Esoterics      04.02.2020

Time zone gmt. GMT - what is this time? How to calculate time from Greenwich. Time of satellite navigation systems

Instruction

Determine the offset of your time zone from the Greenwich meridian. You can find it out, for example, from the system time settings in your operating system. Click the clock in the notification area of ​​the taskbar with the left mouse button, and an additional panel with a calendar and analog clock will pop up on the screen. At the bottom of it is a link "Change date and time settings" - click on it. The system will open an additional settings window with three tabs, one of which is "Date" and has a "Time zone" section. In this section, you will see the shift of your local time relative to the Greenwich meridian - the corresponding inscription may be, for example, this: "UTC +04:00 Volgograd, Moscow, St. Petersburg." This is that your operating system's system clock is four hours ahead of the zero time zone.

Subtract the time offset set for your time zone from the current time in order to determine the corresponding GMT time. For example, if your clock shows 26 minutes past 9 am, and the time zone corresponds to Moscow time, then this shift is four hours, which means you are now 26 minutes past five in GMT.

Use online services to determine Greenwich Mean Time if you have Internet access. This is an even easier way. For example, you can follow the link http://time100.ru/gmt.html and you will see the current GMT time immediately, without additional calculations.

Use the built-in functions of the programming language if you need to determine the GMT programmatically - they are provided in most scripting languages. More often, such functions refer to UTC time, and this is reflected in their names. For example, in PHP these are the functions gmdate and gmmktime, in JavaScript - a whole group of functions (getUTCDate, getUTCDay, getUTCMilliseconds and others), in MQL5 - TimeGMT, etc.

Sources:

  • GMT

Due to the fact that the size of our planet is huge, in the same period of time, in different points Earth - its local solar time. And in order to avoid confusion in clarifying the question: “So what time is it?”, A standard time system was adopted. And the Earth was conditionally divided into 24 time zones. The zero meridian was taken as a starting point, from which time zones +1, +2, +3, etc. go to the east, and -1, -2, -3, etc. go to the west. So, thanks to the system of time zones, it is now quite simple to determine what you are looking for.

You will need

  • - computer
  • - map of time zones
  • - world map showing degrees of longitude

Instruction

Turn on and click on the clock indicator in the lower right corner of the screen. Now, in the window that opens, click on the "Change date and time settings" function. And, already in the new window, select the "Change time zone" function. You will see a long list of cities that belong to them. Of course, only the capitals are listed here and there are no small towns. So, if you want to know the time zone of a small city, just find the capital of its country in this list, because, usually, one time zone operates within one country.

Use an ordinary map of the world, which shows in detail the average meridians: 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, etc. The fact is that one time zone takes approximately 15 °, but not clearly from 0 ° to 15 °, from 15 ° to 30 °, from 30 ° to 45 °, etc., but with an offset that is equal to - 7 °30. And, in order to determine the boundaries, for example, of the UTC + 1 time zone, it is necessary to draw lines to the right and left of the middle meridian of 15 ° east longitude at a distance of 7 ° 30 ". In order to determine the time zone of the place that is located, for example, in the region of 60° west longitude, it is necessary to calculate its position in relation to the prime meridian: 15° - one, 30° - two, 45° - three, 60° - 4. So 60° west longitude is the time zone UTC-1 .

Use the detailed map of time zones. Such a map is the easiest and most reliable way to determine the time zone of a particular point on the globe. Since here, not only the boundaries of each of the 24 time zones are indicated, but there is also a note - whether the country switches to summer time. It looks, for example, like this: +1 (+2), and means that the country belongs to the UTC + 1 time zone, but in the summer, it belongs to the UTC + 2 time zone. Of course, do not forget to take into account that in different hemispheres summer and winter in different time. Another big plus of such a map is the ability to determine whether different time zones operate on its territory, as in Russia, or, despite the large territory, only one zone is accepted, as in China.

note

Despite the generally accepted system of time zones, in reality, in order to maintain a single time within one country or administrative unit, the boundaries of the zones are shifting, so in some places some time zones are crowded out by neighboring ones.

Helpful advice

When determining the time zone, keep in mind that in some countries, local time differs from universal time not only by a standard hour, but also by an additional 30 or 45 minutes.

When trying to find out what time it is in another region and in another country, you will most likely come across the concept of "time zone". But often it is denoted by a special abbreviation GMT. Where did she come from, and what does she mean?

GMT is English phrase Greenwich Mean Time, which is like "Greenwich Mean Time". The mean time is understood as the astronomical time of the meridian, on which the Greenwich Observatory was previously located. This place is considered a "reference point" for all time zones. The Greenwich Royal Observatory has become a reference point for a reason. It appeared in the 17th century in Greenwich (England). There were important calculations for navigators, including those relating to time. When Great Britain became the largest empire, the GMT time calculation spread to dependent states, and at the end of the 19th century, almost the whole world adopted this reporting system. In 1884, even a special international conference was held to determine the "reference meridian". Time in other countries was determined by the distance from the Greenwich meridian, that is, from the time zone where Great Britain was located. In the seventies, the time reference system was replaced by a more accurate one - by calculating UTC, which is slightly different from the time on the Greenwich meridian. Nevertheless, the abbreviation GMT is still often used as a tribute to tradition. What do the numbers before the abbreviation GMT mean? This is the time difference between the Greenwich Observatory and another selected area. For example, if you are in the GMT + 3 time zone, for example, in Moscow, then the time difference with the reference meridian is three hours, while in Moscow the time is later. The minus sign in front of the number means that the time must be counted in the opposite direction: when it is 11 hours in London, then in the region with GMT-2 it is still 9. But at the same time, one should not forget that not all countries have a clock change to winter time. In 2011, it was also canceled in Russia. In this case, the GMT indicator will change depending on the season.

The appearance of the time zones of our planet was due to the banal convenience of communication and the separation of different countries and cities in accordance with real time days. Scientists have divided the entire surface of the Earth into 24 time zones, while taking into account a gap of 15 degrees of longitude. The same time is considered to be within the same time zone.

Instruction

The decision to calculate time zones was made at the International Conference in 1884. The meridian passing through the Greenwich Observatory near London began to be considered a year as a time reference point. It was this observatory that became the unifying link. Initially, it was built by order of King Charles II for sailors.

In 24 hours, the Earth completes a revolution. Therefore, in different parts of the world, clocks show different times. For ease of reference, the entire territory of the Earth was divided into time zones. Their borders were to be determined by meridians and separated from each other by 15 degrees. But such a division is inconvenient for many states. Therefore, small countries consider local time according to the capital. And in large states, several time zones had to be allocated. But all the same, the main calculations, for example, the time of railway and air flights, are carried out according to capital time. In Russia, this landmark is Moscow. The time zone of other cities is counted from it.

History of time zones

Until the 19th century there was no question of temporal confusion. Each state lived according to its own local time, and travel over long distances was rare. But with the advent of railway communication, a problem arose in scheduling trains. Therefore, at the International Congress in the 80s of the 19th century, it was decided to divide the territory of the Earth into time zones. The countdown began to lead from - Greenwich - to the east. The difference between them is one hour. Therefore, there were 24 belts in total. But until recently, all the issues related to this have not yet been resolved, and there is a lot of confusion in the timing.

How is the division into time zones

Theoretically, time zones run along the meridians and are 15 degrees apart from each other. But in practice they are often displaced, it happens that they even disappear. This is due to the division of the territory into states. And many countries, regardless of the belts, introduce capital time. Therefore, the division into belts is now often conditional. But even in states occupying a large territory, not only local time is important, but also metropolitan time. For example, in Russia, the countdown comes from the city, its belt is second from Greenwich. But all Russian cities consider time not from him, but from Moscow.

Introduction to Russia

Only in 1919 in Russia was introduced international system time zones. The territory of the country was divided into 11 zones. But not always their border runs along the meridians. For example, Moscow is considered the starting point in Russia. Her time zone from Greenwich was taken as UTC+2. UTC is the worldwide designation of the world. But since the city is located on the border of the belts, summer time was introduced, and the difference became UTC + 3, which was more in line with natural rhythms.

What is the time zone in Moscow now

Several times in the history of the country there have been changes in the division into time zones. In the 1930s, it was canceled and the UTC + 3 zone was preserved in Moscow. It was believed that this was the most appropriate division, because in many countries, if the city lies on the border of the belts, it is attributed to the east. But from 1981 to 2011, summer time was again introduced in Russia. Moscow has become 4 hours ahead of Greenwich in the summer. And after the cancellation of the annual translation of the arrows, the capital remained in the UTC + 4 time zone. And now we live 2 hours ahead of the time taken when dividing the country into time zones.

