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What’s the Hottest Place on Earth? Death Valley? Iran? Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression?

The Ultimate Explorer’s Grand Slam is complete (Or is it?!). If you don’t know, to earn the title of the Ultimate Explorers Grand Slam you have to visit every country on earth, reach both the north and south pole, climb the 7 summits, and reach both the hottest and coldest places on earth. To do that, we have to decide what is the hottest place on earth? Do you know where it is? Let’s see.

I have spent a stupid amount of my life chasing places that sound horrible on paper. I have run ultra marathons across the Sahara, climbed mountains where breathing feels like work, and stood in parts of Africa where the heat makes you question every decision that brought you there. Heat is different from cold. Cold hurts, but heat slowly cooks your brain. You get lazy, thirsty, annoyed, and slightly useless.

For years I thought the hottest place one earth was indeed Dallol, home to the Danakil Depression, in Ethiopia. And that does have a claim. It’s holds the hottest AVERAGE yearly temperature in the world. Night or day, summer or winter, it averages close to 40 Celisus/100 farenheit. But it doesn’t hold the record for hottest ever recorded. That goes to Furnace Creek, California. Let’s look more closely:

Also, if you’re interested in what is the coldest place on earth, you can read that HERE.

So what is the hottest place one earth?

There are a few claims to being the hottest place on earth. Namely:

1. Dallol, Ethiopia: famous for its extreme average heat, with an annual mean around 34°C during the 1960 to 1966 measurement period. It is often described as one of the hottest inhabited places on Earth rather than the holder of the single hottest temperature. I USED TO THINK IT WAS HERE FYI.
2. Death Valley, California, USA: the current official holder of the highest recorded air temperature, 56.7°C, measured in 1913. Guinness World Records
3. El Azizia, Libya: for decades claimed the world record at 58°C, recorded in 1922, but the WMO later disqualified it after reviewing the measurement. Guinness World Records
4. Kebili, Tunisia: recorded 55°C in 1931 and remains the official African record, although old records like this have been questioned by some climatologists. World Meteorological Organization
5. Mitribah, Kuwait: recorded a verified 53.9°C in 2016, the official Asian continental record. World Meteorological Organization
6. Turbat, Pakistan: recorded a verified 53.7°C in 2017, another of the highest reliably measured modern temperatures. World Meteorological Organization
7. Lut Desert, Iran: has recorded some of the highest land surface temperatures ever measured by satellite, and NASA found it was the hottest surface location in several years studied. This is ground temperature, not standard air temperature.

But the simple answer is Death Valley, in California, is the hottest place on earth. Because it’s recorded the highest ever temperature on earth. The official world record for the highest air temperature is 56.7°C, recorded at Furnace Creek in Death Valley on 10 July 1913. That is the figure recognised by the World Meteorological Organization.

Now, there is a catch. Some weather experts have questioned that old reading. The instruments were basic compared with what we use today, and the conditions around the reading have been debated for years. Still, officially, Death Valley holds the crown.

If you visit in summer (AND FOR THE GRAND SLAM RECORD, YOU HAVE TO!) this is not the place to act tough. Every year tourists underestimate it. People go for a short walk, get disoriented, and suddenly realise the desert does not care how fit they are. That is part of what makes Death Valley fascinating. It is easy to reach compared with many extreme places, but the environment is still genuinely hostile.

Here’s me with Jaime Aleman in summer 2026 at Furnace Creek:

SIDE RECORD?

Jaime and I visited Oymyakon in February 2026. Winter in Siberia, where we hit a temperature of -51C/-60F. 7 months later, we visited Furnace Creek, USA together where you can see above, we hit 49C/121F. Marking a 100C / 181F difference in one year. Surely that’s a record?! I’d love someone to challenge that!

Jaime is the first person to visit every country, both poles, SPACE (!) and now the hottest and coldest spots. He’s living the life!

How about Iran?

This is where things get fun. If you search for the hottest place one earth, you will quickly come across the Lut Desert in Iran. The Lut is one of the wildest landscapes I have ever seen photos of. Huge empty plains, giant sand formations, black rock, almost no vegetation, and temperatures that sound completely ridiculous. NASA satellites have measured land surface temperatures in the Lut Desert at over 80°C. Yes, eighty. But that does not mean the air temperature was 80°C.

