The List of World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom is a group of places chosen by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

There are 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom and overseas territories. The UNESCO list has eighteen properties in England (the Frontiers of the Roman Empire is shared with Germany), five in Scotland, three in Wales, one in Northern Ireland, and one in each of the overseas territories of Bermuda, the Pitcairn Islands, and Saint Helena.

History
UNESCO was created for the "conservation and protection of the world’s inheritance of books, works of art and monuments of history and science". The constitution of UNESCO was ratified in 1946 by 26 countries, including the United Kingdom.

The UK contributes £130,000 annually to the World Heritage Fund which finances the preservation of sites in developing countries. Some locations have many sites that have a common geographical location or cultural history.

List
The World Heritage list has developed over time.  It is part of a process; and the list continues to grow.

The United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO advises the British government on policies dealing with UNESCO. The British government is responsible for maintaining its World Heritage Sites.

Original list 
The first sites in the UK to be added to the World Heritage List, in 1986, were:
 Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast
 Durham Castle and Cathedral
 Ironbridge Gorge
 Studley Royal Park and the Ruins of Fountains Abbey
 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
 Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd

The latest site to be added was Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal in 2009.

Criteria 
There are 10 criteria for a site to be able to be added to the list. World Heritage Site selection criteria i–iv are culturally based. selection criteria vii–x are natural criteria. Twenty-three properties are listed as "cultural". Four are listed as "natural". One is listed as "mixed", which means that the site is notable for both natural and cultural criteria. This is similar to the proportions of all World Heritage Sites. Of the 890 sites on the World Heritage List, 77.4% are cultural, 19.8% are natural, and 2.8% are mixed. St Kilda is the only mixed World Heritage Site in the UK. At first, it was added to the list because of its natural habitats. 

In 2005, the crofting community that once was part of the archipelago was added to the site. The natural sites are the Dorset and East Devon Coast, Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast, Gough and Inaccessible Islands and Henderson Island. The rest are cultural.

As of 2020, there are 30 places in the United Kingdom which are on the World Heritage List.
 25 cultural sites  
 4 natural sites

There are 13 sites which are on a tentative list.

Table

Tentative list
The Tentative List is an inventory of important heritage and natural sites that a country is considering for inscription on the World Heritage List, thereby becoming World Heritage Sites. The Tentative List can be updated at any time, but inclusion on the list is a prerequisite to being considered for inscription within a five- to ten-year period.

The UK's Tentative List was last updated on 25 July 2014, and consisted of 11 sites. The properties on the Tentative List are as follows:

Many other favorite sites were left out this time, including
The Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland
The Forth Bridge, Scotland
The New Forest, England
Shakespeare's Stratford, England
The Wash and North Norfolk Coast, England

Related pages
 UNESCO World Heritage Site

Notes

References

Further reading

Other websites 

 
 UNESCO site
 UK World Heritage Sites DCMS portal
 List of World Heritage Sites in Britain  

Geography of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom-related lists
United Kingdom