Time zones in Russia now

In 2010, the division into belts was changed in the country. And now Russia is located in 9 time zones. The Middle Volga and Chukchi-Kamchatka belts have completely disappeared. Udmurtia and Samara switched to Moscow time, and Chukotka and Kamchatka - in Magadan. The difference between the zones is one hour. To calculate local time, you need to know what time zone you are in. How are time zones calculated relative to Moscow?

Their countdown comes from Kaliningrad. This is the first time zone. The difference with Moscow time is 1 hour. After all, this city is located west of Moscow. All European Russia lives according to the time of the capital. It differs from Greenwich by 4 hours. In our country, this is the second time zone. It is the most populous. The next zone is the third, but the difference with Moscow is not 1, but 2 hours. It includes the Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk regions, the Khanty-Mansiysk district, the Republic of Bashkortostan and some other administrative units.

The remaining time zones differ from each other by one hour. Not always their borders are connected with the international division into time zones. For example, the fourth zone is accepted only in Altai and in several neighboring regions, and the fifth - in Tyva, Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Most often, the division into zones depends on the borders of the republics and regions, but there are exceptions. For example, Yakutia lies in three belts, and Sakhalin region- in two. The most distant regions of Russia differ in time from Moscow by 8 hours. Time in them is calculated from Moscow according to the time zone formula - MSK + 8. The plus sign means that the zone is located to the east, and the minus sign means that it is located to the west of Moscow.

Due to constants and confusion with time zones, Moscow time does not coincide with astronomical time. But all the same, its countdown in the country is from the city of Moscow. You need to know its time zone in order to correctly set the time on the clock when moving to another region.

time, which in Russian meteorological terminology sounds like Greenwich Mean or Geographic Time, which got its name from the meridian passing through the Royal Observatory located in Greenwich

Definition of GMT time, the history of its appearance and brief information about the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and the prime meridian, general characteristics, meaning and methods for determining GMT time, GMT time zones with an explanation of why they are called that, familiarization with the international standard ISO 8601 time format and time scale

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GMT is, definition

GMT is greenwich mean solar time, which in English sounds like Greenwich Mean Time, it is also called the astronomical time of the zero meridian passing through the Greenwich Royal Observatory in London, until 1972, Greenwich time was considered a single reference point for time zones, now this reference point is Coordinated Universal Time or UTC (Universal Time Coordinated).

GMT time on timezone map

GMT is astronomical (or mean solar) time of the meridian passing through the Greenwich Royal Observatory (in English Royal Greenwich Observatory) in London (which is zero although it is located at 51 ° 28' 40 "north latitude and 0 ° 0' 5.31" east longitude ). Now such a reference point is the universal time coordinated (in English, Universal Time Coordinated, or UTC). Often (in Russian meteorological terminology) Greenwich Mean Time is translated as SGV, which means "Greenwich Mean (or geographical) time."

GMT is an abbreviation of the English phrase Greenwich Mean Time, which translates as "Greenwich Mean Time".


GMT is Greenwich Mean Time, the time of the meridian passing through the former location of the Greenwich Royal Observatory near London (GMT is valid in the UK, Ireland, Portugal).


GMT is mean solar time of the meridian passing through the former site of the Greenwich Royal Observatory near London.


GMT is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is in the same time zone as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).


GMT what is this obsolete Greenwich Mean Time, replaced by Coordinated Universal Time - UTC.


GMT is time determined by astronomical observations diurnal movement stars. It is unstable (within a second per year) and depends on the constant change in the speed of the Earth's rotation, the movement of the geographic poles on its surface and the nutation of the planet's axis of rotation. Greenwich (astronomical) time is close in value to UTC (atomic time), and for the time being will be used as its synonym.


GMT what is this Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is equal to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to the nearest second - GMT=UTC. The name UTC, over time, will completely replace the term "Greenwich Time".


GMT is the time of the meridian passing through the former location of the Greenwich Royal Observatory near London. Previously, GMT was considered a time reference point - time in other time zones was measured from Greenwich Mean Time. Today, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is used in this capacity.


GMT, what is it - is it time, which is used as a designation of time on weather charts. Synonyms for GMT are GMT and UTC.


GMT, where is this the time that was used as a time reference in other time zones prior to the introduction of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).


The history of the emergence of geographic time GMT

In 1675, Charles II commissioned "to establish the exact location of objects in latitude and longitude for the needs of navigation and astronomy." The task was mainly intended for the scientist John Flamsteed, the building for his work was built in Greenwich by the famous Christopher Wren. Flamsteed House - the main building of the Royal Observatory - the first building that was built in the UK for scientific research.



The royal astronomer did it simply - he fixed the position of the zero meridian where he worked. And over the next two centuries, most navigators in the world compiled their maps based on the countdown from the Greenwich meridian.


However, before late XVIII centuries, no one knew exactly how to measure longitude - the distance east or west of a given meridian. People were able to calculate latitude (distance south or north of the equator) from the position polar star, but no such system existed for longitude.


In 1754, the British government promised a £20,000 reward to anyone who could find a solution. As a result, watchmaker John Harrison received the award - in 1772 he designed a clock that could accurately measure the time on board the ship and allowed the navigator to determine the position of the ship to the east or west to an accuracy of 30 miles (48 km).



"Greenwich Mean Time" was adopted as the standard in 1884. According to the international treaty, it was established that "each new day begins exactly at midnight when the celestial meridian passes through the sighting axes of the telescope of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich."


The conference was held in Washington in 1884 - in a vote in which 25 countries took part, it was decided that Greenwich Mean Time is the standard for measuring time around the world. Voting results - 22 for, 1 against and 2 abstentions. Dominican Republic - the only country who voted against. The representatives of France and Brazil were not sure of the correctness of the decision and decided to abstain. France took Paris as the prime meridian and used this in its time measurement system until 1911, and in its navigation system until 1914. Representatives of Brazil believed that a neutral prime meridian that did not cross either the US or the UK would be preferable. The poor Brazilians returned home to the disapproving exclamations of the rest of the representatives: “Someone had to show off.”


At the same time, the International Meridional Conference in Washington, decided that Greenwich was assigned a zero degree of longitude. The decision was based on the fact that such a choice would cause inconvenience to the least number of people.


In 1833, John Pond, Astronomer Royal, installed a "time ball" over the observatory to help other people set their clocks accurately to Greenwich Mean Time. This ball continues to drop sharply every day at exactly 13:00 (GMT in winter, BST in summer).


Until 1954, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was based on time measurements taken at the Greenwich Observatory. Later, GMT began to be calculated from astronomical observations from other observatories that remained active. Now GMT is often referred to as "Universal Time" (eng. Universal Time, UT). UTC is now calculated from observations of extragalactic radio sources, and then converted into several forms, including UT0 (UT at a remote observatory), UT1 (UT corrected for polar motion) and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).


In 1894, the observatory survived an attempted bombing. This may have been the first case of "international terrorism" in Britain. The bomb was set off by a 26-year-old French anarchist named Martial Bourdin. It is not known whether he purposefully chose the Greenwich Observatory to carry out the attack, or whether the bomb detonated there by accident. This incident prompted Joseph Conrad to write The Secret Agent.


However, even before the convening of the Washington Conference, some countries had switched to new system. Below we will look at how the standard time system gradually penetrated various countries, and at first it was mainly used only on railways and telegraphs, but soon received legal rights and began to be applied everywhere.


First four countries to adopt GMT (1848-1883)

The first, even before the convening of the Washington Conference in 1884, four countries switched to the new Greenwich time system - Great Britain, Sweden, the USA and Canada:

Great Britain - 1848;

Sweden - 1879;

Canada and USA - 1883.

Changeover to Greenwich Mean Time in different parts of the world (1994-1905)

By 1905, among the leading countries of the world that did not accept the new system were France, Portugal, Holland, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Ireland, and most of the countries of Central and South America, excluding Chile.


Thirty-six states have already introduced standard time, and in twenty of them the Greenwich meridian served as the basis for timing; of the remaining sixteen, only two countries did not agree to switch to this system. France, together with Algeria, at first did not recognize this system and used Parisian mean time as the state time (according to the law of March 14, 1891). In all other countries - since the time on the railways there was already universally counted in the new system - a transition to standard time was carried out. In December 1891, Pasquier wrote in Ciel et Terre that “the almost unanimous agreement of civilized states about the Greenwich meridian should help to cause the adherents of other meridians to lay down their arms; and from now on, all efforts should be directed to the implementation of watch unification, simple, rational and practical.


