Belize Barrier Reef

The Belize Barrier Reef is Belize's only Unesco site. This barrier is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly 300 meters (980 ft) offshore in the north and 40 kilometers (25 mi) in the south within the country limits. The Belize Barrier Reef is one of the largest coral reef systems in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the New Caledonia Barrier Reef. It is Belize's top tourist destination popular for scuba diving and snorkeling and attracting almost half of its 260,000 visitors, and is vital to its fishing industry. - in: wikipedia

Tony Rath/Naturlight Photography

This amazing card was also sent by Steffi. it shows the Great Blue Hole, a large submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize.It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 metres (984 ft) across and 124 metres (407 ft) deep. It was formed during several episodes of Quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower - the analysis of stalactites found in Great Blue Hole shows that formation has taken place 153,000, 66,000, 60,000, and 15,000 years ago. As the ocean began to rise again, the caves were flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site. - in: wikipedia

Unesco cards from Panama

These are my 2nd and 3rd cards from Panama and both from Unesco sites missing in my list. The 1st, sent by Steffi, shows the ruins of Old Cathedral in Panama Viejo and the 2nd the Teribe Indians in Bocas del Toro, where the La Amistad International Park is located. The 2nd card was sent by Yvonne.

Distribuidora Lewis, S.A.

Founded in 1519 by the conquistador Pedrarías Dávila, Panamá Viejo is the oldest European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas. It was laid out on a rectilinear grid and marks the transference from Europe of the idea of a planned town. Abandoned in the mid-17th century, it was replaced by a ‘new town’ (the ‘Historic District’), which has also preserved its original street plan, its architecture and an unusual mixture of Spanish, French and early American styles. - http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/790

Distribuidora Lewis, S. A.

La Amistad National Park is located in the provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas Del Toro, and extends into Costa Rica. It covers approximately 511,000 acres of mountainous terrain in the Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range. The park is famous for its cloudforests, where the trees form a canopy that creates a cool, misty atmosphere on the forest floor.
Four different Indian tribes inhabit this property and the Teribe are one of those tribes.

Rapa Nui - Chile

I finally have a card from the Easter Island. The island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

This is a new Unesco card in my collection and it was sent by Steffi.

© Hispapel

Moai, monolithic human figures were carved from rock between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moai have overly large heads three-fifths the size of their bodies. The moai are chiefly the living faces (aringa ora) of deified ancestors (aringa ora ata tepuna).The statues still gazed inland across their clan lands when Europeans first visited the island, but most would be cast down during later conflicts between clans.
The 887 statues' production and transportation is considered a remarkable creative and physical feat.
Ahu Tongariki is the largest ahu on Rapa Nui/Easter Island. Its moai were toppled during the island's civil wars and in the twentieth century the ahu was swept inland by a tsunami. It has since been restored and has fifteen moai including an 86 tonne moai that was the heaviest ever erected on the island. - in: wikipedia

CN-472535

These are 2 chinese cards sent as official. Both cards show the same building in Shanghai.

CN-472535, sent by Jennifer.
In 1930 was known as Shanghai Sincere Company. Sincere Company was first established in Hong Kong in 1900 by an overseas Chinese. Shanghai Sincere first opened in 1917.

The same building in 2008 as Shanghai Fashion Company.

Anse Patates - Seychelles

My 3rd card from the Seychelles Islands. Like the Iran card, this one was sent by Luis.

Photo by H. Espanet

On the northern most tip of La Digue, Anse Patates is close to Patatran Village and borders the longer beach of Anse Gaulettes. Blessed with soft white sand and calm seas, it is well suited for both swimming and snorkelling. - in: http://www.seychelles.travel/en/products/beaches.php?aid=12

Wadi Rum - Jordan

Wadi Rum is the newest Jordan's Unesco site. It was added to the World Heritage List last June. Thanks to Rachel, I'm only missing one site from Jordan now.

© Al - Hawari Ghassan

The 74,000-hectare property, inscribed as a mixed natural and cultural site, is situated in southern Jordan, near the border with Saudi Arabia. It features a varied desert landscape consisting of a range of narrow gorges, natural arches, towering cliffs, ramps, massive landslides and caverns. Petroglyphs, inscriptions and archaeological remains in the site testify to 12,000 years of human occupation and interaction with the natural environment. The combination of 25,000 rock carvings with 20,000 inscriptions trace the evolution of human thought and the early development of the alphabet. The site illustrates the evolution of pastoral, agricultural and urban activity in the region. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1377

Persepolis - Iran

I didn't post any Unesco card in the last days but i've received a few from new sites. This one is from Persepolis, my 2nd site from Iran. Perspolis is a World Heritage Site since 1979.

Now an archaeological site in Iran, the ancient city of Persepolis (Persian: Takht-e Jamshid or Takht-i Jamshid, "Throne of Jamshid") was founded by Darius I in 518 BC as the capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
On an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, the great king created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models. Though evidence of prehistoric settlement at Persepolis has been discovered, inscriptions indicate that construction of the city began under Darius I the Great (reigned 522–486 BC). As a member of a new branch of the royal house, Darius made Persepolis the new capital of Persia (replacing Pasargadae, the burial place of Cyrus the Great).
Built in a remote and mountainous region, Persepolis was an inconvenient royal residence, visited mainly in the spring. The effective administration of the Achaemenian Empire was carried on from Susa, Babylon, or Ecbatana. This accounts for the Greeks being unacquainted with Persepolis until Alexander the Great's invasion of Asia.
In 330 BC, Alexander the Great plundered the city and burned the palace of Xerxes, probably to symbolize the end of his Panhellenic war of revenge. In 316 BC Persepolis was still the capital of Persis as a province of the Macedonian empire, but the city gradually declined in the Seleucid period and after. In the 3rd century AD the nearby city of Istakhr became the centre of the Sasanian empire. Today, relatively well-preserved ruins attest to Persepolis' ancient glory. - in: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/iran/persepolis.htm