IAS NOVA Interactive Atlas
Climate Zones of the World
Read the planet through heat and moisture—from equatorial rainforest and monsoon belts to deserts, mid-latitude climates, boreal interiors and ice caps.
Definition
A climate zone is a broad region with a recurring long-term pattern of temperature, precipitation and seasonality. This atlas follows the Köppen–Geiger logic: A tropical, B dry, C temperate, D continental and E polar. It adds H highland as a practical teaching category because elevation creates complex local climates that a small world map cannot display at full resolution.
Learn with the map: Open it in FULL SCREEN, choose a major group or subtype, and hover, tap or use the Index to compare representative climate regions.
How the world is divided into climate zones
Climate is the long-term pattern behind day-to-day weather. A rainy afternoon is weather; the recurring seasonal rhythm of heat, rain, drought, snow and wind is climate. The World Meteorological Organization uses 30-year periods for standard climate normals, including 1991-2020.
Exam rule: Köppen classification is empirical. It classifies observed temperature and precipitation patterns. It does not directly classify air masses, soils, vegetation or genetic climate causes, although these are strongly connected.
Read a Köppen code in seconds
Select a major letter. In a complete code, the first letter names the broad thermal-moisture group. The second usually describes dryness or seasonal rainfall. In B climates, W means desert and S means steppe. A third letter commonly describes summer heat or winter severity.
A: Tropical climates
Every month averages at least 18 C. Rainfall seasonality separates rainforest, monsoon and savanna climates.
Code examples: Af, Am and Aw/As.
Common second letters
- f: no dry season
- s: dry summer
- w: dry winter
- m: monsoon
- W: desert and S: steppe in Group B
- T: tundra and F: ice cap in Group E
Common third letters
- a: hot summer
- b: warm summer
- c: cool, short summer
- d: extremely cold continental winter
- h: hot arid climate
- k: cold arid climate
Seventeen climate categories used on the map
The scientific Köppen-Geiger system commonly resolves about 30 subtypes. To remain readable at world scale, this atlas combines closely related classes into seventeen teaching categories while preserving the code logic.
Tropical rainforest
Rule: all months are hot and no month is dry. Convection, equatorial convergence and abundant moisture support evergreen forest.
Examples: Amazon, Congo Basin and Maritime Southeast Asia.
Tropical monsoon
Rule: tropical heat with a short dry season and an exceptionally wet monsoon season. The dry month is not dry enough or long enough for Aw.
Examples: western India, Bangladesh, Guinea coast and monsoon Southeast Asia.
Tropical savanna
Rule: hot all year with a distinct dry season. Aw is winter-dry; As is summer-dry and much less extensive.
Examples: African savannas, Cerrado, Llanos and interior peninsular India.
Hot desert
Rule: precipitation is below half the aridity threshold and mean annual temperature is at least 18 C.
Examples: Sahara, Arabian, Sonoran, Atacama and Australian deserts.
Cold desert
Rule: arid like BW, but mean annual temperature is below 18 C. Winters may be very cold.
Examples: Gobi, Taklamakan, Great Basin and Patagonia.
Hot semi-arid
Rule: rainfall lies between half and the full dryness threshold; mean annual temperature is at least 18 C.
Examples: Sahel, Thar margins, Horn of Africa and northeast Brazil.
Cold semi-arid
Rule: steppe moisture with cooler annual conditions. Continentality and rain shadows are common.
Examples: Eurasian Steppe, High Plains and dry Argentine interiors.
Mediterranean
Rule: dry summer and wet winter. Csa has a hot summer; Csb has a warm summer.
Examples: Mediterranean Basin, California, central Chile, Cape region and southwest Australia.
Humid subtropical
Rule: hot summer, mild winter and no Köppen dry season. Eastern continental margins are typical.
Examples: southeast United States, east China, southeast South America and east Australia.
Oceanic and subpolar oceanic
Rule: cool-to-warm summers, moderate winters and year-round precipitation under maritime influence.
Examples: western Europe, Pacific Northwest, New Zealand and southern Chile.
Dry-winter temperate
Rule: summer rain and a dry winter. Cwb is common where elevation moderates subtropical heat.
Examples: northern India, interior China, southern African and Mexican uplands.
Hot-summer continental
Rule: cold winter and hot summer. Dfa lacks a dry season; Dwa has a dry winter.
Examples: eastern United States, eastern Europe and northeast China.
Warm-summer continental
Rule: cold winter and warm but not hot summer, usually with at least four months above 10 C.
