UNESCO on Friday, June 21 added Italy's Mount Etna to its World Heritage list, calling it ''one of the world's most emblematic and active volcanoes'', ANSA reports.

Mount Etna is an iconic site encompassing 19,237 uninhabited hectares on the highest part of Mount Etna, on the eastern coast of Sicily. Mount Etna is the highest Mediterranean island mountain and the most active stratovolcano in the world. The eruptive history of the volcano can be traced back 500,000 years and at least 2,700 years of this activity has been documented. The almost continuous eruptive activity of Mount Etna continues to influence volcanology, geophysics and other Earth science disciplines. The volcano also supports important terrestrial ecosystems including endemic flora and fauna and its activity makes it a natural laboratory for the study of ecological and biological processes. The diverse and accessible range of volcanic features such as summit craters, cinder cones, lava flows and the Valle de Bove depression have made the site a prime destination for research and education, UNESCO said.

The Italian Environmental Ministry in May announced that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recognized ''the scientific and educational importance, the exceptional eruptive activity and the millennial notoriety of this volcano, a Mediterranean icon''.