UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 4th Session [1] Quiz

Answer: Ethiopia

One of four separate sites for Ethiopia inscribed in this year, the archaeological sites found at Tiya, just a short distance south of the capital of Addis Ababa, are important to African culture but researchers can't pinpoint exactly what significance they had. Though the megalithic stones, dating back a thousand years, bear ornamental writing and images, do seem to imply that this location was used as a burial ground for African warriors, it's not completely known who erected them. Protection assigned to this area by UNESCO has allowed archaeologists to locate tombs throughout this area.

Answer: The Holy See

There's a lot to be had in this particular site since the city of Rome and the Vatican are so intrinsically linked. Although the Vatican City falls under its own jurisdiction, many religious and governmental structures in Rome are property of or in control of the Holy See, and this means that this particular UNESCO World Heritage Site is a bit more complex-- it contains not only the Historic Centre of Rome, but the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura, otherwise known as Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (as it stands in Piazzale San Paolo).

Naturally, the Historic Centre of Rome contains most if not all of its ruins.

Answer: Valletta

One of three Maltese sites added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site listing in this year, the City of Valletta is one of several full-fledged cities to make the list due to its cultural and historical significance. Valletta, specifically, has a history dating back to the sixteenth century having been protected during the Great Siege of Malta and built with beautiful Basque architecture. Europe's southernmost capital and its smallest, it has, at times, seen occupation by the French and the British, both of which contributed dynamic museum-like harbour it is today.

Answer: Africa

Tunisia had a windfall with UNESCO inscription no less than a year before this, when several of its key archaeological sites and structures fell under the World Heritage Site protection list, but Ichkeul National Park was its sole entrant in 1980, acting as its first natural protected site. Found only a short drive outside of Africa's northernmost settlement (Bizerte, Tunisia), the wetlands here are a key watering hole for Mediterranean birdlife, especially since it's one of the region's most reliable freshwater resource.

It's far from the largest lake in Tunisia though; Chott el Djerid, a salt lake to the south, is nearly a hundred times larger.

Answer: Redwood National Park

Although all four of these locations are U.S. National Parks, Redwood National Park is the one of the four found in Northern California, straddling Humboldt County and Del Norte County where they edge up against the border with Oregon. Visitors who head here will find some of the most gigantic trees, and some of the oldest, anywhere in the world, making this an essential spot for UNESCO's protective initiative.

The region has a historical significance as well, being a Native American site of importance as well as a critically-regarded spot for industry, especially in the days of the gold mining boom and America's westward expansion.

Naturally, the focal point is the endangered coast redwood, Earth's tallest living tree.

Answer: Paphos

The far west portion of Cyprus, the Paphos Region was of massive religious significance two millennia ago, having been the site of the Sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia, a structure built in reverence of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The City of New Paphos was built there a few hundred years later by King Nicocles, who made the city the island's capital, constructing it on the natural harbour there. Today, it's a site of both Greek, Roman, and Byzantine ruins and the former home of many key figures from Mediterranean Antiquity.

Answer: Syria

Syria's ancient cities were easy early grabs for UNESCO because of their importance in a number of key early empires, and with Damascus being added to the list the year prior, 1980 was the time for both Palmyra and Bosra. Smack-dab in the middle of the nation, Palmyra was the site of good fortune, having been established at a point on the Silk Road where locals benefitted immensely. What resulted was the construction of numerous large buildings, many of which remain as ruins to this day. Eventually, the city shrunk down over time and in the modern era it's one of the few World Heritage Sites to be under frequent threat due to Civil War in Syria.

Answer: The Dinarides

Formerly part of Yugoslavia, not only does Durmitor National Park contain the 1,300m-deep Tara River Canyon, Europe's deepest such gorge, but it contains Montenegro's highest peak, Bobotov Kuk, which tops out at 2,523m (though there are higher mountains shared with Albania along their border).

The land here, besides this rocky stretch of Alps, is blanketed with dense pine forest, the after effect of a rugged, glacier-made landscape left over from the last Ice Age. The lake-filled plateaus and the massif at its centre are clear focal points here, at the nation's largest protected region.

Answer: Pakistan

A site of pilgrimage and worship for the better part of six centuries, Takht-i-Bahi was constructed outside of what is now the modern city of Mardan in Pakistan's north. Then, however, it was built near what would be the fortified town of Sahr-i-Bahlol, a heavily agricultural spot in the Kushan Empire in its heyday. Found in the hills there, Takht-i-Bahi is considered, to this day, one of the best-preserved Buddhist ruins of the Gandhara Region, a spot in Asia that isn't all-too frequented by foreign tourists due to its general remoteness, tucked away in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the Iranian Plateau.

Answer: Trondheim, Norway

Found in Trøndelag County, which can be found halfway up Norway, the town of Røros is found a couple hours southeast of Trondheim, closer to the Swedish border (though not particularly close to anything on the Swedish side). Though built up in the nineteenth century, Røros was used by the Sami people more than a hundred years earlier.

It wasn't until the later date, however, that Norwegians recognized the value of the region's copper and silver lodes. It made Røros an important spot for the industry though today it's perhaps better known for its unique, dark-wood buildings, more evocative of a medieval village than anything else.