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Countries with the Most Climate Zones

The Köppen climate classification system identifies 31 separate and distinct types of climates, ranging from "tropical rainforest" to "hot desert" to "ice cap" and everything in between. Name the countries with at least 10 of them.
For more info about the Köppen climate classification, click here
Quiz by Webfoot
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Last updated: September 9, 2017
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First submittedJuly 12, 2017
Times taken43,791
Average score78.9%
Rating4.89
3:30
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#
Country
26
United States
18
China
17
India
16
Russia
15
Australia
13
Argentina
13
Italy
#
Country
13
Turkey
12
Brazil
12
Canada
12
Pakistan
12
Spain
11
Colombia
#
Country
11
Mexico
11
Venezuela
10
Bolivia
10
Ecuador
10
Peru
10
South Africa
+32
Level 75
Jul 14, 2017
Near misses: Tanzania, Chile, Greece, and Madagascar each have 9.
+10
Level 62
Jan 9, 2018
I guessed Tanzania, Chile, and Madagascar before I guessed Spain and Italy.
+7
Level 45
Jul 5, 2020
especially chile since it shares parts of pategonia with argentina
+5
Level 84
Jul 18, 2017
Interesting quiz, I'm a fan! It didn't work so well for your US states version of this one, but this one is much more difficult - there's some easy guesses "pick all the biggest countries" but a few are less intuitive.
+2
Level 73
Jul 18, 2017
Nice quiz!
+4
Level ∞
Sep 4, 2017
Source for this quiz? I'd like to feature it, but I can't find where this data comes from.
+11
Level 75
Sep 5, 2017
I manually counted the number of discrete zones on maps from both this link (https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf) and countries' individual maps, which were found via Wikipedia and made using data from WorldClim.org, a database that compiles climatological data from "The U.S. Government's Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative" (FeedTheFuture.gov), "The Geospatial and Farming Systems Research Consortium" (gfc.ucdavis.edu | www.k-state.edu/siil). I think it would be more difficult to find a source that has the number of zones already counted and listed out, because the Köppen system was more meant to designate a single location’s/area’s climate, not measure a nation’s diversity through its number of different zones.
+8
Level 75
Sep 5, 2017
Also, I think using my system is somewhat flawed in that a country such as Spain or Italy would be far more thoroughly documented in terms of different areas’ temperature, precipitation, hours of sunlight, etc. than a country like Iran, Ethiopia, or Tanzania (or at the very least its data more readily accessible), resulting in that country having more “zones”. Then again, a caveat could be added specifying “most documented zones”. But PLEASE let me know if you want me to dig deeper and find more information; I’d really like to get featured! :)
+3
Level 75
Jul 30, 2022
This is a really nice explanation. Spain's inclusion and France's omission surprised me, particularly given all of France's colonial possessions (pardon me, integral parts of France) in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific. My guess is that Reunion alone qualifies for a bunch.
+12
Level ∞
Sep 9, 2017
Nice, that must have taken a lot of time. We're going to feature it! It will be on the front page on January 8th.
+15
Level 67
Jan 9, 2018
Liar!!!

That being said you were off by only a day. I can't believe how far in advance you plan these things.

+2
Level 90
Sep 9, 2017
This is a great quiz. I know a lot of work went into this, but I would love to see a version of this "with exceptions" that removed all of the countries that cover huge areas, since they are 'obvious' guesses - or a version that is ranked on: rank = ( # of discrete zones / square kilometers )
+1
Level 76
Sep 9, 2017
Fascinating!
+1
Level 79
Sep 10, 2017
Great quiz and I like that you linked the Wikipedia article.
+1
Level 48
Dec 9, 2017
It's really strange that there are so few Afican countries here. I would think maybe Tanzania or the DRC would have made it. Great Quiz!
+1
Level 93
Jan 4, 2018
it would be good to have a quiz on the list of climates
+2
Level 93
Jan 4, 2018
i see there already is one! https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/265408/koppen-climate-types
+3
Level 82
Jan 9, 2018
USA absolutely crushing this and it's interesting to see the numbers because I've often listed this as one of the country's strengths before but had no data to go with it.
+5
Level 71
Oct 4, 2021
Probably not. French Polynesia might be a beautiful place, but most of its territory is made of small tropical islands. There isn't a lot of room for different landscapes on tropical islands, so I'm guessing most of the islands are very similar in terms of climate and ecology.

Really not sure why you're so intent on trying to discredit this quiz. Like I said in my comment below, there are genuine reasons to criticize the US, but this isn't one of them. If you ever visit America or even look up pictures online, you can clearly see how diverse it is in terms of its landscape. Like Kal says, this is probably one of America's greatest strengths.

