UNESCO World Heritage Site

Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef is a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site in Australia, inscribed in 1981.

The world’s largest coral reef ecosystem.

The Great Barrier Reef is a site of remarkable variety and beauty on the north-east coast of Australia. It contains the world’s largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc. It also holds great scientific interest as the habitat of species such as the dugong (‘sea cow’) and the large green turtle, which are threatened with extinction.

Country
Australia
Region
Oceania
Category
Natural
Inscribed
1981
UNESCO reference
154
Area
34,870,000 ha

View the official UNESCO listing

Counts are based on Zikzak's current UNESCO World Heritage dataset, sourced from UNESCO. Last updated 7 August 2026. UNESCO insights

Collections featuring Great Barrier Reef

More UNESCO sites in Australia