Sunrise and sunset in Greenland

Average length of day in Nuuk

The following graph shows the times of sunrise and sunset over the course of the year. The duration of twilight can be seen at the top and bottom edges. The vertical offset between March and October shows the effect of daylight saving time, when the time is set one hour ahead.
      sunshine duration       twilight phase

Sunrise and sunset in the most important cities of Greenland

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 February 6th., localtime in Greenland

Sunrise and sunset by month (Nuuk)

Where does the sun rise in Greenland?

The sun always rises in the east, everywhere and regardless of the country or continent. The easternmost city in Greenland is Tasiilaq in the region of Sermersooq. There, the sun rises at 8:06 am and sets at 3:22 pm these days. The latest sunset is currently experienced in the west in the city of Upernavik (Qaasuitsup) at 15:05.

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. Nuuk lies on the 64th degree of northern latitude and is therefore very far away from the equator. While a sunset near the equator lasts only about 20 minutes, in Greenland, this period averages 32 minutes. In June, it's about -7 minutes in Nuuk, while in December it's 71 minutes.

International cities for comparison