UNESCO's newest World Heritage sites

The Qhapaq Nan, Andean Road System, was the Inca Empire's extensive network of roads and structures covering more than 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) through Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Constructed over several centuries, linking the 6,000-meter-high caps of the Andes to the coast, the system reached its maximum expansion in the 15th century. Four main routes originate from the central square of Cuzco, Peru, emanating out and joining other smaller networks of roads.

The Westwork and Civitas Corvey together are Germany's newest World Heritage Site. Built between 822 and 885 A.D., Westwork is the last remaining structure from the important Carolingian architectural period.

Constructed in 1920s, the Van Nellefabriek in the Netherlands, the country's newest World Heritage Site, is considered a factory far ahead of its time. The progressive design is open to the outside world, uses daylight to improve working conditions and showcases rational production flows and distribution.

Built by the Meiji government in 1872, the Tomioka Silk Mill and its related sites are Japan's newest World Heritage Site. The mill represents the country's efforts to update its methods of traditional silk production and move it into the modern industrialized world.

Located on the shore of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia's new World Heritage Site was a major port from the seventh century onward. Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah, was the means by which goods and pilgrims arriving by sea went to Mecca.

Palestinian children jump in an ancient spring in the West Bank village of Battir, which was the first site UNESCO added to its World Heritage List during its June 2014 meeting in Qatar.

The fortified settlement of Erbil Citadel is Iraq's new World Heritage Site. Located in the country's Kurdistan region in the north, the citadel still has a continuous wall of 19th-century facades. But it's built on layer and layers of archaeological ruins that give evidence of continuous civilizations dating back to the sixth millennium B.C.

• UNESCO is picking new World Heritage Sites through June 25


• Ancient landscape of West Bank village of Battir is named to list first


• Newest sites are in Japan, Netherlands, Germany and South America


• Other sites named this week are in Saudi Arabia and Iraq

(CNN) -- Did your last vacation include a visit to a masterpiece of human creative genius? Or to an area of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance?

If so, you may have visited a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage List, perhaps the most prestigious preservation list in the world.

The newest sites named this week include Japan's Tomioka Silk Mill; the Van Nellefabriek (Van Nelle Factory) in the Netherlands; Qhapac Ñan, Andean Road System (which runs through Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru); and Germany's Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey.

Other sites include Saudi Arabia's Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah; the Erbil Citadel, a fortified settlement in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq; and the ancient West Bank village of Battir.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is naming cultural and natural treasures to the organization's prestigious World Heritage List during its meetings through June 25 in Qatar. Members are also considering adding some World Heritage Sites to its much smaller compilation of sites in danger.

Palestinian landscape first spot named to heritage list

From 1978 through 2013, 981 natural and cultural sites around the world have been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Think Yellowstone National Park or Mount Fuji.

The site must be of outstanding universal value, and it must also meet at least one of 10 criteria such as "representing a masterpiece of human creative genius," containing "exceptional natural beauty" or being an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement.

The UNESCO committee is expected to name more World Heritage Sites over the next week.

The UNESCO List in Danger

World Heritage Sites at risk of damage or destruction are sometimes added to the committee's list of sites in danger, and that's what happened with the West Bank village of Battir, a few miles outside Bethlehem.

The hills where Battir's ancient terraces are located date back some 2,000 years to Roman times. Some of the terraces are irrigated for market garden production and others are planted with grape vines and olive trees. The landscape is in danger of being damaged by Israel's plans to build a barrier through the area. The wall "may isolate farmers from fields they have cultivated for centuries," according to a UNESCO press statement.

Explore Yellowstone and 11 more World Heritage Sites

Prior to this month's meeting, there were 44 sites on the endangered list, including spots in Syria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In addition to Battir, the committee added two other sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger this week. One is Bolivia's City of Potosi, which is threatened by mining operations. Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve was added to the danger list because of widespread poaching that has caused a serious decline in the wildlife populations there, including a 90% drop in the elephant and rhinoceros population since 1982.

At the same time, Tanzania's Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara were removed from the danger list due to improved management and safeguards.

Nations sometimes spend years developing their pitches to qualify for the World Heritage List, and they must convince the UNESCO committee that they will protect their sites and support them financially.

U.S. not a power player at UNESCO

The United States doesn't have much sway over UNESCO decisions anymore. That's because the U.S. government withdrew its dues and other financial contributions to UNESCO in 2011 after the agency admitted the Palestinian government as full members representing a country. After failing to pay its dues for two years, the United States lost UNESCO voting rights in 2013 per the agency's rules.

You can also check on Twitter at @UNESCO or #WorldHeritage to see the announcements as they are posted.