The coldest place on Earth is a high ridge on the East Antarctic Plateau, between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji in Antarctica, where satellite measurements have recorded surface temperatures down to about −93 °C to −98 °C on clear winter nights.

Quick Scoop: Coldest Place on Earth

  • Location: High ridge on the East Antarctic Plateau, near Dome Argus and Dome Fuji.
  • Record low (satellite): About −93.2 °C (−136 °F), measured in August 2010.
  • Why so cold: High altitude, extremely dry air, clear skies, and long polar nights let heat radiate away into space very efficiently.

In simple terms, the “coldest place on Earth” isn’t a town but a lonely ice ridge in the middle of East Antarctica.

Other icy contenders

Even though the East Antarctic Plateau holds the absolute record, a few other spots are famously brutal:

  • Vostok Station, Antarctica: Previously held the record with −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) in 1983.
  • Dome Fuji / Dome Argus, Antarctica: Multiple readings below −90 °C from satellites.
  • Oymyakon & Verkhoyansk, Siberia (Russia): Coldest permanently inhabited regions, down to about −67.7 °C to −69.8 °C.

These Siberian villages are where people actually live, go to school, and drive cars in temperatures that would freeze exposed skin in minutes.

Mini FAQ

  1. Is there a “city” that’s the coldest?
    • Places like Oymyakon and Yakutsk in Russia regularly see winter temperatures below −50 °C and are often cited as the coldest inhabited areas.
  1. Has the record changed recently?
    • The key modern update was the satellite-based finding of about −93.2 °C along the East Antarctic ridge, which beat the older Vostok Station record.
  1. Does climate change affect these spots?
    • Even while Antarctica and the Arctic are warming overall, extreme cold pockets like the East Antarctic Plateau can still produce record-challenging lows in specific conditions.

TL;DR:
If you’re asking “where is the coldest place on Earth?”, the answer is a high ridge on the East Antarctic Plateau between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, where satellite instruments have measured temperatures below −93 °C.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.