The holy month of Ramadan has started across the globe and for the next 29 or 30 days, Muslims observing the fast will refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, a period lasting from 12 to 16 hours, which depends on their location.
Each year, Ramadan begins 10 to 12 days earlier. This is due to the fact that Islamic calendar is based on the lunar Hijri calendar with months that are 29 or 30 days long, reported Al Jazeera.
Ramadan will be observed twice in the year 2030, first beginning on January 5 and then starting on December 26, as the lunar year is shorter than the solar year by 11 days.
Muslims, who are residing in the world’s southernmost countries, such as Chile or New Zealand, will fast for about 13 hours, whereas, those residing in the northernmost countries, such as Iceland or Greenland, will have fasts lasting 16 hours or more on their longest days.
Moreover, the number of fasting hours will be a bit shorter this year and will continue to decrease until 2031, which is the year Ramadan will encompass the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, for Muslims living in the Northern Hemisphere.
However, after that, fasting hours will increase in the Northern Hemisphere until its summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year.
The opposite will happen for fasting Muslims living south of the equator.
Longest and shortest fasts
Following is the list of the countries with longest and shortest fasts.
- Nuuk, Greenland: 16 hours
- Reykjavik, Iceland: 16 hours
- Helsinki, Finland: 15 hours
- Oslo, Norway: 15 hours
- Stockholm, Sweden: 15 hours
- Glasgow, Scotland: 15 hours
- Berlin, Germany: 14 hours
- Dublin, Ireland: 14 hours
- Moscow, Russia: 14 hours
- Amsterdam, Netherlands: 14 hours
- Warsaw, Poland: 14 hours
- Astana, Kazakhstan: 14 hours
- Brussels, Belgium: 14 hours
- London, United Kingdom: 14 hours
- Zurich, Switzerland: 14 hours
- Bucharest, Romania: 14 hours
- Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: 14 hours
- Sofia, Bulgaria: 14 hours
- Rome, Italy: 14 hours
- Madrid, Spain: 14 hours
- Paris, France: 14 hours
- Ankara, Turkey: 14 hours
- New York, United States: 14 hours
- Ottawa, Canada: 14 hours
- Beijing, China: 14 hours
- Athens, Greece: 13 hours
- Lisbon, Portugal: 13 hours
- Tokyo, Japan: 13 hours
- Washington, DC, US: 13 hours
- Los Angeles, US: 13 hours
- Tunis, Tunisia: 13 hours
- Algiers, Algeria: 13 hours
- Tehran, Iran: 13 hours
- Kabul, Afghanistan: 13 hours
- New Delhi, India: 13 hours
- Dhaka, Bangladesh: 13 hours
- Rabat, Morocco: 13 hours
- Damascus, Syria: 13 hours
- Islamabad, Pakistan: 13 hours
- Baghdad, Iraq: 13 hours
- Beirut, Lebanon: 13 hours
- Amman, Jordan: 13 hours
- Gaza City, Palestine: 13 hours
- Cairo, Egypt: 13 hours
- Doha, Qatar: 13 hours
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 13 hours
- Khartoum, Sudan: 13 hours
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 13 hours
- Abuja, Nigeria: 13 hours
- Aden, Yemen: 13 hours
- Dakar, Senegal: 13 hours
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 13 hours
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: 13 hours
- Colombo, Sri Lanka: 13 hours
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 13 hours
- Mogadishu, Somalia: 13 hours
- Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: 13 hours
- Nairobi, Kenya: 13 hours
- Harare, Zimbabwe: 13 hours
- Jakarta, Indonesia: 13 hours
- Luanda, Angola: 13 hours
- Bangkok, Thailand: 13 hours
- Brasilia, Brazil: 13 hours
- Johannesburg, South Africa: 13 hours
- Montevideo, Uruguay: 13 hours
- Canberra, Australia: 13 hours
- Puerto Montt, Chile: 13 hours
- Christchurch, New Zealand: 13 hours
