Introduction
Africa's Hottest Town is a small village in the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia. Dallol Ethiopia used to be Africa's Hottest Town until the living conditions proved to be too inhospitable, before Hamed Ela emerged. Is it truly remarkable that the residents of Hamed Ela in the Afar region are able to survive in one of the hottest places on earth.
Content
This is the village of hamad aya and is more commonly known as africa's hottest town.
It has become nearly impossible to survive in this scorching, hot wasteland that reaches temperatures of up to 130 degrees fahrenheit, or 54 degrees celsius and not only that.
But with no roads leading in it takes days on a camel to even get to this extremely remote destination.
So wait, why does this place even exist and not just that? But I mean who lives here? What do they do for a living? Is there water food restaurants? I mean, these were all questions that I had to get to the bottom of and after going through, literally every article I could find in this place.
I learned africa's, hottest town has a pretty insane story.
You see in the early 1900s, an economic depression was hitting europe, germany, france, italy and practically everyone was sending teams into underdeveloped regions of africa to try and establish settlements and basically steal all of africa's natural resources.
African countries couldn't really do much about this because they were decades behind the technology of europe.
So they just had to allow it for the most part italy, moved into this region near the red sea, which is generally very mountainous and high in elevation in 1915 as italian explorers were surveying the land beyond the mountains.
They spotted a colorful valley, which resembled nothing.
They had ever seen before here on planet earth.
The explorers eventually made the trek down into this low-lying region, but found themselves widely unprepared for the extreme heat.
What these italians didn't realize was that they were walking into the hottest place on planet earth.
This region became known as afar and is extremely hard to access.
Hence, the name afar like like hard to get to very far away.
This region was likely formed by a collapsed crater because of the extremely low elevation that drops down to 125 meters or 410 feet below sea level, the technical description of this place that looks like mars, there's a terrestrial hydrothermal system around a cinder cone volcano in the dynacult depression, northeast of the erda, owl range in ethiopia.
But unless you have a phd in geology, this is essentially just a massive salt.
Mine salt is an extremely valuable resource.
So the italians knew they had to take control of this newly found region, the only problem being it was just too dang hot.
So these italian explorers did what any rational person would do and claim the region as theirs, naming it the lol, which means the land of different colors.
And then they went back to italy to regroup and strategize, although de la was entirely within ethiopia's borders.
The government of ethiopia couldn't do anything about it because well, for one de lol is in the absolute middle of nowhere due to the extreme heat.
And secondly, italy was far more advanced than ethiopia.
So it's, not like ethiopia would even try and fight back in 1917.
Italy came back to their newly found salt mine with a plan.
The plan was to build a railway from the lowell to a port off the red sea called mersafatma shipping the salt and natural resources of the dalal region out to the red sea would be extremely profitable.
Given how many ships make their way up the red sea to go through the suez canal, every year.
The only problem was the italians wanted to construct this railroad in the hottest place on earth where there are literally no materials other than salt.
So what the italians do they decided to build the structure of the railroad out of salt, the salt blocks that were extracted from the land of the dulal region, actually proved to become solid building material.
And by april of 1918, the railway was complete the italians had formed a small village, which they also called dalol right outside of lake assal, which is where the majority of the salt was the law was uniquely hot, not only because the civilization was formed on land at such a low elevation, but also because of the gases that are emitted through the salt flats, conical vents and de lol act as natural exhausts of what lies under the earth's surface.
Boiling acid bubbles rise to the surface through the hot springs.
The heat comes from literally every direction and it's, the kind of heat that the human body really isn't built to handle.
The lull has the highest average yearly temperature of any place in the world coming in at 35 degrees celsius or 96 degrees fahrenheit, the average daily high is often over 46 degrees celsius or 115 degrees fahrenheit.
And the nights really don't cool down much because of the acidic air venting out of the salt flats.
The highest temperature recorded in de la was an insane of 54 degrees celsius or 130 degrees fahrenheit with temperatures.
This hot.
It is extremely rare to find any animals, let alone human civilizations, despite the extremely inhospitable climate.
The italians continued their mining operation into lowell transporting out the salt through the railway there weren't, really any trees to sleep under shade from the sun or any materials to construct shelter out of.
So the italians turned back to what they knew best.
