A rugged valley famous for its cacti in southern Mexico and a mountainous area of northern South Africa have become the latest cultural sites to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
At a meeting in the Bahraini capital Manama on Monday, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed Mexico's Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley and South Africa's Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains to its renowned list.
The Paris-based organization has been meeting in Manama since June 24 to discuss some 30 worldwide sites nominated for inclusion on the list.
The Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley, a mountainous area around the Papaloapan River famous for its desert landscapes and giant cacti, becomes Mexico's 35th World Heritage List site.
It is the second so-called "mixed" site on the country's list - containing important elements of both cultural and natural heritage - along with the Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche, inscribed in 2002.
The Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley is located in central-southern Mexico, covering part of the southeastern of the State of Puebla and the southern State of Oaxaca, with a surface area of 145,255 hectares.
It is inside the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Biosphere Reserve (TCBR), a natural protected area established in 1998.
South Africa's Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains, known for containing some of the oldest exposed rocks on earth, become the country's 10th World Heritage List site.
South Africa's nine existing sites include five cultural, three natural and one mixed site. The new addition is a natural site.
The UNESCO meeting in Manama will run until July 4.
