As someone who graduated with a geography degree, I wanted to start making more posts about weather, geography and travel combined. So in this post I wanted to look at the top 10 hottest major cities in the world. Now I want to make this a series so I would like to spread into smaller cities, towns, villages and even places on earth that are even hotter.
In this first post I’m starting with the hottest major cities in the world. Major cities are defined as a metro area for over 1 million. The city itself doesn’t have to be a million, but the surrounding area does.
Top 10 Hottest Major Cities
Using climate data I was able to get the average temperature of these major cities for the summer months. I looked at 4 months out of the year that are the warmest, so from June to September. I also looked at the southern hemisphere cities but no cities made the top 10. It’s possible to make an estimate for the whole year but that would move cities up or down on the list and I just wanted to look at the hottest time of the year.
I worked off of NOAA, Wikipedia, and other various weather websites from around the world to compile this list. If I make an error I will go back and correct my mistakes!
1. Muscat, Oman
Average Summer Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
91.5
June at 95 F
1,560,000
Muscat is the hottest city in the world during the summer months. I say during the summer months because it is the second hottest major city if you take the year round average, but that’s not what I wanted to do for this list. I wanted to showcase the hottest cities in the world just like I did for the coldest cities.
Muscat is in the country of Oman in a section of the country that is very barren. Summers are hot and will routinely get over 100 F. For instance, June is the hottest average month, but that’s just the daily average. The average high is 104.7 F in June and usually can get even warmer.
Travel?
Muscat is becoming a great place to travel to and has shown a steady increase in tourists. It’s in a relatively safe area of the region, although neighboring Yemen is in a war right now. Muscat has plenty of old architecture to explore, nearby beaches and many outdoor adventures like dune bashing. If you’re planning to go in the summer, just know to bring tons of water and cover up at it is the hottest city in the summer.
2. Khartoum, Sudan
Average Summer Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
90.7 F
June at 93.7 F
5,500,000
Khartoum is the hottest major city in the world if I ranked it year round. But it’s still the second hottest city during the summer time and dare I say it would feel very similar to Muscat. For nearly 6 months the daily average never really drops below 90 F. In June, daily average highs are near a staggering 107 F, so yes, this city can be one of the hottest cities on Earth.
Travel?
Khartoum is not really a travel destination, but it’s surprisingly safe to travel to. I was surprised by that fact, but it’s in fact one of the safer African cities to visit. However, there are certainly parts of Sudan that no traveler should visit. It’s not the first place I would consider traveling so do some research and take precautions. Khartoum has had terrorism in the past and it’s been directed at foreigners.
3. Aden, Yemen
Average Summer Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
89.9 F
June and July at 90.9 F
1,760,000
Aden is in the country of Yemen which is neighbored to Oman. Like Muscat, Aden is very hot in the summer while also being pretty humid given it sits right on the coast. Average highs are usually just under 100 F but record highs have reached nearly 110 F during the summer months.
Travel?
Aden is pretty much a no-go zone for travel at this point. Yemen is at war right now and it would be pretty foolish to go to the country.
4. Mandalay, Myanmar / Burma
Average Summer Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
86.7 F
June and July at 87.4 F
1,730,000
Mandalay is one of those outliers that is actually very warm before the summer season. In fact, it sees higher temperatures in April and May than the rest of the summer. But it’s still a very hot city and although it sits right in a jungle area, it actually lacks rain thanks to nearby mountains. Summer highs can easily be in the 100’s and even as high as 110 F.
Travel?
Mandalay is very safe to travel to but it’s also one of the poorest countries in the world at the moment. If you decide to travel to Myanmar, just be careful about sensitive subjects. The country is still recovering from years of decade rule, things like politics, gay rights and civil conflict. The city itself is still safe to travel, but you may encounter other problems in the country. Summer time travel is obviously hot so perhaps do not go in the warmest months.
5. Niamey, Niger
Average Summer Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
84 F
June at 88 F
1,250,000
Niamey is in the country of Niger in upper central Africa. It’s the capital of Niger and one of the largest cities in the region. Like many on this list it lies in a region of the country that is semi-arid and experiences very hot temperatures around 4 months of the year. Daytime highs can be well over 100 F and in fact the average high is usually.
Travel?
Niger is considered not very safe to travel to at this moment. Unstability is common and although violence has dropped in recent years, it can still happen. Now Niamey itself is actually relatively safe, but it would still be a no-go zone for most foreigners. Al-Qaeda is still in the country, and random robberies can happen around Niamey if you’re not careful.
