There are a total of 1,199 World Heritage Sites located across 168 countries, of which 933 are cultural, 227 are natural, and 39 are mixed properties.
Did you know that Italy is the country in the world that boasts the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
The list includes 59 places recognized as World Heritage Sites and 18 intangible cultural heritage elements but this number is expected to grow as UNESCO updates the list every year and several Italian sites are already candidates for World Heritage status.
52 are entirely in Italian territory and 7 are transnational. This means that they are shared with other countries including the Vatican City.
53 Italian sites belong to the cultural category and include monuments, historic centers, works of art, archaeological areas and landscapes. Another 6 fall into the category of natural heritage which are the following:
- Eolie islands (added in 200)
- Dolomites (2009)
Monte San Giorgio (2010 – transnational because it is on the border between Italy and Switzerland) - Etna volcano (2013)
- Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (2017 – transnational)
- Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines (2023)
The first recognition of an Italian site was the rock drawings in Valcamonica in 1979, and the most recent is the evaporitic karst and caves of Northern Apennines, which was added to the list in 2023.
Italy is followed in second place by China, which has 57 sites, and Germany in third position.
