See http://www.worldheritagesite.org/whstop2002016p.html and the blog post on the front page of this website.

It would be nice to be able to "analyse" the results a bit more both for personal interest and for any insights or comments/conclusions which might be worth sharing.
Any chance of a downloadable "spreadsheet" containing for each WHS
Site name (and std ref no?)
Category (as per the community vote)
No of Popular votes
Your "position"
Category assigned by "community" (Yes/Maybe/No)
Region/Country
Natural/Mixed/Cultural
Any extra columns you could "easily" access from your dB and add - e.g No of reviews or visits on this web site

If the site name could be to the same layout/spelling "standard" as the voting list then we could each add our own voting to it by copy/pasting an extra column from the "voting" display, having sorted both by the same Site Name. This would enable each of us to assess via various "sorts" how different their views were from the community/popular vote - and in what way.

I'm very happy with end result. There were a couple of surprises that made it on the list and others which haven't. At first glance I think around 75% of the top 200 by popular vote are the same sites in my personal top 200.

I'd totally agree with Solivagant's ideas which would be great for individual analyses. Perhaps Els is still working on how to input such data but I think something along the lines of the Top 50 missing voted by each member will be uploaded soon. That way we could start to view each users votes at least.

Done this!


I will give it a try!

Biggest surprise in the Top 10 for me is the Vatican City with Rome excluded! As a Maltese member, I was surprised that the megalithic temples got more support than Valletta. I preferred the Hypogeum as being unique. Another surprise was the lack of natural WHS overall. Our top 200 vote seems to justify the WH list imbalance in favour of more cultural WHS.

I don't think the lack of natural WHS sites overall was for lack of trying by some of us on the board! I know approximately 1/3 of the sites I chose were either natural or mixed sites from around the world. In the top 50 (or more accurately, 53), it looks like the 12 natural or mixed sites chosen approximately matches the overall breakdown of cultural vs. natural and mixed WHS (802 Cultural, 229 Natural or Mixed).

So far I've found I match 51 of the top 53, but I'm still working through the list. While I'm not surprised to see there was no love given to sites like the Par Force Hunting Landscape, the Royal Exhibition Center, or the Turaif Quarter, I am a bit surprised to see there was no one to champion meltwaterfall's nostalgic Holy Trinity Column.

As I have said previously I am not surprised at the "tail" of sites with just a few votes - everyone will have their particular personal favourite whose merits are not visible to the rest of us (Though I do think that the person who voted for the Madera Rider was reacting to my comment that only a Bulgarian Mediaevalist could do so!!). But , what has surprised me is that there isn't a solid block of sites for which everyone (ok -allowing for the odd 1 or 2 mavericks) would vote for, given 200 votes.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it would be interesting to know for instance WHY 7 people didn't place Machu Picchu, The Pyramids and Angkor among the Top 200 for "preserving". If they only had 10 (or even 50) votes I could understand why other sites might take precedence - but, with 200???

Here's a first Excel: sites ranked
In the last column ('Ranking'), A stands for Yes, B for Maybe, C for No

Old Havana stands out immediately -> a 'No' in the category discussions, but made it within the first 100 in the popular vote

Interesting -- I'll have to take a look at the spreadsheet more, Els. Thanks for uploading it!

In the meantime, I've noted the following breakdown in the Top 208 (everything receiving 15 votes or more):

Regional Breakdown: Europe (71); Asia (67); Africa (29); North America (19); South America (15); Australia/Pacific (7)

Cultural/Natural/Mixed Breakdown: Cultural (153); Natural (43); Mixed (12)

Cultural/Natural/Mixed Breakdown by Region:
+ Europe: 64 Cultural; 5 Natural; 2 Mixed
+ Asia: 52 Cultural; 11 Natural; 4 Mixed
+ Africa: 18 Cultural; 9 Natural; 2 Mixed
+ North America: 8 Cultural; 10 Natural; 1 Mixed
+ South America: 9 Cultural; 5 Natural; 1 Mixed
+ Australia/Pacific: 2 Cultural; 3 Natural; 2 Mixed

Overall I found I had 137 sites in common with the Top 208, so I was in line with approximately 2/3 of the list.

Old Havana, Ephesus, Fujisan, Lima, Avignon, and Tower of London all made it into the Top 208, despite being in the "C" category for the earlier ranking. I voted for three of these in the Top 200 this go-around, but I was approaching the Top 200 more from the perspective of balancing sites regionally rather than categorically.

I just noticed we forgot to Rank both Saudi sites Jeddah & Turaif Quarter.
They were part of the popular vote.
These were missing from the first Excel, I'll upload a new version shortly that also includes the number of subscribers to this website that have visited the WHS. I gave them both a C (No).

