The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has designated 37 World Heritage Sites in eight countries (also called "state parties") commonly referred to as Northern Europe: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, i.e. a combination of Nordic and Baltic countries.[1] The Danish territory of the Faroe Islands doesn't have any sites. Greenland, lying on the North American continent, is not included in this list despite its political ties with Denmark; it is included in the List of World Heritage Sites in North America. The United Kingdom and Ireland are included in Western Europe even though they are sometimes listed in Northern Europe.[2]
Sweden is home to the most inscribed sites with 15 sites, two of which are transborder properties. Three sites are shared between several countries: the Curonian Spit (Lithuania and Russia), the High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago (Sweden and Finland) and the Struve Geodetic Arc (ten countries in Northern and Eastern Europe).[3] The first sites from the region were inscribed in 1979, when the Urnes Stave Church and Bryggen, both in Norway were chosen a year after the list's conception.[4][5] Each year, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee may inscribe new sites on the list, or delist sites that no longer meet the criteria. Selection is based on ten criteria: six for cultural heritage (i–vi) and four for natural heritage (vii–x).[6] Some sites, designated "mixed sites," represent both cultural and natural heritage. In Northern Europe, there are 32 cultural, 4 natural, and 1 mixed sites.[7]
The World Heritage Committee may also specify that a site is endangered, citing "conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List." None of the sites in Northern Europe has ever been listed as endangered, though possible danger listing has been considered by UNESCO in a number of cases.[8][9]