Overview of countries

While the adoption of Daylight Saving Time is almost always rife with controversy, most of the world (except for countries around the Equator) has implemented DST at one point or another. This map depicts countries that currently have DST, that previously had DST, and that never had DST.

Worldwide daylight saving

Today, approximately 70 countries utilize Daylight Saving Time in at least a portion of the country. Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not observe some form of daylight saving.

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If there's been a change to the observance of Daylight Saving Time or Summer Time where you live, please let us know. With your help, we can ensure that this exhibit is accurate. If one is available, please include a link to the new law, or to news coverage of the new law. Read more about sharing.

Not the tropics

Equatorial and tropical countries (lower latitudes) generally do not observe Daylight Saving Time. Since the daylight hours are similar during every season, there is no advantage to moving clocks forward during the summer. China has had a single time zone since May 1, 1980, observing summer Daylight Saving Time from 1986 through 1991; they do not observe DST now.

List of countries

Most countries that observe Daylight Saving Time are listed in the table below. They all save one hour in the summer and change their clocks some time between midnight and 3:00 a.m.

Continent	Country	Beginning and ending days
Africa	Egypt	Start: Last Friday in April End: Last Thursday in September
	Namibia	Start: First Sunday in September End: First Sunday in April
	Tunisia	In 2009 the government of Tunisia canceled DST and kept the standard time all year round.
Asia	Most states of the former USSR.	Start: Last Sunday in March End: Last Sunday in October
	Bangladesh	Cancelled in 2010.
	Iraq	Start: First Friday in April End: Last Friday in October
	Israel (more info)	Start: Last Friday before April 2 End: The Sunday between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
	Jordan	Start: Last Thursday of March End: Last Friday in September
	Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan	Start: Last Sunday in March End: Last Sunday in October
	Mongolia	Start: Fourth Friday in March End: Last Friday in September
	Palestinian regions (more info)	(Estimate) Start: First Friday on or after 15 April End: First Friday on or after 15 October
	Syria	Start: March 30 End: September 21
Australasia	Australia - South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Lord Howe Island - See link	Start: First Sunday in October End: First Sunday in April
	Australia - Tasmania	Start: First Sunday in October End: Last Sunday in March
	Fiji	Stopped in 2000
	New Zealand, Chatham - (read law)	Start: Last Sunday in September End: First Sunday in April
	Tonga	Start: First Sunday in November End: Last Sunday in January
Europe	European Union - (read law) UK - (read law)	Start: Last Sunday in March at 1 am UTC End: Last Sunday in October at 1 am UTC
	Russia	Permanent, as of February 2011
North America	United States, Canada (excluding Saskatchewan and parts of Quebec, B.C., and Ontario), Bermuda, St. Johns, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos	Start: Second Sunday in March End: First Sunday in November
	Cuba	Start: Third Sunday in March End: Last Sunday of October.
	Greenland	Same as EU
	Guatemala no longer observes DST	n/a
	Honduras	Start: May 7 End: August
	Mexico (except Sonora)	Start: First Sunday in April End: Last Sunday in October
	Nicaragua no longer observes DST	n/a
South America	Argentina. Started Sun Dec 30, 2007 Ending 16 March 2008. Practiced in 2009.	Not currently observed.
	Brazil Equatorial Brazil does not observe DST.	Start: Third Sunday in October End: Third Sunday in February
	Chile - (read law)	Start:October 11 End: March 29
	Falklands	Start: First Sunday on or after 8 September End: First Sunday on or after 6 April
	Paraguay	Start: Third Sunday in October End: Second Sunday in March
	Uruguay	Start: First Sunday in October End: Second Sunday in March
Antarctica	Antarctica (more info)	(varies, see below)

Note that there are many oddities. For example, some parts of the U.S. and Canada do not observe Daylight Saving Time, such as the state of Arizona (U.S.) and the province Saskatchewan (Canada).

Observance can also be erratic. For example, Chile delayed its changeover date for the Pope's visit in 1987, as well as for a presidential inauguration in 1990.

Australia

	Clark Dam at Butlers Gorge in Tasmania. The bulk of the electricity in Tasmania is generated by hydroelectric stations, causing an energy shortage in the drought of 1967.

In Australia, daylight saving was first introduced during World War I under Commonwealth legislation which, due to wartime emergency, was binding on all the states. During the World Wars, Daylight Saving Time was implemented for the late summers beginning January 1917 and 1942, and the full summers beginning September 1942 and 1943. (Western Australia did not use DST during the summer of 1943.)