The updated excel is now available the same link as above.

Thanks for the spreadsheet Els
There is quite large overlap of sites both within the Community Top 220 and the Popular Top 208 (cut off at 15 votes). I guess that is to be expected as there was a fair overlap in the people doing the 2 lists - around 8 (?) for the Community who were all also in the Popular 60. However the Community individuals DID vote then independently where they hadn't agreed with the Community!

At the moment I have looked at
a. Sites in the Popular Top 208 but NOT in the Community Top 220
b. Sites in the Community 220 but NOT in the Popular 208
c. Sites included in both the Community AND Popular lists

Taking a above. There are 45 sites which got into the popular 208 but NOT the Community 220. All were "relatively" low in terms of number of popular votes (between 29 and 15). Most were in the Community "B" group but 6 were in the Community "C" group - Old Havana, Ephesus, Fujisan, Lima, Tower of London and Avignon (i.e Not thought by the "Community" eve to be "possibles". These are highlighted in bold in the following list).
Here is the full 45 (in descending popular vote sequence and with only 1 entry per site even if with multiple categories) -
Sequence/Id/Name/Cult etc/Votes/ Categ/ Community
1 119 Timbuktu C 29 African B
2 204 Old Havana C 27 Colonial C
3 532 Potsdam C 25 Park or garden B
4 181 Tasmanian Wilderness M 24 Prehistoric B
5 393 Archaeological Site of Delphi C 23 Ancient Greece B
6 344 Pont du Gard C 22 Ancient Rome B
7 728 Edinburgh C 22 Urban continuity B
8 933 Loire Valley C 22 Cultural landscape B
9 1018 Ephesus C 22 Ancient Greece C
10 98 Plitvice Lakes N 21 River / Lake B
11 81 Chartres Cathedral C 20 Christian B
12 170 Medina of Fez C 20 Arabic / Middle Eastern B
13 485 Hierapolis-Pamukkale M 19 Volcanic / thermal B
14 818 Kinderdijk C 19 Civic / Public Works B
15 990 Assisi C 19 Christian B
16 1290 Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve N 19 Fauna B
17 1418 Fujisan C 19 Cultural landscape C
18 786 Schönbrunn C 18 Palace B
19 1100 Rio de Janeiro C 18 Cultural landscape B
20 132 Megalithic Temples of Malta C 18 Prehistoric B
21 292 Cologne Cathedral C 17 Christian B
22 345 Fortified City of Carcassonne C 17 Military / Fortifications B
23 479 Luang Prabang C 17 Asian B
24 880 Summer Palace C 17 Palace B
25 173 Stone Town of Zanzibar C 16 Urban continuity B
26 255 Fatehpur Sikri C 16 South (East) Asian B
27 369 Giant's Causeway N 16 Volcanic / thermal B
28 383 Seville C 16 Medieval European B
29 500 Lima C 16 Colonial C
30 576 Ayutthaya C 16 South (East) Asian B
31 678 Hué C 16 Asian B
32 779 Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha M 16 Buddhist B
33 822 Tallinn C 16 Medieval European B
34 1263 Socotra Archipelago N 16 Marine / Coastal B
35 76 Everglades N 15 River / Lake B
36 228 Avignon C 15 Medieval European C
37 241 Hampi C 15 South (East) Asian B
38 355 Iguacu N 15 River / Lake B
39 411 Palenque C 15 Pre-Columbian B
40 430 Frontiers of the Roman Empire C 15 Ancient Rome B
41 488 Tower of London C 15 Military / Fortifications C
42 784 Salzburg C 15 Urban continuity B
43 831 Agrigento C 15 Ancient Greece B
44 1406 Great Himalayan National Park N 15 Mountain B
45 1427 Mount Etna N 15 Volcanic / thermal B

So - did the "Community" get it wrong?
Many of them are "judgement calls" . Some I even had to check - how on earth didn't Edinburgh get into our Top 200?? Some got in on the basis of being very well known whereas the "Community" was trying to be far more nuanced (E.g Tower of London and Kinderdyke) If the Community "met" again I guess a fair number would be accepted. It might be interesting for the "Community" to debate them again!!
I will do groups b + c in subsequent posts. I have made a few corrections but am still not 100% sure of arithmetic accuracy - but at worst only a couple may be wrong!

