The most extreme settlements on the planet

Since ancient times, people have preferred to settle in places located near natural reservoirs. For the construction of cities, wide lowlands were mainly chosen, as well as the banks of rivers and lakes. But for individual peoples, the priority was not so much water as the availability of valuable resources or their own security. They built their homes in areas with difficult climatic conditions, and in places where it would be difficult for enemies to get to.

Dense jungles, isolated islands and the coldest and hottest places on the planet have become a home for people. Despite the fact that their descendants have the opportunity to move to a more comfortable part of the world, for certain reasons, residents do not want to leave their homes, continuing, like their ancestors, to adapt to very extreme living conditions.

Merapi Volcano is the most active of the 128 volcanoes in Indonesia. Small eruptions occur about twice a year, large ones — every seven years. The last such eruption, which occurred in 2010, claimed the lives of 353 people. Approximately 500,000 Indonesians live at the foot of the volcano.

The city is located in the Andes at an altitude of about 5100 m above sea level. This is the highest settlement on the planet. People began to move to this extreme area because of gold ore deposits. The city has a poorly developed sewage and wastewater system, while the population of La Riconada continues to grow steadily. In 2009, about 30 thousand people lived in the city.

The place is connected to the outside world by a 200-meter suspension bridge. All other roads were destroyed either by avalanches or mudslides. Buddhists consider the place a sacred land. Motuo has a population of 10,000 inhabitants.

Cherapunji is one of the rainiest and wettest places on earth. The average rainfall is 12,000 mm per year. Due to heavy rains, local soils have low fertility. The population of the town is just over 10 thousand people.

The Atacama Desert is the driest desert on earth. On average, 10 mm of precipitation falls here per year. Vegetation, as well as inhabitants, is extremely scarce in the desert, and in some places it is completely absent. Despite the harsh conditions, the town of San Pedro de Atacama is located in the middle of the desert, which is home to about 5,000 people.

This is the coldest city in the world. The average annual temperature is -18.6 °C. As of 2014, 1173 people lived in Verkhoyansk.

The city is considered the northernmost city on the planet. You can get to it only by traveling first by plane, and then by helicopter or boat. For a long time, the main inhabitants of this place were polar bears, musk oxen and seals. In 1925, the first settlers appeared on these lands. At the moment, the population of the city is about 500 people.

Just like Easter Island and Pitcairn Islands, the place is one of the most remote settlements on earth. The island of the same name, which is part of an archipelago in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is inhabited. There are no mammals on it, and only the northern and north-western parts are suitable for permanent human habitation. In 2008, the population of the island was 264 people.

The Pitcairn Islands, located in the South Pacific Ocean, consist of five islands with a total area of 47 square kilometers. On one of them — Pitcairn — people live permanently. The first settlers of the island were the mutineers of the Bounty ship and the Tahitians. According to the 2014 census, 56 people now live on a piece of land measuring 4.6 sq. km.

The area is considered to be the settlement with the highest average annual temperature, as well as one of the most remote places on the planet. There are no roads in the region, and you can get here only through caravan routes. The exact number of inhabitants in this region is unknown.