The city in which the number of deaths exceeds the number of living persons

World News Nilgun Salim
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In the southern region of San Francisco, there is a small town known as Colma, where the number of deaths exceeds the number of living persons.

Colma has 17 cemeteries, in which more than 1,5 million people were buried.

Almost all deceased were San Francisco residents but in the last century, the city initiated an order which prohibited the burial of the deceased within the limits of the city.

The government supported the decision stating that the cemeteries are spreading diseases, but the real reason was the increased price of lands from San Francisco, which the government did not want to waste.

Hundreds of thousands of bodies were exhumed and transported to the southern part of San Francisco, known today as Colma.

Most residents are gravediggers, florists or sculptors. It was not until 1980 when investors started to become interested in Colma.

The history of this hometown began in the XIX century with the Californian rush for gold, 1849, when a massive wave of immigrants, traders, and prospectors moved here. Hundreds died from cholera.

In 1900, the San Francisco city officials stated there is no more room for cemeteries inside the city, prohibiting any further burial.

Currently, in Colma, there is 1,800 resident, while the cemeteries are ‘hosting’ 1.5 million deceased, including famous American personality Levi Strauss.

The impressive number of deaths has given the city the nickname ‘the city of the silent. Colma’s residents, however, take their situation with humor. The town’s official slogan is ‘It’s great to be alive in Colma’.