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Grand Canyon National Park
Site number:
75
Type of site: Natural
Date: 2 bill.years
Date of Inscription: 1979
Location: North America, United States of America, Counties of Coconino and Mohave in the State of Arizona
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Description: The Grand Canyon, which was carved out nearly 1,500 m in depth beside the Colorado River, is the most impressive gorge in the world. Situated in the state of Arizona, it crossed the Grand Canyon National Park. The geological history of the past 2 billion years is retraced in its horizontal strata. In addition, there are prehistoric traces of human adjustment to a predominantly severe environment. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available.
  Grand Canyon National Park is one of the United States' oldest national parks and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the major natural wonders of the world. The park covers 1,902 mi² (4927 km²). The area around the Grand Canyon became a national monument on January 11, 1908 and was designated national park on February 26, 1919. The creation of the park was an early success of the environmental conservation movement; its National Park status may have helped thwart proposals to dam the Colorado River within its boundaries. (Lack of this fame may have enabled Glen Canyon Dam to be built upriver, flooding Glen Canyon and creating Lake Powell.) UNESCO has declared it as a World Heritage Site. The Grand Canyon itself, including its extensive system of tributary canyons, is valued for the spectacular combination of large size, depth, and the exposed layering of colorful rocks dating back to Precambrian times. It was created through the incision of the Colorado River and its tributaries after the Colorado Plateau was uplifted and the Colorado River system developed along its present path. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/75
Source2: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/75/video
Reference: 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page.
 
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