Jonathan McIntosh
There aren’t many uncharted territories in our great wide world. And today we can even visit far-flung destinations from the comfort of our homes via smartphones. But some of Earth’s nooks and crannies remain largely unexplored by humankind. Here, we take a look at some of the planet’s most fascinating remote places.
Pitcairn Island, New Zealand
This British Overseas Territory – situated in the South Central Pacific Ocean, south-east of Tahiti – has its government located in New Zealand. Measuring just two miles long and one mile wide, Pitcairn is part of the larger Pitcairn Islands, which includes the uninhabited Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands. Collectively, they form the UK’s sole overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean.
Pitcairn Island was originally inhabited by the Polynesians before the arrival of the Europeans in 1606. By 1838, the Pitcairn Islands had officially become a British colony. Today, the islands are home to around 50 residents – gifting it the title of one of the world’s least populated territories in the world as well as one of the most remote.
Amazingly, no helicopter or plane is believed to have ever landed here. Only accessible by sea, it takes a lengthy 32-hour yacht ride to reach the island from Auckland 3,300 miles away.
Vale do Javari, Brazil
At 32,990 square miles, this area of dense equatorial forest and river systems is bigger than Austria. Situated along Peru’s border, the valley is home to 14 indigenous tribes – a population of nearly 6,000 inhabitants – making it the largest refuge for indigenous people living in isolation from the outside world.
The Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas (FUNAI) is Brazil’s government agency that establishes and enacts policies preventing outsiders from visiting these territories.
Astonishingly, tribes are still being discovered. In 2018, FUNAI released what is believed to be the first footage of a never-before-seen tribe, who have had no known contact with the outside world.
Namib Desert, Southern Africa
Stretching 1,200 miles along the Atlantic coasts of Namibia, Angola, and South Africa, this 31,100 square mile sandy expanse is thought to be at least 55 million years old, and may well be the oldest in the world.
Its extreme climate, which exceeds a sweltering 60˚C in the day and near-freezing at night, has also gifted it the titles of one of the driest, least populated and most unexplored places on the planet.
Despite some parts only seeing two millimetres of water for the entire year, this arid hotspot supports a diverse number of plants and animals, including the mountain zebra, short-eared elephant shrew and Grant’s golden mole.
It’s also home to huge sand dunes – including the world’s tallest, Dune 7, which stands at a lofty 1,256 feet high – and archaeological sites where ancient rock art and dinosaur fossils have been unearthed.
Hang Sơn Đoòng Cave, Vietnam
At around 5.5 miles long and with a volume of up to 38.5 million cubic metres, Hang Sơn Đoòng is the world’s largest natural cave, which is believed to have formed three million years ago. The cave boasts its own river, and even a jungle. In fact, it’s cavernous enough to comfortably house a skyscraper.
It was first discovered in 1990 by a Vietnamese man Ho Khanh, who was on an expedition deep into the jungles of the limestone mountain range containing the cave. However, its original location was lost before being rediscovered in 2008 by two researchers from the British Caving Research Association.
The first research expedition exploring this underground world set off in 2009 but its progress was stopped short by a 200-foot calcite wall. Today many of the mysteries of this labyrinthine network of caves remain undiscovered.
Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
This eastern Russian region is home to an array of natural wonders, including bays, geysers and more than 300 volcanoes – including one that has been erupting without pause since 1996. It also has the world’s most diverse range of salmon species and the densest population of brown bears.
Kamchatka Peninsula was closed to the western world until the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1990. Despite being the same size as California, the area is inhabited by just 400,000 people.
Unsurprisingly, due to the active volcanoes, swamps, severe winters and military land restrictions, much of the remote Kamchatka remains untouched.
It’s remarkable that there are still so many parts of the planet that we know very little about – especially when social media and the internet can fool us into thinking the world is at our fingertips.
Who knows how long these locations will remain untainted by tourism or human explorers. Perhaps it’s a good thing that they remain out of reach. Or maybe exploring them further will help uncover something truly incredible. Whatever the answer, only time will tell.
Ten strange things you (probably) didn’t know about Earth
Our planet is full of awe-inspiring wonders and plenty of peculiarities. Discover some of our home’s strangest oddities. (You’ll need to provide an email address to access this free National Geographic content.)
Top image: Green valley, vale do paty, chapada diamantina, Brazil. Credit: Shutterstock
