7 of the Most Inhospitable Places on Earth

If one thing can be said about the human species, it’s that we are incredibly resourceful. We can survive and put down roots virtually anywhere we choose, from the icy wastes of the Arctic to the searing heat of the Sahara.

Yet some places on the planet are so inhospitable that life there, even for an adaptable species like humans, is almost impossible. These are places where all but the bravest (or stupidest) of us fear to tread. And still, we make our homes in some of these places!

Here are 7 of the most inhospitable places on the planet.

Death Valley in California holds a record: 134 °F (56.7 °C), which is claimed to be the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded on Earth. The lowest part of Death Valley, Badwater Basin, is also the lowest part of North America, situated 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level.

Extreme heat in Death Valley is due to several factors. The air is clear, and the landscape has sparse vegetation. With a dark hue, the landscape also traps heat. The high, mountainous walls of the valley do little to let hot air escape, so it stays trapped in the valley below. With warm desert winds constantly blowing into the area, Death Valley represents a perfect congruence of factors that lead it to become a hellishly hot place.

And yet, there are people who live there. Most are seasonal dwellers who move out of the valley during the scorching summer months, but a few hundred people live there year-round.  Many who live there permanently are members of the Timbisha Shoshone, the Native American tribe that has called Death Valley its home for over one thousand years. The tribe is small; a census in 2020 put the total number of Timbisha at just 124, and it is estimated that around half of them live and work in Death Valley.

Today, Death Valley National Park is a protected area that spans 3,422,024 acres (13,848.44 square kilometers) and attracts over one million brave tourists every year.

2. Oymyakon: A Frigid Icebox

On the other end of the scale is the village of Oymyakon in Siberia. Located along the Indigirka River in the Yana-Oymyakon Highlands, Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited town on the planet, with temperatures that average −58 °F (−50 °C) during the brutal winter.

Here, the intensity of the Russian winter is exemplified to a degree that makes living here an incredible challenge. Failure to take the necessary precautions can result in swift death.

With a population of around 500 people, mostly from the indigenous Sakha (Yakut) group, Oymyakon is a testament to the enduring spirit of the human species and the ability to adapt and survive in the harshest of conditions. Farming the frozen ground is impossible, so the inhabitants thus have a meat-rich diet—a necessity for providing the calories needed for survival in the cold.

It is so cold that the plumbing freezes in the winter, and people have to use outhouses. Cars must be left in heated garages or kept running to avoid the engine freezing.

Located just a few hundred miles from the Arctic Circle, the town experiences 21-hour-long nights at the height of winter. It is no wonder that people celebrate when the winter months end.

Stretching from the border of Angola in the north to the coastal town of Walvis Bay in the south, the Skeleton Coast spans the northern half of the Namibian coastline and is one of the most hellish places on the planet. So inhospitable is this place that the local San people referred to it as “The Land God Made in Anger,” while Portuguese sailors dubbed it “The Gates of Hell.”

The term “Skeleton Coast” refers to the whale and seal bones that litter the coastline, as well as the many shipwrecks that can be found here due to the dense fog that blinds those trying to navigate. This stretch of coastline has claimed over a thousand ships. Those unfortunate enough to be stranded here face the bleak landscape where little grows, there is no fresh water, and the sun beats down relentlessly when the fog lifts.

While the Skeleton Coast is extremely inhospitable to humans, some animals make their homes here. Fur seals and various species of birds thrive in this climate, while succulents draw moisture from the fog that rolls in.

4. Snake Island: A Place as Dangerous as its Name Suggests!

Twenty-one miles off the coast of Brazil near the city of São Paulo is the 106-acre Ilha da Queimada Grande. Due to its venomous inhabitants, this place is more commonly referred to as Snake Island.

Home to the critically endangered golden lancehead pit viper, this island is off-limits for the protection of the snakes as well as the humans, although scientific missions are allowed. These pit vipers are among the most deadly in the world.