Yes, you guessed it salt, the italians form salt blocks to construct their homes and shelter out of aside from some wood that was imported into the lol.
The italians really only had salt to keep them alive.
The mining would continue until after world war 1, where the cost of extracting the salt became more than the profit that they were making off selling the salt, a combination of the unbearable heat along with the dangers of living in an area with toxic fumes that are literally being emitted from the earth's surface, eventually force the italians to abandon their very short-lived, assault mining dreams and head back to where they came from the lowell became a ghost town where the population fell to zero.
And what was left of the homes and automobiles baked in the desert sun.
But this actually turned out to be only the beginning of the de lol valley from 1951 to 1953, a city to the north asmara, which was in the country of ertria sent workers down to dulol to mine the salt in these two years, these workers from ertrea mined a couple tons of salt and sold it to india.
But this operation only lasted two years in the 1960s, parsons company of the usa came into dulol and conducted some geological surveys on the climate and geography of the lull by 1965, the united states wanted to turn the lull into a modern salt mine.
So they drilled 10 000 different holes at 65 locations across the salt flat, even for the modern technology of the united states, the u.s quickly realized how hot this region was and suspended their operations in de lol, all these failures from outside countries coming into ethiopia to try and take advantage of their natural resources, ironically failed.
These failures left only one group that was left to try and take advantage of the abundance of salt that one group was the natives of the nearby ethiopian villages, which are more commonly known as the afars.
Now, all of these nearby villages, weren't, really so nearby.
Ethiopia is actually the highest elevation country in all of africa.
So, the ethiopians don't have to live.
In the extreme heat of the lol valley.
When the afar's came into this region.
They first tried settling in the abandoned civilization of da lol.
All.
That was left.
Here was these scraps of metal and salt blocks, the ethiopians realized that rebuilding a new civilization.
Here would be near impossible given the extreme heat and toxic fumes.
So they decided on moving.
A couple.
Kilometers from the assault flat to an area that was still equally as hot but would at least have less toxic fumes circling the air this new civilization would be called ahmad aya fast forward to today an ahmad aya has a population of a whopping 4 000 people all living out here.
In the hottest civilization in the world.
The average temperature of ahmad aya is shown in this graph, where the average daily high goes all the way up to 35 degrees celsius or 95 degrees fahrenheit and the daily low goes down to 24 degrees.
Celsius, or 75 degrees fahrenheit, this is obviously the yearly average so you can only imagine how hot these summers get the local afars.
Have constructed huts.
Made out of wood and plastic.
It is often too hot in these huts to sleep.
So the fr people will sleep outside under the stars on their beds as you can imagine the living conditions here are extremely tough, where there is no electricity and very little water.
Most of the inhabitants of ahmad aya make their living from the salt trade.
They extract the salt from lake assault and then use camels to carry the salt to the closest nearby settlement for hail.
This is an extremely difficult trek since it is too hot to walk during the day, even for the camels.
The trek is done only at night.
And normally takes two to three days even berhale is an extremely small civilization in the middle of the desert.
So often this is just a pit stop before the camels and afar.
People make their way to the next closest city.
Mckell mikhail is much larger and has the infrastructure to process the salt shipments back in ahmad aya, the extreme climate isn't.
The only thing that puts the afar's lives in danger in 2012.
Five tourists were killed outside ahmad aya from what is believed to be militants from the country, just to the north ethiopia and ertrea have been having some pretty serious border disputes.
Because of this attack, ethiopia, constructed a small military base in ahmad aya.
And now has armed security scattered around the popular tourist areas of the dulul region, the local afars, tell any tourists visiting to be on the lookout because the border dispute doesn't seem to be going away anytime too soon.
If you did want to visit ahmadea one day, there is a hotel on the base, but because it's so hot, you'll likely just be sleeping outside.
Anyways, you could ensure that the customer service would be top notch despite there being no air conditioning getting to a mod eja is extremely difficult.
But not quite as difficult as it is to get to the world's, most remote island, the island of tristan de kuna lies in the middle of the atlantic ocean.
And this video will show you how 264 people are able to live on an island so isolated from the rest of the world.
FAQs
Why is Africa the hottest place? ›
The continent mainly lies within the intertropical zone between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, hence its interesting density of humidity. Precipitation intensity is always high, and it is a hot continent.
