Yanjin, the narrowest city in the world

The city of Yanjin, in China’s Yunnan province, is believed to be the narrowest city in the world, just 30 metres wide at one point

A city with a population of around 450,000 people, built on the banks of the Nanxi River among the steep mountain terrain of China’s Yunnan province, nestles what is unofficially considered to be the narrowest city in the world – Yanjin city.

Yanjin city borders Sichuan Province to the north and east, and it really may seem difficult to believe that such a settlement actually exists in real life, because the narrow stretch of usable land sitting between the turbulent waters of the Nanxi River, and with rugged mountains on either side, does not seem like a very suitable location to build a city of this population size, but that is exactly what makes Yanjin so special.

At its narrowest point, Yanjin is just 30 metres wide, while the widest part of the city is around 300 metres, and is crossed by a main road on each side, and, although the city stretches for several kilometres along the river, there do not seem to be that many bridges.

Another notable peculiarity about Yanjin – apart from the extreme narrowness – is that because land is such a precious commodity in the area, many of the apartment buildings are located on the banks of the river, and are built on thin stilt-shaped pillars, to protect them if ever the waters should rise and cause flooding.

Unfortunately, despite the incredible infrastructure and population of Yanjin, its economic development has been hampered by very difficult access to the city, as reported by 20minutos.es.

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