61 NEW SITES INSCRIBED ON WORLD HERITAGE LIST

             Cairns, November 30 (No.2000 – 131 - description) – UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, meeting since November 27 in Cairns, Australia, has inscribed 61 new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List which now contains 690 sites.

 The 10 natural sites inscribed this year are:

 Argentina. Ischigualasto - Talampaya Natural Parks. These two contiguous parks, extending over 275,300 hectares (ha) in the desert region on the western border of the Sierra Pampeanas of central Argentina, contain the most complete fossil record known from the Triassic Period (245-208 million years ago). Six geological formations in the parks contain fossils of a wide range of ancestors of mammals, revealing the evolution of vertebrates and the nature of palaeo-environments in the Triassic Period.

 Australia. The Greater Blue Mountains Area. The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of 1.03 million ha of mostly forested landscape on a deeply-incised sandstone plateau 60-180km inland from central Sydney. The site comprises eight protected areas in two blocks separated by a transportation and urban development corridor. The site is particularly noted for its wide and balanced representation of eucalyptus habitats including wet and dry sclerophyll, mallee heathlands, as well as localised swamps, wetlands, and grassland. Ninety eucalyptus taxa (13% of the world’s total) occur in the Greater Blue Mountains. The sites hosts several evolutionary relic species; such as the Wollemia pine, which have persisted in highly-restricted microsites.

 Bolivia. Noel Kempff Mercado National Park. The National Park is one of the largest (1,523,000 ha) and most intact parks in the Amazon Basin. With an altitudinal range of 200m to nearly 1,000m, it is the site of a rich mosaic of habitat types from Cerrado savannah and forest to upland evergreen Amazonian forests. The park boasts an evolutionary history dating back over a billion years to the Precambrian period. An estimated 4,000 species of flora as well as over 600 bird species and viable populations of many globally endangered or threatened vertebrate species live in the park.

 Brazil. Jaú National Park. Jaú National Park is the largest national park in the Amazon Basin, and one of the planet's richest regions in terms of biological diversity. Established in 1986 to protect the entire watershed of the Jaú River, the park has an area of 2,272,000 ha. The Jaú River is considered the best example of a "blackwater ecosystem" (the name is taken from the colour given to the water by the decomposition of organic matter and the lack of terrestrial sediments). The park not only protects the hydrological basin of the Jaú River, but also a large proportion of the diverse species associated with the blackwater system. 

Brazil. Pantanal Conservation Complex. The Pantanal Conservation Complex consists of a cluster of four protected areas with a total area of 187,818 ha. Located in western central Brazil at the south-west corner of the State of Mato Grosso, the site represents 1.3% of Brazil's Pantanal region, one of the world's largest freshwater wetland ecosystems. The headwaters of the region's two major river systems, the Cuiabá and the Paraguay rivers, are located here, and the abundance and diversity of its vegetation and animal life are spectacular. 

Italy. Isole Eolie (Aeolian Islands). The Aeolian Islands provide an outstanding record of volcanic island-building and destruction, and ongoing volcanic phenomena. Studied since at least the 18th century, the islands have provided the science of vulcanology with examples of two types of eruption (Vulcanian and Strombolian) and thus have featured prominently in the education of geologists for more than 200 years. The site continues to enrich the field of vulcanology. 

Malaysia. Kinabalu Park. Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It has a very wide range of habitats, ranging from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. It has been designated as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia and is exceptionally rich in species with examples of flora from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, as well as pan-tropical flora. 

Malaysia. The Gunung Mulu National Park. Important both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features, Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the State of Sarawak, is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The 52,864-ha park contains 17 vegetation zones, exhibiting some 3,500 species of vascular plants. Its palm species are exceptionally rich, with 109 species in 20 genera noted. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,377m-high pinnacle karst, which is said to be the most cavernous mountain in the world. At least 295km of explored caves provide a spectacular sight and are home to millions of cave swiftlets and bats. The Sarawak Chamber, 600m by 415m and 80m high, is the largest known cave chamber in the world. 

Suriname. Central Suriname Nature Reserve. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve comprises 1.6 million ha of primary tropical forest of west-central Suriname. It protects the upper watershed of the Coppename River and covers a range of topography and ecosystems of notable conservation value due to its pristine state. Its montane and lowland forests contain a high diversity of plant life with almost 6,000 vascular plant species collected to date. The Reserve's animals are typical of the region and include the jaguar, giant armadillo, giant river otter, tapir, sloths, eight species of primates and 400 bird species. 

