The 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee ended on Wednesday in New Delhi, India. The Committee inscribed 26 new cultural and natural properties on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The session concluded with Nauru ratifying the World Heritage Convention and becoming its 196th State Party.

The Committee inscribed 26 new properties, including two major extensions to properties that are considered new inscriptions. The other inscriptions include 20 cultural properties, 5 natural properties, and 1 mixed site. These properties thus benefit from the highest level of heritage protection in the world. Their managers will now have access to new opportunities for technical and financial assistance from UNESCO.

These inscriptions bring the total number of properties inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List to 1223, in 168 countries. The Committee also examined the state of conservation of 123 other properties already inscribed on the World Heritage List.

The I.U. UNESCO Chair on Threats to Cultural Heritage provided technical support on protection and sustainability issues in the preparation of the dossier for the successful "Beijing City Axis" bid.

The newest UNESCO world heritage sites for 2024

• Badain Jaran Desert - Towers of Sand and Lakes (China)
• Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital (China)
• Brâncuși Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu (Romania)
• Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake (Russian Federation)
• Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia (Romania)
• Hegmataneh (Iran (Islamic Republic of))
• Human Rights, Liberation and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (South Africa)
• Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Brazil)
• Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia (Ethiopia)
• Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty (India)
• Phu Phrabat, a testimony to the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period (Thailand)
• Royal Court of Tiébélé (Burkina Faso)
• Sado Island Gold Mines (Japan)
• Saint Hilarion Monastery/ Tell Umm Amer (State of Palestine)
• Schwerin Residence Ensemble (Germany)
• Te Henua Enata – The Marquesas Islands (France)
• The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex (Malaysia)
• The Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area (Saudi Arabia)
• The Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: The Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa (South Africa)
• The Flow Country (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
• The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi (Kenya)
• Umm Al-Jimāl (Jordan)
• Via Appia. Regina Viarum (Italy)
• Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno (Bosnia and Herzegovina)