The most northern settlements on Earth are communities close to the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Ma ...
, ranging from about 70° N to about 89° N. This is a list showing all of the northernmost settlements on Earth, which are all south of latitude 90° N.
There are no permanent civilian settlements north of 79° N, the furthest north (78.55° N) being
Ny-Ålesund
Ny-Ålesund ("New Ålesund") is a small town in Oscar II Land on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It is situated on the Brøgger peninsula (Brøggerhalvøya) and on the shore of the bay of Kongsfjorden. The company town is owned ...
, a permanent settlement of about 30 people on the Norwegian island of
Svalbard
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group rang ...
. Just below this settlement at 78.12° N is Svalbard's primary city,
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen (, locally lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ...
, which has a population of over 2,000.
When occupied for a few weeks some years, the northernmost temporary settlement in the world is
Camp Barneo, a Russian tourist attraction located near 88°11'00" N. As of 2022, it had not been occupied since 2018.
The table below shows the settlements, towns, and cities with a population of more than 250,000 inhabitants that are the northernmost in the world of their kind.
All locations
Cities and towns
This is a list of the northernmost cities and towns in the world.
Larger cities
Northernmost cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The population data may include municipalities, urban areas or metropolitan areas.
Northernmost cities with more than 250,000 inhabitants.
See also
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Southernmost settlements
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Extreme points of Earth
This article lists extreme locations on Earth that hold geographical records or are otherwise known for their geophysical or meteorological superlatives. All of these locations are Earth-wide extremes; extremes of individual continents or coun ...
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List of northernmost items
This is a list of various northernmost things on earth.
Cities and settlements
Geography
Nature
Wild animals
Plants
These lists only contain naturally occurring plants and trees, excluding individuals planted by humans.
General
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List of research stations in the Arctic
A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth.
Historically few research st ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Up Here Magazine, 'explore Canada's far north'
Populated places of Arctic Russia
Lists by region
Extreme points of Earth
Northernmost settlement
Geography-related lists of superlatives