The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone covers about 2,600 square kilometers of Ukraine's Kyiv Oblast, established in 1986 after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster forced the evacuation of roughly 120,000 people from the city of Pripyat and more than 187 surrounding communities. Nearly four decades of almost complete human absence have allowed the zone's forests and wetlands to recover into what researchers now describe as one of Europe's largest de facto nature reserves, with wolves, wild boar, deer, moose and eagles now living at higher densities than before the disaster. Przewalski's horses and European bison have been reintroduced to the zone, and scientists continue to study how elevated radiation levels affect the health of the wildlife that now thrives there.
Facts
Area (sq km) Cross-Tradition Connections
Demonstrates
Decades of human absence following the 1986 disaster have allowed ecological succession to reclaim the exclusion zone's fields and settlements.
Sources
1. Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, third paragraph, stating the current restricted zone areaQuote, Lead section, third paragraph, stating the current restricted zone area
The current area of approximately 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) in Ukraine is where radioactive contamination is the highest, and public access and habitation are accordingly restricted.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
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