Learn About Time Zones
Interactive Time Zone Map
An interactive world time zone map with live clocks — click any city to see its current local time, or hover the legend items below the map to highlight regions by DST status. Drag, pinch, or scroll to explore. UTC offset bands and geographic timezone boundaries show the true shape of each zone, including irregular borders in Russia, Australia, and the US.
Scroll to zoom, drag to pan, use 🌍 to reset. Hover DST Active Now, Observes DST, No DST, or Your Time Zone below the map to highlight those regions.
DST Change Calendar (Next 12 Months)
Visual timeline showing when Daylight Saving Time starts and ends across different regions. Green bars indicate DST periods.
Currently Observing DST
Time Zone Trivia & Facts
🇨🇳 China: One Time Zone
Despite spanning 5 geographic time zones, China uses a single time zone (UTC+8) nationwide. This means sunrise in western Xinjiang can be as late as 10:00 AM during winter.
🇳🇵 Nepal: UTC+5:45
Nepal is one of only three countries with a 45-minute offset from UTC. The offset was chosen to be 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT.
🇦🇺 Australia: Triple DST
Australia has multiple DST schedules: most states start first Sunday in October, but Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia don't observe DST.
🇷🇺 Russia: 11 Time Zones
Russia spans 11 time zones but eliminated DST in 2014. However, some regions still adjust clocks seasonally.
🇮🇳 India: UTC+5:30
India uses a 30-minute offset (UTC+5:30) chosen to represent the average solar time across the country.
🌏 Kiribati: Future First
Kiribati's Line Islands use UTC+14, making them the first place on Earth to see each new day.
History of Time Standardization
British Railways Adopt GMT
The British Railway Clearing House required all railways to use Greenwich Mean Time — the first large-scale synchronization of clocks. Before this, Bristol was 10 minutes behind London, and every city kept its own local solar time.
North American Railroad Time
On November 18 — dubbed "The Day of Two Noons" — US and Canadian railroads switched to four standardized time zones (Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific) to prevent scheduling chaos and collisions. Some cities briefly ran two clocks: the old local time and the new railroad time.
International Meridian Conference
41 nations met in Washington D.C.; 25 voted to establish the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) as the universal prime meridian, creating the framework for 24 global time zones. France abstained, continuing to use the Paris Meridian until 1911.
First DST Implementation
Germany and Austria-Hungary introduced Daylight Saving Time on April 30, 1916, advancing clocks one hour to conserve coal during World War I. The UK followed weeks later. By the end of 1916, most of Europe had adopted DST — though the US and most of the world did not yet.
US Standard Time Act
The US Congress passed the Standard Time Act on March 19, 1918 — the first federal law to define official US time zones. It codified five zones (Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska) and established DST for the first time in America. DST was repealed after WWI ended but the time zones remained.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
The ITU-R formally adopted Coordinated Universal Time as the international civil time standard, replacing the older Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Unlike GMT — which was based on Earth's irregular rotation — UTC is derived from atomic clocks and is accurate to within nanoseconds.
Leap Seconds Introduced
On January 1, 1972, the first leap second was added to UTC to compensate for the gradual slowing of Earth's rotation. Unlike leap years (which follow a fixed rule), leap seconds are unpredictable — the IERS announces them only months in advance. As of 2024, 27 leap seconds have been added. They are planned to be phased out by 2035.
US DST Extension
The US Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended DST by four weeks: it now starts on the second Sunday in March (three weeks earlier) and ends on the first Sunday in November (one week later). Canada followed suit. The change was estimated to save 0.5% of daily energy consumption but its actual benefit has been disputed.
Samoa Skips a Day
On December 29, 2011, Samoa (and Tokelau) skipped an entire calendar day — jumping from Thursday December 29 directly to Saturday December 31 — by crossing the International Date Line westward. The move aligned Samoa with its main trading partners Australia and New Zealand, which had previously been a full day ahead.
EU Votes to End Seasonal Clock Changes
The European Parliament voted 410–192 to abolish mandatory seasonal clock changes across all EU member states, letting each country choose permanent summer or winter time. Implementation has stalled due to the complexity of coordinating decisions across 27 nations — mismatched choices could fragment trade and transport schedules.
