🇨🇴 Colombia is the Wettest Country on Earth, Egypt is the Driest

What we’re showing:

A ranking of the countries that receive the highest and lowest average annual precipitation in millimeters, per latest data from the World Bank.

Key Takeaways

• Countries from the Americas, Africa, and Asia all contribute to the list of the wettest places on the earth.
• On the other hand North Africa and the Middle East are over-represented in the list of driest countries in the world.
• The difference in annual average precipitation between Colombia (wettest) and Egypt (driest) is staggering. Colombia receives nearly 180x the amount of rain Egypt does.

The Rain Band

Many of the wettest nations are located near the equator, in proximity to the Intertropical Convergence Zone (where trade winds from both hemispheres meet). These countries also have significant coastlines that lead to higher than average rainfall.