12 Coldest Cities on Earth
January is the coldest month in the Northern Hemisphere, as thermal inertia delays by a few weeks the impact of peak axial tilt in late December. Although Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth, the coldest permanently inhabited settlements are all in the Northern Hemisphere and are thus experiencing their coldest temperatures now.
Here are the 12 coldest cities on Earth1, ranked by average daily low in the month of January2:
12. Winnipeg 🇨🇦
Temp: -20.2° C (-4.4° F)
Winnipeg is the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Several cities in Canada lie further north, including Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. But Winnipeg’s location in the deep interior of North America gives it a harsher climate.
11. Changchun 🇨🇳
Temp: -21.2° C (-6.7° F)
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province in Northern China. The prevailing winds expose this region of China to the Siberian High - a mass of cold, dry air that collects over eastern Eurasia in winter.
10. Irkutsk 🇷🇺
Temp: -21.8° C (-7.2° F)
Irkutsk lies on the shores of the Angara River near Lake Baikal. With a population of nearly 600,000 people, it is one of Siberia’s largest cities and a vital waypoint on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
9. Daqing 🇨🇳
Temp: -22.8° C (-9° F)
Daqing is a city of nearly 3 million people in China’s Heilongjiang Province. Bitterly cold in winter, it is home to China’s largest oil fields.
8. Blagoveshchensk 🇷🇺
Temp: -23.2° C (-9.8° F)
Blagoveshchensk lies on the Russian side of the Amur River in Siberia, which forms the boundary between Russia and China. Temperatures there have never in recorded history risen above freezing from December 21st to January 26th.
7. Harbin 🇨🇳
Temp: -23.9° C (-11° F)
Harbin is the capital of China’s Heilongjiang Province, and is home to around 10 million people. The city is freezing in winter and is famous for its International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.
6. Qiqihar 🇨🇳
Temp: -24.5° C (-12.1° F)
Qiqihar is Heilongjiang Province’s second-largest city, with around 5 million people. Located near the Mongolian border, it is an industrial city dominated by manufacturing.
5. Chita 🇷🇺
Temp: -26.2° C (-15.2° F)
Chita is a city of over 330,000 people located on the confluence of the Chita and Ingoda Rivers in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia. It is an important stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
4. Ulaanbaatar 🇲🇳
Temp: -26.5° C (-15.7° F)
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia and is officially the coldest capital city in the world. It was first founded as a Buddhist monastic center in 1778, and now houses 1.7 million people.
3. Fairbanks 🇺🇸
Temp: -28.1° C (-18.6° F)
Fairbanks, Alaska is the coldest city in North America. Just south of the Arctic Circle and deep in the Alaskan interior, its winters are harsh and strongly continental. Alaska’s principal university is based in the city.
2. Norilsk 🇷🇺
Temp: -30.9° C (-23.6° F)
Norilsk is a city of over 175,000 people located north of the Arctic Circle in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Krai. It is a closed industrial city that specializes in mining - particularly nickel.
1. Yakutsk 🇷🇺
Temp: -42.1° C (-43.8° F)
Yakutsk is a city of over 350,000 people located just south of the Arctic Circle in Russia’s Republic of Sakha. The coldest temperatures outside of Antarctica and Greenland have been recorded in the immediate area. Despite this brutal climate, it is one of Russia’s most rapidly growing cities as its gold and diamond mining industries attract employment.
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For this list, a city is defined as a permanent human settlement whose total urban area has a population of over 50,000.
30 year averages to 2025. Sources: NOAA, WMO, WeatherSpark