Press kit
Writing about Ghost Towns? Here is everything you need: key facts, ready-to-use descriptions, statistics, logos and brand colors. No permission needed — just link to the site.
Fact sheet
- 21,795Places on the map
- 2,751With a known abandonment date
- 214Countries
- 7Languages
- Name
- Ghost Towns
- Website
- ghosttowns.vercel.app
- Launched
- October 3, 2026
- Created by
- koltcov.com
- Data
- Wikidata, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons; updated automatically
- Price
- Free, no ads and no sign-up
Short description
Ghost Towns is a free interactive world map of ghost towns, abandoned mining camps, drowned villages and ancient ruins — with why and when each place died.
Long description
Ghost Towns is a free interactive map of 21,795 abandoned places in 214 countries: gold-rush ghost towns, mining camps, villages flooded by reservoirs, settlements destroyed by disasters and wars, and ancient ruins. Each place is colored by the reason it was abandoned, which the site detects automatically from Wikipedia texts. Place pages tell the story of the town, when it was founded and abandoned, show a photo, satellite view and other abandoned places nearby. The data comes from Wikidata and is updated automatically. The site works in seven languages, with no ads or sign-up.
Key features
- A world map colored by the cause of abandonment: gold rush, mines, disasters, flooding, war, economic decline, ancient ruins.
- Filters by cause, place type and abandonment date; search by name.
- A page for every place: history, photo, dates, population, satellite view and abandoned places nearby.
- A random ghost town button for armchair explorers.
- Seven languages: English, Russian, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Italian.
Why towns die: statistics
- 🏛️ Ancient ruins3,436 · 69%
- 📉 Economic decline375 · 8%
- ⚒️ Mines & quarries364 · 7%
- 💥 War & expulsion313 · 6%
- 🌊 Flooded222 · 4%
- ☢️ Disaster184 · 4%
- ⛏️ Gold rush96 · 2%
Share of the 4,990 places (out of 21,795) whose cause could be detected. The cause is detected automatically from Wikidata and Wikipedia texts; figures update with the map.
Logo and brand colors
- #0d0e10
- #e2733b
- #9a9ea6
- #e8e6e3
Click a logo to download it. The headline font is Unbounded Bold. Please keep the dark background and don't recolor the logo.
Terms of use
You may freely use the logo, screenshots of the site and the texts on this page in articles, videos and posts. Please credit “Ghost Towns” and link to the site.
Place photos and texts belong to their authors on Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia — when you reuse them, follow their licenses (usually CC BY-SA).
Contact
Interviews, comments and questions: ghosttowns@koltcov.com