1. Arab Republic of Egypt – 51mm/year
This is probably the best known of all the countries on the list thanks to its Pyramids, and probably the first one most people think of when remembering a country in a desert. The majority of Egypt’s landscape consists of parts of the Sahara Desert and parts of the Libyan Desert; therefore, most of its population does not have much choice but to live along the narrow Nile Valley and Delta. During spring or in the early summer, a hot dry wind called the Khamaseen blows and brings the scorching sand and dust from the deserts in the south. The Khamaseen can increase daytime temperatures greatly and sometimes even over 122 °F (50 °C), while also dropping relative humidity to 5 percent or less. Knowing that 3 percent of Egypt’s territory is home to 98 percent of its population because the rest of the land is an arid desert with a few oases, we proclaim Egypt the winner and end our list of the 10 countries with the lowest rainfall.
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