Jalousie, a shantytown on the edge of Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Parts of Jalousie were repainted in bright colors in 2013 as part of the Haitian government’s Beauty versus Poverty initiative.  Most houses still do not have water or electricity. The earthquake in 2010 left 1.3 million homeless. Many were relocated to camps, but reconstruction is slow-going. Worldwide, shantytowns shelter nearly one billion people; 27 million people are added to these numbers every year. #

Flight of pink flamingos over crystal formations in Lake Magadi, Kenya. Thousands of pink flamingos gather on Lake Magadi to feed on the micro-algae, shrimp, and crustaceans that flourish there. The crystals of sodium sesquicarbonate in the lake’s waters are considered the purest in the world, exploited for a century to produce soda ash used in the manufacture of glass and detergents. #

Pico do Itabirito mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The Itabirito mines are considered the third largest iron-ore mining operation in the world. In 2012, over 31 million tons of iron-ore mining operation were extracted. Ore and metal make up half of the exports of the state of Minas Gerais. #

Stongbreen Glacier, Kvalvagen Fjord, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. The Svalbard archipelago, situated within the Arctic Ocean, about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole, is very sparsely populated. Glaciers cover most of the land. Climate change has melted the glaciers facilitating access to this region, thought to have rich oil and gas resources. #

Salt caravan from Lake Karoum, Danakil desert, Afar region, Ethiopia. The Danakil Depression, or Afar Depression, is one of the lowest regions in Africa. This salt desert is also the hottest place on Earth, where temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius. The Danakil has mineral wealth that has been exploited for millennia: salt, extracted from strip mines. Long caravans of several hundred dromedaries transport this resource throughout the country, where salt is used for the conservation of foodstuffs, for cooking, and occasionally as currency. #

Satellite dishes on the roofs of Aleppo, Syria. This is what Aleppo looked like before the civil war that has been ravaging Syria since 2011—a city covered with satellite dishes, all windows onto neighboring countries when the Arab Spring agitated the region. #

Kumbh Mela Hindu pilgrimage, on the Ganges, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. The Kumbh Mela pilgrimage draws many faithful Hindus to the Ganges River once every 12 years—its date is set according to an astrological calendar.  It attracts up to one hundred million people, making it the largest human gathering in the world. #

Imboulou Dam on the Léfini River, Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). Since the 2000s, the Congo has been reaping profits from the region’s prosperity and relative calm. The country is headed by Denis Sassou-Nguesso, its president since 1979, with the exception of a five-year period after he lost the country’s first multi-party elections.  He was reinstated to power in 1997 after a bloody civil war, with the aid of Angolan troops. #