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From Turkish storytellers to the songs of the Aka Pygmies in Africa – there is certainly no shortage of contenders when it comes to finding the world's most unusual cultural traditions.

Many are now being officially endorsed by the United Nations' Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), with Belgium recently launching a bid to have potato fries recognised as part of its cultural heritage.

After being set up in 2008, the UN's cultural agency has already approved 281 elements to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

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The Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival takes place in Edirne, Turkey, attracting thousands of spectators

The Intangible Cultural Heritage list includes Polyphonic singing of the Aka Pygmies of Central Africa

Differing from the more widely known list of World Heritage Sites, the aim is to ensure the protection of important and worldwide heritages and to raise awareness of their significance.

Elements are added each year following submissions by national governments of UN member states.

Each member is allowed to submit a single element to be assessed by Unesco.

A panel of experts in intangible heritage and an appointed body, known as the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, then examine each of the nominations before officially inscribing the candidates as elements on the list.

Added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage items in 2010, Spanish human towers are known as castells

The criteria rules that items can be added if they are deemed to be 'an essential component and a repository of cultural diversity and creative expression'.

Britain doesn't currently have any items on the list, despite having 28 items of the list of World Heritage Sites, including Stonehenge and the Tower of London.

Last year Morris dancers sought to protect the 157-year-old tradition under Unesco's Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Here are some of the world's more off-beat traditions to have made the list:

The farmers' dance of China's Korean ethnic group is passed on by senior members to younger generations

The Korean ethnic group in north-eastern China offers a traditional sacrifice to the God of the Land

FARMERS' DANCE OF CHINA'S KOREAN ETHNIC GROUP

Gathering in fields or villages during community festivals, members of the Korean ethnic group in north-eastern China offer a traditional sacrifice to the God of the Land to pay homage to nature and pray for good fortune and a plentiful harvest.

The farmers' dance of China's Korean ethnic group is a popular folk practice passed on by senior members of a community to younger generations.

Musicians play oboe-like instruments, bell-shaped gongs and a variety of drums.

The dance is inspired by the motions of farming, which it imitates through gestures such as 'walking the field ridges'.

Castells are usually built during annual festivities in towns and cities in Spain's Catalonia region

HUMAN TOWERS OF SPAIN 

Added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage items in 2010, Spanish human towers are also known as castells.

They are human towers built by members of amateur groups, usually as part of annual festivities in Catalonian towns and cities.

The traditional setting is the square in front of the town hall balcony.

The human towers are formed by castellers standing on the shoulders of one another in a succession of stages, usually between six and ten.

Each level of the tronc, the name given to the second level upwards, generally comprises two to five heavier built men supporting younger, lighter-weight boys or girls.

The pom de dalt – the three uppermost levels of the tower – comprises young children. Anyone is welcome to form the pinya, the throng that supports the base of the tower.

The knowledge required for raising castells is traditionally passed down from generation to generation within a group, and can only be learned by practice.

Have a look at the amazing Terragona Castells festival in Spain

Costa Rica's tradition of painting and decorating oxcarts started in the early 20th century

The traditional oxcart is the product of Costa Rica's most famous craft dating from mid-19th century

OXHERDING AND OXCART TRADITIONS IN COSTA RICA 

The traditional oxcart, or carreta, is the product of Costa Rica's most famous craft.

Dating from the mid-nineteenth century, oxcarts were used to transport coffee beans from Costa Rica's central valley over the mountains to Puntarenas on the Pacific coast, a journey requiring ten to 15 days.

In many cases, oxcarts were a family's only means of transport; they often served as a symbol of social status.

The tradition of painting and decorating oxcarts started in the early 20th century and originally each region of Costa Rica had its own particular design, enabling the identification of the driver's origin by the painted patterns on the wheels.

Each oxcart is designed to make its own 'song', a unique chime produced by a metal ring striking the hubnut of the wheel as the cart bumped along.

Since oxcarts have become obsolete as means of transport, there is a decreasing demand for them, which means that the number of artisans who possess the training to manufacture and decorate oxcarts has strongly declined over the past decades.

Joking relationships are a social practice performed among ethnolinguistic communities in Niger

PRACTICES AND EXPRESSION OF JOKING IN RELATIONSHIPS IN NIGER 

Joking relationships are a social practice performed among ethnolinguistic communities in Niger.

They take the form of a playful taunting between two people from different communities.

Relationships are often based on ancestral pacts forbidding conflict or war between specific communities, and imply that the members must love one another and provide assistance where needed.

The members have a duty to tell each other the truth, to joke together and settle any dispute peacefully.

Joking relationships are practised in public places, in the fields, offices, market places, at water sources and in the home, every day as well as on special occasions such as weddings, baptisms, ceremonies and funerals, commercial transactions, and cultural and entertainment events.

Wrestlers fight for the Kırkpınar Golden Belt and the title of Chief Pehlivan in the popular event

KIRKPINAR OIL WRESTLING FESTIVAL

The Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival takes place in Edirne, Turkey.

Thousands of people from different age groups, cultures and regions travel every year to see wrestlers fight for the Kırkpınar Golden Belt and the title of Chief Pehlivan.

The golden belt is carried through the city in a procession, followed by prayers recited in the Selimiye Mosque.

The 'oil man' oils the wrestlers and he is assisted by a towel holder, before the warm-up exercises and greetings. Each wrestler wears kıspet, thick trousers made of water buffalo or cow leather.

Kırkpınar oil wrestling is open to men from all cultures, regions and ages without discrimination between religion, language or race.

Pehlivans are considered exemplary figures in society with attributes such as generosity, honesty, respectfulness and adherence to traditions and customs.

The whistled language of La Gomera Island replicates the islanders' Castilian Spanish with whistling

 The whistles can be distinguished according to pitch and whether they are interrupted or continuous

WHISTLED LANGUAGE OF THE ISLAND OF LA GOMERA 

The whistled language of La Gomera Island in the Canaries, the Silbo Gomero, replicates the islanders' Castilian Spanish with whistling.

Handed down over centuries from master to pupil, it is the only whistled language in the world that is fully developed and practised by a large community (more than 22,000 inhabitants).

The whistled language replaces each vowel or consonant with a whistling sound: two distinct whistles replace the five Spanish vowels, and there are four whistles for consonants.

The whistles can be distinguished according to pitch and whether they are interrupted or continuous.

With practice, whistlers can convey any message.

Taught in schools since 1999, the Silbo Gomero is understood by almost all islanders and practised by the vast majority, particularly the elderly and the young. It is also used during festivities and ceremonies, including religious occasions.

Mongolians revere certain parts of bones of their domestic livestock and use them in religious rites, plays and traditional games including popular team-based games such as knuckle-bone shooting

MONGOLIAN KUNCKLE-BONE SHOOTING 

Mongolians revere certain parts of bones of their domestic livestock and use them in religious rites, plays and traditional games.

One such popular team-based game is knuckle-bone shooting.

Teams of six to eight players flick thirty domino-like marble tablets on a smooth wooden surface towards a target of sheep knuckle-bones, aiming to knock them into a target zone.

Each shooter possesses individually crafted shooting tools and instruments, and wears costumes embossed with distinguished characteristics depending on their rank and merits.

The rituals, knowledge, skills, technique and expertise associated with knuckle-bone shooting, as well as the craftsmanship of tools, accessories and equipment, are transmitted through apprenticeship.