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The small town of Ifrane, which is covered in snow for half the year, is the coldest in Africa.
According to the Daily Express, it is located in the Middle Atlas region of northern Morocco. Its population is around 15 and locals call it the “Switzerland of Morocco.”
The modern city was founded by the French in 1929 so that European colonizers could find relief from the summer heat of Morocco's interior plains.
“Catering to the tastes of the upper middle class, who could afford a car and a house in the suburbs, Ifrane’s houses were built in a traditional European style and resembled the suburbs of modern French cities,” the article says.
It is noted that Ifrane, where Lake Dietz-Iffer is located, is a resort town located high in the Atlas Mountains, as well as a popular place to learn altitude training.
The city is dominated by a continental Mediterranean climate with hot summers, short, fairly dry, warm summers, and long, cool, wet winters when nights can be very cold.
Due to the city's altitude and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, it receives a lot of precipitation, falling in the classic Mediterranean range from October to April. The city also receives a lot of snow, starting in October and continuing into spring.
The average annual temperature does not exceed 11°C. Ifrane holds the record for the lowest temperature ever observed in Africa and the Arab world: -23,9°C in 1935.
Interestingly, the biodiversity of Ifrane is unique: it is home to many rare and endangered species. Among the animals are a large part of the world's population of the endangered Barbary macaque, the golden jackal, the caracal, and the African red-winged finch.
Mountains separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Also nearby is Lake Dayet Iffer, a natural lake 300 meters wide and six meters deep in Dayat Aoua. The lake is home to many waterfowl and has been recognized as a wetland by the World Wildlife Fund.
