It replaced the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the late 1960s, even though GMT remains today as a regional time zone at UTC+00:00. The official time standard regulating the world's time and clocks is called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The Differences Between GMT, UTC, and IDL Take a look at the official world time zone map. So, we all end up getting 24 standard time zones and 14 additional exceptions.Īs a result, local time always depends on what time zone you're in at a given moment.Īs stated above, all nations have specific interests, so the time zone map is not linear as it should be in theory. With the rotation of the Earth, from east to west, each meridian represents one given hour. They're technically named meridians, i.e., imaginary lines that run vertically from the North Pole to the South Pole, each 15 degrees apart. However, in a world with borders, political, geographical, social interests, and lobbies, the officially established time zones make the planet look like a complicated geometrical drawing of longitudinal lines. Ideally, the planet would be divided between 24 identical time zones, each representing one hour of the day. When you fly between Los Angeles and New York, you must add three hours to your clock upon arriving at your destination.Īnd while someone is waking and getting ready for another working day under sunny skies, another is heading off to bed under the moonlight.

As a result, time is always different in various places on the planet. Welcome to the complex world of time zones.

What time is it? Here's how a common daily question can have multiple answers.

Utc time to pst converter