A giant hole of fire in the heart of Turkmenistant’s Karakum Desert may look as a science fiction movie at first sight.

But as a matter of fact, it is a crater made by geologists more than 40 years ago, and the flames within have been burning ever since.

Welcome to Derweze in Turkmenistan - or, as the locals have called it, 'The Door to Hell'.

It was hoped that the fire would use all the fuel within days, but the gas is still burning today, The Daily Mail reports.

The flames generate a golden glow which can be seen for miles around Derweze, a village with a population of about 350.

The site is about 260 kilometres north of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

In April 2010 the country's president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed but this is yet to happen.

The Karakum Desert, which covers much of Turkmenistan, lies east of the Caspian Sea.

The Aral Sea is located to the north and the Amu Darya river and the Kyzyl Kum Desert lie to the north-east.

The area has significant oil and natural gas deposits.