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With an average altitude of 5.100 meters above sea level, La Rinconada is considered the highest inhabited center in the world. It is located in Peru, and here we live in extreme conditions, to say the least.
Located on the western flank of a branch of Nevado Ananea Grande (mountain whose top is located just above), The corner place it lives for most of the year with temperatures below zero degrees. Yet, it is home to over 50.000 people, used to living here, in the shadow of the gigantic Bella Durmiente glacier (Sleeping Beauty). To reach it, you need to travel a precarious mountain road covered in grass, rocks, dust and – often – ice. An epic journey, which requires several days of travel.
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Generally, tourists don't come to La Rinconada. There are no hotels or hospitals, here, and not even too much control from the Government. Not to mention that the air, for those who are not used to such altitudes, can make breathing difficult. This is a very poor city, whose economy is mainly based on gold mining (unregulated) located nearby. So much so that most of the inhabitants are made up of optimistic Peruvians who hope to make a fortune by finding large pieces of gold.
The men who live in La Rinconada they walk for half an hour every day to reach the mines, rich in dangerous gases, mercury, cyanide and with a low quantity of oxygen (women are not allowed inside). Why is there no infrastructure here? Because the founders of what was initially just a small mining settlement would never have expected such enormous population growth. As, the city has no running water, the construction of a sewage system is impossible and waste management is the responsibility of residents.
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Irregular extraction operations and poor hygienic conditions have contaminated the soil with mercury, resulting in the poisoning of several inhabitants. However, in La Rinconada there is also some entertainment: the inhabitants often meet in the premises created for the miners, they organize football games. And they are waiting for the opportunity of a lifetime, that of a huge piece of gold that can make them rich.
