Uninhabited means having no people living there. An uninhabited island has no human residents, though it might have plenty of birds, plants, and other wildlife. An uninhabited building stands empty, with no one calling it home.

When explorers discover an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, they find beaches, forests, and maybe even freshwater springs, but no towns, houses, or people. Some places are uninhabited because they're too remote or harsh for comfortable living. Others are uninhabited simply because no one has chosen to settle there yet.

Scientists sometimes study uninhabited places to understand nature without human influence. The interior of Antarctica is almost entirely uninhabited. Many small islands scattered across the world's oceans remain uninhabited, even though ships pass nearby. These places offer a glimpse of what the Earth looks like when wilderness remains undisturbed by human civilization.