Abandoned Towns of the World

The Telegraph has an interesting slide show of abandoned towns from around the world, including a brief explanation of why the town were abandoned. Although I recognize that the towns selected are not a representative sample, it is still interesting the number of towns that were abandoned due to war, including Varosha, Cyprus, pictured above. The explanation from the Telegraph states:

This was once a thriving tourist area prior to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the mid 1970s. However, its inhabitants fled and never returned, leaving the high rise hotels to crumble and the beaches deserted.