Babylon added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites

(CNN) — It was a metropolis in ancient Mesopotamia that became one of the most important sites in the ancient world. Now Babylon, in Iraq, is officially a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The news comes as deliberations continue in Baku, Azerbaijan, to decide which destinations should be added to a portfolio that already names 1,092 sites in 167 countries.

CNN's Ben Wedeman meets the team trying to preserve what's left of the ancient city of Babylon for future generations.

This week the committee responsible for the list is discussing which sites will make the grade in 2019 -- earning valuable tourism currency as well as the nominal protection conveyed by UNESCO.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -- UNESCO -- aims to promote collaboration and peace among nations, while also striving to protect the world's heritage.

Other new additions so far include a bird-filled estuary along China's Yalu River and the stunning Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland.

Other nominees include some pretty incredible spots -- such as ancient temples peering out above treetops in Bagan, Myanmar, and an Alpine road in Austria popular with thrill seekers.

Spectacular spots

Inaugurated in 1978, UNESCO's site list includes famous destinations such as Yellowstone National Park in the United States, India's Taj Mahal, Petra in Jordan and the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador.

The 2019 nomination list is separated into different categories -- from natural properties like Vatnajökull National Park to cultural sites such as Babylon and mixed sites, which combine natural and cultural elements, such as Paraty in Brazil -- which has also been confirmed as a new addition.

There's one US-based nomination: the 20th-century architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Another proposed addition is the Dilmun Burial Mounds, in Bahrain.

Melanie Münzner/Think Heritage

In January 2019, the United States quit UNESCO, claiming the organization was anti-Israel because it had granted full membership to Palestine and identified ancient Jewish locations as Palestinian heritage sites. Israel also cut ties with the agency.

Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, in a statement issued in 2017, when the United States first filed its intent to depart, called a US withdrawal "a loss to UNESCO."

Lengthy process

This site -- the Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape, in Spain -- is also nominated.

Courtesy Nacho Gonzalez

The selections for 2019 follow a lengthy evaluation during which field experts are sent to check out the nominated destinations and assess what is being done to preserve them.

Sites that don't get selected can still be nominated in subsequent years.

The Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase 1) has been added to UNESCO's list.

Courtesy Yancheng Broadcasting Television

UNESCO's Twitter account is announcing new inscriptions as they're decided. The process will conclude by July 10.

Last year, the committee voted to remove the world's second-largest coral reef, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve system, from this list after the government of Belize worked with non-governmental groups to protect the reef.

Iceland's Vatnajökull National Park is among list submissions.

Courtesy Snorri Baldursson

This year, sites including the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal and the Ancient City of Nessebar in Bulgaria are proposed as new additions to the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The first news alert from Baku, announced on July 2, 2019, was that the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem in Palestine has been removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The World Heritage Committee said this decision was made because of restorative work carried out on the Nativity Church, the decision not to dig a tunnel under Manger Square and the management plan for the site's conservation.

The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works in Chile has also been removed from the "in danger" list, due to new measures adopted over the past 15 years to protect the site.

Meanwhile the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California in Mexico are a new addition to the endangered list.

2019 nominees

Here's the list of destinations nominated for the UNESCO list in 2019. Check back to see which make the grade:

Natural sites:

• Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China, Phase I (China) -- Confirmed

• Hyrcanian Forests (Iran) -- Confirmed

• Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex (Thailand)

• French Austral Lands and Seas (France) -- Confirmed

• Alpi del Mediterraneo -- Alpes de la Méditerrané (France / Italy / Monaco)

• Vatnajökull National Park -- (Iceland) -- Confirmed

Mixed sites (natural and cultural):

• Extension of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region, North Macedonia (Albania) -- Confirmed

• Paraty and Ilha Grande -- Culture and Biodiversity (Brazil) -- Confirmed

Cultural sites:

• Ancient ferrous metallurgy site (Burkina Faso) -- Confirmed

• Dilmun Burial Mounds (Bahrain) -- Confirmed

• Babylon (Iraq) -- Confirmed

• Budj Bim Cultural Landscape (Australia) -- Confirmed

• Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City (China) -- Confirmed

• Jaipur City, Rajasthan (India) -- Confirmed

• Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto (Indonesia) -- Confirmed

• Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan (Japan) -- Confirmed

• Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang -- Plain of Jars (Lao People's Democratic Republic) -- Confirmed

• Bagan (Myanmar) -- Confirmed

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

• Großglockner High Alpine Road (Austria)

• Frontiers of the Roman Empire -- The Danube Limes (Austria/Germany/Hungary/Slovakia)

• Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai'pi (Canada) -- Confirmed

• Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region (Czech Republic / Germany) -- Confirmed

• Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem (Czech Republic) -- Confirmed

• Water Management System of Augsburg (Germany) -- Confirmed

• Krzemionki prehistoric striped flint mining region (Poland) -- Confirmed

• Royal Building of Mafra -- Palace, Basilica, Convent, Cerco Garden and Hunting Park, Tapada (Portugal) -- Confirmed

• Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga (Portugal) -- Confirmed

• Monuments of Ancient Pskov (Russia) -- Confirmed

• Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape (Spain) -- Confirmed

• Jodrell Bank Observatory (United Kingdom) -- Confirmed

• Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace (Azerbaijan)

• Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano a Valdobbiadene (Italy)

• The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (United States of America)

• Sunken City of Port Royal -- A Relict and Continuing Cultural Landscape (Jamaica)

• Colonial Transisthmian Route of Panamá (Panama)

Sites proposed for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger:

• The Sundarbans (Bangladesh)

• Ancient City of Nessebar (Bulgaria)

• Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region (Albania / North Macedonia)

• Kathmandu Valley (Nepal)

• Babylon (Iraq)

• Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico) -- Confirmed

Sites to be withdrawn from List in Danger:

• Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem (Palestine)

• Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Chile)

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