99% of people on Earth will get sunlight at the same time on Wednesday

Because of Earth’s tilt and the timing of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, about 99 percent of the world’s population – some 8.2 billion people – will experience daylight or twilight simultaneously on July 8, at about 11:10 GMT.

For a brief period lasting only about a minute, Earth’s most populated areas will all be under the Sun, with only a small fraction experiencing nighttime.

Daylight will stretch across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and most of Asia, where nearly all of the world’s population lives.

In darkness will be Australia, New Zealand, parts of Southeast Asia and Antarctica, along with the surrounding oceans.

This is not a one-day-only phenomenon. For about 60 days each year, from roughly May 18 to July 17, there is a brief moment each day during which nearly all of humanity experiences either daylight or twilight.