The 47th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee (WHC), chaired by Professor Nikolay Nenov (Bulgaria), was held from July 6 to 16, 2025, in Paris, France.
- The committee added 26 new sites to the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL), comprising 21 cultural, 4 natural, and 1 mixed site. Additionally, it approved the extension of two existing sites, raising the total number of World Heritage Sites to 1,248 across 170 countries.
- Maratha Military Landscapes of India was included as the 44th World Heritage Site of India.
Note: The 48th session of the WHC will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea.
About Maratha Military Landscape:
i.The Maratha Military Landscape is a cultural heritage site comprises 12 historic forts: 11 in Maharashtra and 1 in Tamil Nadu(TN).
ii.The 12 forts are:Salher, Shivneri, Lohgad, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Panhala, Vijaydurg, Khanderi, Suvarnadurg, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra and Gingee(TN).
iii.The ‘Maratha Military Landscapes of India’ showcase a rich variety of military architectural styles, featuring hill forts like Salher, Shivneri, Lohgad, Raigad, Rajgad, and Gingee; a hill-forest fort at Pratapgad; a hill-plateau fort at Panhala; a coastal fort at Vijaydurg; and island forts including Khanderi, Suvarnadurg, and Sindhudurg.
iv.Constructed between the 17th and 19th centuries, these forts exemplify the Maratha Empire’s military ingenuity, terrain-responsive architecture, and strategic regional defense systems, reflecting a significant chapter in India’s historical evolution.
v.The nomination, added to India’s Tentative List in 2021, was formally submitted in early 2024 and inscribed by UNESCO in July 2025 under criteria (iv) and (vi) for architectural and cultural-historical significance.
Highlights of 47th WHC meeting:
i.Four new sites from Africa were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List this year, raising the continent’s total to 112 sites. Notably, Guinea-Bissau(Omati Minho) and Sierra Leone(Gola-Tiwai) made their debut on the list by securing their first-ever inscriptions.
ii.The committee removed three African sites such as the Rainforests of the Atsinanana (Madagascar), Abu Mena (Egypt), and Old Town of Ghadames (Libya) from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
- Since 2021, three sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Senegal had also been excluded from the list.
iii.Nearly one-third of the sites, inscribed in 2025 are linked to prehistory, including the Peruacu River Canyon (Brazil), the Megaliths of Carnac and of the shores of the Morbihan (France) and the Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream (Republic of Korea).
iv.The committee recognizes the remembrance sites, which are linked to conflicts and atrocities, by inscribing the Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection, honouring the memory of the millions of victims of the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge regime.
- These remembrance sites are places of transmission, commemoration and learning. Their inscription emphasizes the essential role of heritage in the work of remembrance, and of UNESCO, in building peace.
List of 26 new sites added to WHL:
| Sl. No | Heritage Site | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Culture | ||
| 1 | Murujuga Cultural Landscape | Australia |
| 2 | Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection | Cambodia |
| 3 | Diy-Gid-Biy Cultural Landscape of the Mandara Mountains | Cameroon |
| 4 | Xixia Imperial Tombs | China |
| 5 | Megaliths of Carnac and of the shores of Morbihan | France |
| 6 | The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Schachen and Herenchiemsee | Germany |
| 7 | Minoan Palatial Centres | Greece |
| 8 | Maratha Military Landscapes of India | India |
| 9 | Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley | Iran |
| 10 | Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sardinia- The domus de janas | Italy |
| 11 | The Archeological Ensemble of 17th Century Port Royal | Jamaica |
| 12 | Mount Mulanje Cultural Landscape | Malawi |
| 13 | Forest Research Institute Malaysia Forest Park Selangor | Malaysia |
| 14 | Wixarika Route through Sacred Sites to Wirikuta (Tatehuari Huajuye) | Mexico |
| 15 | The Colonial Transisthmian Route of Panama | Panama |
| 16 | Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream | Republic of Korea |
| 17 | Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave | Russia |
| 18 | Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal | Tajikistan |
| 19 | Sardis and the Lydian Tumuli of Bin Tepe | Turkey |
| 20 | Faya Palaeolandscape | United Arab Emirates (UAE) |
| 21 | Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son, Kiep Bac Complex of Monuments and Landscapes | Vietnam |
| Natural | ||
| 22 | Peruacu River Canyon | Brazil |
| 23 | Mons Klint | Denmark |
| 24 | Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of the Bijagos Archipelago-Omati Minho | Guinea-Bissau |
| 25 | Gola-Tiwai Complex | Sierra Leone |
| Mixed | ||
| 26 | Mount Kumgang-Diamond Mountain from the Sea | North Korea |
About World Heritage Committee(WHC):
i.The WHC meets once a year and is composed of representatives of 21 states, elected from the 196 State Parties to the Convention by their General Assembly.
ii.It is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, which was adopted in 1972. The World Heritage convention defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.
iii.It also makes decision regarding the inscriptions on the WHL.
iv.The WHL is a catalogue of sites across the world, which have been recognized by UNESCO as having Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) to humanity.
- The sites inscribed on the list are protected under the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
About United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
President – Audrey Azoulay
Headquarters – Paris, France
Established – 1945
