Version of the functionality "Checking the time and determining the time zone of the workstation" for the end user. Theory on the time zones of the Earth. Formation of administrative time zones. Time zone maps. This simple functionality will allow you to quickly determine whether the date and time value is set correctly on the user's workstation, as well as determine the time zone (time zone).

If you want to know your time zone, check the "yes" radio button and then click the "Start process" button.

The results obtained can be seen in the table below.

The process has begun ... Please wait ...

Geographic time zone - a conditional strip on the earth's surface exactly 15 ° wide (± 7.5 ° relative to the middle meridian). The Greenwich meridian is considered the middle meridian of the zero time zone.

Administrative time zone (time zone) - a section of the earth's surface on which there is a certain standard time.

Here we mean and use precisely administrative time zones, which can differ significantly from geographical ones.

The formation of administrative time zones (time zones, time zones, time zones) is associated with the goal of determining territories with approximately the same local time in such a way that the time differences between them are a multiple of one hour. The decision is reached that there should be 24 administrative time zones and each of them should roughly coincide with the geographic time zone. The starting point was the Greenwich meridian, (zero meridian, middle meridian) of the zero time zone.

Time is now set using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which was introduced to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The UTC scale is based on the Uniform Atomic Time Scale (TAI) and is more convenient for civilian use. Time zones around the globe are expressed as positive and negative offsets from UTC. (Negative offsets for time zones west of the prime meridian, positive offsets east.)

The modern system of time zones is based on coordinated universal time, on which the time of all time zones depends. In order not to enter local time for each degree (or each minute) of longitude, the Earth's surface is conventionally divided into 24 time zones. When moving from one time zone to another, the values ​​of minutes and seconds (time) are preserved, only the value of hours changes. There are some countries in which local time differs from world time not only by a whole number of hours, but by an additional 30 or 45 minutes. These time zones are not standard time zones.

Theoretically, the 24 time zones of the globe should be limited to meridians passing 7 ° 30 "east and west of the average meridian of each zone, and universal time operates around the Greenwich meridian. But in reality, to maintain a single time within the same administrative or natural unit of the belt boundary shifted relative to the meridians; in some places, some time zones even “disappear”, getting lost between neighboring ones.

At the North and South Poles, the meridians converge at one point, and therefore the concept of time zones, and at the same time local time, loses its meaning there.

From the moment the theory of the sphericity of the Earth and its rotation around the Sun and its own axis ceased to be disputed, it became clear that the entire surface of our planet cannot be illuminated by sunlight at the same time. The time of day changes on the earth's surface consistently and gradually (which, in fact, is a change in the time zone). Astronomical time depends on at what moment the Sun is at its zenith, and this does not happen at the same time at different points on the earth.

In the old days, there was no problem with the astronomical difference in time of day. In any locality of the world, the time was determined by the Sun: when it is at its highest point, it is noon. Initially, the main city clock was checked against this moment. Nobody thought about any time zone. And no one was particularly worried about the fact that between several fairly close cities, the difference in time could be 15 minutes.

However, under the influence of technological progress, times and life have changed. “Discord” eventually became a real headache, in particular for those who used rail transport. Since standard time zones did not yet exist, in order to exactly match the schedule, it was necessary to move the chronometer hand by 4 minutes with the intersection of each meridian. Yes, it's impossible to keep track of it!

Railway workers also faced an even more difficult problem - dispatch services could not really calculate the time the train was at a particular point of movement. And this already smelled not only of delays, but of collisions and train crashes.

The solution is found - the creation of time zones

The idea to put things in order with time synchronization first came up with the Englishman William Hyde Wollaston, better known for his discoveries in the field of metal chemistry. The solution was very simple - the chemist proposed to establish a single time zone throughout the UK - along the Greenwich meridian. The railroad immediately seized on this idea, already in 1840 they began to switch to a single "London" time. In 1852, they began to regularly transmit accurate time signals by telegraph.

However, the whole country switched to Greenwich Mean Time only in 1880, when the relevant law was issued.