France's transition to GMT time (1996-1911)

On October 27, 1896, Deputy Deville introduced a bill in the Chamber of Deputies proposing the establishment of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in France. This bill, with some amendment - maternity time should be expressed in Parisian average time, reduced by 9 minutes 21 seconds (which in general corresponded to Greenwich Mean Time, which, however, was not mentioned) - passed on February 24, 1898 through the Senate, after which was sent to the parliamentary commission, where he stayed for twelve long years. The Ministries of Trade, Industry, Posts and Telegraphs, and Public Works seemed to be ready to pass this bill, but it provoked vigorous objections from the Ministry. public education And navy.


Finally, on March 9, 1911 (radio had already become a reality then), a law was passed in France, according to which, starting from the night of March 10-11, Parisian average time with a delay of 9 minutes 21 s should be considered "declarative time in France and Algeria" . This law was in force until August 9, 1978, when a decree was adopted requiring French standard time to be determined on the basis of coordinated universal time (UTC - Coordinated Universal Time, which, by definition, cannot differ from GMT by more than 0.9 s) by adding to it or subtracting from it the exact number of hours

Countries that were the last to adopt the GMT system (1912-1972)

As for other countries, Portugal switched to a time system based on the Greenwich meridian in 1912; Brazil and Colombia - in 1914; Greece, Ireland, Poland and Türkiye - in 1916; RSFSR - in 1919; Argentina and Uruguay - in 1920.


Holland, on whose railways Greenwich time was established as early as 1892, until 1909 used Amsterdam mean time instead of local time for all other purposes; it was forced to switch to Central European Time on May 19, 1940 during the period of German occupation; its application was finally approved in 1956. The last state to adopt the new system was Liberia, where, until January 1972, maternity time was 44 minutes 30 seconds behind Greenwich Mean Time.


Royal Observatory Greenwich and the Greenwich meridian

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is Britain's oldest scientific institution. Greenwich is the east district of London (formerly a suburb). Thanks to the work of the observatory, the word "Greenwich" has become a household word all over the world, associated with hours and the zero meridian.


Now the Royal Observatory is a whole complex of small museums. First of all, this is an astronomical gallery with interactive devices designed to make the sky understandable for mankind. In 1990, astronomers and telescopes moved to Cambridge, and at the end of 1998, by special decree of the Queen, the observatory was closed altogether.


British astronomers have long used the Royal Observatory as a baseline for measurements: four different meridians were drawn through the building. The zero meridian - the origin of longitude - was established in 1851 and adopted at an international conference in 1884. It passed through the meridian circle of George Airy installed at the observatory. For a long time, the zero meridian was marked with a brass ribbon stretched across the courtyard of the observatory. Then the brass was replaced with stainless steel, and since December 16, 1993, the zero meridian has been marked in the night sky of London green beam bright laser from the observatory pointing due north.


Currently, the buildings of the Greenwich Observatory house a museum of astronomical and navigational instruments, which is part of the National Maritime Museum. ).


There you can also see a few more exhibits representing the history of the development of means for measuring the exact time needed in astronomy and in marine navigation. The astronomical clock, invented in the middle of the 20th century, is also presented. Soviet scientist F. M. Fedchenko - the most accurate among the mass-produced pendulum clocks. And outside, on the wall at the gates of the observatory, another famous clock is installed - the Shepherd gate clock. This is one of the first electric driven clocks.


Another unique exhibit of this museum is Howard Grubb's 28-inch refractor telescope, created in 1893 and remains the largest refractor in the UK.


In February 2005, work began on the reconstruction of the observatory, including the creation of a new planetarium, exhibition galleries and classrooms, at a cost of £15 million. On May 25, 2007, the 120-seat Peter Harrison Planetarium was officially opened.


In May 2013, a monument to Yuri Gagarin was opened on the territory of the observatory.


The main "tourist attraction" of Greenwich is, of course, the Greenwich meridian, which can be seen here! It runs in a strip across the cobbled courtyard and under the wall. This is the zero meridian that separates the Eastern and Western hemispheres, from which the time zones are counted.


General characteristic of Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or, as it is also called, universal time(UT) is associated with the motion of the Sun, which is recorded by an observer on the Greenwich meridian with a longitude of 0°. This time is used in the UK as local standard time during the winter months. In the summer months, British summer time is introduced, which is obtained by increasing GMT by one hour, which achieves a more convenient coincidence of the working day with daylight hours. Many other countries have also adopted a similar system for changing clocks.


The time we use Everyday life, is called mean solar time. It is based on the average length of a solar day. The true length of a solar day varies throughout the year; this is due to the uneven motion of the Earth around the Sun and the fact that the length of the solar day is determined by the change in the right ascension of the Sun, counted along the equator, and the Sun moves along the ecliptic.


The correction that must be added to mean solar time to get true solar time is called the equation of time. Mean solar time at this point is called local time; it varies with longitude.


To avoid difficulties with the use of local time, the entire globe was divided into 24 time zones, and within each time zone a single standard time was established corresponding to the position of the central meridian of this zone.


Universal Time (UT)

In astronomical reference books and calendars, as well as when making observations, universal time (Universal Time, UT) is used, or, as it is also called, Greenwich Mean Time is the mean solar time of the zero meridian, which is taken as the meridian passing through the Greenwich Observatory in England.


It varies from 0 h to 24 h and is counted from midnight. Since universal time is the same for all points on the Earth, its use eliminates any confusion about time. Every real observatory (and every self-respecting observer) has a clock showing universal time.


There are tables that allow you to change from normal local time to universal time. Sidereal, or sidereal, time is another time reference system based on the length of sidereal days of time between two successive passages of a star through the same meridian point.


The sidereal day is about 3 min 56 s shorter than the mean solar day. The sidereal day, beginning at the moment of the upper climax of the vernal equinox, like the solar day, is divided into 24 sidereal hours. Local sidereal time is determined by the right ascension of the celestial meridian (the hourly angle of the vernal equinox.


To determine the local sidereal time, you can use a clock that "hurries" by about 4 minutes every day. Unlike electric watches, ordinary mechanical watches are easy to adjust for these purposes. Most yearbooks indicate sidereal Greenwich Mean Time, i.e. midnight GMT (0000 UT).


The difference between local and universal time is equal to the longitude of the given place of observation, expressed in hours; longitude also determines with sufficient accuracy the difference between sidereal time and sidereal time according to Greenwich Mean Time. The time zones into which the Earth's surface is divided can be used to calculate Universal Time (UT) from local (winter) time.


Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Mean Time is astronomical (the time of the meridian passing through the Greenwich Royal Observatory (in English Royal Greenwich Observatory) in London (which is zero although it is located at 51 ° 28′ 40 ″ north latitude and 0 ° 0′ 5.31 ″ east longitude). Now such a point reference is universal time coordinated (in English Universal Time Coordinated, or UTC).Often (in Russian meteorological terminology) Greenwich Mean Time is translated as GMT, which means "Greenwich Mean (or geographical) time".


In 1964 International Union Telecommunications has adopted as a standard uniformly variable universal time scale UTC. The UTC scale is based on the Uniform Atomic Time Scale (French Temps Atomique International or TAI), which makes it more convenient to use in everyday life.


UTC was adopted as the standard in 1972 to replace the obsolete Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) scale. The need for a new time scale arose when it was found that the GMT scale is uneven, since it depends on fluctuations in the daily rotation of the Earth. And since the Earth rotates unevenly, the Greenwich meridian also rotates unevenly. The uneven rotation of our planet is expressed in the movement of the axis of rotation in the body of the Earth itself, as a result of which the North and South Pole and they move along the surface, which means that the planes of the true meridians also change their position.


Previously, GMT was considered the reference point of world time, that is, time in other time zones was counted from the Greenwich (zero) time zone. Now the time zones of the world are expressed simply as a positive or negative offset from UTC. Do not forget that UTC time is not translated either in summer or in winter. Therefore, where there is a transition to daylight saving time, when the arrows are translated, the offset relative to UTC is simply changed.


Greenwich meridian (zero meridian) is geographic meridian passing through the axis of the transit instrument of the Greenwich Observatory. The Greenwich meridian serves as the starting point for geographical longitudes; is the middle meridian of the zero time zone. Local mean solar time on the Greenwich meridian is widely used in astronomy (to synchronize universal time).

GMT value

The basis of the modern system of time zones is (universal time), on which the time of all time zones depends.

Local time in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere (but not in all) increases by 1 hour in summer (in the Southern Hemisphere it decreases by 1 hour at the same time), and returns to normal standard time in winter, which often also changes. Due to these seasonal and non-seasonal changes in local time in radio broadcasting, international transport, radio communications, e-mail and other international means of communication, there is a huge confusion about the docking of time between different countries.


