Home » World Atlas » World Time Zone Map

World Time Zone Map

Comments 25 Comments
World Time Zones Map
Download

You are free to use our World Time Zone Map for educational and commercial uses. Attribution is required. How to attribute?

Time Zones Explained

World Time Zone Map Globe

We have 24 different time zones in the world. Because the Earth rotates 360° every 24 hours, each time zone is 15° longitude apart from the other. (360÷24=15)

The Prime Meridian (Greenwich Meridian) defines the center of the first time zone in the world. This means the Prime Meridian time zone spans from 7.5°W to 7.5°E. Then, the next time to the east spans 7.5°E to 22.5°E.

Gaining and losing time

When you move to the right, you gain time (fast time). In other words, for every time zone that you move toward the right, you add one hour. But when you head toward the left, you lose an hour (slow time).

You can find any time by counting how many degrees of longitude it is away from Greenwich. For example, it would be 4 pm at 60°E longitude when it’s noon at the Prime Meridian. Whereas it would be 8 am at 60°W longitude.

International Date Line

The International Date Line is a north-south line in the Pacific Ocean where you turn your calendar back or ahead one day. The center of the time zone roughly follows 180° longitude without crossing any landmass.

When you cross the International Date Line moving toward the east, you turn your calendar back one day. Whereas when you go from the west across the International Date Line, you turn your calendar ahead one day.

Irregular Time Zone Boundaries

No time zone in the world runs a perfect north-south line. Instead, they are jagged and adapt to the political boundaries of countries. Also, there can be “irregular square” time zones similar to islands.

For example, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador contains its own time zone with the same name which is UTC -3:30. But the province mostly observes Atlantic Standard Time (AST). Other examples include Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Australia with unusual time zones.

List of Time Zones and Abbreviations

Time zones can have names to help easily identify them. For example, this United States time zone map shows the six designated time zones including Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii-Aleutian time zones.

Here is a list of time zones and abbreviations that are in use today:

NameDescriptionRelative to GMT
GMTGreenwich Mean TimeGMT
UTCUniversal Coordinated TimeGMT
ECTEuropean Central TimeGMT+1:00
EETEastern European TimeGMT+2:00
ART(Arabic) Egypt Standard TimeGMT+2:00
EATEastern African TimeGMT+3:00
METMiddle East TimeGMT+3:30
NETNear East TimeGMT+4:00
PLTPakistan Lahore TimeGMT+5:00
ISTIndia Standard TimeGMT+5:30
BSTBangladesh Standard TimeGMT+6:00
VSTVietnam Standard TimeGMT+7:00
CTTChina Taiwan TimeGMT+8:00
JSTJapan Standard TimeGMT+9:00
ACTAustralia Central TimeGMT+9:30
AETAustralia Eastern TimeGMT+10:00
SSTSolomon Standard TimeGMT+11:00
NSTNew Zealand Standard TimeGMT+12:00
MITMidway Islands TimeGMT-11:00
HSTHawaii Standard TimeGMT-10:00
ASTAlaska Standard TimeGMT-9:00
PSTPacific Standard TimeGMT-8:00
PNTPhoenix Standard TimeGMT-7:00
MSTMountain Standard TimeGMT-7:00
CSTCentral Standard TimeGMT-6:00
ESTEastern Standard TimeGMT-5:00
IETIndiana Eastern Standard TimeGMT-5:00
PRTPuerto Rico and US Virgin Islands TimeGMT-4:00
CNTCanada Newfoundland TimeGMT-3:30
AGTArgentina Standard TimeGMT-3:00
BETBrazil Eastern TimeGMT-3:00
CATCentral African TimeGMT-1:00

25 Comments

  1. So theres 4 main timezones in the USA. one being on the far left side of which is PST/UTC – 8:00. then its mountain time, MST/UTC – 7.00. then central time, CST/UTC – 6.00. then the last main timezone is eastern time, EST/UTC – 5.00

    Reply

  2. Our geography teacher told me that there are only twenty four world time zones but I am seen more than twenty four. Why?

    Reply

    1. I think that you’re teacher might be simplifying things (and that’s OK). But the main reason there are more than 24 time zones is because there can be local regions that choose to offset their time zone based on their specific needs. One example is the Newfoundland Time Zone. If you check on the east coast of Canada, you’ll see UTC−03:30. A lot of these islands used to be governed differently… and that’s why these time zones exist.

      Reply

  6. @Kimuli As the article states, we have six of the timezones on this list. It’s a huge country.

    Reply

  8. Thank you. You’re very kind to make this map as we’re having daylight savings time every day during summer. Kind regards, HBE2

    Reply

  10. The International Date Line is absolutely NOT a vertical north-south line. Look at it on any map that is up to date. There are portions of the International Date Line that run due east-west, and you change your calendar by moving either north or south there. This page’s content is very idealized. Remember, time-zones are NOT physical features of the Earth’s geography. They are made by laws and laws only. There were no time-zones before humans evolved.

    Reply

  15. This doesn’t really help with my middle school assignment, I want to know actually how to convert coordinates, not locations into the time zones.

    Reply

  18. I really appreciate and enjoy every bit of these features. Please may I know the country where the geographical south pole zone is located?

    Reply

  21. Thanks very much, it will really help me as I teach my junior high school students. Hope to visit here for more insight

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *