User:InflatableSupertrooper/UNESCO Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.[1] Italy ratified the convention on 23 June 1978, making its historical and natural sites eligible for inclusion on the list.[2]
The first site located in Italy was inscribed on the list at the 3rd Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairo, Egypt in October 1979. At that session, only one site was added, the "Rock Drawings in Valcamonica", one of the world's largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in Brescia.
Five more sites were added in 1980, and another four in 1986. Apart from 1984, 1985, and 1986 (Spain's first three years as a member), 2000 saw the most new sites inscribed, with five that year. As of June 2013, Spain has 44 total sites inscribed on the list, third only to China (45) and Italy (49). Of these 44 sites, 39 are cultural, 3 are natural, and 2 are mixed (meeting both cultural and natural criteria), as determined by the organization's selection criteria.[3]
The Pyrénées – Mont Perdu World Heritage Site is shared with France, while the Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde site is shared with Portugal. Besides that, Almadén is inscribed alongside Idrija in Slovenia. Of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, Castile and León has the most sites, with six exclusive and two shared sites.[4]
Additionally, Spain has established an agreement with UNESCO known as the Spanish Funds-in-Trust. The agreement was signed on April 18, 2002 between Francisco Villar, Spanish Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, and the Director-General of UNESCO, Kōichirō Matsuura. The fund provides € 600,000 annually to a chosen program. Programs include helping other member states, particularly in Latin America, with projects such as nominations processes and assessing tentative sites.[5] Spain served as the chair of the World Heritage Committee in 2008 and 2009, and in 2009 hosted the 33rd Session of the Committee in Seville, Andalusia.[5]