Places

Odd borders, tiny countries and vanished cities.

5 rabbit holes

• New
  Soviet relicsThe Soviet sun furnaceIn the foothills near Tashkent stands a hillside covered with 62 mirrors that follow the sun and bounce its light onto a giant curved mirror. That mirror focuses it into a single point hot enough to melt almost anything: more than 3,000 degrees, from sunlight alone.2 stages · 28 min
• New
  DisastersThe lake that drained into a mineLouisiana, 1980. An oil rig drilling in a shallow lake punches into a salt mine below. The water pours in, dissolves the salt and turns the hole into a whirlpool that swallows the rig, barges and part of a garden. Within hours, the freshwater lake is gone.2 stages · 27 min
• New
  Lost placesKowloon Walled CityA single block in Hong Kong, a few hectares in size, where tens of thousands of people lived in a maze of buildings fourteen storeys high, with dentists, factories and temples, and hardly any daylight. Neither Britain nor China really governed it.3 stages · 17 min
• New
  BordersBaarle, the town in two countriesIn the village of Baarle, the border between Belgium and the Netherlands runs through cafés, gardens and living rooms. There are Belgian islands inside the Netherlands, and Dutch islands inside those. For some houses, the front door decides which country you live in.3 stages · 23 min
• New
  MicronationsSealand, a country on a platform1967. A former British army major occupies an abandoned Second World War sea fort off the English coast and declares it an independent country. Sealand has a flag, passports, a royal family and once even survived an armed takeover by a rival group.2 stages · 24 min