List of 8 Places On Earth Where The Sun Never Sets

Wonders of nature, like illuminated, polar skies in vibrant colours of the  Aurora Borealis, or the underwater Great Blue Hole in Belize, never cease to amaze us. Another such surprise is the places on Earth where sun never sets. Get to know more about these places in this article.

Places On Earth Where The Sun Never Sets

There are 8 places on Earth near the Arctic and Antarctic circles where the sun never sets for weeks or months. The places experiencing this unique phenomenon are as follows

1. Svalbard and Tromsø Norway 

Often nicknamed the Land of the Midnight Sun, Norway witnesses continuous daylight for up to 76 days every year, around the period starting from May to late July. In Svalbard, located in the northernmost inhabited part of Europe, the sun never sets from late April to late August. Another place in Norway that witnesses the midnight sun is Tromsø.

2. Utqiaġvik, Alaska, USA

Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow)is another of the places on the Earth where the sun never sets. The town is located above the Arctic Circle and receives continuous daylight from late May to late July. 

3. Nunavut, Canada 

The Nunavut region of Canada, located in the Northwest Territories, experiences around two months of 24/7 sunlight. 

4. Finland

Most parts of Finland fall under the places on Earth where sun never sets during the summer, with uninterrupted sun for nearly 73 days in the country.

5. Reykjavik and Ísafjörður, Iceland

The sun sets only briefly (or not at all) in June in Iceland, particularly in northern parts like Akureyri, with nearly 24 hours of light nationwide. Besides the capital Reykjavik, Ísafjörður also experiences the midnight sun during peak summer.

6. Kiruna, Sweden 

The Kiruna, located in northern Sweden, experiences continuous sunlight from late May to mid-July. 

7. Murmansk, Russia 

The northern Russian city of Murmansk enjoys uninterrupted daylight from late May to late July. 

8. Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica 

The Antarctic Peninsula region of Antarctica experiences constant daylight during the southern summer from October to February.

Why There Are Places On Earth Where The Sun Never Sets?

The line joining the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere is tilted by 23.4 degrees during the revolution of the sun by the Earth and is known as the axial tilt. This axial tilt causes one hemisphere to be angled towards the sun and the other away from it, resulting in opposite seasons at both. 

During the June solstice (known as the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere), the North Pole is tilted toward the sun. From the northern polar region, the sun never appears to set below the horizon. This is when the northern polar regions have the places on Earth where sun never sets and the southern polar regions experience 24 hours of darkness, known as the polar night. 

The reverse happens after six months during the December solstice, with the pole earlier experiencing the 24-hour sun, witnesses the polar night, and vice versa.

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