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As a result, the World Heritage Committee has defined six specific criteria against which nominated sites should be compared; for inscription they must conform with one or more of these and with the test of authenticity. A site may:

1) represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; or

2) exhibit an important inter-change of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on develop-ments in architecture, monu-mental arts or town-planning and landscape design; or

3) bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a civili-sation or cultural tradition which is living or which has disap-peared; or

4) be an outstanding example of a type of building or architec-tural ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history; or

5) be an outstanding example of a traditional human settle-ment or land-use which is repre-sentative of a culture (or cul-tures), especially when it had become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change; or

6) be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance (the committee considers that this criterion should justify inclusion on the list only in exceptional circum-stances and in conjunction with other criteria, cultural or natu-ral).