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Countries with the Most Total Precipitation

Can you guess the countries that have the greatest total amount of precipitation fall over their entire territory?
Based on multiplying land area times yearly precipitation
For the years 1991–2020. Source.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: July 17, 2022
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First submittedFebruary 19, 2017
Times taken60,970
Average score80.0%
Rating4.80
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km³ / year
Country
15,167
Brazil
8,122
Russia
7,449
United States
6,060
China
5,452
Canada
5,077
Indonesia
4,061
Australia
km³ / year
Country
3,540
India
3,506
D. R. Congo
2,882
Colombia
1,991
Peru
1,737
Venezuela
1,710
Argentina
1,465
Mexico
km³ / year
Country
1,449
Myanmar
1,417
Papua New Guinea
1,297
Angola
1,260
Bolivia
1,111
Nigeria
974
Malaysia
56 Comments
+92
Level ∞
Feb 19, 2017
Brazil gets enough rain annually to cover Jamaica over a kilometer deep.
+137
Level 86
Feb 19, 2017
I'm not an expert, but I think that would qualify as an act of war.
+81
Level 72
Jun 5, 2017
More like an act of water.
+7
Level 73
Feb 26, 2018
LOL to both of you!
+3
Level 16
Feb 26, 2018
Quizmaster didn't mean that brazil WOULD Spill water on Jamaica.

#BrainLogic

+31
Level 45
Apr 2, 2020
How else do you conquer Jamaica?
+10
Level 84
Feb 20, 2017
Or to cover it in almost 4m of rain every day.
+12
Level 72
Sep 19, 2019
That is much more effective than doing it once for a kilometer. 4m is enough to screw up most things anyway.
+8
Level 58
Dec 9, 2020
Plus not all of it would be able to drain by the next day, continuing getting higher everyday for a year. A kilometre would destroy like everything but it wouldn't make the island almost uninhabitable for an entire year. Plus it would drain a lot faster (comparatively) because it isn't continuing to pour
+31
Level 76
Nov 24, 2020
Brazil also gets enough rain to get Vatican City approximately 19,000 miles deep in water, which would reach eight percent of the way to the moon
+10
Level 77
Mar 14, 2023
I'm glad someone worked that out. It had to be done
+1
Level 64
Dec 9, 2024
Can we build an water elevator to the moon with that?
+12
Level 76
Feb 20, 2017
Fascinating! Since most of Australia's land area is desert, its number is astonishing.
+18
Level 90
Feb 20, 2017
It's really big.
+18
Level ∞
Feb 20, 2017
And parts of Australia get a lot of precipitation. The country-wide average was higher than I expected. (53.4 cm per year).
+8
Level 81
Apr 6, 2018
Parts of Far North Queensland get phenomenal amounts of rain. The weather station at Bellenden Ker once received 5300mm in a single month.
+3
Level 77
Jun 4, 2022
Regional particulars acknowledged, I was still surprised to see Australia above Congo, Colombia, and India. I wonder how average precipitation levels are calculated. Average of all weather stations? If so, some types of places will be over-represented and others under-represented.
+2
Level 47
May 18, 2023
the east coast, the far north, Tasmania and the Adelaide hills get a lot of rain
+3
Level 77
Jun 10, 2023
Right, I acknowledge regional particulars. Now here are the regions of Congo that get a lot of rain: Congo.
+10
Level 81
Jul 19, 2022
One thing I didn't point out in my previous comment that is probably pertinent is that Australian desert isn't particularly dry by world standards. So while Australia may have more desert than any other country, much of that desert is still recording 200mm+ per annum, whereas much of the Atacama or Sahara is getting less 10mm per annum. I think this fact, plus the sheer size of the country, plus the exceedingly wet parts mentioned above combine to mean Australia makes it onto this quiz. It's worth noting that when adjusting for area, Australia is the driest country on this list only getting about a sixth of the rain per km2 of the wettest country, which is PNG (which incidentally is immediately adjacent to the aforementioned Far North Queensland).
+3
Level 75
Jun 5, 2017
Try this quiz http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/170770/australian-capitals-from-wettest-to-driest
+5
Level 60
Jun 5, 2017
There's a large part of northern Australia which is rainforest.
+1
Level 68
Jun 6, 2017
eastern
+3
Level 80
Apr 1, 2020
Northern, for rainforests.
+2
Level 89
Jun 6, 2022
Northern for tropical rainforest, but most of the east coast also has subtropical and temperate rainforests.
+1
Level 77
Jun 10, 2023
I wouldn't call it a large part. Compare satellite imagery of Australia and Congo, for example.
+1
Level 30
Feb 26, 2018
Just because it gets to the ground doesn't mean it stays there
+11
Level 80
Feb 20, 2017
Land size is obviously key here. I wonder what it would look like if the quiz were average rainfall per square km..
+4
Level 80
Feb 20, 2017
There's a link to the wettest country quiz in the hints. I believe this is exactly what you are looking for.
+1
Level 66
Feb 22, 2017
I would be totally different from this quiz.
+1
Level 72
Sep 19, 2019
would be a nice quiz though
+6
Level 85
Jun 5, 2017
Yeah, another spam the largest country quiz.
+3
Level 69
Jun 10, 2023
Excluding most of Africa, the Middle East and with a focus on South America.
+4
Level 70
Jun 5, 2017
I am surprised Chile is there, every time you see a documentary on the place they always show these arid deserts all over. Also surprised not to see Philippines or Malaysia or Vietnam which are humid tropical rain-forests.
+1
Level 78
Feb 26, 2018
It's talking about total volume of precipitation, so the area or the country factors into it heavily.
+1
Level 16
Apr 1, 2020
The Philippines don't get much rain. Sun, yes -- water, no (unless there's a lot of typhoons).
+2
Level 80
Apr 2, 2020
This is why I did not expect Bolivia to be here
+1
Level 77
Jun 12, 2023
Only a portion of Chile is arid. Same goes for Bolivia.
+1
Level 69
Nov 21, 2024
Chile's surprisingly big - ranks #37 by area

