Does anyone know the exact number of global time zones?

Despite the obvious effects that time zone differences have on international business operations, some companies tend to ignore them when going global. Learn more about time zones and how they affect your global business with GTE Localize's help in today's post.

How Many Time Zones Are There in the World?

Time zones are a longitudinal division of the globe, with each hour difference separated by roughly 15 degrees. If this hypothesis holds, then the world's time zones would total 24. It's true that there are more than 24 time zones, but many of them are offset by 30 or 45 minutes.

It is generally agreed that Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the gold standard against which all other time zones are compared. In 1675, when a prime meridian point was needed for navigation, commerce, trade, and other global endeavors, the Royal Observatory established Greenwich Mean Time.

Many people argue over whether there are 24 or 25 time zones, with some counting the International Date Line (IDL) as a time zone and others not.

In general, the International Date Line can be located at an angle of about 180 degrees east (or west). Greenwich, United Kingdom sits on the prime meridian (0° longitude), which is the arbitrary starting point for most global time zones.

Each new day in a calendar starts at the International Date Line. Crossing the date line to the east subtracts a day and crossing it to the west adds a day, hence its other name, the "Line of Demarcation."

Standard Time Adjustment for Daylight Savings Time

The term "Daylight Saving Time" (DST) refers to the seasonal time shift in which the clocks are set ahead by one hour in the summer and back by one hour in the fall and winter. DST is implemented to gain extra daylight hours.

Time and time zones are renamed to reflect the transition to and from Daylight Saving Time. The time zone name includes the phrases "Daylight Saving Time" and "Summer." During this period, local time will be advanced by one hour.

For instance, during Daylight Saving Time (DST), California observes Pacific Daylight Time with an offset of UTC-7, while the rest of the year it observes UTC-8.

Abnormalities in the Time Zones

One country with irregular time zones is China. Even though all of China is technically in the same time zone, some regions like Tibet and Xinjiang actually follow their own unofficial schedule. Mainland China is 8 hours ahead of GMT, while Xinjiang and Tibet are 6 hours ahead.

China hasn't always been under a single time zone; historically, the country has been split into as many as five: GMT 5, GMT 6, GMT 7, GMT 8, and GMT 9. GMT5, GMT6, GMT7, and GMT8 5 A non-standard time zone based on half-hour increments exists everywhere in the world and is often used as the de facto local time in certain locations.

China may (geographically) split into five different time zones.

Despite differences in sovereignty and administration, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau all adhere to the standard time zone established by China in 1949.

How Many Time Zones Does Your Country Have?

Only a handful of countries, typically smaller ones, have more than one time zone. How many time zones does each of these 23 countries have? Try to guess

Because of its massive landmass, most people automatically think of Russia when asked this question. You may be surprised by the correct response. It’s…France

France

France, with its many outlying regions, has 12 time zones, from UTC-10 to UTC-12.

• Most of French Polynesia observes UTC10:00.
• Marquesas Islands - 09:30 UTC
• Gambier Islands - 9:00 am UTC
• Time Zone: UTC+08:00 Clipperton Island
• Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, and Saint Martin all observe UTC+04:00.
• Time zone UTC+3:00: French Guiana, Saint Pierre, and Miquelon

• Central Paris 01:00 UTC
• Mayotte Time - UTC3:00
• Réunion is at 04:00 UTC.
• Kerguelen and Crozet Islands - 5:00 a.m. UTC
• New Caledonia 11:00 UTC
• At 12:00 UTC, Wallis and Futuna begins.

It's the USA and Russia.

As a result of 11 different time zones, There is a two-way tie for second place between the United States and Russia.

• Howland Island and Baker Island both observe midnight UTC.
• Jarvis Island, Midway Atoll, Kingman Reef, American Samoa, and Palmyra Atoll all fall under the 11:00 UTC time zone.
• Most of the Aleutian Islands, Hawaii, and Johnston Atoll are on the UTC-10:00 time zone.
• Approximately all of Alaska at UTC+9:00
• Parts of Idaho and Nevada, as well as the Pacific coast states, fall under the UTC08:00 time zone.
• The time zone UTC-07:00 encompasses the states of Arizona, Nebraska, Montana, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and a small portion of the states of Idaho, Kansas, Oregon, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Texas
• Tennessee Valley, United States, UTC-06:00 S Greater Central Texas, the Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and the Great Plains
• Atlantic coast states, most of Michigan, Bajo Nuevo Bank, Navassa Island, the eastern two-thirds of the Ohio Valley, and Serranilla Bank all fall under UTC-05:00.
• UTC04:00 - The United States S San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Palmer Station are among the Virgin Islands
• Northern Marianas, Guam, 10:00 UTC
• 12:00 UTC: Wake Island, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and McMurdo Station

• GMT 2:00:00 - Kaliningrad Oblast
• Railways in Russia, including those in most of Europe, at 3 a.m. UTC
• Udmurtia, Samara Oblast - 4:00 a.m. UTC
• Central European Time 05:00: Chelyabinsk Oblast, Bashkortostan, Orenburg Oblast, Khanty-Mansia, Kurgan Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Perm Krai, Tyumen Oblast, and Yamalia
• Altai Republic, Altai Krai, Novosibirsk Oblast, Kemerovo Oblast, Omsk Oblast, and Tomsk Oblast all use the same time zone, UTC 06:00 (Omsk Time).
• Time Zone: UTC 07:00 Krasnoyarsk Krai, Khakassia, and Tuva
• Zabaykalsky Krai, Buryatia, and the Irkutsk Oblast all fall under the UTC 08:00 time zone.
• Amur Oblast in western Sakha Republic at 09:00 UTC (Yakutsk Time)
• Khabarovsk Krai, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Magadan Oblast, central Sakha Republic, Primorsky Krai, and Sakhalin Island all fall under the 10:00 UTC time zone.
• Kuril Islands, Eastern Sakha; 11:00 UTC
• At 12 o'clock GMT, Kamchatka Krai, Chukotka

Can You Explain the Effects of Different Time Zones on Your Company?

Having clients in other countries or having offices all over the world means dealing with time zone differences, which can affect how your business functions. This breaks down communication significantly.

For every time zone where people are awake, there is a time zone where they are asleep. As a result of the time differences between locations, businesses will have less time to complete tasks that rely on one another. When a company has branches in multiple countries, it can take twice as long to complete a task that would take a local firm just 10 minutes to accomplish.

It's a major obstacle for any company that places a premium on fast service. You can avoid missing out on opportunities by employing a customer service agent or a customer support team that covers multiple time zones.