List of World Heritage Sites in Kyrgyzstan

Sulayman Mountain

Suyab

Balasagun

Navekat

Sary-Chelek

Besh-Aral

Padysha-Ata

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Location of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kyrgyzstan. Blue dots are the Silk Road sites. Green dots are the sites of Western Tien-Shan.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by countries which are signatories to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.^[1] Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage.^[2] Kyrgyzstan ratified the convention on 3 July 1995.^[3]

Kyrgyzstan has three sites on the list. The first site, the Sulayman Mountain, was listed in 2009. The Silk Road corridors were listed in 2014 and the most recent site, the Western Tien-Shan, was listed in 2016. The Sulayman Mountain and the Silk Roads are cultural sites, the Western Tien-Shan is a natural site. The Silk Roads site is shared with China and Kazakhstan while the Western Tien-Shan is shared with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In addition, Kyrgyzstan has two sites on the tentative list.^[3]