Animated World UTC Offset Map
An interactive visualization of global time zones and UTC offsets by year. Standard time spread across the globe starting in the 1880s, replacing local solar time (LMT) region by region.
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Year 2026
1883 1916 1942 1974 1991 2011
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Important Map Caveats & Methodology
- The 1970 Rule: The tzdb project prioritizes timestamps after 1970. Pre-1970 data represents best efforts by maintainers and historians. For regions merged into other zones after 1970, pre-1970 data resides in
backzone. - Present-Day Boundaries: Time zone polygons reflect present-day borders. Coloring a modern polygon by historical offset follows tzdb's own data model, although national and provincial boundaries differed historically.
- Local Mean Time (LMT): Before standard time was adopted, cities observed solar time based on meridian longitude. In the map, LMT is rendered as a distinct grey cross-hatch, never as a standard offset.
- Twice-Yearly Sampling: Offsets are sampled at January 1 12:00 UTC and July 1 12:00 UTC to reveal daylight-saving time shifts between northern and southern hemispheres.