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Coldest Countries

Name the coldest countries in the world based on average annual temperature. Amazingly, two countries average below the freezing point!
For the years 1990–2020. Source.
Not counting external territories such as Greenland
Quiz by joez
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Last updated: July 16, 2022
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First submittedSeptember 8, 2016
Times taken98,801
Average score75.0%
Rating4.97
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° C
Country
° F
-4.5
Canada
24.0
-3.8
Russia
25.2
0.8
Mongolia
33.4
2.3
Iceland
36.1
2.6
Tajikistan
36.7
2.6
Finland
36.7
2.7
Norway
36.9
° C
Country
° F
2.8
Kyrgyzstan
37.0
3.4
Sweden
38.0
5.7
Bhutan
42.3
6.4
Estonia
43.4
6.9
Switzerland
44.3
6.9
Latvia
44.3
7.2
North Korea
44.9
° C
Country
° F
7.3
Belarus
45.1
7.3
Kazakhstan
45.1
7.3
Lithuania
45.1
7.5
Liechtenstein
45.5
7.6
Austria
45.6
7.9
China
46.2
+12
Level 65
Dec 3, 2016
The furthest north you can drive in Canada is to Tuktoyaktuk in NorthWest Territories. However by late spring the ice road melts and you cannot drive the final 100 miles or so to get there.
+4
Level 76
Jul 18, 2022
No longer! A real road has recently been built to Tuktoyaktuk, and the ice road has been discontinued.
+8
Level 53
Dec 30, 2022
...thanks to the efforts of the 4 people that drive there each year
+23
Level 82
Dec 3, 2016
And yet Canadians get all indignant if you refer to their country as a frozen wasteland.
+36
Level 68
Jan 17, 2020
As a Canadian, I am offended. We are proud of our frozen wasteland!
+5
Level 71
Feb 5, 2020
The northern part nearer to the arctic is but the southern part isn't.
+8
Level 72
Feb 5, 2020
none of the major cities in Canada have an average temperature anywhere near that low. For instance Toronto has an average around 8.1°C, Vancouver is at 11.0 °C, Montreal comes in a little lower at 6.1 °C

While part of our country is a frozen wasteland, pretty much no one lives in that part

+5
Level 72
Feb 5, 2020
For comparison, New York City seems to be about 12 °C, so Vancouver is on average only 1 °C colder than NYC
+5
Level 69
Feb 10, 2020
Well, Vancouver is kind of a special case, along with Seattle, and all of coastal Alaska (like Juneau, and even Anchorage). The ocean currents up there in the northern Pacific are downright balmy (comparatively), which is why those cities are surprisingly warm for their latitude.
+5
Level 72
Feb 10, 2020
Sure, they aren't as cold in the winter but they also aren't as hot in the summer, so the difference is rather small. Toronto in the summer is often 30 °C or more, where as Vancouver hovers around 20 °C
+2
Level 57
Dec 30, 2022
What about "Winterpeg" and "Deadmonton"? And Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Iqualuit are Territorial Capitals. They might be considered "major cities" to some folks? There's a lot more to Canada than just Vancouver and Toronto (even if some folks consider Toronto the "centre of the universe").

And actually, the coldness of our country is a point of pride, despite how much we complain about the cold in winter. Complaining about the weather is like a national sport up here, haha.

"Take off! To the Great White North! Take off! It's a beauty way to go!"

