The South Pole

geography · extreme · Antarctica

The spinning point. The South Pole is where Earth's axis of rotation meets the surface in the Southern Hemisphere. Imagine a stick going through the center of Earth from top to bottom, and the South Pole is where that stick pokes out at the very bottom.

Incredibly cold place. The South Pole sits in the middle of Antarctica, one of the coldest places on Earth. Temperatures there can drop to minus 80 degrees Celsius, which is cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide solid.

Different from magnetic. The South Pole is also called the True South Pole or Geographic South Pole to tell it apart from the magnetic south pole. The magnetic south pole is actually in a different location and moves around over time.

High altitude desert. The South Pole sits on a plateau about 2,835 meters above sea level. Despite all the ice and snow, Antarctica is technically classified as a desert because it gets very little precipitation.

Axis endpoint. If you drew a line through Earth's center from the North Pole to the South Pole, that line would be the planet's axis. This axis is what makes Earth spin, completing one full rotation every 24 hours.