<P> Over the last few decades, the population of Oymyakon has shrunk considerably . The village had a peak population of around 2,500 inhabitants when it was a central town of the region, but that number has dwindled to less than 900 in 2018 . </P> <P> With an extreme subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dwd), Oymyakon is known as one of the places considered the Northern Pole of Cold, the other being the town of Verkhoyansk, located 629 km (391 miles) away by air . The ground is permanently frozen (continuous permafrost). </P> <P> There is a monument built around the town square commemorating a reading in the 1920s of − 71.2 . This was shown on the Australian programme 60 Minutes in a 2012 documentary . On February 6, 1933, a temperature of − 67.7 ° C (− 89.9 ° F) was recorded at Oymyakon's weather station . This was the coldest officially recorded temperature in the Northern Hemisphere . Only Antarctica has recorded lower official temperatures (the lowest being − 89.2 ° C (− 128.6 ° F), recorded at Vostok Station on 21 July 1983). </P> <P> The weather station is in a valley between Oymyakon and Tomtor . The station is at 750 meters (2,460 ft) and the surrounding mountains at 1,100 meters (3,600 ft), causing cold air to pool in the valley: in fact, recent studies show that winter temperatures in the area increase with altitude by as much as 10 ° C (18 ° F). </P>

What is the coldest habitable place on earth