UTC offset

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short descriptionTemplate:More citations neededScript error: No such module "Unsubst".

The UTC offset is the difference in hours and minutes between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and the standard time at a particular place.[1] This difference is expressed with respect to UTC and is generally shown in the format ±[hh]:[mm], ±[hh][mm], or ±[hh]. So if the time being described is two hours ahead of UTC (such as in Kigali, Rwanda [approximately 30° E]), the UTC offset would be "+02:00", "+0200", or simply "+02".

By convention, every inhabited place in the world has a UTC offset that is a multiple of 15 minutes but the majority of offsets are stated in whole hours. There are many cases where the national standard time uses a UTC offset that is not defined solely by longitude.Template:Efn

Time zones and time offsets

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

File:World Time Zones Map.png
World map of current time zones

A time zone is a geographical region in which residents observe the same standard time. Although nominally a new time zone is established every 15 degrees east or west of the prime meridian (meaning a one-hour change in the time), in practice local geographical or political considerations may vary its application. The most extreme example of this is time in China, which applies a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 (eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time), even though China spans five geographical time zones.

The UTC offset (or time offset) is an amount of time added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time to specify the time at a given location.

Daylight saving time

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Several regions of the world use daylight saving time (DST) and the UTC offset during this season is typically obtained by adding one hour to local standard time. Central European Time UTC+01:00 is replaced by Central European Summer Time UTC+02:00, and Pacific Standard Time UTC−08:00 is replaced by Pacific Daylight Time UTC−07:00.

Illustrative examples

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Script error: No such module "Hatnote".

Examples of the difference between local standard time and UTC
Location Longitude UTC offset When UTC time is 12:00,
local time is:
When local time is 12:00,
UTC time is:
Accra, Ghana 0° 12′ W UTC+00:00 12:00 12:00
Mogadishu, Somalia 45° 20′ E UTC+03:00 15:00 09:00
Dhaka, Bangladesh 90° 23′ E UTC+06:00 18:00 06:00
Koror, Palau 134° 29′ E UTC+09:00 21:00 03:00
Suva, Fiji 178° 27′ E UTC+12:00 00:00 00:00
Honolulu, United States 157° 51′ W UTC−10:00 02:00 22:00
Guatemala City, Guatemala 90° 32′ W UTC−06:00 06:00 18:00
Brasília, Brazil 47° 53′ W UTC−03:00 09:00 15:00

See also

  • ISO 8601 – international standard for representing dates and times.

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Time Topics Template:Time measurement and standards Template:Timezones


Template:Asbox

  1. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".