6. Bangkok, Thailand
Average Summer Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
84 F
June at 85.1 F
14,630,000
Bangkok is one of the biggest cities on this list in a tropical area. Bangkok is hot for most of the year as well as very humid. On top of that, the city is big, making it feel much hotter in the city than what it actually is. For many of the year highs can easily get into the 90s and low 100s. Summer is defined as the rainy season, giving some relief.
Travel?
Bangkok is the most traveled city in the world so yes of course you can travel to Bangkok. Thai people are known to be friendly and the city itself is pretty safe. Like any big city, just watch your belongings and obey the law. Bangkok has so much to offer culturally and food-wise that it should be a city on your travel list.
7. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Average Winter Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
83.6 F
June at 84.6 F
1,502,000
Across the border of Thailand in the country of Cambodia there is the major city of Phnom Penh. It’s about the same weather as Bangkok and can experience warm temperatures all year. During the summer time it can be very rainy giving a chance to have some relief from the heat. It’s not uncommon to see highs in the 90s year round.
Travel?
Phonm Penh and Cambodia are pretty safe to travel. The only risks are minor ones like getting caught up in bribes, getting scammed or robbed. Like any city you should take caution when a local is asking you something, as apparently this is not common. Phonm Penh and the country as a whole are known culturally and should be on your travel list.
8. Manila, Philippines
Average Winter Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
83.5 F
June at 84.7 F
22,710,000
Manila has the largest urban population on this list and is perhaps the biggest tropical city in the world. It’s also a relatively hot city with temperatures remaining in the 80’s and 90’s for most of the year. It’s also very rainy in the summer and I think this helps bring down the temperatures. Although it’s also a pretty humid city, that makes the temperatures feel warmer than what they actually are.
Travel?
Manila can be visited although I never hear nice things about traveling here. Usually it’s a jumping off point to other Philippines destinations. Manila is prone to lots of scams and it turns a lot of travelers off. I have heard that it can be downright scary entering some scams in Manila and many refuse to visit.
9. N’Djamena, Chad
Average Winter Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
83.3 F
June at 88 F
1,610,000
N’Djamena is in the central African country of Chad. It’s in a semi-arid part of Africa although it does see some rain during the summer. I have to say that this city is also an outlier and would have ranked much higher given that March through June is actually very warm compared to actual summer. So in some respects it is one of the top 5 hottest major cities during those months. But it’s also cooler in the winter months than others on the list, making the average lower. It can be well over 100 F at any time during the year.
Travel?
N’Djamena and Chad itself are not a travel destination that I would personally go to. In recent years there have been some civil problems and could reappear at a moment’s notice. N’Djamena itself is pretty safe, although that’s by African standards. You may feel safe, but bribing is still common for a while as is petty robbery.
10. Barranquilla, Colombia
Average Winter Temperature:
Hottest Month:
Metro Population:
82.2 F
June at 82.6 F
1,400,000
Closely rounding out the top 10 hottest major cities is Barranquilla, Colombia. Now this is a place that is in the tropics that experiences high humidity for most of the year and with very high temperatures all year. Summer is the warmest part of the year, but it’s only slightly warmer compared to other months.
Travel?
Colombia has had many problems but has since recovered from two decades of terrible violence. Barranquilla itself is a safe city to visit and there are many attractions to consider like carnival, eating and shopping.
Notable Mentions
Ho Chi Minh City
Panama City
Controversy?
Unlike the Top 10 Coldest Major Cities list, this one had some cities move up and down a lot given what data I used. For instance, although Muscat is the hottest city during the summer time, Khartoum is the hottest city year round. Many major cities have moved up and down given the month as well. That’s also why Ho Chi Minh City and Panama City given honorable mentions because if I had taken the year-round average, they would be on the list.
Major City Definition
What is a major city, though? Because if I’m going to be defining these cities and continuing with this series I’ll need to define what a major city actually is.
Now after doing some research, this is where it gets tricky. So I did a Google search on what defines a major city, and as you may guess there is no consistency. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to define a major city as a population with over 1 million, so you’re truly big cities across the world. And then I’ll work down from there. I’ll have 5 different classifications that will look like this. It will count urban areas and include cities, towns and villages that may be in the overall urban area of a major or large city. I don’t want to see the same areas on this list over and over again.
Major City > 1 million
Large City > 100,000 K up to a million
Town > 1,000 K to 100,000 k
Village > 1 to 1,000 K
None to the non-permanent habits around. So just places.
These are in no way the 100% real descriptions of what a major city or village is but this is how I’m describing it for this project. I’ll make sure to be clear about that every time I post.
Disclaimer
The weather changes every year and that will change the results through the years. Also, I’m working off data that is given to me by countries around the world. A lot of this data is reliable and I tried to only use the results that looked reliable.
