Perhaps you find yourself grabbing an extra cup of coffee this time of year, especially with the early sunsets to come with the season. The sunset in Tampa is just after 5:30 in the evening, but can you imagine living in a place where the sun will not rise the next day? That’s the reality for one city in northern Alaska as it marked the last sunset of 2021.

You may be more familiar with Barrow, Alaska, which was the town’s name until 2016. Now, Utqiagvik entered into a polar night, which is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours.

For the nearly 4,500 residents of Utqiagvik, the next time the sun emerges above the horizon will be January 22, 2022. This extended period of darkness is contrasted by over 80 days of uninterrupted daylight in the summer.

They changed the name from Barrow to Utqiagvik. Here we see the waterfront of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean.
Utqiagvik sits on a remote tip of Alaska and isn’t connected to any major city by road. They rely on planes and ships (only in the summer) to bring goods. The town is mostly filled with fishermen and women. Geographically, Utqiagvik, sits on a flat artic tundra that meets the Arctic Ocean.

Fun fact! Even though Utqiagvik is a part of the U.S., it’s technically closer to Tokyo, Japan, and St. Petersburg, Russia, than it is to Washington D.C.

Utqiagvik is the cultural center of the Inupiat tribe, a group of Alaskan natives. Archaeological sites in the area indicate that the Inupiat have lived in this area for more than 1500 years.

While tourists plan visits around the cosmic phenomena, the locals of Utqiagvik continue their daily lives, just without the sun.

Year-round, running a business in Utqiagvik comes with its own set of challenges. Imagine going to office in darkness and coming home for lunch in darkness for 80+ days.