Quick Reference
Time Zones by Offset
| UTC-12 | Baker Island, Howland Island |
| UTC-11 | American Samoa, Niue, Midway |
| UTC-10 | Hawaii, Tahiti, Cook Islands |
| UTC-9:30 | Marquesas Islands |
| UTC-9 | Alaska (parts), Gambier Islands |
| UTC-8 | Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tijuana |
| UTC-7 | Denver, Phoenix, Calgary |
| UTC-6 | Chicago, Mexico City, Guatemala |
| UTC-5 | New York, Toronto, Lima, Bogotá |
| UTC-4 | Santiago, Caracas, La Paz |
| UTC-3:30 | Newfoundland |
| UTC-3 | Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Greenland |
| UTC-2 | South Georgia, Fernando de Noronha |
| UTC-1 | Azores, Cape Verde |
| UTC+0 | London, Dublin, Lisbon, Accra |
| UTC+1 | Paris, Berlin, Rome, Lagos |
| UTC+2 | Cairo, Johannesburg, Athens, Jerusalem |
| UTC+3 | Moscow, Istanbul, Riyadh, Nairobi |
| UTC+3:30 | Tehran |
| UTC+4 | Dubai, Baku, Tbilisi |
| UTC+4:30 | Kabul |
| UTC+5 | Karachi, Tashkent, Maldives |
| UTC+5:30 | India, Sri Lanka |
| UTC+5:45 | Nepal |
| UTC+6 | Dhaka, Thimphu, Astana |
| UTC+6:30 | Myanmar, Cocos Islands |
| UTC+7 | Bangkok, Jakarta, Hanoi |
| UTC+8 | Singapore, Beijing, Perth, Manila |
| UTC+8:45 | Eucla (Australia) |
| UTC+9 | Tokyo, Seoul, Pyongyang |
| UTC+9:30 | Adelaide, Darwin |
| UTC+10 | Sydney, Melbourne, Vladivostok |
| UTC+10:30 | Lord Howe Island |
| UTC+11 | Nouméa, Magadan, Solomon Islands |
| UTC+12 | Auckland, Fiji, Kamchatka |
| UTC+12:45 | Chatham Islands |
| UTC+13 | Apia, Nuku'alofa, Phoenix Islands |
| UTC+14 | Line Islands (Kiribati) |
DST Observance by Region
| Region | DST Schedule |
|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 USA / 🇨🇦 Canada (most) | 2nd Sun Mar – 1st Sun Nov |
| 🇪🇺 European Union | Last Sun Mar – Last Sun Oct |
| 🇬🇧 UK / 🇮🇪 Ireland | Last Sun Mar – Last Sun Oct |
| 🇦🇺 Australia (NSW, Vic, SA, Tas, ACT) | 1st Sun Oct – 1st Sun Apr |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | Last Sun Sep – 1st Sun Apr |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | Fri before last Sun Mar – Last Sun Oct |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico (border, most) | 2nd Sun Mar – 1st Sun Nov |
| 🇧🇸 Bahamas | 2nd Sun Mar – 1st Sun Nov |
| 🇨🇺 Cuba | 2nd Sun Mar – 1st Sun Nov |
| 🇭🇹 Haiti | 2nd Sun Mar – 1st Sun Nov |
| 🇨🇱 Chile (magallanes) | 1st Sat Sep – 1st Sat Apr |
| 🇵🇾 Paraguay | 1st Sun Oct – 4th Sun Mar |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil (some states) | 1st Sun Nov – 3rd Sun Feb |
| 🇯🇴 Jordan | Fri before last Sun Mar – Last Fri Oct |
| 🇱🇧 Lebanon | Last Sun Mar – Last Sun Oct |
| 🇮🇷 Iran | Nowruz (varies) – Sep 21 |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | Last Thu Apr – Last Thu Oct |
| 🇲🇳 Mongolia (some) | Last Sat Mar – Last Sat Sep |
| 🇵🇸 Palestine | Mar/Apr – Oct/Nov (varies) |
| 🇲🇦 Morocco | During Ramadan (varies) |