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. However, in reality, to maintain a single time, within the same administrative or natural unit , the boundaries of the zones are 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. It is believed that the time at the poles corresponds to universal time, although at Amundsen-Scott station (South Pole) New Zealand time is valid, and not universal time at all. world time– UTC/GMT – Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is equal to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to the nearest second - GMT=UTC. The name UTC, over time, will completely replace the term "Greenwich Time".


Initial (zero) meridian - Greenwich meridian with geographic longitude equal to 0 ° 00 "00", divides the globe into the western and eastern hemispheres. Passes through the former Greenwich Observatory (in the suburbs of London).


GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) - "Greenwich Mean Time" - on the meridian of Greenwich. It is determined by astronomical observations of the daily movement of stars. It is unstable (within a second per year) and depends on the constant change in the speed of the Earth's rotation, the movement of the geographic poles on its surface and the nutation of the planet's axis of rotation. Greenwich (astronomical) time is close in value to UTC (atomic time), and for the time being will be used as its synonym. Also called "Zulu Time"


Since 1900, the mean solar day has increased by 0.002 atomic seconds, and therefore Greenwich Mean Time diverges from international atomic time by about 1 second every 500 days.


Taking into account this progressive phase shift between the two time scales, and without abandoning the high accuracy offered by atomic clocks, a compromise was reached in 1972 that led to the definition of the concept of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is now used as the official measure of time in the world. . In essence, UTC time runs like international atomic time, and when the difference with Greenwich time reaches 1 second, 1 second is added to the UTC time scale, which is called jumping (leap second).


Thus, the difference is always kept below 0.9 sec. The addition of the jump second is reported by the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS), which continuously monitors the rate of rotation. best dates for adding jumping seconds are June 30th and December 31st. By the way, the term UTC is also a compromise between the English CUT (Coordinated Universal Time) and the French TUC (Temps Universel Coordlnaire).


Precise time signals are transmitted by radio, television, the Internet - in the UTC system. In Russian-language meteorology, GMT is referred to as GMT (Greenwich Mean or Geographic / Time).

Switching to summer and winter time GMT

Additional ambiguity is introduced by the use of "summer time" in many countries.


During the transition to daylight saving time, there is a shift of its time relative to the universal time. In addition, not everywhere the transition to daylight saving time and vice versa is carried out simultaneously. For example, when it is summer in the countries of the Southern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and vice versa.


The so-called summer time was the brainchild of William Willett, a London builder. In a pamphlet sent in 1907 to many members of parliament, municipalities, businessmen and various organizations, he noted: “For almost half a year, the Sun illuminates the Earth every day during those hours when we are still sleeping, and quickly approaches the horizon, way west when we get home after labor day... ". Willett suggested that “for the sake of health and cheerfulness” on each of the four Sundays in April, gradually move the hands of the clock forward by 20 minutes and return them in the same way in September.


But, in addition to improving health and cheerfulness, this would, Willett argued, lead to a reduction in the use of electricity: at a cost of 0.1 pennies an hour, this would save 2.5 million pounds. Art. Although Willett's scheme looked ridiculous and met with considerable resistance, especially from farmers, nevertheless, in 1909, a bill was drawn up to introduce summer time, which was repeatedly considered in Parliament, but was not passed before the war.

Daylight savings time pros and cons

In April 1916, summer time was introduced (in order to save energy) in Great Britain, and a week later - in almost all countries, both allied and enemy. Willett died a year earlier, never having seen his ideas come to fruition. Many states immediately after the end of the war abandoned summer time, others repeatedly introduced this time, then abandoned it, and some countries maintained such a time shift throughout the year. During the Second World War, England lived according to "summer time" in the winter, and introduced "double summer time" (DBST, two hours ahead of GMT) in the summer.


Daylight Saving Time (one hour ahead) and Winter Time (one hour backward) is carried out on the last Sunday of March and October, respectively. This rule is valid in Russia (until March 2011), the European Union, the USA and others.

Daylight Savings Time, Time Zone Shortening

78 countries use DST in one form or another (of which 10 countries do not use it in all regions), and 161 do not. In the northern hemisphere, summer time is used almost everywhere in the USA, Canada, Mexico (except for a number of states and provinces), completely in all European countries, except Iceland, Russia and Belarus, as well as in Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine. In the southern hemisphere, summer time is used in Australia (in a number of states), New Zealand, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil (in a number of states), Chile, Namibia.


Japan, China, India, Singapore, as well as the republics refused to introduce summer time former USSR: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and most of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan retained "maternity leave". Russia has abandoned the transfer of arrows since the fall of 2011, having adopted the law "On the calculation of time." Belarus soon followed Russia.


However, not all of the Americas observe daylight saving time.

DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the state of Arizona (except for the Navaja Indian Reservation, which observes it). Due to its large size and tri-state location, the Navaja Indian Reservation observes Daylight Saving Time.


In the period 1968-1971. England tried to experiment by maintaining daylight saving time (called British Standard Time - BST) all year round to align its time with that of other countries in the European Economic Community. This innovation caused general discontent in the country, especially the population of the most western regions of Great Britain objected to it. The experiment had to be stopped, and since 1972 Britain has been living on GMT in winter and BST in summer. Most other countries are now doing the same as France - keeping daylight saving time all year round.


UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) - universal coordinated time, sometimes referred to as "Zulu time", the basis of civil time, based on an atomic time reference. UTC is a legacy of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and is sometimes erroneously referred to as GMT as well. Please note that UTC time is not translated in winter and summer. Therefore, for those places where there is a daylight saving time, the offset relative to UTC changes.


Daylight saving time in Russia

Until 1930 in our country every year on summer period the clock hands were moved forward an hour, and in the fall they were again set in accordance with standard time. By a government decree of June 16, 1930, summer time was established throughout the country, which, in contrast to standard time, received the name maternity time. On April 1, 1981, for economic reasons, the principle of moving the time forward one hour in the summer was restored. Thus, during the summer period, our country lived according to double summer time.

Cancellation of the transition to winter time in Russia

In 2015, there will be no daylight saving time in the Russian Federation. In October 2014, Russia moved the clock back an hour and switched to constant winter time. More precisely, this time is called not winter, but zone. Note that the rest of the countries switched their clocks to summer time already in March 2014 (on the night of the 30th).

Daylight saving time - transition features

Disagreements between legal and geographical criteria for GMT time

Since legal, political, socio-economic criteria in addition to physical or geographic criteria are used in the time zone drawing, actual time zones do not exactly follow meridian lines.


The "GMT" time zone, drawn in purely geographical terms, would consist of the area between the meridians 7°30"W and 7°30"E. As a result, there are European locales that despite being in an area with "physical" UTC time use a different time zone (UTC+1 in particular); on the other hand, there are European areas that use UTC, even though their "physical" time zone is UTC−1 (for example, most of Portugal), or UTC−2 (the most West Side Iceland). Because the UTC time zone in Europe is "moved" to the west, Lowestoft in Suffolk, East Anglia, England at only 1°45"E is the easternmost setting in Europe in which UTC is applied.


Countries (or parts of it) west of 22°30"W ("physical" UTC−2) then use UTC

The westernmost part of Iceland, including the northwestern peninsula and its main city Isafger Ur, which is west of 22°30"W, uses UTC. Bjargtangar, Iceland is the westernmost point at which UTC is applied.


Most of Portugal including Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Aveiro and Coimbra. (Only the easternmost part, including cities such as Bragança and Guarda, lies east of 7°30"W.) Since the Treaty of Windsor in 1386 (the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world), Portugal has maintained a close relationship with Britain, which may explains her choice of UTC.Madeira, further west, also uses UTC.A more likely explanation is that during the mid-1970s, when Portugal was on CET all year round, it didn't start to get easy in Lisbon in the winter until 08:30.


Western part of Ireland, including the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway. Westernmost tip Northern Ireland, including the county seat of County Fermanagh, Enniskillen, the extreme western part of the Outer Hebrides, west of Scotland; for example, Vatersay, an inhabited island and the westernmost settlement in Great Britain, is at 7°54"W. If uninhabited islands or rocks - taking into account St Kilda, west of the Outer Hebrides, at 8°58"W, and Rockall, at 13°41"W, should be included.


Spain (excluding the Canary Islands, which use UTC). Parts of Galicia lie west of 7°30"W ("physical" UTC−1), while there is no Spanish territory east of 7°30"E ("physical" UTC+1). The time of Spain is a direct result of Franco's Presidential Order (published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado of March 8, 1940) the abandonment of Greenwich Mean Time and advancing clocks one hour effective 11:00 pm on March 16, 1940. This is an excellent example of the political criteria used in the drawing of time zones: the change of time was transferred "taking into account the convenience from the national time, walking in step according to that of other European countries".


How to determine Greenwich Mean Time?

