What is the largest verified impact crater on Earth?

The Vredefort crater, more precisely the Vredefort impact structure, is the largest verified impact crater on Earth.

It formed in what is now South Africa about 2.023 billion years ago, when a gigantic asteroid struck the planet. Estimates place the original crater’s diameter somewhere between 170 and 300 kilometres. Erosion has removed much of the original rim and excavated rock, so what remains today is chiefly the deeply eroded Vredefort Dome and surrounding geological deformation.

The word “verified” matters because scientists identify impact structures through evidence such as shatter cones, shocked minerals, and unusual rock deformation. Vredefort was once debated as a volcanic feature, but impact evidence established its origin. The site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Chicxulub is often confused with Vredefort because it is famous for the dinosaur extinction and is the largest mostly intact impact crater. Sudbury is another enormous ancient impact structure, but Vredefort is the standard answer for Earth’s largest confirmed impact structure.