In which desert is the Darvaza gas crater, known as the Door to Hell, located?

In which desert is the Darvaza gas crater, known as the Door to Hell, located? The answer is the Karakum Desert.

The crater is near the village of Darvaza in central Turkmenistan, within the vast Karakum Desert. It formed after drilling for natural gas caused the ground to collapse into an underground cavern. Engineers are widely reported to have set the exposed gas alight, hoping to burn off poisonous gases; the fire continued far longer than expected.

The flames have made the crater one of Turkmenistan’s most famous tourist attractions. The pit is roughly 60–70 metres wide and about 30 metres deep, with hundreds of flames historically visible across its floor and rim. The nickname “Door to Hell” comes from its dramatic appearance rather than from any religious site.

The crater’s exact origin story is not perfectly settled. Some local accounts place the collapse or ignition in the 1960s, while the most commonly repeated version dates the Soviet drilling accident to 1971. Reports in recent years have described reduced flames as authorities work to capture methane and limit environmental and economic damage.