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area

Close to Turkey or Pakistan.

3/4 the size of Bolivia. Twice as big as the next-largest SA country, Paraguay.

Peru was a similar surprise; #19. Similar to Chad or Niger

+19
Level 85
Apr 1, 2020
I feel bad for short people. Whenever it rains, they're always the last ones to know.
+13
Level 68
Apr 3, 2020
But the first to go, sadly.
+1
Level 52
Nov 8, 2020
Is this only talking about rain or does it include snow/sleet/hail
+1
Level 77
Jun 12, 2023
They're all forms of precipitation.
+1
Level 66
Jun 4, 2022
When Scotland becomes independent, it will immediately jump to number 1 on this list, haha
+2
Level 34
Jun 5, 2022
I kept typing ecuador whilst thinking of peru.

Surely enough its one of two countries i miss.

+1
Level 88
Jul 18, 2022
Since it's mostly large countries that aren't desert-y, I'm surprised Kazakhstan isn't on here.
+5
Level 89
Jul 28, 2022
Kazakhstan is "desert-y".
+1
Level 62
Aug 10, 2022
I typed every south american country except peru...
+1
Level 70
Jan 18, 2023
I didn't even think to guess Australia because of how high a percentage of its total surface area desert is. I mean, sure, I thought about it for a second, but thought to myself "Nah". Would it have hurt to try so that I could have gotten 20/20? Hmm... What happens to all that water, though? Where does it all go? Just out into the ocean?
+5
Level 77
Mar 14, 2023
Did you never study the water cycle in grade school? Precipitation, evaporation, infiltration, etc? Good stuff. Check it out.
+2
Level 45
Jun 10, 2023
Australia is a massive country, though, and there are many parts of the north that receives too much rain (hence deemed unfavorable by colonial settlers).
+1
Level 71
Jun 10, 2023
3:07 used, interesting how a lot of these you wouldn't immediately think of as receiving a lot of rain but simply because of the size of the country they're on the list
+1
Level 65
Oct 21, 2024
great quiz! Interesting that many countries on the list are there for the great area they have. A similar quiz comparing rain per km² would be great as well
+1
Level 66
Nov 21, 2024
Exactly what Souz said above. TY, as ever, for the quiz QM
+1
Level 33
Nov 21, 2024
I am always thinking about the most common guesses when seeing the results. Are they logged?
+1
Level 71
Nov 22, 2024
took me awhile to catch on that it was rain over the entirety of the country and not just the average rainfall, that of course required the specialized skill of...READING.