This is where a lot of articles get lazy. Air temperature is normally measured in the shade, above the ground, using a controlled weather station. Land surface temperature is the temperature of the actual ground. Black rock and desert soil can become much hotter than the air above them.

Think about walking barefoot beside a swimming pool. The air might be 35°C, but the tiles feel like they were heated by Satan personally. Same idea. The Lut Desert has recorded some of the highest ground temperatures ever measured by satellite. So if you are asking where the surface of Earth gets hottest, Iran has a very strong claim.

On a side note, Iran itself is also one of the most rewarding countries I have travelled through. The politics scare people off, but the actual experience on the ground can be very different from the image people have in their heads. The food, architecture, deserts, mountains, and hospitality are incredible. That said, standing in a desert when the ground is pushing towards 80°C is probably not the best moment to test Iranian hospitality.

So not, Ethiopia, Danakil Depression and Dallol?

Then we have Ethiopia. Dallol is the place that always appears in arguments about the hottest place one earth. It sits in the Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia, one of the lowest, hottest, and strangest regions on the planet.

The Danakil Depression HAS THE HIGHEST AVERAGE YEARLY TEMPERATURE ever recorded. So it never gets cold here. But not the peak highest temperature, as stated, that goes to Furnace Creek, Death Valley.

I’m actually not a fan of Ethiopia. It is chaotic, beautiful, frustrating, historic, and completely unique. But the people aren’t very hospitable truth be told. I have been back multiple times, including for charity projects, and the country always feels like an adventure before you have even left the airport. The Danakil takes that to another level.

Dallol became famous because of its incredibly high average temperatures. For years it was often described as having the highest average annual temperature of any inhabited place on Earth. The key word there is average.

Death Valley can hit a higher extreme air temperature. The Lut can produce insane ground temperatures. Dallol is famous because the heat just keeps going.

Day after day. Month after month. And then there is the landscape. Bright yellow sulphur. Green pools. Salt flats. Acidic springs. Volcanoes. Camels crossing huge empty plains. It barely looks real.

This is also one of those places where Instagram makes everything look a bit too easy. You see a photo of somebody standing beside some alien coloured pool and think, cool, I want to go there.

What you do not see is hours of rough driving, brutal heat, basic conditions, dust everywhere, and the feeling that your body is slowly turning into soup. That is why I rate the Danakil so highly as an adventure. It is uncomfortable. It feels remote. You earn the experience. For me, that matters.

The Criteria? Air temperature, ground temperature, and average temperature

This is the bit that clears up most of the confusion.

When somebody asks for the hottest place one earth, there are really three different questions hiding inside it.

First, what place has recorded the highest air temperature? That is Death Valley, officially, at 56.7°C.

Second, where has the hottest ground surface been measured? That is where Iran enters the conversation. Satellite measurements in the Lut Desert have gone above 80°C.

Third, where stays brutally hot for the longest period? That is where Dallol has built its reputation.

The correct answer though, for the hottest place on earth? Has to be the place with the peak ever recorded temperature, and that’s Death Valley.

Which one should you actually visit?

To reach the hottest place on earth on your travel record? Simple. Death Valley.

Fly into Las Vegas, hire a car, and you can be there in a couple of hours. You get huge desert views, salt flats, strange rock formations, and a proper taste of extreme heat without needing an expedition team. Just do not be an idiot. Carry loads of water. Keep fuel in the car. Do not wander off into the desert at midday because you want a cool Instagram shot. Extreme heat kills people every year. A french guy sadly died the week before we arrived. It’s no joke.

That being said, If you want the most unusual adventure, I would choose the Danakil Depression. Although, it’s not the hottest place on earth per se. It feels more raw. More remote. More like the kind of trip you talk about years later. Visiting the Danakil Depression is tough, but worth it.

Iran would probably be my favourite for the wider trip. You can combine the Lut Desert with ancient cities, mountains, bazaars, brilliant food, and some of the best hospitality anywhere. BUT when people ask me for the hottest place one earth, my answer is this:

There is a clear answer. If we use the standard measurement that meteorologists use for weather records, the hottest place on Earth is Death Valley in California. Furnace Creek reached 56.7°C in 1913, and that remains the official world record. Other places such as Iran’s Lut Desert and Ethiopia’s Dallol have their own claims to fame, but they are based on different measurements.

So what’s the hottest place on earth? Death Valley

Death Valley. So hit it up, in summer, then go celebrate in vegas!