Koltur is part of the Faroe Islands, located about half-way between Scotland and Iceland. The island has a single settlement, which for years fostered a group of sheep-farmers whose flocks would graze the south-western portion of the island. They all abandoned the island in the 80′s, leaving it uninhabited until 2 people returned in 1994 to restore the settlement. This single family has lived alone on the island for the last 15 years. Their names are Bjorn and Luka. Koltur is an island of unbelievable beauty, but is also extremely desolate. The picture above shows the Smyril Line’s ferry Norrona on her way to Iceland, passing Koltur. See more pictures of the island below:

Census Population: 2

Cook — Australia
Cook is South Australia’s most remote town, located at a crossing loop on the standard-gauge Trans-Australian Railway that runs from Adelaide to Perth. The town was created in 1917 when the railway was built, and lies on the longest stretch of straight railway in the world (479 km to be precise). Water was originally pumped from an aquifer, but now all of it is brought, with the rest of the supplies, by train. Literally hundreds of miles from the nearest hospital or grocery store.

Attempts have been made to plant trees and other vegetation at Cook, but all have failed, rendering it an almost deserted ghost town. It offers little more than curiosity value for the train travelers

2 ladies run the gift shop twice a week when the train is coming through. There are no children in town.
Census Population: 4

Burr — Saskatchewan
It’s difficult to find out much about Burr, but then again, there’s not very much there. There’s an office for the rural municipality of Wolverine No. 340, an elevator, a community hall, and a church. Located along highway 20, I doubt the community hall gets a lot of use. It may, however, if the Burr Project goes through — a plan to extract a huge potash deposit located under Burr.

Census Population: 3

Grytviken — South Georgia Islands
Called Pot Cove in Swedish, Grytviken is a settlement in the United Kingdom territory of the South Georgia Islands, located very far south in the Atlantic Ocean. Initially founded as a whaling station, and developed while the whale catch and seal hunting was prosperous, Grytviken has been slowly abandoned over the last 100 years. It is a popular stop for cruise ships on their way to Antarctica — most of the visitors come to pay their respects to Ernest Shackleton, the famous British explorer. He died at sea in 1915 and was buried at Grytviken, next to the whalers who died on the island. More pictures below, including how the settlement looked before it was abandoned and the island cemetery.

Census Population: 2