# December solstice

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Annual solstice on 20–22 December

The **December solstice**, also known as the **southern solstice**, is the [solstice](/source/Solstice) that occurs each December – typically on 21 December, but may vary by one day in either direction according to the [Gregorian calendar](/source/Gregorian_calendar). In the [Northern Hemisphere](/source/Northern_Hemisphere), the December solstice is the [winter solstice](/source/Winter_solstice) (the day with the shortest period of daylight), whilst in the [Southern Hemisphere](/source/Southern_Hemisphere) it is the [summer solstice](/source/Summer_solstice) (the day with the longest period of daylight). During the December solstice, the Sun is directly over the [Tropic of Capricorn](/source/Tropic_of_Capricorn), located in the Southern Hemisphere.

UT date and time of equinoxes and solstices on Earth[1][2][3] event equinox solstice equinox solstice month March[4] June[5] September[6] December[7] year day time day time day time day time 2016 20 04:31 20 22:35 22 14:21 21 10:45 2017 20 10:29 21 04:25 22 20:02 21 16:29 2018 20 16:15 21 10:07 23 01:54 21 22:22 2019 20 21:58 21 15:54 23 07:50 22 04:19 2020 20 03:50 20 21:43 22 13:31 21 10:03 2021 20 09:37 21 03:32 22 19:21 21 15:59 2022 20 15:33 21 09:14 23 01:04 21 21:48 2023 20 21:25 21 14:58 23 06:50 22 03:28 2024 20 03:07 20 20:51 22 12:44 21 09:20 2025 20 09:01 21 02:42 22 18:19 21 15:03 2026 20 14:46 21 08:25 23 00:06 21 20:50 2027 20 20:25 21 14:11 23 06:02 22 02:43 2028 20 02:17 20 20:02 22 11:45 21 08:20 2029 20 08:01 21 01:48 22 17:37 21 14:14 2030 20 13:51 21 07:31 22 23:27 21 20:09 2031 20 19:41 21 13:17 23 05:15 22 01:56 2032 20 01:23 20 19:09 22 11:11 21 07:57 2033 20 07:23 21 01:01 22 16:52 21 13:45 2034 20 13:18 21 06:45 22 22:41 21 19:35 2035 20 19:03 21 12:33 23 04:39 22 01:31 2036 20 01:02 20 18:31 22 10:23 21 07:12

[Illumination](/source/Daylight) of [Earth](/source/Earth) by the [Sun](/source/Sun) on the day of the December [solstice](/source/Solstice)

## Solar year

The December-solstice solar year is the [solar year](/source/Solar_year) based on the December solstice. It is thus the length of time between adjacent December solstices.

The length of the December-solstice year has been relatively stable between 6000 BC and AD 2000, in the range of 49 minutes 30 seconds to 50 minutes in excess of 365 days 5 hours. This is longer than the mean year of the [Gregorian calendar](/source/Gregorian_calendar), which has an excess time of 49 minutes and 12 seconds. Since 2000, it has been growing shorter. In 4000, the excess time will be 48 minutes 52 seconds, and, in 10000, 46 minutes 45 seconds.[8]

## The length of the day near the December solstice

The following tables contain information on the length of the day on 22 December, close to the winter solstice of the [Northern Hemisphere](/source/Northern_Hemisphere) and the summer solstice of the [Southern Hemisphere](/source/Southern_Hemisphere) (i.e. December solstice). The data was collected from the website of the [Finnish Meteorological Institute](/source/Finnish_Meteorological_Institute) on 22 December 2015, as well as from certain other websites.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

The data is arranged geographically and within the tables from the shortest day to the longest one.

