Russians north of the Arctic Circle have finally come out of their snooze mode to witness year’s first shimmer of sunlight on Friday.
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The extreme “nighttime” is a natural phenomenon known as polar night, which happens when darkness descends for more than 24 hours. It only occurs in the northernmost or southernmost parts of the earth.
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The residents of Murmansk were elated to see the sun after 40 days. This Arctic port of Russia sees no sunlight between December 2 to January 11.
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The Russians gathered on the city’s highest hill “Solnechnaya Gorka” (Sunny Hill) to greet the sunrise. Although it only lasted for 30 minutes.
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The glimpse of the first sunrise has been drawing locals since 2007 for the annual event on the hill, fittingly termed as the “Sunny Mountain”. People rejoice and raise their cameras to seize the moment.
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Until next winter, it’s all uphill from here with longer and shinier days.
