage 100 series, are linked, as well as 360° Panophotographies of some sites.
=== Linked Data ===
WHMNet links to outside data sources to provide more additional information resources to the user. These resources include OCLC, Internet Archive, Million Books, Google Scholar and Google Books, Wikipedia, and Flickr.
== WHM Lecture Series ==
WHMNet and GMNet have been widely exposed through numerous invited, keynote and plenary speaking engagements in over a dozen countries. Beginning in January 2011, a specific lecture series has started entitled World Cultural Heritage is One Click Away: Lecture Series. This series of talks has been given in many locations in Taiwan; the National Agricultural Library in Silver Springs, MD; through a Digital Video Conference to the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; ACRL/IRC Convention in Washington, DC; and many others.
== Related Projects ==
• National Tsing Hua University Memory Net (Launched on April 23, 2011, NTHU Memory Net was developed jointly by NTHU and Global Connection and Collaboration to create an online multimedia and multilingual knowledge base celebrating Tsing Hua's Centennial Anniversary. NTHU Memory Net is based on the same conceptual framework and uses the i-M-C-S system which was developed for GMNet, and enhanced for WHMNet.
• Global Memory Net (World Heritage Memory Net's system is modified and expanded from that of GMNet)
• PROJECT EMPEROR-I (1985–1994)
== See also ==
History portal
Society portal
World portal
== References ==
== Further reading ==
"Exploring Your Amazing World Heritage at A Simple Click of the Mouse", Ching-chih Chen's keynote speech delivered at the ACRL/IRC Meeting at the American Library Association Meeting in Washington DC, June 26, 2010.
UNESCO World Heritage Center. (2007). “World Heritage Memory Net” is coming soon! News and Events in UNESCO.org. Retrieved from https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/326 |
World_Heritage_Sites | List of World Heritage Sites by year of inscription | This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world by year of inscription, selected during the annual sessions of the World Heritage Committee. The first World Heritage Site in the list is the Galápagos Islands. The 24th session in 2000 inscribed the most with 61 entries, while the 13th session in 1989 only inscribed seven sites.(F) denotes a country's first inscription.
== 1978 (2nd session) ==
12 sites (8 cultural, 4 natural)Host: United States
== 1979 (3rd session) ==
45 sites (34 cultural, 8 natural, 3 mixed)Host: Egypt
== 1980 (4th session) ==
27 sites (22 cultural, 5 natural)Host: France
== 1981 (5th session) ==
26 sites (15 cultural, 9 natural, 2 mixed)Host: Australia
== 1982 (6th session) ==
24 sites (17 cultural, 5 natural, 2 mixed)Host: France
== 1983 (7th session) ==
29 sites (19 cultural, 9 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Italy
== 1984 (8th session) ==
22 sites (15 cultural, 7 natural)Host: Argentina
== 1985 (9th session) ==
30 sites (25 cultural, 4 natural, 1 mixed)Host: France
== 1986 (10th session) ==
29 sites (23 cultural, 5 natural, 1 mixed)Host: France
== 1987 (11th session) ==
41 sites (32 cultural, 7 natural, 2 mixed)Host: France
== 1988 (12th session) ==
27 sites (19 cultural, 5 natural, 3 mixed)Host: Brazil
== 1989 (13th session) ==
7 sites (4 cultural, 2 natural, 1 mixed)Host: France
== 1990 (14th session) ==
16 sites (11 cultural, 2 natural, 3 mixed)Host: Canada
== 1991 (15th session) ==
22 sites (16 cultural, 6 natural)Host: Tunisia
== 1992 (16th session) ==
20 sites (16 cultural, 4 natural)Host: United States
== 1993 (17th session) ==
33 sites (29 cultural, 4 natural)Host: Colombia
== 1994 (18th session) ==
29 sites (21 cultural, 8 natural)Host: Thailand
== 1995 (19th session) ==
29 sites (23 cultural, 6 natural)Host: Germany
== 1996 (20th session) ==
37 sites (30 cultural, 5 natural, 2 mixed)Host: Mexico
== 1997 (21st session) ==
46 sites (38 cultural, 7 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Italy
== 1998 (22nd session) ==
30 sites (27 cultural, 3 natural)Host: Japan
== 1999 (23rd session) ==
48 sites (35 cultural, 11 natural, 2 mixed)Host: Morocco
== 2000 (24th session) ==
61 sites (50 cultural, 10 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Australia
