From today's featured list

Town of Luang Prabang
Town of Luang Prabang

Laos has three sites on the list of World Heritage Sites. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage that have been nominated by countries that are signatories to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, ratified the convention on 20 March 1987. The town of Luang Prabang (pictured) was listed in 1995, Vat Phou in 2001, and the Plain of Jars in 2019. All three sites are cultural. In addition, Laos has two sites on UNESCO's tentative list. (Full list...)

Today's featured picture

Picea omorika

Picea omorika, commonly known as the Pančić spruce or the Serbian spruce, is a species of coniferous tree endemic to the valley of the Drina in western Serbia, and eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a total range of only about 60 hectares (150 acres) at altitudes of 800 to 1,600 metres (2,625 to 5,249 ft). The species was originally discovered near the Serbian village of Zaovine on Mount Tara in 1875, and named by the Serbian botanist Josif Pančić. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree that generally grows to a height of around 20 metres (66 ft), with a trunk diameter of up to 1 metre (3 ft). It has buff-brown shoots with dense hair coverage and needle-like leaves. Its cones are fusiform in shape and grow to a length of 4 to 7 centimetres (2 to 3 in). They are dark purple when young, maturing to dark brown, and have stiff scales. This young female P. omorika cone, with a length of 22 millimetres (0.87 in), was photographed near Keila, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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