Understanding Time Zones — Fascinating Time Zones...

Time Genie is the world's largest time and date web site with more countries, more cities and more locations for you to discover.

With 7559 of locations currently featured in Time Genie, chances are you will miss some of the more interesting and fascinating locations.

Use this page to discover fascinating locations around the world... let's begin!

A Brief Overview of Time and Time Zones:

Not everyone understands exactly how time or time zones are determined.

There are a few factors that determine the time or time zone that a country is located in.

Sunrise and Sunset:

Let's start with the most basic aspects when considering what time zone a location should be in. The most basic aspect to consider is the sunrise and sunset . Forget, for a moment, the more confusing method of determing the time zone based upon which lines of longitude the location falls between! Think in terms of sunrise and sunset.

When the sun rises and when the sun sets is major factor in choosing the time zone especially for countries that are close to or along the equator . Why? Because throughout the whole year, the amount of daylight for locations near the equator may fluctuate no more than 1 hour. This is opposite to a country that is located further north or south where there is less daylight in the winter and more in the summer.

Along the equator or close to the equator, sunrise and sunset occur at approximately the same time throughout the whole year. Considering this, a country close to the equator will determine its time zone based on when the sun rises and when the sun sets. A country in this sort of location will generally speaking choose a time zone whereby their sunrise is somewhere between 5 to 7 AM and sunset will then happen around 6 to 8 PM. A country would not make their sunrise at 8 AM and sunset at 9 PM.

Determining the time zone, when thinking in terms of sunrise and sunset, is a basic and simple way of understanding how a country or a location determines its time zone.

A lot of countries in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific are examples of where the time zone is determined by sunrise and sunset.

But there are other factors to consider also...

Financial, Economic and Logistical Reasons:

A country or location may choose to be in certain time zone for financial, economic and logistical reasons.

A country like Malaysia spans a huge distance. In theory, Malaysia could have two time zones. However, all of Malaysia is in the same time zone because the government of Malaysia thought it was best to keep the whole country on the same time. A town like Kudat, which is located in the most eastern part of Malaysia may have sunrise around 6:30 AM whereas a city like Kuala Lumpur, located in the most western part of the country will have sunrise around 7:30 AM.

Why do these two cities that are in the same time zone have different sunrise and sunset times?

Well, it all has to do with one very basic fact which is that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. As a result, a town in the eastern part of a country will see the sun rise before the western part of the country. If there is a large enough distance between the eastern and western part of the country, then it will take the sun time to travel from the eastern part of the country to the western part of the country.

A country like Singapore, which is located at the bottom of Peninsular Malaysia , uses the same time as Malaysia even though Singaporeans may prefer to have sunrise at 6:30 AM rather than 7:30 AM. But since Singapore is financially, economically and logistically tied to Malaysia, Singapore uses the same time as Malaysia to keep things running smoothly.

Jurisdictions:

Who legally determines what time a location is in?

The answer is that it all depends on the laws of the country.

A country like China, which is really wide, should in theory, have 3 time zones but the government of China has chosen to have the whole country in the same time zone similar to Malaysia.

If you compare the sunrise and sunset information for Shanghai, which is located in the eastern part of China, to the sunrise and sunset information for Lhasa (Tibet), located in the most western part of China, then you will see there is a huge difference. Sunrise in Shanghai might be at 6:30 AM while sunrise in Lhasa will be probably closer to 9 AM. Meanwhile, sunset in Shanghai will be around 5:30 PM and sunset in Lhasa will be at around 7:30 PM. Yet, both cities share the same time as do all cities within China.

So first and foremost, a country can determine its own time zone. A country like Nepal has chosen to be in an interesting time zone and is UTC/GMT +5:45. Why would Nepal choose such a crazy time zone? The reason is simple... to maximize the most daylight for each day. Sunrise in Nepal may occur around 6:45 AM and then set around 6 PM. Basically Nepal is squeezing as much sunlight as it can out of each day. Take a look at the Kathmandu page to get the current time in Nepal and see what the sunrise and sunset times are.

In addition to a country determining its time zone, a state or province of the country can also determine its time zone. Russia is the ultimate country for time zones because the country is so wide that it has to be separated into numerous time zones. Countries like Canada, the USA, Australia, Brazil and Indonesia are examples of other countries that have multiple time zones which are usually determined to some degree at a state or provincial level.

But wait, there's more! Oh yes, there's more...

Time itself can be pinpointed not only by country, by state or province, but also by the city. In some locations, the time is determined by the city (some examples will appear further down this page as you continue to read). Realizing that it many situations it is the city that determines its time zone, Time Genie is specifically organized and able to pinpoint the exact time time for each city. In turn, this makes Time Genie your best source for time and date information...

