Quick answer
This guide explains ramadan fasting hours around the world in plain language, with the exact figures and how to work them out yourself.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
- Next Ramadan begins
- Monday, 8 February 2027 — expected — local moon sighting can shift it a day
- Counting down
- 100 days away
- Today
- Saturday, 31 October 2026 · ISO week 44 · day 304 of the year
Computed on every visit from the time-zone database and standard astronomical formulas, so these never go stale. The article below is unchanged.
The Ramadan fast runs from Fajr — true dawn — until Maghrib at sunset, so its length each day is simply the gap between those two solar events. That gap depends overwhelmingly on two things: how far you live from the equator, and which season Ramadan currently occupies. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, Ramadan arrives about eleven days earlier each year, completing a slow lap of all four seasons roughly every 33 years — and taking its fasting hours on the journey with it.
Near the equator the month is remarkably steady: Jakarta, Nairobi, or Singapore see dawn-to-sunset spans of about 13 hours whether Ramadan falls in June or December, because tropical day length barely changes. The drama begins at higher latitudes. When Ramadan coincides with northern summer, fasts in London have stretched past 18 hours and in Stockholm or Reykjavik toward 20 or more, with only a short night for eating, prayer, and sleep. The same summer Ramadan is gentle south of the equator — Cape Town, Sydney, and Santiago then sit in winter, fasting a comparatively mild 11 to 13 hours.
The Astronomical Mechanics: Defining Fajr and Maghrib
To understand why fasting times vary so widely, one must look at how the daily boundary markers are defined astronomically. The fast does not start at sunrise; it begins at Fajr al-Sadiq (true dawn). Astronomically, true dawn occurs when sunlight first begins to scatter horizontally across the eastern horizon. This happens when the sun reaches a specific angle below the horizon — usually between 12 and 19.5 degrees, depending on the astronomical calculation convention used by local religious authorities.
The end of the daily fast occurs at Maghrib, which coincides with sunset. Sunset is defined as the precise moment the upper limb of the sun disappears completely below the western horizon. Because the sun’s path across the sky becomes more slanted at higher latitudes, the duration between true dawn and sunrise — as well as the path between sunset and dusk — lengthens dramatically as you move away from the equator.
The 33-Year Lunar Cycle
The Islamic calendar (Hijri calendar) is purely lunar, based on 12 lunar months totaling 354 or 355 days per year. Because a solar year lasts approximately 365.24 days, the lunar calendar moves backward relative to the Gregorian solar calendar by roughly 10 to 12 days every year (averaging 11 days).
Over a cycle of approximately 33 lunar years (equivalent to roughly 32 solar years), Ramadan travels backward through every month of the solar calendar. The coming years favor the northern hemisphere: Ramadan beginning in February 2027 means late-winter fasts of moderate length across Europe, North America, and the Middle East, shortening year by year until the cycle carries the month back toward the long days of northern summer in the 2040s.
Global Fasting Hours Compared Across Latitudes
The combination of geographical latitude and the shifting lunar calendar creates stark contrasts in daily fasting durations across different parts of the globe.
| Region / City | Approx. Latitude | Summer Fast Duration (June) | Winter Fast Duration (December) | Seasonal Variation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equatorial Zone (e.g., Jakarta, Singapore, Nairobi) | 0° – 10° N/S | ~13 hours | ~13 hours | Negligible (< 30 mins) |
| Subtropical / Mid-Latitude (e.g., Cairo, Riyadh, Houston) | 24° – 30° N | ~14 to 15 hours | ~11 to 12 hours | Moderate (~3 hours) |
| Northern High Latitudes (e.g., London, Stockholm, Oslo) | 51° – 60° N | ~18 to 20+ hours | ~9 to 10 hours | Extreme (9–10+ hours) |
| Southern Hemisphere (e.g., Sydney, Cape Town, Santiago) | 33° – 34° S | ~11 to 12 hours | ~14 to 15 hours | Inverted relative to North |
Worked Example: Calculating Daily Fasting Duration
Calculating the exact fasting duration for any given day requires subtracting the time of Fajr from the time of Maghrib. Here is a step-by-step example using published solar times:
- Identify Fajr (Dawn): Suppose Fajr is calculated at 03:45 AM (03:45 in 24-hour time).
- Identify Maghrib (Sunset): Suppose Maghrib occurs at 09:15 PM (21:15 in 24-hour time).
- Compute the Difference:
- From 03:45 AM to 12:00 PM = 8 hours and 15 minutes.
- From 12:00 PM to 09:15 PM = 9 hours and 15 minutes.
- Total Fasting Length = 8h 15m + 9h 15m = 17 hours and 30 minutes.
Whatever the latitude, the daily anchors remain the same two solar moments. The prayer and sun times panel at itsdately.com computes today’s Fajr and Maghrib astronomically for any of 300+ cities, which during Ramadan is simply the fasting timetable by another name — though for beginning and ending the fast in congregation, the local mosque’s announced times remain the authority.
