See the current time in cities around the world. Compare time zones, track daylight saving changes, and plan across borders. Selected cities You can keep up to 12 cities pinned here. Need to compare business hours? Use the meeting planner for fair overlap suggestions, shareable setups, and multi-city scheduling. The world is divided into time zones so that clocks in each region approximate local solar time. Without time zones, coordinating activities across distances would be extraordinarily complicated, as every town could potentially keep its own time. The modern system of time zones was proposed in the late 19th century by Sir Sandford Fleming , a Canadian railway engineer, after he missed a train due to a scheduling confusion caused by inconsistent local times. Before Fleming's proposal, North American railroads alone used over 300 different local times. His idea for a worldwide system of standard time zones, each offset by one hour from a prime meridian, was presented at international conferences in the 1880s and gradually adopted by countries around the world. By 1929, most nations had adopted standard time zones. Today there are 38 time zones in use, including several that are offset by 30 or 45 minutes rather than full hours. India, for example, uses UTC+5:30, while Nepal uses UTC+5:45 partly as a symbol of national identity distinct from India. Some large countries span multiple time zones: Russia has 11, the United States has 6 (including Alaska and Hawaii), and Australia has 3 main zones with additional offsets during daylight saving time. China is perhaps the most notable exception — despite spanning five geographic time zones, the entire country operates on a single time (UTC+8, Beijing Time ), which means that in the far western region of Xinjiang the sun can rise as late as 10 AM by the clock. Daylight Saving Time (DST) adds another layer of complexity. Roughly 70 countries observe DST, but the start and end dates vary. In the United States and Canada, DST begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. In the European Union, it begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. Countries near the equator generally do not observe DST because the length of day varies little throughout the year. The International Date Line , an imaginary line running roughly along the 180th meridian in the Pacific Ocean, is where the calendar date changes. Crossing the line from west to east subtracts a day, while crossing from east to west adds one. The line is not straight; it zigzags to avoid splitting countries and island groups across two dates. In 2011, Samoa jumped from the east side to the west side of the Date Line to align with its major trading partners Australia and New Zealand, skipping December 30 entirely. For professionals who work across time zones, understanding the practical difference between local clocks is one of the most common scheduling challenges. A team with members in New York (UTC-5), London (UTC+0), and Tokyo (UTC+9) has no single hour when all three locations are within standard 9-to-5 working hours. A clean world clock helps you see who is early, who is late, and when a proposed time falls into the next calendar day before you send a message or book a meeting. Some of the world's most unusual time zones deserve mention. The Line Islands in the central Pacific, part of Kiribati, use UTC+14 — the farthest ahead of any place on Earth. This means they are the first to celebrate each new calendar day. Lord Howe Island in Australia uses UTC+10:30 and shifts by only half an hour for daylight saving time, the only place in the world to do so. The Chatham Islands near New Zealand use UTC+12:45. Our World Clock tool lets you view the current time in major cities around the globe. You can add or remove cities, compare time differences, and see which locations are currently observing daylight saving time. Use it as a fast reference for international work, then move to the Meeting Planner when you need to choose a fair slot across several cities. There are 38 time zones currently in use worldwide. While the basic system divides the globe into 24 one-hour zones, several regions use offsets of 30 or 45 minutes, resulting in the higher total.

The International Date Line is an imaginary line that runs roughly along the 180th meridian in the Pacific Ocean. When you cross it going westward, you move forward one calendar day; crossing eastward, you move back one day. No. Roughly 70 countries observe DST, but many do not, including most countries near the equator where daylight hours remain fairly constant throughout the year. Some countries have adopted and then abandoned DST over the years. Some countries chose offsets that better match their geographic position or political boundaries. India uses UTC+5:30 to have a single time zone for the entire country, while Nepal uses UTC+5:45 partly to distinguish itself from India. Find the UTC offset for each city (accounting for DST if applicable) and subtract one from the other. For example, New York at UTC-5 and London at UTC+0 have a 5-hour difference. Our World Clock displays these differences automatically. France has the most time zones (12) when including its overseas territories. Russia has the most contiguous time zones at 11, spanning from UTC+2 in Kaliningrad to UTC+12 in Kamchatka. Despite spanning roughly 5,200 km east to west (about five geographic time zones), China has used a single time zone (UTC+8, Beijing Time) since 1949. The decision was made by the central government for national unity and administrative simplicity. In practice, this means the sun rises and sets very late by the clock in western regions like Xinjiang, where some residents informally use their own "local time" that is two hours behind Beijing Time. Use the Meeting Planner when you need to choose a workable slot across multiple cities. The World Clock is best for checking current local times and date differences quickly, while the Meeting Planner is better for comparing overlap and sharing a proposed schedule. Continue with another date or time tool that fits this task. Time Zone Converter Convert a date and time between cities and time zones. See local dates, UTC offsets, and practical scheduling context. Meeting Planner Compare several cities, rank fair meeting slots, save shareable setups, and export calendar invites for distributed teams. What Time Is It Check the exact current time in your timezone. View time in 12-hour and 24-hour formats, UTC time, and learn about timezones.