Introduction
This compilation addresses planet‑scale geographical superlatives: individual locations that represent Earth‑wide extremes in geophysical or meteorological characteristics, explicitly excluding records that are only extreme within a single continent or nation. It encompasses positional extremes (absolute northernmost, southernmost, easternmost, westernmost points), vertical extremes (highest elevations above a defined sea level and lowest exposed basins), oceanic depths (deepest seafloor points), climatic extremes (record high and low temperatures, hyper‑humid and hyper‑arid sites, and largest single‑storm precipitation totals), and dynamic geophysical extremes (highest seismicity or volcanic activity and the strongest recorded winds).
Each entry is defined by precise quantitative metrics: geographic coordinates (in degrees, minutes, seconds or decimal degrees), vertical measures in metres relative to an agreed datum, temperatures typically in °C (and sometimes °F), precipitation in millimetres or inches, and wind speeds in m·s−1, km·h−1 or knots; dates and timestamps are included when an extreme derives from a discrete observation. Accurate localization demands standardized coordinate reference systems (commonly WGS84) and consistent vertical datums for elevation and bathymetry; ocean depths are referenced to mean sea level or to sea surface tidal datums (e.g., mean lower low water) according to dataset conventions.
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The catalogue distinguishes methodological classes of extremes: some superlatives reflect a single verified event and therefore require exact dating, whereas others are based on long‑term climatological averages and need explicit averaging periods and baseline years to permit valid comparisons. Positional definitions that depend on longitude require a stated convention for the prime meridian and the 180° line, since east–west designations are sensitive to the chosen longitudinal system; latitudinal extremes are determined strictly by numeric latitude values. Vertical extremes treat terrestrial and bathymetric lows separately and differentiate summit elevation above sea level from local relief or crustal thickness metrics.
Authoritative identification relies on multiple, corroborating data streams: in‑situ instruments (meteorological stations, tide gauges, GPS, altimetry), remote sensing (satellite altimetry, bathymetric surveys), and established institutional datasets from meteorological, geodetic and oceanographic agencies, together with peer‑reviewed literature; transparent citation and verification procedures accompany each record. Finally, the permanence of any listed extreme is conditional: climate trends, tectonic deformation and isostatic adjustment, episodic events (major earthquakes or eruptions), and improvements in measurement techniques or datum definitions can alter rankings, so every entry records the observation date and notes the potential for future revision.
Northernmost
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The northernmost recognized point of permanent land is the tip of Kaffeklubben Island off northern Greenland, located at approximately 83°40′N, 29°50′W (decimal: 83.667°N, −29.833°W). Close to this location, the well‑mapped headland Cape Morris Jesup lies marginally to the south (about 83°38′N, 32°40′W; decimal: 83.633°N, −32.667°W) and serves as a convenient fixed geographic reference in the high Arctic.
Beyond these stable features, a number of transient gravel shoals and bars—formed and redistributed by coastal and seasonal processes—have appeared farther north at times. The best‑known example, Oodaaq, has intermittently extended beyond Kaffeklubben’s latitude but is transient and therefore not treated as permanent land. Other reported candidates, including features labelled “83‑42” and “ATOW1996,” lack confirmation as enduring landforms and are not accepted as altering the established northernmost point.
Southernmost
The southernmost extremes of Earth’s land and water are defined by distinct geographic criteria. The southernmost point of continental land outside Antarctica is Cape Froward (Magallanes Region, Chile) at 53°56′00″S 071°20′00″W (decimal −53.93333, −71.33333), marking the southern tip of continental South America. The most poleward occurrence of unfrozen, open ocean at the ice margin is the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, located at approximately 78°30′S on the seaward edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. The southernmost island currently exposed above surrounding ice is Deverall Island near the Shackleton Coast; a separate landform reported within Lake Vostok lies buried beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and is therefore not presently emergent. One of the most southerly bodies of liquid surface water adjacent to the Antarctic continental margin is a bay on the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf (circa 83°00′S 59°00′W; decimal −83, −59), situated roughly 100 km south of Berkner Island. Finally, the poleward limit at which the global ocean is conventionally considered to extend is recorded on the Gould Coast at about 84°30′S 150°00′W (decimal −84.500, −150.000).
Easternmost and westernmost
The geographic antimeridian at 180° longitude functions as the conventional reference for east–west extremes: by a strict longitude criterion any location lying on this meridian can be described as both easternmost and westernmost. This meridian traverses polar and oceanic regions and crosses land in several places, including parts of Siberia (notably Wrangel Island), sections of Antarctica, and three Fijian islands (the eastern peninsula of Vanua Levu, the middle of Taveuni, and the western part of Rabi), as well as long stretches of the Arctic, Pacific and Southern Oceans.
Because the 180th meridian is a single straight longitudinal line, the pure longitude definition does not select a unique terrestrial extreme but rather yields many co‑equal easternmost/westernmost points along that line. In practice, however, extremes are often assigned according to the daily cycle determined by the International Date Line (IDL), which departs from the geometric antimeridian in several places for political and administrative reasons. When “easternmost” and “westernmost” are defined temporally—respectively, the first and last inhabited places to begin a new calendar day—the irregular routing of the IDL decides which land points hold those labels. Under this day‑order convention the westernmost inhabited point on land is Attu Island, Alaska, while the easternmost is Caroline Island (Millennium Island), Kiribati.
Assessment of the section
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Standards for geographic statements
Any numeric or descriptive geographic claim—coordinates, elevations, population or area figures, and timelines of landscape change—must be traceable to primary or high‑quality secondary sources to be acceptable in academic or reference contexts. Unsourced numbers are inherently unreliable and should not be presented as established fact.
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Provenance and metadata requirements
Coordinates must be reported in both decimal degrees and degrees/minutes/seconds, accompanied by the explicit geodetic datum used (for example, WGS84), and a precise citation to the source of the coordinates (national mapping agency, GNSS survey, GeoNames, NGA GEOnet Names Server, etc.). Elevations and topographic values must cite the data product and its vertical datum (for example, SRTM or a LIDAR‑derived model), state the data resolution (e.g., ~30 m or ~90 m), give heights in metres above mean sea level (m AMSL) with conversions to feet where relevant, and record the date or epoch of the measurement.
Acceptable source types
Prefer primary observational datasets and recognized institutional compilations: national mapping and geological surveys, peer‑reviewed literature in physical geography and geomorphology, national statistical offices for demographic and area data, and established international datasets (UN, World Bank, USGS, NASA). High‑quality remote sensing products and documented field surveys are similarly acceptable.
Avoiding original research
Do not introduce unpublished analyses, speculative causal claims, or interpolations that cannot be reproduced from cited data. Novel analyses may be included only with transparent methodology, full data provenance, and sufficient detail for independent replication.
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Documentation of methods for derived products
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Along constant latitude, the greatest uninterrupted east–west extents highlight how small circles can traverse vast continental and oceanic distances. The longest continuous landward corridor measures 10,726 km (6,665 mi) along the parallel 48°24′53″N: it begins at Pointe de Corsen on France’s Atlantic coast (48°24′53″N, 4°47′44″W) and runs eastward across Central Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China before reaching the eastern seaboard of the Russian Far East (48°24′53″N, 140°6′3″E), thereby spanning the full continental breadth of Eurasia on a single latitude.
The maximum uninterrupted oceanic arc occurs at 55°59′S and measures 22,471 km (13,963 mi). This continuous maritime route lies entirely south of Cape Horn and constitutes the longest east–west expanse at sea that remains free of land interruptions along a single parallel.
A related intercontinental maximum is found at 18°39′12″N, where a 15,409 km (9,575 mi) east–west sea distance connects the coast of Hainan, China (18°39′12″N, 110°15′9″E) to the coast of Michoacán, Mexico (18°39′12″N, 103°42′6″W). This arc represents the longest single-latitude transoceanic link directly joining Asia and North America.
