A “pole of inaccessibility” is that point on a continent that is the greatest distance from any ocean in any direction. For example, the North American pole is in South Dakota. Of the 7 continents, however, the most inaccessible pole lies in the frigid wastelands of Antarctica.
In 1958 the Soviet Union tried, and failed, to establish a base at the Antarctic Pole of Inaccessibility. Before abandoning their project, however, in classic soviet fashion, they constructed a statue of Lenin to oversee the icy landscape and mark the USSR’s global reach.
Tristan de Cunha is an archipelago of small islands located in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The nearest land to the island is South Africa, which is roughly 1,700 miles away, while the South American coast lies at a distance of about 2,000 miles. The islands have a total population 271 people, mostly farmers and craftsmen. Although the island now has some television stations and access to the internet via satellite, it is still the most physically isolated location on planet earth. The island’s rocky geography makes building an airstrip impossible, so the only way to travel to it is by boat. It was once regularly connected to South Africa by a British transport ship, but this service has since been interrupted and now the only visitors to Tristan da Cunha are deep sea fishing boats.
As a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base in southern Nevada its primary purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and given that the US government didn’t even acknowledge its existence until 2003, it’s a hard place to visit indeed.
Although found at a slightly higher elevation than the rest of our contestants, the International Space Station is undeniably one of the most isolated places in the world. And like most of the hard-to-reach places on our list its populated by those mavericks of exploration…scientists.
On April 18th 2009 researchers at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy combined a series of maps to create a new map showing the most interconnected and remote places on earth. The maps are based on a model that calculated how long it would take to travel to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people by land or water. The first image shows the final map of connectedness while the second image shows a zoomed view over the world’s most remote place: the Tibetan plateau. From here it is a three-week trip to the cities of Lhasa or Korla – one day by car and the remaining 20 on foot, which statistically speaking officially makes this the most isolated place in the world.
I’ve been to Barrow and Svalbard – and to the territory of Nunavit. So maybe Australian island should be next.
all the most desolate places that you stated in the U.S.A. in my opinion are wrong. the right answer is diomede alaska. my son and i flew food to these people by helo last year.i got out of helo at that time it was -60 degrees russia was only2 miles away. this in my opinion is the most desolate and remote place in USA.
I was looking for truly remote locations. The locations mentioned in the article are all TOURISTIC locations with houses and other people
I would not feel remote in above locations.
The International Space Station can’t really be an isolated place “in the world” because it is in outer space….
Wow,this is the most interesting article I’ve red lately.
Thanks
I like it too Miruna.
I was fascinated with facts i had never known.Also I was aware of isolated places, but not to the extent that there are people living there.Except for the scientist,are most or all of the people uneducated,except for their trade?I read the book about the medical doctor, who gave herself Chemo. I do not remember her name, and if she survived.
Thank you for this interesting topic, Sally