World Time Zones

Browse all IANA time zones with current UTC offsets, DST status, and live local times.

Abbreviation(s) Display Name UTC Offset
HST Hawaii Standard Time (HST) -10:00
AKST, AKDT Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT) -08:00
PST, PDT Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) -07:00
MST Mountain Standard Time (Arizona) -07:00
MST, MDT Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) -06:00
CST, CDT Central Daylight Time (CDT) -05:00
EST, EDT Eastern Time (Canada) -05:00
COT Colombia Time (COT) -05:00
PET Peru Time (PET) -05:00
EST, EDT Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) -04:00
CLT, CLST Chile Standard Time (CLT) -04:00
BRT, BRST Brasilia Time (BRT) -03:00
ART Argentina Time (ART) -03:00
UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +00:00
WAT West Africa Time (WAT) +01:00
GMT, BST British Summer Time (BST) +01:00
CET, CEST Central European Time (Germany) +01:00
CAT Central Africa Time (CAT) +02:00
CET, CEST Central European Summer Time (CEST) +02:00
EET Eastern European Time (Egypt) +02:00
SAST South Africa Standard Time (SAST) +02:00
MSK Moscow Standard Time (MSK) +03:00
TRT Turkey Time (TRT) +03:00
EET, EEST Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) +03:00
EAT East Africa Time (EAT) +03:00
AST Arabia Standard Time (AST) +03:00
GST Gulf Standard Time (GST) +04:00
PKT Pakistan Standard Time (PKT) +05:00
IST India Standard Time (IST) +05:30
SLST Sri Lanka Standard Time (SLST) +05:30
BDT Bangladesh Time (BDT) +06:00
ICT Indochina Time (ICT) +07:00
WIB Western Indonesia Time (WIB) +07:00
HKT Hong Kong Time (HKT) +08:00
SGT Singapore Standard Time (SGT) +08:00
MYT Malaysia Time (MYT) +08:00
JST Japan Standard Time (JST) +09:00
KST Korea Standard Time (KST) +09:00
AEST, AEDT Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) +11:00
NZST, NZDT New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) +13:00

Understanding IANA Time Zone Names

IANA time zone names follow a Region/City format - For example, America/New_York, Europe/London, or Asia/Kolkata. The region is a broad geographic area such as a continent or ocean, and the city is a specific populated place chosen to represent the full set of historical time zone rules for that political jurisdiction.

Cities are used instead of countries for a deliberate reason: countries change. Nations merge, split, rename themselves, or adopt new zones - Sometimes overnight. If the IANA database used country names, every such change would break software worldwide. A city like Kolkata has existed continuously under different spellings (it was "Calcutta" in older entries; the database retains the old name as an alias). Using a stable city name means the identifier remains valid regardless of how political boundaries shift. The database currently contains over 590 distinct identifiers, many of which are aliases pointing to the same underlying rule set.

Not all regions use the continent/city pattern. UTC-based identifiers (Etc/UTC, Etc/GMT+5) follow a different convention inherited from POSIX systems. Note that POSIX reverses the sign: Etc/GMT+5 means UTC-5 in standard notation. This is a well-known historical quirk. Clock.now always displays the standard UTC offset notation (UTC-5, UTC+8, etc.) regardless of how the IANA identifier is internally signed.

UTC Offsets Explained

UTC offsets express how far a time zone is ahead of or behind Coordinated Universal Time. A positive offset means the local clock is ahead of UTC (east of the prime meridian); a negative offset means it is behind (west). Not all offsets are whole hours - Some jurisdictions use 30-minute or even 15-minute increments.

UTC Offset Example IANA Zone Region / Notes
UTC-12:00Etc/GMT+12Baker Island, Howland Island (uninhabited US territories)
UTC-11:00Pacific/Pago_PagoAmerican Samoa, Niue
UTC-10:00Pacific/HonoluluHawaii (no DST), Cook Islands
UTC-08:00America/Los_AngelesUS Pacific Time (PST/PDT with DST)
UTC-07:00America/DenverUS Mountain Time; Arizona stays UTC-7 year-round
UTC-06:00America/ChicagoUS Central Time, most of Mexico
UTC-05:00America/New_YorkUS Eastern Time, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador
UTC-03:30America/St_JohnsNewfoundland, Canada - Rare 30-minute offset
UTC-03:00America/Sao_PauloBrazil (most), Argentina, Uruguay
UTC+00:00Europe/LondonUK (GMT in winter, BST in summer); Ghana, Iceland always UTC+0
UTC+01:00Europe/ParisCentral European Time; most of Western and Central Europe
UTC+02:00Europe/HelsinkiEastern Europe, South Africa, Egypt
UTC+03:00Europe/MoscowRussia (Moscow), Saudi Arabia, Kenya
UTC+04:00Asia/DubaiUAE, Oman, Azerbaijan
UTC+05:30Asia/KolkataIndia - Single zone for 1.4 billion people, no DST
UTC+05:45Asia/KathmanduNepal - One of only three 15-minute offsets in use
UTC+08:00Asia/SingaporeSingapore, Hong Kong, China, Western Australia
UTC+09:00Asia/TokyoJapan, South Korea - No DST observed
UTC+09:30Australia/DarwinAustralian Central Standard Time - No DST in Northern Territory
UTC+10:00Australia/SydneyAEST (winter); shifts to UTC+11 AEDT in summer
UTC+12:00Pacific/AucklandNew Zealand (NZST); shifts to UTC+13 in NZDT
UTC+14:00Pacific/KiritimatiLine Islands, Kiribati - Furthest positive offset on Earth

Daylight Saving Time Overview

Regions That Observe DST

Approximately 70 countries adjust their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. The practice is most consistent in North America and Europe:

  • North America - US, Canada, and Mexico (most states/provinces) spring forward in March and fall back in November.
  • Europe - EU member states transition on the last Sunday of March (spring) and last Sunday of October (fall).
  • Southern Hemisphere - Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Paraguay observe DST in opposite months (October–April) since their seasons are reversed.

