highest permanent human habitation?

Answer 1

By: John B. West
Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla CA.

"The aim of this analysis was to determine the altitude of the highest permanent human habitation in the hope that this will throw some light on what determines the highest altitude that a community can tolerate indefinitely. A number of places where people have lived at very high altitudes for long periods of time are reviewed. Individuals have lived for as long as 2 yr at an altitude of 5950 m, and there was a miner's camp at 5300 m for several years. The highest permanently inhabited town in the world at the present time appears to be La Rinconada, a mining village of over 7000 people in southern Peru at an altitude of up to 5100 m, which has been in existence for over 40 yr. The altitude of the highest permanent human habitation is determined partly by economic factors, rather than solely by human tolerance to hypoxia."

Answer 2

Altitude of Human Survivability, Maximum (Vertical Limit)
The Physics Factbook™
Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students

"As of May 2003, National Geographic Magazine reports that La Rinconada, Peru, is currently the highest permanent human habitation. La Rinconada, a mining village of over 7,000 people in Southern Peru at an altitude of up to 5100 meters, has been in existence for over 40 years."

Answer 3

How long does it have to have been there to be considered permanent? SSF is planned to have somebody on board all the time until it is finally scrapped.