UTC Offset by Country

What is UTC?

Universal Time Coordinated, abbreviated as UTC, is the base time for all civilian clocks in the modern world. UTC is obtained from International Atomic Time, a time standard calculated from a weighted average of the signals of about 70 atomic clocks located in different parts of the world.

What is a time zone?

To establish their official time, countries add or subtract minutes to UTC by taking into account political and economic reasons as well as their geographical position with respect to the Greenwich meridian. In other words, the local time of a country is a deviation from UTC. These UTC deviations, either positive or negative, are called time zones, and they are expressed in terms of hours (i.e. UTC-2, two hours less than UTC) and are usually assigned a name.

For example, according to Mexico's national metrology center and the law governing the time system, in Mexico the following time zones have been established:

• Tiempo del Sureste (UTC-5)
• Tiempo del Centro (UTC-6)
• Tiempo del Pacífico (UTC-7)
• Tiempo del Noroeste (UTC-8)

Similarly, section 260 of title 15 of the United States Code of Law establishes the following time zones:

• Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5)
• Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
• Mountain Standard Time (UTC-7)
• Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
• Alaska Standard Time (UTC-9)
• Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time (UTC-10)
• Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-4)
• Samoa Standard Time (UTC-11)
• Chamorro Standard Time(UTC+10)

Generally, those countries west of the Greenwich meridian establish their official time by substracting minutes to UTC, whereas those countries east of the Greenwich meridian set their official time by adding minutes from UTC. 15 degrees longitude east of the Greenwich meridian equals approximately +1 hour with respect to coordinated universal time (UTC+1). Similarly, 15 degrees longitude west of the Greenwich meridian equals -1 hour with respect to coordinated universal time (UTC-1). This is because the Earth rotates from west to east and, therefore, countries east of the meridian receive sunlight before western countries. It should be noted that this rule is not always applied and each country establishes its deviation from UTC in full freedom.

Daylight Saving Time

Daylight saving time consists in advancing the clocks one hour during the summer months so that more daylight is available during the evening. For example, Madrid, Spain uses Central European Time (UTC+1) most of the year. However, during the period between the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October, the Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) is used where the clocks are set one hour ahead. Like Madrid, other jurisdictions in the world implement daylight saving time with their own rules.

With the following table you can calculate the local time in the main cities of the world.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is often referred to as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The GMT time scale is no longer used, and the use of GMT to designate UTC is discouraged.

UTC date and time right now is: ??:??

Other Links

• Mass lectures for today November 21 2024: Biblical passages and readings (Psalm, Gospel) for the Catholic mass of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
• Time difference between United States and United Kingdom: Information about time zones and time difference between countries United States and United Kingdom. The time shown here apply Daylight Saving Time when required.
• United States Guinness Records: Check out a list of all United States guinness records and achievements.