The British idea was adopted almost immediately by the Americans. However, there was one catch - the territory of the United States is many times larger than the British Isles, and in the states it is simply impossible to introduce a single time zone throughout the country. Therefore, in 1883 the country was divided into 4 zones, in which the time differed by an hour from the neighboring one. So, in fact, the first four time zones appeared - Pacific, Eastern, Mountain and Central.

Despite the fact that the railroads were already using standard time, many cities refused to translate their clocks in accordance with the new decree. Detroit was the last to do so in 1916.

Even at the dawn of the time zone system, the "father" of the Canadian railways, Sanford Fleming, began to promote the theory that it was necessary to divide the entire planet into 24 time zones. The idea was rejected by politicians and even scientists out of the blue, it was considered a utopia.

However, already in 1884, at a special international conference in Washington, the division of the Earth into 24 belts did happen. However, it must be said that some countries voted against such a decision, in particular, the Russian representative, the head of the Struve Pulkovo Observatory. We joined the world time system only in 1919.

Time zones of Russia

The image below shows the current map of Russia's time zones:

Good day to all! Today I have prepared for you a material about what a time zone is. So let's find out...

The time zone is a line that is conditionally "drawn" on the earth's surface. Its width is exactly 15°.

Greenwich Meridian - this is the initial (zero) meridian, from which the longitudes on the Earth are counted.

It is conditionally "carried out" through the famous astronomical observatory in Greenwich - the urban district of Greater London.

Anywhere on Earth, local time will depend on its longitude. If you move from the prime meridian to the west, local time will lag behind universal time every 15 ° of longitude by 1 hour.

The multiplicity, which is equal to 15 °, is very simply explained: The sun "goes around" the Earth, describing a full circle (360 °), in 24 hours, that is, the angular velocity of the Sun (more details about the Sun) across the sky is 15 ° per hour.

For example, if the Greenwich meridian (longitude 0°) is 18 hours, then at 75° West the local time will be 13 hours, at 120° West it will be 10 am, and at 45° East it will be 21 hours.

The value of longitude for a point that is located west of Greenwich can be calculated by subtracting the value of local solar time, which is determined by astronomical observations, from the value of universal time, which is received from radio signals of exact time.

If you move from one time zone to another, the value of seconds and minutes (time) will be preserved, only the value of hours will change.

There are also areas where local time differs from universal time not only by a certain number of hours, but also by 30, 40 or 45 minutes extra. But such time zones are not standard time zones.

At the South and North Poles, the meridians converge at one point. In these places, any concept of time zones loses its meaning. It is traditionally accepted that the time at the poles corresponds to universal time.

All of Earth's time zones should theoretically be bounded by straight lines that run 7.5° east and west of the median meridian of each zone. But in fact, the boundaries of the belts very often shift relative to the generally accepted boundaries in order to maintain a single time of the same natural or administrative unit.

That's all for now, I hope you now understand what a time zone is. Subscribe to blog updates and be the first to know about fresh articles 😉

Time difference with the countries of the world, regions of Russia and Moscow.

Time is now set using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which was introduced to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The UTC scale is based on the Uniform Atomic Time Scale (TAI) and is more convenient for civilian use. around the globe are expressed as positive and negative offsets from UTC. It should be remembered that UTC time is not translated either in winter or in summer. Therefore, for those places where there is a daylight saving time, the offset relative to UTC changes.

Principles of demarcation
The modern system is based on universal coordinated time (universal time), on which the time of all depends. In order not to enter local time for each degree (or each minute) of longitude, the surface of the Earth is conventionally divided by 24. When switching from one to another, the values ​​of minutes and seconds (time) are preserved, only the value of hours changes. There are some countries in which local time differs from world time not only by a whole number of hours, but by an additional 30 or 45 minutes. True, such time zones are not standard.

Russia - 11 time zones;
Canada - 6 time zones;
USA - 6 time zones (including Hawaii, excluding island territories: American Samoa, Midway, Virgin Islands, etc.);
in the autonomous territory of Denmark - Greenland - 4 time zones;
Australia and Mexico - 3 time zones each;
Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo - 2 time zones each.
The territories of each of the remaining countries of the world are located in only one of any time zone.

