MapTheOdd / Natural world / The crater that has burned for decades
Natural world · OpenStreetMap
The crater that has burned for decades
Darvaza, Turkmenistan · 40°15′N · 58°26′E
A gas crater glows continuously in the Karakum Desert.
Field note
A gas crater glows continuously in the Karakum Desert. Map and record layers place this feature in its wider geographic, historical and civic context.
Why it is unusual
The place exposes a geological, ecological or atmospheric process in a form that can be read in the landscape.
When to go
April–June and September–October are useful shoulder-season starting points.
Evidence and practical context
OpenStreetMap geographic features. The dataset supports discovery and context; inspect the original record for its full description, boundaries and status.
Place intelligence v2
What the surrounding data reveals
unknown relative to mapped settlements · access signal: generally accessible · evidence confidence 80/100.
Similar elsewhere in the world
Distances are straight-line approximations. Rarity is measured within MapTheOdd’s current catalogue.
MapTheOdd data passport
What this page adds
Evidence ledger
This separates source facts, editorial interpretation and computed context so they are not presented as equivalent claims.
| Coordinate | Parsed from the published place record | High |
|---|---|---|
| Place identity | The crater that has burned for decades | Medium–high |
| Interpretation | A gas crater glows continuously in the Karakum Desert. Map and record layers place this feature in its wider geographic, historical and civic context. | Low–medium |
| Local context | No GeoNames match | Computed |
| Access | Conditions and appearance may change seasonally; confirm local restrictions. | Requires live checking |
Reuse the record
Download the structured place record, computed geographic context and provenance used by this page. This makes the page inspectable rather than a closed editorial summary.
Generated from source data checked August 2026. Computed relationships are reproducible approximations, not claims about legal access or current operating status.