Along lines of constant longitude (meridians) the single longest uninterrupted north–south terrestrial line extends roughly 7,590 km along the meridian 99°1′30″E, running from the northernmost tip of Siberia in the Russian Federation, through Mongolia, China and Myanmar, and terminating on the south coast of Thailand. Continental maxima differ: in Africa the longest continuous meridional land distance is about 7,417 km on 20°12′E, which links Libya’s northern shore to South Africa’s southern coastline while crossing Chad, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Namibia and Botswana. South America’s maximum uninterrupted meridional extent measures approximately 7,098 km along 70°2′W, from Venezuela’s northern coast through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile to the southern extremity of Argentina. North America’s longest such line is shorter, about 5,813 km on 97°52′30″W, running from northern Canada, through the United States, to southern Mexico.
Over water, the longest continuous north–south distances are substantially greater: the Atlantic maximum reaches about 15,986 km along 34°45′45″W, linking the eastern coast of Greenland to the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica; the Pacific maximum is roughly 15,883 km along 172°8′30″W, from a Siberian coast point to the Ross Ice Shelf.
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When cumulative land crossings along an entire meridian are considered (ignoring intervening ocean), meridians in the eastern longitudes of Europe and Africa dominate. The meridian near 22°E (the integer meridian 22°E) records the greatest total terrestrial length, about 13,035 km, composed of roughly 3,370 km in Europe, 7,458 km in Africa and 2,207 km in Antarctica—more than 65% of that meridian’s total length lies on land. The next six integer meridians by total terrestrial distance, in descending order, are: 23°E (≈12,953 km: Europe ~3,325 km; Africa ~7,415 km; Antarctica ~2,214 km), 27°E (≈12,943 km: Europe ~3,254 km; Asia ~246 km; Africa ~7,223 km; Antarctica ~2,221 km), 25°E (≈12,875 km: Europe ~3,344 km; Africa ~7,327 km; Antarctica ~2,204 km), 26°E (≈12,858 km: Europe ~3,404 km; Africa ~7,258 km; Antarctica ~2,196 km), 24°E (≈12,794 km: Europe ~3,263 km; Africa ~7,346 km; Antarctica ~2,185 km), and 28°E (≈12,778 km: Europe ~3,039 km; Asia ~388 km; Africa ~7,117 km). These patterns reflect the alignment of Eurasian and African landmasses along these eastern meridians and the large Antarctic sector they encounter.
Along any geodesic on the Earth’s surface the longest straight-line routes are measured as great‑circle arcs and defined by whether the track remains continuously over land or continuously over water. Terminal points need not share latitude or longitude; distance is the arc length along the sphere (a great circle) between endpoints. Because great circles may encircle the globe and can be selected to avoid land, the length of a continuous sea route depends on coastline detail and map resolution as well as whether routes are permitted to pass near antipodal vicinities.
The longest known continuous great‑circle land path extends 13,588 km from the West African coast near Greenville, Liberia (≈5.048°N, 9.123°W) to a peninsula roughly 100 km northeast of Wenzhou, China (≈28.285°N, 121.638°E). This single great‑circle track traverses Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia and even follows the Suez Canal corridor en route.
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Longest intra‑continental land tracks have been identified for each major landmass. Within continental Africa the maximum continuous land great‑circle distance is about 8,402 km, running from just east of Tangier, Morocco, to a point east of Port Elizabeth, South Africa; the route crosses Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. Continental Asia’s longest land great‑circle is approximately 10,152 km from the Indian coast near Kanyakumari to the Chukchi Sea coast of Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula, transiting India, Nepal, China, Mongolia and Russia. Continental Europe’s maximum—measured with the Urals as the Europe–Asia boundary—is about 5,325 km from Cape St. Vincent, Portugal to the Urals near Perm, passing through Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. In North America the greatest continuous land route is ≈7,602 km from Point Hope, Alaska to a point near Salina Cruz, Mexico, crossing Alaska, Canada, the contiguous United States and Mexico. South America’s longest intra‑continental great circle measures about 7,248 km, from near Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela to south of Punta Arenas, Chile, crossing Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Australia’s longest continuous land great‑circle is roughly 4,026 km from Cape Range National Park (Western Australia) to Byron Bay (New South Wales).
Sea‑only great‑circle routes can substantially exceed the antipodal half‑circumference benchmark (≈19,840 km). Because a great circle may circumnavigate or be routed to avoid all land at the chosen map resolution, multiple candidate maximal sea routes exist and reported maxima depend on the coastline dataset and resolution used. A prominent candidate runs from the south coast of Balochistan near Karachi, Pakistan (≈25.417°N, 66.417°E) to the northeast coast of Kamchatka near Ossora (≈59.633°N, 163.400°E); map analyses at ~1.8 km resolution have reported lengths near 32,040–32,090 km for this track, which arcs across the Arabian Sea and southern oceans, skirts southern Africa, rounds Cape Horn, and proceeds across the Pacific and Bering Sea. Other illustrative sea routes include an Iran–Mexico track of about 25,267 km (from Hormozgan province across the southern oceans to southwest Mexico) and a New Zealand–Ireland route of approximately 20,701 km (from Invercargill across southern oceans, past Cape Horn and the South Atlantic, to southwest Ireland).
Geodesics on Earth are the surface paths of shortest distance constrained to the spheroidal shape of the planet; they coincide with arcs of great circles and are locally straight only within that curved, two‑dimensional geometry, not as Euclidean lines through the planet’s interior. A true Euclidean straight line joining two surface points passes through the Earth’s interior and takes the form of a chord; when the endpoints are exact antipodes this chord is a diameter passing through the planet’s geometric (axial) centre. Except for unusual local surface interruptions — for example extreme overhanging cliffs that can break a continuous surface‑to‑surface alignment — an internal straight line can generally be drawn between two surface points without impediment. The terminology “axial centre of the Earth” here denotes that geometric centre through which such central chords or diameters pass, and pairs of surface points connected by a diameter are antipodal. A notable recorded extreme is the straight line from the summit of Cayambe (Ecuador) through the Earth’s centre to its antipodal point in Sumatra, cited as an instance of a maximal central antipodal line derived from a surface location. Numerically, because Earth’s circumference is roughly 40,000 km, the corresponding through‑Earth antipodal (diametral) distance is on the order of 1.27×10^4 km (≈12,700–13,000 km; ≈8,000 mi), substantially shorter than the half‑circumference great‑circle distance along the surface.
Highest points on Earth depend on the metric used: elevation above mean sea level, total height from base, radial distance from Earth’s centre, or tangential speed due to planetary rotation. By the conventional sea-level measure, Mount Everest (on the Nepal–China border) attains the greatest elevation at 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft), a value jointly confirmed by Nepali and Chinese authorities in 2020; the first widely recorded ascent was achieved by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. When height is measured from base to summit (including the submarine portion), Mauna Kea in Hawaiʻi is often cited as the tallest mountain.
Measurements tied to Earth’s shape favour equatorial summits. Because the planet is an oblate spheroid—bulging at the Equator and flattened at the poles—peaks near the Equator can lie farther from the Earth’s centre than higher, more polar mountains. Chimborazo in Ecuador exemplifies this: although its summit elevation is lower than Everest (6,263.47 m / 20,549 ft), its proximity to the Equator yields the greatest radial distance from Earth’s centre, about 6,384.4 km (3,967.1 mi). Chimborazo therefore exceeds Everest in centre-to-summit distance by roughly 2,168 m. Nearby Huascarán in Peru (6,768 m / 22,205 ft) rivals Chimborazo closely—its summit differs from Chimborazo’s by only on the order of ten metres in radial distance—demonstrating how latitude and elevation jointly determine radial extremity.