There are 55 sites which the Community Categorised as Top 220 which weren't voted for in the Popular vote!! A rather bigger list than the "other way round" (covered above). Obviously the fact that the Community list was larger must arithmetically mean that some sites will not have been in the Popular list. By definition if these sites were not in the Popular Top 208 then they must have received fewer than 15 votes - but some were as low as 3 votes.10 received 7 or fewer votes - so some of the Community group must have failed to vote for them. Presumably the Community group were going to be a bit (??) less influenced by "popularity of visit" than the popular vote as it tries to discuss the merits or otherwise of every site and also to spread its Top 200 across the categories and regions - factors which the "popular vote" was less likely to cover??
Here are the 55 in descending Popular Vote sequence
Seq/Id/Name/Cult etc/Votes/Categ (only one categ)
1 366 Chan Chan C 14 Pre-Columbian
2 416 Puebla C 14 Colonial
3 574 Sukhothai C 14 South (East) Asian
4 798 The Sundarbans N 14 River / Lake
5 912 Dazu Rock Carvings C 14 Buddhist
6 955 Lorentz National Park N 14 Diverse ecosystems
7 999 Pantanal N 14 River / Lake
8 1366 Selimiye Mosque C 14 Islamic
9 1405 Çatalhöyük C 14 Prehistoric
10 138 Moenjodaro C 13 South (East) Asian
11 175 Medici Villas and Gardens C 13 Cultural landscape
12 390 Skocjan Caves N 13 Karst / caves
13 776 Itsukushima Shrine C 13 Indigenous
14 908 Isole Eolie N 13 Volcanic / thermal
15 1012 Kinabalu Park N 13 Flora
16 1194 Bali Subak system C 13 Cultural landscape
17 1258 Teide National Park N 13 Volcanic / thermal
18 276 Samarra C 12 Near Eastern
19 544 Kizhi Pogost C 12 Christian
20 806 Hallstatt-Dachstein C 12 Cultural landscape
21 970 Wachau Cultural Landscape C 12 Agriculture
22 1013 Gunung Mulu N 12 Karst / caves
23 1223 Melaka and George Town C 12 Colonial
24 1386 Rock Islands M 12 Pacific
25 1426 Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc C 12 Rock Art
26 192 Shibam C 11 Urban planning
27 353 Chaco Culture C 11 Pre-Columbian
28 704 Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius C 11 Indigenous
29 816 Changdeokgung Palace Complex C 11 Palace
30 839 Alejandro de Humboldt National Park N 11 Flora
31 1334 West Lake C 11 Cultural landscape
32 246 Sun Temple, Konarak C 10 Hindu
33 630 Fraser Island N 10 Insular
34 840 Viñales Valley C 10 Cultural landscape
35 877 Sub-Antarctic Islands N 10 Insular
36 573 Air and Ténéré N 9 Desert
37 744 San Agustín C 9 Pre-Columbian
38 1056 Mahabodhi Temple Complex C 9 Buddhist
39 1113 Fujian Tulou C 9 Asian
40 10 Lower Valley of the Awash C 8 Paleontology
41 113 Tchogha Zanbil C 8 Near Eastern
42 429 New Lanark C 8 Factories & industry
43 652 Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River N 8 Marine / Coastal
44 1121 Coffee Cultural Landscape C 8 Agriculture
45 1140 Koutammakou C 8 African
46 1269 Caral-Supe C 7 Pre-Columbian
47 157 SGang Gwaay C 6 Pre-Columbian
48 1117 Pico Island C 5 Agriculture
49 1162 Vredefort Dome N 5 Eroded
50 1285 Joggins Fossil Cliffs N 5 Paleontology
51 144 Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara C 4 Civilizations of Sub-Saharan Africa
52 158 Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump C 4 Agriculture
53 277 Hatra C 3 Near Eastern
54 506 Banc d'Arguin N 3 Fauna
55 1410 El Pinacate N 3 Desert

These 55 "rejections" by the Popular vote compared with the "Community" seem to me to exhibit certain aspects
a. A higher than average "rejection" of "non European" sites. Not counting Turkey as "Europe" as many as 45 of these 55 "rejections" are "Non European" thus reducing the %age of non European WHS in the "Top list. The Community perhaps tried harder (??) to fully represent Non-Europe?
b. Latin America has done particularly badly with 9!! Not perhaps a well known area among the voters (and certainly with few from its nations?)
c. Some of the Community choices which have been rejected were only chosen by the community on a split vote or after a lot of discussion

On the whole however IMO the popular vote has lost a fair number of sites which ARE important in World terms among these rejections -and more so than some of those which got included. But -I guess that's "Democracy"!!

With 19 natural or mixed sites out of the 55 not included, the share of natural sites was higher in the community list than in the popular vote.

