The list was compiled by tracking Instagram geotags… 

Here’s another accolade the UAE can add to its ever-growing list, with the beautiful city of Al Ain being in the lime light this time around.

Al Ain (which is “the spring” or “the eye” in Arabic) known as the Garden City, now holds a spot in the world’s top 100 Instagram-worthy UNESCO sites.

From a list of 100 that includes UNESCO Heritage sites from around the world, including the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom and Italy, Al Ain stands at number 98 with 157,003 geotags on Instagram.

Considering there are 1092 UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world as of January 2019, it’s definitely an impressive feat.

The Al Ain Oasis was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011 and is considered one of the world’s oldest permanently inhabited settlements, dating back more than 4,000 years. It is also the UAE’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The sites included on the list from the Garden City are Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas.

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So, how exactly was the list compiled? 

Well, The Latin America Travel Company took to Instagram and analysed the number of geotags done on the social media platform at each and every single UNESCO World Heritage site across the world.

The data they accumulated was then ranked to create the top 100 list.

In case your curious, the top three in the list belonged to Brazil, Hungary and Portugal. You can check out the entire list in this link here.

If you’re heading to the Garden City to check out the site, there is a programme of activities open to the public you can check out that include learning about the oasis at the Eco-Centre, and checking out the aflaj irrigation system.

Well done, Al Ain.

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Images: Getty and Visit Abu Dhabi