The countries you are most likely to get lost in

There are certain countries around the world where it’s almost impossible to get lost, in terms of being stranded in the wilderness I mean. Take the UK for example, it has mountain ranges and forests but because of its population, there isn’t a single point in the UK where you would have to walk for more than 5 miles before you came across a road or a farm or just, something. This assurance of finding safety isn’t shared with many other countries and there are some out there that could cause the most experienced navigators to become horribly lost in just a few hours. Out of all 195 countries in the world, these are the top five that you are most likely to become stranded in the wilderness.

1) Australia

Most of Australia’s population is located around the east side of the country where there’s more fertile land. The western side of the country is home to a huge expanse of desert that’s made up of more than half a million square miles of very hostile terrain, in fact, deserts cover around 18% of the total continent but because of the extremely low rainfall in some areas, up to 35% of the continent could be considered to be desert. One wrong turn could put you in a direction where there are many miles of nothing, especially water. The similar-looking landscape makes it very easy to get lost and the flowing hills and desert foliage can drastically block your line of sight while creating the impression there may be a stream in between high points, an idea that rarely provides the prize of water.

2) Brazil and surrounding countries

No list of places where it’s easy to get lost would be complete without mentioning the Amazon rainforest. Jungle in general is easy to get lost in, but nothing beats the sheer size of this massive forest, often referred to as a green hell by those lucky enough to get lost in it and return to safety. The Amazon jungle covers around 5.5 million km² and is home to the second biggest river network on earth, coming close to the world’s biggest which is the River Nile network. The jungle provides slower progress and lower visibility than any other terrain type on Earth, and the warm and humid climate makes it the perfect environment for infections to develop.

3) Russia

The biggest country on earth also happens to be home to the biggest expanse of wilderness on earth. Russia dwarfs the land size of every other country and is also over 3 million km² bigger than the continent of Antarctica. The northern half of the country has a very low population compared to the south due to its cold climate and lack of good farmland, because of this the distance between villages can be several hundred miles. Apart from the arctic climate and rough terrain, the flowing landscape does an excellent job of blocking signals and even if you manage to contact rescue, it would take a long time before they were able to find you. The story of the Lykov Family is a good example of how remote this part of Russia can be, as their family survived there for 42 years without a single person finding them.

4) Canada

The second biggest country on earth also happens to be very sparsely populated in the northern half of the country. Temperatures in Canada during the day in winter average between -5 to -15°C and can get as low as -40°C during the night. The northwest and Nunavut territories also present some unique terrain as they are covered in thousands of lakes and rivers, making it very difficult to navigate and can cause detours of many miles. The frequent blizzards and thick mists are very easy to get lost in and have caused even the most experienced locals to lose their way. Just look at the story of Pauloosie Keyootak who lived in Canada all his life, but after getting caught in a blizzard, he ended up 100 miles south of his starting location when trying to reach a settlement over 100 miles to the north.

5) Algeria, and surrounding southern countries

There are a number of countries that make up the Sahara desert, but none of them seem to be riskier to hike in than Algeria. The Sahara desert covers an area of 9.2 million km² and is the largest hot desert on earth, coming in at third as the largest desert overall after the Arctic and Antarctica. Aside from the country’s political problems and high levels of crime, the landscape is very similar across the whole country, and desert areas can change appearance in a matter of hours from a powerful enough sandstorm. There can be distances of several hundred miles between villages, and even further to someone who can actually help you. Hiking in desert areas is always risky, but the massive scale combined with the changing landscape makes the Sahara the most dangerous desert on earth.