The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 19 World Heritage Sites in six countries (also called "state parties") of Central and North Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Asian part of Russia.[1] The European part of Russia is included in Eastern Europe.[2]
Russia is home to the most inscribed sites with 7 sites, one of which is a transborder property shared with Mongolia in Eastern Asia.[3] The first site from the region was the Itchan Kala in Uzbekistan inscribed in 1990.[4] Each year, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list, or delist sites that that no longer meet the criteria. Selection is based on ten criteria: six for cultural heritage (i–vi) and four for natural heritage (vii–x).[5] Some sites, designated "mixed sites," represent both cultural and natural heritage. In Northern and Central Asia, there are 11 cultural, 8 natural, and no mixed sites. All of the Russian sites (7) are natural and with the exception of Sayarka, all of the sites in Central Asia are cultural.[3]
The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is endangered, citing "conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List." None of the sites in this region has ever been listed as endangered, but possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of cases.[6]
Contents |
The table is sortable by column by clicking on the at the top of the appropriate column; alphanumerically for the Site, Area, and Year columns; by state party for the Location column; and by criteria type for the Criteria column. Transborder sites sort at the bottom.
| Site | Image | Location | Criteria | Area ha (acre) |
Year | Description | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Sikhote-Alin | Primorsky Krai, Russia |
Natural: (x) |
1,553,928 (3,839,840); buffer zone 65,250 (161,200) | 2001 | The Sikhote-Alin mountain range contains one the richest and most unusual temperate forests of the world. In this mixed zone between taiga and subtropics, southern species such as the tiger and Himalayan bear cohabit with northern species such as the brown bear and lynx. The site stretches from the peaks of Sikhote-Alin to the Sea of Japan and is important for the survival of many endangered species such as the Amur tiger. | [7] | |
| Golden Mountains of Altai | Altai Republic, Russia |
Natural: (x) |
1,611,457 (3,982,000) | 1998 | The Altai mountains in southern Siberia form the major mountain range in the western Siberia biogeographic region and provide the source of its greatest rivers – the Ob and the Irtysh. Three separate areas are inscribed: Altaisky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Lake Teletskoye; Katunsky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mount Belukha; and the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok plateau. The region represents the most complete sequence of altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia, from steppe, forest-steppe, mixed forest, subalpine vegetation to alpine vegetation. The site is also an important habitat for endangered animal species such as the snow leopard. | [8] | |
| Historic Centre of Bukhara | Bukhara Province, Uzbekistan |
Cultural: (ii), (iv), (vi) |
—
|
1993 | [9] | ||
| Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz | Qashqadaryo Province, Uzbekistan |
Cultural: (iii), (iv) |
240 (590); buffer zone 82 (200) | 2000 | [10] | ||
| Itchan Kala | Khiva, Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan |
Cultural: (iii), (iv), (v) |
26 (64) | 1990 | [11] | ||
| Kunya-Urgench | Daşoguz Province, Turkmenistan |
Cultural: (ii), (iii) |
—
|
2005 | [12] | ||
| Lake Baikal | Irkutsk Oblast and Republic of Buryatia, Russia |
Natural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) |
8,800,000 (22,000,000) | 1996 | Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and isolation have produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science. | [13] | |
| Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi | Turkestan, South Kazakhstan Province, Kazakhstan |
Cultural: (i), (iii), (iv) |
0.55 (1.4); buffer zone 88 (220) | 2003 | [14] | ||
| Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve | Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia |
Natural: (ix), (x) |
916,300 (2,264,000); buffer zone 3,745,300 (9,255,000) | 2004 | Located well above the Arctic Circle, the site includes the mountainous Wrangel Island (7,608 km2), Herald Island (11 km2) and surrounding waters. Wrangel was not glaciated during the Quaternary Ice Age, resulting in exceptionally high levels of biodiversity for this region. The island boasts the world’s largest population of Pacific walrus and the highest density of ancestral polar bear dens. It is a major feeding ground for the grey whale migrating from Mexico and the northernmost nesting ground for 100 migratory bird species, many endangered. Currently, 417 species and subspecies of vascular plants have been identified on the island, double that of any other Arctic tundra territory of comparable size and more than any other Arctic island. Some species are derivative of widespread continental forms, others are the result of recent hybridization, and 23 are endemic. | [15] | |
| Parthian Fortresses of Nisa | Bagyr settlement, Ruhabat District, Ahal Province, Turkmenistan |
Cultural: (ii), (iii) |
78 (190); buffer zone 400 (990) | 2007 | [16] | ||
| Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly | Almaty Province, Kazakhstan |
Cultural: (iii) |
900 (2,200); buffer zone 2,900 (7,200) | 2004 | [17] | ||
| Proto-urban site of Sarazm |
—
|
Osh, Tajikistan |
Cultural: (ii), (iii) |
16 (40); buffer zone 142 (350) | 2010 | [18] | |
| Putorana Plateau | Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia |
Natural: (vii), (ix) |
1,887,251 (4,663,500); buffer zone 1,773,300 (4,382,000) | 2010 | This site coincides with the area of the Putoransky State Nature Reserve, and is located in the central part of the Putorana Plateau in northern Central Siberia. It is situated about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. The part of the plateau inscribed on the World Heritage List harbours a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems. A major reindeer migration route crosses the property, which represents an exceptional, large-scale and increasingly rare natural phenomenon. | [19] | |
| Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures | Samarqand Province, Uzbekistan |
Cultural: (i), (ii), (iv) |
965 (2,380) | 2001 | [20] | ||
| Saryarka — Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan | Almaty Province, Kazakhstan |
Natural: (ix), (x) |
450,344 (1,112,820); buffer zone 211,148 (521,760) | 2008 | [21] | ||
| State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancient Merv” | Mary Province, Turkmenistan |
Cultural: (ii), (iii) |
353 (870); buffer zone 883 (2,180) | 1999 | [22] | ||
| Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain | Osh, Kyrgyzstan |
Cultural: (iii), (vi) |
112 (280); buffer zone 4,788 (11,830) | 2009 | [23] | ||
| Uvs Nuur Basin | Uvs, Zavkhan and Khövsgöl Provinces Mongolia*; Mongun-Tayginsky, Ovyursky, Tes-Khemsky and Erzinsky Districts, Tuva Republic, Russia* |
Natural: (ix), (x) |
898,064 (2,219,160); buffer zone 170,790 (422,000) | 2003 | The Uvs Nuur Basin is the northernmost of the enclosed basins of Central Asia. It takes its name from Uvs Nuur Lake, a large, shallow and very saline lake, important for migrating birds, waterfowl and seabirds. The site is made up of twelve protected areas representing the major biomes of eastern Eurasia. The steppe ecosystem supports a rich diversity of birds and the desert is home to a number of rare gerbil, jerboas and the marbled polecat. The mountains are an important refuge for the globally endangered snow leopard, mountain sheep (argali) and the Asiatic ibex. | [24] | |
| Volcanoes of Kamchatka | Kamchatka Krai, Russia |
Natural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x) |
3,830,200 (9,465,000) | 1996[nb 1] | This is one of the most outstanding volcanic regions in the world, with a high density of active volcanoes, a variety of types, and a wide range of related features. The six sites included in the serial designation group together the majority of volcanic features of the Kamchatka peninsula. The interplay of active volcanoes and glaciers forms a dynamic landscape of great beauty. The sites contain great species diversity, including the world's largest known variety of salmonoid fish and exceptional concentrations of sea otter, brown bear and Stellar's sea eagle. | [25][26] |
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