Where Data Tells the Story
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UNESCO has added 26 new sites to its World Heritage List, bringing the total number to 1,248 worldwide. This includes 12 sites in Asia and the Pacific, five in Europe, four in Latin America and the Caribbean, four in Africa and one under the category of the Arab States.
Yet, despite the addition of new sites, a starkly uneven distribution remains when it comes to where these sites are located, particularly in terms of the cultural heritage selection, with UNESCO having historically inscribed by far the largest number of this group in Europe.
Despite Europe being around three times smaller than Africa, 473 cultural sites have so far been inscribed in Europe, compared to just 63 in Africa. The Asia and Pacific region has the second highest number of inscribed cultural sites at 220, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 105. In order to appear on the list, countries must put forward a site as a nomination. A UNESCO representative then visits the site and makes a recommendation to the organization, which informs the final decision.
There are many reasons a government may seek a UNESCO World Heritage badge, from the fact it can bring global awareness to a location and enhance tourism there, to how it can potentially impact the allocation of future funding. But at the same time, communities may be wary of putting forward a nomination due to risks such as over tourism and the costs of maintaining a World Heritage property. Or else it may simply be a lower priority in a given country.
For years, experts have criticized the award for being too Eurocentric. For example, The Conversation contributor Victoria Reyes commented on the topic in a 2019 article, citing how research shows that UNESCO “disproportionately reveres the cultural legacies of former European empires.” She highlights how, whether intentional or not, even in a practical sense, the long and bureaucratic nomination process favors governments that are able and willing to divert resources towards applications.
Although there is a long way to go, UNESCO has said it wants to narrow this gap, in particular focusing on strengthening Africa’s presence on the World Heritage List, through “providing better support for African states carrying out local conservation projects and preparing World Heritage nomination files.”
The four new African heritage sites added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2025 include the Diy-Gid-Biy Cultural Landscape of the Mandara Mountains (Cameroon), Mount Mulanje Cultural Landscape (Malawi), Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of the Bijagós Archipelago – Omatí Minhô (Guinea-Bissau), the Gola-Tiwai Complex (Sierra Leone). This year, three sites on the African continent have also been removed from the List of the World Heritage in Danger, including rainforests of the Atsinanana (Madagascar), Abu Mena (Egypt) and the Old Town of Ghadamès (Libya).