Despite the fact that the territory of China is located in five theoretical periods, a single Chinese standard time applies throughout its territory.

The only administrative-territorial unit in the world, the territory of which is divided into more than two, is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which is a subject of the Russian Federation (3 time zones).

In the USA and Canada, the borders are very tortuous: there are often cases when they go through a state, province or territory, since territorial belonging to a particular belt is determined at the levels of administrative-territorial units of the second order.

UTC-12 - International Date Line
UTC-11 - Samoa
UTC-10 - Hawaii
UTC-9 - Alaska
UTC-8 - North American Pacific Time (US and Canada)
UTC-7 - Mountain time (USA and Canada), Mexico (Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlán)
UTC-6 - Central Time (USA and Canada), Central American Time, Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey)
UTC-5 - Eastern North American Time (USA and Canada), South American Pacific Time (Bogotá, Lima, Quito)
UTC-4:30 - Caracas
UTC-4 - Atlantic Time (Canada), South American Pacific Time, La Paz, Santiago)
UTC-3:30 - Newfoundland
UTC-3 - South American Eastern Time (Brazilia, Buenos Aires, Georgetown), Greenland
UTC-2 - Mid-Atlantic Time
UTC-1 - Azores, Cape Verde
UTC+0 - Western European Time (Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Casablanca, Monrovia)
UTC+1 - Central European Time (Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw, Ljubljana, Prague, Sarajevo, Skopje, Zagreb) West Central African Time
UTC+2 - Eastern European Time (Athens, Bucharest, Vilnius, Kiev, Chisinau, Minsk, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Helsinki, Kaliningrad), Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, South Africa
UTC+3 - Moscow Time, East African Time (Nairobi, Addis Ababa), Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UTC+3:30 - Tehran time
UTC+4 - Samara Time, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia
UTC+4:30 - Afghanistan
UTC+5 - Yekaterinburg Time, West Asian Time (Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent)
UTC+5:30 - India, Sri Lanka
UTC+5:45 - Nepal
UTC+6 - Novosibirsk, Omsk Time, Central Asian Time (Bangladesh, Kazakhstan)
UTC+6:30 - Myanmar
UTC+7 - Krasnoyarsk time, Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Jakarta, Hanoi)
UTC+8 - Irkutsk Time, Ulaanbaatar, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Western Australian Time (Perth)
UTC+9 - Yakut time, Korea, Japan
UTC+9:30 Central Australian Time (Adelaide, Darwin)
UTC+10 - Vladivostok Time, East Australian Time (Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney), Tasmania, Western Pacific Time (Guam, Port Moresby)
UTC+11 - Magadan Time, Central Pacific Time (Solomon Islands, New Caledonia)
UTC+12 - Kamchatka time, Marshall Islands, Fiji, New Zealand
UTC+13 - Tonga
UTC+14 - Line Islands (Kiribati)

Prior to the introduction of standard time, each city used its own local solar time, depending on geographic longitude. The standard time system was adopted at the end of the 19th century as an attempt to end the confusion caused by using its own solar time in any given locality. The need to introduce such a standard became extremely urgent with the development of the railway, if train schedules were drawn up according to the local time of each city, which caused not only inconvenience and confusion, but also frequent accidents. This was especially true for large areas connected by the railway system.

Before the invention of the railroad, traveling from one place to another took so much time. When traveling, time would only need to be adjusted by 1 minute every 12 miles. But with the advent of the railroad, which made it possible to cover hundreds of miles a day, timing became a serious problem.

Great Britain

Britain was the first country to decide on the establishment of one standard time throughout the country. The problem of inconsistency in local time was dealt with more by British Railways, which forced the government to unify time throughout the country. The idea was originally owned by Dr. William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) and was taken up by Abraham Follett Osler (1808-1903). The time was set to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and for a long time it was called "London time".

