Prypiat (Ukrainian: При́п'ять, Prip'yat’; Russian: При́пять, Pripyat’), is a ghost
town in the zone of alienation in northern Ukraine, in the Kiev Oblast (province), near
the border with Belarus[2].
The city has a special status within the Kiev Oblast being the city of oblast-level
subordination (see Administrative divisions of Ukraine) although it is located within
the limits of Ivankiv Raion. The city also is being supervised by the Ministry of
Emergencies of Ukraine as part of the Zone of alienation jurisdiction.
Prypiat was founded in 1970 to house the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers,
officially proclaimed a city in 1979, and was abandoned in 1986 following the
Chernobyl disaster. It was the ninth nuclear-city, "атомоград" (atomograd) in
Russian, literally "atom city". Its population had been around 50,000 before the
accident. Annual Rate of natural increase was estimated at around 800 persons, plus
over 500 newcomers from all corners of the Soviet Union each year. It had been
planned that the Prypiat's population should have risen up to 78,000 in the nearest
future. Prypiat had a railroad link to mYazov station (Kiev railroad line) as well as a
navigable river nearby.
Bikini Atoll (also known as Pikinni Atoll) is a World Heritage listed atoll in the
Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands.
It consists of 23 islands surrounding a deep 229.4-square-mile (594.1 km2) central
lagoon, at the northern end of the Ralik Chain (approximately 87 kilometres (54 mi)
northwest of Ailinginae Atoll and 850 kilometres (530 mi) northwest of Majuro), now
universally significant to the world[1] as follows:
"Bikini Atoll has conserved direct tangible evidence .. conveying the power of ..
nuclear tests, i.e. the sunken ships sent to the bottom of the lagoon by the tests in 1946
and the gigantic Bravo crater.... Through its history, the atoll symbolises the dawn of
the nuclear age, despite its paradoxical image of peace and of earthly paradise."
Within Bikini Atoll, Bikini Island is the northeastern most and largest islet, measuring
4 kilometres (2.5 mi)long. About twelve kilometres to the northwest is the islet of
Aomen. As part of the Pacific Proving Grounds it was the site of more than 20 nuclear
weapons tests between 1946 and 1958.
The first Westerner to see the atoll, in mid-1820s, was the German navigator and
explorer Otto von Kotzebue, who named the atoll Eschscholtz Atoll after the Russian
scientist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz. The atoll, however, has always been
called Bikini by the native Marshall Islanders, from Marshallese "Pik" meaning
"surface" and "Ni" meaning "coconut". The name was popularized in the United
States not only by nuclear bomb tests, but because the bikini swimsuit was named
after the island in 1946. The two-piece swimsuit was introduced within days of the
first nuclear test on the atoll, when the name of the island was in the news.[2]
Introduced just weeks after the one-piece "Atome" was widely advertised as the
"smallest bathing suit in the world", it was said that the bikini "split the atome".[3
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is
located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles
(133 km) north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the
southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large secretive military airfield. The base's
primary purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and
weapons systems.[1][2]
The base lies within the United States Air Force's vast Nevada Test and Training
Range. Although the facilities at the range are managed by the 99th Air Base Wing at
Nellis Air Force Base, the Groom facility appears to be run as an adjunct of the Air
Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert,
around 186 miles (300 km) southwest of Groom, and as such the base is known as Air
Force Flight Test Center (Detachment 3).[3][4]
Though the name Area 51 is used in official CIA documentation,[5] other names used
for the facility include Dreamland, Paradise Ranch,[6][7] Home Base, Watertown Strip,
Groom Lake,[8] and most recently Homey Airport.[9] The area is part of the Nellis
Military Operations Area, and the restricted airspace around the field is referred to as
(R-4808N),[10] known by the military pilots in the area as "The Box" or "the
Container".[11]
The intense secrecy surrounding the base, the very existence of which the U.S.
government barely acknowledges, has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy
theories and a central component to unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore.[7][12]
Centralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United
States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005,[1]
9 in 2007, and 7 in 2010[2] as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since
1962. Centralia is now the least-populous municipality in Pennsylvania, with four
fewer residents than the borough of S.N.P.J.
Centralia is part of the Bloomsburg–Berwick Micropolitan Statistical Area. The
borough is completely surrounded by Conyngham Township.
All properties in the borough were claimed under eminent domain by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1992 (and all buildings therein were condemned),
and Centralia's ZIP code was revoked by the Post Office in 2002.[1] However, a few
residents continue to reside there in spite of a failed lawsuit to reverse the eminent
domain claim.
