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Sunniest Cities in the World

Photo by Thales Botelho de Sousa on Unsplash

20 Sunniest Cities in the World

In these cities, clear skies are the default. The top entries see over 300 sunny days per year, meaning overcast days are the exception rather than the rule.

Copiapo, Chile leads this list at 335 sunny days per year, a figure that makes overcast days the exception rather than the rule. When the sun appears more than 80% of the time, it stops being weather and becomes the baseline expectation. Across all 20 entries, the average is 302 sunny days annually.

The 13 countries across 4 continents on this list reflect the conditions that produce consistent sunshine: dry air, minimal cloud-producing moisture, and geography that keeps storm tracks away. Those conditions concentrate in arid and semi-arid zones. The geographic spread is narrower than most lists here, because the atmospheric requirements for year-round sunshine are specific in a way that warmth or mild temperatures are not.

The tradeoff is heat. Clear skies and high temperatures share the same cause: the arid conditions that keep clouds away also prevent the cooling that moisture and cloud cover provide. More than half the cities here see summer highs above 90°F (32°C). For sunshine without serious summer heat, look toward the higher-elevation entries on the list, where altitude moderates temperatures while preserving the clear skies.

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Cities are selected for geographic diversity, so nearby cities do not crowd each other out.

  1. 1
    Copiapo
    Chile
    Sunny days335 days
    Summer high: 80°F (27°C)
  2. 2
    Kom Ombo
    Aswan, Egypt
    Sunny days327 days
    Summer high: 106°F (41°C)
  3. 3
    Jeddah
    Mecca Region, Saudi Arabia
    Sunny days315 days
    Summer high: 98°F (37°C)
  4. 4
    Cairo
    Cairo, Egypt
    Sunny days309 days
    Summer high: 98°F (37°C)
  5. 5
    Arona
    Canary Islands, Spain
    Sunny days308 days
    Summer high: 77°F (25°C)
  6. 6
    Sabha
    Sabha District, Libya
    Sunny days303 days
    Summer high: 103°F (40°C)
  7. 7
    Dubai
    United Arab Emirates
    Sunny days300 days
    Summer high: 109°F (43°C)
  8. 8
    Ha'il
    Ha'il Region, Saudi Arabia
    Sunny days300 days
    Summer high: 104°F (40°C)
  9. 9
    Al Kharj
    Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia
    Sunny days298 days
    Summer high: 113°F (45°C)
  10. 10
    Omdurman
    Khartoum, Sudan
    Sunny days298 days
    Summer high: 107°F (41°C)
  11. 11
    El Oued
    El Oued, Algeria
    Sunny days297 days
    Summer high: 106°F (41°C)
  12. 12
    Baghdad
    Iraq
    Sunny days297 days
    Summer high: 115°F (46°C)
  13. 13
    Ajdabiya
    Al Wāḩāt, Libya
    Sunny days296 days
    Summer high: 95°F (35°C)
  14. 14
    Khash
    Iran
    Sunny days295 days
    Summer high: 101°F (38°C)
  15. 15
    Najran
    Najran Region, Saudi Arabia
    Sunny days295 days
    Summer high: 99°F (37°C)
  16. 16
    Nouadhibou
    Mauritania
    Sunny days294 days
    Summer high: 81°F (27°C)
  17. 17
    Herat
    Herat, Afghanistan
    Sunny days293 days
    Summer high: 98°F (37°C)
  18. 18
    Bechar
    Béchar, Algeria
    Sunny days293 days
    Summer high: 107°F (42°C)
  19. 19
    Isfahan
    Isfahan, Iran
    Sunny days292 days
    Summer high: 102°F (39°C)
  20. 20
    Mexicali
    Mexico
    Sunny days292 days
    Summer high: 111°F (44°C)
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