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I've been thinking about this for a while. The USA is definitely the most climatically diverse country in the world, but a big reason for that is that it's huge...which got me wondering, where is the greatest climate diversity in the smallest area?
I think Chile wins this one. It's got almost every major climate zone except Koppen D climates in an area a bit bigger than Texas. Japan is not far behind albeit smaller.
On the one hand you have Hokkaido which gets the greatest snow totals of any inhabited place on earth. It can also get a strong Siberian influence with cities like Asahikawa having reached -40 (C=F).
Then you have the main island whose northern and western coasts can get similarly humongous snow totals but whose eastern and southern coasts are significantly more tropically influenced, e.g, Tokyo which gets miniscule snow amounts and has never dropped below -10C. The east and south also get hot humid summers often reaching 30C with 20+ dew points, and with decent numbers of tropical cyclones getting close many years. There are places like Akita which gets the best of both worlds.
Then you can find alpine ET climates like the summit of Mt. Fuji.
Also ranging from the ~ 24 C summers in recent decades inside the Stockholm UHI and in southern inland Lund to the -23 normal lows in Lapland's rural areas in winter. Precipitation varies from below 400 mm at some northerly stations to 1050 mm in inland south-western Halland.
The country has recorded 38 C/100 F on two separate occasions at two different places, and also has experienced lows below -50 C in the north and -30 C quite far south. The natural environment goes from leave forests and open fields in the far south to barr forests all the way up north, but with changes in terms of the tree's features because of the harshening climates. In the north there is taiga and even tundra in some mountainous areas.
Sunshine ranges from 1100 hours in the mountains to around 2000 hours in sheltered spots on the island of Gotland.
I also think Norway is worth a shout, even though it lacks these large continental areas, with the normal shift going from oceanic to subarctic. There are tremendously rainy areas with almost semi-arid rain shadows where vegetation is rescued only by the vast evapotranspiration. If one sees Sweden and Norway as a single country (which is used to be and we can speak to each other in native languages) then Western Scandinavia I think may well take this cake.
Don't forget that the southern Lofoten areas in Norway even has a cfc climate with mediterranean precipitation patterns But Norway varies temps less than Sweden in terms of where people actually live.
Costa Rica has 23 different climate zones. Has two coasts, Caribbean and pacific both very different in humidity level etc. Also has mountains over 11000 feet above sea level. Rainfall varies from 200 inches per year to 40 inches. As a result it has high bio diversity as a result.
Costa Rica has 23 different climate zones. Has two coasts, Caribbean and pacific both very different in humidity level etc. Also has mountains over 11000 feet above sea level. Rainfall varies from 200 inches per year to 40 inches. As a result it has high bio diversity as a result.
Fair shout, but are any settlements cold enough in winter even to get frost? A frost-free country feels a bit strange to talk about in these terms. There are so many varieties of tropical climates but they're still all tropical after all.
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But Norway varies temps less than Sweden in terms of where people actually live.
