Sunrise and sunset in Egypt

Average length of day in Cairo

      sunshine duration       twilight phase

Sunrise and sunset in the most important cities of Egypt

The cities are ordered by their geographic position from east to west, so in an approximate direction of the sun course. Since the orbit of the sun is elliptical, sunrise or sunset never happen on a whole longitude at the same time. All data given for May 25th., localtime in Egypt

Up to 12 hours of sunshine daily

Summers in Egypt are blessed with abundant sunshine and little rain. In June there are up to 12 hours of sunshine per day. The term "sunshine hours" comes from meteorology and, unlike the length of the day, refers to the actual number of hours during which the sun can be seen, despite the weather conditions. This also indicates that there is almost no precipitation from May to September. More information about the weather can also be found on our climate page for Egypt. In the popular seaside and vacation resort of Hurghada, dusk begins around 5 p.m. in winter and around 7 p.m. in summer. Unlike in Germany, however, it is dark there quite quickly.

Historical significance of the sun

Egypt is also a country where the sun plays a far more important role than elsewhere, even from a historical perspective. The Egyptians were one of the first peoples to know how to use solar energy. The ancient Egyptian sun god Ra-Harachte was probably the most important and fills entire history books and ultimately resulted in the cult of the sun. And every 22nd of February and 22nd of October the sun miracle of Abu-Simbel takes place in the rock temple of Ramses II (near the Sudanese border), when the sun shines over meters deep into the temple complex and illuminates the back statues only on these days.

Sunrise and sunset by month (Cairo)

Where does the sun rise in Egypt?

The sun always rises in the east, everywhere and regardless of the country or continent. The easternmost city in Egypt is Marsa Alam in the region of Red Sea. There, the sun rises at 4:50 am and sets at 6:23 pm these days. The latest sunset is currently experienced in the west in the city of Siwa Oasis (Muhafazat Matruh) at 7:09 pm.

Duration of the sunset

The distance from the equator and the path of the sun determines not only the time of sunrise and sunset. The farther a country is from the equator, the more oblique the sun's path is to the horizon. And this causes a different duration that a sunset takes. Cairo lies on the 30th degree of northern latitude and is therefore quite far away from the equator. While a sunset near the equator only lasts about 20 minutes, in Egypt this period averages 27 minutes. In June, it's about 28 minutes in Cairo, while in December it's 26 minutes.

International cities for comparison