Organized By City:

What makes Time Genie such a valuable web site is that we feature the time based on the individual location, not just the country, state or province.

Time itself is determined, at the most fundamental level, by the city or location. As a result, Time Genie is organized ultimately by city and not by country, state or province.

Time Genie provides exact time for each city or location.

The benefit to you, when using Time Genie, is that in addition to finding the current time by country, by state, by province and by region, you can also find the current time by city.

Time Genie is the world's largest time and date web site and is continually growing larger all the time!

Let's now continue by exploring some places around the world have some interesting time...

— Back To Top —

Antarctica:

The lines of longitude all meet at both the North and South Poles.

In Antarctica though, the current time is determined by the country that operates the research station. So a Russian research station would most likely have the same time as Moscow and a British research station might have the same time as London and so on.

Some research stations do not use the same time zone as the country they belong to, but rather the same time as the country from which they make their trip to Antarctica from. So for example, the USA research stations tend to have the same time as New Zealand since the USA scientists all leave for Antarctica from Christchurch, New Zealand. Other research stations will have the same time as Chile, Argentina or possibly South Africa if they depart for Antarctica from one of these locations. This is done to help co–ordinate shipments of supplies, etc in a more efficient way as everyone is then using the same time.

At Time Genie, we have two pages for Antarctica. First, is the Antarctic page which is part of our main site but there is also the Antarctic section that is simply designed to help make it easier to get the time in Antarctica if you need it.

• Current time in Antarctica — main section
• Current time in Antarctica — country edition

As we get confirmation about more research stations and the time zone used at the station, we will be adding more research stations to our Antarctica list.

— Back To Top —

Australia:

Within Australia there are some interesting times. For the most part, Australia observes times based on what would best be described as a common sense approach to organizing time (that is, based on sunrise and sunset). But there are a few towns within Western Australia that, due to their remoteness, have chosen more interesting time zones.

Take a look at our Western Australia page and you will see a few towns and locations observing times that are, well, slightly off:

• current time in Western Australia
• pay attention to the times for Giles, Border Village, Caiguna, Eucla, Madura and Mundrabilla
• read the notes on the Western Australia page to learn more

Still with Australia, Lord Howe Island, is a little a bit different because when it comes time to switch from standard time to summer time, instead of changing 1 hour, it only changes 30 minutes. This is due to the fact that Lord Howe Island is situated off the coast of New South Wales. It's far enough away from the mainland to require a slightly different time, but not so far that it needs to switch by 1 full hour either. Read the notes on the New South Wales page to learn more.

— Back To Top —

French Southern and Antarctic Territories:

Quite possibly you've never heard of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, but it exists. Officially it is known as Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises, or simply TAAF for short.

Visit our French Southern and Antarctic Territories to discover its 3 time zones which are UTC/GMT +4, +5 and +10!

— Back To Top —

Hawaii:

When you think of Hawaii, you probably think of Honolulu. But in reality, the "Kingdom of Hawaii" covers a huge distance. As a result, French Frigate Shoals along with Tern Island and Kure Island all have a 1 hour time difference compared to mainland Hawaii. Never heard of these islands before? Well, don't worry... you are not alone. These islands are more remote and are definitely not tourist destinations. Although we hear the mai tais available on Tern Island are cheap... just joking!

To see a full list of places in Hawaii that are on a different time, visit our Hawaii page and click the arrows to reorganize the page by time.

— Back To Top —

Iran:

There's not a lot that is special about the time in Iran. Iran does use a non–standard time offset , meaning instead of being on the hour they are on the half hour. But what's most interesting about Iran is that when the country changes to summer time, the day on which the change is made is not based on the Gregorian calendar like western countries, but based upon the Persian calendar which is lunar based.

— Back To Top —

Kiribati:

Well, well, well... probably one of the most confusing times in the world is that of Kiribati.

Kiribati is a group 33 coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean. The islands are divided into 3 island groups known as Gilbert Islands , Phoenix Islands and Line Islands . Kiribati is basically along the equator but Kiribati also straddles the International Date Line . This is where, for many, it starts to get confusing.

The International Date Line is an imaginary line which basically says, as an example, on one side of the line when it is Wednesday then on the other side of the line it will be Thursday. Since Kiribati is on both sides of the International Date Line, in theory, one part of Kiribati could be on Wednesday while the other part could be on Thursday! Can you imagine how confusing this might get as you are watching television and see an advertisement for an upcoming show...

"Don't miss the next episode of the Survivor Kiribati at 9 PM on Thursday in Tarawa and the Gilbert Islands, 8 PM on Thursday in Rawaki and the Phoenix Islands and finally, at 7 PM on Wednesday on Christmas Island and the Line Islands!"

