France, July 26 -- The UNESCO committee, meeting in Busan until Wednesday, also inscribed Japan's ancient capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, as well as South Sudan's Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape - the country's first site on the list and one of the world's largest land mammal migration areas.

France's designation covers the five Normandy landing beaches - Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno - along with the Pointe du Hoc assault site.

More than 150,000 Allied troops landed there on 6 June 1944 in a decisive turning point in the campaign to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation during the Second World War. This 06 June, 1944 image courtesy of the National Archives shows US Army troops wading ashore at Omaha Beach in France during...