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Countries by Hottest Recorded Temperature

Can you name the countries that have the highest ever recorded temperatures?
According to this source. Records considered dubious are excluded.
As of July 28, 2019
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 14, 2019
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First submittedAugust 17, 2015
Times taken72,948
Average score76.2%
Rating4.90
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°C
°F
Country
54.0
129.2
Kuwait
54.0
129.2
United States
53.9
129.0
Iraq
53.7
128.7
Iran
53.5
128.3
Pakistan
52.0
125.6
Mexico
52.0
125.6
Saudi Arabia
°C
°F
Country
51.8
125.2
United Arab Emirates
51.3
124.3
Algeria
51.1
124.0
Jordan
51.0
123.8
India
50.8
123.4
Oman
50.7
123.3
Australia
50.7
123.3
Morocco
°C
°F
Country
50.5
122.9
China
50.5
122.9
Israel
50.4
122.7
Qatar
50.3
122.5
Egypt
50.2
122.4
Libya
50.1
122.2
Tunisia
50.1
122.2
Turkmenistan
+5
Level 25
Sep 22, 2015
USA just has to be top of everything
+3
Level 82
Sep 22, 2015
Yeah but if you measure highest temperature per capita then France is #1 or something...
+8
Level 70
May 25, 2019
Per capita I can guarantee it will be the Vatican City.
+1
Level 82
Jul 21, 2019
well just so long as it's somewhere in Europe and not the US then we can still feel good about ourselves
+5
Level 78
Sep 9, 2020
Standard humo(u)rless knee-jerk reaction. Again.
+4
Level 82
Sep 19, 2020
Why are you announcing your lack of a sense of humor, Ecce?
+6
Level 48
Sep 22, 2015
and seen from an alphabetical point of view it scores very poorly - below even countries we often think of as under achievers such as Gabon or Burkina Faso
+18
Level 92
Sep 22, 2015
I'm fairly sure this is a major reason we want the US referred to as 'America.'
+2
Level 56
Jul 22, 2022
F it, call it Aamerica to top the list
+4
Level 56
Aug 22, 2019
That attitude even made them try to buy Greenland, which would make the USA the northernmost country in the world. They would literally be at the top of the world!
+3
Level 47
Sep 22, 2015
Some places may be far hotter, but they are not recorded.
+3
Level ∞
Jul 9, 2017
Such as?
+23
Level 78
Aug 3, 2017
Venus
+15
Level 89
Sep 5, 2017
The Sun.
+38
Level 80
Sep 6, 2017
Me
+5
Level 33
May 16, 2018
If you are talking about the hottest places on Earth, well that is definitely the centre of the Earth.
+1
Level 70
May 25, 2019
This article gives some possibilities: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest_temperature_recorded_on_Earth
+2
Level ∞
Jul 29, 2019
There's a lot of hokum in weather extreme reporting. Don't believe what you read unless it comes from a good source.
+1
Level 59
Feb 5, 2020
@DrIlluminati123 as Bernard62601 pointed out, I think the core misses out a bit to him.
+1
Level 60
Jun 15, 2021
A lot of African countries, such as Ethiopia, Chad, Niger, and Sudan.
+3
Level 55
Sep 7, 2017
Bernand62601 lmao
+4
Level 66
Sep 22, 2015
Almost all the Midddle East except for Syria and Lebanon. Curious.
+1
Level 68
Sep 22, 2015
Lebanon is coastal, right? Syria, SUSPICIOUS! :P
+3
Level 82
Sep 22, 2015
Lebanon is a very small country. You've got the coastal areas which have a nice, temperate Mediterranean climate, and then if you head east you very quickly run into mountains where it gets quite cool. Syria is also very hilly and moderate compared to the countries to the south. The scorching desert areas of Israel, Jordan, and Iraq are mostly in the south. Visit Syria or look up pictures and you'll see most of it is green. Not the same geography as the most of the Arabian peninsula.
+1
Level 66
Sep 22, 2015
Israel = also coastal, eh?
+1
Level 82
Oct 27, 2016
the lowest altitude in the world also helps
+2
Level 33
Jun 27, 2018
What about Yemen?
+2
Level 82
Dec 1, 2018
Yemen is very mountainous.
+2
Level 90
Aug 22, 2019
"Visit Syria or look up pictures and you'll see most of it is green."

False.

The coastal regions of Syria are separated from the rest of the country by a mountain range (just like Lebanon), and those areas are quite green. The rest of the country is semi-arid or arid, though the Euphrates and a few smaller rivers have allowed for some corridors of irrigation in the deserts.