+6
Level 52
Apr 20, 2021
its a frozen, not wasteland, call it a frozen
+1
Level 44
Apr 21, 2021
absolutely false
+4
Level 40
May 3, 2021
I'm offensive it's very canadian
+24
Level 46
Dec 3, 2016
Seems Chile isn't very chile...
+14
Level 82
Dec 3, 2016
The southern parts definitely are.
+1
Level 71
Feb 5, 2020
I was in Santiago in July and it was quite cold.
+19
Level 91
Sep 3, 2020
July in Chile is dead winter, so that would make sense.
+11
Level 54
Dec 3, 2016
does greenland not affect denmark enough to put it on this list?
+11
Level 82
Dec 3, 2016
I think it's probably not included.
+25
Level 33
Dec 11, 2016
Why? Should be. It's a part of Denmark.
+4
Level 76
Jul 18, 2022
This website (the featured quizzes anyway) are keen to assert that Denmark includes Greenland (my quizzes choose to differ, he says modestly). For consistency's sake Greenland should be included in Denmark's calculations.
+9
Level ∞
Jul 18, 2022
There is zero inconsistency in how we treat Greenland on our featured quizzes.
+5
Level 66
Dec 3, 2016
Whoohoo! Go Canada!
+3
Level 42
Dec 3, 2016
...Mongolia?
+13
Level 12
Dec 3, 2016
yes Mongolia lol
+5
Level 45
Feb 5, 2020
Yes! Because Mongolia has such vast open spaces and huge prairies, and also because its very central situation, the continental climate makes the winters long and cold, but the summers short and very warm. It's just like in Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan!
+5
Level 69
Feb 10, 2020
Plus its average elevation is 5180 feet – just barely shy of a mile!
+26
Level 51
Dec 3, 2016
Cool quiz...
+13
Level 73
Dec 4, 2016
I see what you did there...
+21
Level 6
Apr 27, 2017
n-ice pun
+8
Level 46
Dec 4, 2016
surprised denmark isn't in here with greenland
+1
Level 58
Dec 30, 2022
Caveat
+9
Level 41
Dec 4, 2016
Tried a couple of eastern european countries but would never have guessed slovakia!
+5
Level 73
Dec 5, 2016
surprised not to see Poland or Ukraine in the list
+6
Level 31
Dec 5, 2016
I left out Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia and Leichenstein because I thought they would be warmer than germany & poland.

Then I realised they have the Alps in them

+2
Level 47
Nov 10, 2019
Thanks for those answers
+3
Level 71
Feb 6, 2020
Just google if you want the answeres that badly
+7
Level 69
Feb 10, 2020
And who reads the comments before taking the quiz if they're not specifically looking for hints?
+1
Level 40
Jul 28, 2021
leichenstein
+6
Level 33
Dec 11, 2016
Please Denmark.

Please Greenland.

+11
Level 49
Apr 26, 2017
The one time I DON'T guess Liechtenstein in a country quiz...
+5
Level 72
Jul 27, 2017
Surprised not to see Andorra on here.
+6
Level 93
May 14, 2018
Me too. Andorra narrowly misses out at 7.6C
+3
Level 82
Sep 15, 2017
Good quiz. Really makes you think.
+2
Level 45
Jan 6, 2018
You missed Estonia
+5
Level 72
Jan 8, 2018
It's been there for well over a year. You must have missed it.
+2
Level 42
Jul 6, 2018
How is the US not included (due to Alaska)?
+7
Level 86
Jul 9, 2018
Probably because it also has places like Arizona, Texas, Florida, etc.
+4
Level 76
Dec 10, 2018
Not forgetting Hawaii! :)
+2
Level 72
Jul 21, 2022
Hey -- you can ski on Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii.
+5
Level 70
Jul 26, 2018
Slovakia? Surprising!
+5
Level 50
Jan 18, 2019
Now I know where not to go on holiday
+1
Level 60
Dec 30, 2022
Hahahaha yeah
+1
Level 51
Nov 9, 2019
what about tierra del fuego in chile
+1
Level 39
Nov 10, 2019
Well much more of Chile is warm
+13
Level 75
Feb 5, 2020
Yeah, and what about the inside of my freezer in the UK?
+4
Level 59
May 18, 2021
But what about the ice cream I just ate in my stomach in the USA
+1
Level 28
Feb 5, 2020
Great quiz, but I was wondering if Denmark would count since it owns Greenland
+1
Level 65
Jan 29, 2021
Lol can I the fahrenheit version?
+2
Level 48
Feb 5, 2021
no norway but there are sweden and finland?
+1
Level 59
Feb 12, 2021
But is there
+1
Level 61
Feb 26, 2021
Just missed North Korea :(
+2
Level 72
Jul 21, 2022
It's worth missing.
+3
Level 79
Apr 5, 2021
This quiz is a useful lesson that if you fail on the first 'stan, don't give up on the others!
+1
Level 40
May 3, 2021
north korea but no japan or south korea?
+3
Level 72
May 3, 2021
North Korea is closer to Siberia.
+1
Level 40
Jul 28, 2021
oh right
+1
Level 26
Jul 9, 2021
denmark because of greenland?
+2
Level 52
Jul 21, 2021
Make a column with Fº just to entertain us here in the Colonies!
+1
Level 69
Jul 21, 2021
It's crazy how cold it is in Tajikistan considering it's around as far south as southern Italy, Spain or Turkey! That's what high altitude does to you, I guess.
+3
Level 82
Jul 17, 2022
high altitude and a lack of coastal waters, oceans do a lot to keep a place temperate. Inland areas have way more fluctuations in temperature than coastal ones
+1
Level 64
Aug 7, 2021
Got them all! If you would like to try, here is a version with exceptions.
+2
Level 49
Sep 23, 2021
Would have never guessed Georgia
+1
Level 45
Sep 23, 2021
Only missed Belarus........
+1
Level 21
Oct 25, 2021
Pretty chill quiz...
+1
Level 36
Jan 1, 2022
Kazakhstan, Nepal and Bhutan have been missed out.
+1
Level 48
Jan 2, 2022
Dang! Slovakia got me!
+1
Level 55
May 17, 2022
Was not expecting Georgia on here
+4
Level 72
Jul 21, 2022
It wasn't on my mind either.
+3
Level 82
May 28, 2022
Some of these countries are nice to visit but none should be considered habitable outside of the summer months. Spring and Autumn maybe for the last two columns.
+1
Level 79
Feb 16, 2023
My ideal average temperature for a country would be around 12°C (54°F).
+1
Level 76
Jul 18, 2022
How do they calculate average temperatures for an entire country? Temperature gauges aren't evenly spread throughout a country. Do they take readings every hour of the day to average out each day's temperatures as well?
+2
Level ∞
Jul 18, 2022
Take temperature readings at stations throughout the world. Compute averages using sophisticated data models developed by teams of PhDs.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-0453-3

