The Town Where Everyone Lives Underground
In Coober Pedy, Australia, it's so hot that 60% of the town lives in caves carved into the rock.
Reviewed by the CurioVault curator · 8 October 2026 · Editorial standards
Coober Pedy in South Australia means 'white man in a hole' in the local Aboriginal language. Summer temperatures hit 47°C, so opal miners started carving homes into the sandstone in 1915. Today about 60% of its 1,700 residents live in 'dugouts' that stay at a constant 23°C year-round. The town has an underground church, bookstore, bar, and 4-star hotel. It produces 70% of the world's opals, and its residents live underground not for novelty, but because the surface is uninhabitable. At night, they emerge to golf with glow-in-the-dark balls.
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