Libya’s five UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Leptis Magna, Sabratha, Cyrene, Tadrart Acacus, and Ghadamès — were all added to UNESCO’s danger list in 2016 after civil conflict left ancient monuments without state protection.
The Arab States region holds 22 of 53 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Danger globally — more than any other region — driven by armed conflict in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Gaza, and Lebanon’s ongoing financial crisis.
Syria holds six UNESCO World Heritage Sites — Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra, Bosra, Crac des Chevaliers, and the Ancient Villages — and every one has been on the danger list since 2013, a direct consequence of the Syrian civil war.
Fifty-three UNESCO World Heritage Sites are currently listed as in danger, spanning five regions and threatened by armed conflict, climate change, illegal extraction, and governance failure — alongside a small but growing number of recovery stories.
Bryggen, Bergen, Norway. Photo: Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons. The Nordic Countries is home to 49
Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons. Southeast Asia is home to 50
Qal'at al-Bahrain. Photo: Martin Falbisoner / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons. The Arabian Peninsula is home to more than
The Balkans is home to over 70 UNESCO World Heritage Sites across ten countries, a density of layered civilisation that stretches from the Bronze Age Minoan…
Central Asia is home to 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites across six countries, ranging from the Silk Road cities of the Uzbek steppe to the bronze-age rock…
