Prohibition of dying

Map showing places where it is illegal to die, where it used to be illegal to die, and where there are attempts to make it illegal to die

Prohibition of dying is a political social phenomenon and taboo in which a law is passed stating that it is illegal to die, usually specifically in a certain political division or in a specific building.

The earliest case of prohibition of death occurred in the 5th century BC, on the Greek island of Delos; dying on Delos was prohibited on religious grounds.[1]

Today, in most cases, the prohibition of death is a satirical response to the government's failure to approve the expansion of municipal cemeteries. In Spain, one town has prohibited death;[2] in France, there have been several settlements which have had death prohibited;[3][4][5][6] while in Biritiba Mirim, in Brazil, an attempt to prohibit death took place in 2005.[7][8]

There is a falsely rumoured prohibition on recording deaths in royal palaces in the United Kingdom, for rather different reasons.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Where in the world is it illegal to die? | Cities | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
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  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "You Can't Do That!". BBC News. 2005-08-30. Retrieved 2008-03-04.