How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites does Kazakhstan have?

Seven in 2026: four cultural and three natural. The newest, the Rock Mosques of Mangystau, was added in 2026. Another 15 entries are on the Tentative List.

Which UNESCO site in Kazakhstan is easiest to visit?

The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, which stands in Turkistan city. Check the ticket and restoration notes on the Turkistan page first.

What do visitors pay at the natural sites?

Order No. 232 sets 0.15 to 0.2 MCI per person on foot and 0.4 to 0.9 MCI per car. The fee calculator converts this into tenge for the current year.

Can I just turn up at a nature reserve?

No. Korgalzhyn, Naurzum, Aksu-Zhabagly, Karatau and Barsakelmes are strict reserves, and visits are arranged in advance with the administration. Altyn-Emel requires a day permit from the park.

Do I need a border permit?

Decree No. 356 lifts the pass requirement for foreigners at three of the 22 places: Aksu-Zhabagly, Sairam-Ugam and Altyn-Emel. The other 19 are not named in its exceptions table.

UNESCO Sites in Kazakhstan: Access, Fees, Permits

Seven listed properties break down into 22 separate places. We found a described route for 9 and a fee in Order No. 232 for 6. For 13, we could not confirm how a visit works.

UNESCO sites in Kazakhstan are easier to list than to reach. As of November 2026 the list holds 7 properties and 22 separate places in the country. A route is described for 9, an official fee exists for 6, and we could not confirm visiting rules for 13. Paying once at all six priced areas costs 1.15 MCI per person (MCI is the Monthly Calculation Index, a legal unit used for fees).

The 2026 list: seven properties, one new

The Rock Mosques of Mangystau joined in 2026 and added five places at once. UNESCO now spells Tamgaly as Tanbaly, so search both names.

Property	Type	Year	Countries	Places to visit (components)	Points in the UNESCO file
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi	cultural	2003	Kazakhstan	1	1
Petroglyphs of the Archaeological Landscape of Tanbaly	cultural	2004	Kazakhstan	1	1
Saryarka: Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan	natural	2008	Kazakhstan	2	5
Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor	cultural	2014	China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan	8	8
Western Tien-Shan	natural	2016	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan	3	5
Cold Winter Deserts of Turan	natural	2023	Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan	2	5
Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites of Mangystau	cultural	2026	Kazakhstan	5	5

A component here is one place you travel to, and there are 22. Points are the Kazakhstan coordinates in UNESCO’s open file, and there are 30. The gap comes from the natural properties: Naurzum has four points, Altyn-Emel three, and Aksu-Zhabagly, Sayram-Ugam and Barsakelmes two each, while each of them is one row in the table below.

Fifteen more entries sit on the Tentative List. The latest, from 2025 and 2026, include the petroglyphs of Zhetysu and Karatau, the Medeu mudflow-protection complex and the Botai cultural landscape. None of them are counted here. For a general introduction, see UNESCO heritage in Kazakhstan.

Illustration Engraving: an atlas plate of small vignettes linked by a thin road, a domed mausoleum, a petroglyph rock, a saiga on the steppe and a mountain walnut forest

What each place requires: the summary table

Each row is a place you would have to travel to separately. Distances are straight lines from UNESCO coordinates to the nearest of 23 cities, so the road is normally longer. Korgalzhyn is the exception: the published 130 km is to the reserve as a whole, while the UNESCO point lies further from Astana.

Component	Property	Nearest city, straight-line km	Route	Access	On foot, MCI	Car, MCI	Decree No. 356 list
Yasawi Mausoleum	Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi	Turkistan, 2	in Turkistan city	museum-reserve ticket	—	—	not named
Tanbaly	Petroglyphs of the Archaeological Landscape of Tanbaly	Konaev, 123	170–180 km from Almaty, 3–4 hours	museum-reserve ticket	—	—	not named
Beket-Ata	Rock Mosques	Zhanaozen, 102	280–285 km from Aktau, 4–5 hours	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Shopan-Ata	Rock Mosques	Zhanaozen, 49	by car via Senek, a full day	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Karaman-Ata	Rock Mosques	Aktau, 63	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Shakpak-Ata	Rock Mosques	Fort-Shevchenko, 70	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Sultan-Epe	Rock Mosques	Fort-Shevchenko, 59	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Talgar	Silk Roads	Almaty, 27	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Kayalyk	Silk Roads	Taldykorgan, 164	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Karamergen	Silk Roads	Taldykorgan, 234	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Aktobe (Stepninskoe)	Silk Roads	Taraz, 220	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Kulan	Silk Roads	Taraz, 113	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Ornek	Silk Roads	Taraz, 64	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Akyrtas	Silk Roads	Taraz, 36	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Kostobe	Silk Roads	Taraz, 16	not confirmed	rules not confirmed	—	—	not named
Korgalzhyn	Saryarka	Astana, 180	about 130 km from Astana	strict reserve, by prior arrangement only	0.2	0.7	not named
Naurzum	Saryarka	Kostanay, 159	about 190 km from Kostanay	strict reserve, by prior arrangement only	0.2	0.7	not named
Aksu-Zhabagly	Western Tien-Shan	Shymkent, 66	about an hour from Shymkent to Aksu Canyon	strict reserve, by prior arrangement only	0.2	0.7	named, 3 km section
Sairam-Ugam	Western Tien-Shan	Shymkent, 56	about 70 km from Shymkent	national park, paid entry	0.15	0.4	named, 5–10 km
Karatau	Western Tien-Shan	Turkistan, 58	not confirmed	strict reserve, by prior arrangement only	0.2	0.7	not named
Altyn-Emel	Cold Winter Deserts of Turan	Konaev, 100	250 km from Almaty to Basshi	national park, paid entry	0.2	0.9	Panfilov and Kerbulak districts listed
Barsakelmes	Cold Winter Deserts of Turan	Aralsk, 130	not confirmed	strict reserve, by prior arrangement only	—	—	not named

