Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

Silk Road extending from Europe through Asia. Overland routes are red, and the maritime routes are blue.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Criteria	ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	1442
Inscription	2014 (38th Session)
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Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which covers the Chang'an-Tianshan portion of the ancient Silk Road and historical sites along the route. On June 22, 2014, UNESCO designated a 5,000 km stretch of the Silk Road network from Central China to the Zhetsyu Region of Central Asia as a World Heritage Site. The corridor spans China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and includes 33 new sites and several previously designated heritage sites.

In 1988, UNESCO initiated a study of the Silk Road to promote understanding of cultural diffusion across Eurasia and protection of cultural heritage. In August 2006, UNESCO and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China co-sponsored a conference in Turpan, Xinjiang on the coordination of applications for the Silk Road's designation as a World Heritage Site At this conference, China and five Central Asia republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan agreed to make a joint application in 2010. The six countries formed a coordinating committee in 2009 to prepare for the joint-application.

On March 28, 2008, China submitted a tentative list of 48 Silk Road sites to UNESCO for consideration as cultural heritage. These sites were divided into overland Silk Road sites in Henan, Shaanxi, Qinghai, and Gansu Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as well as maritime Silk Road sites in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province and Quanzhou, Fujian Province. On May 2, 2008, Iran submitted a tentative list of Silk Route sites in Khorasan Province. On January 3, 2010, Turkmenistan submitted a list of 29 sites along 11 segments of the Silk Road. On January 20, 2010, India submitted a tentative list of Silk Road sites divided into 12 components. On February 19, 2010, Kyrgyzstan submitted a list of six sites and Uzbekistan submitted a list with 18 sites. Kazakhstan's tentative list was submitted on May 3, 2012.