The time of the time zone in which the Greenwich Royal Observatory was once located near the British capital was taken as the zero point of reference for time zones. Greenwich Mean Time is abbreviated as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Now there is a revised standard, which is designated as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). It differs from Greenwich Mean Time by less than one second and is used more often in precise calculations, and Greenwich Mean Time is still relevant when determining the time of day at different points on the planet.


You can find out the GMT time, for example, from the system time settings in the operating system of your computer. Click the clock in the notification area of ​​the taskbar with the left mouse button, and an additional panel with a calendar and analog clock will pop up on the screen. At the bottom of it is a link "Change date and time settings" - click on it. The system will open an additional settings window with three tabs, one of which is called "Date and time" and has a section "Time zone". In this section, you will see the shift of your local time relative to the Greenwich meridian - the corresponding inscription may be, for example, this: "UTC +04:00 Volgograd, Moscow, St. Petersburg." This means that your operating system's system clock is four hours ahead of the zero time zone.


Subtract the time offset set for your time zone from the current time in order to determine the corresponding GMT time. For example, if your clock shows 26 minutes past 9 am, and the time zone corresponds to Moscow time, then this shift is four hours, which means you are now 26 minutes past five in GMT.


Use online services to determine Greenwich Mean Time if you have Internet access. This is an even easier way.


Use the built-in functions of the programming language if you need to determine the GMT programmatically - they are provided in most scripting languages. More often, such functions refer to UTC time, and this is reflected in their names. For example, in PHP, these are the gmdate and gmmktime functions.


In JavaScript - a whole group of functions (getUTCDate, getUTCDay, getUTCMilliseconds and others), in MQL5 - TimeGMT, etc.


Why is the timezone called GMT?

When trying to find out what time it is in another region and in another country, you will most likely come across the concept of "time zone". But often it is denoted by a special abbreviation GMT. Where did she come from, and what does she mean?

How can I find out the time zone of my region?

GMT is an abbreviation of the English phrase Greenwich Mean Time, which translates as "Greenwich Mean Time". The mean time is understood as the astronomical time of the meridian, on which the building of the Greenwich Observatory was previously located. This place is considered the "reference point" for all time zones.

Greenwich Mean Time

Time in other countries was determined by distance from the Greenwich meridian, that is, from the time zone where Great Britain was located. In the seventies, the world time reference system was replaced by a more accurate one - by calculating the universal coordinated time, which is somewhat different from the time on the Greenwich meridian. However, the abbreviation GMT is still often used as a tribute to tradition.


What do the numbers in front of the abbreviation GMT mean? This is the time difference between the Greenwich Observatory and another selected area. For example, if you are in the GMT + 3 time zone, for example, in Moscow, then the time difference with the reference meridian is three hours, while in Moscow the time is later.


Moscow time = GMT 3

The minus sign in front of the number means that the time must be counted in the opposite direction: when it is 11 o'clock in London, then in the region with GMT-2 it is 9 more. time. In this case, the GMT indicator will change depending on the season.


Several countries define their local time in relation to Greenwich Mean Time. Some examples:

United Kingdom - Interpretation Act 1978, section 9 provides that whenever the expression of time occurs in the law, the time referred to shall (unless otherwise specifically stated) be deemed to be Greenwich Mean Time. In subsection 23(3), the same rule applies to deeds and other instruments;


Belgium - Decrees 1946 and 1947 establish legal time as one hour ahead of GMT;


Republic of Ireland - Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971, section 1, and Interpretation Act 2005, section 18(i);


Canada: Interpretation Act, R.S.C. 1985, p. I-21, section 35(1).


Time zones of cities and countries of the world according to Greenwich Mean Time (UTC / GMT)

The time zone or time zone is part of the surface of the earth (land and sea) on which the same time acts. Geographically, the earth is divided into 24 equal zones, where the time differs by 1 hour on neighboring zones. However, actual time zones differ from geographical boundaries, because they are determined by the boundaries between states, state or administrative territories.


The time zone described in relation to the global time coordinator (GMT). The main time zone reference point is the Main Meridian (0° longitude) passing through the Greenwich Observatory in London. As a result, GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is still used instead of the generally accepted UTC designation.


The international system UTC (World Time; it is designated UTC / GMT or, which is the same - UTC), as well as the difference between local and Moscow time - MSK is used. The plus sign means - to the east, "minus" - to the west of the starting point.


For greater convenience (so as not to enter local time for each degree of longitude), the Earth's surface was conditionally divided into 24 time zones. The boundaries of time zones are not determined by meridians, but by administrative units (states, cities, regions). This is also done for convenience. When moving from one time zone to another, the values ​​​​of minutes and seconds (time) are usually preserved, only in some countries, local time differs from world time by 30 or 45 minutes. The reference point (zero meridian or belt) is taken by the Greenwich Observatory in the suburbs of London.


At the North and South Poles, the meridians converge at one point, so time zones are usually not followed there. Time at the poles is usually equated with universal time, although at the polar stations it is sometimes kept in its own way.


Standard time boundaries are drawn taking into account physical and geographical features - along large rivers, watersheds, as well as along interstate and administrative borders. States can change these boundaries within the country,


The formation of time zones is associated with the desire, on the one hand, to take into account the rotation of the Earth around its axis, and on the other hand, to determine territories with approximately the same local time so that the time differences between time zones are a multiple of one hour. As a result, the decision was reached that there should be 24 time zones and each of them should cover an area of ​​approximately 15° in width (± 7.5° relative to the corresponding middle meridian). The starting point was the Greenwich meridian, the zero meridian, the middle meridian of the zero time zone.


The basis of the modern system of time zones is the universal coordinated time (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. True, such 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. However, in reality, in order 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.

Time zones of the world and their numbers

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. It is believed that the time at the poles corresponds to universal time, although at Amundsen-Scott station (South Pole) New Zealand time is valid, and not universal time at all. The territories of nine countries of the world are located in several time zones at once:

Russia has 11 time zones;


Canada 6 time zones;


The USA also has 6 time zones (including Hawaii, excluding island territories: American Samoa, Midway, Virgin Islands, etc.);


On the autonomous territory of Denmark - Greenland 4 time zones;


Australia and Mexico each have 3 time zones;


Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo each have 2 time zones.


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 time zones, a single Chinese standard time applies throughout its territory.


The only administrative-territorial unit in the world whose territory is divided into more than two time zones is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which is a subject of the Russian Federation (3 time zones). In the United States and Canada, the boundaries of time zones are very tortuous: there are often cases when they go through a state, province or territory, since territorial belonging to a particular zone is determined at the level of second-order administrative-territorial units.


Time zone of Samoa

Samoa time zone: UTC/GMT-11- SST is Samoa Standard Time.


Time zone in the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii has its own time zone, Hawaiian Standard Time. There is no Daylight Savings Time, which means Hawaii is two hours behind US West Coast time in the summer and three hours behind the US West Coast in the winter. in Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands - the Hawaiian-Aleutian time zone (UTC-10, HAST designation).


Alaska time zone

Alaskan Time: 9 hours behind GMT (GMT - 09:00), i.e. GMT -9


US Pacific Time

Pacific Standard Time is 1:00 PM or minus 8 hours GMT - GMT - 8. This zone includes the following states such as (California (California); Nevada (Nevada), Oregon (Oregon), Washington (Washington State));


Mountain time USA

Mountain Standard Time is 2:00 PM or minus 7 hours GMT - GMT - 7. This zone includes such states as (Arizona; Colorado; Idaho, Montana, Nebraska) (part of state), New Mexico, Oregon (part of state), South Dakota (western part), Texas (part of state), Utah, Wyoming ));


US Central Time

Central Time Zone (Central Standard Time) is 3:00 PM or minus 6 hours GMT - GMT - 6 This zone includes such states as (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana) ( part of the state), Iowa (Iowa), Kansas (Kansas), Kentucky (Kentucky) (western part of the state), Louisiana (Louisiana), Michigan (Michigan) (part of the state), Minnesota (Minnesota), Mississippi (Mississippi), Missouri ( Missouri), Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota (eastern part of the state), Tennessee (Tennessee) (western part of the state), Texas (Texas (main part of the state ), Wisconsin (Wisconsin));


US Eastern Time

Eastern Time Zone (Eastern Standard Time) - 4:00 PM or minus 5 hours from Greenwich Mean Time - GMT - 5. This zone includes such states as (Connecticut), Columbia (District of Columbia), Delaware (Delaware), Florida (Main State), Georgia (Georgia), Indiana (Indiana) (Main State), Kentucky (Eastern State) Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (Michigan) (main part of the state), New Hampshire (New Hampshire), New Jersey(New Jersey), New York (New York), North Carolina (North Carolina), Ohio (Ohio), Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania), Rhode Island (Rhode Island), South Carolina(South Carolina), Tennessee (Tennessee) (eastern part of the state), Vermont (Vermont), Virginia (Virginia), West Virginia (West Virginia));


