What is the Most Secluded Place in the World?

Tiny Pitcairn Island is home to fewer than 50 inhabitants
Tiny Pitcairn Island is home to fewer than 50 inhabitants
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What is the Most Secluded Place in the World?

Tiny Pitcairn Island is home to fewer than 50 inhabitants
Tiny Pitcairn Island is home to fewer than 50 inhabitants

Seclusion can be found while hiking in the Dolomites in Italy or by rowing in Sweden, but civilization is always only a few kilometers away. But what are the really isolated, inaccessible, and so remote places that hardly anyone has ever seen? This remains a question for scientists. Geography has a term for particularly remote places: poles of inaccessibility. According to the University of California's Department of Geography in Santa Barbara, “The pole of inaccessibility is the most challenging to reach owing to its remoteness from geographical features that could provide access.”

The poles of inaccessibility are usually continental or oceanic. The continental poles of inaccessibility are located on the farthest land from coasts. For example, the Eurasian pole of inaccessibility is located in the northwest desert of China, the German news agency reported.

On the other hand, the oceanic pole of inaccessibility is the place located in the ocean or the farthest point from any land. This pole is located in the South Pacific and is known as Point Nemo. It is about 2,700 kilometers from the nearest land, the Pitcairn Islands.

The most isolated island in the world is the uninhabited Bouvet Island, in the South Atlantic and makes part of Norway since 1930. But the island has little to offer to those who dream of seclusion due to its harsh weather conditions. It is mostly home to algae and fungi that only grow in areas where the earth does not freeze, along with albatrosses, penguins and other cold-resistant birds.

The question is: Are these remote places really untouched? Reinhold Leinfelder, a geophysicist at the Free University in Berlin, says humans have changed the earth and left their mark everywhere. Even at Point Nemo, the remnants of a small-scale civilization can be found, for example.



1 Killed and 19 Injured as Hot Air Balloons Crash in Central Türkiye

Sight-seeing hot air balloons launch in Göreme Historical National Park in the Cappadocia region, Nevsehir, central Türkiye, Aug. 24, 2022. (AFP)
Sight-seeing hot air balloons launch in Göreme Historical National Park in the Cappadocia region, Nevsehir, central Türkiye, Aug. 24, 2022. (AFP)
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1 Killed and 19 Injured as Hot Air Balloons Crash in Central Türkiye

Sight-seeing hot air balloons launch in Göreme Historical National Park in the Cappadocia region, Nevsehir, central Türkiye, Aug. 24, 2022. (AFP)
Sight-seeing hot air balloons launch in Göreme Historical National Park in the Cappadocia region, Nevsehir, central Türkiye, Aug. 24, 2022. (AFP)

Two hot air balloons crashed in central Türkiye on Sunday, leaving one person dead and 19 injured, according to local media reports.

The accident occurred near the Ihlara Valley in Aksaray province, the private Ilhas News Agency and other outlets said. It was not immediately clear why the hot air balloons crashed.

Hot air ballooning is a popular tourist activity over the rugged landscape of central Türkiye, which is dotted with ancient churches hewn into cliff faces. The attractions include the “fairy chimneys” of Cappadocia, tall, cone-shaped rock formations created by natural erosion over thousands of years that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Video from Ilhas showed one deflated balloon, its passenger basket lying on its side, as emergency services tended to injured people.