In a rather chilly video essay, Half as Interesting explains which town is the most hyperborean in the world. In doing so, he revealed that Alert, Nunavut, Canada is the Earth’s northernmost inhabited area, but because it’s a Canadian military base, it’s not open to the public. The second most northern town of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway, however, is open to anyone.
Alert, Canada—the northernmost permanent settlement in the world. This place is so far North that from it would actually be faster to fly over the North Pole to Mongolia than it would be to fly to Washington DC. …Alert is closer to the North Pole than it is to any other Canadian town. …It is not a public settlement—you can’t just decide to move there—so it cannot be called the northernmost town in the world. …So, slightly further south is the northernmost town in the world—the northernmost place that you can move to with no permission—Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard.
