The UNESCO World Heritage Committee met in Busan, South Korea, for its 48th session. This group chooses places that deserve special protection, called World Heritage sites. Members added 25 new sites to the World Heritage List. Three African countries, Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Sudan, gained their first listed sites. The list now includes 1,273 sites across 173 countries.
The Committee also placed six sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger, which warns of serious threats. Three sites joined it through an emergency process because of war or instability. The Historic Centre of Vienna left the danger list after improvements. The Committee approved a ten-year plan for small island states, backed by $13 million. The next session will take place in Istanbul in 2027.