List of 10 Coldest Countries in the World

Did you know the coldest inhabited place on Earth is in Russia? Oymyakon is the world’s coldest village, with temperatures dropping below -60°C.

When we think of freezing countries, we often picture the Arctic or places with lots of snow. However, the world’s coldest countries are defined by how people survive in extreme cold. Can you take a guess at which is the coldest country in the world? Keep reading to find out.

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List of Coldest Countries in the World

Here’s the list of the coldest countries in the world, where freezing temperatures are the norm and surviving the chill is a way of life. Furthermore, the data compares the average temperatures in 2020 with projected temperatures for 2040 across multiple countries.

Source: World Population Review

1. Russia

Russia is often called the coldest country because much of its land is in the Arctic and subarctic regions. Since it is far from the oceans, it has a continental climate with long, harsh winters.

January is usually the coldest month, and the lowest temperatures often come in late January or early February. Oymyakon is known as the coldest inhabited place on Earth.

• Maximum Coldest Temp (Record): -67.8°C (-90°F).
• Minimum Coldest Temp (Average Winter): -40°C to -50°C in Siberia.
• Survival: People survive by wearing heavy fur or high-tech synthetic layers and building homes with thick insulation and "mass stoves" that radiate heat for hours. They often leave car engines running all day to prevent the oil from freezing solid.

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2. Canada

Canada is extremely cold because it sits far north and has wide open plains that let Arctic air move in easily.

January is usually the coldest month, and the harshest cold snaps happen in the northern territories. The village of Snag in Yukon has the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in North America.

• Maximum Coldest Temp (Record): -63°C (-81.4°F)
• Minimum Coldest Temp (Average Winter): -25°C to -35°C in the Prairies and North.
• Survival: Canadians dress in layers—starting with a base layer, then an insulating layer, and finally a windproof layer—to stay warm. 
• In cities like Toronto and Montreal, underground walkways help people avoid the cold. In the north, communities use special snow-melting systems and eat high-calorie foods to keep warm.

3. Tajikistan

Unlike Russia or Canada, Tajikistan’s cold is driven by its extreme altitude. About 93% of the country is mountainous, and the Pamir Mountains experience a polar climate.

January is the coldest month, especially in the high-altitude deserts of the East. Lake Bulunkul is known as the coldest spot in the country.

• Maximum Coldest Temp (Record): -63°C (-81.4°F).
• Minimum Coldest Temp (Average Winter): -20°C in high-altitude regions.
• Survival: In these tough regions, people depend on livestock such as yaks for wool and meat. Families gather in traditional homes with central heating pits called sandali and use thick felt blankets to stay warm during the cold, thin-air nights.

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Which is the Coldest Country in the World?

Source: The Guardian

Russia is the coldest country in the world, mainly because of Siberia’s vast frozen land. Oymyakon, the coldest village on Earth, has recorded temperatures as low as -71.2°C. Much of Russia stays frozen for months, and even big rivers and Lake Baikal freeze solid.

In Yakutsk, winter temperatures often stay below -40°C. People build special structures on permafrost to get oil and gas. While the Black Sea coast is milder, most of Russia experiences long, snowy winters from November to April.

Which is the Coldest Place in Asia?

Oymyakon, a small village in the Sakha Republic of Russia, is the coldest place in Asia. People often call it the "Pole of Cold" in the Northern Hemisphere because of its extremely low temperatures.

Oymyakon set the record for the lowest temperature ever measured in a place where people live, reaching −67.7°C (−89.9°F) in February 1933. Even with its severe weather, about 500 people still live there.

Which is the Coldest Place in the World?

Vostok Station in Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth, with scientists recording temperatures as low as -89.2°C (−128.6°F). It sits in the middle of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, close to the Southern Pole of Cold, and opened on December 16, 1957, during the International Geophysical Year.

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