Unesco names World Heritage sites

A silver mine in Japan and an ancient fortress in Turkmenistan are also now on the Unesco World Heritage list.

Archaeological remains in Iraqi city of Samarra were inscribed and immediately registered as being in danger.

The organisation also agreed to change the official name of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland.

It will now be referred to as Auschwitz-Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945).

Poland sought the change to make clear it had no role in establishing or running the camp.

Majestic ruins

The Sydney Opera House, built in 1973, was named as a "great artistic monument accessible to society at large", Unesco said.

It was recognised as a great architectural work and urban structure that has had an "enduring influence on architecture".

SITES ADDED TO LIST

• Sydney Opera House, Australia
• Old town of Corfu, Greece
• Red Fort Complex, India
• Bordeaux, France
• Volcanic island of Jeju, South Korea
• Iwami Ginzan silver mine, Japan
• Parthian fortresses of Nisa, Turkmenistan
• Samarra archaeological city, Iraq
• Rideau Canal, Canada
• Mehmed Pasa Sokolovic Bridge, Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Teide National Park, Spain
• Primeval beech forests of the Carpathian, Ukraine
• Lope-Okanda, Gabon
• Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, South Africa
• Twyfelfontein, Namibia
• Diaolou villages in Kaiping, China

In pictures: New additions

India's Red Fort Complex, built as the palace fort of Shahjahanabad and completed in 1648, was honoured for reflecting "all phases of Indian history from the Mughal period to independence", Unesco said.

The Iwami Ginzan silver mine on Honshu Island in Japan dates back to the 16th Century. The Parthian Fortresses of Nisa in Turkmenistan contain the remains of two cities from the 3rd Century BC to the 3rd Century AD.

Samarra, considered a holy city by Shia Muslims, is home to majestic ruins along the Tigris river and a 9th Century mosque. Holy sites in the city have been the target of insurgent attacks.

Other sites added to the list include Gabon's Lope-Okanda landscape, the Richtersveld mountainous desert region of South Africa, Namibia's Twyfelfontein and 1,800 fortified tower houses in China's Guangdong province.

The UN cultural organisation has been considering bids from 39 different countries in its week-long meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Around 45 sites are in competition to be added to the World Heritage list.

There are currently more than 830 sites on the World Heritage list, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, which has been updated regularly since 1972.

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