Muslims around the world will begin celebrating the holy month of Ramazan, as they fast and pray for a spiritual rejuvenation, starting Saturday, May 27.
As this year’s Ramazan coincides with summer in the Northern Hemisphere, people living in this part of the world will have to fast for longer hours than Muslims in the Southern Hemisphere.
This Ramazan, Muslims in Turkey will be fasting for almost 17 hours. Even though it might seem like long hours, fasting hours in some Scandinavian cities would be even longer.
For instance, the fasting period during Ramazan in one of Sweden’s northernmost cities of Kiruna, Norway’s Tromso and Iceland’s Reykjavik will be around 22 hours. Muslims living in Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen will be fasting for almost 20 hours.
In comparison, Muslims in the rest of Europe will be fasting between 18 and 16.5 hours.
Muslims in Washington, U.S. will fast for almost 17 hours and those living in and visiting Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims will fast around 15 hours. Meanwhile, Muslims in China will be fasting for around 16 hours.
However, Muslims living in countries in the Southern Hemisphere, like South Africa, Argentine and Chile will fast the shortest, just around 12 hours.
