South American Pole of Inaccessibility

South American Pole of Inaccessibility

The Point of Inaccessibility for South America is in the Arenápolis municipality of Matto Grosso state in the western part of Brazil.

The exact location of the South American PIA is determined to be at:

  • Latitude: 14°3’N
  • Longitude: 56°51’W
  • Distance from sea: 940 miles

The coordinates were calculated by Garcia-Castellanos & Lombardo in 2007 and published in the Scottish Geographical Journal.

Map of South American Pole of Inaccessibility

The first recorded visit belongs to the Turner Twins, from Devon in the United Kingdom, who reached the South American PIA by bicycle setting off from the Chilean town of Arica in 2017.

The twins accessed the final stages of the Pole on foot, cutting their way through some dense bush, but the majority of the territory appears to be knee/waist-high grasses and bracken. They marked the pole with a recycled piece of wood.