The 1972 World Heritage Convention

The World Heritage Convention (WHC) is the most comprehensive and widely ratified among UNESCO treaties on the protection of cultural and natural heritage. The Convention establishes a system of identification, presentation and registration in an international list of cultural properties and natural sites of outstanding universal value. This article by article analysis of the WHC examines questions such as what is the meaning of outstanding universal value? How far
can we construe universal value in terms of different geographic regions and cultural traditions of the world? What is the relationship between world heritage and sovereignty of the territorial state?