Sweden. The High Coast. The High Coast is an archipelago located on the west shore of the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern extension of the Baltic Sea. The area covers 142,500 ha including a marine component of 80,000 ha, which includes a number of offshore islands. The irregular topography of the region, a series of lakes, inlets and flat hills rising to 350m, is largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciation, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea which continues today at a rate of 0.9m per century. Since the final retreat of the ice from the High Coast 9,600 years ago, the uplift has been in the order of 285-294m which is the highest evident “rebound” known to man. 

The 50 cultural sites inscribed this year are:

 Argentina. The Jesuit Block and the Jesuit Estancias of Córdoba. The Jesuit Block in Córdoba, heart of the former Jesuit Province, contains the core buildings of the Jesuit system: the university, the church and residence of the Society of Jesus, and the college. Along with the five estancias, or farming estates, they contain religious and secular buildings that illustrate the unique religious, social, and economic experiment carried out by in South America for a period of over 150 years in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Armenia. The Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots. The cathedral and churches of Echmiatsin and the archaeological remains at Zvartnots graphically illustrate the evolution and development of the Armenian central-domed cross-hall type of church, which exerted a profound influence on architectural and artistic development in the region. 

Armenia. The Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley. The monastery of Geghard contains a number of churches and tombs, most of them cut into the rock, which illustrate the very peak of Armenian medieval architecture. The complex of medieval buildings is set into a landscape of great natural beauty, surrounded by towering cliffs at the entrance to the Azat Valley. 

Austria. The Wachau Cultural Landscape (the Wachau Region including the abbeys of Melk and Göttweig and the historic centre of Krems). The Wachau is a stretch of the Danube Valley between Melk and Krems, a landscape of high visual quality. It preserves in an intact and visible form many traces - in terms of architecture, urban design, and agricultural use, principally for the cultivation of vines - of its evolution since prehistoric times. 

Azerbaijan. Walled City of Baku. Built on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, the Walled City of Baku reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs' Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan’s architecture. 

Belarus. The Mir Castle Complex. The construction of this castle began at the end of the 15th century, in Gothic style. It was subsequently extended and reconstructed, first in the Renaissance and then in the Baroque style. After being abandoned for nearly a century and suffering severe damage during the Napoleonic period, the castle was restored at the end of the 19th century, with the addition of a number of other elements and the landscaping of the surrounding area as a park. Its present form is graphic testimony to its often turbulent history. 

Belgium. Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes (Mons). The Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes, covering more than 100 ha, are the largest and earliest concentration of ancient mines in Europe. They are also noteworthy for the diversity of technological solutions used for extraction and for the fact that they are directly linked to a contemporary settlement. 

Belgium. Historic Centre of Brugge. Brugge is an outstanding example of a medieval historic settlement, which has maintained its historic fabric as this has evolved over the centuries, and where original Gothic constructions form part of the town’s identity. As one of the commercial and cultural capitals of Europe, Brugge developed cultural links to different parts of the world. It is closely associated with the school of Flemish Primitive painting. 

Belgium. Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Tournai was built in the first half of the 12th century. It is especially distinguished by a Romanesque nave of extraordinary dimensions, a wealth of sculpture on its capitals and a transept topped by five towers, all precursors of the Gothic style. The choir, rebuilt in the 13th century, is in the pure Gothic style. 

 Belgium. The Major Town Houses of the architect Victor Horta. The four major town houses - Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel Solvay, Hôtel van Eetvelde, and Maison & Atelier Horta - located in Brussels and designed by the architect Victor Horta, one of the earliest exponents of Art Nouveau, are some of the most remarkable pioneering works of architecture of the end of the 19th century. The stylistic revolution represented by these works is characterised by their open plan, the diffusion of light, and the brilliant joining of the curved lines of decoration with the structure of the building. 

Bolivia. Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture. The city of Tiwanaku, capital of a powerful pre-Hispanic empire that dominated a large area of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its apogee between 500 and 900 AD. Its monumental remains testify to the cultural and political significance of this civilisation, which is distinct from any of the other pre-Hispanic empires of the Americas. 

Chile. The Churches of Chiloé. The 14 churches of Chiloé represent the only example in Latin America of a rare form of ecclesiastical wooden architecture. They were built on the initiative of the Jesuit Peripatetic Mission in the 17th and 18th centuries and bear testimony to a successful fusion of indigenous and European culture and technical expertise. 

China. Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui - Xidi and Hongcun. The two traditional villages of Xidi and Hongcun preserve to a remarkable extent the appearance of non-urban settlements of a type that largely disappeared or was transformed during the last century. Their street plan, their architecture and decoration, and the integration of houses with comprehensive water systems are unique surviving examples. 

China. Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Ming and Qing imperial tombs are natural sites modified by human influence, carefully chosen according to the principles of geomancy (Fengshui) to house numerous buildings of traditional architectural design and decoration. They illustrate the continuity over five centuries of a world view and concept of power specific to feudal China. 

China. Longmen Grottoes. The grottoes and niches of Longmen contain the largest and most impressive collection of Chinese art of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties (316-907). These works, entirely devoted to the Buddhist religion, represent the high point of Chinese stone carving. 

China. Mount Qincheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Construction of the Dujiangyan irrigation system began in the 3rd century BC, and still controls the waters of the Minjiang River and distributes it to the fertile farmland of the Chengdu plains. Mount Qincheng was the birthplace of Taoism, which is celebrated in a series of ancient temples. 

Croatia. Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik. The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik (1431-1535), on the Dalmatian coast, bears witness to the considerable exchanges in the field of monumental arts between Northern Italy, Dalmatia and Tuscany in the 15th and 16th centuries. The three architects who succeeded one another in the construction of the Cathedral - Francesco di Giacomo, Georgius Mathei Dalmaticus and Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino - developed a structure built entirely from stone and using unique construction techniques for the vaulting and the dome of the Cathedral. The form and the decorative elements of the Cathedral also illustrate the successful fusion of Gothic and Renaissance art.  

Cuba. Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba. The remains of the 19th-century coffee plantations in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra are unique evidence of a pioneer form of agriculture in a difficult terrain. They throw considerable light on the economic, social, and technological history of the Caribbean and Latin American region. 

Czech Republic. Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc. This memorial column, erected in the early years of the 18th century, is the most outstanding example of a type of monument specific to central Europe. In the characteristic regional style known as Olomouc Baroque and rising to a height of 35m, it is decorated with many fine religious sculptures, the work of the distinguished Moravian artist Ondrej Zahner. 

Denmark. Kronborg Castle. Located on a strategically important site commanding the Sund, the stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden, the Royal castle of Kronborg at Helsingør (Elsinore) is of immense symbolic value to the Danish people and played a key role in the history of northern Europe in the 16th–18th centuries. Work began on the construction of this outstanding Renaissance castle in 1574, and its defences were reinforced according to the canons of the period’s military architecture in the late 17th century. It has remained intact to the present day. It is world-renowned as Elsinore, the setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 

France. The Loire Valley between Maine and Sully-sur-Loire. The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments (the châteaux), and cultivated lands formed by many centuries of interaction between their population and the physical environment, primarily the river Loire itself. The site includes the Château and Estate of Chambord, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981. 

Germany. Gartenreich Dessau-Wörlitz (the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz). The Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz is an exceptional example of landscape design and planning of the Age of the Enlightenment, the 18th century. Its diverse components – outstanding buildings, landscaped parks and gardens in the English style, and subtly modified expanses of agricultural land – serve aesthetic, educational, and economic purposes in an exemplary manner. 

Germany. Klosterinsel Reichenau im Bodensee (Monastic Island of Reichenau in Lake Constance). The island of Reichenau on Lake Constance preserves the traces of the Benedictine monastery, founded in 724, which exercised remarkable spiritual, intellectual and artistic influence. The churches of St Mary, St Peter and St Paul, and St George, built between the 9th and 11th centuries, provide a panorama of early medieval monastic architecture in central Europe. Their wall paintings bear witness to impressive artistic activity. 

Hungary. The Pécs (Sopianae) early Christian Cemetery. In the 4th century, a remarkable series of decorated tombs were constructed in the cemetery of the Roman provincial town of Sopianae (modern-day Pécs). These are important both structurally and architecturally, as they were built underground and served both as burial chambers and memorial chapels, and also in artistic terms, as they are richly decorated with murals of outstanding quality depicting Christian themes.  

Italy. Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites. Assisi, a medieval city built on a hill, is the birthplace of Saint Francis, closely associated with the work of the Franciscan Order. Its medieval art masterpieces, such as the Basilica of San Francesco and paintings by Cimabue, Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini and Giotto, have made Assisi a fundamental reference point for the development of Italian and European art and architecture. 

