World Maps of Köppen-Geiger climate classification

Original and translated papers

as well as comments on papers by Wladimir Köppen


Historical papers and maps

Köppen, W., 1884: Die Wärmezonen der Erde, nach der Dauer der heissen, gemässigten und kalten Zeit und nach der Wirkung der Wärme auf die organische Welt betrachtet (The thermal zones of the Earth according to the duration of hot, moderate and cold periods and of the impact of heat on the organic world). Meteorol. Z., 1, 215-226. map

Köppen, W., 1900: Versuch einer Klassifikation der Klimate, vorzugsweise nach ihren Beziehungen zur Pflanzenwelt (Attempted climate classification in relation to plant distributions). Geogr. Zeitschrift, 6, 593-611, 657-679. map 1 and map 2¹

Köppen, W., 1918: Klassifikation der Klimate nach Temperatur, Niederschlag und Jahresablauf (Classification of climates according to temperature, precipitation and seasonal cycle). Petermanns Geogr. Mitt., 64, 193-203, 243-248. map 1 and map 2

Köppen, W., 1919: Baumgrenze und Lufttemperatur (Timberline and air temperature). Petermanns Geogr. Mitt., 65, 201-203.

Köppen, W., 1920: Verhältnis der Baumgrenze zur Lufttemperatur (Relationship between timberline and air temperature). Meteorol. Z., 37, 39-42.

Köppen, W., 1931: Grundriss der Klimakunde (Outline of climate science). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 388pp. map

Köppen, W. und R. Geiger, 1954: Klima der Erde (Climate of the earth). Wall Map 1:16 Mill. Klett-Perthes, Gotha. map

Translated papers and comments

Köppen, W., 1884: The thermal zones of the Earth according to the duration of hot, moderate and cold periods and of the impact of heat on the organic world, Meteorol. Z., 1, 215-226 (translated and edited by Volken, E. and S. Brönnimann). Meteorol. Z., 20, 351-360.

Rubel, F., and M. Kottek, 2011: Comments on: The thermal zones of the Earth by Wladimir Köppen (1884). Meteorol. Z., 20, 361-365.

Note that some of the climate classes (zones) were renamed during the historical development process. In the world map of Köppen (1918) main climatic zones are called as following: (A) tropical rain climate, (B) dry climate, (C) warm temperate climate, (D) sub-arctic climate and (E) snow climate. In the map of Köppen (1931) the main climate (D) is called boreal climate. In Köppen and Geiger (1951) boreal climate was renamed to snow climate and climate (E) is called ice climate. As far as possible we applied the nomenclature after Köppen and Geiger (1951).

¹ We are grateful to James R. "Jim" Carter, Geography-Geology Department, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA for organizing the maps (Tafel 6 and Tafel 7) of Köppen (1900), which were scanned and provided by the Indiana University Libraries.