Tangential speed around the rotation axis is likewise maximized near the Equator. Cayambe (Ecuador) attains the highest linear surface speed because its summit sits farthest from the rotational axis in a location close to the Equator, producing a tangential velocity of about 1,675.89 km/h (1,041.35 mph) and a perpendicular distance from the axis of roughly 6,383.95 km (3,966.80 mi). Chimborazo, despite being the farthest from the centre, produces a slightly lower tangential speed (≈1,675.47 km/h) and ranks lower in rotational velocity, reflecting subtle differences in latitude and radial distance among equatorial peaks.
In sum, “highest” can mean different things in geomorphometry and geodesy: Everest is supreme by sea-level elevation; Mauna Kea by base-to-summit height; Chimborazo by distance from Earth’s centre; and Cayambe by tangential speed—outcomes that are governed by the interplay of topographic height and Earth’s oblate geometry.
Highest geographical features
The planet’s altitude extremes are concentrated in the Andean and Himalayan ranges, which set the upper limits for volcanic peaks, glaciers, rivers and lakes and thereby define distinct high‑altitude geomorphic and hydrological regimes.
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Ojos del Salado, on the Argentina–Chile frontier, is the highest volcanic summit at 6,893 m (22,615 ft) and forms a dominant high point of the central Andes. Its summit area also hosts the current highest known natural lake: an unnamed crater lake on the Argentine flank at about 6,390 m (20,965 ft). By contrast, Lhagba Pool on the northeast slopes of Mount Everest (formerly reported at c. 6,368 m / 20,892 ft) is now generally treated as a historical contender, having been reported to have dried up.
Glaciation persists to even greater heights in the Himalaya. The Khumbu Glacier, which drains the southwest face of Everest and originates on Lhotse’s western slopes, exemplifies ice accumulation and flow initiated at extremely high elevations (sources reported between c. 7,600 and 8,000 m / 24,900–26,200 ft). Continuous river flow, however, is limited to lower altitudes: candidate “highest” rivers include the Ating Ho (source ≈ 6,100 m; 32°49′30″N 81°03′45″E) and the Maquan/upper Yarlung Tsangpo (source ≈ 6,020 m; 30°48′59″N 82°42′45″E). Above roughly these elevations, mean temperatures remain close to or below freezing for most of the year, so perennial surface runoff is effectively absent.
Among high‑altitude inland waters used for transport, Lake Titicaca (on the Bolivia–Peru border at 3,812 m / 12,507 ft) stands out as the highest major navigable lake of commercial and cultural importance. High‑altitude lacustrine environments also produce notable island features: at least one island in Tibet’s Orba Co attains about 5,209 m (17,090 ft), representing the world’s highest known lake island. Together, these features illustrate how elevation governs volcanic, glacial and fluvial processes as well as the distribution and persistence of surface water.
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Highest points attainable by transportation
The extremes of transport access occur across modes and reflect both engineered infrastructure and episodic, record-setting ventures. The highest documented altitude reached by a four‑wheeled land vehicle is 6,688 m (21,942 ft), achieved on Ojos del Salado (Chile) on 21 April 2007 by Gonzalo and Eduardo Canales Moya in a modified Suzuki Samurai.
Road access to summit areas has been developed primarily for mining and strategic purposes. A former mining road that climbed to the summit region of Aucanquilcha (Chile) ascended to about 6,176 m (20,262 ft) (21°12′50″S 68°28′30″W / -21.214, -68.475); it was formerly negotiable by heavy mining trucks but is no longer usable. Classification of the highest motorable pass depends on definitions of “motorable.” The highest paved, regularly used route is the single‑lane asphalt road to Umling La in Ladakh, India, reaching approximately 5,800 m (19,029 ft) and used by trucks and buses; official signage there even proclaims it the “World’s Highest Motorable Pass.” Before Umling La was paved, Semo La in Tibet (≈5,565 m / 18,258 ft) held that distinction; in the Americas the highest surfaced pass is Ticlio on Peru’s Central Road at about 4,818 m (15,807 ft).
Unpaved high roads produce multiple contenders because route condition and traffic vary. Notable gravel or dirt routes include Mana Pass (≈5,610 m / 18,406 ft) on the India–Tibet frontier, Marsimik La in Ladakh (≈5,582 m / 18,314 ft) where a track may be motorable, and the heavily trafficked Khardung La in Ladakh (≈5,359 m / 17,582 ft).
Rail transport reaches high altitudes on the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, which crosses the Tanggula range at about 5,072 m (16,640 ft); the nearby Tanggula railway station, at roughly 5,068 m (16,627 ft), is the world’s highest railway station. Prior to that line, the Lima–Huancayo railway in Peru reached some 4,829 m (15,843 ft) at Ticlio.
Navigation by oceangoing commercial vessels attains its maximum altitude not by natural river gradient but by canal engineering: the summit reach of the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal between the Hilpoltstein and Bachhausen locks (Bavaria, Germany) is maintained at 406 m (1,332 ft) above mean sea level by lock operations, constituting the highest water level accessible to oceangoing commercial craft.
Air transport extremes include Daocheng Yading Airport in Sichuan, China, the highest commercial airport in operation at 4,411 m (14,472 ft); the planned Nagqu Dagring Airport (if constructed) would sit slightly higher at about 4,436 m (14,554 ft). Helicopter operations have pushed even higher in military and glaciated environments: the Sonam helipad on India’s Siachen Glacier is recorded at approximately 6,400 m (20,997 ft), representing an extreme for vertical flight under severe conditions.
Human habitation and geodesy offer additional metrics of altitude. La Rinconada in the Peruvian Andes, at about 5,100 m (16,732 ft), is widely regarded as the highest permanent, year‑round settlement. Because Earth’s equatorial bulge increases geocentric distance at low latitudes, the road leading to the Carrel Hut on the northern flank of Cotopaxi (Ecuador) — reaching about 4,850 m (15,912 ft) above sea level — is the point on a road farthest from Earth’s centre, with a geocentric radius near 6,382.9 km (3,966 mi).
Taken together, these records illustrate that the limits of transport accessibility are shaped by vehicle capability, engineering choices (paving, locks, airports), seasonal and operational constraints, and even the Earth’s figure; many “highest” claims remain contingent on definitional criteria and changes in infrastructure.
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Lowest natural points on Earth depend on the criterion used—depth below the ocean surface, depth measured from a land entrance, bedrock elevation beneath ice, accessible dry‑land surface, or proximity to Earth’s centre—and each yields distinct records. The greatest depth below sea level is found in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, at 11,034 m beneath the ocean surface. First reached by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaphe Trieste (1960), Challenger Deep was revisited by James Cameron (2012) and has been the subject of extensive recent work by the DSV Limiting Factor, which completed 19 dives between 2020 and 2022 and carried 19 additional visitors.
The deepest known cave penetration on land is Krubera Cave (Abkhazia, Georgia), whose surveyed lowest point is 2,199 ± 20 m below its entrance, a record established in 2006; Krubera remains one of only two caves measured deeper than 2,000 m. Beneath Antarctic ice, the most extreme sub‑sea‑level continental bedrock lies under Denman Glacier, where bedrock reaches roughly 3,500 m below sea level—deeper than any exposed continental surface but covered by an ice mass. The lowest dry land surface reachable without traversing standing water is the Dead Sea shoreline (Israel/Palestine/Jordan), at 432.65 m below sea level; the Dead Sea’s level is actively falling at more than about 1 m per year.
When proximity to Earth’s centre is used as the metric, the planet’s oblate shape becomes decisive. The atmospheric surface point closest to the centre is the Arctic Ocean at the Geographic North Pole, about 6,356.77 km from Earth’s centre. For the solid crustal surface (seafloor or land surface), the bottom of Litke Deep in the Arctic Ocean is the nearest, at 6,351.7043 km from Earth’s centre and a seafloor elevation of 5,449 m below sea level. Because Earth is flattened at the poles, Challenger Deep, despite being the deepest below sea level, lies farther from the centre (6,366.4311 km) than Litke Deep—approximately 14.73 km more distant. Molloy Deep, also in the Arctic, is a near contender for the crustal point closest to the centre (6,357.5178 km), differing from Litke Deep by only about 389 m.
