Time in Africa

Time in Africa
Time zonesCape Verde Time
Central European Time
East Africa Time
Eastern European Time
Greenwich Mean Time
Mauritius Time
Seychelles Time
South African Standard Time
West Africa Time
UTC offsetsUTC−01:00 to UTC+04:00
Time notation(s)24-hour clock
12-hour clock (uncommon)[1]
Daylight saving time
Observed in Morocco
tz database
Africa

Africa, the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, spans across six different time zone offsets from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): UTC−01:00 to UTC+04:00.[2][3] As Africa straddles the equator and tropics, there is little change in daylight hours throughout the year[4] and as such daylight saving time is currently observed in only two countries, Morocco and Egypt. However, it was previously observed in several other countries.[5][6]

Before the wide adoption of standard time zones, local mean time was widely used in railway time for train timetables and telegraphic time for telegraphy.[7] Local mean time is a solar time that corrects the variations of local apparent time by forming a uniform time scale at a specific longitude;[8] for instance, Liberia observed UTC−0:44:30 instead of an approximate offset such as UTC−01:00.[9] British Rhodesia (at the time administered by the private British South Africa Company) was the first area in Africa to adopt standard time, switching to UTC+02:30 on 1 August 1899 as the previous time standards proved problematic for the railway system.[10] Other countries followed suit, and by 1912, most Portuguese,[11] French and British territories had adopted a standard offset.[12] Liberia was the last country in Africa to adopt a standard offset, doing so on 7 January 1972.[13]

Names for the offsets vary by country and jurisdiction:[3] in Africa, UTC+01:00 is commonly known as "West Africa Time", however Algeria,[14] Morocco and Tunisia[15] designate the offset by its European name, "Central European Time"; UTC+02:00 – commonly known as "Central Africa Time" – is designated as "South African Standard Time" by Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa,[16] whilst Egypt[17] and Libya[18] designate it by its European name "Eastern European Time". Cape Verde is the only country in Africa which observes UTC−01:00, where it is known as Cape Verde Time (CVT); thirteen countries observe UTC±00:00, fourteen[a] observe UTC+01:00, sixteen[a] observe UTC+02:00, nine observe UTC+03:00, and two (Mauritius and Seychelles) observe UTC+04:00, where the offset is designated as Mauritius Time (MUT)[19] and Seychelles Time (SCT)[20] respectively.[3]

  1. ^ Mortada, Dalia (30 January 2015) If you have a meeting in Ethiopia, you'd better double check the time. The World. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ttmain was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Atlas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Pearce 2017, p. 296.
  5. ^ Africa Time Zones. GreenwichMeanTime.com. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. ^ Africa Daylight Saving Time. TimeTemperature.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  7. ^ Ogle 2015, p. 1–9.
  8. ^ Kröger, Pekka; Oja, Heikki; Donner, Karl Johan; Poutanen, Markku (2007) "Fundamental Astronomy". Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 34. Retrieved 11 September 2021. ISBN 9783540341444.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference IANA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rhodesia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference dre.pt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Ogle 2015, p. 82.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Liberia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Ham, Anthony; Atkinson, Brett; Bainbridge, James; Butler, Stuart; Carillet, Jean-Bernard; Clammer, Paul; Corne, Lucy; Filou, Emilie; Fitzpatrick, Mary; Grosberg, Michael; Holden, Trent; Lee, Jessica; Luckham, Nana; Maric, Vesna; Masters, Tom; Maxwell, Virginia; Ranger, Helen; Sainsbury, Brendan; Sieg, Caroline; Smith, Helena; Lioy, Stephen; St Louis, Regis; Stiles, Paul; Parkes, Lorna (2017) "Lonely Planet Africa". Lonely Planet. p. 180. Retrieved 12 September 2021. ISBN 9781787011472
  15. ^ Bartky, Ian R. (2007) "One Time Fits All: The Campaigns for Global Uniformity". Stanford University Press. p. 134. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  16. ^ Fitzpatrick, Mary (2000) "South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland". Lonely Planet Publications. p. 98. "All three countries use South African Standard Time". Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  17. ^ National Institute for Exploration (1987) "Egypt: Images of Adventure". Viewfinder Publications. p. 131 "[...] Egypt observes Eastern European Time, which is 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time." Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  18. ^ يرجى التقديم الآن: برنامج منح فولبرايت 2021-2022 للطلاب الأجانب. (in Arabic). U.S. Embassy in Libya – ly.usembassy.gov. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  19. ^ Maurel, Martine (2000) "Mauritius Travel Guide (Globetrotter Travel Guides)". New Holland Publishers. p. 126. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ Skerrett, Adrian; Drynan, Kate et al. (2017) "Seychelles - Berlitz Pocket Guide". Berlitz Publishing. p. 117 "Seychelles time is GMT plus 4 hours...". Retrieved 12 September 2021. ISBN 9781780049557


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