The first to use "London time" (1840) was the Great Western Railway. Others began to imitate it, and by 1847 most British railways were already using singular time. On September 22, 1847, the Railway Clearing House, which set standards for the entire industry, recommended that GMT be set at all stations with the permission of the General Postal Service. The transition took place on December 1, 1847.

On August 23, 1852, time signals were first transmitted by telegraph from the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Before 1855, the vast majority of public clocks in Britain were set to Greenwich Mean Time. But the process of official transition to a new time reference system was held back by British legislation, thanks to which local time remained officially accepted for many more years. This led, for example, to such oddities as, for example, polling stations opened at 08:13 and closed at 16:13. Officially, the transition to a new time in Britain nevertheless took place after the introduction of a legislative act on determining the time on August 2, 1880.

New Zealand

New Zealand was the first country to officially adopt standard time throughout the country (November 2, 1868). The country is located 172° 30" longitude east of Greenwich and its time was 11 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. This standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time.

North America

In America and Canada, standard time was also introduced on November 18, 1883 by the railroads. By then, timing was a local matter. Most cities used "solar time" and the standard by which the time was set was often some well-known clock in each locality (for example, clocks on church bell towers or in jewelry store windows.

The first person in the United States to feel the growing need for time standardization was the amateur astronomer William Lambert, who in early 1809 submitted a recommendation to Congress for the establishment of time meridians in the country. But this recommendation was rejected, as was Charles Dowd's original proposal, submitted in 1870, which proposed the installation of four, the first of which passed through Washington. In 1872, Dowd revised his proposal, changing the center of reference to Greenwich Mean Time. It was this last proposal of his, almost unchanged, that was used by the railroads of the United States of America and Canada eleven years later.

On November 18, 1883, the American and Canadian railroads changed the clocks at all railroad stations according to (forward or backward). The belts were named East, Central, Mountain and Pacific.

Despite the transition of major railroads in the United States and Canada to standard time, it was still many years before the latter became the norm in everyday life. But the use of standard time began to spread rapidly, given its obvious practical benefits for communication and travel.

Within a year, 85% of all North American cities (about 200) with a population of over 10,000 were already using standard time. Only Detroit and Michigan stood out noticeably.

Detroit lived on local time until 1900, when the City Council issued a decree requiring the clock to be set back twenty-eight minutes to Central Standard Time. Half the city complied, and half refused. After considerable debate, the decree was rescinded and the city returned to solar time. In 1905, Central Time was adopted by city vote. By a city ordinance in 1915, and then by a vote in 1916, Detroit switched to Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Throughout the United States, normal time was introduced with the passage of the Standard Time Act of 1918. The US Congress approved the standards set by the railroads earlier, and transferred responsibility for any subsequent changes to them to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and at that time the only federal body for regulating transportation. In 1966, the authority to pass legislation relating to the definition of time was transferred to the Department of Transportation created under Congress.

The existing borders in the United States today have been significantly changed compared to their original version, and such changes are still taking place. The Department of Transportation handles all change requests and conducts rulemaking. In general, the borders tend to move westward. For example, at the eastern end, sunset may be replaced by an hour later (hourly) by a transition to a time zone adjacent to the east. Thus, the boundaries of the time zone are locally shifted to the west. The reasons for this phenomenon are similar to the reasons for the introduction of "maternity" time in Russia (see Summer time). The accumulation of such changes leads to a long-term trend of movement of the boundaries of the belts to the west. This is not unstoppable, but is very undesirable, since it also entails a late sunrise in such areas, especially in winter. According to US law, the main factor in deciding whether to change the time zone is "facilitating business." According to this criterion, the proposed changes were both approved and rejected, but most of them were accepted.

When traveling around Russia and the world, you must remember that the time may change depending on where you are. Since basically local time is used everywhere, it is necessary to be able to determine it anywhere in the world. The modern system of time zones is based on the universal coordinated time UTC (universal time), on which the time of all time zones depends. The UTC scale was introduced in 1964 and is based on atomic clocks. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) always remains an independent reference for the whole world and from which, knowing the difference between your standard time, you can always calculate your local time.

