The Poles of Cold are the places in the Northern and Southern hemispheres where the lowest air temperature was recorded. The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planets surface (or celestial sphere) that is north of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means half ball). On Earth, the Northern Hemisphere contains most of the land and population. ... The Southern Hemisphere of Earth highlighted in yellow. ... Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ...

The Northern Hemisphere

In the Northern hemisphere, the there are several places of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia which argue for the honour to be considered the Pole of Cold. These are Verkhoyansk (located at 67°33′ N 133°23′ E) and Oymyakon (located at 63°15′ N 143°9′ E). The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic (Yakut: Саха Республиката; Russian: ) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Jump to: navigation, search Siberia Siberia (Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... Verkhoyansk (Верхоя́нск) a town in Yakutia, north-east Siberia, Russia, on the Yana River, near the Arctic Circle. ... Oymyakon (alternate spelling Oimekon) is a village located along the Indigirka River in the Sakha Republic in Eastern Siberia, at 63°15′ N 143°9′ E. Oymyakon is known as the Northern Pole of Cold, because on January 26, 1926, a temperature of -71. ...

In December of 1868 and then in February of 1869 I.A.Khudyakov made the discovery of the Northern Pole of Cold by measuring a record temperature of -63.2°C in Verkhoyansk. Later, on January 15, 1885 a temperature of -67.8°C was registered there by S.F.Kovalik, which became the new World record, and still holds the record for the northern Hemisphere. This measurement was published in the "Annals of the General Physical Observatory" in 1892, however by mistake is was written as -69.8°C, which was later corrected. One can still find in some literature the wrong value of -69.8°C. Jump to: navigation, search 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

On February 6, 1933, an absolute minimum of -67.7°C was registered in Oymyakon, which is still 0.1 degrees warmer than the Verkhoyansk record. This gives Verkhoyansk the right to be the true Northern Pole of Cold. A temperature if -71°C is said to have been measured in Oimyakon, however in reality it was obtained by extrapolation method rather than measured directly, and is not valid as a World record. Jump to: navigation, search 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

However, the conventional practice is to round the measurement up to 1 degree centigrade. In this convention, the two places share the World record of -68°C. On the other hand, it is not correct to compare the data measured in different years with different equipment and different uncertainties. A more correct procedure is to compare average temperatures over large periods of time. On the average, the temperature at Oymyakon appeared to be lower than at Verkhoyansk during 70 years of simultaneous observations.

Another possible candidate is settlement of Tamtor, also in Sakha.

In conclusion, it is still arguable where exactly the Northern Pole of Cold is. However, it is certainly known to be in northeastern Siberia. Jump to: navigation, search Siberia Siberia (Russian: , common English transliterations: Sibir’, Sibir; from the Tatar for “sleeping land”) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ...

The Southern Hemisphere

In the Southern hemisphere, the Pole of Cold is in Antarctica near the Russian (Soviet) antarctic station Vostok, at 78°28′ S 106°48′ E. (July 21, 1983, a temperature of -89,9°C or -128.6°F). Jump to: navigation, search State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Socialist republics/ Communist state Area  - Total  - % water Largest on the planet 22,402,200 km² ?% Population  - Total  - Density 3rd before collapse... Vostok, Antarctica is a Russian research station located near the Geomagnetic South Pole (see South Pole), at the center of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. ... Jump to: navigation, search July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...