Italy. City of Verona. The historic city of Verona was founded in the 1st century B.C. It particularly flourished under the rule of the Scaliger family in the 13th and 14th centuries and as part of the Republic of Venice from the 15th to 18th centuries. Verona has preserved a remarkable number of monuments from antiquity, the medieval and Renaissance periods, and represents an outstanding example of a military stronghold. 

Japan. Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. Five hundred years of Ryukyuan history (12th–17th century) are represented by this group of sites and monuments. The ruins of the castles, on imposing elevated sites, are evidence for the social structure over much of that period, while the sacred sites provide mute testimony to the rare survival of an ancient form of religion into the modern age. The wide-ranging economic and cultural contacts of the Ryukyu Islands over that period gave rise to a unique culture. 

Lithuania/Russian Federation. Curonian Spit. Human habitation of this elongated sand dune peninsula, 98km long and 0.4-4km wide, dates back to prehistoric times. Throughout this period it has been threatened by the natural forces of wind and tide. Its survival to the present day has been made possible only as a result of ceaseless human efforts to combat the erosion of the Spit, dramatically illustrated by continuing stabilisation and reforestation projects. 

Netherlands. Rietveld Schröderhuis (Rietveld Schröder House). The Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht was commissioned by Ms Truus Schröder-Schräder, designed by the architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, and built in 1924. This small family house, with its interior, the flexible spatial arrangement, and the visual and formal qualities, was a manifesto of the ideals of the De Stijl group of artists and architects in the Netherlands in the 1920s, and has since been considered one of the icons of the Modern Movement in architecture. 

Nicaragua. Ruins of León Viejo. León Viejo is one of the oldest Spanish colonial settlements in the Americas. It did not develop and so its ruins are outstanding testimony to the social and economic structures of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Moreover, the site has immense archaeological potential. 

Oman. The Frankincense Trail. The frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah and the remains of the caravan oasis of Shisr and the ports of Khor Rori and al-Balid vividly illustrate the trade in frankincense that flourished in this region for many centuries, as one of the most important trading activities of the ancient and medieval world. 

Peru. Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa. The Historic Centre of Arequipa, built in volcanic sillar rock, represents an integration of European and native building techniques and characteristics, expressed in the admirable work of colonial masters and Criollo and Indian masons. This combination of influences is illustrated by the city’s robust walls, archways and vaults, courtyards and open spaces, and the intricate Baroque decoration of its facades. 

Republic of Korea. Koch'ang, Hwasun, and Kanghwa Dolmen Sites. The prehistoric cemeteries at Koch'ang, Hwasun, and Kanghwa contain many hundreds of examples of dolmens - tombs from the 1st millennium B.C. constructed of large stone slabs. They form part of the Megalithic culture, found in many parts of the world, but nowhere in such a concentrated form. 

Republic of Korea. Kyongju Historic Areas. The Kyongju Historic Areas contain a remarkable concentration of outstanding examples of Korean Buddhist art, in the form of sculptures, reliefs, pagodas, and the remains of temples and palaces from the flowering, between the 7th and 10th centuries, of this form of unique artistic expression. 

Russian Federation. Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin. Built on an ancient site, the Kazan Kremlin dates from the Muslim period of the Golden Horde and the Kazan Khanate. It was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and became the Christian See of the Volga Land. The only surviving Tatar fortress in Russia and an important place of pilgrimage, the Kazan Kremlin consists of an outstanding group of historic buildings dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, integrating remains of earlier structures of the 10th to 16th centuries. 

Russian Federation. The Ensemble of Ferapontov Monastery. The Ferapontov Monastery, in the Vologda region in northern Russia, is an exceptionally well-preserved and complete example of a Russian Orthodox monastic complex of the 15th-17th centuries, a period of great significance in the development of the unified Russian state and its culture. The architecture of the monastery is outstanding in its inventiveness and purity. The interior is graced by the magnificent wall paintings of Dionisy, the greatest Russian artist of the end of the 15th century. 

Senegal. Island of Saint-Louis. Founded as a French colonial settlement in the 17th century, Saint-Louis was urbanised in the mid-19th century. It was the capital of Senegal from 1872 to 1957 and played an important cultural and economic role in the whole of West Africa. The location of the town on an island at the mouth of the Senegal River, its regular town plan, the system of quays, and the characteristic colonial architecture give Saint-Louis its distinctive appearance and identity. 

