UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 5th Session [1] Quiz

Answer: The Rocky Mountain foothills

Located in Southern Alberta, this notable Canadian landmark was named 'Estipah-skikikini-kots' by the Blackfoot people of the Great Plains, and it remains an important site for indigenous culture. Though it was abandoned after colonization eventually pushed people to settle westward towards British Columbia, the jump here was, at one time, used by local hunters who sought to herd and kill buffalo; they would force them over the edge of the cliff, sending them down the steep drop to their eventual deaths.

Found outside of Fort Macleod, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is found at one of the eastern points of the Rocky Mountain foothills; the peaks rise to the west and continue across the Continental Divide.

Answer: Lahore, Pakistan

Lahore Fort was originally constructed as a citadel in the mid-16th century and indicated the start of the Mughal Empire which lasted more than one hundred years in Pakistan. Filled with unique structures, many of which were embellished with colourful mosaics, it's long been a site requiring significant upkeep and preservation efforts.

The Shalimar Gardens, which surround the buildings, was created in an effort contain the perfect Persian garden and contains more than four hundred operating fountains. Today, it's one of the most visited landmarks in Pakistan.

Answer: Tanzania

A small island in the Indian Ocean found just offshore from Tanzania proper, Kilwa Kisiwani has been inhabited for more than twelve centuries, acting as home to a small but resilient community of Swahili natives. At one time, the island was home to more than ten thousand citizens. Today, much of it is operated as a tourist destination or is in ruins, like the old stone town of Songo Mnara, which remains a noteworthy archaeological space.

Visitors to this UNESCO World Heritage Site can still visit the forts, palaces, and Great Mosque that stand amidst the stone houses dotting the island's hamlets.

Answer: Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens

Standing of the River Somme, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens was built over the course of five decades in the thirteenth century and remains one of France's most elaborately-constructed Gothic cathedrals. A massive structure, Amiens Cathedral was built in excess with the intent to be bigger, better, and closer to heaven. Protected by UNESCO due to its significance in the world of High Gothic architecture and its collection of preserved sculptures, it's also known for its beautiful stained-glass windows, some of which have survived all those centuries (and two World Wars).

Answer: Jerusalem

The entirety of the Old City of Jerusalem, including its famous walls, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's unsurprising as to why due to its importance in history, culture, and religious significance. Home to its four quarters and the Dome of the Rock, the Old City is a pilgrimage site for several different religions, all of which hold key landmarks and sights from their holy texts within the area. Jerusalem itself has been settled for the better part of five millennia, so the city is a testament to resilience, even if the preservation risks involving it spill into the modern era.

Answer: Niokolo-Koba National Park

One of the more remote expanses of land in Southeastern Senegal, Niokolo-Koba National Park is a large wooded region that makes up nearly 80% of the country's forests and wetlands along the Gambia River. Because of this critical and fertile ecosystem, it's also a major habitat for everything from endemic fish, birds, and reptiles, but monkeys, lions, and elephants.

Although added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites listing in 1981 alongside the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary in Senegal's far north, it was put at risk of endangerment in 2007 and, due to poor upkeep, dropped from the list due to a poor track record of conservation.

Answer: West Germany

Consecrated in the eleventh century, Speyer Cathedral was established as a place of worship long before Germany was divided after the Second World War and then reunified in 1990. Today, the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen is one of the largest Romanesque buildings in the world and a critical piece of architecture in German history-- one of the reasons it was selected for UNESCO preservation.

The City of Speyer itself, which sits on the banks of the Rhine in Southwest Germany, was made into a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its own right (along with Mainz and Worms) in 2021.

Answer: Kakadu National Park

While the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park, found in the south of Australia, takes up more of the island nation's area, Kakadu National Park, found in the Northern Territory near Darwin, is nearly twenty thousand square kilometres of protected land, most of which is formed by every manner of varied ecosystem from wetlands to rocky plateaus to rainforests to tidal flats.

The area is also home to Aboriginal rock art sites dating back more than twenty thousand years, making this region not only the ideal site for UNESCO protections for its natural beauty and importance, but its cultural history.

Answer: Maya

After Guatemala received two UNESCO World Heritage Site listings in 1979, Quiriguá was next to hit the listing only two years later, adding to the nation's well-preserved archaeological treasures. Although only three square kilometres in size, Quiriguá represents one of the key meeting places for Mayan villagers from around Central America. Found just north of Rio Motagua Cerro Azul National Park, it contains some of the largest and best-preserved stone sculptures in the hemisphere.

Although it was abandoned in the 9th century AD, the village included several stone structures in its peak period including an acropolis, the site of which still remains.

Answer: Washington

One of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites established in the U.S. in this session, Olympic National Park is found in the northwest corner of the Continental United States and contains both the Pacific coast and the Olympic Mountains as well as the rainforests that sit between them. Because of this area's unique location and the weather patterns that come off the Pacific in this region, Olympic National Park is commonly regarded as one of the rainiest spots in the country.

It doesn't stop the natural beauty here though; from glaciers to sprawling meadows to sea stacks, it may be one of the country's most diverse National Parks in terms of its animal life and types of ecosystems.