NationalEclipse.com | May 29, 2026 | National Eclipse Blog
In less than three months, on August 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will cross over Iceland and Spain.
Whenever a total solar eclipse comes to a particular country, the local promoters usually like to cite the year in which a total eclipse last occurred there, and will occur again in the future. This helps to build excitement and create a sense of historic importance for the upcoming eclipse.
Iceland has been telling the world that 1954 was the last time their country witnessed the awe-inspiring sight of totality. Even more impressive, Spain has been promoting the upcoming eclipse as the first one in their country since 1905 (although, technically, this in incorrect).
There has never really been an online source of last and next total solar eclipse dates. Usually, astronomers in each country just simply know these dates based on local historical records or perhaps conventional wisdom passed down through the years. If not, a tedious review of past and future total solar eclipse paths can be performed to determine these exact dates for a specific country.
To help make this information much easier to obtain in the future, NationalEclipse.com has conducted and published the first-ever study examining when a total solar eclipse last occurred and will next occur for every country on Earth.
Not only is this information now easily accessible for the first time, but its compilation also provides a unique country-level perspective on how total solar eclipses are distributed across time and geography.
The analysis revealed that the small Mediterranean nation of Malta has gone the longest without a total solar eclipse, last experiencing one in the year 1178, over eight centuries ago. After Malta, the second longest dry spell belongs to Saint Lucia, where a total solar eclipse hasn't occurred on that Caribbean island since 1286.
The research also highlights countries currently facing exceptionally long waits for future total solar eclipses. The African nation of Equatorial Guinea stands out as the country that will wait the longest for its next total eclipse, which will not occur until the year 2461. After Equatorial Guinea, the small European nation of Andorra has the longest wait, with a total solar eclipse not occurring again until 2433.
Malta is also identified as the country with the largest current span between past and future total solar eclipses, at 910 years.
The analysis also resulted in some unexpected surprises. One of the biggest was discovering that almost two-thirds of countries and territories have experienced a total solar eclipse in the last 100 years. Considering the relatively small size of many countries, and the relatively narrow width of total solar eclipse paths, one might expect there to be many more countries that haven't seen a total eclipse in over a century.
Another pattern that emerged would seem to weaken a common claim. The general consensus among eclipse experts is that, on average, a total solar eclipse occurs at the exact same point on Earth about once every 375 years. But the analysis showed that it's possible for entire countries to go much longer than 375 years without a total solar eclipse. The worldwide average might indeed be 375 years, but there's clearly significant variation.
The study also seemed to refute other logical assumptions. Naturally, you would expect that tiny countries would have the longest wait between eclipses. But there are plenty of examples where much larger countries have longer current dry spells, like the Netherlands (420 years) and Ireland (366 years), than tiny city-states like Singapore and Monaco.
NationalEclipse.com conducted this research by reviewing almost 2,000 past and future total solar eclipse paths, identifying where each eclipse's path of totality intersected with the present-day borders of every recognized country in the world. For thoroughness, we also included many partially recognized states, disputed territories, self-governing territories, dependent territories, and some other miscellaneous areas.
We've published the full table of countries and territories with their last and next total solar eclipse dates on NationalEclipse.com. As total solar eclipses come and go, we'll continue to keep this data up to date.
