Sikkim Claims India's First Mixed-Criteria UNESCO World Heritage Site

During its 40th session, the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) sanctioned the Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP) as India's 35th World Heritage Site. This inscription comes after a decade of planning that began in March 2006, and protects nearly 178,500 ha of Himalayan habitat in Sikkim. KNP joins India's rapidly expanding network of 27 cultural and 7 natural heritage sites; however, it is the first and only Indian site to meet the mixed - both cultural and natural - heritage criteria.