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Biggest Cities in Deserts

Try to name the world's most populous urban areas that get less than 250mm of rainfall per year.
Population according to citypopulation.de as of January 2026
These cities might be on a river or a sea
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relessness
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Last updated: March 15, 2026
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First submittedSeptember 22, 2017
Times taken59,881
Average score71.4%
Rating4.97
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Continent
Population
City
Africa
23.2 m
Cairo
Asia
17.2 m
Tehran
South America
12.2 m
Lima
South America
8.60 m
Santiago
Asia
8.00 m
Baghdad
Asia
7.90 m
Riyadh
Africa
7.40 m
Khartoum
Asia
6.65 m
Dubai
Africa
6.35 m
Alexandria
Asia
6.30 m
Amman
North America
5.05 m
Phoenix
Asia
4.83 m
Kuwait City
Asia
4.05 m
Damascus
Asia
4.00 m
Jeddah
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50 Comments
benzeller
+17
Level 65
Jan 9, 2018
I only got the S. America one because of a quiz a few days ago. It's still weird to me that it gets that little rain!
Jiaozira
+7
Level 72
Jan 9, 2018
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth.
EvaR
+43
Level 67
Jan 9, 2018
But Lima is not in the Atacama desert
mahble
+5
Level 79
Jan 9, 2018
It's close enough, I guess... the Atacama is northern Chile and does spread into Peru.
tshalla
+6
Level 79
May 22, 2023
Lima isn't in the Atacama Desert, it's just that Lima is in an area of very little precipitation. Weirder is that it's coastal and (almost) equatorial, but never very hot.
HydratedMite
+4
Level 68
Feb 29, 2024
Peruvian coastal desert, close enough
mahble
+3
Level 79
Jan 9, 2018
Ditto.
relessness
+21
Level 46
Jan 9, 2018
Was in Lima last year, was weird seeing the streets without drains
driehoek25
+9
Level 70
Mar 17, 2021
The fact that it is often cloudy even makes it weirder.
EvanAviator
+3
Level 61
May 22, 2023
it almost never rains in Lima
gustavo11
+1
Level 74
Mar 17, 2026
The answer is Humboldt maritime current. As it carries cold waters, it reduces the capacity of water to evaporate, and consequently there is little clouds. But, as it is still close to the sea, it has stable temperatures, with low variation through the days and through the year.
djeedubbeljoe
+5
Level 67
Jan 9, 2018
"These cities might be on a river or a sea"

Aren't all cities? :)

Inside
+8
Level 53
Jan 9, 2018
no mine isn't
IsleAuHaulte
+16
Level 92
Jun 26, 2019
Saudi Arabia doesn't have rivers.
kalbahamut
+6
Level 79
Aug 17, 2019
All cities might be. Not all cities are. The point is that to some it might seem counter-intuitive to think of a city next to water as in a desert. But if it doesn't get much rainfall a coastal area can still technically be a desert.
EvanAviator
+2
Level 61
May 22, 2023
Worcester, MA (several lakes around though)

Birmingham, AL (a little creek is present though)

NEGeo
+1
Level 65
May 23, 2023
Hey I'm from Worcester!
MichaelPeblo
+2
Level 44
Mar 16, 2021
Bruuuuuuh

Would have never considered Phoenix or Damascus because they are small in comparison... Didn't realize that the urban ares were considered 🤦🏼‍♂️

FlyingG
+3
Level 68
Mar 16, 2021
Phoenix is quite big even city proper, with a city proper population over 2 million I think.
AlmostAGenius
+1
Level 89
May 22, 2023
Not quite. Still around 1.5 million.
MyMindWentBlank
+1
Level 60
May 22, 2023
Yeah, just over 1.6 million at the last census
Devvik2
+5
Level 74
May 7, 2021
I guess Casablanca is not in a desert? It certainly feels like a desert there. I have never been there, but I went on street view on Google Maps and it feels like a desert, but if you go on the satellite you can see it's not in a desert I guess.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Mar 3, 2023
Very close to being a desert.
jbro
+2
Level 76
Aug 6, 2021
what about las vegas, aleppo, jerusalem, kabul, sanaa, or mecca?
Quizmaster
+12
Level ∞
Mar 3, 2023
Too small, too small, way too small, almost but not quite a desert, too small, and too small.
cocachiantos
+3
Level 75
May 22, 2023
not only Jerusalem is too small but also has a mediterranean climate. 554mm of rain anually
BigFloppa
+2
Level 62
Jan 20, 2022
I thought Addis Ababa was in a desert