To solve this problem of having one part of Kiribati be on one day and the other part of the country on another day, the government of Kiribati has decided to ignore the International Date Line and keep the whole country on the same day, albeit in 3 different time zones.

Just to make things a little more confusing for you, Christmas Island, which is located in the most eastern part of Kiribati is in the same time zone as Hawaii, yet, when it is Thursday on Christmas Island, it is still Wednesday in Honolulu even though they are in the same time zone and even though Christmas Island is basically directly south of Honolulu!

Suggestion:

• Read the comments on our Kiribati page to get a more in–depth explanation regarding Kiribati and the way the time is organized there.
• View the map of Kiribati which is found on our Kiribati page to get a better understanding of the country.

— Back To Top —

Märkets Fyr (Market Reef):

Märkets Fyr (Market Reef) is an island, approximately 300 meters long and about 80 meters wide. To put this into perspective, the current world record for running 400 meters is less than 50 seconds. So in theory, the world's fastest man could run across this island in less than 1 minute.

The only problem is that Märkets Fyr, which is situated in the Baltic Sea , belongs to two countries. This small island is divided in half whereby one side belongs to Sweden and the other side belongs to Finland. So while the world's fastest man could in theory run across this island in less than 1 minute, he would be delayed when showing his passport at the immigration office!

Now what makes Märkets Fyr really interesting is that since Sweden and Finland are located in different time zones, this small island also has two time zones. One half observes the same time as Sweden and the other half observes the same time as Finland!

• Current time in Märkets Fyr (Market Reef) — Sweden
• Current time in Märkets Fyr (Market Reef) — Finland

— Back To Top —

Nepal:

Nepal has chosen, in order to maximize its daylight each day to use a non–standard offset and so unlike some countries which are on the half hour, rather than the hour, Nepal is on the 45. Visit the Nepal page to see how different it is.

— Back To Top —

New Zealand:

Similar to Nepal, Chatham Island which is part of New Zealand, is on the 45 also!

— Back To Top —

Interesting Locations:

The following are some interesting locations, not because they have anything fancy about their time, but simply because they are remote and probably you've never heard of them before.

First, let's start with three micronations :

• Principality of New Pacific
• Principality of Sealand
• Republic of Minerva

Hunks of land and rock that you never knew existed but for those interested in Ham Radio , also known as amateur radio, are important:

• Conway Reef
• Islas Revillagigedo
• Kingman Reef
• Peter I Island (Norway)
• Rockall
• Spratly Islands

If you are a Ham Radio operator, there are plenty of other locations that have been specifically added to Time Genie just for you and your fellow Ham Radio operators. To find more out of the way locations, simply navigate Time Genie by following the links or feel free to do a search for the location you are interested.

— Back To Top —

Complete Time Zone List:

To determine or to see which cities or locations are in the various time zones around the world, be sure to use Time Genie's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) page.

On this page you can select a time zone and see which city, town, village, island or location belongs to that time zone. The list of cities will change based on daylight saving time and standard time changes as well.

Time Genie's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) page is the most complete list for time zones on the Internet.

— Back To Top —

Complete Time Zone Abbreviations:

Are you curious as to what various time zone abbreviations stand for as well as what the time zone offset is for each location?

If so, visit Time Genie's time zone abbreviations page.

Another trick is this. When viewing the information for a city on Time Genie you will see the time zone abbreviation for that city next to the time. The time zone abbreviation is a hyperlink which will take you directly to the time zone abbreviations page allowing you to determine what it stands for.

Let's say, for example, you are viewing the current time for New York City. Next to the time, you will see a link for EST or EDT. When you click the link you will be taken exactly to the spot where these abbreviations are explained on the time zone abbeviation page.

When viewing the time zone abbreviation page you might notice the descriptions for the time zones in Indonesia are a little weird. It's not a mistake. This is the official description for time zones in Indonesia. It's just that it is written in the Indonesian language rather than English.

Waktu Indonesia Bagian Barat (WIB), Waktu Indonesia Bagian Tengah (WITA) and Waktu Indonesia Bagian Timur (WIT) basically mean central Indonesian time zone, western Indonesian time zone and eastern Indonesian time zone.

— Back To Top —

You can change these times by setting your preferences. Additionally, Your Clock allows you to compare the time for up to 14 different cities around the world.

City		Time	GMT±
Vancouver		9:20 PM — Sun, Sep 5	-7:00
Perth		12:20 PM — Mon, Sep 6	+8:00
Nairobi		7:20 AM — Mon, Sep 6	+3:00
Vladivostok		3:20 PM — Mon, Sep 6	+11:00
Reykjavík		4:20 AM — Mon, Sep 6	+0:00

— Back To Top —