Discover the top driest places on Earth, why they experience such little rainfall and what can survive in each region’s harsh conditions
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When thinking of dry landscapes, it is easy to think of hot and sandy deserts, with no water sources for hundreds of miles around. However, the driest places on Earth are not always the most scorching hot or barren. Many of them are, in fact, ice-cold or home to thriving and bustling cities.
Below are the top ten driest places on Earth, according to their total annual precipitation total, in reverse order.
10. Faya-Largeau, Chad (10 mm)
Located in northern Chad, Faya-Largeau experiences a hyper-arid climate due to its proximity to the Sahara Desert, providing the city with intense heat and minimal rainfall, often totalling less than 10 mm per year. It is a very challenging environment for sustaining life, with very little vegetation or wildlife.
However, there are a few resilient species which can survive the harsh climate including scorpions, desert foxes and camels.
Around 48,000 people live in Faya-Largeau, depending on the sparse oases as their primary water sources.
9. Walvis Bay, Namibia (8 mm)
Receiving under 8 mm of rain annually, Walvis Bay in the Namib Desert is located on Namibia’s Atlantic coast. It relies on dense ocean fog to provide moisture.
This unique ecosystem is surprisingly able to support a wide range of life, including Cape fur seals, which thrive along the coastline, as well as occasional sightings of brown hyenas. The fog also nourishes plants like lichens, which, in turn, support small insects and other animals, creating a unique micro-ecosystem in the desert.
8. Aoulef, Algeria (5 mm)
Located within the part of the Sahara Desert in Algeria, the town of Aoulef experiences very high temperatures alongside an average of just 5-12 mm of rain each year. Aoulef is the driest location in all of Algeria.
With minimal vegetation, the wildlife here includes desert-adapted animals such as sand foxes, addax antelopes, and numerous species of resilient insects. These animals are experts at conserving moisture, obtaining most of their water from food rather than direct sources.
Aoulef’s oasis, however, provides a crucial water source for its residents, making it a vital area of life in an otherwise vast, arid expanse.
7. Wadi Halfa, Sudan (2.5 mm)
With 2.5 mm of rainfall annually, Wadi Halfa in Sudan’s Nubian Desert is one of the driest places in Africa, surrounded by nothing but sand and rock formations.
While it may sound like not much could thrive in these conditions, Wadi Half is actually home to more than 15,000 people.
The Nile River is a critical water source for Wadi Halfa, sustaining both human and animal populations where rainfall is virtually absent. The region’s aridity is important for historical preservation, as well as for protecting ancient artefacts such as rock paintings, human remains, and landmarks.
6. Ica, Peru (2 mm)
In the Ica Desert, the city of Ica experiences less than 2mm of rain falls annually, making it one of the driest places on the continent of South America.
The human population of over a quarter of a million people thrive in the city, but animal species are few and far between. Lizards, beetles, and some migratory bird species sometimes arrive following rare rains, but not much else makes Ica a permanent home.
The city depends on an aquifer for its water needs and the nearby Ica River, but there is evidence to suggest that these sources are struggling with climate change, and they could soon dry up, particularly as the land is exploited for farming.
5. Luxor, Egypt (1 mm)
Luxor, receiving around 1 mm of rain annually, is situated along the Nile River, where water can support both agricultural needs and wildlife in the otherwise unforgiving Western Desert, part of the Sahara.
Animals such as desert foxes, Nile crocodiles, and various water birds are common, especially near the river.
Luxor’s dry climate has been critical in preserving ancient monuments and temples, including the famed Karnak Temple and Valley of the Kings, making it a top location for tourism in Egypt. However, climate change could put the preservation of these sites in jeopardy.
4. Aswan, Egypt (1 mm)
Located in the Sahara Desert, Aswan receives approximately 1 mm of rain each year and experiences year-round high daytime temperatures.
Vegetation is almost nonexistent, with very few desert animals like the fennec fox and the horned viper surviving the environment by being nocturnal and avoiding the daytime heat.
Like Luxor, the population of Aswan is also supported by the Nile River, relying on this water source for daily living in the surrounding harsh desert.
3. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile (1 mm)
San Pedro de Atacama experiences very little rainfall each year, with records averaging just less than 1mm. The city’s dryness is due to its location in a high-altitude valley, protecting it from overhead moisture from passing clouds, which are dissipated on the nearby volcanoes and mountains.
Despite its extreme aridity, the region hosts a variety of wildlife, including flamingos that flock to the nearby salt flats and various species of desert foxes and reptiles that have adapted to the harsh environment.
2. Arica, Chile (0.76 mm)
Arica, part of the Atacama Desert, receives only around 0.76 mm of rain annually, but it benefits from a coastal fog known as “camanchaca.”
This fog sustains unique plant species such as tillandsia, which absorb water directly from the air, and supports some bird species and insects adapted to minimal moisture.
Even as one of the driest inhabited areas in the world, Arica still has a population of more than 222,000 people. As a port city, Arica is kept alive by the constant bustling trade routes which sustain the population in a region where very little grows.
Arica’s aridity is due to its location in a rain shadow zone, which means the prevailing westerly winds carry and deposit their moisture in the nearby mountains and leave every little precipitation by the coast.
1. Dry Valleys, Antarctica (0 mm)
While we’d often picture a snow-covered terrain when we think of Antarctica, its Dry Valleys are the driest location in the world.
Due to extremely low humidity, there is almost no ice or snow cover in this region of the continent. The nearby mountains are high enough to block ice flowing towards the sea and reaching the valleys, leaving them nearly completely dry all year round.
The strong winds which often reach speeds of more than 200 miles per hour heat the surface of the landscape as they descend the mountains towards the valleys, evaporating all water, snow and ice.
The Dry Valleys are considered by scientists to be the closest of any of Earth’s environments to the planet Mars, making many eager to study them to get a better understanding of the Red Planet.
Lichens and mosses are the only species able to survive this extremely harsh environment.
