World Heritage can occur in all types of culture and nature areas. Heritage inscribed on the World Heritage List is unique and important in the history of mankind. It is of outstanding universal value. The Map of World Heritage Properties and the photo links show how these sites are distributed around the world.

One area on the map shows a clear concentration of World Heritage sites, namely in the western part of Europe. Arctic areas in particular are poorly represented on the List, whilst fewer areas in the central regions of most continents are inscribed than areas in the outer regions.

The World Heritage on this website has been divided into six groups, which roughly coincide with the continents: Europe, South and Central America, Asia, North America, Africa and Australia with Oceania. Antarctica is not mentioned on the List.