It gets very hot in Syria, with temperatures often surpassing 110F in many regions. It just happens to be that the max recorded temperature is about 120, which isn't quite as hot as the max temps recorded in the lower altitude and lower latitude deserts of many of the other countries on the list.

+1
Level 82
May 9, 2020
Fair enough. Maybe I should have said.. "it's more green than you might imagine"? and the fact that it is farther north than most of these countries means it doesn't quite beat out countries like Tunisia or Libya, which have virtually no green areas to speak of.
+1
Level 28
Sep 22, 2015
Death Valley, USA has a highest recorded temperature of 131F.
+2
Level 28
Sep 22, 2015
Oh, I take that back. It's 134F, even hotter than I thought. That's 5F more than your answer so you need to update that.
+3
Level 82
Oct 27, 2016
"Records considered dubious are not included"
+4
Level ∞
Jul 29, 2019
Yeah, it's probably bogus. There's another "record" from Libya that's even hotter. That one is definitely bogus.
+1
Level 30
Sep 22, 2015
The US is 134 degrees!
+2
Level ∞
Sep 23, 2015
There was also an old record for Libya at 136 degrees. These older records are generally regarded as inaccurate.
+1
Level 66
Sep 23, 2015
Lacks credibility
+2
Level ∞
Jul 9, 2017
I don't think so. The source seems pretty comprehensive to me.
+1
Level 59
Sep 23, 2015
First try :)
+2
Level 34
Sep 24, 2015
an explorer in australia in the 1800's "apparently" recorded temps of 60 degrees celsius but it may not be true. just interesting. THINK OF AUS PLS
+1
Level 15
Dec 1, 2018
Must be the heat index. Recently in the Arabian desert, it was 53C but felt like 72C.
+2
Level 8
Sep 25, 2015
I need to study
+1
Level 69
Nov 20, 2016
I'm surprised there is no Afghanistan.
+2
Level 59
Aug 23, 2019
Too many mountains.
+1
Level 62
Dec 3, 2016
So Turkmenistan rates on highest temperatures but some of its neighbours are on lowest average
+1
Level 75
Jun 29, 2021
depressions/mountains
+1
Level 48
Jan 17, 2017
India record temperature 50,6 °C. Shouldn't this be on the list as well ?
+1
Level ∞
Jul 9, 2017
Added India, thanks. The new record, set in 2016, is 51 degrees.
+1
Level 75
Sep 17, 2021
New record in Canada this year: 49.6C in Lytton, B.C. Hotter than any recorded temperature in Las Vegas or Phoenix.
+2
Level 76
Jul 12, 2017
Really surprised not to see Niger/Chad/Sudan etc on here.
+5
Level 62
Dec 28, 2017
Those are closer to the equator and wetter. The hottest temperatures are at the horse latitudes (around 30 degrees latitude), which are characterized by high pressure and calm air heats up as it drops. Most deserts are at the horse latitudes. If you take a look at a map, you'll see that virtually all the countries on this list are right around 30 degrees.
+3
Level ∞
Jul 29, 2019
Exactly. It generally doesn't get extremely warm near the equator. Believe it or not, Alaska has a higher record than Singapore.
+1
Level 60
Aug 22, 2017
Yo. I was IN KUWAIT on the day that pinged the highest recorded temp ever in the Eastern Hemisphere. Just trying to out-process and re-deploy back home in mid-July.
+3
Level 75
Sep 5, 2017
Thank you for your service (and your sweat).
+2
Level 42
Sep 5, 2017
wow I got them all except the US, I feel stupid...
+1
Level 57
Sep 5, 2017
56.7 °C (134.1 °F) * Furnace Creek Ranch

(formerly Greenland Ranch),

Death Valley, California

+6
Level 15
Dec 1, 2018
Greenland Ranch is such an ironic name.
+1
Level ∞
Jul 29, 2019
Erroneous!
+1
Level 69
Sep 5, 2017
This summer, 54.0 was recorded in Ahvaz, Iran.
+1
Level 41
Sep 5, 2017
Dammit, missed Turkmenistan. I would have never guessed it!
+1
Level 85
Sep 5, 2017
Source site is very amateurish with many basic language errors. Why did you conclude that it should be considered scientifically authoritative?
+4
Level ∞
Sep 5, 2017
Because it seems to be accurate. I cross-referenced some of the data, and see that it matched with local news reports. Meanwhile, many other sites are still reporting very dubious "records", like the 136 degree temperature in Libya, or 134 in Death Valley. I wish there was a better source, but this is the best one we have. Perhaps you should try to make a better quiz.
+1
Level 35
Sep 5, 2017
My score: 21/21

