Driest Places on Earth

Wadi Halfa is a town located along the Nile in northern Sudan, close to the Egyptian border. It’s extremely sunny year-round and hot in the summer, in addition to being one of the driest places on Earth. A heat wave in August, 2015, reportedly resulted in 13 deaths in Wadi Halfa.

The Peruvian coastal city of Pisco is classified as having a tropical and subtropical desert climate, which implies minimal precipitation despite moderate temperatures year-round. It is known in part for its brandy that is derived from muscat grapes, which thrive in the area climate’s lack of clouds and rain.

The small city of Kaktovik is found in northern Alaska on the edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which covers approximately 20 million acres. As of 2015, there were 262 residents and an increasing number of polar bears, driven to land by decreasing Arctic sea ice. Kaktovik has a tundra climate and had less than 0.1 inch of precipitation in the wettest year in our database.

Chimbote is another coastal city in Peru, located 9 miles south of where the Santa River runs into the Pacific Ocean. While the city generally sees almost no rain during the year, a coastal mist is common outside of the summer months.

Al Jawf is a town located in southeastern Libya’s Kufra district. It has a hot desert climate and received an annual average of 0.007 inches of rain based on the 16 years of data considered. It is one of the most isolated places in Africa, being located more than 560 miles from a major city in any direction, though it remains inhabited due to irrigation methods using underground water.