List of World Heritage Sites in Northern and Central Asia

The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has designated 19 World Heritage Sites in six countries (also called "state parties") of Central and North Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Asian part of Russia. The European part of Russia is included in Eastern Europe.

Russia is home to the most inscribed sites with 7 sites, one of which is a transborder property shared with Mongolia in Eastern Asia. The first site from the region was the Itchan Kala in Uzbekistan inscribed in 1990. Each year, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list, or delist sites that that no longer meet the criteria. Selection is based on ten criteria: six for cultural heritage (i–vi) and four for natural heritage (vii–x). Some sites, designated "mixed sites," represent both cultural and natural heritage. In Northern and Central Asia, there are 11 cultural, 8 natural, and no mixed sites. All of the Russian sites (7) are natural and with the exception of Sayarka, all of the sites in Central Asia are cultural.

The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is endangered, citing "conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List." None of the sites in this region has ever been listed as endangered, but possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of cases.

Legend

The table is sortable by column by clicking on the at the top of the appropriate column; alphanumerically for the Site, Area, and Year columns; by state party for the Location column; and by criteria type for the Criteria column. Transborder sites sort at the bottom.

Site; named after the World Heritage Committee's official designation

Location; at city, regional, or provincial level and geocoordinates

Criteria; as defined by the World Heritage Committee

Area; in hectares and acres. If available, the size of the buffer zone has been noted as well. A value of zero implies that no data has been published by UNESCO

Year; during which the site was inscribed to the World Heritage List

Description; brief information about the site, including reasons for qualifying as an endangered site, if applicable

Inscribed sites

  * Trans-border site

Site	Image	Location	Criteria	Area ha (acre)	Year	Description	Refs
Central Sikhote-Alin		Primorsky Krai, Russia	Natural: (x)	1,553,928 (3,839,840); buffer zone 65,250 (161,200)	2001
Golden Mountains of Altai		Altai Republic, Russia	Natural: (x)	1,611,457 (3,982,000)	1998
Historic Centre of Bukhara		Bukhara Province, Uzbekistan	Cultural: (ii), (iv), (vi)	—	1993
Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz		Qashqadaryo Province, Uzbekistan	Cultural: (iii), (iv)	240 (590); buffer zone 82 (200)	2000
Itchan Kala		Khiva, Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan	Cultural: (iii), (iv), (v)	26 (64)	1990
Kunya-Urgench		Daşoguz Province, Turkmenistan	Cultural: (ii), (iii)	—	2005
Lake Baikal		Irkutsk Oblast and Republic of Buryatia, Russia	Natural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)	8,800,000 (22,000,000)	1996
Lena Pillars Nature Park		Sakha Republic, Russia	Natural: (viii)	1,272,150 (3,143,600)	2012
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi		Turkestan, South Kazakhstan Province, Kazakhstan	Cultural: (i), (iii), (iv)	0.55 (1.4); buffer zone 88 (220)	2003
Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve		Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia	Natural: (ix), (x)	916,300 (2,264,000); buffer zone 3,745,300 (9,255,000)	2004
Parthian Fortresses of Nisa		Bagyr settlement, Ruhabat District, Ahal Province, Turkmenistan	Cultural: (ii), (iii)	78 (190); buffer zone 400 (990)	2007
Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly		Almaty Province, Kazakhstan	Cultural: (iii)	900 (2,200); buffer zone 2,900 (7,200)	2004
Proto-urban site of Sarazm	—	Panjakent, Tajikistan	Cultural: (ii), (iii)	16 (40); buffer zone 142 (350)	2010
Putorana Plateau		Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia	Natural: (vii), (ix)	1,887,251 (4,663,500); buffer zone 1,773,300 (4,382,000)	2010
Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures		Samarqand Province, Uzbekistan	Cultural: (i), (ii), (iv)	965 (2,380)	2001
Saryarka — Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan		Akmola and Kostanay Provinces, Kazakhstan	Natural: (ix), (x)	450,344 (1,112,820); buffer zone 211,148 (521,760)	2008
Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor		22 sites in China: Luoyang, Lingbao and Xin'an of Henan Province; Xi'an, Bin County and Chenggu of Shaanxi Province; Tianshui, Yongjing, Dunhuang and Anxi of Gansu Province; Turpan, Jimsar and Kuqa of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 8 sites in Kazakhstan: Almaty Province and Jambyl Province. 3 sites in Kyrgyzstan: Chuy Province	Cultural: (ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)	42,668.16 (105,435.3); buffer zone 189,963.13 (469,409.1)	2014
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancient Merv”		Mary Province, Turkmenistan	Cultural: (ii), (iii)	353 (870); buffer zone 883 (2,180)	1999
Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain		Osh, Kyrgyzstan	Cultural: (iii), (vi)	112 (280); buffer zone 4,788 (11,830)	2009
Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs)	—	Tajikistan	Natural: (vii), (viii)	2,611,674 (6,453,590)	2013
Uvs Nuur Basin		Uvs, Zavkhan and Khövsgöl Provinces Mongolia*; Mongun-Tayginsky, Ovyursky, Tes-Khemsky and Erzinsky Districts, Tuva Republic, Russia*	Natural: (ix), (x)	898,064 (2,219,160); buffer zone 170,790 (422,000)	2003
Volcanoes of Kamchatka		Kamchatka Krai, Russia	Natural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)	3,830,200 (9,465,000)	1996

References

Notes