UNESCO added a record 61 sites to its World Heritage List on Thursday, including places of outstanding natural beauty and cultural importance such as China's Mount Qincheng and the first coffee plantations in Cuba.
This year's list, unveiled at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Cairns, Australia, also included a part of the Loire Valley in France, the historic center of Bruges in Belgium, Denmark's Elsinore castle where Shakespeare's Hamlet was set, and Verona, in Italy, used as the setting for his Romeo and Juliet.
The south Wales town of Blaenavon was chosen as a rare example of Britain's industrial heritage.
For the first time, sites in Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Nicaragua and Suriname were added to the list.
The new sites bring to 691 the number of places of outstanding beauty and historical value on the World Heritage List in 122 countries – PARIS (AFP)
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