Why South Africa is so hot? ›Warm season weather is influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). South Africa experiences hotter and drier weather during the El Niño phase, while La Niña brings cooler and wetter conditions.
Why is Africa the most tropical of all continents? ›A number of factors influence Africa's sunny climate. The Equator nearly bisects the continent into two equal parts. Climatic zones lie on either side of this line as if it were a mirror, with tropical wet climates closer to the Equator and more arid conditions closer to the tropics.
Where was the hottest temperature ever recorded in Africa? ›The hottest known temperature in Africa is 55C (131F), recorded in Kebili, Tunisia in 1931. Iran holds the record for Asia's hottest official temperature of 54C (129F) which it recorded in 2017.
Why is the hottest place in the world? ›What is the hottest place on Earth? Death Valley is known for having "the highest air temperature on the planet," according to science.org. The Furnace Creek area in this part of the California desert reached a sweltering 134.1 degrees Fahrenheit, or 56.7 degrees Celsius, on July 10, 1913.
Does Africa have the hottest desert? ›How Hot Is The Sahara Desert? The Sahara is the hottest desert in the world – with one of the harshest climates. The average annual temperature is 30°C, whilst the hottest temperature ever recorded was 58°C.
When did Africa become hot? ›From around 150,000 to 130,000 years ago, Africa experienced colder and more arid than present conditions. About 130,000 years ago, a warm phase moister than the present began, and this lasted until about 115,000 years ago, with greater rainforest extent and the deserts almost completely covered with vegetation.
Which African country is very hot? ›According to World Population Review, Mali is the hottest country globally, with an average yearly temperature of 83.89°F (28.83°C). Located in West Africa, a large part of the nation is covered by the Sahara Desert, and most of the country receives minimal rain, making drought a frequent concern.
What is hottest place on earth? ›Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet: On 10 July 1913, temperatures at the aptly named Furnace Creek area in the California desert reached a blistering 56.7°C (134.1°F). Average summer temperatures, meanwhile, often rise above 45°C (113°F).
Why is Africa mostly desert? ›However, around 5,500 years ago there was a sudden shift in climate in northern Africa leading to rapid acidification of the area. What was once a tropical, wet, and thriving environment suddenly turned into the desolate desert we see today.
Why is Africa called the Dark continent? ›
Africa was originally dubbed the “Dark Continent” by Welsh journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who saw Africa as mysterious. Its landscapes and cultures were largely unknown to many outsiders until the late nineteenth century.
Who named Africa? ›All historians agree that it was the Roman use of the term 'Africa' for parts of Tunisia and Northern Algeria which ultimately, almost 2000 years later, gave the continent its name. There is, however, no consensus amongst scholars as to why the Romans decided to call these provinces 'Africa'.
Has it ever snowed in Africa? ›Yes, it does snow in Africa. There are regions where snow is pretty reliable during the winter, mostly where the altitude is high such as high mountains and some parts of South Africa and Lesotho.
What is the hottest temperature a human can survive? ›It is commonly held that the maximum temperature at which humans can survive is 108.14-degree Fahrenheit or 42.3-degree Celsius. A higher temperature may denature proteins and cause irreparable damage to brain. Simply put, the human body can turn into a scrambled egg.
Is Africa the hottest place on Earth? ›Despite the very high temperature recorded in Al-Azizyah, it is not considered the hottest place on earth, Dallol in Ethiopia is however the hottest spot on the planet.
Do people live in Death Valley? ›More than 300 people live year-round in Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth.
Is America the hottest place on Earth? ›Death Valley is famous as the hottest place on earth and driest place in North America. The world record highest air temperature of 134°F (57°C) was recorded at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913.
What is the 1st hottest place on Earth? ›Death Valley, California, USA
The aptly named Furnace Creek currently holds the record for hottest air temperature ever recorded. The desert valley reached highs of 56.7C in the summer of 1913, which would apparently push the limits of human survival.
Africa is the most tropical of all continents. Climate and vegetation range from equatorial rainforests, tropical deserts and savanna grassland to Mediterranean.
What extreme temperatures are in Africa? ›A world-record hottest temperature for Africa was recorded in Ouargla that afternoon. Image credit: NASA. A historic heat wave in northern Africa on Thursday, July 5, brought Africa its hottest reliably measured temperature on record: 124.3°F (51.3°C), at Ouargla, Algeria.
