Unesco on Saturday announced the addition of new sites to its World Heritage List, including sites in Saudi Arabia, Oman, India, Kenya and other countries.

The decision was made during meetings of the World Heritage Committee in Bahrain’s capital Manama.

Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahsa Oasis has made its way to the list. The oasis is a serial property comprising gardens, canals, springs, wells, a drainage lake, as well as historical buildings, urban fabric and archaeological sites. They represent traces of continued human settlement in the Gulf region from the Neolithic to the present, as can be seen from remaining historic fortresses, mosques, wells, canals and other water management systems. With its 2.5 million date palms, it is the largest oasis in the world. Al-Ahsa is also a unique geo-cultural landscape and an exceptional example of human interaction with the environment.

Al-Ahsa Oasis is the fifth Saudi site to join UNESCO’s World Heritage list following Madain Saleh (2008), Tarif neighbourhood in Diriyah (2010), Historic Jeddah (2014), and the Rock art in the Hail region (2015).

Oman's Ancient City of Qalhat is one among the recent additions. The site, which is located on the east coast of Oman, is surrounded by inner and outer walls, as well as areas beyond the ramparts where necropolises are located. The city developed as a major port on the east coast of Arabia between the 11th and 15th centuries CE, during the reign of the Hormuz princes. Today it bears unique archaeological testimony to the trade links between the east coast of Arabia, East Africa, India, China and South-east Asia.

Other sites added to the Unesco list include the Hidden Christian Sites in Nagasaki, Japan; Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Architecture in Mumbai, India; Mountain monasteries in South Korea; the Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars region in Iran; and the Thimlich Ohinga archaeological site in Kenya.

Being listed gives the sites legal protection under international treaties. The inscription of sites will continue through July 1. - TradeArabia News Service