The Coldest Countries in the World, Ranked by Average Temperature
The coldest country on Earth by average temperature is Greenland, at about −18.7°C (−1.6°F) — but Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, not a sovereign state. The coldest fully independent country is Canada (−4.0°C), a hair ahead of Russia. Here is the full ranking, where real people endure it, and why Antarctica does not count.
The coldest place anyone actually lives
Start with the number people really want. In the Siberian village of Oymyakon, the air once fell to −67.7°C (−89.9°F) — in 1933 — and roughly 500 people still live there year-round. Engines are left running through the night so they do not freeze solid. Oymyakon sits in a bowl-shaped valley that traps heavy, draining cold air, and it trades the title of coldest inhabited place with nearby Verkhoyansk (−67.8°C, 1892). That is a single winter night, though — not an average. Ask instead which country is coldest across the whole year and the answer shifts to the far north, where the cold is relentless rather than record-breaking.
The 15 coldest countries by average temperature
Ranked by average annual temperature from the World Bank Group's climate data (1991–2020 normals). The Status column is the part most lists leave out: several of the coldest “countries” are dependent territories, and two are uninhabited sub-Antarctic islands. The coldest sovereign nation is Canada.
| # | Country / territory | Avg. annual temp | Status | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greenland | −18.7°C / −1.6°F | Territory (Denmark) | Arctic |
| 2 | Svalbard & Jan Mayen | −6.8°C / 19.8°F | Territory (Norway) | Arctic |
| 3 | Canada | −4.0°C / 24.7°F | Sovereign | Northern North America |
| 4 | Russia | −3.8°C / 25.2°F | Sovereign | Northern Eurasia |
| 5 | Mongolia | 1.1°C / 33.9°F | Sovereign | Central Asia (high interior) |
| 6 | Iceland | 1.9°C / 35.3°F | Sovereign | North Atlantic |
| 7 | Norway | 2.2°C / 36.0°F | Sovereign | Scandinavia |
| 8 | Heard & McDonald Is. | 2.5°C / 36.4°F | Territory, uninhabited (Australia) | Sub-Antarctic |
| 9 | Finland | 2.5°C / 36.4°F | Sovereign | Scandinavia |
| 10 | Kyrgyzstan | 2.7°C / 36.8°F | Sovereign | Central Asia (mountains) |
| 11 | Sweden | 3.2°C / 37.8°F | Sovereign | Scandinavia |
| 12 | Tajikistan | 3.9°C / 38.9°F | Sovereign | Central Asia (mountains) |
| 13 | French Southern & Antarctic Lands | 4.1°C / 39.4°F | Territory, no permanent pop. (France) | Sub-Antarctic |
| 14 | Saint Pierre & Miquelon | 5.7°C / 42.3°F | Territory (France) | North Atlantic |
| 15 | Estonia | 6.3°C / 43.4°F | Sovereign | Baltic |
Source: World Bank Group climate data, 1991–2020 climate normals (derived from Climatic Research Unit gridded climatology), via the compiled list of countries by average yearly temperature. Values rounded. For the US equivalent, see our coldest cities in America, and for Europe, the coldest places in Europe.
Why these countries are so cold
Three things pull a country's year-round average down, and the leaders stack them. First, high latitude: Greenland, northern Canada and Russia reach deep into the Arctic, where the sun disappears for weeks and barely clears the horizon in winter. Second, a vast continental interior with no ocean to soften it — Canada and Russia are enormous landmasses, and land loses heat far faster than water, so their interiors plunge while coasts stay milder.
Third, elevation. Mongolia (1.1°C), Kyrgyzstan (2.7°C) and Tajikistan (3.9°C) are not polar at all — they sit on high, dry plateaus and mountain ranges in Central Asia, where thin air and altitude do the cooling instead of latitude. Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, is widely regarded as the coldest national capital on Earth for exactly this reason. It is also why Scandinavia ranks lower than you might expect: Norway, Finland and Sweden sit at Arctic latitudes but are warmed along the coast by the North Atlantic Drift, which keeps their averages near 2–3°C.