+1
Level 21
Aug 22, 2022
I thought Russia was the coldest, In Yakutsk Russia it gets down to around -70C
+1
Level 64
Oct 9, 2022
China?
+1
Level 43
Dec 13, 2022
19/20

Missed Austria.

+1
Level 22
Dec 30, 2022
best time 2:54
+1
Level 56
Dec 30, 2022
me who put all the things i left out but typod all of them 🗿🗿🗿
+5
Level 56
Dec 30, 2022
Judging by the comments this list changes regularly! No Slovakia or Georgia any more... I wonder why not?
+1
Level 49
Dec 30, 2022
I noticed the same. I checked the source, and there are highs and lows for each month. It is not possible to calculate averages on the basis of extreme values, so there has to be whole data somewhere.
+2
Level 49
Dec 30, 2022
I checked now my home country Finland and got 2.6 C by calculating averages for each months high and low and averaging all those 12 averages. The data set given by source (from 1991 - 2020) is:

Finland Countrywide Averages

high low

-5.5 -12.9

-5.4 -13.2

-0.4 -9.3

5.8 -3.3

12.9 2.4

18 7.9

21 11.1

18.7 9.6

12.8 5.2

5.4 -0.1

0 -5.3

-3.2 -9.7

Averages of extreme values give estimate of average of all values, it is always in the range. But average of extremes is more sensitive to outlier values, like one very hot summer or very cold winter month.

+1
Level ∞
Jan 2, 2023
The data is based on average values not extreme values. Why are you assuming it is based on extreme values?
+1
Level 85
Dec 30, 2022
Wikipedia has slightly different data; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_yearly_temperature
+1
Level ∞
Dec 30, 2022
Wikipedia is most likely wrong or outdated. I know because I made the list on Extreme Weather Watch directly from the original source.
+1
Level 39
Jan 2, 2023
i think denmark should be here because of greenland and usa should also be here because of alaska
+1
Level ∞
Jan 2, 2023
It specifically says that Greenland is excluded. The data for the U.S. does include Alaska. Why would you assume otherwise?
+1
Level 67
Jan 5, 2023
With an average elevation of 3265m (10,710 ft), I am beyond stunned that Nepal is not on this list. Checking the source, I find an average low temperature of 38.3F (3.5C) to be highly questionable at that altitude. That sounds reasonable for an average low in July, not for the whole year.
+2
Level 61
Jan 6, 2023
Surprised Denmark isn't on here. Not just because of Greenland, but because Jutland is pretty far north anyway.
+2
Level 67
Feb 1, 2023
Same
+1
Level 67
Feb 1, 2023
Just missed Belarus
+1
Level 31
Apr 13, 2023
i forgot mongolia somehow :|