- [Voiceover] As much as we may object to
the imposition of laws, civilization cannot survive
without them.
Yet there are still a few places on our planet
that have no laws at all.
In some cases, these anarchic situations are deliberate.
In others, governments technically claim authority
over these areas, but have no way
5 Places With No Laws.
Western Sahara is the largest territory in the world,
with no official government.
It sits on the West Coast of Africa,
south of Morocco, and west of Mauritania.
Western Sahara is one of the most sparsely populated
areas on Earth, averaging two people per square mile.
Geographically, it's dominated by the lifeless
Sahara Desert, and it offers little in the way of resources.
To many, governing this desolate country
often doesn't seem even worth the effort.
Multiple countries have claimed ownership of Western Sahara
in the past, but currently, there are two powers that
theoretically administer Western Sahara.
The majority of Western Sahara is claimed by Morocco,
and the rest it claimed by a group calling itself
the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
There is no consensus among other countries,
as to which, if either, has a legitimate claim to
Western Sahara, meaning that to the outside world,
Western Sahara has no legitimate governing body and no laws.
This means that the people
living in the harsh deserts of this lawless region
remain forever trapped in a legal grey area.
No part of Antarctica is recognized
as being owned by any specific country,
although a couple countries have put forth
claims on this barren continent,
including Australia and Argentina.
Instead, it has roughly been governed since 1961
by the Antarctic Treaty System.
This treaty puts all people within Antarctica's boundaries
under the jurisdiction of their home countries.
The Antarctic Treaty System also strictly forbids
all form of military activity within Antarctica,
including weapons testing.
Military personnel are, however, allowed to participate
in scientific research.
Mining is also banned in Antarctica,
as is the disposal of nuclear waste.
The purpose of the Treaty is to preserve Antarctica
as a place for scientific research.
To that end, everyone is free to come and go as they please,
throughout the continent.
And while people are in Antarctica, there's no one around
to enforce any serious rule of law.
The Sonoran Desert in California was once home to
Camp Dunlap, a military barracks.
When it was decommissioned in the 1950s,
the buildings on this military base were dismantled,
but the concrete slabs remained.
These slabs eventually gave us the name Slab City.
In the 1960s, people from many walks of life
started moving into this area.
The very first residents were harvesters of
nearby creosote leaves.
Some were impoverished and had nowhere else to go
and others simply wished to live off the grid.
Today, about 4000 people reside there in winter
and 150 remain throughout the year,
braving 120 degree temperatures.
While this land belongs to the state of California,
and the laws of California and the United States apply
to Slab City, in practice, however, Slab City is so remote
that it is free from nearly all governmental interference.
It also has no running water, electricity,
and trash pickup or sewer systems,
all things commonly organized by governments.
For the most part, the residents of Slab City
make their own rules and handle their own affairs.
Another lawless place in our world is simply known as
the High Seas.
Generally speaking, any open water
at least 12 nautical miles from a coastline
is legally considered as International Waters.
Water within those 12 nautical miles, however,
are territorial waters, belonging to the nearest country,
and are governed by its laws.
However, no country has control over International Waters.
Thus, no laws govern it.
It has been agreed via Treaty,
that ships in International Waters
are under the jurisdiction of the country
which licensed them.
For example, a murder on an American ship
would be dealt with according to American law.
But International Waters are not entirely an
anything-goes zone.
It has been agreed by international treaty, that
any country may exercise jurisdiction over international
waters, in order to combat crimes, such as piracy.
There are also disputes,
as to whether certain bodies of water
can be considered as territorial waters
or International Waters.
Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark
all claim parts of the remote Arctic Ocean,
while the United States and most European countries
consider it International Waters.
This is particularly important because massive reserves
of fossil fuels and other strategic resources
likely lay beneath the seabed of the Arctic Ocean.
Ever since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan,
the first democratically elected government
in the history of Afghanistan was established.
However, the government often has no power at all,
beyond the major cities of Afghanistan.
Once you've reached the more rural areas of this country,
it becomes an entirely different story.
Unaccountable war-lords have controlled these remote areas
for decades, seizing and controlling them by force
and without government sanction.
When travelling in these regions, laws fall by the wayside
and instead, the people are governed
by what can only be called
informal communal rules and bonds,
which are almost never enforced consistently.
In addition, militant activity is a danger throughout
the entire country.
The Taliban still controls
significant portions of the country
and the Islamic State controls small portions as well.
And finally, the most anarchic place on all of Earth
is a place without any form of civilization or rule of law.
This wretched hive of scum and villainy
is the YouTube comments section.
Nah, just kiddin'.
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