UNESCO World Heritage

Some cultural and natural sites are of exceptional universal interest and should therefore be placed under the protection of humanity as a whole. These sites are therefore inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The World Heritage Convention was adopted in 1972, based on the visionary idea of placing all natural and cultural assets of outstanding universal value under the protection of the international community as a whole. Switzerland ratified the convention in 1975.

The World Heritage List comprises those sites acknowledged by the World Heritage Committee for their exceptional universal value. The sites are distributed among three categories: cultural, natural and mixed. The list currently contains over 1200 sites.