It was previously estimated that there were 430,000 snakes on the island, but this figure is likely a massive exaggeration. Nevertheless, the island is crawling (or slithering) with snakes to such a high degree that any visit to the island could be deadly if proper precautions are not taken. Golden lancehead pit viper numbers are estimated to be between 2,000 and 4,000.

Nobody lives on the island now. A lighthouse was built in 1909 to steer ships away from its treacherously rocky shoreline. Since the lighthouse is automated, there is no reason for humans to risk their lives on Snake Island anymore.

Lying at the confluence of three tectonic plates, the Danakil Depression is located at the northern part of the Afar Depression, which sits astride the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Not only is the Danakil Depression replete with active volcanoes, bubbling lakes, and sulfur springs, but it is also the hottest place on the planet in terms of average year-round temperature.

Although an extremely inhospitable place for humans, Danakil Depression is home to some of the world’s most breathtaking landscapes. The Dallol hydrothermal system (connected to the Dallol volcano) sports colorful but deadly springs containing highly acidic fluids. The terraces, chimneys, and salt pillars are attractions not just for those wishing to see the sights but also for scientists who study this region.

The Danakil landscape is so unearthly that scientists study the extremophile microbes that live here to understand how life might evolve on other planets. While the Danakil Depression might be home to some of these extremophiles, the Dallol region is so bleak that it is disputed academically whether microbes exist there at all. There has been conflicting scientific research, with some data showing no life at all while other data suggests that life exists.

Despite the challenges, the Italians had built a small mining town. Now abandoned, the town (also named Dallol) is a ghost town, an eerie ruin in a desolate and unwelcoming place, far away from the conveniences of civilization.

6. North Sentinel Island: Unfriendly Locals

North Sentinel Island is a small place located off the path of main shipping routes. It is surrounded by shallow reefs and has no natural harbors. It is part of the Andaman and Nicobar island chain, which acts as a border between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea near India and Myanmar (Burma). Apart from that, very little is known about the island.

This is not because the island itself is inhospitable to life but because the locals are extremely unwelcoming to visitors.

The first encounter with outsiders that was recorded was in 1867 when an Indian merchant ship, Nineveh, was wrecked, and 106 survivors made it to shore. They were set upon by the North Sentinelese and fended off frequent attacks until they were rescued by a ship from the Royal Navy.

Contact with the North Sentinelese has been rare since then, but peaceful contact was initiated in 1991. Anthropologists routinely visited the islands, but interaction with the locals never advanced beyond handing out coconuts. Warned of overstaying their welcome, the anthropologists considered their best course of action to leave the locals alone to avoid getting murdered, and in 1997, the visits were terminated.

In more recent history, contact has not been friendly at all. An Indian helicopter flew over the island after the tsunami of 2004 and was peppered with stones and arrows. In 2006, two Indian fishermen strayed too close to the island and were killed.

The most recent victim was an American missionary, John Allen Chau, who attempted to preach Christianity to the North Sentinelese. He was illegally ferried to the island but was killed soon after landing. Efforts to recover his body proved too dangerous.

A relatively small area, the “Valley of Death” measures just 1.2 by 0.3 miles and is situated at the foot of Kikhpinych, a stratovolcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula of the Russian Far East.

While most of the volcano’s noxious gasses are dispersed by the wind, the walls of the Valley of Death stop this dispersal, and the deadly fumes accumulate. This deadly mix of carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide suffocates any animal unfortunate enough to wander into the valley.

Thus, the valley becomes what is known as a “predator trap.” Birds and mammals die after breathing in the toxic air or drinking water from the spring melt. Their bodies then attract other predators and scavengers who succumb to the fumes and meet the same fate, attracting more animals in turn. The Valley of Death has truly earned its ominous name, claiming the lives of countless animals.

Of course, there are many more places on this planet that are extremely inhospitable to human life: Mount Everest, the Sahara, and, of course, Antarctica, which is impossible to live on without adequate shelter and supplies. The list is almost endless.