How Many Time Zones Are There in the World? (Complete Answer)

There are 38 defined time zones in the world, ranging from UTC-12 (Baker Island, an uninhabited US territory in the Pacific) to UTC+14 (Kiritimati, an island in Kiribati). Most countries use one or two time zones, but the total count is much higher than 24 because some regions use offsets of 30 or 45 minutes.

The theoretical maximum is 24 hourly time zones (one per hour of Earth rotation). But real-world time zones do not follow neat longitude lines. Political boundaries, geographic features, and economic considerations have created irregular shapes and non-standard offsets.

The widest time difference between any two inhabited places on Earth is 26 hours. When it is midnight Monday in Baker Island (UTC-12), it is 2:00 AM Wednesday on Kiritimati (UTC+14). That means the two locations are on different calendar days despite being only about 2,000 kilometers apart.

If every time zone were exactly one hour wide, there would be exactly 24 zones. But several countries use half-hour offsets: India (UTC+5:30), Iran (UTC+3:30), Myanmar (UTC+6:30), Afghanistan (UTC+4:30), and Newfoundland in Canada (UTC-3:30).

Nepal uses a 45-minute offset (UTC+5:45), making it the only country with a quarter-hour offset. The Chatham Islands of New Zealand also use a 45-minute offset (UTC+12:45 in summer, UTC+11:45 in winter).

These non-standard offsets exist because the standard one-hour boundaries do not always fit a country well. India spans about 30 degrees of longitude, and UTC+5:30 provides a better fit for the solar time experienced across the country than either UTC+5 or UTC+6.

France holds the record with 12 time zones, including its overseas territories scattered across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. France itself is on one time zone (CET), but French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, and others each add their own zone.

Russia spans 11 time zones, from UTC+2 (Kaliningrad) to UTC+12 (Kamchatka). This makes Russia the country with the most time zones in a single contiguous landmass. When it is midnight in Moscow, it is already 7:00 AM the next day in Kamchatka.

The United States has 9 official time zones (6 for the 50 states plus 3 for territories). The contiguous US has 4 standard time zones, plus Alaska, Hawaii, and territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa.

Australia has 5 time zones during DST and 3 during standard time, due to the mix of states that observe DST and those that do not.

Half-hour time zones are more common than you might think. India (UTC+5:30), Sri Lanka (UTC+5:30), Iran (UTC+3:30), Afghanistan (UTC+4:30), Myanmar (UTC+6:30), and Newfoundland (UTC-3:30) all use 30-minute offsets.

Nepal (UTC+5:45) is the only country with a 45-minute offset. This makes Nepal one of the trickiest time zones to convert to. When it is 12:00 PM in London (GMT), it is 5:45 PM in Kathmandu.

These offsets are not arbitrary. They reflect the actual solar time experienced in those regions. A country near the boundary of two standard time zones may choose a half-hour offset as a compromise.

The International Date Line runs roughly along the 180-degree meridian in the Pacific Ocean. Crossing it from west to east moves you back one day. Crossing from east to west moves you forward one day.

The line is not straight. It zigzags to keep entire countries on the same date. Kiribati moved part of its territory east of the date line in 1995 so all its islands would share the same date. This created the UTC+14 zone, the farthest ahead of UTC anywhere on Earth.

The date line matters for scheduling because some city pairs are separated by both a time difference and a date difference. When it is Monday morning in Los Angeles, it is already Tuesday evening in Tokyo.

Most of Asia, Africa, and South America do not observe daylight saving time. China, Japan, India, South Korea, and most of Southeast Asia stay on the same offset all year. Most of Africa stays on standard time.

This means the effective number of time zones can change depending on the time of year. During DST season, there are more active offsets because some regions shift forward by one hour. During winter, the number contracts.

For a complete list of countries that skip DST, see our guide on countries that don't observe daylight saving time.

• Use city names instead of ambiguous timezone abbreviations.
• Repeat the selected time on booking confirmation pages.
• Check daylight saving changes before publishing event times.

The world has 38 defined time zones, not 24. Half-hour and quarter-hour offsets, political decisions, and the International Date Line all add complexity beyond the simple one-zone-per-hour model.

For everyday use, you do not need to memorize all 38 zones. You need to know the offset for the cities you work with, and you need to check whether either city is observing daylight saving time. A time zone converter handles the details automatically.