Ramadan 2023 : The Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins on Thursday, March 23 approximately two weeks earlier each year and, for half the world, it will move away from the longer, hotter days of summer towards the shorter, cooler winter.
More than a billion Muslims around the world will be observing the month-long fasting at daylight hours.
So, which countries, especially in the Arab and Muslim world, will have the most daylight hours and which nations will have the shortest fast?
Shortest Ramadan fast in 2023
This year, Muslims in Chile will face the shortest fasting hours during Ramadan with an average of 11 hours and 30 minutes.
Being in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa are also looking at a shorter fasting period, between 11 and 12 hours a day during the month.
Longest Ramadan fast in 2023
Muslims in the city of Reykjavík, Iceland, will have the record this year of being residents of the city with the longest fasting hours.
They are expected to endure 16 hours and 50 minutes a day of fasting during the holy month.
For the 800 faithful who live in Tromso, in Arctic Norway, fasting from sunrise to sunset is impossible, because the sun in the past has stayed above the horizon.
While nowhere is expecting a midnight sun this Ramadan, Muslims in countries with exceptionally long daytimes during the holy month cannot actually adhere to a 20-plus hour fast.
So, what do they do?
In countries where the sunset and sunrise are less than three hours apart, fatwas have been declared in order to allow residents to follow the schedule of other cities. Many, for example, will follow the fast times of Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
Then there are the extremes ― UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi will be on the International Space Station (ISS) for the month of Ramadan.
The ISS hurtles around the Earth at aout 17,500kph, meaning astronauts will experience 16 sunrises and sunsets a day.
“I’m in the definition of a traveller, and we can actually break fast and it’s not compulsory,” Dr Al Neyadi told a press conference ahead of the launch in January.
He said he plans to observe some fasts but others he will need to eat to focus on the mission. Like those in extreme places, Dr Al Neyadi can follow the GMT timezone or the time in Makkah.
This year, Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East will be fasting for about 13.5-14 hours a day.
Tunisians will experience the longest fast day of Ramadan at 14 hours and 55 minutes.
Shortest to longest fast times for Ramadan 2023 in the Arab world
Tunisia: Shortest day – 13 hours and 44 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 55 minutes
Algeria: Shortest day – 13 hours and 30 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 56 minutes
Libya: Shortest day – 13 hours and 42 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 42 minutes
Morocco: Shortest day – 13 hours and 37 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 41 minutes
Egypt: Shortest day – 13 hours and 39 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 34 minutes
Iraq: Shortest day – 13 hours and 39 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 41 minutes
Bahrain: Shortest day – 13 hours and 30 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 17 minutes
UAE: Shortest day – 13 hours and 30 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 13 minutes
Saudi Arabia: Shortest day – 13 hours and 29 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 11 minutes
Oman: Shortest day – 13 hours and 31 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 13 minutes
Kuwait: Shortest day – 13 hours and 31 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 23 minutes
Lebanon: Shortest day – 13 hours and 45 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 48 minutes
Jordan: Shortest day – 13 hours and 40 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 40 minutes
Palestine: Shortest day – 13 hours and 53 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 52 minutes
Syria: Shortest day – 13 hours and 44 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 47 minutes
Qatar: Shortest day – 13 hours and 29 minutes, longest day – 14 hours and 13 minutes
Mauritania: Shortest day – 13 hours and 28 minutes, longest day – 14 hours
Sudan: Shortest day – 13 hours and 20 minutes, longest day – 13 hours and 46 minutes
Yemen: Shortest day – 13 hours and 23 minutes, longest day – 13 hours and 45 minutes
Somalia: Shortest day – 13 hours and 22 minutes, longest day – 13 hours and 27 minutes
Djibouti: Shortest day – 13 hours and 25 minutes, longest day – 13 hours and 45 minutes
Comoros: Shortest day – 13 hours and 21 minutes, longest day – 13 hours and 5 minutes.
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