In 1967, Tasmania experienced a drought, which depleted their reserves of water. The state government introduced one hour of daylight saving that summer as a means of saving power and hence water. Tasmanians reacted favorably to daylight saving and the Tasmanian government has declared daylight saving each summer since 1968. After persuasion by the Tasmanian Government, all states (except Western Australia and the Northern Territory) passed legislation in 1971 for a trial season of daylight saving. The following year, New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria joined Tasmania for regular daylight saving, but Queensland did not do so until 1989.

Tasmania, Queensland, and Western Australia have had erratic schedules, often changing their dates due to politics and to accommodate festivals. In 1992, for example, Tasmania extended daylight saving by an additional month while South Australia began extending daylight saving by two weeks to encompass the Adelaide Festival. In some years, Victoria extended daylight saving to the end of March for the Moomba Festival and South Australia and New South Wales followed suit for consistency. Special daylight saving arrangements were observed during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Queensland does not have daylight saving, although they implemented it from 1989 to 1992 before it was voted down. Although DST was well received in South East Queensland, it was a major inconvenience to the rest of the state. As resident Samantha Rannard commented, "You do not need an extra hour of daylight when it is 98% humidity and 35 degrees Celsius in the tropics!" On the Gold Coast, which borders New South Wales, some businesses do adopt it, but many do not.

In response to the problems caused by the lack of uniformity, a Private Members Bill, the National Measurement (Standard Time) Amendment Bill 1991, was introduced into Federal Parliament in May 1991 by Ron Edwards, Member for Stirling in WA, to define a national system of time zones and Daylight Saving Time for Australia and its external territories. But in March 1992, the Federal Government decided not proceed with the bill, and the setting of time zones and daylight saving remains the responsibility of the state and territory governments. The lack of uniformity of daylight saving in Australia continues to cause significant problems for the transportation and communication industries. It also reduces the number of hours in the working day that are common to all centers in the country. In particular, time differences along the East Coast cause major difficulties, especially for the broadcasters of national radio and television.

Western Australia enacted a three-year trial of Daylight Saving Time beginning in December 2006 and ending in March 2009. The issue of Daylight Saving Time was placed on the ballot in May 2009, and almost 56 percent of Western Australia voters gave DST a thumbs down. Rural areas of the state were overwhelmingly against the measure, and younger voters split fairly evenly for and against. Even DST advocates don't expect another vote on the issue for at least a decade.

New South Wales enacted legislation in 2007 to have DST commence at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in October and revert back to Standard Time at 3:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in April.

Asia

Bangladesh

Bangladesh instituted Daylight Saving Time at 11:00 p.m. local time on June 19, 2009. DST was launched in an effort to address severe power shortages and outages in the country. The government has not announced an end date for DST, but some sources say it will continue through September 2009, while others say it will end in October 2009.

Japan

In Japan, Daylight saving was introduced after World War II by the U.S. occupation but was dispensed with in 1952, following opposition from farmers. Despite efforts by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to have daylight saving introduced to cut Japan's energy consumption, opposition from farmers and the Ministry of Education (which was concerned that lighter evenings would entice school children from their homework) has continued to win the day

Israel

Israel always has Daylight Saving Time, but until 2005, it was decided every year by the Ministry of Interior. There was no set rule for Daylight Saving/Standard time changes, and there was long-running debate between the majority of the secular public who wanted to extend daylight saving as long as possible, and the religious public who wanted to end it before Yom Kippur. One element was entrenched in law, however: that there had to be at least 150 days of Daylight Saving Time annually. From 1993 to 1998, the change to Daylight Saving Time was on a Friday morning from midnight IST to 1:00 a.m. IDT; up until 1998, the change back to Standard Time was on a Saturday night from midnight Daylight Saving Time to 11:00 p.m. Standard Time. An exception was 1996, when the change back to Standard Time took place on Sunday night instead of Saturday night to avoid conflicts with the Jewish New Year. From 1999 to 2004, the change to Daylight Saving Time was on a Friday morning, but from 2:00 a.m. IST to 3:00 a.m. IDT; and the change back to Standard Time was on a Friday morning from 2:00 a.m. IDT to 1:00 a.m. IST.

The disputed territories have had varying Daylight Saving Time rules as the dramatic politics of the region have swayed the occupying power. Being closer to the equator than Europe, there is less need for DST, but it has generally been observed anyway. At present, as a sign of independence from Israeli rule, the Palestinian National Authority uses a different schedule for Daylight Saving Time than Israel.