Examples: southern Canada, Baltic-Eurasian interiors and northern Japan.
Subarctic
Rule: long severe winter and a very short cool summer. Boreal forest dominates where soils permit.
Examples: Alaska, northern Canada, Siberia and northern Scandinavia.
Tundra
Rule: warmest month lies between 0 C and 10 C. The growing season is too short for a closed forest.
Examples: Arctic coasts, high Arctic islands and limited Antarctic coastal pockets.
Ice cap
Rule: every month averages below freezing. Permanent snow and ice dominate.
Examples: Antarctic interior and Greenland Ice Sheet.
Highland climates
Rule: H is not one of Köppen’s five original main groups. It is used here to show complex mountain climates shaped by elevation, aspect and relief.
Examples: Andes, Rockies, Himalaya-Tibet and East African Highlands.
Why climate zones form broad belts—but never perfect belts
Latitude sets the broad energy pattern. Atmospheric circulation redistributes that energy and moisture. Continents, oceans, currents and mountains then bend the belts into irregular regional mosaics.
| Approximate setting | Dominant circulation | Typical climate tendency | Why the pattern varies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near the equator | ITCZ, rising air and convection | Af, Am and Aw depending on dry-season length | Seasonal ITCZ migration, monsoon geometry, relief and ocean influence |
| About 20-35 degrees | Subtropical high pressure and descending air | BWh, BSh and dry margins | Cold currents strengthen west-coast aridity; monsoons moisten east sides |
| About 30-45 degrees west coasts | Summer highs; winter westerlies | Mediterranean Csa/Csb | Coast orientation, currents and relief alter summer heat and winter rain |
| Middle-latitude ocean margins | Westerlies, fronts and maritime air | Cfb on west coasts; Cfa on warmer east coasts | Warm and cold currents, storm tracks and continental shape |
| Middle- and high-latitude interiors | Strong continental seasonal heating and cooling | Dfa/Dfb to Dfc poleward | Distance from sea, snow cover, topography and monsoon influence |
| Polar and high mountain regions | Low solar angle or declining temperature with height | ET, EF and complex H climates | Elevation, ice-sheet height, slope exposure and nearby ocean |
Six controls that explain a climate map
Latitude and solar energy
Sun angle and day length control the basic poleward decline in annual energy. Seasonal contrast generally increases away from the equator.
Pressure belts and planetary winds
Rising air favours cloud and rain; sinking air suppresses both. Seasonal migration of the ITCZ and subtropical highs drives monsoon and Mediterranean rhythms.
Continentality
Land heats and cools faster than water. Large interiors develop hot summers, cold winters and often lower or less reliable rainfall.
Ocean currents
Warm currents add heat and moisture to nearby coasts. Cold eastern-boundary currents stabilise lower air, encourage fog and can intensify coastal deserts.
Relief and rain shadow
Air cools as it rises on windward slopes, producing condensation. Descending leeward air becomes warmer and drier.
Altitude and aspect
Temperature normally falls with height. Sun-facing and shaded slopes, valley inversions and slope winds produce fine-scale contrasts.
A climate zone is not the same as a biome
Climate is a major control of vegetation, soil and ecosystem productivity, so climate and biome maps often resemble one another. They are not interchangeable. A biome classifies ecological structure and dominant life forms; Köppen classifies temperature and precipitation thresholds.
Where they align
- Af commonly supports tropical evergreen forest.
- Aw often supports savanna and seasonal woodland.
- Dfc broadly corresponds with boreal forest.
- ET corresponds with tundra beyond the tree line.
Why they diverge
- Soils, fire, grazing and human land use can transform vegetation.
- Altitude creates stacked habitats within one map cell.
- River corridors and wetlands interrupt regional climate patterns.
- The same Köppen class can contain different regional species pools.
India within the world’s climate zones
India’s climate is dominated by monsoon seasonality but cannot be reduced to one class. Relief, distance from the sea and the northwest-to-northeast rainfall gradient create several Köppen patterns.
| Broad Indian region | Common Köppen tendency | Geographical explanation | Exam connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western coast and very wet northeast | Am, with Af pockets locally | Southwest monsoon uplift against the Western Ghats and Meghalaya hills | Orographic rainfall and windward-leeward contrast |
| Interior peninsular India | Aw | Tropical heat with summer monsoon rain and a long winter dry season | Seasonal rainfall, savanna tendency and rain shadow |
| North and middle Ganga plains | Cwa and transitional Aw/BSh | Hot monsoon summer, cooler dry winter and declining rainfall westward | Continentality plus monsoon reversal |
| Rajasthan and adjoining northwest | BWh and BSh | Weak monsoon penetration, subtropical subsidence and high evaporation | Thar aridity and semi-arid transition |
| Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya | H mosaic, with C, D, ET and EF by elevation | Rapid vertical temperature decline, slope exposure, snowfall and rain shadows | Vertical zonation and western-disturbance influence |
Map caution: the Indian climate patches on this world atlas are intentionally broad. A national-scale Köppen map would show much finer boundaries across the Western Ghats, Himalaya, northeast, coastal plains and Deccan rain shadow.