Sites selected for both the "Community Top 220" AND the "Popular 208"
There are 163 sites about which both the Community and Popular lists agree. These, it would seem, can be regarded as the "Gold Standard" sites as far as this Web site and its Community are concerned!!
They comprise 119 Cultural, 35 Natural and 9 mixed sites.
It would be interesting to carry out an analysis by Country/Region
Seq/Id/Name/Cult etc/Pop votes/Categ
1 86 Pyramids (Memphis) C 53 Egyptian
2 274 Machu Picchu M 53 Mountain
3 286 Vatican City C 53 Christian
4 668 Angkor C 53 South (East) Asian
5 28 Yellowstone N 51 Fauna
6 252 Taj Mahal C 50 Burial
7 394 Venice and its Lagoon C 50 Urban continuity
8 373 Stonehenge C 49 Prehistoric
9 438 Great Wall C 49 Military / Fortifications
10 829 Pompei C 49 Ancient Rome
11 404 Acropolis C 48 Ancient Greece
12 75 Grand Canyon N 46 Eroded
13 91 Rome C 46 Urban continuity
14 545 Kremlin and Red Square C 45 Civic / Public Works
15 83 Versailles C 44 Palace
16 148 Old City of Jerusalem C 44 Urban continuity
17 326 Petra C 44 Near Eastern
18 356 Istanbul C 44 Urban continuity
19 540 St. Petersburg C 44 Post-medieval European
20 688 Ancient Kyoto C 44 Far Eastern
21 1 Galapagos Islands N 43 Fauna
22 455 Meteora M 42 Christian
23 154 Great Barrier Reef N 41 Marine / Coastal
24 174 Florence C 41 Post-medieval European
25 483 Chichen-Itza C 41 Pre-Columbian
26 80 Mont-Saint-Michel C 40 Christian
27 87 Ancient Thebes C 40 Egyptian
28 95 Dubrovnik C 40 Post-medieval European
29 308 Yosemite National Park N 39 Glaciation
30 320 Works of Antoni Gaudí C 39 Residence
31 509 Victoria Falls N 39 River / Lake
32 996 Brugge C 39 Medieval European
33 20 Damascus C 38 Arabic / Middle Eastern
34 273 Cuzco C 38 Latin American
35 447 Uluru M 38 Eroded
36 592 Borobudur C 38 Buddhist
37 600 Paris, Banks of the Seine C 38 Post-medieval European
38 1033 Vienna C 38 Medieval European
39 156 Serengeti N 37 Fauna
40 603 Samarkand C 37 Asian
41 700 Nasca Lines C 37 Prehistoric
42 707 Potala Palace C 37 Buddhist
43 1195 West Norwegian Fjords N 37 Marine / Coastal
44 31 Auschwitz Birkenau C 36 Memorial / Monument
45 32 Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines C 36 Mines
46 331 Medina of Marrakesh C 36 Arabic / Middle Eastern
47 357 Göreme NP M 36 Byzantine
48 715 Rapa Nui C 36 Pacific
49 114 Persepolis C 35 Near Eastern
50 121 Kathmandu Valley C 35 Asian
51 166 Sydney Opera House C 35 Civic / Public Works
52 414 Teotihuacan C 35 Pre-Columbian
53 426 Westminster C 35 Christian
54 39 Ngorongoro M 34 Fauna
55 89 Historic Cairo C 34 Arabic / Middle Eastern
56 441 Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor C 34 Burial
57 303 Iguazu National Park N 33 River / Lake
58 314 Granada C 33 Medieval European
59 400 Budapest C 33 Medieval European
60 403 Kilimanjaro National Park N 33 Mountain
61 412 Mexico City and Xochimilco C 33 Urban continuity
62 672 Ha Long Bay N 33 Karst / caves
63 1442 Silk Roads C 33 Transport and Trade
64 29 Cracow C 32 Medieval European
65 64 Tikal National Park M 32 Pre-Columbian
66 409 Hawaii Volcanoes N 32 Volcanic / thermal
67 439 Imperial Palace C 32 Palace
68 616 Prague C 32 Urban continuity
69 717 Siena C 32 Medieval European
70 722 Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras C 32 Cultural landscape
71 1432 Okavango Delta N 32 River / Lake
72 395 Piazza del Duomo (Pisa) C 31 Christian
73 1349 Amsterdam Canal Ring C 31 Post-medieval European
74 3 Aachen Cathedral C 30 Christian
75 63 Virunga National Park N 30 Diverse ecosystems
76 88 Nubian Monuments C 30 Egyptian
77 788 Ravenna C 30 Christian
78 134 Redwood N 29 Forest
