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Highest permanent human habitation.

¹Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0623, USA. jwest@ucsd.edu

High Altitude Medicine & Biology

|March 13, 2003

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The highest permanent human habitation is not solely determined by human tolerance to hypoxia. Economic factors, such as mining, play a significant role in enabling communities to thrive at extreme altitudes.

Area of Science:

Human physiology
Geography
Sociology

Background:

High-altitude environments pose physiological challenges to human habitation.
Understanding the limits of permanent human settlement at extreme altitudes is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the altitude of the highest permanent human habitation.
To identify factors influencing the establishment of permanent communities at high altitudes.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on high-altitude settlements.
Analysis of case studies of long-term human habitation at extreme altitudes.

Main Results:

Individuals have resided at altitudes up to 5950 m for extended periods.

Keywords:

Non-programmatic

Related Experiment Videos

La Rinconada, Peru, is the highest known permanent settlement (over 5100 m) with over 7000 inhabitants.

Economic drivers, like mining, support habitation at altitudes exceeding physiological tolerance limits.

Conclusions:

Permanent human habitation at extreme altitudes is influenced by economic factors, not just physiological tolerance to hypoxia.
Economic viability can enable communities to exist in environments previously thought uninhabitable indefinitely.