The Deserts of North Africa are the hottest places on Earth. The highest temperature recorded was 58 ºC (136.4 ºF) in Al Azizia, Libya, and this is still the official hottest place on Earth to date. There was a controversy about this record as other countries such as the United States and Egypt claim that the record should be theirs, but the record was not re-verified.

In Death Valley, California, the highest recorded temperature was 56.7 ºC (134 ºF) in July 1913. In 1923, a new record of 134 ºF was set at Greenland Ranch, California, which stood for 70 years until it was broken again in 1984 by a few tenths of a degree. The hottest month ever recorded on Earth is July 2005, when temperatures reached 54.1 ºC (129.2 ºF) at Quriyat, Oman.

This broke the previous record held by Azizya, Libya, since September 1922 and lasted just 32 days before it became too cool to set such records then came back as one of the hottest places in July 2013 where temperatures reached a staggering 72.8 ºC (164.2 ºF).

As North Africa is located on the Tropic of Cancer, it’s always hot. The sun is directly overhead twice a year while the sun is at its furthest point south once a year. This gives North African countries like Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia (which also borders Libya) almost daily sunshine hours in the summer months where temperatures can reach close to 50 ºC or 122 ºF on clear days.

Average daily highs during June, July, and August exceed 35 ºC or 95 ºF for most of North Africa, with lows around 20 ºC or 68 ºF. The combination of heat and humidity leads to very high apparent temperatures over 40 ºC or 104 ºF which feel even hotter compared to Europe or America, and the desert might be aptly named.

The Lot Desert in Iran is also a hot place with an extreme temperature of 52.4 ºC (126.5 ºF). The world’s second hottest land surface temperature, according to NASA, is in the Lut Desert, Iran, which hit 70.7 ºC (159 ºF) in 2005.

Lut Desert:

Due to its extremely arid climate, the Lut has a very low average annual temperature of 19 °C and monthly temperatures ranging from 28 °C during summer days to 4 °C on winter nights.

There’s usually dry lightning over the desert region during the summer months, and this leads to many wildfires each year which have been known to spark large dust storms when they reach towns and villages surrounding the desert.

In another part of Iran, near Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf coast, there’s a desert island named Qeshm Island, which has an extreme heat index of 70 ºC (158 ºF) due to its arid climate. It also enjoys 263 clear sunny days annually and experiences very little rainfall – less than 150 mm per year – mostly falling between December and March; sometimes, rain falls in the summer too.

Qeshm Island:

The island is 95 km long and up to 27 km wide, has an area of 1,491 square kilometers (576 sq mi) and is primarily flat (about 80% is 50 m above sea level). The highest point on the island is at 150 m above sea level. However, some points rise above 200 m.

Qeshm’s climate is hot and humid in summer. Still, its moderate winters offer pleasant temperatures and sunshine for tourists who flock there every winter to escape the cold winters in Iran’s northern towns and cities or overseas.