The Nordic countries, Russia, and the Baltic states City Sunrise 21 Dec 2022 Sunset 21 Dec 2022 Length of the day Murmansk — — 0 min Apatity — — 0 min Bodø 11:35 12:24 49 min Rovaniemi 11:07 13:22 2 h 15 min Luleå 9:54 13:03 3 h 9 min Reykjavík 11:21 15:29 4 h 8 min Trondheim 10:01 14:31 4 h 30 min Tórshavn 9:50 14:59 5 h 9 min Helsinki 9:23 15:12 5 h 49 min Oslo 9:17 15:11 5 h 54 min Tallinn 9:17 15:20 6 h 3 min Stockholm 8:43 14:47 6 h 4 min Riga 8:59 15:43 6 h 44 min Copenhagen 8:36 15:38 7 h 2 min Vilnius 8:39 15:53 7 h 14 min

Europe City Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 Sunset 22 Dec 2015 Length of the day Saint Petersburg 10:00 15:53 5 h 53 min Edinburgh 8:42 15:40 6 h 57 min Moscow 8:57 15:58 7 h 00 min Berlin 8:15 15:54 7 h 39 min Warsaw 7:43 15:25 7 h 42 min London 8:04 15:53 7 h 49 min Kyiv 7:56 15:56 8 h 00 min Paris 8:41 16:56 8 h 14 min Vienna 7:42 16:03 8 h 20 min Budapest 7:28 15:55 8 h 26 min Rome 7:34 16:42 9 h 07 min Istanbul 8:25 17:38 9 h 13 min Madrid 8:34 17:51 9 h 17 min Lisbon 7:51 17:18 9 h 27 min Athens 7:37 17:09 9 h 31 min

Africa City Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 Sunset 22 Dec 2015 Length of the day Cairo 6:47 16:59 10 h 12 min Tenerife 7:53 18:13 10 h 19 min Dakar 7:30 18:46 11 h 15 min Addis Ababa 6:35 18:11 11 h 36 min Nairobi 6:25 18:37 12 h 11 min Kinshasa 5:45 18:08 12 h 22 min Dar es Salaam 6:05 18:36 12 h 31 min Luanda 5:46 18:24 12 h 38 min Antananarivo 5:10 18:26 13 h 16 min Windhoek 6:04 19:35 13 h 31 min Johannesburg 5:12 18:59 13 h 47 min Cape Town 5:32 19:57 14 h 25 min

Middle East City Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 Sunset 22 Dec 2015 Length of the day Tehran 7:10 16:55 9 h 44 min Beirut 6:39 16:33 9 h 54 min Baghdad 7:02 16:59 9 h 57 min Jerusalem 6:35 16:39 10 h 04 min Manama 6:21 16:51 10 h 30 min Doha 6:15 16:49 10 h 34 min Dubai 7:00 17:34 10 h 34 min Riyadh 6:32 17:10 10 h 37 min Muscat 6:43 17:23 10 h 41 min Sanaa 6:25 17:38 11 h 13 min

Americas City Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 Sunset 22 Dec 2015 Length of the day Inuvik — — 0 h Fairbanks 10:58 14:40 3 h 41 min Nuuk 10:22 14:28 4 h 06 min Anchorage 10:14 15:42 5 h 27 min Edmonton 8:48 16:15 7 h 27 min Vancouver 8:05 16:16 8 h 11 min Seattle 7:55 16:20 8 h 25 min Ottawa 7:39 16:22 8 h 42 min Toronto 7:48 16:43 8 h 55 min New York City 7:16 16:32 9 h 15 min Washington, D.C. 7:23 16:49 9 h 26 min Los Angeles 6:55 16:48 9 h 53 min Dallas 7:25 17:25 9 h 59 min Miami 7:03 17:35 10 h 31 min Honolulu 7:04 17:55 10 h 50 min Mexico City 7:06 18:03 10 h 57 min Managua 6:01 17:26 11 h 24 min Bogotá 5:59 17:50 11 h 51 min Quito 6:08 18:16 12 h 08 min Recife 5:00 17:35 12 h 35 min Lima 5:41 18:31 12 h 50 min La Paz 5:57 19:04 13 h 06 min Rio de Janeiro 6:04 19:37 13 h 33 min São Paulo 6:17 19:52 13 h 35 min Salt Lake City 7:48 17:03 9 h 14 min Porto Alegre 6:20 20:25 14 h 05 min Santiago 6:29 20:52 14 h 22 min Buenos Aires 5:37 20:06 14 h 28 min Ushuaia 4:51 22:11 17 h 19 min

