Heritage Committee, made up diplomatic representatives of 21 countries, ignored UNESCO's assessment, based on studies of scientists, "that the reef was clearly in danger from climate change and so should be placed on the list." According to environmental protection groups, this "decision was a victory for cynical lobbying and that Australia, as custodians of the world’s biggest coral reef, was now on probation." Several listed locations, such as Casco Viejo in Panama and Hội An in Vietnam, have struggled to strike a balance between the economic benefits of catering to greatly increased visitor numbers after the recognition and preserving the original culture and local communities. Another criticism is that there is a homogeneity to these sites, which contain similar styles, visitor centres etc. meaning that a lot of the individuality of these sites has been removed to become more attractive to tourists. Statistics The World Heritage Committee has divided the world into five geographic zones which it calls regions: Africa, Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia and the Caucasus states are classified as European, while Mexico and the Caribbean are classified as belonging to the Latin America and Caribbean zone. The UNESCO geographic zones also give greater emphasis on administrative, rather than geographic associations. Hence, Gough Island, located in the South Atlantic, is part of the Europe and North America region because the British government nominated the site. The table below includes a breakdown of the sites according to these zones and their classification : Countries with 15 or more sites This overview lists the 23 countries with 15 or more World Heritage Sites: See also GoUNESCO – initiative to promote awareness and provide tools for laypersons to engage with heritage Index of conservation articles Lists of World Heritage Sites Former UNESCO World Heritage Sites Memory of the World Programme UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists Ramsar Convention – international agreement on wetlands recognition Footnotes References Bibliography External links UNESCO World Heritage portal – Official website The World Heritage List – Official searchable list of all Inscribed Properties KML file of the World Heritage List – Official KML version of the list for Google Earth and NASA Worldwind UNESCO Information System on the State of Conservation of World Heritage properties – Searchable online tool with over 3,400 reports on World Heritage Sites Official overview of the World Heritage Forest Program