La Rinconada (highest town)

La Rinconada is a gold-mining town high in the Andes of Peru, at about 5,000 to 5,100 metres above sea level. It is the highest large permanent settlement in the world, built on the side of Mount Ananea below a glacier called Auchita, nicknamed the Sleeping Beauty.

The town grew quickly when gold prices rose in the early 2000s. National Geographic estimated that about 30,000 people lived here by 2009, although official censuses counted fewer. Life is hard: the air holds far less oxygen than at sea level, the weather is cold all year, and most people work in small, dangerous mines.

How high is it?

The town stretches from about 4,900 to 5,100 metres, with its centre near 5,000 metres. That is higher than any peak in the Alps. Because the air is so thin, visitors often get altitude sickness, and the climate is a cold tundra climate: the average yearly temperature is only about 1.3 °C. Snow falls often, and nights are freezing even in summer. Scientists say the weather feels more like west Greenland than a place only 14 degrees from the equator.

Why do people live here?

They come for gold. When the price of gold rose by 235 percent between 2001 and 2009, a small camp of prospectors swelled into a large town. Many miners work in small groups, and the town has a reputation for poverty, pollution and crime, so it is sometimes called the lawless city of Peru. Some successful miners keep homes in Juliaca, a city at about 3,825 metres, where there are more city services.

On the globe

The model shows a gold-mining town of small buildings high in the Andes. Look for the glacier above it.