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Last sunset in two months

Sun skims the horizon over this road in Lapland, northern Finland.

A golden glow in the far away horizon for some few minutes and then gone. Polar night has come to most parts of the Barents Region.

Location

The sun north of the Arctic Circle will stay under the horizon until January next year. The further north in the Barents Region you go, the longer the polar night season lasts. At North Cape, the dark period started already on November 20th and the sun is not over the horizon again before January 22nd.

Unlike on Svalbard, where the polar night means total darkness, the polar night period in most parts of the Barents Region does not mean 24 hours of darkness. Because of the twilight effect, the light is comparable to the time just before sunrise. That is what makes the beautiful bluish light around noon.

Tourists traveling north during summer to experience the midnight sun should be aware that the beauty of the special blue-colored frozen landscapes and horizon also represent an unforgettable adventure.