Places Where It’s Illegal To Die

Death is inevitable and the only certain truth of our lives. But let’s face it you can’t really argue with humans. In some of the places around the world, humans have passed a law that says that it is illegal to die. It is said that this was first done in the 5th century on a greek island Deolas where people were prohibited to die or give birth due to religious reasons. Sounds insane, doesn’t it? But so seems to be the case with the places mentioned below where death is forbidden. Take a look at our list of places where it’s illegal to die.

1. Itsukushima, Japan

According to Shintoism and their followers, Itsukushima in Japan is considered as a holy land. The followers are very dedicated to maintaining the purity on this island by making sure no blood is shed and no one dies on this island. This town is also one of the most popular tourist attractions in Japan. Dying and giving birth is restricted since 1878. To this day, pregnant women are sent to the mainland and so are the ill and elderly citizens. Burials are strictly prohibited.

2. Sellia, Italy

This town had a population of thirteen hundred in the year 1960. Then in the year 2015, only five hundred and thirty-seven now live in the town and most of them are 65 years old. The mayor of the town was worried about the town dying out therefore the mayor passed a law saying that it is forbidden to get ill within the municipality and dying is restricted. This was a gesture to ensure that people take care of their health more carefully. Those not doing regular checkups were charged ten euros.

3. Sarpourenx, France

Sarpourenx in France is famous for its mayoral decree in 2008 according to which death is forbidden in the place. And anyone who seems to offend this is threatened with severe punishment. This rule was a protest for enlarging the burial ground in this village of 260 people as the cemetery was quite overcrowded.

4. Lanjaron, Spain

The four thousand residents of the Andalucian village in Lanjaron have also been forbidden to die. This law was a response to fix the problem of the Availability of burial space. The law will remain in place until the government provides the villagers with land and the money to build a cemetery. The mayor Jose Rubio banned death in this town in the year 1999 and it stands to date.

5. Longyearbyen, Norway

This region is hyper-cold which is why dying and being buried in the coffin happens to be against the law in this region. Longyearbyen, this town located deep in the Arctic circle has freezing temperature and permafrost which prevent the dead bodies from decomposing which makes it easily prone to transferable diseases as well. Therefore, anyone in this part approaching death is taken it a different part of Norway.

6. Biritiba Mirim, Brazil

Another one of the places where it is illegal to die is because the local cemetery has reached 50,000 graves making its full capacity and therefore the crypts were being shared. So in the year 2005, Brazilian officials outlawed death. And the punishment was given to the relatives of the deceased which included fines and even jail so as to get more space for the tombstone.

7. Falciano del Massico, Italy

It’s quite funny how most of the places on our list have forbidden people to die because there was a place to bury the dead. Falciano del Messico in Italy is another one of the places where it is illegal to die because of the same reason. The mayor literally issued a statement that said 'It is forbidden for residents to go beyond the boundaries of earthly life, to go into the afterlife. Therefore people had been forbidden to die until the issue on the cemetery land is not resolved.

Pretty weird, right? But this seems to be the case in these places where it’s illegal to die.