Angkor

Significance

UNESCO describes Angkor as containing the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th century, including Angkor Wat and the Bayon temple at Angkor Thom with its sculptural decoration. The property is inscribed under cultural criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) and covers about 400 square kilometres in Siem Reap Province. It is managed by Cambodia's APSARA National Authority, with international assistance coordinated through ICC-Angkor. It was inscribed in 1992 and, was on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1992 until its removal in 2004, the case on which HeritageWatch's methodology models its current-status principle.

Current Status Rationale

Historical damage is documented in the site's record, but the current classification is based on present conditions and the most recent credible evidence. Angkor was inscribed on the Danger List in 1992 and removed in 2004; that history sits in events[] and does not drive the current classification, which is the case the methodology was designed around. The present picture, per UNESCO's 2025 decision, is that the property's Outstanding Universal Value is sustained despite multiple pressures, and the December 2024 mission concluded that overall conservation is 'satisfactory'. Those pressures are real: the Committee has asked for a tourism carrying capacity assessment since 2023, the mission documents rapid growth in settlement (a 70% rise in legal residents 2004-2022, and remaining illegal settlements over inscribed areas that the mission says require ongoing attention), and several sources link temple stability to groundwater and to the rehabilitation of the ancient hydraulic system, although the evidence reviewed on groundwater is partly dated (2011, 2014, 2022) and records no observed damage. A functioning management system is in place: APSARA National Authority manages the site under ICC-Angkor coordination (co-chaired by France and Japan, with UNESCO providing the secretariat), and Cambodia owes the Committee an updated state of conservation report by 1 December 2026. The Cambodia-Thailand conflict has affected tourism, and a UNESCO-led study of Preah Vihear is reported to have found damage at that other Cambodian property, but is not documented as affecting Angkor's physical condition. Confidence is Supported rather than Confirmed because the core facts are corroborated by UNESCO decisions and the mission report, but the 2025 state of conservation report was not read, the groundwater evidence is dated, and the 2026 status of the border situation was not verified. Confidence does not alter the status.

Conservation or other pressures are documented, but without imminent risk to the site. Credible sources support this status, with some limits on corroboration.

Threat Categories

Historical Timeline

1. 1992
   Angkor inscribed on the World Heritage List and, simultaneously, on the List in Danger

   At its 1992 session (16 COM X.A) the Committee inscribed Angkor under criteria (i)-(iv) and also placed it on the List of World Heritage in Danger to address urgent conservation problems, while waiving some usual requirements because of Cambodia's UN administration following the Paris Accords. It required protective legislation, a staffed national protection agency, permanent boundaries, buffer zones, and monitoring and coordination of international conservation efforts.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

2. 1993-10-13
   International Coordinating Committee (ICC-Angkor) created

   UNESCO's property page records the creation of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Sustainable Development of Angkor on 13 October 1993. It is described as the international mechanism for coordinating assistance from different countries and organisations, co-chaired by France and Japan with UNESCO providing the secretariat.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, APSARA National Authority

3. 1994-05-28
   Royal Decree on Siem Reap/Angkor zoning

   UNESCO's property page lists a Royal Decree on Siem Reap/Angkor Zoning dated 28 May 1994, followed by a Law on Heritage Protection on 25 January 1996.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

4. 1995-02-19
   APSARA National Authority established

   UNESCO's property page records the establishment of the APSARA National Authority on 19 February 1995 as the body managing the site.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

5. 2003
   Committee retains Angkor on the Danger List pending a 2004 report

   In decision 27 COM 7A.22 the Committee commended Cambodia and APSARA, asked that the management plan be reviewed to ensure tourism development is adequately controlled, asked for stronger cooperation to prevent looting and theft, retained Angkor on the Danger List and asked for a conservation report by 1 February 2004 for the Committee's 28th session.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

6. 2004
   Angkor removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger

   In decision 28 COM 15A.23 the Committee removed Angkor from the Danger List, citing the 'remarkable improvement of the physical state of conservation' and effective management by APSARA, on conditions including regular progress reports and development of a comprehensive Master Plan covering conservation, development control and tourism management. UNESCO's decision page gives only the year; InforMEA lists 28 June 2004 against this decision, which may be the session's opening date rather than the decision day, so no day is claimed. Decision 28 COM 15C.3 (src_17) also records the removal.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, InforMEA

7. 2021
   World Heritage Committee decision 44 COM 7B.139

   The Committee noted with satisfaction the national authorities' conservation and management activities for archaeological and hydraulic structures and the natural environment, commended Cambodia for not pursuing a reported tourist complex project immediately outside the buffer zone, noted that Cambodia had rejected an extension of Siem Reap International Airport in favour of a new international airport far from the property, and requested Heritage Impact Assessments in line with the 2011 ICOMOS Guidelines and an updated report by 1 December 2022.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

8. 2023
   World Heritage Committee decision 45 COM 7B.152

   The Committee commended Cambodia for steady progress in conservation, research, environmental conservation and management activities, welcomed the updated Tourism Development Plan while requiring further revision, and asked Cambodia to carry out a carrying capacity assessment as a matter of priority. It also took note of enforcement of zoning regulations and relocation of families who had settled illegally, asking that the living conditions and rights of local communities be taken into account, and requested a report by 1 December 2024.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

9. 2024
   World Heritage Committee decision 46 COM 7B.31

   The Committee expressed concern about third-party reports of possible forced population displacements, acknowledged Cambodia's explanation of the relocation programme, and requested a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM reactive monitoring mission. It asked for an updated report by 1 February 2025.

   Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

10. 2024-12-09/2024-12-13
    Joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM reactive monitoring mission to Angkor

    The mission visited from 9 to 13 December 2024. Its report concluded that the overall state of conservation of the property is considered satisfactory, and noted a 70% increase in legal residents between 2004 and 2022 and remaining illegal settlements over inscribed areas needing ongoing attention, alongside rehabilitation of the ancient hydraulic system.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

11. 2025
    World Heritage Committee decision 47 COM 7B.63

    The Committee noted that the property's Outstanding Universal Value is sustained despite multiple pressures, noted on-going rehabilitation of the ancient hydraulic systems and the systematic rehabilitation of previously occupied locations, asked Cambodia to continue incentives for voluntary relocation under a documented procedure and reinforce measures to prevent new settlements, asked for an updated Tourism Management Plan for review, encouraged macaque management, and requested an updated report by 1 December 2026 for the 49th session. The decision does not mention the Danger List or the border conflict.

    Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre

12. 2025-07
    Cambodia-Thailand border fighting and first ceasefire

    A report dated 30 July 2025 said a ceasefire had taken effect the previous Tuesday night after five days of heavy fighting, with more than 200,000 people displaced, and that Thailand alleged violations which Cambodia denied. The sources reviewed do not describe any impact on Angkor.

    Sources: blue News (bluewin.ch)

13. 2025-12
    Renewed border fighting; ceasefire of 27 December 2025; Angkor tourism affected

    Thailand and Cambodia agreed a ceasefire that took effect at noon on 27 December 2025 after roughly three weeks of fighting (casualty and displacement figures differ between outlets). AFP reported on 24 December that Angkor, a two-hour drive from the border, had seen ticket sales fall by at least 17 percent year on year from June to November according to Angkor Enterprise, and did not mention any damage to the temples. Separately, Al Jazeera reported on 15 December 2025 that Cambodian officials said Thai jets had bombed near displaced-person camps in Siem Reap province, roughly 50 miles from Angkor Wat (a Cambodian government claim; no strike on Angkor was reported). Angkor Enterprise figures reported in December 2025 gave 867,195 foreign visitors for January-November 2025, down 3.47 percent.

    Sources: The Nightly, The Daily Star (Bangladesh), republishing AFP, Vietstock (citing Angkor Enterprise), Oman Observer, Al Jazeera

Digital Preservation Index

Overall coverage: Extensive — Well documented across most or all digital preservation categories.

Four of five categories have publicly findable evidence, which meets the extensive tier by the rubric (at least four of five, including a visual and a technical/scholarly category). Coverage is uneven across a very large property. The 3D dataset confirmed as publicly accessible covers only the Angkor Wat western causeway (scanned in 2004; access by request form). Other 3D scanning research on Angkor monuments (for example the University of Tokyo's Bayon digital archival work) appears in the literature, but this pass did not confirm that any such models are publicly viewable, so they are not counted as evidence. The photographic evidence is a UNESCO gallery that mostly shows the Bayon and Ta Prohm, plus the EFEO photo library, which states that Cambodia and Vietnam are 'particularly well represented' (reproduction requires permission) but whose Angkor-specific holdings were not counted. The virtual tour category is marked false: a 2013-2014 Google Street View project for Angkor Wat was reported in the press, but its current availability was not confirmed here. A reviewer may wish to consider whether the uneven, building-level coverage should temper the tier.

• Photographic

  UNESCO World Heritage Centre hosts a public photo gallery for the property (about 63 images, in the portion reviewed mostly the Bayon and Ta Prohm, credited to Francesco Bandarin).

  View source
• Photographic

  The EFEO (Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient) photo library states that its digitisation project began in 2002 and continues, that it holds over 180,000 pictures, and that Cambodia and Vietnam are particularly well represented.

  View source
• Archival Records

  UNESCO's property page lists state of conservation reports for selected years from 1993 to 2025 and Committee decisions for the property, and the December 2024 reactive monitoring mission report is published as a UNESCO document (src_08).

  View source
• Three D Documentation

  Open Heritage 3D hosts the Angkor Wat Western Causeway dataset (terrestrial LiDAR scanned March 2004 by UC Berkeley and Sophia University, published 2020, CC BY-NC-SA, DOI 10.26301/vngf-1h12), with a 3D viewer and video preview online and downloads available by request form.

  View source
• Academic Scholarly

  Peer-reviewed and conference scholarship on Angkor's condition and documentation, for example the 2014 radar monitoring study (flooding and subsidence), the 2019 Waragai and Hiki study of sandstone weathering, and the 2008 Siedel et al. salt study.

  View source

Law and commitments

• Treaty record for Cambodia