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Finally, the notion of “sea level” itself varies regionally with Earth’s gravity field: the Indian Ocean Geoid Low, located roughly 1,200 km southwest of India, depresses the local equipotential surface so that the ocean surface there lies about 106 m below global mean sea level, illustrating that gravitational and geoid variations must be considered when comparing “lowest” oceanic surfaces.
Lowest artificial points
Human engineering has produced a range of “lowest” points whose significance depends on the reference used—vertical penetration of the crust, depth accessible to people, depth below mean sea level, depth measured from surrounding surface, or total depth measured from sea level in subsea drilling. Each category illustrates different technical challenges and measures of extremity.
The Kola Superdeep Borehole (SG‑3) represents the greatest vertical penetration into Earth’s crust achieved by drilling, reaching 12,262 m. This record is a measure of borehole depth rather than a space accessible to humans and exemplifies limits of deep drilling and borehole engineering into crystalline crust.
By contrast, the deepest location routinely accessible to people is within deep mine workings: South Africa’s TauTona gold mine (Carletonville) extends to approximately 3,900 m below ground. This depth characterizes engineered environments designed for human entry and operation under extreme geotechnical and thermal conditions.
Open excavations produce different extremes. The Hambach surface mine in Germany exposes strata to 293 m below mean sea level, making it a candidate for the lowest point open to the sky when measured relative to sea level. The Bingham Canyon open‑pit copper mine (Utah) exemplifies large‑scale surface excavation measured from the surrounding terrain, with vertical relief approaching 1,200 m from rim to pit floor.
In offshore engineering, subsea wells set separate records. The Tiber oil‑field well in the Gulf of Mexico attains a measured depth of 10,685 m below the subsea wellhead; with the wellhead located about 1,259 m beneath the sea surface, the total measured distance from sea level is approximately 11,944 m (coordinates 28°44′12″N, 88°23′13″W). This illustrates the combined challenges of deepwater placement and extended drilling reach.
Together these examples show that “lowest” artificial points are context‑dependent—defined by accessibility, reference datum, and method of excavation or drilling—and each reflects distinct technological and environmental constraints.
Within the theme of transport-accessible low elevations, several distinct categories emerge: surface roads, subaqueous and subterranean tunnels, sea-surface anomalies, mine access, rail and air facilities, and urban centres. The lowest publicly accessible vehicular routes follow the shore of the Dead Sea on the Israel–Palestine–Jordan frontier, at approximately 418 m (1,371 ft) below mean sea level, and thus constitute the world’s lowest roads outside of mines. The deepest undersea road tunnel system is Norway’s Ryfast, reaching about 292 m (958 ft) below mean sea level. For rail, Japan’s Seikan Tunnel attains track depths near 240 m (787 ft) below mean sea level; by contrast, the Channel Tunnel between England and France descends to roughly 115 m (377 ft), illustrating variation in design depth among major submarine rail links.
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Maritime “lowest points” are usefully distinguished from seabed depth by reference to the ocean equipotential (geoid): the Indian Ocean Geoid Low, located some 1,200 km (750 mi) southwest of India, is a regional geoid depression where the sea surface lies roughly 106 m (348 ft) below the global mean sea level, and thus represents the lowest oceanic surface elevation. Deep underground transport routes inside mines can extend far deeper than surface records commonly acknowledge; several South African gold mines contain roads and railways more than 2,000 m below mean sea level, but mine-internal routes are typically excluded from public surface-transport listings.
Among rail and air facilities, historical and operational distinctions matter. Japan’s Yoshioka-Kaitei Station—at 150 m (492 ft) below mean sea level—was the deepest railway station ever in operation, but it closed in 2014. The lowest open-air (above-ground) passenger rail station in current use is Beit She’an in Israel, at about 120 m (394 ft) below mean sea level. The lowest airfield is Bar Yehuda Airfield near Masada (378 m / 1,240 ft below mean sea level), serving light flights in the Dead Sea region; the lowest airport handling international traffic is Atyrau Airport in Kazakhstan at approximately 22 m (72 ft) below mean sea level. The lowest major city and national capital is Baku, Azerbaijan, sited about 28 m (92 ft) below mean sea level and representing the largest urban centre located below sea level within the Caspian Depression.
Table: continental extremes in elevation and recorded air temperature
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This table summarizes the principal elevation and air‑temperature extremes by continent, indicating the highest and lowest surface elevations and the maximum and minimum air temperatures documented for each continental unit.
Africa
Africa’s highest summit is Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania at 5,893 m (19,334 ft), while the continent’s lowest exposed surface is Lake Assal, Djibouti, at −155 m (−509 ft). The continent’s reported extreme high air temperature of 55.0 °C (131.0 °F) at Kebili (then French Tunisia) on 7 July 1931 is disputed. The lowest recorded air temperature is −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F) at Ifrane (then French Morocco) on 11 February 1935.
Antarctica
Antarctica’s highest point is Vinson Massif at 4,892 m (16,050 ft). The deepest known ice-free surface depression cited here is Deep Lake in the Vestfold Hills at about −50 m (−164 ft), noted for comparison with the continent’s much greater ice thicknesses. The highest measured air temperature to date is 20.75 °C (69.35 °F) at Comandante Ferraz Station on 9 February 2020; the lowest recorded air temperature is −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at Vostok Station on 21 July 1983.
Asia
Asia contains Earth’s highest summit, Mount Everest on the Tibet–Nepal border, at 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), and the continent’s lowest exposed shore at the Dead Sea (Israel–Jordan–Palestine) at −424 m (−1,391 ft). Two 54.0 °C (129.0 °F) high‑temperature observations are reported: Tirat Zvi (then British Mandate of Palestine) on 21 June 1942 and Ahvaz Airport, Iran, on 29 June 2017. Extremely low values include −67.7 °C (−89.9 °F) at Oymyakon, Siberia, on 6 February 1933 and an extrapolated −71.2 °C (−96.2 °F) for Oymyakon on 26 January 1926.
Europe
Europe’s highest elevation is Mount Elbrus in the Russian Federation at 5,642 m (18,510 ft); the continent’s lowest natural shore is the Caspian Sea at −28 m (−92 ft). The highest verified air temperature is 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) at Floridia, Italy, on 11 August 2021. The lowest recorded air temperature in the European record is −58.1 °C (−72.6 °F) at Ust‑Shchuger (then Soviet Union) on 31 December 1978.
North America (including Greenland as listed)
North America’s summit is Denali (federally designated Mount McKinley), Alaska, at 6,190.5 m (20,310 ft); its lowest exposed basin is Badwater Basin, Death Valley, California, at −85 m (−279 ft). The historical maximum of 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) at Furnace Creek (then Greenland Ranch) on 10 July 1913 remains controversial; a widely accepted verified value for the site is 54.0 °C (129.2 °F) on 30 June 2013, and additional recent values up to 54.4 °C (129.9 °F) from 2020–2021 await WMO verification. The lowest listed air temperature for the region is −69.6 °C (−93.3 °F) at Summit Camp, Greenland, on 22 December 1991.
Oceania
Under the continental definition used here Oceania’s highest point is Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid), Indonesia, at 4,884 m (16,024 ft); alternate definitions note Mount Wilhelm, Aoraki/Mount Cook or Mount Kosciuszko. The lowest significant terrestrial depression is Lake Eyre, South Australia, at −15 m (−49 ft). Recorded maximum air temperatures include 50.7 °C (123.3 °F) at Oodnadatta, South Australia, on 2 January 1960 and 50.7 °C (123.3 °F) at Onslow, Western Australia, on 13 January 2022. The lowest documented air temperature is −25.6 °C (−14.1 °F) at Ranfurly, Otago, New Zealand, on 17 July 1903.
