La Rinconada, Peru

La Rinconada is a town in the Peruvian Andes near a gold mine. At up to 5,100 m (16,700 ft; 3.2 mi) above sea level, it is the highest permanent settlement in the world. Between 2001 and 2009, the population was estimated by National Geographic to have increased to 30,000 people from just a small gold prospector camp because the price of gold rose 235% over that period, although this number has not been reflected by the 2007 or 2017 censuses. The town has gained notoriety for its extreme living conditions that include its high rates of altitude sickness, pollution, poverty, murder, and sex trafficking, and as a result has sometimes been referred to in Spanish as la ciudad sin ley del Perú, which means "the lawless city of Peru".

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