Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, begins on Monday, March 11th or Tuesday, March 12th, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
The dawn-to-dusk fast lasts between 12 and 17 hours, depending on which part of the world you are in.
Muslims believe that Ramadan is the month in which the first verses of the holy Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago.
Fasting involves abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations during the day in order to achieve greater “taqwa,” or God consciousness.
Why is the start date of Ramadan different every year?
Ramadan begins 10 to 12 days earlier each year. This is because the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar Hijri calendar, which has 29 or 30 day months.
A lunar year is 11 days shorter than a solar year, so there will be two Ramadans in 2030. First he will start on January 5th, then he will start on December 26th.
The next Ramadan after March 12th will be in 2057, 33 years from now.
fasting times around the world
Daylight hours vary around the world.
Muslims living in the world's southernmost countries, such as Chile and New Zealand, fast for about 12 hours, while Muslims living in the northernmost countries, such as Iceland and Greenland, fast for more than 17 hours.
For Muslims living in the northern hemisphere, fasting times will be slightly shorter this year and will continue to decrease until 2031, when Ramadan begins, which includes the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The fasting period then increases until the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.
The opposite will happen for fasting Muslims living south of the equator.
The northernmost cities, such as Norway's Longyearbyen, where the sun does not set from April 20 to August 22, have religious rules in place to follow the timings of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, or the nearest Muslim country.
Cities that share the same iftar time
The pre-dawn meal that begins the daily fast is called Suhoor, and the meal that breaks the fast after sunset is called Iftar.
Cities located at approximately the same longitude have similar iftar times, while cities on the other side of the world begin preparations to break the fast with Suhoor.
The infographic below shows which cities hold Suhoor and other cities hold Iftar.
fasting times around the world
The table below shows Suhoor and Iftar times on the first and last day of Ramadan 2024. Find your city using the arrows or search box.
Which cities have the longest and shortest fasting times?
Below are the average number of fasting hours for cities around the world. The actual fasting time and length and how it is calculated will vary from day to day.
– Nuuk, Greenland: 16 hours
– Reykjavik, Iceland: 16 hours
– Helsinki, Finland: 15 hours
– Oslo, Norway: 15 hours
– Glasgow, Scotland: 15 hours
– Berlin, Germany: 15 hours
– Dublin, Ireland: 15 hours
– Moscow, Russia: 15 hours
– Amsterdam, Netherlands: 15 hours
– Warsaw, Poland: 15 hours
– Kazakhstan, Astana: 15 hours
– Brussels, Belgium: 14 hours
– London, UK: 14 hours
– Zurich, Switzerland: 14 hours
– Stockholm, Sweden: 14 hours
– Bucharest, Romania: 14 hours
– Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: 14 hours
– Sofia, Bulgaria: 14 hours
– Rome, Italy: 14 hours
– Madrid, Spain: 14 hours
– Paris, France: 14 hours
– Lisbon, Portugal: 14 hours
– Ankara, Turkey: 14 hours
– Ottawa, Canada: 14 hours
– Tokyo, Japan: 14 hours
– Beijing, China: 14 hours
– Athens, Greece: 14 hours
– New York City, USA: 14 hours
– Washington DC, USA: 14 hours
– Los Angeles, USA: 14 hours
– Tunis, Tunisia: 14 hours
– Algiers, Algeria: 14 hours
– Tehran, Iran: 14 hours
– Kabul, Afghanistan: 14 hours
– New Delhi, India: 14 hours
– Dhaka, Bangladesh: 14 hours
– Rabat, Morocco: 14 hours
– Syria, Damascus: 14 hours
– Pakistan, Islamabad: 14 hours
– Baghdad, Iraq: 14 hours
– Beirut, Lebanon: 14 hours
– Amman, Jordan: 14 hours
– Gaza City, Palestine: 14 hours
– Cairo, Egypt: 14 hours
– Qatar, Doha: 13 hours
– Dubai, UAE: 13 hours
– Khartoum, Sudan: 13 hours
– Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 13 hours
– Abuja, Nigeria: 13 hours
– Aden, Yemen: 13 hours
– Dakar, Senegal: 13 hours
– Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 13 hours
– Buenos Aires, Argentina: 13 hours
– Colombo, Sri Lanka: 13 hours
– Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 13 hours
– Mogadishu, Somalia: 13 hours
– Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: 13 hours
– Nairobi, Kenya: 13 hours
– Harare, Zimbabwe: 13 hours
– Jakarta, Indonesia: 13 hours
– Luanda, Angola: 13 hours
– Bangkok, Thailand: 13 hours
– Brasilia, Brazil: 13 hours
– Johannesburg, South Africa: 13 hours
– Montevideo, Uruguay: 13 hours
– Canberra, Australia: 13 hours
– Puerto Montt, Chile: 13 hours
– Christchurch, New Zealand: 13 hours
ramadan greetings in different languages
Various Muslim-majority countries have separate greetings in their native languages.
“Ramadan Mubarak” and “Ramadan Kareem” are the most common greetings exchanged during this period, wishing the recipient a blessed and generous month, respectively.
