The World Heritage Committee has inscribed 22 new sites on Unesco's World Heritage List.

The sites have been given the status of World Heritage Site and include 16 cultural, five natural and one mixed, cultural and natural property.

In a decision unprecedented in the history of Unesco, the committee also deleted one property, the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, from the list due to Oman's failure to preserve the universal value of the sanctuary.

Following the latest additions, the World Heritage List now numbers 851 properties including 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties.

New properties inscribed on the list this year include Sydney Opera House in Australia, which was listed as a cultural property; Teide National Park in Spain, listed as a natural site for its importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands; and the rainforests of Atsinanana in Madagascar, comprising six national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island.