South American Pacific Time

IN South America this time zone is called EST - South American Pacific Time (Eastern Standard Time), which is - GMT - 5 for Bogotá, Lima, Quito;


Atlantic Standard Time

Atlantic Standard Time, in the summer - North American Eastern Time and all year round - Eastern Caribbean Time - GMT - 4;


South American Eastern Time

Most of Brazil is in the same time zone (Eastern South American Time) as the country's capital, Brasilia. Winter time in Brasilia, everyone Federal District, all states of the Southeast, South and Northeast regions, as well as in the states of Goias, Tocantins, Para and Amapa corresponds to the time zone GMT -3;


Time zone in Greenland

The territory of Greenland is divided into four time zones. Capital and majority major cities south coast lie in the time zone GMT / UTC -3, and the time here is 6 hours behind Moscow.


mid-atlantic time

Mid-Atlantic time, - UTC / GMT-2, on the map of world time zones:

Blue - Brazilian time (southern and metropolitan) in the UTC / GMT-2 zone in the summer (November-March) in the Southern Hemisphere (in winter (April-October) - UTC / GMT-3);

Blue - UTC / GMT-2 zone in the oceans;

Bright yellow - the Atlantic islands of Brazil and the Antarctic islands of Great Britain - the UTC / GMT-2 zone all year round;

Orange - UTC / GMT2 zone in summer (April-October) in the Northern Hemisphere;



Azores Standard Time

AZOST - Azores Standard Time - corresponds to GMT -1;


Greenwich Mean Time is on the Greenwich meridian. Determined by astronomical observations of the daily movement of stars - GMT +00, it corresponds to Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Casablanca, Monrovia;


CET

Central European Time (English Central European Time, CET) is one of the names of the UTC + 1 time zone. Some European and North African countries use this time. Most of them also use Central European Summer Time (CEST) UTC+2 as summer time. In a narrower sense, Central European time refers to the time system in those countries and territories of Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Stockholm), Belgrade, Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw, Ljubljana, Prague , Sarajevo, Skopje, Zagreb),


EET

Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the UTC+2 time zone names. This time is used by some European, North African and Middle Eastern countries. Most of them also use Eastern European Summer Time UTC+3 (Eastern European Summer Time, EEST) as daylight saving time. In a narrower sense, Eastern European time refers to the time system in those countries of Eastern Europe(Athens, Bucharest, Vilnius, Kiev, Chisinau, Minsk, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Helsinki, Kaliningrad), Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, South Africa;


Moscow time

Moscow time (MSK) is the time of the time zone in which the capital of the Russian Federation, the city of Moscow, is located (according to the definition in the Federal Law "On the Calculation of Time"). Operates in most regions of the European part of Russia. From October 26, 2014 corresponds to UTC + 3, from March 27, 2011 to October 25, 2014 corresponds to UTC + 4.


Samara time

Samara time (SAMT) is the unofficial name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Samara is located - the administrative center of the Samara region. Samara time differs by +4 hours from UTC (UTC+4) and +1 hour from Moscow time (MSK+1). This is the official time in the Samara region and in Udmurtia.

GMT +4 - Samara time.


Also GMT +4 operates on the territory of the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia;



Yekaterinburg time

Yekaterinburg time (Russia Time Zone 4, RTZ 4, YEKT, sometimes Ural time) is the informal name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Yekaterinburg is located - the administrative center of the Sverdlovsk region.

The time zone is MSK + 2 (currently - GMT +5, until 2014 - GMT + 6, until 2011: in winter - GMT + 5, in summer - GMT + 6). This is the official time in Bashkortostan, Perm Krai, Kurgan, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions, Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs.


Also GMT +5 is distributed for regions with West Asian time (Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent);

Omsk time

Omsk time (OMST) is the unofficial name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Omsk is located - the administrative center of the Omsk region. Omsk time is 6 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+6) and 3 hours ahead of Moscow time (MSK+3). This is the official time in the Omsk region and in most regions Western Siberia(for 2014). Sometimes Omsk time is called "Novosibirsk".


Also GMT +6 applies to Bangladesh, Kazakhstan), Sri Lanka;



Krasnoyarsk time

Krasnoyarsk time (KRAT) is the informal name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Krasnoyarsk is located - the administrative center of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Krasnoyarsk time differs by +7 hours from UTC (UTC+7) and +4 hours from Moscow time (MSK+4). This is the official time in four Siberian regions of Russia: in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Kemerovo Region, Khakassia and Tuva.


GMT +7 operates in Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Jakarta, Hanoi);


Irkutsk time

Irkutsk time (IRKT) is the unofficial name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Irkutsk is located - the administrative center of the Irkutsk region. Irkutsk time differs from Moscow time by +5 hours (MSK+5). Currently, it corresponds to the GMT + 8 time zone, until October 26, 2014 it corresponded to GMT + 9, until March 27, 2011 it corresponded to GMT + 8 in winter, and GMT + 9 in summer. This is the official time in three East Siberian regions of Russia: the Irkutsk region, Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory. Transbaikal region switched to Irkutsk time on October 26, 2014. Prior to this, the region lived according to the Yakut time.


In addition, the same time (GMT + 8) is common in China, Xianggang (Hong Kong), Aomyn (Macau), central and eastern Mongolia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Western Australia (Perth), the central part of Indonesia (east of Kalimantan, Sulawesi and etc.), Singapore, Brunei;





Yakut time

Yakut time (YAKT) is the unofficial name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Yakutsk is located - the capital of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Yakut time differs by +9 hours from GMT (GMT +9) and +6 hours from Moscow time (MSK+6). This is the official time in the Amur region and in the western and central parts of Yakutia, including Yakutsk.


In addition, the same time (GMT + 9) is used year-round in Korea (DPRK and the Republic of Korea), Japan, eastern Indonesia (West Papua), East Timor and Palau;



Vladivostok time

Vladivostok time (VLAT) is the informal name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Vladivostok is located - the administrative center of Primorsky Krai.

Vladivostok time differs by +10 hours from GMT (GMT+10) and +7 hours from Moscow time (MSK+7). This time is in a number of East Siberian and Far Eastern regions of Russia: in the mid-northern and mid-eastern parts of Yakutia, in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, in the Jewish Autonomous Region in the Magadan and Sakhalin Regions (on Sakhalin Island and the southern part Kuril Islands[). There is no seasonal clock change.


In addition, the same time GMT +10 applies to Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney), Tasmania, Western Pacific Time (Guam, Port Moresby);


Middle Kolyma time

Middle Kolyma time (SRET) is the unofficial name of the local time of the time zone in which the city of Srednekolymsk is located - the administrative center of the Srednekolymsky ulus of the Republic of Sakha. Srednekolyma time differs by +11 hours from GMT (GMT+11) and +8 hours from Moscow time (MSK+8). This is the official time in the northeastern part of Yakutia and in the north of the Kuril Islands. Until October 26, 2014, GMT + 11 time (during the period of summer time and "permanent summer time" of 2011-2014 - GMT + 12) was called Magadan time, as it operated on the territory of the Magadan region. In 2010-2014, it also operated on the territory of the Kamchatka Territory and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, it was the easternmost time zone in Russia.


Also, this time zone extends to the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia;


Time zone of Wellington

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, the second most populous city in the country, the largest capital among the countries of Oceania and the southernmost capital in the world. The city is located in the Wellington region in the southern part of the North Island. The Maori name for Wellington is Te Fanawi-a-Tara. City area: 290 km². Wellington population: 431,400 (2007) Coordinates: 41°17′20″ S sh. 174°46′38″ E e. Time zone: GMT +12.


Time zones of Russia according to Greenwich Mean Time

The territory of our country is very large and therefore there are nine time zones in Russia. Each of us has heard the expression that when Muscovites wake up, Far East are already going to sleep. This happens because these two cities are located in different parts of the country and live in different time zones with a maximum difference.

Time zones of Russia

Moscow time is considered the main one - in Moscow, the departure of trains from stations in all cities is announced, according to Moscow time, television announcers inform us about the demonstration of films. All other regions must calculate the difference between Moscow and local time on their own.


There are a huge number of time zone maps, they are compiled for the convenience of people. Looking at such a map, you can clearly see in which time zone you live and what is the difference between your local time and, for example, Moscow. Therefore, there is no need to keep in mind information about the time zones of Russia or another country. You can open the desired page of the site at any time and find out all the information that interests us.


