Most remote World Heritage Site

The most remote World Heritage Site based on proximity to its nearest neighbour to have been inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the aptly named Gough and Inaccessible Islands located in the South Atlantic Ocean. Part of the British overseas territory Tristan de Cunha, Inaccessible Island (the most remote of the two, positioned at 37.3° S, 12.7° W) is approximately 2,820 km (1,750 mi) from the next closest World Heritage Site: the Cape Peninsula of South Africa, which forms part of the Cape Floral Region Protected Area.

Gough and Inaccessible Islands were inducted together by UNESCO in 1995, which lauded their pristine nature (with no human-introduced mammals), making them one of the most valuable locations for seabirds in the world.

With this project, UNESCO aims to “encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.”

The first World Heritage Sites (comprising 12 sites, beginning with Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands) were officially inscribed by UNESCO in 1978.