How quickly does the sun set in Poland?

I once heard that sunsets in Poland last for a very long time (more than an hour), but my friend just told me that they're actually quite quick -- she says the sun has usually finished setting in less than half an hour.

How long do they usually take? Does it depend very much on the time of year, or part of the country?

The thing is, my Dad was Polish, but he died when I was 4. I've never had the chance to go to Poland yet (although I'm desperate to), and I love sunsets and would love to know what they're like in Poland.

I thought I was going to be able to go to Warsaw last April, but then I couldn't. I'd love to know what the sunsets are like there at that time of year, because my Dad was from Warsaw and was born in April.

Thanks for your time.

EDIT - I meant to put this in Society, Culture! Sorry!!

Not sure what you mean... I would say as quick as anywhere else in the world...

No, it doesnt. The closer to the Equator the faster it sets.

She may mean civil (or nautical, or astronomical) evening twilight = the time between sunset and "civil dusk"; that is when geometrical center of the sun reaches 6 degrees below horizon.

(There are three diffrerent measures: civil, nautical and astronomical)
The evening twilight depends on the date and lattitude of the observer. In the Arctic and Antarctic regions, twilight (if there is any) can last for several hours.

September 1, 2012
Toronto, Canada: Civil twilight ends at 2022 hours, sunset 1952; difference 30 minutes
Warsaw, Poland: Civil twilight ends at 1958 hours, sunset 1923; difference 35 minutes
See this page timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html
(select all columns)

Grzegorz, where I live in the US, the sunsets are very quick, less than half an hour. But when I was in England for example, the sunsets lasted for ages, usually more than an hour. I just wanted to know which one Poland was more like.

sa11y, when you say "no, it doesn't", do you mean the sun doesn't set very quickly in Poland, or that it does set quickly?

Boletus, thank you, very helpful!

As Boletus said it depends on latitude. Look at a map of Europe, England is way up there. Sally said that closer to the Equator the faster the sunset, lack of twilight. The further North and South, longer twilight. Poland should have the same length of twilight as England as they are approximately the same latitude.

be my guest ;)

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Angie, I was saying that sun does not set the same. Latitude is the main reason, but also amount of moisture, smog, clouds. Amazingly enough some polluted places have beautiful sunsets.

I am dreading the winter already. Dark by 4pm. Damn the Earth and it's wobbling about.

The nights drawing in means that the stars and planets are visible much earlier. This month Jupiter can be seen near Aldebaran (the eye of Taurus) in the late evening.

If you get up early, Venus rises four hours before the sun, and is very bright this month.
Two nights ago we had a perfectly clear sky where I live and it was great to sit out (still not too cold) and try to identify the constellations, with the majestic sweep of the Milky Way directly overhead.

Look on the bright side. No damn mosquitos or flies, no more grass to cut, and the universe to admire.

The sun sets quite slowly here compared with, say, southern Europe. You mentioned you'd been to the UK - it is similar to the UK due to being on a similar latitude. Warsaw and other big cities have huge air pollution so the sunsets are sometimes quite spectacular!

Can't really comment on the length, it's never something that I've noticed - though it does tend to get dark slowly. However, maybe I've just lost the plot since moving here, but the Sun and the Moon appear much larger to me here than they did in Brighton. I took a (shaky) video of a sunrise over the river a few days ago, maybe I'll upload it. I also got a great view of a sunrise last week. A large field stretching for miles, at the end were some trees and the mist was just pouring out of them and filling the field. Couple that with a gigantic orange sun just peeking over the horizon and it was a brilliant start to the day :)