With Nowhere Else To Go, These Families Were Forced To Live In A Cemetery

Manila, capital of the Philippines, is the world’s eleventh largest metropolitan area, with a population of more than 12 million people. It has also been ranked as one of the most densely populated locations–right up there with Hong Kong. It also has a huge homeless problem.

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Manila, capital of the Philippines, is the world's eleventh largest metropolitan area, with a population of more than 12 million people. It has also been ranked as one of the most densely populated locationsright up there with Hong Kong.

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The city's occupants are so poor (about 40 percent) and the housing in Manila incredibly scarce, that they cannot afford to live in an actual house. That's why thousands of residents have been forced to becomes squatters in a cemetery, including young children and entire families.

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With an area covering 54 acres, the North Cemetery has been providing the city's less-fortunate with a place to live for decades.

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As of 2012, there were an estimated 6,000 calling this graveyard home.

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Their living quarters are made up of wood and iron shacks stacked up against the tombs, as well as the countless mausoleums. Drinking water is extracted from wells on the cemetery grounds and electricity flows in from a nearby street.

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We were surprised to learn that this place is actually a vibrant, thriving city of its ownwith a complete network of alleyways and streets. There's even fast-food stalls, Internet cafes, restaurants, karaoke parlors, and basketball courts.

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Oh, and get this, the cemetery is still operating! There are around 80 funerals that take place here each day, which actually give many of the residents some form of income. Teenagers frequently help carry coffins for about 50 American cents, while children collect other items on the grounds to sell.

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A man sleeps on top of a tomb in the Manila North Cemetery.

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There are so many people living in the cemetery that it has become a place of commerce. A small store is pictured.

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Filipinos sit atop the tombs in the Manila North Cemetery.

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It isn't known when its first inhabitants first moved in, but according to reports, those who came here in the 1950s say this place was already teeming with people who had nowhere else to go. Would you ever consider living in a cemetery? Or is the thought just too taboo?

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With Nowhere Else To Go, These Families Were Forced To Live In A Cemetery

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