+1
Level 75
Jul 30, 2022
That's pretty much true of small, low-lying islands. It's not at all true, however, for mountainous islands. Generally, the taller the mountains, the more the climate zones.
+5
Level 71
Jul 29, 2022
Um, in case anyone is confused, I was responding to someone who said French Polynesia had more climate zones than the US. I guess they deleted their comment or account? I think I'll leave up my previous comment though because my point still stands.
+1
Level 58
Jan 9, 2018
Somehow managed to guess every South American country except Peru :/ Missed Pakistan as well.
+1
Level 37
Jan 9, 2018
I almost missed peru, but I was surprised at Italy, Pakistan, and Turkey.
+1
Level 45
Jul 5, 2020
Italy- shares areas of the alps plus is in the sout

Peru- Both in the andes and the amazon some cities have high elevation I.e Cusco

Turkey - mediterrianen climate to the south west, mount arat to the east of the country bordering armenia aswell as dryer reigons in the centre of the country.

The only one that suprised me was spain

+2
Level 21
Jan 9, 2018
excellent quiz
+1
Level 92
Jan 9, 2018
Interesting quiz! I wonder does Alaska contribute much to USA's position on the top?
+1
Level 45
Jul 5, 2020
Aswell as hawaii
+5
Level 65
Jan 9, 2018
Surprised that Chile, Iran and France are not on the list. France especially, it varies almost as much as in Italy: just comparing Provence to Brittany, or Corsica to the Alps (let alone French Guiana or Réunion!)
+1
Level 56
Apr 27, 2021
More than Italy, I'd have thought - Italy has nothing like the North Sea coast or, I'd have thought, the hot-cold climate of Alsace... not to mention the DOM-TOM as you say. Very odd.
+1
Level 71
Jan 9, 2018
Good quiz, had to think at a different level for this one:
+2
Level 57
Jan 9, 2018
Does this count overseas territories?
+1
Level 62
Jan 9, 2018
USA is #1
+5
Level 75
Jan 9, 2018
Woody Guthrie explained that - from California to the New York island, from the Redwood Forest to the gulf stream waters, the endless skyway, the golden valley, the ribbon of highway, sparkling sands of diamond deserts, wheat fields waving, dust clouds rolling, lifting fog...throw in Alaska and Hawaii and it all makes sense.
+1
Level 62
Jan 9, 2018
It also makes sense because we don't settle for 2nd.
+3
Level 76
Jul 29, 2022
- facepalm -
+3
Level 55
Jan 9, 2018
Italy, Spain, but not France. Unbelievable
+1
Level 50
Jul 29, 2022
I don't think they include France's overseas territories.
+1
Level 68
Aug 5, 2022
Metropolitan France : Cfb, Cfa, Dfb, Dfc, Csa, Csb, Csc, ET, EF (9)

Spain and Italy have also Bsk and Bsh (semi-arid climates), and even Bwh (hot arid) for Spain.

If you add overseas France, you get also Af, Am, Aw (tropical), Bsh, Cwb, Cwa (subtropical highland with dry season, eastern half or Réunion at least).

+3
Level 39
Jan 10, 2018
How come USA is on the top and not Russia, China or India.
+5
Level 45
Jan 11, 2018
because they're not the most climatologically diverse countries
+3
Level 82
Jan 11, 2018
of course it's the USA. Between Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, California, Colorado, Maine, etc.. no place else compares to the kind of climatological and geographic diversity found in the US.
+1
Level 48
Mar 22, 2019
China numba 2
+1
Level 63
Mar 25, 2019
The source has a very interesting map. ;)
+1
Level 77
May 17, 2020
Amazing that such a small country as Ecuador has such a lot of climate variation.
+1
Level 45
Jul 5, 2020
it's elevation and amazonian parts contribute massivley
+2
Level 75
Jul 29, 2022
Like Peru it has la costa, sierra y selva
+3
Level 72
Feb 22, 2021
does this quiz take overseas regions into account ? If so I counted 10 for France using your sources
+1
Level 44
Feb 28, 2021
how does spain have that many more than portugal?
+5
Level 54
Apr 8, 2021
Portugal is basically all Atlantic coast. Spain has its Atlantic coast, the Mediterranean (with the Balearic islands), the dry center, the green North, the Guadalquivir river, the Canary Islands (tropical), the Pyrenees...
+1
Level 39
Jul 11, 2022
definitely one of my finest moments getting all of these
+1
Level 71
Jul 29, 2022
I can't understand why France's not there. With the variety of lands and latitudes in its territories
+1
Level 88
Jul 29, 2022
I would have thought Chile would be first on list!
+1
Level 65
Jul 30, 2022
Got all of them except Mexico... I am not that sharp today haha
+1
Level 49
Aug 1, 2022
i thought france cos of overseas areas
+1
Level 23
Aug 1, 2022
bruh i got ecuador and bolivia but i forgot canada and mexico wtf
+1
Level 67
Mar 29, 2023
When I first started this quiz I thought it was about timezones. I thought these countries have a lot of timezones!
+1
Level 75
May 23, 2023
Bruh how is Pakistan on this list I thought they're just mostly desert
+1
Level 67
Jun 23, 2023
Well no, there's a ton of glaciers and mountains in the north. The south of Pakistan is just desert, but the north is pretty diverse.