Each time zone is numbered from -1 to -11 to the west of the Greenwich Time Line, which means their times are 1 to 11 hours before the GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). The time zone to the east is numbered from +1 to +11 of the Greenwich Time Line, which means they are 1 to 11 hours later that the GMT.
The International Date Line is .. If you were traveling west of this line, you would gain a day. If you were traveling east of this line, you would lose a day.
Another way to look at it would be that the United States is several hours behind the countries west of this line.
There are 24 standard times zones. These time zones are divided by lines of longitude. Since the earth rotates 15 degrees in one hour, each time zone covers 15 degrees of longitude.
Mountain
2 P.M.
Central
3 P.M.
Eastern
4 P.M.
What Time Is It?
Select the correct time from the drop-down menus below. Click on the link below to check your answers.
1. If it is 7:00 p.m. in New York, New York, what time is it in Los Angeles, California?
2. If it is 2:00 a.m. in Little Rock, Arkansas, what time is it in Portland, Oregon?
3. If it is 5:30 a.m. in Topeka, Kansas, what time is it in Albuquerque, New Mexcio?
4. If it is 2:59 a.m. in Detroit, Michigan, what time is it in Geneva, Switzerland?
5. If it is 10:30 a.m. in Dallas, Texas, what time is it in Cairo, Egypt?
Answers: Click here
Pacific
1 P.M.
Pacific Mountain Central Eastern
California
Nevada
Oregon
Washington
Arizona
Colorado
Western N. Dakota
Western S. Dakota
Idaho
Montana
Western Nebraska
New Mexico
Utah
Wyoming
Alabama
Arkansas
Eastern N. Dakota
Eastern S. Dakota
Western (panhandle)
Florida
Illinois
Northwestern Indiana
Southwestern Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Western Kentucky
Louisiana
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Eastern Nebraska
Oklahoma
Western Tennessee
Texas
Wisconsin
North Carolina
South Carolina
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Eastern Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Eastern Tennessee
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
The Prime Meridian is just opposite of the International Date Line. A day is added when you cross westward over the International Date Line. A day is subtracted when you cross eastward over the International Date Line.
The United States is divided into nine time zones. From west to east, they are: Chamorro (ChST or UTC+10), Samoa (SST or UTC-11), Hawaii-Aleutian (HST), Alaskan (AKST), Pacific (PST), Mountain (MST), Central (CST), Eastern (EST), and Atlantic (AST).
United States Time Zones
The chart above shows locations around the world and where they appear in each time zone.
Example 1: If it is 9:30 p.m. Sunday in New York City, NY it would be 3:30 a.m Monday in Rome, Italy since New York is 6 hours behind Italy.
Hint: New York's time zone is UT-5, and Italy's time zone is UT+1. If we were to count the time zones between the two locations, moving from left to right as the arrow shows above the chart, we would see that they are 6 time zones apart.
UTC - Coordinated Universal Time
Example 2: If it is 8:00 p.m. Sunday in Chicago, Illinois it would be 12:00 p.m. Monday in Queensland, Australia since Illinois is 16 hours behind Queensland.
Hint: Illinois's time zone is UT-6, and Queensland's time zone is UT+10. If we were to count the time zones between the two locations, we would see that they are 16 time zones apart.
Example 3: If it is 11:15 p.m. Sunday in Honolulu, HI it would be 3:15 p.m. Monday in Bangladesh since Honolulu is 16 hours behind Bangladesh.
Hint: Honolulu's time zone is UT-10, and Bangladesh's time zone is UT+6. If we were to count the time zones between the two locations, we would see that they are 16 time zones apart.
Prime Meridian
Time Zones Around the World
Time Zones
