Africa's newest World Heritage sites

Asmara is located on a high plateau, more than 2,000 meters above sea level. Eritrea was an Italian colony from 1890 to 1941. Asmara initially served as an outpost for the Italians and was later expanded by the fascist Mussolini government.

Parts of the city, particularly those which emerged under Italian control starting in 1893, have World Heritage status. Government and residential buildings, cinemas, mosques, synagogues and the Eritrean Catholic church of "Our Lady of the Rosary" (pictured here) are included. The indigenous quarters of Arbate Asmera and Abbashawel are also World Heritage sites.

Buildings such as this commercial Art Deco building were also a deciding factor for UNESCO in 2017. The World Heritage commission described Asmara as an "exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context."

Angola celebrated its first World Heritage site in 2017: The north-west city of M'banza-Congo is located near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was once the political and spiritual capital of the Kingdom of Kongo, which existed from the 14th to the 19th century. The city was expanded in the 15th century by the Portuguese, who built European-style stone houses.

The city is well known for the ruins of a 16th-century cathedral. The cathedral is Africa’s oldest church, some Angolans say. "M'banza-Congo illustrates, more than anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, the profound changes caused by the introduction of Christianity and the arrival of the Portuguese into Central Africa," according to UNESCO.

The Khomani Cultural Landscape is located along South Africa's northern border with Botswana and Namibia, coinciding with the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. The vast desert landscape holds evidence of human habitation dating back to the Stone Age. The traces are associated with the Khomani, a sub-group of the nomadic San people.

The site encompasses testimonies of the history, migration, livelihoods and collective memory of the San, who survived the rough desert conditions. "The Khomani Cultural Landscape bears testimony to the way of life that prevailed in the region and shaped the site over thousands of years," UNESCO says.

The Sanganeb Atoll in the Red Sea is a World Heritage site since 2016. The coral reef is submerged 25 kilometers off the Sudanese coast. Dungonab Bay and Mukkawar Island, situated 125 km off Port Sudan, are included. The ecosystem consists of coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds inhabited by birds, sharks, turtles and manatees.

The Ennedi in the north-east of Chad was declared a World Heritage cultural and natural site in 2016. The sandstone landscape has been sculped over time by water and wind into impressive cliff canyons and natural arches. it is the largest rock gallery of the Sahara, with thousands of drawings carved in the sandstone.

The Okavango river fans out for thousands of square kilometers until the water trickles away or evaporates. The inland delta is home of a plethora of endangered animals such as cheetahs, rhinos, African wild dogs, and lions. The Okavango Delta was declared a World Heritage site in 2014.