Mexico City (CNN) -- The United Nations' cultural organization recognized mariachi music Sunday in a move that Mexican authorities hope will help preserve the well-known tradition. The songs -- often played on festive occasions by groups of guitar, violin and trumpet performers wearing traditional clothes or wide-brimmed hats -- are sung throughout Mexico, and have become a key part of regional identity, officials said. "The community and the family hand down musically their knowledge, history and the pleasure of singing to the nature surrounding them. They consider it their own," Mexican officials said in their application to the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), which added mariachi music to the organization's list of intangible cultural patrimony Sunday.
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UNESCO officials decide to honor mariachi music
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Government: Mariachi music "has crossed borders," become a national symbol
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The music also helps immigrants abroad stay connected, the government says
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UNESCO has recognized Mexican food and many of the nation's monuments
Putting mariachi on the list could increase awareness of the music, @placeholder said in a statement Sunday.