UNESCO’s World Heritage Program was formed in 1954 when the government of Egypt decided to build the Aswan Dam, which would have deluged a valley containing priceless and irreplaceable treasures from the ancient world. The World Heritage Program was establish to relocate and safeguard those treasures for posterity. From there, the program expaned rapidly to protect other man-made and natural treasures around the world. Today there are 981 properties, of which 759 are cultural sites, 193 are natural wonders, and the remaining 29 are a mix of the two. The map above is an interactive guide to those sites. It also denotes sites currently under threat. To view the map and learn more about the UNESCO World Heritage program – CLICK HERE.

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