How far they really are

Half of the places lie within 68 km of a city in a straight line, and 13 of 22 within 100 km. Only two, Silk Road ruins, are over 200 km: Karamergen at 234 km and Aktobe at 220 km.

Distance from each component to the nearest city, straight-line km

Yasawi Mausoleum 2 km
Kostobe 16 km
Talgar 27 km
Akyrtas 36 km
Shopan-Ata 49 km
Sairam-Ugam 56 km
Karatau 58 km
Sultan-Epe 59 km
Karaman-Ata 63 km
Ornek 64 km
Aksu-Zhabagly 66 km
Shakpak-Ata 70 km
Altyn-Emel 100 km
Beket-Ata 102 km
Kulan 113 km
Tanbaly 123 km
Barsakelmes 130 km
Naurzum 159 km
Kayalyk 164 km
Korgalzhyn 180 km
Aktobe (Stepninskoe) 220 km
Karamergen 234 km

WHC coordinates, own calculation, 5 Nov 2026

Straight lines flatter remote sites. Beket-Ata is 102 km from Zhanaozen on the map, while the published route from Aktau runs 280–285 km and takes 4–5 hours. Plan with the road figure from the place’s own page. We could not confirm public transport to the Silk Road ruins.

Entry fees: only six of 22 are set by law

Order No. 232 sets fees for six areas: 0.15 to 0.2 MCI on foot and 0.4 to 0.9 MCI per car. Added together, once each, that is 1.15 MCI per person and 4.1 MCI per car. The fee calculator turns these into tenge.

Guides cost extra, from 0.2 MCI at Karatau to 3.4 MCI at Korgalzhyn. Aksu-Zhabagly has two rates: 0.3 MCI for citizens of Kazakhstan and 0.4 MCI for foreigners.

Yasawi and Tanbaly sell their own tickets, outside the Order. Kazinform reports that the Yasawi ticket for foreigners rose from 10 June 2026, and the dome is under restoration, so entry arrangements may shift. Details are on the Turkistan and Tamgaly pages.

Not verified yet We could not confirm: a fee for Barsakelmes, which is absent from the 28 appendices of Order No. 232, or how to enter it, so its access type is by category only. Fees and rules for the five Mangystau places and eight Silk Road ruins. Roads and transport to Karaman-Ata, Shakpak-Ata, Sultan-Epe, Kayalyk, Karamergen, Aktobe, Kulan, Ornek, Akyrtas and Kostobe.

Permits: reserves, park passes and the border zone

Five places sit in strict reserves. There is no free entry: you arrange the visit with the administration and follow approved trails. Protected-area categories explains the difference. World Heritage status does not change these rules.

Altyn-Emel issues a permit for one day and one route. Sairam-Ugam charges for its recreation zone and closes its strict zone.

The border zone is a separate layer. Under Decree No. 356 it covers 25 km from the borders with Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, 25 km along the Caspian shore and whole districts along the Chinese border. For foreigners the pass requirement is lifted only through its exceptions table. That table names Aksu-Zhabagly and Sairam-Ugam, plus the Panfilov and Kerbulak districts where Altyn-Emel lies. Shakpak-Ata and Sultan-Epe are near the Caspian; we could not confirm whether they fall within the 25 km strip. Read our border-zone guide before you go.

Method and limits

The list and coordinates come from whc.unesco.org, retrieved on 5 November 2026. Tengrinews published the names of the eight Silk Road sites; matching names to UNESCO points is our own work, because the open file does not label components of serial properties. For the same reason we grouped the five points of Western Tien-Shan and five of Turan by nearest protected area.

Distances are great-circle lines from a component’s nearest point to one of 23 cities: regional centres, the three major cities, Aralsk, Zhanaozen and Fort-Shevchenko. Small towns are left out; Kentau is closer to Karatau than Turkistan is. Fees come from our open-data copy of Order No. 232, checked in September 2026, and routes from our place pages and their sources.

The table does not rank the sites’ value. It shows only what is confirmed about a visit.

For journalists and bloggers: how to cite it

Safe wording: “Of 22 World Heritage components in Kazakhstan, an official fee under Order No. 232 exists for 6 (charyn.kz, November 2026).” Do not write that 13 sites are closed: we say their rules are unconfirmed, nothing more.

If you are planning a heritage trip, this table shows what can be combined without prior arrangements. Reuse is welcome with a link to this page.