Where you are on the earth has an affect on the day length. Locations on similar latitudes have similar day lengths where as different latitudes have different day lengths.

Latitude and Longitude

Any location on Earth is described by two numbers -- its latitude and its longitude.

What is latitude?

Latitude tells you how far north or south of the Equator you are located.

It is measured in degrees ranging from 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles. Latitude lines are imaginary lines that are marked every twenty degrees north and south of the equator.

The Equator at 0° latitude divides the Earth into the northern and southern hemisphere.

What is longitude?

Longitude is the location of a place east or west of a north-south line called the prime meridian.

Longitude is measured in angles ranging from 0° at the Prime Meridian to 180° at the International Date Line. The longitude lines, or meridians as they are sometimes called, are imaginary lines every 20° east or west of the Prime Meridian.

The Prime Meridian divides the Earth into the eastern and western hemisphere.

How does latitude affect Day Length?

Locations on similar latitudes have similar day lengths where as different latitudes have different day lengths. Depending on the time of year, day length will either increase or decrease as locations progress north or south.

Day length at the Equator
At latitude 0° (the Equator) day length will be approximately 12 hours. Areas on the Equator have a constant 12 hours of day light all year round.

Moving away from the Equator
As latitude increases to 80° (polar circles - north or south) day length can be seen to increase to 24 hours or decrease to zero (depending on time of year).

Land of the Midnight Sun and Polar Winters where the sun never rises.

In summer, the regions north of the Arctic Circle enjoy between one and two months of Midnight Sun – 24 hours of sunlight due to the relative tilt of the Earth towards the Sun. It is the opposite below the Antatarctic circle (South Pole).

In winter, the regions north of the Arctic Circle experience a 24-hour period when the sun never rises above the horizon. This is known as the Polar Night. Again it is the opposite below the Antatarctic circle (South Pole).

Day length around the World

Good dates to investigate are the Solistice, June 21st (the longest day in the northern hemisphere and the shortest day in the southern hemisphere) and December 21st (the shortest day in the northern hemisphere and the longest in the southern).

Follow this link to investigate sunrise and sunset around the world

Equator Solstice