79 251 Agra Fort C 29 Military / Fortifications
80 307 Statue of Liberty C 29 Memorial / Monument
81 609 Komodo National Park N 29 Fauna
82 1377 Wadi Rum M 29 Cultural landscape
83 18 Lalibela C 28 Christian
84 304 Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks N 28 Mountain
85 517 Olympia C 28 Ancient Greece
86 754 Lake Baikal N 28 River / Lake
87 1430 Namib Sand Sea N 28 Desert
88 1433 Bethlehem C 28 Christian
89 23 Palmyra C 27 Near Eastern
90 454 Mount Athos M 27 Christian
91 661 Himeji-jo C 27 Military / Fortifications
92 896 Museumsinsel (Museum Island) C 27 Educational
93 998 Central Amazon Conservation Complex N 27 River / Lake
94 15 Aksum C 26 African
95 183 Leptis Magna C 26 Ancient Rome
96 765 Volcanoes of Kamchatka N 26 Volcanic / thermal
97 21 Aleppo C 25 Arabic / Middle Eastern
98 37 Site of Carthage C 25 Phoenician
99 115 Meidan Emam, Esfahan C 25 Islamic
100 247 Hill Forts of Rajasthan C 25 Military / Fortifications
101 310 Altamira Cave C 25 Rock Art
102 385 Sana'a C 25 Urban continuity
103 1149 Ilulissat Icefjord N 25 Glaciation
104 1152 Thingvellir C 25 Cultural landscape
105 1229 Crac des Chevaliers C 25 Military / Fortifications
106 27 Mesa Verde C 24 Pre-Columbian
107 120 Sagarmatha National Park N 24 Mountain
108 145 Los Glaciares N 24 Glaciation
109 240 Khajuraho Group of Monuments C 24 Hindu
110 602 Bukhara C 24 Asian
111 795 Maritime Greenwich C 24 Maritime
112 1007 Cape Floral Region N 24 Flora
113 1037 Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch N 24 Mountain
114 1336 Meroe C 24 Classical (other)
115 1459 Qhapaq Ñan C 24 Transport and Trade
116 242 Ajanta Caves C 23 Buddhist
117 364 Great Zimbabwe Ruins C 23 Civilizations of Sub-Saharan Africa
118 445 Brasilia C 23 Urban planning
119 669 Route of Santiago de Compostela C 23 Christian
120 1338 Jantar Mantar C 23 Educational
121 813 Classical Gardens of Suzhou C 22 Park or garden
122 881 Temple of Heaven C 22 Indigenous
123 1372 Persian Garden C 22 Cultural landscape
124 371 Ironbridge Gorge C 21 Factories & industry
125 420 Potosi C 21 Colonial
126 516 Cliff of Bandiagara M 21 Mountain
127 870 Ancient Nara C 21 Far Eastern
128 1167 Tropical Rainforest Sumatra N 21 Forest
129 1248 South China Karst N 21 Karst / caves
130 185 Aldabra Atoll N 20 Fauna
131 202 Sigiriya C 20 Buddhist
132 250 Chola Temples C 20 Hindu
133 294 Baalbek C 20 Ancient Rome
134 551 Te Wahipounamu N 20 Marine / Coastal
135 1060 Kenya Lake System N 20 River / Lake
136 444 Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou C 19 African
137 448 Nemrut Dag C 19 Near Eastern
138 832 Villa Romana del Casale C 19 Residence
139 1443 Grand Canal C 19 Transport and Trade
140 116 Djenné C 18 African
141 243 Ellora Caves C 18 South (East) Asian
142 285 Cartagena C 18 Maritime
143 499 Kairouan C 18 Arabic / Middle Eastern
144 124 Ouro Preto C 17 Colonial
145 233 Qutb Minar C 17 Islamic
146 300 Québec C 17 Colonial
147 440 Mogao Caves C 17 Buddhist
148 642 Prambanan C 17 Hindu
149 775 Genbaku Dome C 17 Memorial / Monument
150 812 Ping Yao C 17 Asian
151 954 Saint Catherine Area C 17 Christian
152 1213 Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries N 17 Fauna
153 85 Vézère Valley C 16 Rock Art
154 379 Toledo C 16 Urban continuity
155 757 Sceilg Mhichíl C 16 Christian
156 1083 Three parallel rivers of Yunnan N 16 River / Lake
157 1084 Kew Gardens C 16 Cultural landscape
158 1182 Gulf of California N 16 Fauna
159 72 Glacier parks N 15 Glaciation
160 374 Gwynedd Castles C 15 Military / Fortifications
161 723 Sintra C 15 Cultural landscape
162 941 Mycenae and Tiryns C 15 Ancient Greece
163 1158 Etruscan Necropolises C 15 Burial