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Midnight sun to light up northern Sweden this week

Treriksröset, Sweden’s northernmost point and where the country borders Norway and Finland, saw its last sunset at 48 minutes past midnight on Sunday. The sun will now not set in the far north of Sweden until July.

Midnight sun to light up northern Sweden this week
Midnight sun in Kiruna. Photo: Asaf Kliger/imagebank.sweden.se

The days will now get longer and longer fast. The midnight sun is set to reach Abisko and Karesuando on May 25th, followed by the city of Kiruna on May 28th. It will reach the Arctic Circle just before Midsummer’s Eve and then the days will get darker again.

Midnight sun, as well as polar night, the period of the year where the sun does not rise above the Arctic Circle, are both caused by the axial tilt of the Earth and its revolution around the sun.

In the northern hemisphere the North Pole is tilted towards the sun in summer, so instead of setting, the sun instead moves in a horizontal circle above the horizon. From midsummer, the North Pole gradually turns away from the sun, with the nights getting darker and darker until midwinter.

The same is true in the southern hemisphere, with a six-month time difference – that’s why summer and winter occur at different times in both hemispheres.

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Reader photo of the week: Do you know the name of this iconic Stockholm monument?

Every week, The Local invites readers to submit their pictures to our photo competition, to bring our audience together from all parts of Sweden.

Reader photo of the week: Do you know the name of this iconic Stockholm monument?

This week’s winner is Sasanga Nikapitiya, who snapped the above picture of the Sergels Torg square in central Stockholm.

The glass monument seen in the picture is often referred to as the glass obelisk, but its real name is Kristallvertikalaccent (“crystal vertical accent”). Not even all Stockholmers know this, so here’s your chance to impress your friends with your knowledge of Swedish trivia.

It was designed by Edvin Öhrström in 1967.

You can submit your entries via email at [email protected] with the subject “Photo of the week”, or by submitting your photo to X using the hashtag #TheLocalSwedenPOTW – or look out for our Facebook post every week on The Local Sweden where you can submit your photo. Please tell us your name so we can credit you as the photographer, and tell us a little bit about the photo and where it was taken.

By submitting a photo, you’re giving us permission to republish it on The Local’s website, our social media and newsletters.

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