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What’s the Coldest Place on Earth? Antarctica? North Pole? Siberia? Oymyakon?

The Ultimate Explorer’s Grand Slam is complete. Or is it?! If you want to claim that properly, you need to have visited every country on earth, reached both the North and South Pole, climbed the Seven Summits, and reached both the hottest and coldest places on earth. I have already covered the hottest place with Death Valley, so now comes the obvious question. What is the coldest place on earth?

I have a decent personal claim to this one. I have been to the North Pole (where I ran a marathon), the South Pole, spent time on the Antarctic Peninsula on a cruise, travelled deep into Antarctica to Union Glacier (where i also ran a marathon), and I have also been to Oymyakon in Siberia in the middle of winter.

So I have covered both of the main answers personally. And unlike the hottest place debate, where people start throwing in ground temperatures and average temperatures, the coldest place question is actually pretty simple once you separate the records properly. Coldest VISITABLE place, and coldest place every recorded. So let’s see:

So what is the coldest place on earth?

There are a few places that can make a claim, but the two that really matter are Antarctica and Oymyakon. And both are valid, but only one is visitable. So, we have to do that one then!

Vostok Station in Antarctica

The coldest temperature ever officially recorded on earth was at Vostok Station in Antarctica. On 21 July 1983, the temperature dropped to minus 89.2°C, or minus 128.6°F. That remains the official world record recognised by the World Meteorological Organization. World Meteorological Organization

So if the question is simply, what is the coldest place on earth based on the lowest air temperature ever recorded, then the answer is Antarctica. There is no need to complicate that.

But Antarctica is a continent, and Vostok is a remote scientific research station. It is not a town. It is not somewhere with families, shops, schools, houses, and normal daily life. That is where Oymyakon comes in.

Oymyakon, Siberia

Oymyakon in the Sakha Republic of Russia is recognised as the coldest inhabited place on earth. The temperature there reached minus 67.7°C in 1933, and people still live there all year round. Guinness World Records describes it as the coldest permanently inhabited place in the world. Guinness World Records The WMO lists the Siberian record at around minus 67.8°C for both locations.

it has become the place associated with the Pole of Cold and the coldest inhabited settlement on earth.

• I now run tours to Oymyakon in Siberia every winter, JOIN ME IN FEBRUARY!

Antarctica has the coldest temperature ever recorded

If we are sticking purely to science, Antarctica wins. Vostok Station sits deep inside East Antarctica at an altitude of about 3,420 metres. It is one of the most remote research stations on earth, and on 21 July 1983 it recorded minus 89.2°C. The WMO has formally reviewed and accepted that figure. That temperature is ridiculous. (World Meteorological Organization )

For context, minus 89.2°C is almost 22 degrees colder than the temperature recorded in Oymyakon. It is also much colder than anything ever officially measured in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Siberia, or anywhere else. For the official record, Vostok is number one.

I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in Antarctica. I have been to the South Pole, crossed through Union Glacier, and spent time around the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctica is one of the best places I have ever travelled, but getting to Vostok Station itself is a completely different thing. It is a working Russian research station deep inside the continent and is possible as a tourist destination. That matters when we start talking about actually visiting the coldest place on earth as part of a travel record.

Oymyakon is the coldest inhabited place on earth

This is where Oymyakon becomes the important one.

Oymyakon is a real village in eastern Siberia. People live there permanently. Kids go to school. People drive cars. There are houses, shops, families, animals, and all the normal stuff you would expect in a small town, except winter temperatures regularly fall below minus 40°C and sometimes below minus 50°C.

The official extreme associated with Oymyakon is minus 67.7°C, recorded in February 1933. Guinness recognises it as the lowest temperature recorded in a permanently inhabited location. Guinness World Records

Then there is Greenland. In 1991, an automatic weather station at Klinck in Greenland recorded minus 69.6°C. The WMO later verified that as the lowest temperature ever officially recorded in the Northern Hemisphere. That is colder than Oymyakon. World Meteorological Organization But again, nobody lives there. So it loses out to Antarcica anyway!So if somebody asks for the coldest inhabited place on earth, Oymyakon is the answer.

The criteria: absolute coldest versus coldest inhabited place

This is the bit that needs to be clear because people mix these records together.

• If the question is the coldest permanently inhabited place in the world, then Oymyakon is the answer, with its famous minus 67.7°C record and people continuing to live there throughout winter. Guinness World Records

• If the question is where the lowest officially recorded air temperature in history occurred, then the answer is Vostok Station in Antarctica at minus 89.2°C. World Meteorological Organization

• If the question is where the lowest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was recorded, then the answer is Klinck in Greenland at minus 69.6°C. Nobody lives there. World Meteorological Organization

For the Ultimate Explorer’s Grand Slam, I think a place where anyone can try to visit is what matters. Otherwise you could start arguing about an unmanned weather station in Greenland, a patch of ice measured by satellite, or a research station that almost nobody on earth can realistically visit. Oymyakon gives you something clear. It is a real place, with a real population, and it holds the record that matters for an inhabited destination.

Which coldest place on earth should you actually visit?

For a travel record, Oymyakon is the obvious one.

You can actually get there. It is difficult, but possible. You normally travel through Yakutsk and then head across Siberia by road. The journey itself is part of the adventure because you are travelling through one of the coldest regions anywhere on earth. When I went in February 2026 with Jaime Aleman, we reached minus 51°C. That is properly cold. Not record breaking for Oymyakon, but cold enough to understand why the place has the reputation it does.

And this is where the difference from Antarctica matters. I have already stood at the South Pole. I have travelled through Union Glacier and the Antarctic Peninsula. So on a personal level, I have Antarctica covered too. I have been on the continent that holds the absolute coldest temperature record, and I have been to the village recognised as the coldest permanently inhabited place.

That is factual, clear, and easy to explain. There is also something slightly mad about the fact that people choose to live there permanently. Cars need special treatment because engines can freeze. Pipes are difficult because the ground is permanently frozen. Schools have to deal with temperatures that would shut down entire countries elsewhere. January daily mean temperatures are around minus 46°C. Guinness World Records

This is not a place that gets one freak cold day every fifty years. Extreme cold is normal life. That is exactly why it makes sense for a travel record.

So what is the coldest place on earth?

The factual answer depends on what exactly you are asking, but the records are clear.

• The coldest temperature ever officially recorded on earth is minus 89.2°C at Vostok Station in Antarctica. That is the absolute world record. World Meteorological Organization
• The coldest temperature officially recorded in the Northern Hemisphere is minus 69.6°C at Klinck in Greenland, but that is an automatic weather station, not an inhabited settlement. World Meteorological Organization
• The coldest permanently inhabited place on earth is Oymyakon in Siberia, with its famous temperature of around minus 67.7°C. Verkhoyansk has an almost identical record, but Oymyakon is the place recognised worldwide as the coldest permanently inhabited settlement. Guinness World Records

So for the Ultimate Explorer’s Grand Slam, this is how I count it. Antarctica covers the absolute coldest place on earth. Oymyakon covers the coldest inhabited place on earth.=

And if you want to physically travel somewhere and say you have visited the coldest inhabited place on the planet, book yourself a winter trip to Oymyakon. Just make sure you go in January or February. Going there in July and claiming the coldest place on earth would be taking the p*ss!