Ethiopia’s Heritage Sites that UNESCO Recognized

It is an open secret that Ethiopia is endowed with some of the most unique sites on the African continent. Today, Ethiopia boasts of more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country in Africa. The list of World Heritage Sites could further increase in the near future from the current nine sites, should Ethiopia manage to have included in the listing new sites that have thus far been included in a World Heritage Sites tentative list.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are locations of utmost importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The convention was established in 1972. Ethiopia amongst some of the first countries in the world to ratify the convention on July 6, 1977.

Ethiopia the Land of Origins

Its ratification of the convention meant that Ethiopia’s historical sites would therefore be eligible for inclusion on the list. At the second World Heritage Committee held in Washington, D.C, in 1978, Ethiopia witnessed the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela and the Semien National Park in northern Ethiopia inscribed on the World Heritage Sites.

Seven other sites across Ethiopia have since been added to the list. These include Fasil Ghebbi, the fortress residence of Ethiopian Emperors was added to the list in 1979. 1980 witnessed four sites get added to the list. These included Axum in the Tirgray Region of northern Ethiopia, Lower Valley of the Awash in the Afar Region, Lower Valley of the Omo and Tiya both in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region in southern Ethiopia. The ancient city of Harar was added to the list in 2006 while the Konso Cultural Landscape in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region made the list in 2011.

The List

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage list, Ethiopia hopes to add to this list with at least five other sites making the tentative list of sites nominated to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The nominated sites include: Bale Mountains National Park in southern Ethiopia, Holga Sof Omar, Gedeo Mixed Cultural and Natural Landscape, Melka Kunture and Bachilt Archaeological Site and Dirre Sheik Hussein Religious, Cultural and Historical Site.

Cultural (8)

• Aksum (1980)
• Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region (1979)
• Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town (2006)
• Konso Cultural Landscape (2011)
• Lower Valley of the Awash (1980)
• Lower Valley of the Omo (1980)
• Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela (1978)
• Tiya (1980)

Natural (1)

• Simien National Park (1978)

Ethiopia – A Fascinating Destination not to be missed…

Ethiopia’s uniqueness makes it a fascinating destination for every kind of traveler, but in particular for the traveller who wants that bit more. Ethiopia’s historic sites are extremely wide-ranging and possibly the most extensive in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. Experts claim that such sites are only a fraction of what Ethiopia has to offer given that a further 95% remain to be discovered and excavated.

Archaeologists and anthropologists continually claim that the oldest hominid remains (Australopithecus ramidus, a new species, 4.4 million years old) were originally discovered here in the Afar region. More recent findings by Professor Tim White from the University of California, Berkeley, suggest that the earliest ape man lived in Ethiopia 5 million years ago (Daily Telegraph, Monday 18th January 1999).

The natural beauty of Ethiopia amazes a first-time visitor. Ethiopia is a land of rugged mountains (some 25 are over 4000 meters high) broad savannah, lakes and rivers. The unique Rift Valley is a remarkable region of volcanic lakes, with their famous collections of birdlife, great escarpments and stunning vistas. Tisisat, the Blue Nile falls, must rank as one of the greatest natural spectacles in Africa today. With 14 major wildlife reserves, Ethiopia provides a microcosm of the entire sub-Saharan ecosystem. Birdlife abounds, and indigenous animals from the rare Walia ibex to the shy wild ass, roam free just as nature intended. Ethiopia, after the rains, is a land decked with flowers and with many more native plants.