Southernmost settlements are cities, towns, weather stations or permanent military bases which are farther south than latitude 45°S. They are closely related to the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

or either the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerlies, westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40th parallel south, 40° and 50th parallel south, 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by ...

or Furious Fifties. Antarctic bases are excluded due to not having a permanent population. Unlike the northern hemisphere, where several major metropolitan areas such as

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

are all located north of the 45°N parallel, the only permanently populated areas south of the 45°S parallel are the small and sparsely populated regions of southern

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

, and the southernmost tip of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Southernmost city

''The southernmost city in the world'' is mainly a slogan used for tourism purposes to attract visitors to a city as well as the tourists headed for Antarctica. ''Ciudad'' (city) is not a legal designation in Chile and Argentina, except for the

Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Currently, three places use this slogan:

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

as well as

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...

and

Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Port Williams") is a city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the Capital city, capital of Antártica Chilena Province, the Chilean Antarctic Provin ...

http://www.infinito-sur.com/
, retrieved 9 April 2012Puerto Williams espera una gran temporada de centolla
retrieved 9 April 2012Escritorio Estudiantes
, retrieved 9 April 2012dibam
retrieved 9 April 2012Times Online
/ref>Website thisischile.c
Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world
/ref> in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, with the last being the absolute southernmost town by latitude (see table below). There are several more settlements further south but none are considered to be large enough to be classified as a '

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

'. The three contending cities are from north to south: *

(, population: 123,403), literally in Spanish: "Sandy Point", is the oldest and largest city in Southern

, at the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

and the capital of the Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It is the largest of the three contenders with around 130,000 permanent residents and it is called the southernmost city by some media outlets. The basis of its claim to be the southernmost city rests on it being larger than

, Río Grande, and

, all of which are farther south. *

(, population: 82,615), the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, is more commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world due to its sufficiently large population, its infrastructure, and its accepted classification as a city.Boston Globe 2008
/ref> Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of the island of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

, on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel; hence, it is further north than Puerto Williams. *

(, population: 1,868), located on Isla Navarino, is the southernmost town in the world on the southern shore of the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

. It is the capital of the

Antártica Chilena Province Antártica Chilena Province () is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Chile, provinces in Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region (XII). The capital is Puerto Williams. The province comprises ...

, one of four provinces located in the Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. Puerto Williams is sometimes considered the southernmost city in the world by Chilean media and some large media international organisations, although it promotes itself with the slogan ''Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world'' in its tourism campaigns. It has a Naval Hospital of Puerto Williams, the Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum, the Guardiamarina Zañartu Airport and a university campus and it is a naval base of the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

. File:Ushuaia 2009.jpg,

File:Punta_Arenas_city_view.jpg,

city view File:Micalvi yacht club navarino chile.jpg,

, Micalvi yacht club

Settlements of more than 1,000 inhabitants south of 45°S

This is a list of all settlements south of the 45th parallel south with over 1,000 permanent inhabitants.

Southernmost settlements outside Antarctica

This list of settlements excludes

research stations in Antarctica Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the current research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on ...

and its surrounding islands. *The former Argentine base Corbeta Uruguay (59°28′ S) in

South Sandwich Islands The South Sandwich Islands () are a chain of uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. They are administered as part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The chain lies in the sub-A ...

was the southernmost settlement outside Antarctica from 1976–1982.

Settlements on the Antarctic continent

There are many research stations in Antarctica, both permanent and summer only. Many of the stations are staffed all year.

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

is the largest with an average population of 1200. A total of 30 countries (as of October 2006), all signatory to the

Antarctic Treaty The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of A ...

, operate seasonal (summer) or year-round research stations on the continent and on its surrounding islands. In addition to these permanent stations, approximately 30 field camps are established each austral summer to support specific one-off projects.4.0 Antarctica – Past and Present
/ref> The full list is available at:

Research stations in Antarctica Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the current research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on ...

References

Extreme points of Earth Geography of the Southern Ocean Geography of Antarctica Southernmost

Bibliography