South America
South America’s highest peak is Aconcagua, Mendoza, Argentina, at 6,962 m (22,841 ft), and its lowest exposed point is Laguna del Carbón, Argentina, at −105 m (−344 ft). The continent’s highest recorded air temperature is 48.9 °C (120.0 °F) at Rivadavia, Salta Province, Argentina, on 11 December 1905; the lowest is −32.8 °C (−27.0 °F) at Sarmiento, Chubut Province, Argentina, on 1 June 1907.
Methodological and record caveats
Elevations are reported relative to mean sea level unless otherwise noted; owing to Earth’s equatorial bulge the point farthest from the planet’s center is Chimborazo, Ecuador (≈6,267 m or 20,561 ft), not Everest. Temperature records cited follow World Meteorological Organization (WMO) conventions where indicated. Several historic high‑temperature claims have been invalidated or remain under review: the 57.7 °C (135.9 °F) Al ʻAzīzīyah (13 September 1922) record was rejected by the WMO; the 1913 Furnace Creek 56.7 °C observation continues to be debated although 21st‑century readings near 54 °C at the same site are corroborated; claimed Iberian readings >50 °C in 1881 lack reliable instrumentation and are not treated as official; and certain nineteenth‑century readings (for example Cloncurry, Queensland, 53.1 °C on 16 January 1889) were obtained under non‑standard exposure and are excluded from official series. Finally, regional classifications used for meteorological purposes (e.g., Greenland assigned to WMO region 6/Europe) can differ from simple geographic groupings and affect continental tabulations.
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Humans and biogeography
Satellite-derived imagery commonly represents biological activity with continuous color ramps that encode gradients of biomass: terrestrial vegetation is typically shown from brown (sparse cover) through dark green (dense cover), while ocean-surface phytoplankton is mapped from purple (low abundance) to yellow (high abundance). These visual conventions facilitate interpretation of broad spatial patterns in productivity and biomass rather than precise measurements at every point.
Biogeographic extremes are spatially stark. The highest concentrations of life are generally found in terrestrial tropical biomes, where warm, moist conditions support dense vegetation and high species richness. Conversely, very low biological presence occurs both on land and at sea; such areas often support only specialized extremophiles adapted to extreme temperature, salinity, desiccation or nutrient scarcity. Terrestrial examples include Antarctic desert features—most notably the McMurdo Dry Valleys and the hypersaline Don Juan Pond—where typical multicellular life is effectively absent because of extreme abiotic stress. In the marine realm the South Pacific Gyre, which coincides with the oceanic pole of inaccessibility (the point farthest from land), has been identified as an oceanic region of exceptionally low surface phytoplankton and productivity; anthropogenic or coastal “dead zones” constitute another class of low-biomass marine areas driven by local human impacts.
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Simple geometric summaries of human presence yield informative but coarse results. A basic global “center” defined as the point minimizing average distance to all people falls in Central Asia, with an average distance on the order of 5,000 km; its antipodal position, the mean-farthest point from people, lies in the South Pacific near Easter Island, at roughly 15,000 km on average. However, that classic calculation used country-level aggregation and is therefore susceptible to distortion by very large states; modern, kilometer-resolution population datasets provide much finer spatial accuracy for comparable analyses.
More broadly, the geographic centers of human economic activity and environmental impact have shifted over historical time. The economic center of gravity migrated from Central Asia in antiquity to Northern Europe by the modern era and, in recent assessments, shows movement back toward Central Asia. Similarly, the center of global carbon emissions moved from Britain during the Industrial Revolution to an Atlantic-focused locus and has more recently shifted eastward toward Central Asia. These dynamic relocations underscore how human demography, technological change and environmental pressures interact to reshape global biogeographic patterns; advances in remote sensing and high-resolution population data now permit more precise tracking of those changes.
Poles of inaccessibility are defined as the points that maximize distance to the nearest coastline: on land, the continental pole of inaccessibility denotes the single location on a continent that lies farthest from any ocean; in the sea, the oceanic pole of inaccessibility denotes the point in open water that is farthest from all land. Distances are computed with respect to ocean coastlines and island shorelines worldwide (oceanic islands included, lakes excluded), so every measured location’s remoteness refers specifically to proximity to the marine margin.
The map represents this coast-distance field on a global Mollweide equal-area projection and encodes distance with isolines—thin lines every 250 km (160 mi) and heavier lines every 1,000 km (620 mi)—to permit quantitative reading of how far points lie from the nearest coast. Maxima of the distance surface are marked by symbols: red spots indicate continental and selected regional poles (including Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula), while a single blue dot marks the oceanic pole. As spatial maxima of the coast-distance surface, these poles provide objective reference points for analyses of isolation and centrality, with applications in biogeography, assessments of human accessibility, and studies of oceanographic remoteness.
Continental poles of inaccessibility
Continental poles of inaccessibility are the points on land farthest from the nearest coastline. The commonly cited Eurasian pole is situated in China’s Xinjiang region, in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert near the Kazakhstan border at approximately 46°17′N, 86°40′E (46.283°N, 86.667°E). That point lies about 2,645 km from the nearest ocean and is roughly 11 km west of the small settlement of Suluk (46°15′N, 86°50′E).
A 2007 reanalysis, however, contends that prior calculations omitted the connection of the Gulf of Ob to the Arctic Ocean and therefore proposes two candidate regions rather than a single fixed point. The first region (EPIA1) is delimited approximately between 44°17′–44°29′N and 82°11′–82°19′E (roughly 44.283–44.483°N, 82.183–82.317°E) and lies about 2,510 ± 10 km from the nearest ocean. The second region (EPIA2) is bounded near 45°17′–45°28′N and 88°08′–88°14′E (≈45.283–45.467°N, 88.133–88.233°E) and is about 2,514 ± 7 km from the sea. Adoption of either 2007 candidate would place the Eurasian pole roughly 130 km closer to an ocean than the conventional point and would make Eurasia’s interior remoteness comparable to that of the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility (Point Nemo), with EPIA1 being less than ~200 km nearer to an ocean than Point Nemo is to the nearest land.
Other continental poles are located as follows. Africa’s continental pole falls near 5°39′N, 26°10′E (≈5.65°N, 26.17°E), close to the tripoint of the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Australia has two closely spaced candidate coordinates near Papunya in the Northern Territory—about 23°02′S, 132°10′E (≈23.033°S, 132.167°E) and 23°10′S, 132°16′E (≈23.167°S, 132.267°E). North America’s pole is located near 43°22′N, 101°58′W (≈43.36°N, −101.97°W), between Kyle and Allen in South Dakota, USA. South America’s pole lies near 14°03′S, 56°51′W (≈−14.05°N, −56.85°W), close to Arenápolis in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Point Nemo, the Pacific Ocean’s pole of inaccessibility, is the point in the South Pacific farthest from any land. Its location is commonly given as 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W (decimal 48.8767°S, 123.3933°W; signed decimal −48.8767, −123.3933). From this point the nearest coastline lies about 2,688 km (1,670 mi) away, a remoteness that has led to its informal use as a disposal zone for decommissioned spacecraft and debris.
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The three closest terrestrial reference points that define the local geometry of this pole are Ducie Island (Pitcairn Islands) to the north, Motu Nui off Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to the northeast, and Maher Island off Siple Island near Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica to the south. These three islands lie at approximately equal distances from Point Nemo and together frame its position within the South Pacific basin.
By contrast, the geographic centre of the Pacific Ocean and the concept of the Water Hemisphere lie to the west of Point Nemo and are nearer to Oceania. The source supplies two reference coordinates for these broader Pacific loci: off the coast of Kiribati at 47°24′42″N 2°37′15″W (decimal 47.411667°N, 2.620833°W; signed decimal 47.411667, −2.620833) and near New Zealand at 47°24′42″S 177°22′45″E (decimal 47.411667°S, 177.379167°E; signed decimal −47.411667, 177.379167).
Taken together, these locations illustrate the extreme maritime isolation represented by a pole of inaccessibility and situate Point Nemo in relation to regional geographic entities including the Pitcairn Islands, Rapa Nui, Marie Byrd Land, Kiribati and New Zealand.
