Well, first of all I’ve always thought that there no unnecessary knowledge. Sometimes you are to remember something which you heard about long ago and didn’t pay attention on. So, it can happen, that once you’ll need a piece of information you’ll get today.

Before answering this question let’s clear up the definition of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The Committee is composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term. A World Heritage Site is a place of either cultural or physical significance.

And that is when you may need such information. You travel, and while travelling you go sightseeing. Imagine the situation; you come to a city or town and from a guide dook you learn that there is a World Heritage Site. What will be you reaction? You are sure to visit this Site. You will be eager to see with your own eyes what is considered to be World Heritage Site.
(порассуждать на эту тему)

And there is one more thing. You live in Moscow – I do not mean our French guests – do you know any World Heritage Sites in Moscow or near Moscow? And our French guests – can you name just any Site in France?

The World Heritage  programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The programme was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972. Since then, 186 state parties have ratified the convention.

As of 2009, 890 sites are listed: 689 cultural, 176 natural, and 25 mixed properties, in 148 states. Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites to date with 44 sites inscribed on the list. UNESCO references each World Heritage Site with an identification number; but new inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger descriptions. For example, the "Chateau and Estate of Chambord", which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is now part of the "Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes". As a result, the identification numbers exceed 1200 even though there are fewer on the list.

Each World Heritage Site is the property of the state on whose territory the site is located, but it is considered in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.

Some sites are Transboundary. It means that they are situated on the territory of more than one state.

That is the modern situation. But how did it all started?

In 1954, the government of Egypt decided to build the Aswan Dam (Aswan High Dam), an event that would flood a valley containing treasures of ancient Egypt such as the Abu Simbel temples. UNESCO then launched a worldwide safeguarding campaign, despite appeals from the governments of Egypt and Sudan. The Abu Simbel and Philae temples were taken apart, moved to a higher location, and put back together piece by piece.
(пару слов о том, что часть украшений храмов сейчас в музеях США)

The cost of the project was US$80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries. The project was regarded as a success, and it led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of  (Mohenjo-daro) Mound of the Dead in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a draft convention to protect the common cultural heritage of humanity.

The United States initiated the idea of combining cultural conservation with nature conservation. A White House conference in 1965 called for a World Heritage Trust to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry." The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, and they were presented in 1972 to the United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm.

A single text was agreed on by all parties, and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.

Until the end of 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so that there is only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of "outstanding universal value" and meet at least one of the ten criteria.

Now let’s have a look on criteria

Cultural criteria

* I. "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius"; (статуя Свободы)
* II. "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design"; (город на Цейлоне)
* III. "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared"; (пирамиды Гизы)
* IV. "to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history"; (Канал-дю-Миди )
* V. "to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change"; (Кижи)
* VI. "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria.) (статуя Свободы, город на Цейлоне и др)

Natural criteria

* VII. "to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance";
* VIII. "to be outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features";
* IX. "to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals";
* X. "to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation."

Nominating process

A country must first take an inventory of its significant cultural and natural properties. This is called the Tentative List, and is important because a country may not nominate properties that have not already been included on the Tentative List. Next, it can select a property from this list to place into a Nomination File. The World Heritage Centre offers advice and help in preparing this file.

At this point, the file is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union. These bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The Committee meets once per year to determine whether or not to inscribe each nominated property on the World Heritage List, and sometimes defers the decision to request more information from the country who nominated the site. There are ten selection criteria - a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list.

France

Totally 33 sites are enlisted. 30 cultural, 2 natural, 1 mixed, and it is Transboundary site (France-Spain)
The first enlisted in 1979 were:
* Vézelay, Church and Hill — 1979
* Palace and Park of Versailles — 1979
* Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley — 1979 (Ласко 2)
* Chartres Cathedral — 1979
* Mont Saint Michel and its Bay — 1979

Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List

Cultural

* Abbey Church of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe (1983)
* Amiens Cathedral (1981)
* Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments (1981)
* Belfries of Belgium and France (1999)
* Bordeaux, Port of the Moon (2007)
* Bourges Cathedral (1992)
* Canal du Midi (1996)
* Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims (1991)
* Chartres Cathedral (1979)
* Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay (1981)
* Fortifications of Vauban (2008)
* From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the production of open-pan salt (1982)
* Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge (1995)
* Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne (1997)
* Historic Site of Lyons (1998)
* Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion (1999)
* Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret (2005)
* Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay (1979)
* Palace and Park of Fontainebleau (1981)
* Palace and Park of Versailles (1979)
* Paris, Banks of the Seine (1991)
* Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance in Nancy (1983)
* Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct) (1985)
* Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley (1979)
* Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs (2001)
* Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange (1981)
* Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France (1998)
* Strasbourg – Grande île (1988)
* The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes (2000)
* Vézelay, Church and Hill (1979)

Natural

* Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve (1983)
* Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (2008)

Mixed

* Pyrénées - Mont Perdu (1997)

Properties submitted on the Tentative List

* Sites mégalithiques de Carnac (1996)
* Cathédrale de Saint-Denis (1996)
* Albi (Tarn) : ensemble urbain de briques, cathédrale, Palais de la Berbie, Pont sur le Tarn (1996)
* Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (1996)
* Les villes bastionnées des Pays-Bas du nord-ouest de l'Europe (#) (1996)
* Les Iles Marquises (1996)
* Le massif forestier de Fontainebleau (1996)
* Le vignoble Champenois (2002)
* Montagne Sainte-Victoire et sites cézaniens (1996)
* Parc national de la Vanoise (2000)
* Massif du Mont Blanc (2000)
* La Camargue (2002)
* Bouches de Bonifacio (2002)
* Mercantour / Alpi Marittime (2002)
* Parc national des Écrins (2002)
* Parc national de Port-Cros (2002)
* Marais salants de Guérande (2002)
* Vignoble des côtes de Nuits et de Beaune (2002)
* Bassin minier du Nord-Pas-de-Calais (2002)
* Rade de Marseille (2002)
* Les villes antiques de la Narbonnaise et leur territoire : Nîmes, Arles, Glanum, aqueducs, via Domitia (2002)
* Le chemin de fer de Cerdagne (2002)
* Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales, Meudon (2002)
* Hangar Y (2002)
* Phare de Cordouan (2002)
* Centre ancien de Sarlat (2002)
* Arsenal de Rochefort et fortifications de l'estuaire de la Charente (2002)
* La saline de Salins-les-Bains (2002)
* La Grotte ornée Chauvet-Pont d'Arc (2007)