The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved Sunday the admission of Madain Saleh in Saudi Arabia to the list of the international heritage sites. The Archeological Site of Al-Hijr, the largest conserved site of the civilization of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan, is the first World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on Sunday added three new sites to its heritage list, including a former slave hideout in Mauritius, the Nabataean archeological site in Saudi Arabia, and China's Fujian Tulou earthen houses. UNESCO also chose the Morne Cultural Landscape, a rugged mountain jutting into the Indian Ocean in southwestern Mauritius a former shelter for runaway slaves, maroons, throughout the 18th century and early years of the 19th century. Also making the heritage list were the Fujian Tulou property of 46 houses built between the 12th and 20th centuries as homes to entire clans in southwest of Fujian province, inland from the Taiwan Strait. The three new entries bring UNESCO's World Heritage List to 854 sites in more than 140 countries around the world.