Regions Without DST

Most of Asia, Africa, and parts of South America keep a fixed UTC offset year-round. Major regions without DST include:

  • Japan - Abolished DST after World War II; JST (UTC+9) is permanent.
  • China - Uses CST (UTC+8) year-round nationwide since 1991.
  • India - IST (UTC+5:30) is fixed; DST was tried briefly but abandoned decades ago.
  • Most of Africa - Only Morocco and a few territories observe DST on the continent.
  • Russia - Abolished DST in 2014; clocks are now fixed at permanent "summer" offsets.

Common Time Zone Abbreviations

Abbreviations are informal shorthand and are not unique - EST, for example, is used by both the US Eastern time zone and Australian Eastern Standard Time, referring to completely different offsets. Always pair an abbreviation with a UTC offset to avoid ambiguity.

Abbreviation Full Name UTC Offset DST?
EST Eastern Standard Time (US) UTC−5 Winter only
EDT Eastern Daylight Time (US) UTC−4 Summer only
CST Central Standard Time (US) UTC−6 Winter only
CDT Central Daylight Time (US) UTC−5 Summer only
MST Mountain Standard Time (US) UTC−7 Winter only
MDT Mountain Daylight Time (US) UTC−6 Summer only
PST Pacific Standard Time (US) UTC−8 Winter only
PDT Pacific Daylight Time (US) UTC−7 Summer only
AKST Alaska Standard Time UTC−9 Winter only
AKDT Alaska Daylight Time UTC−8 Summer only
HST Hawaii Standard Time UTC−10 Never
GMT Greenwich Mean Time UTC+0 No
BST British Summer Time UTC+1 Summer only
CET Central European Time UTC+1 Winter only
CEST Central European Summer Time UTC+2 Summer only
EET Eastern European Time UTC+2 Winter only
EEST Eastern European Summer Time UTC+3 Summer only
MSK Moscow Standard Time UTC+3 Never
IST India Standard Time UTC+5:30 Never
PKT Pakistan Standard Time UTC+5 Never
BST Bangladesh Standard Time UTC+6 Never
ICT Indochina Time UTC+7 Never
CST China Standard Time UTC+8 Never
SGT Singapore Standard Time UTC+8 Never
HKT Hong Kong Time UTC+8 Never
JST Japan Standard Time UTC+9 Never
KST Korea Standard Time UTC+9 Never
AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time UTC+10 Winter (Apr–Oct)
AEDT Australian Eastern Daylight Time UTC+11 Summer (Oct–Apr)
NZST New Zealand Standard Time UTC+12 Winter (Apr–Sep)
NZDT New Zealand Daylight Time UTC+13 Summer (Sep–Apr)
WAT West Africa Time UTC+1 Never
CAT Central Africa Time UTC+2 Never
EAT East Africa Time UTC+3 Never
SAST South Africa Standard Time UTC+2 Never
ART Argentina Time UTC−3 Never
BRT Brasília Time UTC−3 Never
COT Colombia Time UTC−5 Never
PET Peru Time UTC−5 Never
CLT Chile Standard Time UTC−4 Winter (May–Aug)
GST Gulf Standard Time UTC+4 Never

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between UTC and GMT? +
In everyday use, UTC and GMT refer to the same zero-offset time standard and are often used interchangeably. The technical difference is that GMT is a time zone based on astronomical observations at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, while UTC is maintained by an ensemble of atomic clocks and is the internationally agreed civil time standard. UTC is occasionally adjusted by "leap seconds" to keep it within 0.9 seconds of astronomical time; GMT is not. For any practical scheduling purpose, UTC and GMT are equivalent.
Why does IANA use city names instead of country names? +
Country names change - Nations merge, split, rename, or are dissolved entirely. City names are more stable over long time spans. More importantly, a single country may have multiple historical rule sets depending on the city - Two cities in the same country that today share an offset may have had different offsets in 1950. The IANA database preserves that full history, and city-named identifiers allow the database to track each unique historical lineage. Aliases allow backward compatibility when cities are renamed (e.g., Asia/Calcutta remains a valid alias for Asia/Kolkata).
What exactly is Daylight Saving Time? +
Daylight Saving Time is the practice of advancing clocks by one hour during the warmer months so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer relative to the clock. Clocks "spring forward" (skip one hour) at the start of DST and "fall back" (repeat one hour) at the end. The transition happens at a specific local time - Typically 2:00 AM - On a set date defined by each jurisdiction. The IANA database encodes these transition rules precisely so that software can determine the correct local time for any date, past or future.
Which time zone is used for international aviation? +
International aviation uses UTC (referred to as "Zulu time" in aviation, abbreviated Z) for all communications, navigation, and flight planning. This universal standard prevents confusion when aircraft cross time zone boundaries mid-flight. A departure at 14:00Z and an arrival at 17:30Z will always be unambiguous regardless of the local time zones involved at either airport. Weather observations (METARs), flight plans, and ATC clearances all use UTC as the single shared reference.

Related Tools