<P> The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the sun remains visible at the local midnight . </P> <P> Around the summer solstice (approximately 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere and 22 December in the Southern Hemisphere), the sun is visible for the full 24 hours, given fair weather . The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the closer towards either pole one goes . Although approximately defined by the polar circles, in practice the midnight sun can be seen as much as 55 miles (90 km) outside the polar circle, as described below, and the exact latitudes of the farthest reaches of midnight sun depend on topography and vary slightly year - to - year . </P> <P> Because there are no permanent human settlements south of the Antarctic Circle, apart from research stations, the countries and territories whose populations experience the midnight sun are limited to those crossed by the Arctic Circle: the Canadian Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories; the nations of Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark (Greenland), Russia; and the State of Alaska in the United States . A quarter of Finland's territory lies north of the Arctic Circle, and at the country's northernmost point the sun does not set at all for 60 days during summer . In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately 19 April to 23 August . The extreme sites are the poles, where the sun can be continuously visible for half the year . The North Pole has midnight sun for 6 months from late March to late September . </P> <P> The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter, when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day . </P>

When does the sun shine for 24 hours on the areas around the north pole