While the South Pole is located at the center of the large landmass of Antarctica, the North Pole is instead in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, hundreds of kilometers from any land. However, what point of land is actually the closest to the North Pole is still a controversial issue, with no definitive answer and various contenders.
First of all, let’s look at the northernmost points of the continents that surround the Arctic Ocean. For North America, this is the Murchison Promontory in Canada, which sits at a latitude of 71°58’N, 2,013 km from the North Pole. Cape Nordkinn in Norway is the northernmost point of mainland Europe, sitting at a latitude of 71°08’N and 2,107 km from the North Pole. Meanwhile, the northernmost point of Asia, and all of Eurasia, is Cape Chelyuskin in Russia. Located at a latitude of 77°44’N and sitting at 1,370 km from the North Pole, this is also the northermost point of any continental landmass.
There are numerous islands in the Arctic Ocean that lie further north that any continent. The Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land hosts the northernmost point of Eurasia, called Cape Fligely. This cape is located 911 km south of the North Pole, at a latitude of 81°50’N. This archipelago is sometimes considered part of Asia, while other times it is included in Europe. Excluding these islands, the northernmost point of Europe is the island of Rossøya in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago (80°49’N, 1,024 km from the North Pole), while for Asia this is again in Russia, the Arctic Cape on Komsomolets Island in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago (81°16’N, 991 km from the North Pole).
The islands located in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of North America are even farther north. Ellesmere Island is Canada’s northernmost island as Cape Columbia lies at a latitude of 83°06’N, 769 km from the North Pole. Ellesmere Island also hosts the weather station of Alert, sometimes considered the northernmost settlement in the world. However, the northernmost tip of Greenland, Cape Morris Jesup, is even closer to the North Pole, sitting at a distance of 708 km and a latitude of 83°37’39”N.
Map of the Arctic region.
The undisputed northernmost point of land is Kaffeklubben Island, a tiny island off the coast of Greenland, which lies at a latitude of 83°39’45”N, around 705 km from the North Pole. This island was discovered in 1900 and in 1969 it was determined to be located slightly north of Cape Morris Jesup, and was thus considered to be the closest land to the North Pole.
Since then, various other contenders for this title have been discovered in the sea north of Kaffeklubben Island. These are often gravel banks and non-permanent islets that may be shifted by the tides and the moving ice sheets, and may sometimes be submerged.
A gravel bank called Oodaaq was discovered in 1978 at a latitude of 83°40’N and 704.2 km from the North Pole. The islet has a length of 15 meters and a width of 8 meters, and may be periodically submerged. Another islet, unofficially named Qeqertaq Avannarleq, was discovered nearby in 2021. This island is located 703.4 km from the North Pole at a latitude of 83°40’17”N, and measures 60 meters by 30 meters, with a maximum elevation of 3 meters. However, further research has revealed that this is actually not a permanent island, but the tip of a grounded iceberg covered by soil and mud.
ATOW1996 is a tiny islet 10 meters long and 1 meter high that is located at a latitude of 83°40’35”N, 703 km from the North Pole. Sometimes considered the northernmost point of land, it is still unknown if the islet is permanent. Another candidate is Stray Dog West, a small island discovered in 2007 at a latitude of 83°40’37”N, also around 703 km from the North Pole, but this is likely to be another gravel bank that is often submerged. An expedition in 2001 claimed to have located an islet, which was called RTOW2001, at a latitude of 83°41′06”N, 702.5 km from the North Pole. Meanwhile another expedition in 2008 noted another islet, which remained unnamed, at around the same latitude, but these claims are still not verified.
Finally, the northermost of all the candidates is a rocky islet discovered in 2003. It was called 83-42, after its latitude of 83°42’05’N, which places it at 700 km from the North Pole. The islet measures 35 meters by 15 meters, and has a maximum elevation of 4 meters. According to its discoverer, Dennis Schmitt, 83-42 is not just a gravel bank but it is made of rocks, with lichens growing on them. The islet may indeed remain above the surface even at high tide and despite the moving ice sheets, but this is still not confirmed, and thus 83-42 is not considered as land.
So, until more expeditions are made to confirm or deny if any of the candidates are actually permanent islands, or other islands are discovered, the title of undisputed northernmost point of land remains on Kaffeklubben Island.
Aerial photograph of Kaffeklubben Island (Mr Minton, Flickr, CC BY 2.0).