Puno Region · Peru
La Rinconada: Life and Gold at the Top of the World
Clinging to a glacier at over 5,100 meters above sea level, La Rinconada is the highest permanent human settlement on Earth, a lawless gold-mining boomtown with no running water or sewage system.
High in the Peruvian Andes, beneath the permanent ice of the Ananea glacier, sits La Rinconada, a sprawling, chaotic settlement recognized as the highest permanent human habitation on the planet at roughly 5,100 meters, over 16,700 feet, above sea level. What began decades ago as a small gold prospecting camp exploded into a town of an estimated 30,000 people when gold prices surged in the 2000s, drawing migrants desperate for a share of the mineral wealth beneath the ice. There is no municipal water supply, no sewage system, and no organized garbage collection; waste and mercury used in gold extraction run freely into the surrounding glacial meltwater, which locals also rely on for drinking. The air holds roughly half the oxygen found at sea level, and yet thousands live and work here permanently, bound to a mining system so unusual that workers often labor without wages at all.
Life at 5,100 Meters
At La Rinconada's altitude, the air contains roughly half the oxygen available at sea level, a condition that causes chronic altitude sickness for newcomers and long-term health complications, including polycythemia, a thickening of the blood, for many long-term residents. Despite this, the settlement has grown into a dense, informal maze of corrugated metal shacks, makeshift shops, and mining infrastructure clinging to the mountainside.
There is no formal urban planning, no sanitation system, and no reliable municipal water supply. Melting glacier water, contaminated by mercury and mining waste, is often the only available water source, creating serious public health and environmental concerns that have drawn attention from researchers and journalists worldwide.
The Cachorreo System
La Rinconada's mining economy operates on a centuries-old and controversial arrangement known as 'cachorreo.' Miners typically work without a regular wage for 30 days, and on the 31st day they are permitted to keep whatever ore they can carry out of the mine by hand. If they get lucky and the rock is rich in gold, they profit substantially; if not, they've labored a month for nothing.
This high-risk, high-reward gamble draws migrants from across Peru and neighboring Bolivia hoping to strike it rich, sustaining a boomtown atmosphere even as gold veins run deeper and more dangerous to access with each passing year.
Explosive, Unplanned Growth
La Rinconada existed for decades as a tiny prospector's camp, but between 2001 and 2009, as global gold prices rose by roughly 235 percent, National Geographic estimated its population ballooned toward 30,000 people. Peru's official censuses in 2007 and 2017 recorded lower figures, reflecting the difficulty of counting a highly transient, informal population.
Whatever the precise number, the town's infrastructure never caught up with its growth, and La Rinconada remains a largely unregulated, self-organized community operating far outside the reach of conventional Peruvian municipal services.
Environmental and Social Toll
Mercury, used to separate gold from ore, is often handled with minimal safety precautions and discharged into the environment, contaminating water sources that feed into the broader Andean watershed. Environmental groups have flagged La Rinconada and the surrounding Ananea mining district as one of the most polluted mining zones in South America.
Despite the hardship, harsh climate, and health risks, the promise of gold keeps La Rinconada populated, an extreme case study in how mineral wealth can draw and sustain human settlement in some of the most inhospitable conditions on Earth.
Fun facts
- At up to 5,100 meters above sea level, La Rinconada is recognized as the highest permanent settlement on Earth.
- Population estimates reached as high as 30,000 during the 2000s gold price boom, though official censuses record fewer.
- Miners often work a full month unpaid under the 'cachorreo' system, only earning income from ore they can personally carry out on the 31st day.
- The town has no piped water, sewage system, or organized trash collection.
- Mercury used in gold processing has heavily contaminated local glacial meltwater, a key drinking water source.
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Text on this page is original Terralocate editorial. Background facts compiled from the public sources listed above. Images via Wikimedia Commons under their respective licenses (typically CC BY-SA or public domain).