Welcome to Whittier, Alaska, a tiny Alaskan town on the far side of the Prince William Sound, nestled in the shadow of wintry mountains. However, unlike many small towns in remote locales which offer a conventional cluster of buildings, both residential and commercial, Whittier offers a truly remarkable alternative: nearly all of its roughly 200 residents live under one roof. Click or scroll to find out more…

Whittier can only be accessed by a single-lane tunnel through the mountains, which cars can only pass through once an hour in either direction, forcing residents to organise their lives around the tunnel’s timetable. Moreover, the town effectively has a curfew, since the tunnel closes at 10:30, and if you miss the last entry, you’ll find yourself sleeping in your car – a not uncommon occurrence. According to CNN, many of the town’s residents own shirts which read POW, or ‘Prisoner of Whittier.’

However, while isolated, Whittier offers residents everything they need, not just contained in one town, but in one building. The 14-storey Begich Towers Incorporated, known locally simply as the BTI, may seem like a bit of a blot on the winter wonderland-eque landscape, but reportedly almost all of the 200-odd Whittierites, it’s home…as well as the local hospital, school, police station, grocery store, church, post office, and city council headquarters!

Inside the BTI – a former Cold War-era army barracks which now resembles an ageing brutalist hotel – the atmosphere is apparently reminiscent of a high school, with cinder block hallways lined in bulletin boards, according to writer Erin Sheehy. Residents, who work primarily in commercial fishing, recreation, tourism, or for the state ferry and railroad, seem to enjoy the sense of community facilitated by living under the same roof. “We’re all family here,” they claim.

And, given the inhospitable conditions outside most of the year, it’s just as well that they feel this way. In the true dead of winter, leaving Whittier becomes used to be nigh on impossible, only feasible by train, weather permitting. Plus, with six months of rain, followed by six months of snow, and winds raging up to 80mph, stepping outside is far from an enticing prospect. While the surrounding scenery may be worthy of a National Geographic shoot, it’s generally best enjoyed from inside the BTI.

However, for the town’s hardened inhabitants, their singular lifestyle leaves little to be desired. "For me it's just home," says Erika Thompson, the town’s schoolteacher, who lives in the BTI. "For the most part, you know everybody. It's a community under one roof. We have everything we need." Whittier has a real charm for outsiders, too, attracting many tourists during the more hospitable months. “They want that Alaska swag,” was one citizen’s comment.

Read on to discover more weird and wonderful places to live in some of the world's most inhospitable places... 

Located 526 miles north of Adelaide, in the Australian Outback, one of the most hostile places on Earth, is the town of Coober Pedy. With over 4,000 hours of sunshine a year and barely any rain, this otherworldly landscape is known for opal mining. At the height of Australian summer, the temperature in Coober Pedy swings between 25.3°C (77.5°F) and 36.7°C (98.1°F). With record highs of 47°C (117°F), it's not surprising that half of the town's 1,942 inhabitants choose to live underground.  In May 2023, 11 incredible homes were auctioned off by the town, due to previous tenants not paying council rates. 

Warren Andrews, director of Andrews Property, told The Sun that some of the bills dated back three years. He added that some of the properties that were up for auction are still in good condition, while others need a lot of work. As a result, bidding opened at just £2,665 ($3.4k / AU$5.1k) on the cheapest lot and by the time the auction was over, all the properties had sold, with buyers snapping up bargains for as little as £8,550 ($10.9k / AU$16.3k). This Jelly Crescent home, which was bought by one lucky bidder, is typical of the area, with corrugated metal structures above ground and the main house below. 

Although the listing didn't contain any recent interior photos, this image of the kitchen at Jelly Crescent from 2017 gives a good idea of what to expect from cave living. The tiled floors, uneven, distinctive walls and low ceilings are typical of homes in Coober Pedy. No matter how harsh the climate, the underground homes maintain a comfortable temperature all year round, with an estimated 50% of the locals living below the surface. 

Due to their circumstances, the properties went for a song. This 8,600-square-foot empty residential plot on Jones Street was the cheapest property up for grabs. Meanwhile, a number of three-bedroom family homes were available for starting bids of £16,000 to £293,000 ($20k–$372k or AU$30k–AU$558k). Despite some of the properties selling for less than the council had hoped, a spokesperson told 7 News that the total recouped from the auction was AU$504,000, which is around £264,680 ($337k) and "all the outstanding rates were recovered." 

Often referred to as the most remote community in the lower 48 states, the secluded community of Supai is located within the Grand Canyon in an area known as Havasu Canyon. Only accessible by helicopter, mule or on foot, it sits eight miles from the nearest road and feels like extreme living at the end of the Earth. 

