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The World’s Most Remote Places
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The World’s Most Remote Places

There are places on Earth that are almost impossible to reach. They are the most remote places in the world, located in the middle of nowhere and hundreds of miles away from other cities or continents. Of course, these places don’t tend to be typical tourist destinations, but there are ways to reach them, be it by land, sea, or air. In this post, we’ll discover where these inaccessible places are located. And who knows? Maybe one of them will be the next destination we introduce on our Civitatis website.

Alejandro Selkirk Island (Chile)

This small island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, in Chile, has had several names throughout its history: Isla de Los Perros, Mas Afuera (‘further outside’ for being the farthest island of the archipelago), and lastly, since 1966, Alejandro Selkirk Island. The Island’s last name honours Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who in the 18th century ended up as a shipwrecked sailor on one of the uninhabited islands of the archipelago. Selkirk’s story inspired the writer Daniel Defoe for his famous novel Robinson Crusoe.

The primary travel to and from this remote place is a merchant ship that comes a few times a year to bring supplies to the fishermen and their families living there during the lobster fishing season.

Thick green vegetation on Alexander Selkirk Island
Alejandro Selkirk Island, one of the world’s most remote places

Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

Tristan da Cunha is considered the most inaccessible inhabited island in the world. The nearest neighbouring territory is 1350 miles away and is the island of St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, which in turn is located at a distance of 1180 miles from the African continent. It has no airport, so it’s only accessible by sea. This British island is undoubtedly among the world’s most remote places. As so few inhabitants live here (about three hundred) inbreeding is not unusual, as well as genetic diseases. They also have their own language, a dialect of English.

The welcome sign to Tristan da Cunha Island surrounded by green grass and mountains
Tristan da Cunha, one of the most inaccessible places in the world

Tepuy Roraima (Venezuela)

The Tepuy or Mount Roraima is the highest point of the tubular mountain chain of the Pacaraima range, stretching across Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. It’s one of the oldest geological formations on Earth, whose origin dates back to the Precambrian period, about two billion years ago. You can climb to its summit with trekking routes that can take up to a week, but you have to take on difficult stretches, such as the Paso de las Lagrimas, and endure extreme conditions.

This spectacular mountain has also served as inspiration for many novels and movies, such as Pixar’s Up. Remember the Paradise Falls that Carl and Ellie dreamed of? Well, the Salto del Angel waterfall on Mount Roraima inspired them!

A view of Tepuy Roraima with white fluffy clouds and a clear blue sky
Tepuy Roraima, one of the most remote places on Earth

Rapa Nui (Chile)

Perhaps this is the most famous spot on this list of the most remote places in the world. Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, is a Chilean island located in Polynesia. It’s located over 2150 miles away from the South American continent, and a seven-hour flight from Santiago de Chile.

Despite its inaccessibility, Easter Island is famous throughout the world for its moai. The enormous anthropomorphic statues pose a total mystery to everyone. To this day it’s still unknown how the natives of the island built and moved these enormous monoliths, of which about a thousand have been found.

Moais on Easter Island lined up one by one, surrounded by green grass and a blue sky with some grey clouds
Moai at Easter Island, one of the most inaccessible places in the world

Alert (Canada)

Alert is another one of the world’s most remote places. Located about 508 miles away from the North Pole, its only inhabitants are those living at the military base and the Canadian meteorological station. To give you an idea, the nearest town is over 1240 miles away.

Alert‘s temperatures are extreme, almost 40 degrees below zero in winter, and with a maximum of 3 degrees in summer. However, it’s a magnificent place to admire the Northern lights.

The Northern lights in canada with green hues and stars in the sky
Northern lights in the remote town of Alert

Ittoqqortoormiit (Greenland)

This place is not only very hard to pronounce but also difficult to visit. Ittoqqortoormiit is a village located in the east of Greenland, near the mouth of the Scoresby Sund fjord. It’s only accessible by helicopter or by a boat that sails there a few months a year. A group of Norwegian settlers founded the village in the 1920s. These days, it’s home to about five hundred people, as well as polar bears and foxes, whales, and walruses.

Ittoqqortoormiit full of colourful houses on a mountain side, near a body of water with snow on the tops of the mountain
Ittoqqortoormiit

La Rinconada (Peru)

As well as being one of the most remote places in the world, La Rinconada is the highest city on the planet! A town in the Peruvian Andes located at 16730 feet, it’s accessible by land, but only by all-terrain vehicles. It’s also located on a permanently frozen glacier.

Believe it or not, there are people who live in this place. The main reason for this has to do with its gold mines, whose extraction is the foundation of its economy.

La Rinconada, Peru, with grey houses in close proximity to each other on a mountain side with a lake nearby
La Rinconada, the highest city in the world

Macquarie Island (Australia)

Macquarie Island is located in the southern hemisphere, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, between New Zealand and Antarctica. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997 for its geological importance and is probably the most inaccessible designated World Heritage Site in the world. Its only inhabitants are scientists and birds, especially a large colony of king penguins.

King penguins on Macquaire Island walking around in a group with black, yellow and white colours on their body
King penguins on Macquaire Island, a very remote spot

Motuo (China)

Motuo is a county in China located atop the Tibetan mountains. Due to its altitude, it was isolated from the rest of the world until 2013, when the Chinese government completed the construction of a road passing under the mountain. It’s a particularly popular destination for backpackers, although the route is considered quite risky.

Motu, Tibet, with people walking along a path leading to a lake and a snow-covered mountain range under a blue sky
Motuo, one of the world’s most remote places

Oimiakon (Russia)

Oimiakon is a village in the Russian republic of Sakha, located in the heart of Siberia. This remote location is known to be the coldest inhabited place on Earth! It takes two days to drive to Oimiakon from Yakutsk, the nearest town and is only accessible in winter when the surrounding lakes and rivers are all frozen. The highway leading to Oimiakon is known as the Bone Road, and its history is as ominous as the name suggests. It was built by thousands of prisoners from Stalin’s Gulags, most of whom died during construction and were buried along the road.

A white pony running through a snowy area in Oimiakon, Siberia
Oimiakon, in Siberia, is one of the most remote places in the world
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