EarthMapped Climate zones
World map of Köppen-Geiger climate zones

Climate Zones Map

A climate zones map sorts every place on land into a Köppen-Geiger climate class from its temperature and rainfall. This map uses the 30 classes of Beck et al. (2018), drawn at 1-degree cells.

  • Köppen-Geiger classification. A climate classification that sorts places into 5 main groups and 30 classes by monthly temperature and rainfall and how they change over the year. Source

Data source: Beck et al. (2018), Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution, CC BY 4.0. Download: GeoJSON , CSV .

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What the map shows

Colors are the Köppen-Geiger classes Köppen-Geiger classification. A climate classification that sorts places into 5 main groups and 30 classes by monthly temperature and rainfall and how they change over the year. Source in the legend of Beck et al. (2018): blues for tropical climates, reds and oranges for dry lands, yellows and greens for temperate ones, purples and teals for cold ones and grays for polar tundra and ice. Turn off a group to see where the others sit. Tap a square to see its class.

Height matters as much as latitude. Cold and polar classes reach far south along high ranges; compare this map with the mountain ranges map. Climate also sets the plants that grow in a place, which is why the biomes map follows the same broad belts.

Key facts

  1. The Beck et al. maps are built at 1-km resolution for the present day (1980 to 2016) and for 2071 to 2100. Beck et al. (2018)
  2. The present-day map combines an ensemble of four climate data sets, and each cell comes with a confidence level. Beck et al. (2018)
  3. The 2071 to 2100 map is based on 32 climate model projections under the RCP8.5 scenario. Beck et al. (2018)
  4. Arid climates (group B) cover the most land on this map: 31.1% of 150.1 million km². Beck et al. (2018)
  5. The largest single class is BWh (Arid, desert, hot), at 14.7% of land. Beck et al. (2018)
  6. Temperate climates (group C) are the smallest group, at 11.2% of land. Beck et al. (2018)

The five main climate groups

Köppen-Geiger main groups by share of land
GroupNameClassesArea (km²)Share of land
B Arid 4 46,703,761 31.1%
D Cold 12 33,981,235 22.6%
A Tropical 3 29,985,105 20.0%
E Polar 2 22,622,343 15.1%
C Temperate 9 16,831,493 11.2%

Data source: Beck et al. (2018), Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution, CC BY 4.0. Download: GeoJSON , CSV .

All climate classes by area

Areas come from the 1/12-degree source cells, so they are finer than the squares on the map. Antarctica is included.

Köppen-Geiger classes, area and share of land
CodeClimateArea (km²)Share of land
BWh Arid, desert, hot 22,057,358 14.7%
Aw Tropical, savannah 17,147,736 11.4%
Dfc Cold, no dry season, cold summer 15,746,922 10.5%
EF Polar, frost 14,103,241 9.4%
BSk Arid, steppe, cold 9,006,580 6.0%
ET Polar, tundra 8,519,102 5.7%
BSh Arid, steppe, hot 7,954,621 5.3%
BWk Arid, desert, cold 7,685,202 5.1%
Af Tropical, rainforest 7,546,850 5.0%
Dfb Cold, no dry season, warm summer 7,493,977 5.0%
Cfa Temperate, no dry season, hot summer 5,649,425 3.8%
Am Tropical, monsoon 5,290,519 3.5%
Cwa Temperate, dry winter, hot summer 4,220,119 2.8%
Dwc Cold, dry winter, cold summer 2,975,841 2.0%
Cfb Temperate, no dry season, warm summer 2,696,561 1.8%
Dfa Cold, no dry season, hot summer 2,022,253 1.3%
Cwb Temperate, dry winter, warm summer 1,745,506 1.2%
Dsc Cold, dry summer, cold summer 1,582,569 1.1%
Csa Temperate, dry summer, hot summer 1,526,062 1.0%
Dwa Cold, dry winter, hot summer 1,229,317 0.8%
Dwb Cold, dry winter, warm summer 1,201,423 0.8%
Csb Temperate, dry summer, warm summer 882,857 0.6%
Dfd Cold, no dry season, very cold winter 611,673 0.4%
Dsb Cold, dry summer, warm summer 585,199 0.4%
Dsa Cold, dry summer, hot summer 249,193 0.2%
Dwd Cold, dry winter, very cold winter 227,251 0.2%
Cfc Temperate, no dry season, cold summer 105,865 0.1%
Dsd Cold, dry summer, very cold winter 55,617 0.0%
Cwc Temperate, dry winter, cold summer 2,668 0.0%
Csc Temperate, dry summer, cold summer 2,430 0.0%

Data source: Beck et al. (2018), Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution, CC BY 4.0. Download: GeoJSON , CSV .

Time of day follows longitude rather than climate; see the world time zone map.

Glossary

Köppen-Geiger classification
A climate classification that sorts places into 5 main groups and 30 classes by monthly temperature and rainfall and how they change over the year. Source
Biome
A large group of ecoregions with similar vegetation and climate, such as tundra or tropical moist forest. RESOLVE uses 14 land biomes. Source
Latitude
Distance north or south of the equator, in degrees. Lines of latitude are always the same distance apart, about 111 km per degree. Source

All terms in the glossary

Climate zones FAQ

What are the 5 main climate zones?
In the Köppen-Geiger system: A tropical, B arid, C temperate, D cold and E polar. On this map they cover A 20%, B 31%, C 11%, D 23%, E 15% of land.
What do the Köppen letters mean?
The first letter is the main group. The second letter adds rainfall: f for no dry season, s for dry summer, w for dry winter, W for desert and S for steppe. A third letter gives summer heat, from h (hot) and a (hot summer) to d (very cold winter).
Which climate zone covers the most land?
Group B, arid, with 31.1% of land. The single largest class is BWh, arid, desert, hot.
Why does the map look blocky?
Each square is one degree of latitude and longitude, colored by the class that covers most of it. The source map is far finer; the shares in the tables come from its 1/12-degree cells.
Can I use this climate map?
Yes. The Beck et al. (2018) data is CC BY 4.0, so credit the paper. The GeoJSON and CSV downloads on this page carry the same license.

Sources: Beck et al. (2018), for classes, legend and areas.