Bryggen i Bergen was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1979. For more than 500 years the Hansa trading system was followed in Bryggen.

Norway ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1977. The World Heritage Committee has so far approved seven Norwegian nominations to the World Heritage List:

• Bryggen in Bergen (1979),
• Urnes stave church (1979),
• Røros Mining town (1980), 
• The Rock Art of Alta (1985),
• Vega Archipelago (2004),
• West Norwegian Fjords (2005),
• Struve Geodetic Arc (2005). 

The World Heritage Convention
The convention for the protection of the worlds cultural and natural heritage was approved in 1972, after cultural heritage and natural heritage areas were increasingly under threat from war, natural disasters, pollution, tourism or more simply, neglect. The convention encourages all countries to promote the protection of cultural and natural heritage of both local and national significance. The most important goal of the convention is to identify cultural and natural heritage of universal value.

The need for a coordinated effort, both human and economic, was demonstrated by the international rescue of cultural heritage monuments in Egypt and Nubia, when the Aswan dam was built in the 1960’s. Sixty countries, including Norway, participated. To UNESCO World Heritage Centre »