Is all of Africa a desert? ›
Africa has an array of diverse ecosystems, from sandy deserts to lush rainforests.
How do people survive the heat in Africa? ›Sun hats and umbrellas are also absolute essentials that can provide much relief during an afternoon walk in Africa. I generally don't leave the house without my umbrella during Namibia's summer season. Shielding yourself will make walks under the African sun so much more bearable.
Is Africa warming twice as fast? ›Africa is at a critical juncture, and solutions must be found. As we speak today, the globe is warming by 1.1 degrees, but Africa is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. It means we will see more droughts, floods and other extreme weather events ahead.
Is Africa warming faster? ›Temperatures: Africa warmed at an average rate of around +0.3 °C/decade between 1991 and 2021, faster than the warming from 1961-1990, at +0.2°C/decade. The year 2021 was either the third or fourth warmest years on record for Africa.
What is the 3 hottest country in the world? ›| # | Country | Average Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burkina Faso | 84.67 °F |
| 2 | Mali | 84.58 °F |
| 3 | Aruba | 84.51 °F |
| 4 | Senegal | 84.04 °F |
Mali is the hottest country in the world, with an average yearly temperature of 83.89°F (28.83°C). Located in West Africa, Mali actually shares borders with both Burkina Faso and Senegal, which follow it on the list.
Which country is Africa coldest? ›Lesotho is the coldest country in Africa. The country has two winters from June to August.
Is the world the hottest it's ever been? ›The current official highest registered air temperature on Earth is 56.7 °C (134.1 °F), recorded on 10 July 1913 at Furnace Creek Ranch, in Death Valley in the United States.
Where is the hottest place in human? ›Different parts of our body have different temperatures, with the rectum being the warmest (37℃), followed by the ears, urine and the mouth.
What is the hottest city now? ›- Hottest cities in the world:
- Doha, Qatar - 45°C.
- Kuwait City, Kuwait - 42°C.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – 42°C.
- Lahore, Pakistan - 41°C.
- Islamabad, Pakistan – 41°C.
- Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates - 40°C.
- New Delhi, India – 40°C.
Is Africa humid or dry? ›
Equatorial Africa / Central Africa has a monsoon climate with high temperatures and humidity. Heavy seasonal rains are common here. East Africa has separate dry and rainy seasons.
Could the Sahara ever be green again? ›The next Northern Hemisphere summer insolation maximum — when the Green Sahara could reappear — is projected to happen again about 10,000 years from now in A.D. 12000 or A.D. 13000. But what scientists can't predict is how greenhouse gases will affect this natural climate cycle.
How did Africa turn into a desert? ›It was long believed that the region had been this way since about 1600 BCE, after shifts in Earth's axis increased temperatures and decreased precipitation, which led to the abrupt desertification of North Africa about 5,400 years ago.
Why is Africa important to the world? ›The continent holds a huge proportion of the world's natural resources, both renewables and non-renewables. Africa is home to some 30 percent of the world's mineral reserves, eight per cent of the world's natural Gas and 12 per cent of the world's oil reserves.
Why is Africa splitting in two? ›The East African Rift most likely formed because of heat flowing up from the asthenosphere — the hotter, weaker, upper part of Earth's mantle — between Kenya and Ethiopia, according to the Geological Society of London.
Who discovered Africa? ›Portuguese explorer Prince Henry, known as the Navigator, was the first European to methodically explore Africa and the oceanic route to the Indies.
What is Africa called in the Bible? ›Cush, Cushitic and Cushi
In the Major Prophets, the terms used to refer to Africa and Africans appear more than 180 times. Cush appears also as a geographical location.
Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) from southern Ethiopia is the oldest anatomically modern Homo sapiens skeleton currently known (around 233,000 years old). There are even older Homo sapiens fossils from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco which exhibit a mixture of modern and archaic features at around 315,000 years old.
Is Africa the Garden of Eden? ›The real Garden Of Eden has been traced to the African nation of Botswana, according to a major study of DNA. Scientists believe our ancestral homeland is south of the Zambezi River in the country's north.