Climate-zone boundaries can shift
Köppen classes are calculated from climate averages, not permanently fixed geography. When long-term temperature or rainfall crosses a threshold, a grid cell can change class. High-resolution studies therefore publish separate maps for historical normals and future scenarios.
Likely directions of change
- Warm-climate boundaries can move poleward or upslope.
- Dry climates may expand where warming raises evaporative demand and rainfall does not compensate.
- Snow, tundra and ice-cap climates can contract or move to higher elevations.
- Monsoon changes may alter dry-season classification even where annual rainfall changes little.
Read projections carefully
- A climate class is a summary, not a complete impact assessment.
- Different models and emissions pathways produce different boundaries.
- Small threshold crossings may cause abrupt colour changes on a class map.
- Local extremes, water availability and ecosystems require additional variables.
World climate zones quiz
1. Which two variables form the core of Köppen-Geiger classification?
Köppen classes are defined chiefly from monthly temperature and precipitation, including seasonality and a dryness threshold.
2. Which code represents tropical rainforest climate?
A means tropical and f means no dry season.
3. Why are many major deserts near 20-35 degrees latitude?
Descending air beneath subtropical highs warms and suppresses cloud development.
4. Which climate has dry summers and wetter winters?
Mediterranean Cs climates receive winter rain from westerly storms and summer dryness under subtropical highs.
5. The lowercase h and k in Group B distinguish:
In dry climates, h indicates a hot annual mean and k a cooler annual mean.
6. Which climate is most typical of the Siberian taiga belt?
Subarctic D climates combine a long severe winter with a short cool summer.
7. What separates ET tundra from EF ice-cap climate?
ET has at least a short thaw but no month reaches 10 C; EF remains below freezing in every month.
8. Why does the atlas treat H highland separately?
H is a teaching supplement used to reveal mountain mosaics that are too detailed for a small global map.
Frequently asked questions
What are the five main Köppen climate zones?
A tropical, B dry, C temperate, D continental and E polar. Highland climate is often added as H in teaching maps, but it is not one of Köppen’s original five main groups.
How many Köppen climate types are there?
Modern Köppen-Geiger maps commonly use about 30 subtypes. Counts and labels can vary slightly with the chosen version, threshold conventions and whether rare classes are combined. This atlas uses seventeen readable teaching categories.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions. Climate describes their long-term statistical pattern, including averages, seasonality, variability and extremes. Standard climate normals are generally calculated over 30 years.
Why is Group B based on dryness rather than temperature?
Dry climates are defined by precipitation relative to a temperature- and season-adjusted dryness threshold. This identifies water deficit more meaningfully than rainfall total alone.
Why are there two temperature boundaries for C and D in some books?
Some implementations use 0 C for the coldest-month boundary; others use -3 C. Always state the convention when comparing fine-scale maps. The broad global pattern remains similar.
Is highland H an official Köppen main group?
No. H is a widely used teaching addition. In high-resolution Köppen data, mountains contain patches of A, B, C, D and E climates according to actual thresholds.
Can climate zones change over time?
Yes. A class changes when long-term temperature or precipitation crosses its thresholds. Updated climatologies and future projections can therefore show shifting boundaries.
Why is this interactive map generalized?
Global Köppen maps at 1-km resolution contain millions of cells and intricate mountain and coastal boundaries. This vector atlas simplifies them into representative regions for learning, interaction and fast WordPress performance.
Sources and further reading
- Beck et al. (2023): High-resolution Köppen-Geiger maps for 1901-2099 based on constrained CMIP6 projections
- Beck et al. (2018): Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution
- Peel, Finlayson and McMahon (2007): Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification
- Cui et al. (2021): 1-km historical and future Köppen-Geiger dataset
- World Meteorological Organization: Climatological standard normals
- NOAA JetStream: Online Weather School
- IPCC Interactive Atlas: Observed and projected regional climate information
