List of World Heritage Sites in Ecuador

Quito

Cuenca

Sangay National Park

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World Heritage Sites in Ecuador. The Qhapaq Ñan sites (23 locations in the country), and the Galápagos Islands, located 1,000 km (620 mi) west off the mainland, are not shown on the map.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in 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]

Ecuador accepted the convention on 16 June 1975, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.^[3] Ecuador has five sites on the list and a further five on the tentative list. The first two sites listed in Ecuador were the Galápagos Islands and the City of Quito, in 1978, which were also the first two sites inscribed to the list itself, with the reference numbers 1 and 2, respectively.^[3] Three sites are listed for their cultural and two for their natural properties. One site is transnational: the Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System is shared with five other countries.^[3] Ecuador has served as a member of the World Heritage Committee twice: 1976–1980 and 1995–2001.^[3]