List of World Heritage Sites in Afghanistan

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Afghanistan accepted the convention on March 20, 1979, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.

The first site in Afghanistan to be inscribed was the Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam, which was inscribed in the 26th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2002. The Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley was inscribed in the 27th session in 2003. As of 2021, there are only two sites in Afghanistan.

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List of Heritage Sites[]

Name: as listed by the World Heritage Committee

Region: of the Provinces of Afghanistan

Period: time period of significance, typically of construction

UNESCO data: the site's reference number; the year the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List; the criteria it was listed under: criteria (i) through (vi) are cultural, while (vii) through (x) are natural.

Sr. No.	Name	Image	Region	Period	UNESCO data
01	Minaret of Jam[1]		Ghor Province, Afghanistan	11th century - 13th century	337; 2002; ii, iii, iv
02	Buddhas of Bamiyan[2]		Bamiyan, Afghanistan	4th century - 5th century	337; 2003; i, ii, iii, iv, v

Tentative list[]

In addition to the sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.

Site	Image	Year Listed	Location	Description
City of Herat[3]		2004
City of Balkh (antique Bactria)[4]		2004
Band-E-Amir[5]		2004
Bagh-e Babur[6]		2009

References[]