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Bouvet Island, a Norwegian dependency in the South Atlantic (54°26′S 3°24′E), is widely regarded as the planet’s most remote island. It is uninhabited; the nearest land is the uninhabited Queen Maud Land of Antarctica, more than 1,600 km to the south. The closest inhabited or intermittently occupied places are Gough Island (1,845 km), Tristan da Cunha (2,260 km) and the South African coast (≈2,580 km).
Assessments of the most remote inhabited island or archipelago depend on definitional choices. Tristan da Cunha (population ≈300) and its dependency Gough Island (a site for a small staffed research post but no permanent residents) lie 399 km apart; if treated as a single archipelago, Tristan da Cunha qualifies as the most remote inhabited archipelago. The main island of Tristan da Cunha is roughly 2,434 km from Saint Helena, 2,816 km from South Africa, 3,360 km from South America, and 2,260 km from Bouvet. If Tristan da Cunha and Gough are considered separate and thus mutually disqualifying, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the southeastern Pacific emerges as the most remote inhabited island: about 2,075 km from Pitcairn Island, 2,606 km from Rikitea (Mangareva), and 3,512 km from mainland Chile.
The Kerguelen Islands illustrate a further contender: their nearest small scientific station (Alfred Faure on Île de la Possession) lies ~1,340 km away, while the nearest permanently inhabited continental land (Madagascar) is over 3,300 km distant. Kerguelen are approximately 450 km northwest of the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands and ~1,440 km from the non‑permanent station on Île Amsterdam.
Remote‑city and transport metrics yield other extremes. Among cities with populations exceeding one million, Auckland is the most isolated from a comparable city (nearest million‑plus city: Sydney, 2,168.9 km). Perth is the most isolated city of over one million from any city with more than 100,000 inhabitants (nearest: Adelaide, 2,138 km). Honolulu is the most isolated city of over 100,000 from another similarly sized city (nearest: San Francisco, ~3,850 km). The pair of national capitals that are most isolated from any other capital are Wellington and Canberra, 2,326 km apart; neither capital is closer to any other national capital.
In aviation terms, Mataveri International Airport (Easter Island) is the world’s most remote airport from any other airport: approximately 2,603 km from Totegegie (Gambier Islands) and 3,759 km from Santiago, Chile. By contrast, the Amundsen–Scott South Pole airfield (NZSP) is nearer to other Antarctic airfields, about 1,355 km from Williams Field (NZWD) on Ross Island.
Centre
Because Earth is an oblate spheroid, its true physical centre—the core—lies far beneath the surface, thousands of kilometres below the crust; therefore any “centre” identified on the surface is a human construct rather than the planet’s geometric or mass centre. In conventional cartography the nominal centre of a standard world map is the intersection of the Equator and the Prime Meridian (0° latitude, 0° longitude). That coordinate falls in the Gulf of Guinea, roughly 614 km (382 mi) south of Accra, Ghana, and is popularly marked by a buoy and nicknamed “Null Island.” The significance and location of this map-centre depend entirely on the historically and culturally determined choice of the Prime Meridian; since the designation of 0° longitude is arbitrary, the cartographic centre is likewise arbitrary.
An alternative concept of a global centre derives from population geography: the population centroid or point that minimizes mean travel distance for all people. Estimates have placed this centre in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, but no single immutable coordinate exists, because the population-weighted centre shifts over time as demographic distributions change.
Tallest mountain
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Height can be defined in multiple, non‑equivalent ways. The conventional standard is summit elevation above mean sea level (often termed “wet prominence”), which measures vertical distance from global sea level to the summit. An alternative is base‑to‑peak measurement, which records vertical relief from a mountain’s base to its summit; when that base lies on the ocean floor the full submerged height is sometimes called the mountain’s dry prominence. Because these metrics reference different datum points (sea level versus local or submarine base), they yield distinct rankings of which peak is “tallest.”
By the standard elevation‑above‑sea‑level measure, Mount Everest is the world’s high point: its summit is 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) above mean sea level. Everest’s status therefore refers specifically to highest elevation relative to sea level rather than the greatest total mass or base‑to‑summit relief.
When base‑to‑peak height is used, other mountains become preeminent. Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaiʻi, attains the greatest total height measured from its submarine base to summit—about 9,330 m (30,610 ft)—even though its summit elevation above sea level is 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft). On purely land‑based relief, Mount Denali in the Alaska Range exhibits the largest local rise from surrounding terrain, approximately 5,500 m (18,000 ft) from base to summit; Denali is also the highest peak in North America by elevation above sea level. These different measures explain why no single peak is objectively the “tallest” without specifying the chosen metric.
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Greatest vertical drop
Vertical relief on Earth attains its extremes in a variety of geomorphic settings, from isolated rock cliffs and alpine spires to entire mountain faces and submarine trench walls. On Baffin Island (Auyuittuq National Park, Nunavut, Canada) Mount Thor exemplifies the most extreme recorded purely vertical rock fall: a near‑freefall rock face of about 1,200 m, the summit of which attains roughly 1,675 m above sea level. In the high Himalaya/Karakoram region the Trango Towers (Gilgit‑Baltistan, Pakistan) present the largest nearly vertical exposures, granite spires whose steep faces reach drops on the order of 1,340 m and whose summits rise to ca. 6,286 m, combining extreme local steepness with very high‑altitude conditions. By contrast, the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat (Azad Kashmir, Pakistan) illustrates sustained mountain‑face relief rather than a single cliff: it extends continuously for approximately 4,600 m from its base to the high shoulder, making it one of the greatest uninterrupted mountain walls in terms of vertical extent. Beyond the terrestrial realm, the Kermadec Trench region demonstrates that comparable magnitudes of vertical relief occur beneath the sea: trench walls and adjacent cliffed margins produce submarine drops on the order of 8,000 m below or adjacent to the sea surface.
These records rest on different measurement concepts. A “purely vertical drop” denotes an almost uninterrupted, true‑vertical rock fall; a “nearly vertical drop” indicates extremely steep faces with slight departures from true verticality; a “mountain face” measures total sustained vertical relief from a defined base to a high shoulder or summit area; and an “ocean cliff” refers to submarine or coastal trench walls whose vertical extent is quantified relative to the sea surface or trench floor. Each category highlights different aspects of extreme relief—local steepness, continuity of face, absolute vertical extent, and the distinction between subaerial and submarine settings.
Longest — The Great Escarpment of southern Africa
The Great Escarpment of southern Africa, centered on South Africa, is the world’s longest surface escarpment, extending roughly 5,000 km as the steep margin of the high interior plateau. It largely encircles the plateau, rising along southern and eastern margins to form the dramatic Drakensberg–Maloti edge on the South Africa–Lesotho frontier and continuing as a pronounced break between coastal lowlands and inland highlands through the Cape regions, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu‑Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
Morphologically the escarpment is typified by a steep, frequently cliff‑like outward face that descends to coastal plains, contrasted with a relatively flat or gently undulating plateau above. In the Drakensberg–Maloti sector relief reaches its maximum, with summits exceeding 3,400 m (for example Mafadi at about 3,450 m on the South Africa–Lesotho border and Thabana Ntlenyana at 3,482 m in Lesotho).
Geologically the escarpment marks the exposed edge of the African interior plateau. Its present form reflects long‑term uplift of the plateau combined with differential erosion of sedimentary and volcanic sequences — notably Karoo Supergroup strata capped by Drakensberg basalts — with tectonic adjustments since the breakup of Gondwana and Cenozoic uplift accentuating the relief.
The escarpment exerts a strong control on regional hydrology and climate: it defines catchment boundaries and headwater areas for major rivers (for example the Orange/Senqu and the Tugela), enhances orographic precipitation on windward slopes, and produces large waterfalls such as Tugela Falls (approximately 948 m) in the Drakensberg.
