Sunrise and sunset in South Africa

Average length of day in Pretoria

      sunshine duration       twilight phase

Sunrise and sunset in the most important cities of South Africa

The cities are ordered by their geographic position from east to west, so in an approximate direction of the sun's course. Since the orbit around the sun is elliptical, sunrise or sunset never happen on a whole longitude at the same time. All data given for January 31st., localtime in South Africa

Sunrise and sunset by month (Pretoria)

Where does the sun rise in South Africa?

The sun always rises in the east, everywhere and regardless of the country or continent. The easternmost city in South Africa is Richards Bay in the region of KwaZulu-Natal. There, the sun rises at 5:20 am and sets at 6:50 pm these days. The latest sunset is currently experienced in the west in the city of Springbok (Northern Cape) at 19:48.

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, causing sunset to last for a different duration. Pretoria lies on the 26th degree of southern latitude and is therefore quite far away from the equator. While a sunset near the equator lasts only about 20 minutes, in South Africa, this period averages 27 minutes. In June, it's about 26 minutes in Pretoria, while in December it's 28 minutes.

International cities for comparison