Length of Ramadan fast to exceed 14 hours in UAE from Tuesday

The longest fasting period will fall on the last day of Ramadan, at 14 hours and 13 minutes

An iftar cannon is fired. Residents fasting in the UAE will need to abstain from food and drink for 14 hours and 13 minutes on the last day of Ramadan. EPA

Fasting Muslims in the UAE will be abstaining from all food and drink for more than 14 hours from Tuesday.

As summer approaches and daylight hours lengthen, the remainder of Ramadan will mean that the amount of time spent fasting will continue to increase.

According to the Emirates Astronomical Society, at the start of the holy month people were fasting for 13 hours and 46 minutes. On the last day just before Eid Al Fitr, they will have fasted for 14 hours and 13 minutes on one day.

Ibrahim Al Jarwan, the society's board of directors' chairman, said the exact duration of the fasting period would vary depending on the location of the person in each emirate, but the difference would never be more than a few minutes.

“The length of day and night changes throughout the year depending on the Sun's tilt from the equator and the latitude of the place,” he said.

Mr Al Jarwan explained that the closer the Sun gets to the equator, the more the length of night and day become equal. When the Sun is closer to the polar regions, it causes some countries to see continuous daylight in the summer and continuous darkness in winter.

In the UAE, daylight hours are at their longest between June 17 and 25, reaching about 15 hours and 13 minutes, Mr Al Jarwan said.

The minimum amount of daylight hours fall between December 14 and 28, at about 12 hours and 3 minutes.

According to the astronomical calculations, Eid Al Fitr (which is from Ramadan 29 to Shawwal 3) will run from Thursday, April 20, until Sunday, April 23 in the UAE.

The precise start of Eid Al Fitr will be confirmed closer to the time by the Moon-sighting committee.

The timing of Ramadan is determined by the Islamic calendar, which consists of 12 lunar months totalling either 354 or 355 days and because of this it moves up to 10 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar.

This year, people fasting in Chile have had the shortest fasting hours during Ramadan with an average of 11 hours and 30 minutes.

A shorter fasting period of between 11 and 12 hours a day is characteristic of Southern Hemisphere countries such as New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa.

Muslims in the city of Reykjavík, Iceland, will have the record this year of being residents of the city with the longest fasting hours.

They are expected to endure 16 hours and 50 minutes a day of fasting.