In 1972 UNESCO adopted the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The countries that sign it, 196 today, commit to protecting the places on their territory with outstanding universal value, and a committee meets every year to add new ones to the list. The first twelve were inscribed in 1978, among them the Galápagos Islands and the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela.
To get in, a place must meet at least one of ten criteria: six cultural, such as being a masterpiece of human creative genius, and four natural, such as exceptional natural beauty or the habitat of threatened species. The title brings protection, technical help and international attention, but also obligations: sites at risk go on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and three have lost the title altogether.
This is my list. The sites I have been to are marked: where there is a photo, it links to it; where the trip came before 2007, there is only the date.