The northernmost place in the world usually falls into the set of designations that include North Pole, Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole. The earth sits on its axis at this point on the globe. Additionally, there is the Magnetic Pole, which is something altogether different. Neither of the places has a permanent population, so one must go further south to find places that are inhabited permanently.
Another assumption about “north” revolves around the impression that it means cold. That assumption has been undermined by the fact that one area of the Arctic recently reported a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Eventually, the ice cap at the top of the world may get small enough as to be inconsequential
24/7 Wall St. examined several sets of research to find the northernmost town in the world. Among the distinctions that must be made is what constitutes a town and what constitutes a city. The southernmost city in the world sits at the tip of Chiles close to the Antarctic. Puerto Williams is called a city by the Chilean government though it has only 2,874 inhabitants.
The city-versus-town debate clouds the issue of the northernmost city in the world as well. A census has been established that the four northernmost places where people live permanently are in Norway. The argument is about which should carry the label of town and which are cities.
The northernmost town in the world is Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, located on an archipelago almost as far north as people can travel in Norway. The reason it cannot be called a city is that it only has 35 residents, most of whom are researchers and scientists. It was founded in 1917 as a coal-mining center. According to The World Atlas: “Kings Bay, an office of the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry, owns and operates the settlement making sure the infrastructure functions correctly.”
Click here to read more about the southernmost city in the world.
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