Pole of inaccessibility

What is a Pole of Inaccessibility?

A pole of inaccessibility is a very special place. It is the spot that is the hardest to reach in a big area, like a country, a continent, or even the ocean. Imagine you are trying to get as far away as you can from the coast, or the edge of the land. The pole of inaccessibility is the middle point of that area.

Fun Places to Know

Northern Pole of Inaccessibility

The northern pole of inaccessibility is in the Arctic Ocean. It is the farthest spot from any land. Explorer Jim McNeill helped find this spot in 2005. It is about 1,008 kilometres from the nearest land. Because the ice moves, nothing can stay there forever.

Southern Pole of Inaccessibility

The southern pole of inaccessibility is in Antarctica. It is the farthest point on the continent from the ocean. In 1958, a team from the Soviet Union built a small station there. Many explorers have visited this cold, faraway place.

Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility

The oceanic pole of inaccessibility, called Point Nemo, is in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the farthest spot in the ocean from any land. If you fell overboard from a ship here, you would be as far from land as possible. This spot is very far from regular ship or airplane routes. Sometimes, astronauts on the International Space Station are the closest people when it passes overhead.

Other Land Poles

There are also poles of inaccessibility on land:

• In China, near the Kazakhstan border.
• Near the town of Obo in the Central African Republic.
• On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, United States.
• In Brazil, near Arenápolis.
• West-northwest of Alice Springs in Australia.

These places show us how scientists use maps and computers to find the farthest points on Earth!