Guess I was wrong lol

Quizmaster
+7
Level ∞
Mar 3, 2023
Not even close. They get an average of 1,165 mm per year, which is more than most of Europe.
Nadirj
+1
Level 81
Apr 6, 2023
Are cities like Karachi and Amman really in the desert?
MCdoesgeography
+2
Level 74
Aug 21, 2023
Just barely, but yes. Travel 30 km and you're out of desert climate
Amilcar
+4
Level 73
Apr 22, 2023
I wonder whether this wouldn't be better called 'World's Driest Cities' as many of these would never be regarded by those who know them as being in deserts. I mean how could the legendarily soggy Nile delta be seen as a desert?
Wistful
+1
Level 72
Sep 8, 2023
That feels much more confusing.
Dollyfroggy
+3
Level 63
Dec 8, 2023
Maybe Biggest Dry Cities, since these are not the Driest Cities, but the most populous.
erikandrew1001
+1
Level 20
May 14, 2026
The Nile, soggy? Apparently there's major conflicts going on over the amount of water...
WashingMachine
+4
Level 67
May 15, 2023
Kuwait City, man. Depending on how it’s measured, I either overestimate or underestimate its population. Every time!
GeoQuizzes
+2
Level 43
May 23, 2023
Come On! Missed Khartoum, but got everything else.
JetPunker180
+1
Level 54
Apr 20, 2025
How can Karachi be a desert as it recieve 250 mm of rainfall only during monsoon?
erikandrew1001
+1
Level 20
May 14, 2026
Lots of deserts receive rainfall at occasional times. Especially anywhere coastal along the Indian ocean, such as coastal Yemen, Oman, or Iran. Central Australia is a known desert but floods annually.
cocachiantos
+1
Level 75
Jul 16, 2025
Hi ! Nitpicker-in-chief here. I see you deleted my previous comment and precised a rainfall threshold in the caveat.

Santiago de Chile is missing (pop. 5,220,161, rainfall 221.5mm/year), while Karachi is among the answers despite 318mm/year in rainfall.

Alice Springs, in the middle of Australia and 275mm/year of rain, is obviously very little but is arguably more desertic than Santiago, due to its higher average tempature and its summer rainfall pattern (like Karachi).

What I mean is that rainfall alone is not a very good indicator at indicating wether a place is desertic or not.

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 15, 2026
Thank you. We have removed Karachi and added Santiago.
melack
+4
Level 78
Mar 16, 2026
I live in Santiago and it's not dessertic nor surrounded by a dessert at all.
CardinalSin
+3
Level 82
Mar 23, 2026
I think that Santiago should be removed. True that the weather station at the airport records just 221.5mm of rainfall per year but precipitation varies quite widely across the city - 438mm at Quebrada de Macul. My Geography teacher at school taught me that it has a Mediterranean climate.
erikandrew1001
+1
Level 20
May 14, 2026
Much further north from Santiago is the Atacama Desert, so a better choice would be Arica, Iquique, or Antofagasta. Santiago is more close to Patagonia, than anything else.
pieman
+1
Level 58
Aug 18, 2025
I was thinking Baghdad couldn't be here cause of the fertile crescent, but I don't know why I thought that as I had already put damascus, and Cairo which is also on a river valley
JetpunkSandwich
+1
Level 48
Jan 8, 2026
Alexandria is considered semi arid.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 15, 2026
Cool.
BenitoJuarez09
+1
Level 49
Feb 26, 2026
Im gonna jump off a cliff how tf did i miss Cairo????
Wooper
+1
Level 55
Mar 16, 2026
Not Karachi?
NightLilac
+1
Level 57
Mar 16, 2026
it was removed in yesterday's update.
erikandrew1001
+1
Level 20
May 14, 2026
Odd choices... yet no mention of the Gobi Desert (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), Thar Desert (Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, India), or maybe Islamabad and Karachi, Pakistan. Even Ahmedabad, India, is considered a coastal desert... Muscat (Oman), Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (Israel), Beirut (Lebanon), multiple cities in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.
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