It's a fact that, for many people, the idea of surviving a prison sentence for any length of time conjures up an image of a living hell. And no wonder! Our prisons are notoriously crowded, understaffed, and typically they only serve to increase the likelihood that the inmates incarcerated there will later reoffend. Not only that, but prisons are notoriously dangerous places,: hotbeds for addiction and mental illness, as well as physical and sexual assaults. The key difference lies in where in the world you are. Foreign countries all have radically different prison cultures: a penitentiary in Norway will be completely different to one in China, or Canda, or Uganda. To prove it, we've compiled a list of eye-opening images of prisons from around the world, to show just how much variety there is when it comes to life in the slammer. Scroll down to take a peek! 1. Altiplano prison, Mexico 2. Bordeaux prison, Canda 3. HM Prison Dartmoor, England 4. Rikers Island prison, United States 5. Bois D'Arcy prison, France 6. Neve Tirza, Israel 7. Otago Corrections Facility, New Zealand 8. Onomichi prison, Japan 9. Quezon city jail, Philippines 10. San Quentin state prison, United States 11. Evin prison, Iran 12. Haiti's civil prison, Haiti 13. Norgerhaven prison, Netherlands 14. Penal De Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador  15. Halden prison, Norway If you found this interesting then why not check out this article we penned, which investigates the strange reason why <a style="color: #0000ff" href="http://vt.co/news/weird/heres-the-bizarre-reason-why-the-game-of-thrones-books-are-banned-in-this-prison/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels</a> (the books that inspired the TV adaptation Game of Thrones) are banned in a certain prison.

15 photos of prison cells around the world show how different countries treat their criminals

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