diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index 9e4bdfc5..3ba994e1 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
 ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
 
-# Install runtime dependencies (including GDAL and cron)
+# Install runtime dependencies (including GDAL)
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
       postgresql-client \
       gdal-bin \
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
       nginx \
       memcached \
       supervisor \
-      cron \
     && apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 # Copy Python packages from builder
@@ -61,12 +60,8 @@ COPY ./server /code/
 COPY ./nginx.conf /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
 COPY ./supervisord.conf /etc/supervisor/conf.d/supervisord.conf
 COPY ./entrypoint.sh /code/entrypoint.sh
-COPY ./crontab /etc/cron.d/adventurelog-cron
 RUN chmod +x /code/entrypoint.sh \
-    && mkdir -p /code/static /code/media \
-    && chmod 0644 /etc/cron.d/adventurelog-cron \
-    && crontab /etc/cron.d/adventurelog-cron \
-    && touch /var/log/cron.log
+    && mkdir -p /code/static /code/media
 
 # Collect static files
 RUN python3 manage.py collectstatic --noinput --verbosity 2
@@ -74,5 +69,8 @@ RUN python3 manage.py collectstatic --noinput --verbosity 2
 # Expose ports
 EXPOSE 80 8000
 
-# Start Supervisor
+# Start with an entrypoint that runs init tasks then starts supervisord
+ENTRYPOINT ["/code/entrypoint.sh"]
+
+# Start supervisord to manage processes
 CMD ["supervisord", "-c", "/etc/supervisor/conf.d/supervisord.conf"]
diff --git a/backend/crontab b/backend/crontab
deleted file mode 100644
index 50178834..00000000
--- a/backend/crontab
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-# AdventureLog cron jobs
-SHELL=/bin/sh
-PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
-
-# Run sync_visited_regions daily at midnight
-0 0 * * * cd /code && /usr/local/bin/python3 manage.py sync_visited_regions >> /var/log/cron.log 2>&1
-
-# Empty line required at end of cron file
diff --git a/backend/entrypoint.sh b/backend/entrypoint.sh
index 1031cb10..cb573de9 100644
--- a/backend/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/backend/entrypoint.sh
@@ -84,8 +84,4 @@ fi
 
 cat /code/adventurelog.txt
 
-# Start Gunicorn in foreground
-exec gunicorn main.wsgi:application \
-    --bind [::]:8000 \
-    --workers 2 \
-    --timeout 120
+exec "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/backend/server/run_periodic_sync.py b/backend/server/run_periodic_sync.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..adb01210
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/server/run_periodic_sync.py
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""
+Periodic sync runner for AdventureLog.
+Runs sync_visited_regions management command every 60 seconds.
+Managed by supervisord to ensure it inherits container environment variables.
+"""
+import os
+import sys
+import time
+import logging
+import signal
+import threading
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from pathlib import Path
+
+# Setup Django
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).parent))
+os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'main.settings')
+
+import django
+django.setup()
+
+from django.core.management import call_command
+
+# Configure logging
+logging.basicConfig(
+    level=logging.INFO,
+    format='%(asctime)s [%(levelname)s] %(message)s',
+    handlers=[logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)]
+)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+INTERVAL_SECONDS = 60
+
+# Event used to signal shutdown from signal handlers
+_stop_event = threading.Event()
+
+
+def _seconds_until_next_midnight() -> float:
+    """Return number of seconds until the next local midnight."""
+    now = datetime.now()
+    next_midnight = (now + timedelta(days=1)).replace(
+        hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0
+    )
+    return (next_midnight - now).total_seconds()
+
+
+def _handle_termination(signum, frame):
+    """Signal handler for SIGTERM and SIGINT: request graceful shutdown."""
+    logger.info(f"Received signal {signum}; shutting down gracefully...")
+    _stop_event.set()
+
+
+def run_sync():
+    """Run the sync_visited_regions command."""
+    try:
+        logger.info("Running sync_visited_regions...")
+        call_command('sync_visited_regions')
+        logger.info("Sync completed successfully")
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.error(f"Sync failed: {e}", exc_info=True)
+
+
+def main():
+    """Main loop - run sync every INTERVAL_SECONDS."""
+    logger.info(f"Starting periodic sync (interval: {INTERVAL_SECONDS}s)")
+
+    # Install signal handlers so supervisord (or other process managers)
+    # can request a clean shutdown using SIGTERM/SIGINT.
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, _handle_termination)
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, _handle_termination)
+
+    try:
+        while not _stop_event.is_set():
+            # Wait until the next local midnight (or until shutdown)
+            wait_seconds = _seconds_until_next_midnight()
+            hours = wait_seconds / 3600.0
+            logger.info(
+                f"Next sync scheduled in {wait_seconds:.0f}s (~{hours:.2f}h) at local midnight"
+            )
+            # Sleep until midnight or until stop event is set
+            if _stop_event.wait(wait_seconds):
+                break
+
+            # It's midnight (or we woke up), run the sync once
+            run_sync()
+
+            # After running at midnight, loop continues to compute next midnight
+    except Exception:
+        logger.exception("Unexpected error in periodic sync loop")
+    finally:
+        logger.info("Periodic sync worker exiting")
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    try:
+        main()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        # Fallback in case the signal is delivered as KeyboardInterrupt
+        logger.info("KeyboardInterrupt received — exiting")
+        _stop_event.set()
+    except SystemExit:
+        logger.info("SystemExit received — exiting")
+    finally:
+        logger.info("run_periodic_sync terminated")
diff --git a/backend/supervisord.conf b/backend/supervisord.conf
index 84b3b8c4..eb72171b 100644
--- a/backend/supervisord.conf
+++ b/backend/supervisord.conf
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ stdout_logfile=/dev/stdout
 stderr_logfile=/dev/stderr
 
 [program:gunicorn]
-command=/code/entrypoint.sh
+command=/usr/local/bin/gunicorn main.wsgi:application --bind [::]:8000 --workers 2 --timeout 120
+directory=/code
 autorestart=true
 stdout_logfile=/dev/stdout
 stderr_logfile=/dev/stderr
@@ -23,8 +24,9 @@ stderr_logfile=/dev/stderr
 stdout_logfile_maxbytes=0
 stderr_logfile_maxbytes=0
 
-[program:cron]
-command=cron -f
+[program:sync_visited_regions]
+command=/usr/local/bin/python3 /code/run_periodic_sync.py
+directory=/code
 autorestart=true
 stdout_logfile=/dev/stdout
 stderr_logfile=/dev/stderr