A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, streetlamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution became ubiquitous in developed countries in the 20th century, lights for urban streets followed, or sometimes led.
Many lamps have light-sensitive photocells or astro clocks that activate the lamp automatically when needed, at times when there is reduced ambient light compared to daytime, such as at dusk, dawn, or under exceptional cloud cover. This function in older lighting systems could be performed with the aid of a solar dial.