Russia was not among those states that adopted the division into time zones in 1884. The astronomer Otto Struve representing our country at the World Meridian Conference, reporting on the meeting, negatively assessed the project of dividing into belts. And in Russia everything remained the same, solar time was decisive. The tsarist government did not dare to change anything in this matter. However, the revolution of 1917 changed not only the state Russian society, but also the effective time. A few months after the October coup, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree, which approved the belt division - for the reference of time, which is uniform with the entire civilized world, which should greatly simplify relations between peoples, registration of events and phenomena in time. The country was first divided into 11 time zones, their borders were drawn almost everywhere along the meridians.

Moscow time zone (in winter): +3 (GMT + 3:00).

Moscow time zone (summer time): +4 (GMT + 4:00)

On the territory of Russia, since March 28, 2010 - 9 time zones (before that there were 11 time zones). From March 21 to March 29, 2014 on the territory of Russia there were no longer 9 time zones, but 10. This was due to the inclusion of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation, in which Eastern European time had previously operated, at that time coinciding with the time UTC/GMT+2. On March 17, 2014, a decree was adopted by the Government of the Republic of Crimea on the transition to Moscow time from March 30, 2014. On March 30, 2014, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol switched to Moscow time UTC/GMT+4


On July 1, 2014, the State Duma adopted the Law, which introduces 11 time zones in Russia from 02:00 on October 26, 2014.

1st time zone of Russia (MSK-1, UTC+2)

The 1st time zone (MSK-1, Moscow time minus 1 hour, UTC + 2) is the Kaliningrad region.


2nd time zone of Russia (MSK, UTC+3)

2nd time zone (MSK, Moscow time, UTC + 3) is the Republic of Adygea, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of Ingushetia, the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Republic of Crimea, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, the Republic of Mari El, Republic of Mordovia, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of Tatarstan, Chechen Republic, Chuvash Republic, 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 region, Kostroma region, 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, federal cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.


3rd time zone of Russia (MSK+1, UTC+4)

3rd time zone (MSK + 1, Moscow time plus 1 hour, UTC + 4) is the Udmurt Republic and Samara Region.


4th time zone of Russia (MSK+2, UTC+5)

4th time zone (MSK + 2, Moscow time plus 2 hours, UTC + 5) is the Republic of Bashkortostan, Perm Territory, Kurgan Region, Orenburg Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Tyumen region, Chelyabinsk region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.


5th time zone of Russia (MSK+3, UTC+6)

5th time zone (MSK + 3, Moscow time plus 3 hours, UTC + 6) is the Republic of Altai, Altai Territory, Novosibirsk Region, Omsk Region and Tomsk region.


6th time zone of Russia (MSK+4, UTC+7)

The 6th time zone (MSK + 4, Moscow time plus 4 hours, UTC + 7) includes the Republic of Tyva, the Republic of Khakassia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Kemerovo Region.


7th time zone of Russia (MSK+5, UTC+8)

7th time zone (MSK + 5, Moscow time plus 5 hours, UTC + 8), it includes the Republic of Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Irkutsk Region.


8th time zone of Russia (MSK+6, UTC+9)

The 8th time zone (MSK + 6, Moscow time plus 6 hours, UTC + 9) includes the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (in particular, ulutsy (districts): Aldansky (Aldan city), Amginsky (Amga village) , Anabarsky (village of Saskylakh), Bulunsky ulus (village of Tiksi), Verkhnevilyuisky (village of Verkhnevilyuysk), Vilyuisky (village of Vilyuysk), Gorny (village of Berdigestakh), Zhigansky national (village of Zhigansk), Kobyaisky (village of Sangar), Lensky (Lensk), Megino-Kangalassky (Nizhny Bestyakh), Mirninsky (Mirny), Namsky (Namtsy), Neryungri (Neryungri), Nyurbinsky (Nyurba), Olenyok National (Olenyok village) ), Olekminskiy (Olyokminsk), Suntarskiy (village Suntar), Tattinskiy (village Ytyk-Kyuyol), Tomponskiy (village Khandyga, Ust-Aldanskiy (village Borogontsy), Ust-Maiskiy (village Ust-Maya), Khangalasskiy (Pokrovsk), Churapchinsky (Churapcha village), Eveno-Bytantai national (Batagai-Alyta village), Yakutsk and Zhatay urban districts) and the Amur region.


9th time zone of Russia (MSK+7, UTC+10)

The 9th time zone (MSK + 7, Moscow time plus 7 hours, UTC + 10) is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Verkhoyansky, Oymyakonsky and Ust-Yansky uluses), Primorsky Territory, Khabarovsk Territory, Magadan Region, Sakhalin Region ( except for the North Kuril region) and the Jewish Autonomous Region.


10th time zone of Russia (MSK+8, UTC+11)

The 10th time zone (MSK + 8, Moscow time plus 8 hours, UTC + 11) is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Abyisky, Allaikhovsky, Verkhnekolymsky, Momsky, Nizhnekolymsky and Srednekolymsky uluses), Sakhalin region (only the North Kuril region ).


11th time zone of Russia (MSK+9, UTC+12)

The 11th time zone (MSK + 9, Moscow time plus 9 hours, UTC + 12) includes the Kamchatka Territory and the Chukotka Autonomous Region.


International time format standard ISO 8601

ISO 8601 is international standard issued by ISO (International Organization for Standardization), which describes the date and time format and gives recommendations for its use in an international context. Norm name - Data elements and interchange formats - Information interchange - Representation of dates and times.


The first edition of ISO 8601 was published in 1988 and consolidated and replaced a number of older ISO standards relating to the representation of dates and times: ISO 2014, 2015, 2711, 3307 and 4031. In 2000, the standard was replaced by the second edition and, later, in 2004 by the current third edition of ISO 8601:2004 (English), published on December 3, 2004.


The standard uses the Gregorian calendar, which serves as the international standard for civil use. Time zones in ISO 8601 are represented as local time (with no location specified) as UTC, or offset from UTC.


If no UTC relation information is given with the time representation, the time is assumed to be in local time. While it may be safe to assume local time when communicating in the same time zone, this is ambiguous when used in communication across different time zones. It is usually preferable to indicate a time zone (zone indicator) using the standard's notation.


If the time is in UTC, add Z directly after the time without space. Z is the zone indicator for UTC zero offset. "09:30 UTC" is therefore represented as "09:30Z" or "0930Z". "14:45:15 UTC" would be "14:45:15Z" or "144515Z". Since ancient times, observable periodically repeating processes of the same duration have been used to measure time. The easiest and most convenient way was to follow astronomical phenomena. For example, solar time was determined by changing the hour angle of the Sun, and stellar time was determined by the daily rotation of the Earth relative to the stars.


Other systems and time scales

Since ancient times, observable periodically repeating processes of the same duration have been used to measure time. The easiest and most convenient way was to follow astronomical phenomena. For example, solar time was determined by changing the hour angle of the Sun, and stellar time was determined by the daily rotation of the Earth relative to the stars.


However, scientific and technological progress required convenient and accurate time units based on a stable periodic natural process In addition, there was a need for a time reference system (time scale). Depending on the periodic process used, solar, sidereal, dynamical and atomic time scales are currently defined and used.

Using a time scale to determine the precision of a second's duration

Ephemeris time, ET

Ephemeris time ET (Ephemeris Time) is a uniformly running time, the unit of which is the ephemeris second. The ephemeris time scale is set by the orbital motion of the bodies of the solar system, and the ephemeris time is determined from long-term astronomical observations of them. When calculating their positions, ephemeris time is used, and for observations - universal time, so you can calculate the difference between ephemeris and universal time. Unfortunately, the exact difference between ephemeris and universal time can be determined with a great delay - on the basis of phenomena that have occurred in the past.


Since 1986, the ET ephemeris time scale has been replaced by two DT dynamic time scales - terrestrial dynamic time TDT and barycentric dynamic time TDB:

The terrestrial dynamic time TDT, equal in scale to ET, is referred to the Earth's center of mass and serves as an independent argument for visible geocentric ephemeris, including when determining satellite ephemeris;


Barycentric dynamic time TDB, which takes into account the movement of the center of mass of the Sun around the center of mass of the entire solar system (the barycenter of the solar system). It is related to the barycenter of the Solar System and is an argument of the differential equations of all gravitational theories of the motion of the bodies of the Solar System. Ephemeris time is usually denoted by (ET). And it is defined using Universal Time (UT) as follows:

Atomic time, TAI

The development of molecular and atomic frequency standards led to the emergence of a fundamentally new scale of atomic time TAI (Time Atomic International), independent of the rotation of the Earth and the motion of the bodies of the solar system. At the XIII International Conference on Weights and Measures (1967), it was recommended time - a second - take "the duration of 9 192631 770 oscillations of radiation corresponding to the resonant frequency of the transition between two levels of the hyperfine structure of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom, in the absence of disturbances from external fields." The duration of the atomic second is as close as possible to the duration of the ephemeris.


