The earth’s surface area measures approximately 196.9 million square miles. Roughly 30 percent of Earth’s total surface area consists of land, and 10 percent of that landmass is inhabited by people. Surprisingly, a good 80 percent of the Earth’s total landmass is connected with roads, highways, and farmland.

Considering that the total planimetric (or flat) land area is a good 57.5+ million square miles, the fact that humans have established such extensive roads is remarkably impressive.

That only leaves about 10 percent of the Earth’s total landmass as true, uninhabited wilderness. Now that we’re done throwing numbers at you, it’s time to take a closer look at some of the most uninhabited, inhospitable, and remote places on the planet.

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While roads and passageways enable us to reach some very remote places — places where a satellite phone is absolutely essential to communicate with anyone who’s not with you — the extent of “civilization” hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from anything else is fascinating.

Outfitter Satellite, people’s trusted source for satellite communication equipment online, presents some of the most remote places on the planet:

Tristan Da Cunha

This remote island requires a seven-day boat ride just to get there. It’s considered the most remote inhabited island on the planet, as it is well over 2,000 miles from South America and some 1,700 miles away from the nearest coast of South Africa. No wonder it takes such a long boat ride to get there.

A volcanic island, the sights to be seen are lush, untouched, and as natural as nature originally intended. As of 2017, about 297 people lived on the island.

Oymyakon, Russia

The Polar Vortex of 2019 sent extremely low temperatures and dangerous wind chills down south to the midwest of the United States, with temperatures approaching 40 to 60 degrees below zero in some places. That’s pretty extreme, but imagine dealing with those temperatures as a regular part of life.

Oymyakon is widely regarded as the single coldest inhabited place on Earth, and it’s a wonder how 500 people manage to live there. Without crops as an option for food, these hardcore residents rely on frozen fish, reindeer meat, and...ice cubes of horse blood with macaroni. That’s pretty disgusting, but according to WIRED, it’s true.

A flight to the nearest airport still puts you some 560 miles from Oymyakon, so we’d say that this chilly place is quite remote. And with a road called “The Road of Bones” to get there, it’s more than hardcore, too.

Barrow, Alaska

Though not as cold as Oymyakon, Barrow, AK is intensely remote — with an equally intense cost of living (a single jar of peanut butter costs around $10). There are no roads that lead to the northernmost town in Alaska. To get there, you’ll have to take an hour and a half flight from Anchorage, which honestly isn’t too bad. It’s remote, but accessible (pending weather conditions).

How homes were constructed there is beyond us; that’s quite a cargo load especially when you consider that people do have trucks up in Barrow. The most interesting thing about Barrow, beyond its sheer remoteness, is that residents endure a painful 65 days of darkness during the winter. We’re sure that is as depressing as it sounds…

La Rinconada, Peru

How does living at 16,732 feet sound? That’s fairly close to the elevation of Everest’s base camp. This is the highest permanent settlement in the world, and despite its crazy high elevation, a surprisingly 50,000 people live there (according to 2012 estimates).

La Rinconada has no running water or sewage system, and about two-thirds of its residents live below the poverty line. As you would expect, getting to La Rinconada is very difficult. It’s a six-hour ride on unsafe, unpaved roads with no regular buses. To get there, you’d have to hitch a ride with a stranger.

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Even if life doesn’t take you to these extremely remote places, there are still plenty of places on earth without a cell signal. Outfitter Satellite can help guarantee your connection when afar. Shop today for available two-day shipping!