A World Heritage site is a place that is designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of important cultural or physical significance. Here are five of America's 23 cultural and natural UNESCO World Heritage sites.
1. Yellowstone National Park -- Montana, Wyoming, Idaho.
Yellowstone National Park is sometimes known as the first national park in the world. It's home to many geothermal sties, such as the popular Old Faithful geyser. Yellowstone truly is one of America's most beautiful gems.
2. Monticello -- The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia
Thomas Jefferson designed Monticello, his plantation home and his ideal "academic village" which continue to be the heart of the University of Virginia, according to UNESCO. The UNESCO World Heritage site says that "Jefferson's use of an architectural vocabulary based upon classical antiquity symbolizes both the aspirations of the new American republic as the inheritor of European tradition and the cultural experimentation that could be expected as the country matured."
3. Chaco Culture National Historical Park -- San Juan and McKinley Counties, New Mexico
The Chaco Culture National Historic Park has the densest, greatest concentration of pueblos in southwestern United States. Pueblos are modern and old communities of Native Americans in the Southwest; the term was first coined by Spanish conquistadors because they looked like apartment unit-style homes built out of stone and adobe mud.
4. Independence Hall -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Here is where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were debated and adopted. UNESCO points out that "the universal principles of freedom and democracy set forth in these documents are of fundamental importance to American history and have also had a profound impact on law-makers around the world."
5. Statue of Liberty -- New York, New York.
Made in Paris, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to America for the centennial celebration. Since 1886 the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants.
