The Hottest Places on Earth

July 18, 2023, 10:52 am | Read time: 4 minutes

Death Valley in the U.S. state of California is the hottest place on Earth. In 2020, it reached the highest temperature in over a hundred years: 54.4 degrees Celsius. A new heat record was expected this past Sunday, and numerous tourists from around the world traveled to the Valley of Death specifically to be photographed in front of the famous thermometer in Furnace Creek. TRAVELBOOK shows how hot it really got in Death Valley that day and where else in the world it can get insanely warm.

Death Valley set the previous heat record as the hottest place on Earth more than 100 years ago: 56.7 degrees Celsius was reportedly measured on July 10, 1913, in the much-sung and discussed location on the route between San Francisco and Las Vegas. However, this number is disputed.

The current high of 54.4 degrees on August 16, 2020, is almost as high as the alleged heat record, but it is the third-highest ever recorded in the world. This past Sunday (July 16), this value could not be surpassed. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the highest temperature in Death Valley that day was 128 degrees Fahrenheit, equivalent to 53.3 degrees Celsius. It was described as “life-threatening heat,” warned the NWS, according to a report by “Focus.” Nevertheless, numerous tourists traveled to the hottest place on Earth on Sunday, hoping for a legendary photo in front of the thermometer.

Also interesting: Death Valley – Travel to the Hottest Area in the World

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The Hottest Places on Earth

Rank 1: Death Valley, USA

If the 1913 value is correct, the iconic and heat-famous Death Valley is the hottest place in the world, specifically the location Furnace Creek. And the 56.7 degrees only refer to the air. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it can get even hotter on the ground: on July 15, 1972, 98.8 degrees were reportedly measured here.

Why is it so hot in Death Valley? One reason is its location below sea level: at its lowest point, in Badwater Basin, it is 85.5 meters below zero. Additionally, hardly any raindrops find their way into the dry valley. The ground is barely vegetated, and the air feels like standing in an oven.

Also interesting: This is why these stones “wander” in Death Valley

Rank 2: Kebili, Tunisia

Kebili in Tunisia is allegedly the second hottest place in the world. On July 7, 1931, a high of 55.0 degrees was reportedly measured here. However, this number has not been officially confirmed and is disputed like the 1913 Death Valley record.

Rank 3: Mitribah, Kuwait

Desert Kuwait — The WMO has officially confirmed that the third highest temperature was measured at a weather station in Kuwait

The WMO has officially confirmed the third and fourth highest temperatures ever recorded in the world in June 2019. The third hottest place is in Kuwait. On July 21, 2016, 53.9 degrees (± 0.1 degree deviation) were measured by the Mitribah weather station in the northwest of the country. According to the WMO, this is the (officially) highest value ever recorded on the Asian continent.

Rank 4: Turbat, Pakistan

Also officially confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization is the fourth hottest place: Turbat in Pakistan. It reached 53.7 degrees Celsius (± 0.4 degree deviation) on May 28, 2017.

Also interesting: THIS is the driest place on Earth

There are numerous other places in the world that claim to have measured incredible high temperatures–even higher than these officially hottest. For example, Aziziyah in Libya reportedly heated up to 58 degrees in 1922, a value later found to be incorrect. Wadi Halfa in Sudan reportedly reached 53 degrees in April 1967, and the desert plateau Dasht-e Loot in Iran reportedly reached 70.7 degrees between 2003 and 2009. However, these lack official confirmations from the WMO.

Also interesting: These are the 10 sunniest places in the world

In These Countries, It Is Warmest on Average

The hottest countries on average are mostly located in Africa, with some in Oceania and South Asia, according to data from the World Population Review.

Top 10 Warmest Countries in the World 1991-2020 (in parentheses the annual average temperature):

1. Mali (28.83 degrees)

2. Burkina Faso (28.71 degrees)

3. Senegal (28.65 degrees)

4. Tuvalu (28.45 degrees)

5. Djibouti (28.38 degrees)

6. Mauritania (28.34 degrees)

7. Bahrain (28.23 degrees)

8. Palau (28.04 degrees)

9. Qatar (28.02)

10. Gambia (27.97)

Incidentally, the absolute highest temperature in Germany was measured in 2019: 42.6 degrees, recorded on July 25, 2019, in Lingen, Lower Saxony.

This article is a machine translation of the original German version of TRAVELBOOK and has been reviewed for accuracy and quality by a native speaker. For feedback, please contact us at info@travelbook.de.