When we think of a 24-hour day, we tend to consider this as half day, half night. Yet in reality, this greatly depends on the time of the year and the place you live. Most of the time and in many places across the world, either the day is longer than the night or the other way around. Yet, above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle, nature creates a unique phenomenon once a year: the Midnight Sun.
The Midnight Sun is defined as a period, usually somewhere between mid-May and the end of July, during which the sun never sets and people get to experience 24 hours of daylight. In early summer, the Midnight Sun can be experienced above the Arctic Circle. The most northern parts of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Greenland, Iceland, Canada, the United States and Russia are currently enjoying the phenomenon and therefore attracting quite a few curious tourists.
“Night was coming on again; the sun just dipped into the sea and rose again, red, refreshed, as if it had been down to drink. I could feel more strangely on those nights than anyone would believe”, Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun described the Midnight Sun in 1894.
Apart from being an interesting natural phenomenon worth observing, just like the aurora borealis which can also be seen in these regions, the Midnight Sun adds quite a bit of time to your day. One could easily take a swim at midnight, hike all night long or get breakfast at 2:00 am. And if you’re someone who can function with very little sleep, why not grab your chance and make the most of your vacation abroad.
However, those who do need their 8 hours of sleep and those who have difficulty maintaining a rhythm should be warned. The Midnight Sun tends to throw off our natural sleep-wake cycle, with all the consequences this entails. Norway’s tourism board therefore advises everyone visiting the Midnight Sun to take a nap in the afternoon in order to get enough rest.
Even though all places above the Arctic Circle enjoy 24 hours of daylight at some point during the year, some locations do get even more than others. In Norway, for example, Svalbard is the place where the Midnight Sun occurs for the longest periodof time. The sun doesn’t set between 20 April and 22 August, leaving you plenty of time to book a trip in the Midnight Sun.
