South Pole

The South Pole is the southernmost point on Earth. It serves as the spiritual center of the Southern Water Tribe. Avatar Korra and Chief Unalaq visited the South Pole in 171 ASC following the spirit attack during the Glacier Spirits Festival in an attempt to calm the angry spirits rampaging throughout the tribe.

Description
An ancient forest with a portal to the Spirit World is located in the center of the South Pole, which could be opened during the solstices by the Avatar. In the past, when the spirits were "in balance", a beam of light emanated from the portal, causing the celestial phenomenon known as the southern lights.

The damage wrought on the Southern Water Tribe by the Hundred Year War upset the pole's spiritual balance and caused the spirits to create an enormous, constant tempest known as the Everstorm to surround the pole. This, in turn, led to the trees becoming encased in ice. The forest eventually turned into a series of glacial caverns, penetrated by roots and inhabited by small, dragon-like spirits.

The southern lights had been absent from the skies for several years by the time of Korra's arrival in 171 ASC. Upon her intervention, the spirit and material worlds were rebalanced.