UNESCO Heritage Sites

The karst formation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has evolved since the Palaeozoic (some 400 million years ago) and so is the oldest major karst area in Asia. Subject to massive tectonic changes, the park's karst landscape is extremely complex with many geomorphic features of considerable significance. The vast area, extending to the border of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, contains spectacular formations including 65 km of caves and underground rivers. Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park is located in the middle of the Annamite Mountain Range in Quang Binh province, Vietnam and shares its boundary with the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in the Lao PDR to the west. The property comprises an area of 85,754 ha and contains terrestrial and aquatic habitats, primary and secondary forest, sites of natural regeneration, tropical dense forests and savanna and is rich in large, often spectacular and scientifically significant caves. Continent: Asia Country: Vietnam Cate...

My Son, the name in Vietnamese means "Beautiful Mountain" was sacred to the Dua clan, who worshipped the mythical king Srisanabhadresvara and governed Amaravati, the northern part of the kingdom. The Champa Kingdom began in AD 192 when the people of the Tuong Lam area rose up against their Chinese overlords and founded an independent state in the narrow strip of land along the coast of central Vietnam. This state is known from sporadic Chinese records, in which it appeared successively as Lam Ap, Hoan Vuong, and then Chiem Thanh, a transcription of Champapura, meaning "the city of the Cham people." The Cham economy was based on farming (wet-rice agriculture), fishing, and seaborne trade. Continent: Asia Country: Vietnam Category: Cultural Criterion: (II)(III) Date of Inscription: 1999

Hoi an Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. The town is a special example of a traditional trading port in South-East Asia which has been completely and assiduously preserved: it is the only town in Viet Nam that has survived intact in this way. Most of the buildings are in the traditional architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries. They are aligned along narrow lanes of traditional type. They include many religious buildings, such as pagodas, temples, meeting houses, etc., which relate to the development of a port community. The traditional lifestyles, religion, customs and cooking have been preserved and many festivals still take place annually. Continent: Asia Country: Vietnam Category: Cultural Criterion: (II)(V) Date of I...