Earth Day 2011: World's Most Polluted Places (PHOTOS)

The world's most polluted places in the world might come as a surprise to some. No sprawling, globally-renowned metropolis like Los Angeles or London ranks among them, and even within their own countries, these places are often rarely visited or even discussed.

Still, as OurAmazingPlanet.com reports, the environmental and health effects of these areas are difficult to measure, yet the released toxins can lead to cancers, birth defects and reduced life expectancies.

With the region surrounding the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 still uninhabitable, the environmental future of Futaba, Japan remains in question after the near-meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

View the world's most polluted places (in no particular order) according to OurAmazingPlanet.com below:

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Linfen, China

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The pollution in this Shanxi province city -- situated in the heart of the country's enormous coal-producing region -- is said to be so bad that residents literally choke on coal dust in the evenings. As the Guardian reported in 2007, Linfen held the title of "world's most polluted city" for many years -- though it is also said to have shown minor improvement as of late.

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The pollution in this Shanxi province city -- situated in the heart of the country's enormous coal-producing region -- is said to be so bad that residents literally choke on coal dust in the evenings. As the Guardian reported in 2007, Linfen held the title of "world's most polluted city" for many years -- though it is also said to have shown minor improvement as of late.

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Comments

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

01:05 PM on 05/05/2011

A great collection of socialist and third world nations there. Amazing how the leftists like to blame the USA for all of the worlds pollution problems. Not one US city on the list.

[Jeremyewilliams]

09:10 AM on 05/04/2011

Shame to see such a beautiful place as Peru being contaminated beyond repair.

[Prometheus456]

03:22 PM on 04/29/2011

Damn...

[Prometheus456]

03:21 PM on 04/29/2011

............

[Prometheus456]

03:20 PM on 04/29/2011

...

[MNTom]

11:34 AM on 04/28/2011

Well, when the USA get rid of their regulations, we'll be here too. So, don't worry.

[rocklandmike]

11:32 AM on 04/28/2011

Does Japan's nuclear radiation tsunami count as pollution?

[rocklandmike]

11:29 AM on 04/28/2011

Why isn't Washington, D.C. (ie..The Capitol) pictured?

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

01:06 PM on 05/05/2011

Pictures of DC have not been authorized for release by Obama.

[jimboy71]

04:16 PM on 04/27/2011

Funny, but I didn't see the brain pans of Bachmann, Palin, Beck and Limbaugh anywhere in these images...

[paxangelicus]

12:09 AM on 04/27/2011

industrialization has a price.
overpopulation too.
men just reap what they have sown.
sad but true.

0:-(

[cj7874]

11:32 AM on 05/03/2011

We really need to consume less. Fanned.

[Pandoras Folly]

02:12 PM on 04/26/2011

In soviet russia environment pollutes you!

[jitsusoji]

10:35 AM on 04/26/2011

No doubt about it, MANY major cities in China have filthy air thanks to their dependence on coal. It was amazing how much progress two of three biggest cities (Beijing and neighboring Tianjin) made in prep for the 2008 Olympics. After the Olympics ended, Beijing went right back to filthy air, but Tianjin seems to have maintained cleaner air. If municipal officials are determined, they can sustain improved air quality. By the way, the yellow haze from most major cities in the north is a result of dust and fine sand that blows down from the Gobi desert. While Linfen has terrible pollution, the ominous yellow haze that frequently envelopes this city is dust from the Gobi, not toxic chemicals.

[cj7874]

11:33 AM on 05/03/2011

Fanned!

[Hillrick]

07:55 AM on 04/26/2011

Ahhh the invisible hand of the free market...keeping everyone happy and healthy just like gawd intended.

[CDRUSNret]

12:06 PM on 04/26/2011

Nearly all of these places except for India are the result of command economies...not the free market. The former eastern bloc countries and other communist economies ignored any semblance of pollution control in order to compete with free market western economies. Educate yourself.

[Pandoras Folly]

01:11 PM on 04/26/2011

you know as an idea i love marx's ideas, but as a person with two pieces of common sense to rub together it is a bad idea so big you can see it from orbit.

[Hillrick]

01:48 PM on 04/26/2011

It wasn't intended to be taken as they have free markets but rather lack of controls. Our market was the same until we imposed regulations which sane business have recognized there is more profit when you are green. Liferloser.

[Andrew Harvey]

10:43 PM on 04/28/2011

Don't you think its weird that 7 out of 10 of those filthy polluted cities are in countries that formally denounced the existence of "gawd" and banned or restricted the freedom to exercise religious beliefs? Isn't it also weird that all ten of them are in countries that exercise centralized economic planning?

[Hillrick]

07:20 AM on 04/29/2011

Not as weird as how snark doesnt come across. The US had a lot of pollution before regulation went into effect.

[muck-raker]

09:45 PM on 04/25/2011

How did they miss K STREET in Wash. DC.......?

[Tatotaller]

02:56 PM on 04/25/2011

Wow! It looks like a bunch of people must have gotten totally rich in Dzerzhinsk. I hope it was worth it. This is what the US would look like if we didn't regulate corporations.