We know when morning ends and afternoon begins ( it's in the name ...after noon!) but when does afternoon end and evening begin? When does evening end and night begin? When does night end and morning begin and why do we say that the early hours of the morning are in the middle of the night?
Afternoon turns to evening around 6pm in the way people describe things. Meeting early evening would mean anything from about 6pm onwards. Night is just a description of when it gets dark. Summer evenings extend quite a long time until nightfall. The early hours of the morning are still in the dark, so it can also still be described as nighttime. All this is only my opinion I hasten to add.
The problem with time is that there's only a.m. and p.m. so anything a.m is described as in the morning even if it's in the middle of the night e.g. 1:00 a.m which is actually night as far as I'm concerned.
At the equator you'll have 12 hours daylight and 12 hours sunlight. Not been to the equator but it probably gets dark around 6pm and light around 6am making 12.00a.m the middle of the dark period or night (Hence midnight). I think it's all a matter of opinion but a general rule of thumb would be morning - 3 a.m. to 12 p.m, afternoon 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., evening 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and night 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.
As I said it's a matter of opinion and I don't think there's any logic applied whatsoever.
Grasscarp,
don't get so touchy. I only asked why you think it is 6pm. I didn't say you were wrong . Anyway Wikipedia doesn't give 6pm as a definitive time for evening to start, it gives a range of 4-6pm. What was intended as a thought provoker has been taken as a challenge to integrity and isn't worth getting worked up about, please take this in the lighthearted way it is intended.