UNESCO World Heritage Atlas
200+ UNESCO World Heritage Sites on an interactive 3D globe — cultural landmarks, natural wonders, and endangered sites across 168 countries, categorised by Cultural, Natural, and Mixed with country-level choropleth shading and multi-dimensional filtering.
200+
Heritage sites
80+
Countries represented
3
Categories
6
Regions covered
40+
Endangered sites
1978
Earliest inscription
UNESCO
Data source
11,600 yr
Oldest site age
Data Pipeline
From the UNESCO World Heritage List to an interactive WebGL globe in six steps.
UNESCO World Heritage List
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has inscribed 1,199 properties across 168 countries since 1972. Our dataset includes 200+ of the most famous and geographically diverse sites, each with verified coordinates, inscription year, category, and UNESCO criteria.
Category Classification
Each site is classified as Cultural (human-made heritage), Natural (geological or biological significance), or Mixed (both cultural and natural values). This three-way classification drives the colour scheme on the globe and enables category-based filtering.
Endangered Status Tracking
UNESCO maintains a List of World Heritage in Danger for sites threatened by conflict, development, natural disasters, or neglect. Our dataset flags 40+ endangered sites — including Aleppo, Palmyra, Virunga, and the Everglades — with special visual treatment on the globe.
Regional Organisation
Sites are organised into six UNESCO regions: Europe, Asia, Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Arab States. This enables regional filtering and analysis of the geographic distribution of World Heritage sites.
Country Choropleth
Country polygons from Natural Earth / TopoJSON are shaded proportionally to the number of UNESCO sites each country holds. Italy leads with 59 sites, followed by China (57), Germany (52), and France (52). This choropleth layer provides immediate geographic context.
WebGL Globe Rendering
Sites are rendered as colour-coded points on a globe.gl WebGL globe with a day-texture Earth image, bump mapping for terrain, and a cyan/teal atmosphere for a tourism aesthetic. Tooltips provide rich HTML with site details, and click events zoom to selected sites.
Heritage Categories
UNESCO classifies World Heritage Sites into three categories based on the criteria they satisfy.
| Category | UNESCO Criteria | Sites in Dataset | Examples | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultural | i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi | 130+ | Taj Mahal, Acropolis, Machu Picchu | Sites of outstanding universal value from a historical, artistic, or scientific point of view. Includes monuments, groups of buildings, and sites created by human effort or the combined works of nature and humanity. |
| Natural | vii, viii, ix, x | 55+ | Great Barrier Reef, Grand Canyon, Serengeti | Natural features of outstanding universal value from an aesthetic, scientific, or conservation perspective. Includes geological formations, habitats of threatened species, and areas of exceptional natural beauty. |
| Mixed | i-vi + vii-x | 15+ | Machu Picchu, Meteora, Tongariro | Sites that satisfy criteria from both cultural and natural categories. These rare properties combine human heritage with exceptional natural features — only about 3% of all World Heritage Sites hold this designation. |
Tech Stack
200+ UNESCO sites
Heritage dataset
globe.gl + Three.js
Globe renderer
Day satellite imagery
Earth texture
TopoJSON 110m
Country borders
pointsData layer
Point rendering
HTML label overlays
Tooltip engine
Next.js App Router
Framework
WGS-84 / EPSG:4326
Coord system
Key Features
Category colour coding
Each site point is coloured by category: amber (cultural), green (natural), purple (mixed). Endangered sites are highlighted in red with larger radius for immediate visibility.
Country choropleth shading
Country polygons are shaded by heritage site density — darker teal indicates more UNESCO sites. Click any country to see its sites listed in a detail panel.
Multi-dimensional filtering
Filter by category (cultural/natural/mixed), region (6 UNESCO regions), endangered status, and free-text search across site names and countries — all applied simultaneously.
Rich site tooltips
Hover over any site point for an HTML tooltip showing name, country, inscription year, category badge, endangered status, description, and UNESCO criteria codes.
About UNESCO World Heritage
The UNESCO World Heritage Convention (1972) identifies cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value. As of 2024, the World Heritage List includes 1,199 properties across 168 countries — 933 cultural, 227 natural, and 39 mixed sites.
Sites are nominated by member states and evaluated by ICOMOS (cultural) or IUCN (natural) advisory bodies. Inscription requires meeting at least one of ten selection criteria and demonstrating an adequate protection and management plan.
Outstanding Universal Value -- cultural or natural significance that transcends national boundaries
International Council on Monuments and Sites -- evaluates cultural nominations
International Union for Conservation of Nature -- evaluates natural nominations
Ten selection criteria (i-vi cultural, vii-x natural) that a site must satisfy for inscription
Sites facing serious threats from conflict, development, natural disasters, or neglect
Protected area surrounding a site that provides additional layer of protection
Data Sources
UNESCO WHC
Primary heritage data
The official UNESCO World Heritage Centre maintains the definitive list of inscribed properties, including coordinates, criteria, description, and endangerment status.
Natural Earth / TopoJSON
Country boundaries
110m-resolution country polygons from Natural Earth, converted to TopoJSON for efficient loading. Used for border rendering and choropleth shading.
Three Globe Textures
Earth imagery
Day satellite imagery, bump topology, and night sky background from the three-globe example texture library for realistic globe rendering.