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The planet does not offer unlimited resources nor unlimited space. The way we treat our home has consequences that impact the lives our descendants for generations in the future. If we’re not careful, they may find themselves in a home that does not welcome nor support them any longer.

That being said, many of the consequences are already being felt, and people are suffering and dying today because of our lifestyles. A dirty riverbank and piles of trash in our cities are nothing compared to some of the most polluted places in the world.

The data for this list is taken from the United Nations and other NGOs that collect pollution data around the world.

#1 Niger River Delta, Nigeria

The Niger River Delta is a region rich in petroleum and has suffered multiple major oil spills by international oil companies. Shell Petroleum is responsible for two of the most devastating oil spills in 2008 and 2009. Over 24 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the waterways, mangrove forests, and diverse ecosystems, causing permanent damage to the tidal rivers.

Over one million people live in the area that has been contaminated by these oil spills, and the companies responsible for the devastation neglect to completely clean up the mess or ignore it altogether.

#2 Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan

Mailuu-Suu was a Soviet secret city and a major location in the Soviet nuclear program, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the town has been unemployed and economically depressed. There are 23 unstable uranium pits in the hills above the town, and floods and landslides have caused the nuclear waste to pollute the town and the area around it.

#3 Agbogbloshie Dumpsite, Ghana

Agbogbloshie has been the location for legal and illegal dumping of electronic waste from Western nations. Millions of tons of electronic garbage are dumped here every year. The processing of this electronic waste, which includes burning, releases toxic chemicals that pollute the land, water, and air. Pollution includes lead, arsenic, mercury, dioxins, flame retardants, furans, and more.

#4 Sumgayit, Azerbaijan

Sumgayit was built as part of Soviet industrial planning and quickly became extremely polluted. It is commonly called the “Baby Cemetery” because of all the infant graves for babies that were born with deformities and other defects due to pollution. It was ranked the most polluted place in 2006. Cancer rates in Sumgayit are 51% than in the rest of the country.

#5 Chernobyl, Ukraine

What can be said about Chernobyl that hasn’t already been said? The sad result of government corruption, personal ambition, greed, and cost-cutting, Chernobyl remains an exclusion zone due to the high levels of radiation. The land and area around the reactor will continue to be dangerous to all life for many years.

#6 Citarum River, Indonesia

Around five million people live in the basin that drains into the Citarum River, releasing vast amounts of pollution into the water. Most of the pollution, along with the most deadly chemicals, comes from the textile companies that work in the area. Over 60% of the fish population has been eliminated since 2008.

#7 Matanza River, Argentina

The Matanza river is the most polluted river in South America. There are numerous factories along the river banks that dump huge amounts of industrial waste directly into the water. Around a quarter of all the children that live along the water have lead in their blood, and even more are suffering from severe illnesses.

#8 Norilsk, Russia

Norilsk is one of the most northern cities in the world, and sits on top of an enormous nickel deposit, one of the largest on the planet. It is now the most polluted city in Russia. The mining and smelting of metals in and around the city have released millions of tons of pollutants into the air, earth, and water. There is so much pollution in the area, in fact, that some companies have begun to mine the minerals on top of the soil instead of mining.

#9 Sukinda, India

Sukinda has the largest open-cast ore mines for chromite in the world and sits on top of the largest chromite deposits in India. Twelve mines operate in and around the town without environmental controls. More than 60% of the water contains high levels of pollution and around 85% of the deaths in the region are directly related to mining pollution. The government has made no effort to clean the area.

#10 Linfen, China

Linfen is a major coal mining town and has one of the world levels of air pollution in the world, with only 15 days of the year with acceptable levels of air pollution. Loosely-regulated private mines caused most of the pollution during the city’s industrialization and the national government has been openly critical of local leaders for failing to address the issue.

#11 Dzerzhinsk, Russia

The life expectancy in Dzerzhinsk is only 42 years old for men. Around 300,000 tons of chemical waste and other materials were dumped into the city over the last century, but as the factories in the city began to close, the pollution has begun to drop. There are multiple extremely toxic dumping areas, including the “Shite Sea” of chemical waste.

#12 Hazaribagh, Bangladesh

Around 95% of all the tanneries in Bangladesh are in Hazaribagh. Most of these companies use outdated methods that increase pollution and all of them dump waste directly into the river. Around 22,000 cubic liters of toxic waste is dumped every day.

#13 La Oroya, Peru

The metal smelter is the largest and primary employer in La Oroya, and it was bought in 1997 by United States company, Doe Run Peru, along with the copper mine in the area. The outdated smelter has rendered the surrounding hills completely unusable and the river toxic.

#14 Magnitogorosk, Russia

According to the hospital in Magnitogorosk, only 1% of all the children living in the city have good health. Most of the pollution is due to lead, heavy metals, air pollutants, and sulfur dioxide from mining.

#15 Kabwe, Zambia

Kabwe was designated an industrial sacrifice zone in 2022 – a place that has been permanently and irreversibly damaged and polluted by intentional industrial dumping. Anglo American plc, a British mining company and the largest platinum producer in the world owned the mine in Kabwe from 1925 to 1974 and ignored safety standards even though it knew it would cause irreparable harm.

#16 Kalimantan, Indonesia

Small-scale gold mines have polluted Kalimantan for years, using inefficient mining and smelting processes that release thousands of tons of toxins and chemicals into the air and water every year. Many miners even smelt the gold inside their own homes. The waste is usually released directly into the water.

#17 Tianying, China

Around half of all the lead produced in China comes from Tianying. Bad technology and poor disposal have contributed to the high levels of pollution. According to Time, it is one of the two most polluted cities in the world. However, most of the pollution comes from battery smelting, which melts down old batteries to retrieve the lead inside.

#18 Bhopal, India

Bhopal was the victim of the Bhopal disaster in 1984 when American company, Union Carbide leaked 32 tons of deadly gases from its pesticide manufacturing plant, causing the worst industrial disaster of all time. It killed between 4,000 and 15,000 people and has been called an ecocide. Union Carbide (now owned by Dow Chemical) has not paid anything to victims or to those who have suffered as a result of the disaster and it has not cleaned the site of the pollution.

#19 Vapi, India

Vapi is a major industrial center and home to several types of industry. Around 70% of the factories are chemical plants and have more than 20 paper mills leading to be called a “paper hub” for the country. It is now the most polluted industrial area in India.

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