The world's most remote populated island, Tristan da Cunha sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 1,750 miles from Cape Town, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, the only settlement on the island, is home to around 234 permanent residents.

Even though the island has a harbour, any large yachts or vessels have to anchor a distance from the coast. Local ferries operate as frequently as they can to and from the island, but with the weather only good enough 70 days a year, reaching the extreme location where people live is difficult. 

All the residents have access to modern-day amenities including a hospital that offers dental treatment and minor operations, as well as a grocery shop and post office, where the island produces its very own stamps. 

The northernmost community in the United States, Utqiagvik feels completely cut off from the world. With no roads connecting it to other settlements, the dirt roads that do exist lead just a few miles outside the main town.

The city is built upon a layer of permafrost that's up to 1,300 feet deep in some places, making life hard for the permanent population of just over 4,000 residents. The warm season has an average high of just 2°C (35.6°F), and the winter lasts for 160 days a year, with more than two months spent in complete darkness.

Even though Utqiagvik is seen as a modern community, the locals still practice hunting, fishing and whaling to support the economy as well as for their own food. Only accessible by plane, the town has an airport which is the lifeline for any imports of vital supplies.

Not completely cut off, the residents have a great quality of life. The homes are heated by natural gas from local oil fields and they also have modern water and sewer systems. The town also has churches, various schools and a college as well as phone, internet, mail, radio and cable communications. 

At a height of over 16,000 feet, La Rinconada in Peru is the highest human habitation in the world. Perched atop Mount Ananea in the Peruvian Andes, the high-altitude homes are only accessible by a mountainside road and can take several days to reach. 

Around 35,000 people call the town home, but with no basic modern amenities and little infrastructure as well as no sanitation system and no plumbing, it's not an easy life. 

The city itself is iced over for most days of the year and at such a height the air is so thin that the residents have had to adapt. They've also had to find ways of entertaining themselves which include meeting in cafés and setting up a local football team.

Even though the town is extremely poor, the economy relies on the unregulated gold mines that are carved into the mountainside. Miners work through the month without any pay and then reportedly for themselves for around a week when they are allowed to keep any gold they extract.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and is home to one of the most isolated communities on Earth, Migingo Island. With a reported population of around 1,000 people, made up mostly of fisherman crammed into less than 22,000 square feet, the island is far from paradise. It is also at the centre of a territorial dispute between Kenya and Uganda.

Inaccessible to those without boats, the crowded island is jam-packed with houses made from recovered tin and scavenged materials.

Many think of Antarctica as barren, empty land, however, there's a small Chilean community that call the icy expanse home. Villa Las Estrellas is as isolated as towns come with just 14 homes, one bank, a post office, a small school, church, gym and a souvenir shop.

Located on the Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva Base with a population of around 100, which gets smaller in the harsh winter months, the residents tend to be a rotation of scientists or personnel from Chile's navy and air force. Those on long-term stints often bring their families.

The hospital on the island is equipped for basic lifesaving procedures and a small pharmacy is also available. However, with limited facilities and only one doctor and one nurse, all emergency cases have to be flown to health centres in South America a mere 625 miles away.

An almost inhospitable location, the town of Oymyakon in Russia is closer to the Arctic Circle than it is to the nearest city. Frostbite blights the lives of the local residents in the isolated village, which has been labelled the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth. 

With winter temperatures averaging -58°C (-72.4°F), pretty much everything is frozen in the village. Engines freeze, meaning many cars are left running all the time and face coverings are a must as eyelashes and even saliva freeze in an instant.

The small town of Ittoqqortoormiit in Greenland is the most remote inhabited community in the Western Hemisphere. Its closest neighbour is the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world's largest national park. Overrun by polar bears, reindeers and walruses, the only human presence in the park is the Sirius Sled Patrol, a Danish naval unit, so residents really are all on their own here.

For around nine months of the year, sea ice blocks the town's access to civilisation, meaning hunting and fishing are the only ways the local residents can survive. With a small population of just 345 as of 2020, residents in this isolated spot derive an income from hunting and summer tourism. The population briefly swells in August and September when cruise ships arrive with about 3,000 tourists in total.

Around 2,000 miles northeast of New Zealand sits the self-sufficient island of Palmerston. One of the 15 Cook Islands, the atoll has a population of less than 60 people, all of whom permanently reside in one of the most isolated communities on the planet. 

Life on the island is one of isolation and simplicity, with the locals collecting rainwater for drinking and relying on fish and coconuts to get by. The community is self-reliant due to its fishing, a rainwater-catchment system and a solar generator. 

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