The TAI scale is formed in the French Bureau International des Poids et Measures (BIPM) on the basis of averaging the readings of individual atomic clocks located in various institutes and laboratories around the world. To synchronize atomic clocks, special radio time signals, the Internet and global navigation systems (GPS) are most often used and GLONASS).


Universal Time or UT (English Universal Time) is time scale based on the rotation of the earth. UTC is the modern replacement for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is now sometimes incorrectly used as a synonym for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Universal time was introduced on January 1, 1925. In fact, the term "universal time" is ambiguous, since there are several versions of universal time, the main ones being UT1 and UTC.


All versions of UTC are based on the rotation of the Earth relative to distant celestial objects (stars and quasars), using scale factors and other adjustments to get closer to solar time.


However, despite the high accuracy of such clocks, the need for universal time, determined by the results of astronomical observations, has not disappeared, and when solving certain problems, several systems of the universal time scale are used:

UT0 - universal time, obtained directly from astronomical observations and depending on the position of the observation point on the Earth's surface;


UT1 - universal time, obtained taking into account the calculated corrections for changes in the longitudes of observation points due to the movement of the Earth's poles;


UT2 is the universal quasi-uniform time (quite uniform over several years), obtained taking into account the seasonal variations in the Earth's rotation speed calculated on the basis of studies of previous years.


Time of satellite navigation systems

GPS system time (TGPS) is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) referred to the beginning of 1980. TGPS corrections to UTC are recorded with high accuracy and transmitted as a constant value in the navigation message, as well as published in special bulletins.


GPS satellites have highly stable frequency standards that form their own atomic scale called TAI(GPS). GPS time differs from UTC by an integer leap second. This is because the GPS time scale is from January 6, 1980. At the end of 2004, the difference was 13 seconds. The integer number of seconds of the difference is included in the broadcast GPS signal and then automatically processed by the GPS receiving equipment so that the time displayed by this equipment is the coordinated UTC time. There is, however, a continuously varying small difference, which is almost always less than 25 ns.


Sources and links

Sources of texts, pictures and videos

en.wikipedia.org - a resource with articles on many topics, the free encyclopedia Wikipedia

youtube.com - YouTube, the largest video hosting in the world

geographyofrussia.com - physical geography, what is time zone?

infoknyga.lt - information book, what is the time zone?

loco.ru - articles on the site, time zones, GMT, UTC, CDT

subsidii.net - news site, time change in Russia

world-time-zones.ru - time zones, time zones of Russia

phcode.ru - phone codes of Russia, time zones of Russia

liveinternet.ru - quote book, time: time zones of the world - GMT

pam65.ru - time portal, who needed time zones

travel-child.ru - Royal Greenwich Observatory and Greenwich meridian

library.kiwix.org - Articles on site, Greenwich Observatory

tisamsebegid.ru - informational portal about Tourism and Travel, Royal Observatory (Greenwich)

usaamerica.info - news site about America, US time

gmt.su - GMT time, time in world cities

en.thetimenow.com - Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

bugaga.ru - articles on the site, 10 little known facts about time zones

krasoteurop.ru - blog for tourists, Greenwich - the place where time begins

24timezones.com - directory of time zones, time zones of the countries of the world

otherreferats.allbest.ru - bank of abstracts, time zones of the Earth

bestreferat.ru - bank of abstracts, time zones of the Earth

sav-files.narod.ru - World time zones and their offsets from UTC/GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

kakras.ru - directories, time zones UTC, GMT

ruqrz.com - articles on the site, exact time and frequency

planetolog.ru - maps of the world, time zones of Canada

en.translate.net - time zones, Iceland time zone

kakprosto.ru - articles on the site why the time zone is called GMT

Wikiwand New knowledge, Greenwich Mean Time

library.kiwix.org - material from Wikipedia, ephemeris time

studopedia.ru - studopedia, atomic time

wiki.dieg.info - IT work notes, GMT

mirastronomii.ru - entertaining astronomy, Greenwich time

rasvetsiriusa.com - articles on the site, time zones

nteresnoe.info - a little about everything interesting, current time in Russian cities

Links to internet services

forexaw.com - information and analytical portal for financial markets

google.ru is the largest search system in the world video.google.com - search for videos on the Internet using Google

translate.google.ru - translator from the search engine

Google yandex.ru - the largest search engine in Russia

video.yandex.ru - search for videos on the Internet through Yandex

images.yandex.ru - search for images through the Yandex service

Links to application programs

windows.microsoft.com - the site of Microsoft Corporation, which created the Windows operating system

office.microsoft.com - website of the corporation that created Microsoft Office

chrome.google.ru - a commonly used browser for working with sites

hyperionics.com - site of the creators of the screen capture program

HyperSnap getpaint.net - free image manipulation software

Article Creator

vk.com/id238040329 - profile in Vkontakte

odnoklassniki.ru/profile/236293636061 - Odnoklassniki profile

facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008317868136 - Facebook profile

twitter.com/goldcoin7777 - Twitter profile

plus.google.com/111295713717655619651/posts - Google+ profile

hellenker4rus.livejournal.com - blog in LiveJournal

Until now, in the Windows computer settings, the time zone is set by the abbreviation GMT. What is it and how does it relate to modern system coordinating UTC time? We will talk about this in our article. at the point of location relative to Greenwich, not everyone can. But we will try to explain this question in popular language. First of all, you need to answer the question: "GMT - what is it?" How is this abbreviation deciphered?

British snobbery

In the old days, the time was set at noon. When the sun was at its zenith, that is, it reached its highest point in the visible sky, it was believed that this was twelve o'clock in the afternoon. With the development of international trade, it became necessary to coordinate time into a single system. The point of such a reference was He passes through the Royal Observatory in the town of Greenwich, not far from London.

Thus, the abbreviation GMT stands for Greenwich Mean Time. All territories that are west of Greenwich are behind his time, and those that are located to the east are ahead of him. There is another significant meridian on the surface of planet Earth. This is the Territory located to the east of it, lives (in literally of this word) yesterday afternoon. In 1972, the new abbreviation UTC replaced GMT. What time is this? The abbreviation stands for Coordinated Universal Time.

Time Zones

In Russian metrology, the abbreviation SGV is used instead of GMT. What is it? The letters are deciphered as "Geographical Mean Time". But again, we can't get away from Greenwich. After all, the whole world is counting hours from the prime meridian. If you are punctual and accurately determine the time for each point on the globe, you need to know its distance from Greenwich to the west or east. And Coordinated Universal Time (in other words UTC) displays basically noon in certain countries (or parts of them). If GMT is a time that knows no political boundaries, then time zones often extend to an entire state (if it does not stretch very much from west to east). Thus, UTC + 0 is the time not in and on the zero meridian, but in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as Iceland, Portugal, Morocco, etc. But the calculation of hours using the UTS system is carried out according to the same principle as in GMT .

Summer and winter time

In countries at high latitudes, the length of daylight hours varies greatly depending on the time of year. Therefore, northern countries often switch to daylight saving time. Residents of these states move the clock forward one hour. It takes place on the last Sunday in March. The UK is also on the list of countries that practice the summer clock period. But true noon from April to October is then observed at one o'clock in the afternoon, because Greenwich Mean Time does not depend on the season.

Countries lying near the equator, where at any time of the year is approximately equal to twelve hours, do not shift the hands seasonally. They constantly live in winter (true) time. On this basis and Russian Federation I decided not to move the hands forward an hour every year. By the way, another country lying in high latitudes refused to switch to daylight saving time. This is Iceland. The island nation lives on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+0). Lying approximately on the same meridian, Great Britain and Ireland are in UTC + 0 in winter, and in UTC + 1 in summer.

What are UTC and GMT for?

Time is a concept that loves precision. For coordinated actions, dispatching services located in remote points of the Earth need to know what hours, minutes and seconds it is. Broadcasters of different frequencies also have a need for coordinated time. UTC is needed to establish a certain standard in navigational and scientific purposes. Throughout the nineteenth century sailors british navy, plowing the World Ocean, calculated the time according to GMT. Moving west of Greenwich, they took away hours, and east they added. According to this principle, it is now divided into time zones. For example, Vladivostok time corresponds to GMT + 11, Georgian time corresponds to GMT + 4, Hawaiian-Aleutian time corresponds to GMT-10, Moscow time corresponds to GMT + 4, Eastern Standard Time (it is used for New York and adjacent Atlantic Ocean territories of the USA and Canada, as well as in Jamaica, Panama, Haiti, Bahamas) - GMT-5.