Africa/Nairobi

Time zone identifier: Africa/Nairobi

Current civil offset: +03:00 (EAT)

Current DST state: Observing Standard Time

First standard time adoption: Adopted on 1908-04-30

Local Mean Time (LMT): +02:27:16 based on geographic meridian

Total recorded transitions: 5 transitions across 4 distinct offsets

Associated countries: DJ, ER, ET, KE, KM, MG, SO, TZ, UG, YT

Aliases (Link targets): Africa/Addis_Ababa, Africa/Asmara, Africa/Asmera, Africa/Dar_es_Salaam, Africa/Djibouti, Africa/Kampala, Africa/Mogadishu, Indian/Antananarivo, Indian/Comoro, Indian/Mayotte

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Historical Offset Step Chart (1880 to Present)

+1:00 +2:00 +3:00 +4:00 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Text summary: Africa/Nairobi shifted between 4 distinct offsets from 1908-04-30 through the modern era.

Complete Transition History (5 Transitions)

UTC Instant Local Wall Time Shift Abbreviation DST Effect
1908-04-30T21:32:44Z 1908-05-01 00:02:44 +02:27:16 → +02:30 +0230 No gap
1928-06-30T21:30:00Z 1928-07-01 00:30:00 +02:30 → +03:00 EAT No gap
1930-01-04T21:00:00Z 1930-01-04 23:30:00 +03:00 → +02:30 +0230 No overlap
1936-12-31T21:30:00Z 1937-01-01 00:15:00 +02:30 → +02:45 +0245 No gap
1942-07-31T21:15:00Z 1942-08-01 00:15:00 +02:45 → +03:00 EAT No gap

Notes from the Maintainers

Source: africa (Lines 355 to 416)
Comoros
Djibouti
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Kenya
Madagascar
Mayotte
Somalia
Tanzania
Uganda

From P Chan (2020-10-24):

The standard time of GMT+2:30 was adopted in the East Africa Protectorate....
[The Official Gazette, 1908-05-01, p 274]
https://books.google.com/books?id=e-cAC-sjPSEC&pg=PA274

At midnight on 30 June 1928 the clocks throughout Kenya was put forward
half an hour by the Alteration of Time Ordinance, 1928.
https://gazettes.africa/archive/ke/1928/ke-government-gazette-dated-1928-05-11-no-28.pdf
[Ordinance No. 11 of 1928, The Official Gazette, 1928-06-26, p 813]
https://books.google.com/books?id=2S0S6os32ZUC&pg=PA813

The 1928 ordinance was repealed by the Alteration of Time (repeal) Ordinance,
1929 and the time was restored to GMT+2:30 at midnight on 4 January 1930.
[Ordinance No. 97 of 1929, The Official Gazette, 1929-12-31, p 2701]
https://books.google.com/books?id=_g18jIZQlwwC&pg=PA2701

The Alteration of Time Ordinance, 1936 changed the time to GMT+2:45
and repealed the previous ordinance at midnight on 31 December 1936.
[The Official Gazette, 1936-07-21, p 705]
https://books.google.com/books?id=K7j41z0aC5wC&pg=PA705

The Defence (Amendment of Laws No. 120) Regulations changed the time
to GMT+3 at midnight on 31 July 1942.
[Kenya Official Gazette Supplement No. 32, 1942-07-21, p 331]
https://books.google.com/books?hl=zh-TW&id=c_E-AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA331
The provision of the 1936 ordinance was not repealed and was later
incorporated in the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance in 1948.
Although it was overridden by the 1942 regulations.
[The Laws of Kenya in force on 1948-09-21, Title I, Chapter 1, 31]
https://dds.crl.edu/item/217517 (p.101)
In 1950 the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance was amended to adopt
GMT+3 permanently as the 1942 regulations were due to expire on 10 December.
https://books.google.com/books?id=jvR8mUDAwR0C&pg=PA787
[Ordinance No. 44 of 1950, Kenya Ordinances 1950, Vol. XXIX, p 294]
https://books.google.com/books?id=-_dQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA294

From Paul Eggert (2020-10-24):
The 1908-05-01 announcement does not give an effective date,
so just say "1908 May".

From Paul Eggert (2018-09-11):
Unfortunately tzdb records only Western clock time in use in Ethiopia,
as the tzdb format is not up to properly recording a common Ethiopian
timekeeping practice that is based on solar time.  See:
Mortada D. If you have a meeting in Ethiopia, you'd better double
check the time. PRI's The World. 2015-01-30 15:15 -05.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-30/if-you-have-meeting-ethiopia-you-better-double-check-time

Zone	NAME		STDOFF	RULES	FORMAT	[UNTIL]

Attributed Statements:

P Chan (2020-10-24):

The standard time of GMT+2:30 was adopted in the East Africa Protectorate.... [The Official Gazette, 1908-05-01, p 274] https://books.google.com/books?id=e-cAC-sjPSEC&pg=PA274 At midnight on 30 June 1928 the clocks throughout Kenya was put forward half an hour by the Alteration of Time Ordinance, 1928. https://gazettes.africa/archive/ke/1928/ke-government-gazette-dated-1928-05-11-no-28.pdf [Ordinance No. 11 of 1928, The Official Gazette, 1928-06-26, p 813] https://books.google.com/books?id=2S0S6os32ZUC&pg=PA813 The 1928 ordinance was repealed by the Alteration of Time (repeal) Ordinance, 1929 and the time was restored to GMT+2:30 at midnight on 4 January 1930. [Ordinance No. 97 of 1929, The Official Gazette, 1929-12-31, p 2701] https://books.google.com/books?id=_g18jIZQlwwC&pg=PA2701 The Alteration of Time Ordinance, 1936 changed the time to GMT+2:45 and repealed the previous ordinance at midnight on 31 December 1936. [The Official Gazette, 1936-07-21, p 705] https://books.google.com/books?id=K7j41z0aC5wC&pg=PA705 The Defence (Amendment of Laws No. 120) Regulations changed the time to GMT+3 at midnight on 31 July 1942. [Kenya Official Gazette Supplement No. 32, 1942-07-21, p 331] https://books.google.com/books?hl=zh-TW&id=c_E-AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA331 The provision of the 1936 ordinance was not repealed and was later incorporated in the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance in 1948. Although it was overridden by the 1942 regulations. [The Laws of Kenya in force on 1948-09-21, Title I, Chapter 1, 31] https://dds.crl.edu/item/217517 (p.101) In 1950 the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance was amended to adopt GMT+3 permanently as the 1942 regulations were due to expire on 10 December. https://books.google.com/books?id=jvR8mUDAwR0C&pg=PA787 [Ordinance No. 44 of 1950, Kenya Ordinances 1950, Vol. XXIX, p 294] https://books.google.com/books?id=-_dQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA294

Paul Eggert (2020-10-24):

The 1908-05-01 announcement does not give an effective date, so just say "1908 May".

Paul Eggert (2018-09-11):

Unfortunately tzdb records only Western clock time in use in Ethiopia, as the tzdb format is not up to properly recording a common Ethiopian timekeeping practice that is based on solar time. See: Mortada D. If you have a meeting in Ethiopia, you'd better double check the time. PRI's The World. 2015-01-30 15:15 -05. https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-30/if-you-have-meeting-ethiopia-you-better-double-check-time Zone NAME STDOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL]

Years on Record

Methodology Note: The 1970 Rule

tzdb guarantees accuracy for timestamps from 1970 onwards. Transitions prior to 1970 represent best-effort historical reconstructions.