The Extreme Points of the Earth

The remotest, deepest, coldest, wettest, and farthest-out places on the planet.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain, but Chimborazo reaches farther into space. The Dead Sea is the lowest land, but Challenger Deep plunges eleven kilometers below the waves. Here are the places that hold the planet's records for remoteness, depth, cold, rain, and altitude of settlement.

#	Place	Where	When
1	Tristan da Cunha The remotest inhabited archipelago on Earth, part of a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic	Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha	Annexed by Britain 1816
2	Chimborazo Ecuador's highest mountain and the point on Earth's surface farthest from the planet's center	Chimborazo Province, Ecuador	First ascent 1880
3	The South Pole The southern end of Earth's axis, high on the Antarctic ice sheet and home to a year-round research station	Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica	First reached 1911
4	The North Pole The northern end of Earth's axis, a point on drifting sea ice above a deep ocean	Central Arctic Ocean	First verified reached 1926 (airship Norge)
5	Oymyakon A Siberian village widely cited as the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth	Oymyakon, Sakha Republic, Russia	Record low set 1933
6	Alert, Nunavut A Canadian military and weather station on Ellesmere Island, the northernmost permanently inhabited place on Earth	Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada	Weather station founded 1950
7	Challenger Deep The deepest known point in Earth's oceans, at the southern end of the Mariana Trench	Mariana Trench, western Pacific Ocean	First crewed descent 1960
8	Point Nemo The oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the point in the sea farthest from any land	South Pacific Ocean	Identified 1992
9	La Rinconada A gold-mining town in the Peruvian Andes, the highest permanent settlement on Earth	La Rinconada, Puno Region, Peru
10	Mawsynram A village in India's Khasi Hills credited with the highest average annual rainfall on Earth	East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India

Place

Where

When

Tristan da Cunha
The remotest inhabited archipelago on Earth, part of a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha

Annexed by Britain 1816

Chimborazo
Ecuador's highest mountain and the point on Earth's surface farthest from the planet's center

Chimborazo Province, Ecuador

First ascent 1880

The South Pole
The southern end of Earth's axis, high on the Antarctic ice sheet and home to a year-round research station

Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica

First reached 1911

The North Pole
The northern end of Earth's axis, a point on drifting sea ice above a deep ocean

Central Arctic Ocean

First verified reached 1926 (airship Norge)

Oymyakon
A Siberian village widely cited as the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth

Oymyakon, Sakha Republic, Russia

Record low set 1933

Alert, Nunavut
A Canadian military and weather station on Ellesmere Island, the northernmost permanently inhabited place on Earth

Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Weather station founded 1950

Challenger Deep
The deepest known point in Earth's oceans, at the southern end of the Mariana Trench

Mariana Trench, western Pacific Ocean

First crewed descent 1960

Point Nemo
The oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the point in the sea farthest from any land

South Pacific Ocean

Identified 1992

La Rinconada
A gold-mining town in the Peruvian Andes, the highest permanent settlement on Earth

La Rinconada, Puno Region, Peru

Mawsynram
A village in India's Khasi Hills credited with the highest average annual rainfall on Earth

East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India

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