KARACHI, Dec 21: Pakistan, as well as all countries located on the Northern hemisphere of the globe, will experience the shortest day of the year on Saturday.

Officials of the Pakistan meteorological department (PMD) said that in technical parlance the phenomenon was referred to as the winter solstice.

On Saturday the sunrise and the sunset will take place at 7.12am and 5.50pm respectively.

“Solstice is defined as either of the two times of the year at which the sun is furthest north or south of the equator. While the winter solstice falls on Dec 22, the summer solstice occurs on June 21,” a PMD official explained.

He added that the countries located in the Southern hemisphere would experience the longest day.

On March 21 and Sept 22, he said, day and night were of equal length, adding that the process was known as equinox.