A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) . World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific, or other forms of significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a unique landmark that is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. Examples of World Heritage Sites include ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas.

There are three types of World Heritage Sites: cultural, natural, and mixed. Cultural heritage sites include hundreds of historic buildings and town sites, important archaeological sites, and works of monumental sculpture or painting. Natural heritage sites are restricted to those natural areas that furnish outstanding examples of Earth’s record of life or its geologic processes, provide excellent examples of ongoing ecological and biological evolutionary processes, contain natural phenomena that are rare, unique, superlative, or of outstanding beauty, or furnish habitats for rare or endangered animals or plants or are sites of exceptional biodiversity. Mixed heritage sites contain elements of both natural and cultural significance.

Being listed as a World Heritage Site can positively affect the site, its environment, and interactions between them. A listed site gains international recognition and legal protection and can obtain funds from among other benefits. UNESCOs World Heritage mission is to encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage, encourage States Parties to the Convention to nominate sites within their national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List, encourage States Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites, help States Parties safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training, provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger, support States Parties public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation, encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage, and encourage international cooperation in the conservation of our worlds cultural and natural heritage.