Saudi Arabia was elected to UNESCO's World HeritageCommittee for the first time on Wednesday.
The announcement comes a week after the Kingdom was electedto the UN heritage body's executive board for 2019-2023.
"After the executive board (election), the Kingdom wins UNESCO'sWorld Heritage membership for the first time," Culture Minister Prince Badr binAbdullah said in a tweet, adding: "Thank you to the Custodian of the Two HolyMosques and the Crown Prince for their continuous support to the culturalsector.
"This confirms the Kingdom's international status and itsrole in building peace and contributing effectively to the establishment of theprinciples of culture and science."
The World Heritage Committee meets once a year, andconsists of representatives from 21 member states to the convention elected bythe general assembly.
The committee has the final say on whether a property isadded to the World Heritage List. It also examines rthe state of conservationat listed sites asks member states to take action when they are not beingproperly managed.
There are five sites in Saudi Arabia that are currently onUNESCO's World Heritage List: Al-Ahsa Oasis, Al-Hijr Archaeological Site(Madain Saleh) in AlUla, Al-Turaif district in Diriyah, Historic Jeddah, androck art in the Hail region.
