Citizens of Barrow, Alaska are at the beginning of two months of darkness.
The sun set on the northernmost city in the United States at 1:31 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, and it won't rise until 1:17 p.m. Jan. 22, 2017.
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But when the sun rises again, Barrow, Alaska won't be Barrow anymore. Residents voted to change their town's name to Utqia?vik — the traditional Inupiat Eskimo name.
The name change takes place Dec. 1, almost two months before the sun rises again.
Even though the community's name has changed, it doesn't change the sunrise and sunset times, which means Utqia?vik will continue to experience two months of darkness every winter, just like it experiences two months of 24 hours of daylight, which will begin next year on May 11.
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