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Unesco World Heritage Sites 2017 Picks Range From Eritrea to England

The Lake District of northwestern England was added to the Unesco World Heritage Sites list.Credit...REI Adventures

Unesco annually expands its list of World Heritage Sites, and this year’s class of inductees, announced in July, offers both stimulation for travelers, with a rich and varied group of intriguing sites, and a reminder, especially with its remote and more vulnerable picks, that the list itself is not about tourism.

The World Heritage program aims to identify and protect cultural and natural sites around the world that demonstrate “outstanding value to humanity,” according to its website.

Those spots sometimes constitute the most sought-after destinations for global travel: the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Others, though, are more obscure or hard to reach or both, including three members of the class of 2017: Okinoshima, a sacred island in Japan; Dauria, a wild landscape shared by Mongolia and Russia; and Asmara, the capital of Eritrea in East Africa.

Okinoshima, for example, is off limits to women, per ancient practice. But it is the inclusion of Asmara, cited by Unesco for its modernist architecture dating to its era as an Italian colony, that is perhaps the most controversial choice. Eritrea is the subject of a U.S. State Department travel warning noting that the government restricts travel of foreigners to Asmara. The United Nations has accused Eritrea’s government of crimes against humanity, including enslavement and murder.

“Asmara’s mix of local and Italian influences of the 1920s and ’30s is incredible. But it’s very isolated,” politically and geographically, said Tom Hall, the editorial director for Lonely Planet, the travel media company.

The ancient city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was another controversial choice, thanks to its inclusion as a Palestinian World Heritage Site. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel described the decision as “delusional.”

Many more of the 21 new inductees, spread among 18 cultural sites and three natural ones, are more easily accessible and without controversy.

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Aphrodisias, a third-century Greco-Roman site in Turkey, is another addition to the World Heritage Sites list.Credit...The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey

At least one, the Lake District of northwestern England, is well loved, receiving over 18 million visitors a year. Unesco noted “the combined work of nature and human activity” in the region, including sheep farming on deforested hillsides, stone villages and grand country estates.

“What makes it so beautiful and dramatic is a lot of it is pretty barren,” said Janel Jensen, the Europe program manager for REI, which runs a nine-day walking trip, May to October, that includes hiking in the Lake District (from $4,199 a person). “You get an uninterrupted panorama of hills, valleys, lakes and streams.”

Tour operators working in Iran lauded the inclusion of Yazd, a remote city in the central Iranian plateau that developed an underground water system and maintains its traditional Persian architecture and Zoroastrian temples.

“In terms of architecture, original temples, gardens and mosques, a lot of things are traditional and intact,” said Annie Lucas, the vice president of Mir Corporation, which guides trips in Iran.

Ms. Lucas reported that Iran has recently resumed issuing travel visas to Americans, which were halted earlier this year, seemingly in response to President Trump’s travel ban. Mir’s 12-day trip to Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan and Yazd starts at $5,995 a person.

In French Polynesia, Taputapuatea, an ancient ceremonial site on Raiatea Island, also made the list. Oceania Cruises offers an excursion to the site on several South Pacific itineraries including a 12-day cruise departing from Tahiti on Feb. 13 (from $3,149 a person).

Other new inductees include Aphrodisias, a third-century Greco-Roman archaeological site in southwestern Turkey; the temples of Sambor Prei Kuk in Cambodia, extolled for their forest setting and lack of crowds; Los Alerces National Park in Argentina, noted for protecting some of the last stands of native Patagonian forest; and the 19th-century Valongo Wharf in Rio de Janeiro, where slaves were traded.

“The Valongo Wharf in Rio tells a story that’s powerful,” said Jonny Bealby, the founder of Wild Frontiers, a travel company devoted to off-the-beaten path trips. “It reminds us of the story of humanity and, good or bad, gives us a sense of our history.”

The 15th-century walled city of Ahmedabad, the former capital of the Gujarat state of India, also made the list. “Few tourists go there,” said Catherine Heald, the co-founder and chief executive of Remote Lands, which has been guiding trips to the city, known for its textiles, forts and winding streets for over 11 years.

A correction was made on 
Sept. 17, 2017

An article last Sunday about Unesco heritage sites referred incorrectly to the Indian city of Ahmedabad. It is the former capital of Gujarat state — not the current capital, which is Gandhinagar.

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A version of this article appears in print on  , Section TR, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: Interest and Debate Over Unesco’s Picks for Heritage Sites. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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