The Hell Gate - Darvaza - Turkmenistan

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The Gate, also known as Darvaza is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Karakum desert, about 260 km north of Ashgabat. 

The inhabitants of Darvaza are mostly Turkmen of the Teke tribe, preserving one sitema semi-nomadic life.

The Darvaza area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971, Soviet geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. 

The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leave a large hole with a diameter of 70 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided that the best solution would burn. 

  Geologists had expected the fire would comsumir all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas is burning today. Residents called the cave "The Door to Hell". 

The burning gas is safer and less damaging to the environment than releasing the methane into the atmosphere as methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas is deemed to have a high global warming potential. 

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