This literature review covers 42 years and has two main objectives: to identify the obstacles to learning the polar coordinate system and to explore the teaching proposals suggested to overcome them. These questions are answered by locating and analysing articles related to the topic published in research and practitioner journals specialising in mathematics education. The review offers a classification of the identified learning obstacles based on their nature (didactical or epistemological). It also provides an overview of the teaching proposals that have been suggested to overcome these obstacles. The review concludes by discussing the evolution of the didactic knowledge related to the teaching and learning of polar coordinates and highlighting critical areas that could be explored further to enhance its teaching, learning and research.