The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Below is the list and the tentative list of sites in Turkmenistan. (For the criteria see the Selection criteria)

Kunya-Urgench

Parthian Fortresses of Nisa

Merv

Location of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan.

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.^[4]

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World Heritage Sites

Site	Image	Location	Year listed	UNESCO data	Description
Kunya-Urgench		Daşoguz Region	2005	1199; ii, iii (cultural)	Urgench is situated in north-western Turkmenistan, on the left bank of the Amu Daria River. Urgench was the capital of the Khorezm region, part of the Achaemenid Empire. The old town contains a series of monuments mainly from the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a 60-m high minaret. The monuments testify to outstanding achievements in architecture and craftsmanship whose influence reached Iran and Afghanistan, and later the architecture of the Mogul Empire of 16th-century India.[5]
Parthian Fortresses of Nisa		Ahal Region	2007	1242; ii, iii (cultural)	The Parthian Fortresses of Nisa consist of two tells of Old and New Nisa, indicating the site of one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, a major power from the mid 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. They conserve the unexcavated remains of an ancient civilization which skilfully combined its own traditional cultural elements with those of the Hellenistic and Roman west. Archaeological excavations in two parts of the site have revealed richly decorated architecture, illustrative of domestic, state and religious functions. Situated at the crossroads of important commercial and strategic axes, this powerful empire formed a barrier to Roman expansion while serving as an important communication and trading centre between east and west, north and south.[6]
Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor*		several sites	2023	1675; ii, iii, v (cultural)	The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor is a key section of the Silk Roads in Central Asia that connects other corridors from all directions. Located in rugged mountains, fertile river valleys, and uninhabitable desert, the 866-kilometre corridor runs from east to west along the Zarafshan River and further southwest following the ancient caravan roads crossing the Karakum Desert to the Merv Oasis. Channelling much of the east-west exchange along the Silk Roads from the 2nd century BCE to the 16th century CE, a large quantity of goods was traded along the corridor. People travelled, settled, conquered, or were defeated here, making it a melting pot of ethnicities, cultures, religions, sciences, and technologies.[7]
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancient Merv”		Mary Region	1999	886; ii, iii (cultural)	Merv is the oldest and best-preserved of the oasis-cities along the Silk Route in Central Asia. The remains in this vast oasis span 4,000 years of human history. A number of monuments are still visible, particularly from the last two millennia.[8]
Cold winter deserts of Turan*		Ahal Region, Daşoguz Region, Lebap Region	2023	1693; ix, x (natural)	This property, shared with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, comprises 14 sites that represent the ecosystems of Central Asian deserts with harsh continental climate with very cold winters and hot summers. The deserts are home to numerous plant species, as well as saiga antelope and goitered gazelle. Four areas are listed in Kazakhstan: Bereketli Garagum Nature Reserve, Gaplaňgyr Nature Reserve, Repetek Biosphere State Reserve (pictured).[9]

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• Kunya
• Nisa
• Merv