Pripyat is the primary abandoned city associated with the Chernobyl disaster.
• The City: Founded on February 4, 1970, in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, Pripyat was a planned “atomgrad” (model city) built to house workers and engineers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
• Population: It grew to a population of about 49,360 young residents (average age around 26) before the accident.
• The Disaster: On April 26, 1986, Reactor No. 4 at the nearby power plant exploded.
• Evacuation: The entire population was evacuated starting on April 27, 1986, told they would only leave for a few days. They never returned.
• Current Status: Pripyat remains an uninhabited ghost town inside the 30-kilometer Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, frozen in time with overgrowth, empty apartments, and the famous unfinished amusement park
