The Wadden Sea, Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark

THE WADDEN SEA (Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark)

This intertidal zone in the SE part of the North Sea lies between the coast of NW Europe and the Frisian Islands. It forms a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands, and high biological diversity. Its 3,900 square miles touch a 310-mile coastline; the dikes built to control flooding make it one of the most human-altered habitats on earth.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

MONARCH BUTTERFLY BIOSPHERE RESERVE (Mexico)

Every year in late-summer or autumn, monarch butterflies make a north-to-south migration. Hundreds of millions of these fly thousands of miles to overwinter in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve on the border of Michoacán and the State of Mexico, 60 miles NW of Mexico City. They breed along the way: no single individual makes the entire trip.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Old Kotor, Montenegro

OLD KOTOR (Montenegro)

The Montenegrin town of Kotor's Venetian period fortifications include city walls, gates, and ramparts which protect the Old Town, parts of which date back to Roman and Byzantine times. The medieval portions include an 1166 cathedral. The inner bay of Kotor, an inlet of the Adriatic, has surrounding mountains, islets, and towns aside from Kotor.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Aapravasi Ghat, Maritius

AAPRAVASI GHAT (Maritius)

This "Immigration Depot" on the Indian Ocean island of Maritius was once a transshipment point for slaves. With the 1834 emancipation of most enslaved people in British colonies, they were replaced with laborers from India who would work hard for low wages in the "Great Experiment" of indentured servitude; business at the depot thus went on as usual until 1923.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Laponian Area, Sweden

THE LAPONIAN AREA (Sweden)

Located in northern Sweden's Arctic Circle region, home of the Saami people, this is the largest and one of the last areas of the world supporting a semi-nomadic lifestyle revolving around the seasonal movement of livestock. The Saami lead their herds of reindeer into the mountains every summer, in addition to coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Peking Man Site, Zhoukoudian, China

PEKING MAN SITE, ZHOUKOUDIAN (China)

In 1921 Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson discovered a cave complex about 25 miles SW of Beijing that yielded "Peking Man," a subspecies of Homo erectus. When exactly "he" lived in the area is unclear: sometime between 780,000 and 230,000 years ago. Virtually all specimens (found before 1941) were lost when a shipment was attacked by Japanese warships.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Writing-on-Stone (Aisinai'pi), Alberta, Canada

WRITING-ON-STONE (AISINAI'PI) (ALBERTA, CANADA)

Sacred to the Blackfoot and other tribes, the Writing-on-Stone (Aisinai'pi) area in Alberta, Canada, contains the greatest concentration of rock art on the North American Great Plains, with over 50 petroglyph sites and thousands of works. Archaeological remains in the area date back as far as 4,500 years. This area of sandstone cliffs and columns (hoodoos) straddles the Milk River.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Three Squares in Nancy, France

THREE SQUARES IN NANCY (France)

Stanislaw I lived in the French city of Nancy when, after abdicating the throne of Poland, he became Duke of Lorraine. In the last 30 years of his life he devoted himself to science and philanthropy, founding an institute, a library, and more, and building three magnificent squares: Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance, all now inscribed on the UNESCO list.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Joya de Ceren, El Salvador

JOYA DE CEREN (El Salvador)

Joya (Jewel) de Cerén in western El Salvador features a pre-Columbian Maya farming village. Located just over 30 miles NW of San Salvador, it has been called the "Pompeii of the Americas" for its preservation by rapid burial in an ashfall around 600 CE. Its rediscovery by a government bulldozer in 1976 provides insights into the everyday life of ancient Maya farmers.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Tomb of Ahmed Yasawi, Turkestan, Kazakhstan

THE TOMB OF AHMED YASAWI (Turkestan, Kazakhstan)

Sufi saint, poet, and mystic Khawaja Ahmed Yasawi died in Turkestan in 1166. Over 220 years later, in 1389, the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (sometimes called Tamerlane) replaced his modest 12th-century mausoleum with a magnificent structure in the Timurid style, featuring vault-and-dome and glazed tiles. It remains uncompleted since the death of Timur in 1405, but continues to draw pilgrims.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)