Ecologically and socio‑economically the Great Escarpment generates distinct biogeographic zones (montane grasslands, fynbos and montane forests), functions as a natural barrier that has shaped settlement patterns and transport corridors (with passes and roads cutting the ridge), and supports numerous protected areas and highland communities — including the Lesotho highlands — that depend on its water resources and ecological services.
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Subterranean extremes encompass both engineered excavations and natural voids, and their ranking depends critically on the reference datum used. Among man-made excavations, South Africa’s Mponeng Gold Mine constitutes the deepest mine when depth is is measured from the local surface, extending roughly 4,000 m (13,000 ft) below ground level. By contrast, Canada’s Kidd Mine ranks as the deepest mine relative to mean sea level, reaching about 2,733 m (8,967 ft) below sea level. Open-pit operations are similarly sensitive to the chosen datum: the Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah is the deepest open-pit measured from surface at approximately 1,200 m (3,900 ft), whereas Germany’s Tagebau Hambach is the deepest open-pit when referenced to sea level, descending to roughly 293 m (961 ft) below mean sea level.
Natural subterranean extremes are represented by caves and vertical shafts. Veryovkina Cave in the Arabika Massif (Abkhazia, Georgia) has the greatest surveyed depth measured from its entrance, with a vertical extent of about 2,204 m (7,231 ft). The longest single continuous vertical shaft (pitch) currently known is in Tian Xing Cave, China, which contains a free-fall drop of roughly 1,026 m (3,366 ft).
Drilled records reach still farther into Earth’s crust. The Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia remains the deepest borehole in terms of drilled length at 12,261 m (40,226 ft). When depth is expressed relative to sea level, an offshore example—the Tiber well in the Gulf of Mexico—yields the greatest value, combining a 10,685 m drilled well with a seabed depth of 1,259 m to give about 11,944 m (39,186 ft) below sea level.
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Accurate comparison of these records therefore requires attention to measurement category: “below ground level” refers to vertical distance from the local surface; “below sea level” uses mean sea level as the datum; cave depth is typically reported from the entrance; “single vertical drop (pitch)” denotes a continuous shaft without intermediate climbs; and boreholes may be reported either by total drilled length or by depth below sea level (the latter sometimes combining well length with seabed elevation). The documented extremes are globally distributed—Africa, North America, Europe/Western Asia and Asia—illustrating that both human excavation and natural karst and drilling processes produce extreme subsurface features across diverse geological and geopolitical settings.
Greatest oceanic depths are concentrated in trench systems and other bathymetric lows that vary markedly among ocean basins. The Pacific Ocean attains the global maximum, with the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench reaching about 10,928 m (35,853 ft). The Southern Ocean’s deepest measurement lies in the southern sector of the South Sandwich Trench, about 7,433.6 m (24,388 ft) at approximately 60°28.46′S, 25°32.32′W. In the Indian Ocean the principal low is the Sunda Trench, whose greatest depth is near 7,192 m (23,596 ft). The Atlantic’s maximum, roughly 8,376 m (27,480 ft), is found in the Milwaukee Deep within the Brownson Deep sector of the Puerto Rico Trench. The Arctic Ocean’s deepest point, the Molloy Deep in the Fram Strait, reaches about 5,550 m (18,209 ft). The deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is the Calypso Deep in the Hellenic Trench, with a depth near 5,267 m (17,280 ft). Together these features illustrate how global seafloor relief is dominated by long, narrow trenches that concentrate the greatest oceanic depths.
Deepest ice
Subglacial portions of continental ice sheets that rest on bedrock below mean sea level are treated as sub‑ice basins rather than exposed terrestrial land. Negative elevation values for such features therefore indicate depth beneath sea level and represent submerged continental relief concealed by ice, not parts of the dry land surface.
Two notable examples illustrate this distinction. The Denman Subglacial Trench in Antarctica is a trench incised into the continental crust whose bedrock lies approximately 3,500 m below sea level (−11,500 ft); it is completely overlain by the Antarctic ice sheet and is classified as a subglacial depression. In Greenland, a trough beneath the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier has bedrock at about −1,512 m (−4,961 ft) and likewise constitutes a substantial sub‑ice depression on the Kingdom of Denmark’s continental crust.
Comparatively, the Denman Trench is deeper than the Jakobshavn trough by roughly 1,988 m (6,539 ft), underscoring the pronounced variability of sub‑ice continental relief in polar regions. Because these features are buried beneath ice, they are not counted as exposed land surfaces in assessments of terrestrial extremes.
Within the study of terrestrial temperature extremes among settled locations, a few sites exemplify the upper and lower bounds experienced by human communities. Dallol in northeastern Ethiopia exhibits the highest recorded climates for an inhabited settlement, with instrumental observations from 1960–1966 yielding an annual mean near 34.4 °C and mean daily maxima around 41.1 °C. At the opposite extreme, Oymyakon in the Sakha Republic of Russia is notable for the lowest monthly mean recorded at a populated locality, averaging −45.7 °C in January. When annual means are compared, the Canadian station at Eureka, Nunavut, registers the lowest among the cited inhabited places, with an annual average of −19.7 °C. Although Antarctic sites such as the South Pole are climatically much colder, they are generally occupied by personnel on rotations shorter than a year and are therefore treated as temporary stations rather than permanently inhabited settlements for the purposes of these records.
Ground-surface temperatures can diverge markedly from concurrent air temperatures: under intense insolation and where surface properties favor absorption and slow conductive loss, near-surface soils and exposed ground often heat tens of degrees Celsius above the overlying atmosphere. Material properties—surface albedo, moisture content and thermal conductivity—therefore strongly constrain peak heating; theoretical analyses for dry, dark soils with low thermal conductivity place the upper natural limit of ground-surface temperature in the order of 90–100 °C.
Empirical measurements illustrate this potential for extreme near-surface heating. A recorded surface temperature of 84 °C (183.2 °F) in Port Sudan exemplifies extreme heating in a hot desert/coastal setting, while an observation of 93.9 °C (201 °F) at Furnace Creek, Death Valley on 15 July 1972 is cited as a candidate for the highest natural ground-surface temperature measured in situ. By contrast, remote-sensing records using MODIS (2003–2009) identify a regional satellite-derived maximum of 70.7 °C (159.3 °F) in 2005 over Iran’s Lut Desert; the Lut Desert dominated the MODIS maxima in five of seven years (2004–2007, 2009), marking it as a persistent regional thermal extreme in the early twenty-first century. Satellite-derived radiative temperatures represent spatial averages over pixels and different measurement physics, so they are generally lower than isolated point measurements taken on the ground.
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Satellite retrievals likewise capture extreme cold of the surface: MODIS-based analyses for 1982–2013 reported a minimum surface radiative temperature of −93.2 °C (−136 °F) on 10 August 2010 at approximately 81°48′S, 59°18′E. Because radiative surface-temperature retrievals are not directly equivalent to standard near-surface air-temperature observations, such values should not be equated with air-temperature records; nevertheless, these very low surface radiative temperatures imply that air temperatures at that location were likely colder than the official lowest air-temperature measurement of −89.2 °C.
Afro‑Eurasia denotes the single continuous landmass formed by Africa, Europe and Asia. In geographic analysis of its “extreme points,” scholars identify the most northerly, southerly, easterly and westerly terrestrial locations, elevation extremes (highest summits and lowest exposed land) and maritime extremities. Determination of these extremes is complicated by offshore islands, by states that straddle continental boundaries (notably Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Egypt) and by territories with contested status, all of which can shift which locality is treated as continental mainland versus peripheral.
The African portion of Afro‑Eurasia comprises the states and territories of the African continent and adjacent oceanic islands. These political units occupy a wide array of physiographic provinces: the Sahara Desert across North Africa and the Sahelian belt to its south; the humid Congo Basin in central Africa; the Ethiopian Highlands and the Horn of Africa; the East African Rift and associated highlands; southern African landscapes including the Kalahari and Namib deserts and the Drakensberg/Lesotho uplands; plus numerous island states and archipelagos in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (for example Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Comoros). These varied landforms and insular territories influence how continental extremes are located and classified.
