Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization known as UNESCO. A World Heritage Site is a landmark selected by the United Nations as having a cultural, historical, scientific or another form of significance and is legally protected by international treaties. To the collective interest of humanity, these sites are considered important. A site must be already classified landmark for it to be selected. It should be unique in some geographical and historical respects. It must be an identifiable place having special cultures or physical significance. Let take a look together at the UNESCO Heritage Sites of Africa.
Robben Island
Found in Table Bay, Robben Island is 6.9 kilometres west of the coast of Bloubergstrand Cape Town, South Africa. It is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 Kilometres long north-south and 1.9 kilometres wide and has an area of 5.08 Kilometres square. It is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site but also a South African National Heritage Site. Robben Island has been used for mainly the isolation of political prisoners since the end of the 17th century. It was also used as a leper colony and animal quarantine station. The South African government used Robben Island as a prison for political prisoners and convicted criminals from 1961. The island became a popular destination with global tourists at the end of apartheid. In 1999, Robben Island was declared as a World Heritage Site.
Kingdom of Mapungubwe
Located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south Great Zimbabwe, the Kingdom of Mapungubwe was a pre-colonial state in Southern Africa. In the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, it was the first stage of development. Mapungubwe kingdom lasted for about 80 years and had a population of around 5000 people. Mapungubwe is an archaeological site that can be attributed to the Bukalanga kingdom.
Drakensberg
The name given to the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment which enclosed the central Southern African plateau is The Drakensberg. Reaching its greatest elevation in this region, the Great Escarpment is 2,000 to 3,482 metres and is located in South Africa. It is now known by Drakens Mountain or Mountain of the Dragons. When South Africans and visitors speak of the Drakensberg believing it to be a range of mountains extending into Lesotho, more correctly known as the Lesotho Highlands, they refer to Great Escarpment that forms the border between Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal.
Vredefort Crater
The Vredefort Crater is more than 300 Kilometres across when it was formed and is the largest verified impact crater on Earth. The remaining of it in present-day is in Free State Province of South Africa. It is named after the town of Vredefort which is situated near the centre. The Vredefort was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2005 for its geologic interest. Do these African theme heritage sites interest you? Do you want to visit them while staying at home? You can discover a large diversity of African theme games at Moon Games Casino. The Safari slot games like Hot Safari Slot will make you take a trip to the African wildlife where you can also discover the beauty of it.
Header Image Credit: The South AFrican