The standard time system makes it easy to determine the standard time at any point. There is a certain relationship between standard time and time zones. The difference between the standard times of two points is equal to the difference between the numbers of the time zones. This ratio allows you to determine the time at a given point according to the known standard time of another point of time.

The time at a given point will be equal to the time of the point where it is known, plus or minus the difference in time zone numbers. The specified difference is added to the known standard time if the point whose time is being determined is located to the east of the point whose time is known, and if to the west, it is subtracted.

In Russia:

According to the federal law “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On the Calculation of Time””, adopted on July 1, 2014, from October 26, 2014, Moscow time corresponds to the third time zone in the national time scale of the Russian Federation UTC + 3. 11 time zones have been established, corresponding to the international numbering of time zones from the 2nd to the 12th inclusive.

1st time zone (MSK-1, Moscow time minus 1 hour, UTC + 2): Kaliningrad region;

2nd time zone (MSK, Moscow time, UTC + 3): Republic of Adygea (Adygea), Republic of Dagestan, Republic of Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Republic of Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic, Republic of Crimea, Republic of Mari El, Republic of Mordovia, Republic of North Ossetia - Alania, Republic of Tatarstan, Chechen Republic, Chuvash Republic - Chuvashia, Krasnodar Territory, Stavropol Territory, Arkhangelsk Region, Astrakhan Region, Belgorod Region, Bryansk Region, Vladimir Region, Volgograd Region, Vologda region, Voronezh region, Ivanovo region, Kaluga region, Kirov and Kostroma regions, Kursk region, Leningrad region, Lipetsk region, Moscow region, Murmansk region, Nizhny Novgorod region, Novgorod region, Oryol region, Penza region, Pskov region, Rostov region, Ryazan region, Saratov region, Smolensk region, Tambov region, Tver region , Tula region, Ulyanovsk region, Yaroslavl region, Nenets Autonomous Okrug; cities of federal significance - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol;

3rd time zone (MSK + 1, UTC + 4): Udmurt Republic, Samara region;

4th time zone (MSK + 2, UTC + 5): Republic of Bashkortostan, Perm Territory, Kurgan Region, Orenburg Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Tyumen Region, Chelyabinsk Region, Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs;

5th time zone (MSK + 3, UTC + 6): Republic of Altai, Altai Territory, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk regions;

6th time zone (MSK + 4, UTC + 7): Republic of Tyva, Resp. Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Kemerovo Region;

7th time zone (MSK + 5, UTC + 8): Republic of Buryatia, Trans-Baikal Territory, Irkutsk Region;

8th time zone (MSK + 6, UTC + 9): Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Aldansky, Amginsky, Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Verkhnevilyuisky, Vilyuisky, Gorny, Zhigansky national Evenki, Kobyaysky, Lensky, Megino-Kangalassky, Mirninsky, Namsky , Neryungrinsky, Nyurbinsky, Olekminsky, Oleneksky Evenk national, Suntarsky, Tattinsky, Tomponsky, Ust-Aldansky, Ust-Maysky, Khangalassky, Churapchinsky and Eveno-Bytantaysky districts), the city of Yakutsk, Amur Region;

9th time zone (MSK + 7, UTC + 10): Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Verkhoyansky, Oymyakonsky and Ust-Yansky districts), Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Magadan Region, Sakhalin Region (Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Anivsky, Dolinsky , Korsakovsky, Kurilsky, Makarovsky, Nevelsky, Nogliksky, Okhinsky, Poronaysky, Smirnykhovsky, Tomarinsky, Tymovsky, Uglegorsky, Kholmsky, Yuzhno-Kurilsky districts), the Jewish Autonomous Region, the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk;

10th time zone (MSK + 8, UTC + 11): Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Abyisky, Allaikhovsky, Verkhnekolymsky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky and Srednekolymsky regions), Sakhalin region (North Kuril region);

11th time zone (MSK + 9, UTC + 12): Kamchatka Territory, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

Precise time signals are transmitted by radio, television and the Internet in the UTC system.