Photos of Toilets From All Over the World Underline the Human Right to Sanitation

Based on a report from UN Water, 2.4 billion people around the world lack proper sanitation provisions, with an approximate 1 billion of the population forced to defecate in the open, which heightens the risk of sickness, disease, and malnutrition, particularly for women and children.

As opposed to, let’s say, this 380kg. worth of pure gold bathroom owned by a jewelry mogul in China…

…who is so rich, he probably excretes golden nuggets.

Here is a photoset from Reuters showing the different toilet facilities used the world over:

#1. Nairobi, Kenya

Rusty metal sheets providing privacy for a communal toilet in a Kiberia slum.

#2. California, United States

At the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica with a gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean.

#3. Santiago, Chile

Canvas-covered outhouse in the middle of a picturesque empty field with the Andes Mountain Range as a backdrop. Not such a terrible view to poop to, considering.

#4. Tokyo, Japan

Toilet cubicle surrounded by glass walls in a fence-enclosed garden at the Itabu railway station. Popularly called “the world’s most spacious public toilet.” So zen.

#5. Alaska, United States

What better way to expel your frozen waste than in the middle of the frozen waste surrounding the Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station in Prudhoe Bay.

#6. Beijing, China

Lots of reading material, especially on sexually transmitted diseases, for the migrant workers in Shigezhuang village who use this public toilet.

#7. Lalitpur, Nepal

Toilet under the stairs. A lot better than Harry Potter’s pre-wizard bedroom, in any case.

#8. Chicago, United States

Men’s public restroom at Streeter’s Tavern, where peeing while rehearing pick-up lines and scoping out bar denizens through a two-way mirror is the norm.

#9. Lima, Peru

Scrap plywood walls and magnificent mountainside views, assuming the user doesn’t accidentally fall off upon exiting.

#10. Beijing, China

Apartment toilet in Beijing’s central business district. Yet another face of China’s disproportionate class system toilet facilities.

#11. Cairo, Egypt

Awe-inspiring backdrop with the scent of mummies. A woman waits her turn at the public toilet near the Sphinx and Giza Pyramids.

#12. Hong Kong, China

An en suite master’s bathroom in a residential flat.

#13. Munich, Germany

Communal toilet in a hostel for asylum-seekers in Augsberg.

#14. Sao Paolo, Brazil

Jazzy discotheque-inspired men’s public restroom designed by Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger’s daughter, Jade.

#15. Mexico City, Mexico

Lapiz lazuli colors dominate this bathroom in a private Mexican home.

#16. Rome, Italy

Taking a dump side by side. Chemical toilets for tourists in downtown Rome.

#17. London, UK

A public toilet the size of a quaint cottage in the middle of London Fields.

#18. Oslo, Norway

No-nonsense corrugated steel and glass public commode facilities in Eidsvolls Plass.

#19. Sydney, Australia

Typical surfer’s dunny (outhouse) in the backyard of a private home in the Northern beach-side suburb of Manly.

#20. Paris, France

The famed “City of Love” taking itself seriously with Rolling Stones-inspired lip and tongue urinals at a Paris bar.

What are the toilet facilities like where you live?