Time left: 1:50/4:00

+1
Level 77
Sep 5, 2017
WHY DO I ALWAYS FORGET JORDAN!??!?!?!??!?!?!?!! I FORGET IT LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!!
+3
Level 71
Jan 9, 2018
Change your name to 'Jordan' you wont ever forget it again.
+1
Level 25
Dec 18, 2020
lmao
+1
Level 47
Sep 7, 2017
I was in the UAE on the hottest recorded day.
+2
Level 24
Sep 10, 2017
A lot of people are are saying they remember the record for hottest temperature being Death Valley or Al Azizia, Libya. Both of these placed did have what was considered the world record temperatures at some point, but on investigation of the data both records have been overturned. If you're really interested you can read an in depth account of the investigations into both of these readings below.

https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/world-heat-record-overturneda-personal-account.html

https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/an-investigation-of-death-valleys-134f-world-temperature-record.html

+1
Level 42
Apr 11, 2018
I feel like china is probably higher at one point
+1
Level 63
Jul 5, 2018
This quiz made me wonder about the highest and lowest differences in recorded temperatures. ;)
+1
Level 66
Aug 24, 2018
Only one I missed was Tunisia
+1
Level 82
Jul 21, 2019
Tatooine, man. They have to farm moisture there. It's brutal.
+1
Level 89
Aug 22, 2019
It also has two suns. Even more brutal.
+1
Level 32
Aug 24, 2018
How do I miss only the U.S.? lol
+1
Level 57
Jan 29, 2019
I got all except Kuwait...
+1
Level 71
Jun 28, 2019
It would be interesting to see which years these records are from.
+1
Level 82
Jul 21, 2019
The wikipedia page on the subject has dates.
+1
Level 68
Aug 22, 2019
Iceland?
+2
Level 82
Aug 22, 2019
Maybe inside one of the volcanoes.
+1
Level 47
Aug 22, 2019
Got 100 percent the first time. Everything on the list was in my mind reasonable answers. Though as continental as Turkmenistan is, it did take me a while. I assume since Iraq, Iran and Pakistan all made the list, I was going to knock out all the "Stans"
+1
Level 68
May 9, 2020
Wow,at the last minute, I remembered the Middle East and typed every country there. It got me a 20/21, missing Turkmenistan, which I think is normal.
+1
Level 20
Aug 24, 2020
missed 3
+2
Level 66
Sep 19, 2020
Records considered dubious are not excluded? 🤔
+2
Level 79
Oct 25, 2020
I think it's supposed to say 'not included'.
+1
Level 79
Dec 18, 2020
Amirite?
+2
Level 82
Sep 19, 2020
Last month they recorded a new high of 130 F / 54 C at Furnace Creek in Death Valley.
+1
Level 70
Jan 12, 2021
Records considered dubious are not excluded? Don't you mean "not included"?
+1
Level ∞
Jan 12, 2021
Fixed!
+1
Level 29
Feb 10, 2021
alternate title: name middle eastern countries
+1
Level 20
Feb 15, 2021
USA??? em it's that north so there's no way it's THAT hot
+1
Level 82
Mar 13, 2021
These numbers aren't guesses.
+1
Level 59
Dec 14, 2021
are you dumb (in a non-mean way)
+2
Level 67
Jun 22, 2022
Evanaviator - Not a cool comment (and not in a temperature way)
+1
Level 40
Apr 8, 2021
surprised that brazil isnt there
+1
Level 61
Apr 15, 2021
I'm not sure about this, but didńt a NASA satellite record a 153 degree temperature in Iran once?
+1
Level 82
Jul 9, 2022
I think satellites record surface temperature and these records are ambient (atmospheric) temperature. So it's different. I could be wrong.
+1
Level 55
Jan 17, 2023
I was thinking the same thing. They recorded some ridiculously high surface temperature of something like 70 degrees celsius. There must be a town around that area that has recorded not far off that amount for sure.
+1
Level 39
Jul 12, 2022
Hell yeah i actually got all of them for once woooo
+1
Level 55
Aug 22, 2022
You forgot Libya!
+1
Level 55
Aug 22, 2022
It has the hottest temperature ever!
+1
Level 38
Oct 28, 2022
what about japan
+1
Level 40
Jul 31, 2023
Me when I forget Saudi Arabia...