Lake District joins Grand Canyon and Taj Mahal as World Heritage Site

The Lake District has officially been inscribed onto Unesco's World Heritage List.

The mountainous region in north west England is renowned for its natural beauty and will now be protected for generations to come given its "priceless and irreplaceable" value, the body said in a statement.

A decision was taken to include the site in the prestigious list at the 41st session of Unesco's World Heritage committee in Krakow, Poland, on Sunday (9 July).

"Joining the Unesco family, both in the UK and globally, is a huge opportunity for the Lake District National Park," its chairman Lord Clark of Windermere said in a statement.

"We believe this designation will have long lasting benefits for everyone who visits, lives and works in this special place."

The addition of the Lake District makes it the 31st place in the UK and its overseas territories to be on the World Heritage List.

It joins the likes of the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu in a list of over 1,000 protected sites worldwide.

A BBC report stated that roughly 18 million people visit the Lake District each year spending a total of £1.2bn ($1.55bn) and providing about 18,000 jobs.

Beth Taylor, chair of the UK National Commission for Unesco, said: "Congratulations to the Lake District on becoming the latest member of the Unesco family in the UK.

"They are joining an exciting and active network of UK and global Unesco designations, organisations and specialists working together to create the international collaborations which underpin Unesco's mission of creating peace in the minds of men and women.

"We look forward to exploring with the Lake District Partnership how we can help them contribute to this impressive record of international collaboration."