The small mountain kingdom of Nepal is blessed with such astonishing and unique sites that within the area of 140,800 sq km Nepal holds a considerably high number of places recongnised by UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation) as 'World Heritage Sites'. There are altogether ten World Heritage Sites in Nepal, seven of which are in Kathmandu itself. The list includes both natural as well as cultural sites.

Cultural Sites
The cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley is illustrated by seven groups of monuments and buildings which display the full range of historic and artistic achievements for which the Kathmandu Valley is world famous. The seven sites include the Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath, and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan. Click on the following links to get detailed information about the individual sites.

• Kathmandu Durbar Square
• Patan Durbar Square
• Bhaktapur Durbar Square
• Changu Narayan Temple
• Swayambhunath Stupa
• Pashupatinath Temple
• Lumbini
• Bouddhanath Stupa

Natural Sites
Nepal's national parks included in the World Heritage Sites List are exceptional areas with dramatic mountains, glaciers, deep valleys and undisturbed vestiges of the 'Terai' region. Several rare species, such as the snow leopard, lesser panda, single-horned Asiatic rhinoceros and the Bengal tiger are found in these park.

• Chitwan National Park
• Sagarmatha National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
The World Heritage List includes 830 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.These include 644 cultural, 162 natural and 24 mixed properties. Out of these 10 sites are from Nepal itself. Seven out of these are cultural and two natural.

Some Nepal Sites/Properties submitted on the Tentative List of UNESCO

• The early medieval architectural complex of Panauti (1996)
• Tilaurakot, the archaeological remains of ancient Shakya Kingdom (1996)
• Cave architecture of Muktinath Valley of Mustang (1996)
• The medieval palace complex of Gorkha (1996)
• Ramagrama, the relic stupa of Lord Buddha (1996)
• Khokana, the vernacular village and its mustard-oil seed industrial heritage (1996)