![]() | ||
The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has designated 73 World Heritage Sites in 5 countries (also called "state parties") of Eastern Asia: China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Japan.
In this region, China is home to the most inscribed sites with number of 50. The first sites from the region (and only sites designated in the 1980s or before) were the Great Wall of China, Mount Tai, the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Mogao Caves and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, and all of them were in China. Each year, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list, or delist sites 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 Eastern Asia, there are 53 cultural, 14 natural, and four mixed sites.
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." In this region there are no sites currently listed as endangered, nor have been listed previously. Possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of other cases.
Although a number of sites in Taiwan have been proposed, political considerations have prevented any site on the island from being listed. The United Nations considers Taiwan to be a territory of the People's Republic of China; any World Heritage Site in Taiwan would be the responsibility of the PRC, which does not have any de facto authority over the island. The PRC actively interferes with any proposal to list a site in Taiwan.
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 so mohenjo daro is now preserved