Is Antarctica the coldest country?
It is the coldest place, by a wide margin — but it is not a country. On 21 July 1983 the air at Vostok Station fell to −89.2°C (−128.6°F), the lowest temperature ever reliably measured anywhere on Earth. No country comes within 20°C of that. Antarctica, though, is a continent governed by the Antarctic Treaty, with research stations instead of citizens, so it sits outside every ranking of the coldest countries. Greenland takes the top spot on this list precisely because it is an inhabited, named territory — even if, as a Danish dependency, it is not a sovereign state either. The full point-by-point ranking of the planet's cold poles lives on our coldest places on Earth page.
The cold poles: record lows by region
Average temperature and record low are different questions, and the leaders are different too. These are the coldest readings ever recorded on each major landmass — the single worst nights, not year-round averages.
| Place | Region | Record low | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vostok Station | Antarctica (landmass) | −89.2°C / −128.6°F | 21 Jul 1983 | Coldest air temperature ever reliably measured on Earth (WMO). |
| Klinck (auto station) | Greenland | −69.6°C / −93.3°F | 1991 | Northern Hemisphere record (WMO). Greenland is a Danish territory, not a state. |
| Verkhoyansk | Russia (Asia) | −67.8°C / −90.0°F | 1892 | Asia record; one of two Siberian “Pole of Cold” towns. |
| Oymyakon | Russia (Asia) | −67.7°C / −89.9°F | 1933 | The coldest place on Earth where people live year-round. |
| Snag | Yukon, Canada | −63.0°C / −81.4°F | 3 Feb 1947 | Coldest ever recorded in North America. |
| Prospect Creek | Alaska, USA | −62.2°C / −80°F | 23 Jan 1971 | All-time record low for the United States. |
Sources: WMO Global Weather & Climate Extremes Archive; Snag, Yukon from Environment Canada / Parks Canada; Prospect Creek, Alaska from our own NOAA-derived state records. See the full ranked list of all-time lows on our coldest temperatures ever recorded page.
So what counts as the coldest country?
If you allow territories, it is Greenland, where the average year runs below −18°C. If you want a sovereign nation, it is Canada, edging Russia by a fraction of a degree. If you mean the coldest spot on the map, it is uninhabited Antarctica. And if you mean the coldest place where life actually goes on through the winter, it is a Siberian village of 500 people called Oymyakon. Four defensible answers to one question — which is exactly why the lists you find rarely agree. Now you have all four, sourced. For the opposite extreme, see the hottest countries in the world, or look up the weather on any date in history.
Common questions
What is the coldest country in the world?
Greenland is the coldest by average annual temperature at about −18.7°C (−1.6°F), per World Bank climate data (1991–2020), but Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, not a sovereign state. The coldest fully independent country is Canada at −4.0°C (24.7°F), just ahead of Russia at −3.8°C.
What is the coldest inhabited place on Earth?
Oymyakon, in the Sakha Republic of Russia, which fell to −67.7°C (−89.9°F) in 1933. The nearby town of Verkhoyansk hit a near-identical −67.8°C in 1892, and the two trade the title of coldest permanently inhabited place. Both sit in Siberian valley basins that trap draining cold air.
Is Antarctica the coldest country?
Antarctica is far colder than any country — Vostok Station recorded −89.2°C (−128.6°F) in 1983, the lowest air temperature ever measured on Earth. But Antarctica is a continent governed by an international treaty, not a country, so it is excluded from rankings of the coldest countries.
Why is Canada colder on average than Finland or Norway?
Canada stretches far into the high Arctic and has an enormous continental interior with no ocean to soften its winters, so its national average (−4.0°C) sits well below Scandinavia. Norway, Finland and Sweden are warmed along their coasts by the North Atlantic Drift, which keeps their averages near 2–3°C despite the latitude.