Aziziya (; ' / ' / '), sometimes spelled ''El Azizia'', is a small town and capital of the Jafara district in northwestern

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, southwest of the capital Tripoli. From 1918 to 1922, it was the capital of the Tripolitanian Republic, the first formal

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

in the Arab world. Before 2001, it was part of the Aziziya District and served as its capital. Aziziya is a major trade centre of the Sahel Jeffare plateau, being on a trade route from the coast to the Nafusa Mountains and the

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

region to the south. As of 2006, the town's population has been estimated at 23,399.

Geography and climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, 'Aziziya has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(''BSh''). On 13 September 1922, a high temperature of was recorded in Al-ʿAzīzīyah. This was long considered the highest temperature ever measured on Earth, however this record was deemed illegitimate in 2012 after an investigation by the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

(WMO). Even before it was officially declared illegitimate, the 1922 reading was still controversial: # The weather station was first in 'Aziziya town, but, in 1919, it was moved to a hilltop fort, where the

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...

was set up on black tarmac, which would have absorbed more sunlight and made the air there artificially hotter, explaining a period of very hot readings there from 1919 to 1928. # Shortly before the record reading on 13 September 1922, the weather station's usual maximum thermometer had been damaged and then replaced by an uncalibrated, ordinary maximum-minimum thermometer of the kind often used in

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s. # On 11 September 1922, the usual record keeper was replaced by an inexperienced observer, who was untrained in the use of the thermometer and the record log. This is known by the change in handwriting on the log sheets and by the high and low temperatures being recorded in the wrong columns. The thermometer used sliding colored cylinders to record maximum and minimum temperatures, and these cylinders were about 7 to 8 degrees Celsius long on the thermometer scale. The WMO now believes that the inexperienced observer was reading from the wrong end of the high-temperature cylinder inside the thermometer, getting a reading which was 7 to 8 degrees too high. # On 13 September 2012, the WMO announced that their Commission of Climatology World Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes had found that the record was invalid. As such, the world record for hottest temperature is now , recorded on 10 July 1913 at Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aziziya Populated places in Jafara District Tripolitania Aziziya Baladiyat of Libya ru:Эль-Азизия