Slovakia. Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve. Bardejov is a small but exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a fortified medieval town, which typifies the urbanisation in this region. Among other remarkable features, it also contains a small Jewish quarter around a fine 18th-century synagogue. 

Spain. Archaeological Site of the Sierra de Atapuerca, in the Municipalities of Atapuerca and Ibeas de Juarros (Burgos). The caves of the Sierra de Atapuerca contain a rich fossil record of the earliest human beings in Europe, from nearly one million years ago and extending up to the current day. They represent an exceptional reserve of data, the scientific study of which provides priceless information about the appearance and the way of life of these remote human ancestors. 

Spain. Catalan Romanesque Complex of the Vall de Boí. The narrow Vall de Boí valley, is situated in the high Pyrénées, in the Alta Ribagorça region and is surrounded by steep mountains. Each village in the valley contains a Romanesque church, and is surrounded by a pattern of enclosed fields. There are extensive seasonally-used grazing lands on the higher slopes.

Spain. The Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco. Tárraco (modern-day Tarragona) was a major administrative and mercantile city in Roman Spain and the centre of the Imperial cult for all the Iberian provinces. It was endowed with many fine buildings, and parts of these have been revealed in a series of exceptional excavations. Although most of the remains are fragmentary, many preserved beneath more recent buildings, they present a vivid picture of the grandeur of this Roman provincial capital. 

Spain. Palmeral of Elche. The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, during the Arab occupation of much of the Iberian peninsula, starting in the 8th century AD. However, there is evidence that their origins are much older, dating back to the Phoenician and Roman settlement of the region. The Palmeral is a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European continent. 

Spain. The Roman Walls of Lugo. The walls of Lugo were built in the later part of the 2nd century to defend the Roman town of Lucus. The entire circuit survives intact and is the finest example of late Roman fortifications in western Europe. 

Sweden. The Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland. The southern part of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. Human beings have lived here for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day. 

Switzerland. Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market Town of Bellinzone. The Bellinzone site consists of a group of fortifications grouped around the castle of Castelgrande, which stands on a rocky peak looking out over the entire Ticino valley. Running from the castle, a series of fortified walls protect the ancient town and block the passage through the valley. A second castle forms an integral part of the fortifications; a third but separate castle (Sasso Corbaro) was built on an isolated rocky promontory south-east of the other fortifications. 

United Kingdom. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape. The area around Blaenavon is evidence of the pre-eminence of South Wales as the world's major producer of iron and coal in the 19th century. All the necessary elements can still be seen – coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway system, furnaces, workers’ homes, and the social infrastructure of their community. 

United Kingdom. The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda. The Town of St George is an outstanding example of the earliest English urban settlement in the New World. Its associated fortifications graphically illustrate the development of English military engineering from the 17th to the 20th century, being adapted to take account of the development of artillery over this period. 

United Republic of Tanzania. The Stone Town of Zanzibar. The Stone Town of Zanzibar is a fine example of the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa. It retains its urban fabric and townscape virtually intact and contains many fine buildings that reflect its particular culture, which has brought together and homogenized disparate elements of the cultures of Africa, the Arab region, India, and Europe over more than a millennium. 

Uzbekistan. Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz. The historic centre of Shakhrisyabz contains a collection of exceptional monuments and ancient quarters which bear witness to the city’s secular development, and particularly to the period of its apogee, under the empire of Timur, in the 15th century. 

Venezuela. Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas. The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, built to the design of the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, between 1940 and 1960, is an outstanding example of the Modern Movement in architecture. The university campus integrates the large number of buildings and functions into a clearly articulated ensemble, including masterpieces of modern architecture and visual arts, such as the Aula Magna with the "Clouds" of Alexander Calder, the Olympic Stadium, and the Covered Plaza. 

One mixed site has been inscribed this year:

 South Africa. Ukhahlamba - Drakensberg Park. The spectacular natural landscape of the Drakensberg Park contains many caves and rock-shelters with a wealth of paintings made by the San people over a period of 4,000 years. They depict animals and human beings, and represent the spiritual life of this people, who no longer live in their original homeland. 

The following sites already on the List have been extended: the Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin (Armenia); the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple Monastery (China); the Classical Gardens of Suzhou (China) and the Plitvice National Park (Croatia). The Committee also recognised additional World Heritage values that justify the inscription on the List in 1994 of Ha Long Bay in Viet Nam.

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