Ayers rock or Uluru as known by locals, is a huge sandstone rock located in a desert in the middle of Australia. The rock formation is about 348 m tall. Earlier it was known to be the largest stand alone rock in the entire world, but today we know that it actually goes about 6 km below ground. Making it a an astonishing sight, but not quite a world record, since it doesn't count as a rock. The rock is a holy place for the natives (aborigines), and you can find many drawings and scriptures from rituals, in caves that were dug out by wind and weather.
Today tourist infrastructure has been built next to the base of the rock since it is a very popular sightseeing destination for tourists on vacation. Since the park was listed as a World Heritage Site, annual visitor numbers rose to over 400,000 visitors by the year 2000. Increased tourism provides regional and national economic benefits. It also presents an ongoing challenge to balance conservation, of cultural values and visitor needs. For example the native community has requested that tourists do not take photographs in certain parts of the cave system in the rock, because they view these places as holy.
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