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The Asian component comprises the states of continental and insular Asia, spanning dominant tectonic and physiographic systems. The Himalayan range and Tibetan Plateau mark the highest elevations and influence states such as Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Pakistan; Central Asian steppes and mountain chains characterize Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia; East and Southeast Asia include extensive continental shelves and large archipelagos (China, Japan, the Koreas, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore). Major river basins—the Ganges, Yangtze, Yellow, Mekong and Indus—structure population and land‑use patterns, while numerous maritime and island states (e.g., Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Taiwan) further complicate delimitation of continental extremes. Transcontinental and Caucasus states add geopolitical complexity to continental definitions.
European states and institutional groupings (including the European Union and multiple microstates and partially recognized entities) form the western segment of Eurasia. Europe’s physiography ranges from the Scandinavian Peninsula in the north, through the Alpine system and the Pyrenees, to the extensive eastern European plains. Major river corridors such as the Danube, Rhine and Volga traverse these regions, and numerous peninsulas and island groups characterize Europe’s maritime margins. The presence of very small states (Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra) and partially recognized territories affects precise mapping of political and geographic extremities within the continent.
Together, these three components produce an extraordinarily diverse set of topographic, climatic and maritime conditions across Afro‑Eurasia; the interplay of continental mainlands, peripheral islands, transcontinental jurisdictions and disputed territories makes the identification and interpretation of geographic “extreme points” a matter of both physical geography and political delineation.
The Americas — Extremes
The continental envelope of the Americas is defined by a wide latitudinal and elevational span: the northernmost permanently charted land lies near 83°40′N (Kaffeklubben Island, off northern Greenland), while the principal southern maritime extreme is Cape Horn (≈55°58′S). Elevationally the continents range from the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina (6,961 m) down to the basin of Laguna del Carbón in Argentina (≈−105 m), establishing the primary vertical limits for the landmasses.
North America presents a strong north–south and elevational contrast, from Arctic islands and ice caps through boreal forests and plains to temperate and tropical mountain systems. Its highest point is Denali in Alaska (6,190 m), and lowland extremes include extensive sea-level coasts and interior depressions such as Badwater Basin in Death Valley (−86 m). Canada’s relief is typified by Mount Logan (5,959 m) and coastal sea-level margins, with its northern reaches extending into the High Arctic (Cape Columbia, Ellesmere Island, near 83°07′N). Greenland, the world’s largest island and Danish territory, reaches roughly 83°40′N and attains elevations to Gunnbjørn Fjeld (≈3,694 m); its coasts are carved by outlet glaciers and fjord systems. Mexico forms the transition to Central America with marked elevational gradients between coastal plains, the Mexican Plateau and the Sierra Madre ranges; its highest summit is Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m). Within the United States, physiography ranges from Arctic Alaska to the temperate forests of New England (regional high Mount Washington, 1,917 m), with national extremes anchored by Denali and Death Valley.
Central America is a narrow volcanic isthmus (roughly 9°–18°N) whose orography—volcanic chains and interior highlands flanked by coastal lowlands—shapes regional climates and drainage. Notable high points are: Belize, Doyle’s Delight (~1,124 m); Costa Rica, Cerro Chirripó (3,820 m); El Salvador, Cerro El Pital (2,730 m, on the El Salvador–Honduras border); Guatemala, Volcán Tajumulco (≈4,220 m); Honduras, Cerro Las Minas/Pico Celaque (2,849 m); Nicaragua, Mogotón (≈2,106 m); and Panama, Volcán Barú (3,475 m), which lies near the continental divide crossed by the Panama Canal. The Caribbean archipelago (approximately 10°–23°N) comprises coral and volcanic islands that modify regional circulation and sustain marine-influenced climates; island topography ranges from low coral banks to volcanic peaks. Representative maxima include Cuba’s Pico Turquino (1,974 m), the Dominican Republic’s Pico Duarte (3,098 m), and Jamaica’s Blue Mountain Peak (2,256 m).
South America exhibits a pronounced west–east contrast imposed by the Andes and the Amazon basin. The continent’s highest elevation is Aconcagua (6,961 m) while vast lowland basins (Amazon, Paraná–Paraguay, Orinoco) occupy much of the interior. Country-level extremes illustrate this diversity: Argentina contains both Aconcagua and the continent’s lowest natural surface (Laguna del Carbón, ≈−105 m); Bolivia’s high plateau is dominated by Nevado Sajama (6,542 m); Brazil spans an immense Atlantic margin to interior plateaus with Pico da Neblina (2,995 m) as its high point; Chile extends from the Atacama to subantarctic islands, with Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) among the highest volcanoes; Colombia’s coastal-reflective highlands include the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (peaks ≈5,700–5,800 m); Ecuador’s Andean backbone hosts Chimborazo (6,263 m), notable for its distance from Earth’s center; Peru’s Andean core contains Huascarán (6,768 m). Smaller Guiana Shield and southern littoral states show lower relief: French Guiana’s Mont Itoupé (≈851 m), Guyana’s tepuis (Mount Roraima ≈2,810 m), Suriname’s Julianatop (~1,280 m), Paraguay’s modest highlands (Cerro Peró ≈842 m), Uruguay’s low pampas (Cerro Catedral ≈514 m), and Venezuela’s Andean apex Pico Bolívar (4,978 m) with the Orinoco plains occupying extensive interior areas.
Together these latitudinal and topographic extremes across North, Central and South America frame the continents’ climatic gradients, biogeographic zones and major hydrological systems.
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Extreme points of Oceania are the geographically most distant locations within the region in the cardinal directions and the vertical extremes (highest and lowest elevations). Identifying these points requires precise geodetic coordinates (latitude and longitude) and elevation measurements referenced to mean sea level, and it depends critically on whether the analysis uses political/territorial limits, continental/mainland extents, or archipelagic boundaries.
For this purpose Oceania is treated as the Pacific and adjacent landmasses commonly subdivided into Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Consequently, extreme points are distributed across a wide range of latitudes, longitudes and elevations and occur on diverse landforms: continental mainland (notably Australia), high volcanic islands and mountain summits, and very low-lying coral atolls and reef islets. This geomorphic variety means that extremes may lie on prominent summits or on minute offshore features such as rocks, islets or reef platforms.
The set of political and geographic entities considered here includes Australia; Fiji; Guam; Indonesia (only the portions within Oceania); Kiribati; the Marshall Islands; the Federated States of Micronesia; Nauru; New Zealand; Niue; the Northern Mariana Islands; Palau; Papua New Guinea; and Tuvalu. Determining extremes for these entities requires explicit delimitation of their territorial extent (for example, distinguishing mainland Australia from its external territories, and separating Indonesian islands that belong to Asia from those in Oceania). Vertical extremes are normally defined by the highest permanently exposed summit elevation (metres) and the lowest natural point—typically mean sea level for oceanic islands unless a true sub-sea-level depression is present.
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Cartographic and geodetic choices materially affect reported extremes. East–west designations depend on conventions for the prime meridian and treatment of the 180° meridian; coordinates should be provided in a standardized format (decimal degrees or degrees/minutes/seconds) and elevations in metres with the vertical datum stated. Because physical and political factors—sea‑level rise, coastal erosion, and changes to territorial boundaries or offshore claims—can shift which features qualify as extremes, each record should include the date of measurement and the datum used to ensure reproducibility.
For rigorous academic or reference use each extreme point should be reported as an independent datum comprising: (1) extreme type (e.g., northernmost point), (2) feature name and type (islet, cape, summit, reef), (3) exact coordinates (latitude and longitude), (4) elevation in metres where applicable, (5) administrative affiliation, and (6) date and datum of measurement. Adherence to this protocol permits consistent comparison across the listed countries and territories and accommodates future revisions as geodetic practice or physical geography change.