Middle School
Worksheets
New World Heritage Sites
People have favorite places that they like to visit again and again. Countries have favorite places, too. Some of the places are important to the history or culture of the country like the Statue of Liberty in the United States. Others may be special natural places like Yellowstone National Park. Beginning in 1972, the United Nations made plans to protect and preserve some of these favorite places. It does this through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO keeps a list of special sites called World Heritage Sites that have "outstanding universal value." UNESCO's goal is to protect and preserve these places.
New sites are added to UNESCO's list yearly. These sites are suggested by member countries and then selected by UNESCO. The list has grown rapidly in recent years. As of 2011, there were 962 sites on the list.
Some of these sites include a modern college campus, an ancient palace, a prehistoric rock art site, a silver mine, an opera house, a rainforest, and a volcanic island.
Central University Campus in Mexico is one of these. It is a modern campus with classroom buildings, sports facilities, and outdoor spaces. It was built by a team of architects, engineers, and artists who made it into a one-of-a-kind example of twentieth century design.
