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The World's 7 Most Remote Destinations

Now abandoned, these places were once home to humans

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 6, 2009 12:46 PM CDT

(Newser) – Forget the Seven Wonders of the World. WebUrbanist takes a look at seven places that make you wonder why people ever settled there:

  • St. Kilda, Scotland: Although this archipelago is known for 16-foot waves and wind speeds up to 130mph, humans called it home for 2,000 years—until 1930, when crop failure and land pollution drove inhabitants back to the mainland.

  • Ballarat, California: A quick, dirty drive from Death Valley, this ghost town once attracted hundreds of gold miners. Now Ballarat is home to two permanent residents.
  • Northern Siberia: Unlike the previous wonders, this one won’t inspire much nostalgia. It housed the Soviet Union’s infamous Gulag detention camps, where 1 million people died of hunger, subarctic temperatures, and inhumane labor.
For the complete list, click here.

View of the snow-covered barbed wire fence and guard tower at a disused Stalinist convict camp, Siberia, Russia, 1989.
View of the snow-covered barbed wire fence and guard tower at a disused Stalinist convict camp, Siberia, Russia, 1989.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
zackmasson
Sep 8, 2009 3:14 AM CDT
There's a difference between freedom of speech and just being a "flamer". I vote ban. what you think?
laslow
Sep 8, 2009 2:20 AM CDT
Co-sign that ban proposal.
JohnnyDummkopf
Sep 7, 2009 12:53 PM CDT
I dunno about that, but I would say they're an endangered species...HA!

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