Hawthorn is the location of a number of defence related underground facilities in the
vicinity of Corsham, Wiltshire. Specifically the Hawthorn site was the location of an
above-ground bunker used for the planning of satellite communications support to the
United Kingdom's armed forces worldwide. These facilities had been built in quarries
cleared through the excavation of Bath stone. The quarries have variously been used
for Military Command & Control, storage, and the emergency fallback seat of the
national government. Some areas of the quarry complex were hardened and provided
with support measures to ensure resilience in the event of an enemy nuclear attack.
Central Ammunition Depot
During the 1930s, there was a recognition of a need to provide secure storage for
munitions in the south of the United Kingdom, a large area of the quarries around the
Corsham area was renovated by the Royal Engineers as one of three major stockpiles.
This ammunition depot was provided access by a spur railway line from the main
London-to-Bristol line, branching off just outside the eastern entrance to the Box
Tunnel. This spur line led to double platforms inside the tunnel complex that was to
be used to deliver and remove munitions.
The Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) was intended to be complemented by two
further depots, one in Wales and one in northern England, neither of which were
developed to the same scale as the CAD.
The construction design meant that an explosive accident or detonation inside any one
of the stores would not propagate throughout the ammunition storehouse.
The CAD was decommissioned after World War II.
The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: 한반도 비무장지대) is a strip of land
running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and
South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th
parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the
east end lying north of it. It is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long,[1] approximately 4 km
(2.5 mi) wide and is the most heavily militarized border in the world.[2][3] The
Northern Limit Line, or NLL, is the de facto maritime boundary between North and
South Korea in the Yellow Sea and the coastline and islands on both sides of the NLL
are also heavily militarized.[4]
Nanda Devi (Hindi: नन्दा दे वी पववत) is the second highest mountain in India
(excluding Pakistan occupied Kashmir) and the highest entirely within the country
(Kangchenjunga being on the border of India and Nepal); owing to this geography it
was the highest known mountain in the world until computations on Dhaulagiri by
western surveyors in 1808. It was also the highest mountain in India before Sikkim
joined the Indian Union. It is part of the Garhwal Himalaya, and is located in the state
of Uttarakhand, between the Rishiganga valley on the west and the Goriganga valley
on the east. Its name means Bliss-Giving Goddess.[4] The peak is regarded as the
patron-goddess of the Uttarakhand Himalaya.
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also called GTMO, is located on 45 square miles
(120 km2) of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased
for use as a coaling (fueling) station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903.
The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba.
It is the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base, and the only one in a country with which the
United States does not have diplomatic relations.[1] The Cuban government opposes
the presence of the naval base, claiming that the lease is invalid under international
law. The U.S. government claims that the lease is valid.
Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay
detention camp, for persons alleged to be unlawful combatants captured in
Afghanistan and later in Iraq. The mistreatment of the prisoners[2], and their denial of
protection under the Geneva Conventions, has been a source of international
controversy.
Mecca (pronounced /ˈmɛkə/), also spelled Makkah (occasionally Bakkah)
(English: /ˈmækə/; Arabic: ‫ ةكم‬Makkah and in full: Arabic: ‫ ك رةمملا ةّكم‬Makkat Al
Mukarramah [mækːæt ælmukarːamæ]) is a city in Saudi Arabia, regarded as the
holiest meeting site in Islam, closely followed by Medina.[2][3][4]
Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants. In the
7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city which was
by then an important trading center. After 966, Mecca was led by local sharifs. When
the authority of the Ottoman Empire in the area collapsed in 1916, the local rulers
established the Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz.[5] The Hejaz kingdom, including
Mecca, was absorbed by the Saudis in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen
tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure. However, most of its historic
buildings have been demolished in recent years because of the Saudi government's
religious views and disapproval of undue reverence being given to such buildings.
The modern day city is the capital of Saudi Arabia's Makkah Province, in the historic
Hejaz region. With a population of 1.7 million (2008), the city is located 73 km (45
mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft) above sea
level.
Every year, millions of Muslims perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca walking seven
times around the Kaaba. More than 13 million people visit Mecca annually.[6]
Imber is an uninhabited village in part of the British Army's training grounds on the
Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is situated in an isolated area of the Plain, about
2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington,
accessible only by military tracks. The entire civilian population was evicted in 1943
to provide an exercise area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe
during the Second World War. After the war villagers were not allowed to return to
their homes. The village, which is still classed as an urban entity, remains under the
control of the Ministry of Defence despite several attempts by former residents to
return. Non-military access is limited to several open days a year.[1]
Zombieland in America
New Orleans has made a remarkable recovery since the city was
devastated by flooding during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
But now stunning new images have emerged which show how one part
of the Big Easy has yet to be revived - its Six Flags theme park.
The haunting photographs, taken over the past six years, reveal an
almost post-apocalyptic landscape dominated by twisted and corroded
rides, now silent forever.
Graffiti covers many of the buildings, welcoming visitors to
'Zombieland' - a fitting name for the eerie park, which has been
completely abandoned