The World Heritage Committee had a meeting last week in Baku, Azerbaijan which resulted in seven sites being added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

UNESCO has been known to protect several cultural, historical and natural landmarks since 1972.

The sites added are located in Canada, Czechia, Germany, Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Poland.

Chosen sites are marked as such to preserve them from the environment, pollution, and human industrialization.

According to UNESCO, the sites are regarded as being of “outstanding universal value” under the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

It is believed that the sites “belong to all the people’s of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located.”

These are the seven sites being added:

Bagan (Myanmar)

This sacred land is located on a bend of the Ayeyarwady River in the central plain of Myanmar.

Bagan has an impressive amount of Buddhist art and architecture.

The aspects of Bagan are the many temples, stupas, monasteries and archaeological remails.

Bagan was the capital of a regional empire which peaked Bayan civilization in the 11th – 13th centuries CE.

The architecture is the direct result of an early Buddhist empire.

Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies (Republic of Korea)

This site is made up of nine seowons (a type of Neo-Confucian academy of the Joseon dynasty in 15th – 19th centuries CE) and is located in the central and southern regions of the Republic of Korea.

The seowons were meant for learning and interaction with the environment and it is evident in their design.

They also represent China’s influence on Korea with Neo-Confucianism.

Writing-On-Stone/Áísínai’pi (Canada)

This cultural landscape is located on the border of Canada and the U.S.

It has archaeologic remains consisting of engravings and paintings of the Milk River Valley which dates back to 1800 BCE (beginning of the post-contact period).

The typography is made up of pillars or hoodoos which are columns of rock sculpted into amazing shapes.

The hoodoos are sacred to the Blackfoot people, who have centuries-old traditions revolving around ceremonies.

Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region (Czechia/Germany)

This region was a vital source of silver for Europe from 1460 – 1560, triggering technological innovations.

There have been many metals in this area that have been interfered with because of mining from the Middle Ages onward.

Erzgebirge became a major producer of uranium globally at the end of the 19th century.

Water Management System Of Ausburg (Germany)

Augsburg’s water management system includes a network of canals and water towers which dates back to the 15th – 17th centuries.

The water towers nested pump machinery, a water-cooled butchers’ hall, a system of three fountains and hydroelectric power stations — which still provides sustainable energy today.

The water management system in Ausberg made the city a leader in hydraulic engineering.

Landscape For Breeding And Training Of Ceremonial Carriage Horses At Kladruby nad Labem (Czechia)

This site was originally intended to breed and train kladruber horses (a type of draft horse used in ceremonies by Habsburg imperial court).

The site was built in a time when horses were depended on for transportation, agriculture, military support, and aristocracies.

It is still one of the leading horse-breeding institutions in Europe.

Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region (Poland)

Four mining sites are located at Krzemioni which date back from the Neolithic to Bronze Age in 3900 – 1600 BCE.

This site has one of the most extensive prehistoric underground flint extraction and processing systems in the world.