The national park system broadly refers to all natural and cultural heritage sites administered by the National Park Service (hereinafter abbreviated as NPS). Currently, the system includes a total of 394 parks, including 24 national battlefield parks, 18 national recreation areas, 76 national monuments, 120 national historical parks, 58 national parks, 10 national waterfront parks, and other national recreational sites, which cover 319,713 km2 and account for 3.6% of the US land area. In a narrow sense, the national park system refers to the 58 national parks administered by the NPS, of which 14, such as Mesa Verde National Park (1978) and Yellowstone National Park (1978), have been added to the World Heritage List by the UNESCO.
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(2020). National Park System, U.S.A.. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_1709
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