Asia/Bahrain

Time zone identifier: Asia/Bahrain

Current civil offset: +03:00 (+03)

Current DST state: Observing Standard Time

First standard time adoption: Adopted on 1941-07-19

Local Mean Time (LMT): +03:22:20 based on geographic meridian

Total recorded transitions: 3 transitions across 4 distinct offsets

Associated countries: BH

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Historical Offset Step Chart (1880 to Present)

+2:00 +3:00 +4:00 +5:00 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Text summary: Asia/Bahrain shifted between 4 distinct offsets from 1941-07-19 through the modern era.

Complete Transition History (3 Transitions)

UTC Instant Local Wall Time Shift Abbreviation DST Effect
1941-07-19T20:37:40Z 1941-07-20 00:07:40 +03:22:20 → +03:30 +0330 No gap
1943-12-31T20:30:00Z 1944-01-01 00:30:00 +03:30 → +04:00 +04 No gap
1972-05-31T20:00:00Z 1972-05-31 23:00:00 +04:00 → +03:00 +03 No overlap

Notes from the Maintainers

Source: backzone (Lines 970 to 997)
Bahrain

From Paul Eggert (2020-07-23):
Most of this data comes from:
Stewart A. Why Gulf Standard Time is far from standard: the fascinating story
behind the time zone's invention. The National (Abu Dhabi). 2020-07-22.
https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/why-gulf-standard-time-is-far-from-standard-the-fascinating-story-behind-the-time-zone-s-invention-1.1052589
Stewart writes that before 1941 some companies in Bahrain were at +0330 and
others at +0323.  Reginald George Alban, a British political agent based in
Manama, worked to standardize this, and from 1941-07-20 Bahrain was at
+0330.  However, BOAC asked that clocks be moved to gain more light at day's
end, so Bahrain switched to +04 on 1944-01-01.

Re the 1941 transition, Stewart privately sent me this citation:
"File 16/53 Enquiries Re: Calculation of Local Time", British Library: India
Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1564, in Qatar Digital Library
https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000282.0x00012b
It says there was no real standard in Bahrain before 1941-07-20.
+0330 was used by steamers of the British India Co, by Petroleum Concessions
and by Cable & Wireless; +0323 was used by the Eastern Bank Ltd, BOAC, and
Bahrein Petroleum (Bapco), and California Arabian Standard Oil Co (Casoc)
adopted DST effective 1941-05-24.  Alban suggested adopting DST, R.B. Coomb
of C&W countersuggested +0330, and although C.A. Rodstrom of Casoc (formerly
of Bapco) stated that Bahrain had formerly used +0330 before Bapco arrived
but Bapco switched to +0323 because of "constant confusion", the consensus
was +0330.  The government adopted +0330 in 1941-07-20 and companies seem to
have switched by 08-01.  No time of day was given for the 1940s transitions.

Attributed Statements:

Paul Eggert (2020-07-23):

Most of this data comes from: Stewart A. Why Gulf Standard Time is far from standard: the fascinating story behind the time zone's invention. The National (Abu Dhabi). 2020-07-22. https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/why-gulf-standard-time-is-far-from-standard-the-fascinating-story-behind-the-time-zone-s-invention-1.1052589 Stewart writes that before 1941 some companies in Bahrain were at +0330 and others at +0323. Reginald George Alban, a British political agent based in Manama, worked to standardize this, and from 1941-07-20 Bahrain was at +0330. However, BOAC asked that clocks be moved to gain more light at day's end, so Bahrain switched to +04 on 1944-01-01. Re the 1941 transition, Stewart privately sent me this citation: "File 16/53 Enquiries Re: Calculation of Local Time", British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1564, in Qatar Digital Library https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000282.0x00012b It says there was no real standard in Bahrain before 1941-07-20. +0330 was used by steamers of the British India Co, by Petroleum Concessions and by Cable & Wireless; +0323 was used by the Eastern Bank Ltd, BOAC, and Bahrein Petroleum (Bapco), and California Arabian Standard Oil Co (Casoc) adopted DST effective 1941-05-24. Alban suggested adopting DST, R.B. Coomb of C&W countersuggested +0330, and although C.A. Rodstrom of Casoc (formerly of Bapco) stated that Bahrain had formerly used +0330 before Bapco arrived but Bapco switched to +0323 because of "constant confusion", the consensus was +0330. The government adopted +0330 in 1941-07-20 and companies seem to have switched by 08-01. No time of day was given for the 1940s transitions.

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.