See 5 places joining Botanic Gardens on World Heritage List

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you would have heard that the Singapore Botanic Gardens is now a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site.

The announcement came on Saturday (July 4) during the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Bonn, Germany.

The process started in 2010 after then-Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts did a feasibility study and consulted experts, academics and other stakeholders like the Singapore Heritage Society. 

PHOTO: FACEBOOK/ LEE HSIEN LOONG

Besides the Botanic Gardens, here are the other five sites that made the list.

1) China: Tusi sites

Tusi sites. PHOTO: TWITTER/@XHNEWS

The ancient tribal sites of Tusi are located in south-west China.

These sites are all that is left of an ancient political system which the emperors of China used to rule minority regions in the far-flung regions.

The Tusi refers to the hereditary leaders and officers who were appointed to run these remote and often lawless areas.

2) Iran: Cultural landscape of Maymand

Maymand. PHOTO: @UNESCO

This area in Iran's central mountains is the first of two entries for the country.

Villagers were thought to live in cave dwellings carved out of the mountain's soft rock about 12,000 years ago.

It is thought that the cave-dwellings first started off as religious sites and then slowly became the permanent houses that is present today.

3) Iran: Susa

An example of the architecture that can be found in Susa. PHOTO: @UNESCO

One of the oldest cities in the world, the area has been settled since at least 4,200 BC.

According to UNESCO, the site has excellent examples of ancient cultures, which have since disappeared in other areas of the world.

4) South Korea: Baekje historic areas

Baekhwajeong Pavilion. PHOTO: TWITTER/@UNESCO_DE

The area that is gazetted as a world heritage site is located in the mountainous mid-west region of South Korea.

The Baekje kingdom lasted from 18 BC to 600 AD and is one of three ancient kingdoms that once inhabited the Korean Peninsula.

During that time, the people produced several buildings of deep cultural and historical worth.

According to the Baekje Historic Areas conservation and management, the Baekje played an important role in the development of the the Korean culture.

5) Champagne's vineyards and wine cellars, France

France was toasted twice by UNESCO. PHOTO: TWITTER/@CNNBRK

Say cheers to the historic vineyards, wine cellars and champagne houses — where the world’s most famous sparkling wines are produced.

They have been listed as a world heritage site.

The rolling hills of the northern French Champagne region, where the grapes for the sought-after bubbly are grown, already have some of the most expensive agricultural land in Europe.

Sources: AFP, Twitter, UNESCO, Baekje Heritage, Atlas Obscura, Ancient.eu