Why Prayer Timetables Differ: Calculation Conventions
Observers often notice slight variations between different prayer apps or local mosques even within the same city. These variations stem from different conventions for calculating Fajr twilight angle:
- Islamic Society of North America (ISNA): Uses a solar angle of 15° below the horizon for Fajr.
- Muslim World League (MWL): Uses a solar angle of 18° below the horizon.
- Umm al-Qura University (Makkah): Uses a solar angle of 18.5° for Fajr.
- Egyptian General Authority of Survey: Uses a solar angle of 19.5° for Fajr.
A higher depression angle (e.g., 19.5°) means the sun reaches that position earlier in the morning, resulting in an earlier Fajr time and a longer calculated fast. In high-latitude locations during summer, these minor angular differences can alter the computed Fajr time by up to 30 to 45 minutes.
Extreme Latitudes: Rules for Arctic and Polar Regions
Extreme latitudes pose a genuine question: above the Arctic Circle, midsummer brings days when the sun never sets and true dawn never occurs, making a literal dawn-to-sunset fast impossible. Similarly, midwinter brings polar nights where the sun never rises above the horizon.
To resolve this, Islamic legal councils and scholars have established clear guidelines and fatwas for communities living in polar and extreme high-latitude regions:
- Following Makkah Time: Communities in extreme northern latitudes where day and night are indistinguishable may fast according to the daily timetable of Makkah (Mecca).
- Following the Nearest Moderate City: Alternatively, communities may follow the prayer schedule of the nearest city or latitude where regular day and night cycles can be clearly distinguished (typically around 45° or 48° latitude).
- Mosque Rulings in Northern Scandinavia: Mosques in northern Norway, Alaska, Sweden, and Finland publish schedules based on these standardized principles to ensure manageable and biologically safe fasting hours.
Daily Schedule Adjustments and Practical Challenges
The duration of the fast reshapes the month’s daily architecture. In a long-fast summer, suhoor — the pre-dawn meal — creeps toward 2 or 3 AM in northern Europe, and the night compresses into a tight sequence of iftar, the Maghrib and Isha prayers, taraweeh at the mosque, a short sleep, and suhoor again; employers in Muslim-majority countries commonly shorten working hours to match. In a short-fast winter, the same rituals spread comfortably across long evenings, and the month feels — as older generations in the northern hemisphere remember from the 1990s — almost easy by comparison.
A common practical challenge occurs when Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes during Ramadan. When clocks shift forward by one hour in spring, local sunrise and sunset times suddenly move ahead by 60 minutes on local clocks. While the astronomical gap between dawn and sunset remains unaffected, daily work schedules and meal routines must immediately adjust to the hour shift.
Who Exemptions Apply To
Standard fasting rules and severe high-latitude conditions do not apply universally to everyone. Islamic jurisprudence explicitly exempts individuals under specific conditions, including:
- Travelers: Those journeying significant distances (traditionally defined as traveling beyond their home city borders) may break their fast and make up the days later.
- The Sick and Elderly: Individuals with acute conditions, chronic illness (such as diabetes requiring medication), or severe frailty are exempt from fasting.
- Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women: Women who fear health risks to themselves or their infants are granted exemption.
- Extreme Physical Danger: Individuals residing in extreme regions where long fasts (e.g., 20+ hours) present genuine health risks are permitted to adopt moderated fasting hours from Makkah or the nearest temperate city.
The 33-year lap also means every Muslim’s lifetime samples the full range: a child who first fasts an easy winter Ramadan will, as an adult, meet the same month in June, and later in winter again. Communities pass down season-specific customs accordingly — the dates and water of a quick winter iftar versus the elaborate hydration strategies of summer — a rotating tradition no fixed-season holiday ever develops.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Ramadan start on a different date every year?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which relies on monthly moon cycles lasting 29 or 30 days. A lunar year is roughly 11 days shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar, causing Ramadan to shift backward by about 11 days each solar year.
Why do two mosques in the same city sometimes have different Fajr times?
Different Islamic institutions use different mathematical calculation methods for Fajr. Some use a 15-degree solar depression angle (such as ISNA), while others use 18 degrees (such as the Muslim World League) or 19.5 degrees. A larger angle places Fajr earlier in the morning.
How do people fast in places where the sun never sets in summer?
In regions above the Arctic Circle where the sun remains above the horizon for 24 hours, local Islamic councils advise residents to follow either the fasting schedule of Makkah or that of the nearest city where day and night can be clearly distinguished.
What happens to fasting times when Daylight Saving Time changes during Ramadan?
The actual length of daylight does not change when Daylight Saving Time occurs, but local clock times shift by one hour. Local prayer timetables update their clock times accordingly, shifting Fajr and Maghrib forward by one hour on local clocks.
Related on itsdately: Military Time Made Simple: The Complete 24-Hour Guide · GMT vs UTC: What’s the Difference? · What Is Zulu Time and Why Do Pilots Use It?
Further reading: U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications.