Sunrise and sunset in France

Average length of day in Paris

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 France

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 26th., localtime in France

Sunrise and sunset by month (Paris)

Where does the sun rise in France?

The sun always rises in the east, everywhere and regardless of the country or continent. The easternmost city in France is Bastia in the department of Corsica. There, the sun rises at 7:40 am and sets at 5:28 pm these days. The latest sunset is currently experienced in the west in the city of Ploudalmézeau (Brittany) at 18:08.

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. Paris lies on the 49th 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 France, this period averages 44 minutes. In June, it's about 50 minutes in Paris, while in December it's 38 minutes.

International cities for comparison