Extremities

Wake Island is but a speck in the mighty Pacific. Yet, this oft-overlooked American outpost operated as a key cog in the rise of trans-Pacific aviation, served as a backdrop for vicious World War II fighting, and functioned as a critical waypoint during the Cold War. And its story isn’t over yet.

Tristan da Cunha is the world’s most remote permanently inhabited island. Deep in the South Atlantic and without an airstrip, Tristanians live in the shadow of a volcano and depend on the sea. It’s a six-day boat ride to the African mainland, but that’s only part of what makes life here extreme.

Nestled along the west coast of Scotland, Knoydart is a protected peninsula accessible only by ferry or foot. Various challenges have threatened the region over the years, and each time the community rallied in unique ways—including its recent fight to save an unassuming neighborhood necessity.

Polar bears, piercing cold, and months without sunlight make living near the North Pole punishing—just getting to Alert is an adventure on its own. But within these confines, a collection of people have carved out a community, making this the northernmost permanent settlement in the world.

At Alaska’s northern edge sits a town unlike any other—because it’s not really a town. With zero year-round residents and punishing gale-force winds, Prudhoe Bay’s 3,000-person workforce flies in every two weeks to power one of the largest oil fields in the world.