Asia-Pacific City Sunrise 22 Dec 2015 Sunset 22 Dec 2015 Length of the day Magadan 8:54 14:55 6 h 00 min Petropavlovsk 9:36 17:10 7 h 33 min Khabarovsk 8:48 17:07 8 h 18 min Ulaanbaatar 8:39 17:02 8 h 22 min Vladivostok 8:40 17:40 8 h 59 min Beijing 7:32 16:52 9 h 20 min Seoul 7:44 17:17 9 h 34 min Tokyo 6:47 16:31 9 h 44 min Shanghai 6:48 16:55 10 h 07 min Lhasa 8:46 19:01 10 h 14 min Delhi 7:09 17:28 10 h 19 min Hong Kong 6:58 17:44 10 h 46 min Manila 6:16 17:32 11 h 15 min Bangkok 6:36 17:55 11 h 19 min Singapore 7:01 19:04 12 h 03 min Jakarta 5:36 18:05 12 h 28 min Denpasar 5:58 18:36 12 h 37 min Darwin 6:19 19:10 12 h 51 min Papeete 5:21 18:32 13 h 10 min Brisbane 4:49 18:42 13 h 52 min Perth 5:07 19:22 14 h 14 min Sydney 5:41 20:05 14 h 24 min Auckland 5:58 20:39 14 h 41 min Melbourne 5:54 20:42 14 h 47 min Dunedin 5:43 21:28 15 h 44 min Invercargill 5:50 21:39 15 h 48 min

Length of day increases from the equator towards the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere in December (around the summer solstice there), but decreases towards the North Pole in the Northern Hemisphere at the time of the northern winter solstice.

## See also

- [Astronomy portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Astronomy)
- [Holidays portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Holidays)

### Astronomy

- [March equinox](/source/March_equinox)

- [June solstice](/source/June_solstice)

- [September equinox](/source/September_equinox)

### Holidays

- [Yalda Night](/source/Yalda_Night)

- [Yule](/source/Yule)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-USNO_1-0)** Astronomical Applications Department of [USNO](/source/USNO). ["Earth's Seasons - Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion"](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/Earth_Seasons). Retrieved 1 August 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Solstices and Equinoxes: 2001 to 2100"](http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/soleq2001.html). *AstroPixels.com*. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** The beginnings of the astronomical seasons between –4000 and +2098 can also be obtained from the [IMCCE](/source/Bureau_des_Longitudes) website [Seasons](https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/seasons).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Équinoxe de printemps entre 1583 et 2999](http://www.imcce.fr/newsletter/docs/Equinoxe_printemps_1583_2999.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Solstice d’été de 1583 à 2999](http://www.imcce.fr/newsletter/docs/Solstice_ete_1583_2999.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Équinoxe d’automne de 1583 à 2999](http://www.imcce.fr/newsletter/docs/Equinoxe_automne_1583_2999.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Solstice d’hiver](http://www.imcce.fr/newsletter/docs/Solstice_hiver_1583_2999.pdf)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Bromberg, Irv. ["Solar Year Length Variations on Earth"](http://individual.utoronto.ca/kalendis/leap/Solar-Year-Length-Variations.pdf) (PDF). University of Toronto, Canada. Retrieved 21 December 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Paikallissää Helsinki"](http://ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/saa/helsinki) [‘Local weather in Helsinki’] (in Finnish). [Finnish Meteorological Institute](/source/Finnish_Meteorological_Institute). 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Perth, Australia"](http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/australia/perth). Retrieved 22 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["São Paulo, Brazil"](http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/brazil/sao-paulo). Retrieved 22 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Denpasar, Indonesia"](http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/indonesia/denpasar). Retrieved 22 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Edmonton, Canada"](http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/canada/edmonton). Retrieved 21 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Inuvik, Canada"](http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/inuvik). Retrieved 19 December 2020. ["Saint-Petersburg, Russia"](https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/russia/saint-peterburg). Retrieved 16 June 2024.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [December solstice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_solstice) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_solstice?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.