Iwami Ginzan listed among new world heritage sites

Japan's Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its cultural landscape was officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on June 28. Iwami Ginzan, located southwest of Honshu in Shimane Prefecture, was developed as a large-scale mining settlement in the early 1500s and became a key part of Japan's economic growth in the 16th and 17th centuries. The heritage-listed site includes the mines and surviving parts of the transport routes to the coast, where the silver ore was shipped to Korea and China. Iwami Ginzan joins the Parthnian Fortresses of Nisa (Turkmenistan), the Red Fort Complex (India) and Australia's own Sydney Opera House as recent additions to the World Heritage List.