Early in the twentieth century, the British were quick to standardize time, and from 1917 until May 15, 1948, all of Palestine, including the parts now known as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, was under British rule and followed British time changes.

From May 15, 1948 to June 5, 1967, the Gaza Strip was mostly under Egyptian rule and followed Egyptian policy. The rest of the area was under Jordanian rule at that time, formally annexed in 1950 as the West Bank. So the rules for Jordan for that time apply. Major towns in that area are Nablus (Shchem), El-Halil (Hebron), Ramallah, and East Jerusalem. Both areas followed Israeli time when they were occupied by Israel in June 1967, but not annexed (except for East Jerusalem). The Palestinian National Authority was established in 1993, and controlled most towns in the West Bank and Gaza by 1995, at which time the Palestinians began using their own time change dates, separate from Israel's.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan began keeping Daylight Saving Time year round in 2005.

Pakistan

Over the years, Pakistan has experimented with Summer Time. It was observed from 12:00 midnight on the first Sunday in April through 12:00 midnight on the first Sunday in October 2002. In 2008, Pakistan again observed Summer Time, which began at midnight local time on May 31 and reverted back to Standard Time on October 31.

Philippines

The Philippines introduced short periods of Daylight Saving Time between 1986 and 1998 to conserve energy, and in April 2006 the Department of Trade and Industry proposed that Daylight Saving Time again be implemented to combat rising oil prices.

South Korea

Although South Korea does not currently observe Daylight Saving Time, the country did adhere to DST from 1948 to 1951, 1955 to 1960, and 1987 to 1988.

Taiwan

Taiwan has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Daylight Saving Time, having observed it from 1945 to 1961 and 1974 to 1975.

Europe

European Union

	This clock is viewed from within the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

While European nations have been taking advantage of the time change for decades, in 1996 the European Union (EU) standardized an EU-wide "summertime period." The EU version of Daylight Saving Time runs from the last Sunday in March through the last Sunday in October. Iceland observes the Western European time zone year round, and does not change its clocks for Daylight Saving Time.

Russia

As Februrary 2011, Russia has permanent Daylight Saving Time. Once Daylight Saving Time starts in the Spring, it will stay in effect. See video on YouTube of Dmitry Medvedev announcing that Russia will remain on daylight saving time permanently, and how it will prevent the annoyance of semiannual time changes.

Previously, during the summer, Russia's clocks are two hours ahead of standard time. For example, Moscow standard time (UTC+3) is about a half-hour ahead of local mean time (UTC+2:30); this is about the same situation as Detroit, where the standard time (UTC-5) is also about a half-hour ahead of local mean time (UTC-5:32). During the winter, all 11 of the Russian time zones remain an hour ahead of standard time. With their high latitude, the two hours of Daylight Saving Time significantly extend daylight during waking hours.

North America

Cuba

Cuba has observed Daylight Saving Time since 2004.

Honduras

Honduras observed Daylight Saving Time during 1994, and again in 2006, though for only three months. Honduras will also observe DST from 2007-2009.

Mexico

Mexico, with the exception of Sonora, has observed Daylight Saving Time since 1996, adhering to the same schedule as the U.S. Although the U.S. is slated to change Daylight Saving Time dates in 2007, Mexico will maintain the original schedule of starting the first Sunday in April and ending the last Sunday in October.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua implemented Daylight Saving Time as an energy-saving measure from 1992 to 1994, then again beginning in 2004.

South America

Brazil

After years of variability, in 2008 the Brazilian government standardized Daylight Saving Time. In previous years, the government announced DST starting and ending dates each year, resulting in durations ranging from 14 weeks to over 20 years.

Legislation enacted in 2008 decrees that, henceforth, DST begins at midnight on the third Sunday of October, and reverts to Standard Time at midnight on the third Sunday of February. The exception is that, when Carnaval falls on the third Sunday of February, DST will be extended for one week.

Keep in mind, though, that DST is still only observed in 10 of the country's 26 states: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Parana, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Goias, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul. It is also observed in the Distrito Federal.

Antarctica

The Antarctic Peninsula (Palmer Station) uses Chile's time zone, but the rest of the continent does not. Rothera, a British base, does not implement daylight saving, but instead remains GMT -3. U.S. bases, including both McMurdo and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, use New Zealand's time zone and daylight saving dates.

 

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