The Pyrénées – Mont Perdu World Heritage Site (also known as UNESCO Patrimonio Mundial Pirineos – Monte Perdido in Spanish
mcu.es, retrieved 2013-08-20 (in Spanish)) is a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

straddling the border between

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

mountain chain. The summit of

Monte Perdido Monte Perdido (in Spanish; Mont Perdu in French; Mont Perdito in Aragonese;all four meaning ''lost mountain'') is the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees. The summit of Monte Perdido (3355 m), located in Spain, lies hidden from France by ...

( French: Mont Perdu) is on the Spanish side of the border. The site was designated in 1997 and extended north in 1999 to include the Commune of Gèdre in France. The site includes two bordering national parks: the entire

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park The Ordesa Valley is a glacial valley in Aragon, in the Spanish Pyrenees which forms part of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. It was first discovered in 1820, but not mapped in detail until approximately the 1920s. The valley is about ...

in Spain and the eastern part of Pyrénées Occidentales National Park in France. The World Heritage Site comprises a total area of 30,639 hectares.

Description and History

Centered on Monte Perdido, the world heritage site includes many quintessential geological landforms, including two of Europe's largest canyons on the Spanish site and cirque walls on the French site. Along the mountain slopes are meadows, caves, forests, and lakes. Although the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

and the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

both have higher biodiversity and

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

than the Pyrenees, the Pyrenees are somewhat less affected by recent human development that other European mountain ranges. However, like all mountain ranges in Europe, they show a consistent history of human occupation dating from the Paleolithic. These include a dolmen on the Spanish side and stone circles on the

Cirque de Gavarnie __NOTOC__ The Cirque de Gavarnie is a cirque in the central Pyrenees, in Southwestern France, close to the border of Spain. It is within the commune of Gavarnie, the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, and the Pyrénées National Park. Major feat ...

. The villages and settlements that dot the landscape arose in the Middle Ages and are located in the valleys around Monte Perdido, using the runoff to irrigate their fields. A distinct pastoral system developed, where the livestock would move up and down the mountain slopes with the seasons. Because each settlement has more in common with the neighboring settlements in the Pyrenees than they do with the rest of their respective sovereign nations (Spain and France), they have a degree of independence, and Spanish farmers are often allowed to graze on the French side and vice versa, in a system called "

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower val ...

References

External links

UNESCO Pyrénées - Mont Perdu
unesco.org, retrieved 2013-08-20 (in French)

mcu.es, retrieved 2013-08-20 (in Spanish)

mppm.org, retrieved 2013-08-20 (in Spanish) Transboundary protected areas World Heritage Sites in France World Heritage Sites in Spain {{Spain-geo-stub