Southernmost settlements

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

Unlike the northern hemisphere, where several major metropolitan areas such as Moscow, Harbin, London, Paris, Seattle, and Montreal 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 in South America, the Falkland Islands, and the southernmost tip of New Zealand.

Currently, three places use this slogan: Ushuaia in Argentina as well as Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] in Chile, with the last being the absolute southernmost town by latitude (see table below).

A total of 30 countries (as of October 2006), all signatory to the Antarctic Treaty, 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.