The hottest places in the world
Turn up the temperature
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13. Dallol, Ethiopia: 40°C (104°F)
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13. Dallol, Ethiopia: 40°C (104°F)
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Although, ‘inhabited’ is relative – the village was settled by people employed to mine the area for salt. The bubbling mix of acidic boiling springs, geysers and crispy salt formations means it’s not exactly welcoming to habitation. But the vivid, eye-popping colours and sheer otherworldliness of the landscape mean it's oddly beautiful to look at (from a very safe distance).
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12. Mecca, Saudi Arabia: 44°C (111°F)
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12. Mecca, Saudi Arabia: 44°C (111°F)
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There’s no respite from the heat here. The city is surrounded by the Arabian Desert and sprawled in a valley at the foot of the Sirat Mountains. It's sparse in greenery and densely populated, with around 1.5 million residents. Things heat up further for Hajj, a pilgrimage to the Kaaba or House of Allah. Around two million Muslims make the journey each year, usually in summer.
= 11. El Azizia, Libya: 48°C (118°F)
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= 11. Athens and Elefsina, Greece: 48°C (118°F)
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= 11. Athens and Elefsina, Greece: 48°C (118°F)
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Both places are typically baking during summer. Although usually under the type of sunshine that sends people flocking to the beaches and into the Aegean Sea, rather than scurrying for shade indoors. The average summer high in Athens sits around 30°C (86°F).
= 11. Ghadames, Libya: 48°C (131°F)
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Ghadames is technically an oasis town in the middle of the Libyan Sahara, but it can’t feel too much like that when temperatures in summer hit an average of 40°C (105°F). The so-called ‘pearl of the desert’ is reported to have reached a record high of 48°C (118°F).
= 11. Ghadames, Libya: 48°C (131°F)
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= 10. Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina: 49°C (120°F)
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= 10. Texas, USA: 49°C (120°F)
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= 10. Texas, USA: 49°C (120°F)
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9. Oodnadatta, Australia: 51°C (123°F)
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= 8. Phoenix, Arizona, USA: 50°C (106°F)
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= 8. Phoenix, Arizona, USA: 50°C (106°F)
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Phoenix had the highest number of days at 32°C (90°F) or above per year, with an incredible 169 of them. It edged into first place ahead of fellow Arizonian, Tucson, which had 147 days annually at 32°C (90°F) or above.
7. Oodnadatta, Australia: 51°C (123°F)
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The town, in the far north of the state of South Australia, has a largely Aboriginal population. Its name translates as “blossom of the mulga”, referring to the prevalent acacia trees here. Their broad canopies must be especially popular in summer, when temperatures often edge close to the record.
Take a look at these incredible places you won't believe are in Australia
= 6. Wadi Halfa, Sudan: 53°C (127°F)
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= 6. Wadi Halfa, Sudan: 53°C (127°F)
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With just 0.6mm of rainfall per year, Wadi Halfa is as bone dry as it is boiling hot, and most of that teeny-tiny amount of precipitation splashes down in January and August. The city shimmers behind a haze of heat, with average highs of 41°C (106°F) in June.
= 5. Mitribah, Kuwait: 54°C (129°F)
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= 5. Timbuktu, Mali: 54°C (130°F)
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4. Kebili, Tunisia: 55°C (131°F)
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4. Kebili, Tunisia: 55°C (131°F)
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3. Death Valley, California, USA: 57°C (134°F)
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3. Death Valley, California, USA: 57°C (134°F)
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2. Queensland, Australia: 69°C (156°F)
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1. Lut Desert, Iran: 71°C (160°F)
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The Lut Desert, or Dasht-e Lut, doesn’t boast any records when it comes to the hottest air temperature. But this uninhabitable desert plateau is where the hottest ever surface on the planet was recorded. It pushed close to an unimaginable 71°C (160°F) in 2005, based on a NASA measurement of the land skin temperature – and tops our list as a result.
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