== 2001 (25th session) ==
31 sites (25 cultural, 6 natural)Host: Finland
== 2002 (26th session) ==
9 sites (8 cultural, 1 mixed)Host: Hungary
== 2003 (27th session) ==
24 sites (19 cultural, 5 natural)Host: France
== 2004 (28th session) ==
34 sites (29 cultural, 5 natural)Host: China
== 2005 (29th session) ==
24 sites (17 cultural, 7 natural)Host: South Africa
== 2006 (30th session) ==
18 sites (16 cultural, 2 natural)Host: Lithuania
== 2007 (31st session) ==
22 sites (16 cultural, 4 natural, 2 mixed)Host: New Zealand
== 2008 (32nd session) ==
27 sites (19 cultural, 8 natural)Host: Canada
== 2009 (33rd session) ==
13 sites (11 cultural, 2 natural)Host: Spain
== 2010 (34th session) ==
21 sites (15 cultural, 5 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Brazil
== 2011 (35th session) ==
25 sites (21 cultural, 3 natural, 1 mixed)Host: France
== 2012 (36th session) ==
26 sites (20 cultural, 5 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Russia
== 2013 (37th session) ==
19 sites (14 cultural, 5 natural)Host: Cambodia
== 2014 (38th session) ==
26 sites (22 cultural, 3 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Qatar
== 2015 (39th session) ==
24 sites (23 cultural, 1 mixed)Host: Germany
== 2016 (40th session) ==
21 sites (12 cultural, 6 natural, 3 mixed)Host: Turkey
== 2017 (41st session) ==
21 sites (18 cultural, 3 natural)Host: Poland
== 2018 (42nd session) ==
19 sites (13 cultural, 3 natural, 3 mixed)Host: Bahrain
== 2019 (43rd session) ==
29 sites (24 cultural, 4 natural, 1 mixed)Host: Azerbaijan
== 2021 (44th session) ==
The 44th session was originally scheduled for 2020 but postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the World Heritage Committee voted on both 2020 and 2021 nominations.34 sites (29 cultural, 5 natural)Host: China
== 2023 (18th extraordinary session) ==
At its 18th extraordinary session, the World Heritage Committee added three sites under an emergency procedure to both the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.3 sites (3 cultural)Host: France
== 2023 (45th session) ==
The 45th session was originally scheduled to be held from 19 June to 30 June, 2022, in Kazan, Russia, but was postponed indefinitely due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The World Heritage Committee then rescheduled the 45th session to 10-25 September 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will vote on 2022 and 2023 nominations.
== See also ==
Former UNESCO World Heritage Sites
List of World Heritage in Danger
Lists of World Heritage Sites
World Heritage Sites by country
== References ==
== External links ==
UNESCO World Heritage portal – Official website (in English and French)
The World Heritage List – Official searchable list of all Inscribed Properties
New Inscribed Properties – List of new Inscribed Properties. Also lists nominated sites prior to an upcoming session of the World Heritage Committee. |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:World Heritage Sites by continent | null |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:World Heritage Sites by country | null |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:Lists of World Heritage Sites | null |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:Former World Heritage Sites | null |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia | Articles relating to the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia (1960-1980). The relocation of 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. The success of the project, in particular the creation of a coalition of 50 countries behind the project, led to the creation of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, and thus to the modern system of World Heritage Sites. |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:Seven Wonders of the Ancient World | Articles relating to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a list of remarkable constructions of classical antiquity given by various authors in guidebooks or poems popular among ancient Hellenic tourists. |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:World Heritage Sites in Danger | null |
World_Heritage_Sites | Category:World Heritage Tentative List | World Heritage Site Tentative List, see § Nomination process |
Subsets and Splits