The inhabitants of La Rinconada, the world’s highest settlement located in the Peruvian Andes, encounter a distinctive array of challenges.
Over 80 million people worldwide reside at elevations of at least 8,000 feet (2,500 meters) above sea level, with the majority living in regions such as South America, Central Asia, and East Africa. Among the world’s highest permanent settlements are Wenquan in China’s Qinghai Province, situated at 4,870 meters, and Korzok in India, located at 4,572 meters above sea level. However, one settlement surpasses them both. Found in the Andes of Peru, a town known as “Devil’s Paradise” holds the official name La Rinconada. Home to approximately 50,000 people, this settlement sits between 15,000 and 17,000 feet (4,900 and 5,200 meters) above sea level, making it the highest permanent settlement on Earth, as reported by Live Science.
The town of La Rinconada in Peru is located at an altitude of 4,900m to 5,200m in the Andes. (Photo: Wikimedia).
Life in La Rinconada is extremely difficult, with no running water, sewers or garbage disposal. Food is imported from lower elevations and electricity was only installed in the town in 2000. The town is famous for its gold rush, having started as a temporary mining settlement more than 60 years ago. But the price of mining gold is that residents live in extreme conditions with oxygen pressure half that of sea level.
If you weren’t born and raised at high altitudes like La Rinconada, one of the first changes you’ll notice is an increase in breathing and heart rate. That’s because there’s less oxygen in the air, so your lungs and heart have to work harder to nourish your tissues. “When you’re at about 15,000 feet, the breath you take at sea level is only about 40 percent oxygen molecules, which is a lot of pressure,” said Cynthia Beall, professor emeritus of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
The hemoglobin level, which is the protein in red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen in the blood, decreases first. The higher the altitude, the stronger the reaction. Some people can develop a condition called acute mountain sickness (AMS) as the body tries to adjust to the lower oxygen levels. This can cause symptoms like headaches, fatigue, nausea, and loss of appetite.
La Rinconada has become a center of crime.
Normally, after about a week or two at high altitude, a person’s heart rate and breathing rate will slow down a bit as the body starts to produce more red blood cells and hemoglobin to compensate for the low oxygen in the air. But the people of La Rinconada seem to have adapted to the low-oxygen environment in several ways. “There is substantial global evidence indicating that lung capacity improves in individuals exposed to high altitudes, particularly before adolescence,” Beall states.
For example, people living in the Andes tend to have higher levels of hemoglobin in their blood. While this allows them to carry more oxygen in their blood, it also makes them more susceptible to a condition called chronic mountain sickness (CMS), which occurs when the body makes too many red blood cells. CMS can affect people who have lived at altitudes above 10,000 feet for months or years, causing symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, and aches and pains. An estimated 1 in 4 people in La Rinconada have CMS. The best treatment for CMS is to move to a lower altitude, says Tatum Simonson, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
However, this is not a viable option for people who make a living in the area. Regular phlebotomy and a drug called acetazolamide, which reduces red blood cell production, may help people with CMS, although researchers are unclear about the long-term safety and effectiveness of these treatments.
Many people who come to La Rinconada still struggle with the altitude.
La Rinconada in Peru is known as the highest town in the world. People live in the clouds, and are so far from civilization that it is lawless. La Rinconada has become a crime hub because, although there are some laws, the town’s isolation means criminals can often avoid consequences for their actions.
A YouTuber named Yes Theory visited the town, describing it as “basically as close to a lawless town as you can get”.
“Gunshots, people screaming, drunkenness, and smashing bottles are heard almost every day,” one YouTuber who visited La Rinconada said.
In an article for Dissident Voice, author Peter Koenig, who also visited the town, shared his experience, stating, “La Rinconada resembles an enormous open dump, contaminated by waste from illegal gold mining — a place that was once a pristine mountain lake.”
