What is World Heritage?

• World Heritage refers to a heritage that is recognized to have a universal value worth enough to be conserved and handed down over generations by all mankind and thus registered as a UNESCO World Heritage under the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is divided into three categories: cultural, natural and mixed heritages. 
• Cultural properties should meet a certain criteria to be registered as World Heritage: Its authenticity, excellence in value, and the level of management of the holding state should be internationally accepted. Once its heritage is registered as World Heritage, the state is eligible for the technical and financial assistance of UNESCO for damage prevention and permanent preservation of the cultural heritage and can make it a global tourist attraction as its excellence and uniqueness is internationally recognized. 
• The Memory of the World program has been launched with the aim of preserving the important documents, manuscripts, orally-transmitted materials, audio-visual materials and other human records kept at libraries and archives around the world and worth being preserved at the global level as well as making them accessible to more people through new technologies. A documentary heritage is subjected to a certain review procedure to be listed as a Memory of the World. 
• The title of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is given to any language, literature, music, dance, game, myth, ritual, custom, or handicraft that demonstrates its outstanding value as a masterpiece of the human creative genius with the aim of preserving the cultural diversities and traditions of each country.