Does it rain in Africa? ›Average annual rainfall in South Africa is about 464 mm, with the Western Cape getting the majority of its rainfall in winter (June to August) and the rest of the country receiving summer (December to February) rainfall.
Does it ever snow in Hawaii? ›
The answer is "yes". It snows here every year, but only at the very summits of our 3 tallest volcanoes (Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Haleakala).
Why is the Horn of Africa so dry? ›Its size is 3,600 km2 (1,400 sq mi) and it is a territory of Yemen. The lowlands of the Horn are generally arid in spite of their proximity to the equator. This is because the winds of the tropical monsoons that give seasonal rains to the Sahel and the Sudan blow from the west.
Can humans survive 300 degrees? ›If the humidity is low, humans can endure even hotter temperatures. In a burning building or a deep mine, adults have survived 10 minutes at 300 degrees. Children, however, cannot withstand such temperatures, and 120-degree cars can be deadly in just minutes.
Can humans survive 130 degrees? ›At 130 degrees F, the survival time of a human being begins to decrease drastically. The actual temperature at which someone might die, however, can vary.
Can you survive 110 degree fever? ›Mild or moderate states of fever (up to 105 °F [40.55 °C]) cause weakness or exhaustion but are not in themselves a serious threat to health. More serious fevers, in which body temperature rises to 108 °F (42.22 °C) or more, can result in convulsions and death.
Why is Africa so hot? ›Option C: Africa mainly lies within the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Africa is a hot continent as the heat of the sun is always strong there. Thus, warm and hot climates prevail all over Africa but the northern part is the most marked part by aridity and high temperatures.
Is Africa hot all the time? ›Warm and hot climates prevail all over Africa, but mostly the northern part is marked by aridity and high temperatures. Only the northernmost and the southernmost fringes of the continent have a Mediterranean climate.
Does Africa have 4 seasons? ›If you're planning a trip to Africa, the weather is often an important factor. In the northern hemisphere, weather is generally determined according to four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. In many African countries, however, the year is divided into rainy and dry seasons.
What was Africa called in the Bible? ›Cush, Cushitic and Cushi
In the Major Prophets, the terms used to refer to Africa and Africans appear more than 180 times. Cush appears also as a geographical location.
Death Valley holds the record for the highest air temperature on the planet: On 10 July 1913, temperatures at the aptly named Furnace Creek area in the California desert reached a blistering 56.7°C (134.1°F). Average summer temperatures, meanwhile, often rise above 45°C (113°F).
Is Africa getting hotter? ›
Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world on average. Large portions of the continent may become uninhabitable as a result and Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) may decline by 2% as a result of a 1°C rise in average world temperature, and by 12% as a result of a 4°C rise in temperature.
What is the hottest place right now? ›- Nuwaiseeb, Kuwait. ...
- Iraq. ...
- Iran. ...
- Jacobabad, Pakistan. ...
- UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia. ...
- Lytton, Vancouver. ...
- Portland, US. ...
- Delhi, India.
The Sahara wasn't always a desert. Trees and grasslands dominated the landscape from roughly 10,000 years ago to 5,000 years ago. Then, abruptly, the climate changed, and north Africa began to dry out.
What was God's name in Africa? ›With the advent of either Islam or Christianity, the word "Mulungu" was usually adopted to mean the Christian or Islamic God. Over thirty translations of the Bible in African languages use the word Mulungu to refer to the Father.
Is the Garden of Eden in Africa? ›The real Garden Of Eden has been traced to the African nation of Botswana, according to a major study of DNA. Scientists believe our ancestral homeland is south of the Zambezi River in the country's north.
Is the Bible originally from Africa? ›North Africa forms part of the cradle that gave birth to the Bible, participating in the production of the Bible as we now have it. Mediterranean Africa had a marked effect, both in terms of the actual formation of the Bible and its interpretation.
What is the 1 hottest city in the world? ›Death Valley, California
According to the World Meteorological Organization's Global Weather & Climate Extremes Archive, temperatures in Death Valley reached international extremes when they hit 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.7° Celsius) in 1913 — the hottest temperature recorded anywhere in the world.
Death Valley is famous as the hottest place on earth and driest place in North America. The world record highest air temperature of 134°F (57°C) was recorded at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913. Summer temperatures often top 120°F (49°C) in the shade with overnight lows dipping into the 90s°F (mid-30s°C.)