Time zones in Mexico
| designation | winter | summer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zona Sureste | UTC − 05: 00 | ||
| Zona Centro | UTC − 06: 00 | UTC − 05: 00 | |
| Zona Pacífico | UTC − 07: 00 | UTC − 06: 00 | |
| Zona Pacífico | UTC − 07: 00 | ||
| Zona Noroeste | UTC − 08: 00 | UTC − 07: 00 | |
The time zones in Mexico are regulated by the National Meteorological Center (CENAM), which reports to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. There are four time zones, which refer to 75 ° W, 90 ° W, 105 ° W and 120 ° W and are part of the zones UTC-5 , UTC-6 , UTC-7 and UTC-8 after UTC .
With a few exceptional cases, the boundaries between the zones follow the boundaries of federal states.
For their observation in Mexico, these time zones were given names, whereby the colloquial names differ from the official names:
- UTC-8: Tiempo del Pacífico ( Pacific Time , corresponds to English Pacific Time ), officially Zona Noroeste ( Northwestern Zone )
- UTC-7: Tiempo de la Montaña ( Mountain Time , equivalent to English Mountain Time ), officially Zona Pacífico ( Pacific time zone )
- UTC-6: Tiempo del Centro ( Central Time , corresponds to English Central Time ), officially Zona Centro ( Central Zone )
- All other states and the federal district
- UTC-5: Tiempo del Sureste ( southeast time , corresponds to English Eastern Time ), officially Zona Sureste ( southeast zone )
The last major change was in 1998 when the state of Chihuahua moved from the central zone to the Tiempo de la Montaña , and in 2015 when the new Tiempo del Sureste was introduced in the state of Quintana Roo .
Unlike in other countries with as many or more time zones, there is no custom in Mexico to differentiate between them. This is in large part due to the centralization of the country, as well as the fact that most of the country is in the central zone and the majority of the population (who are often unaware of the existence of other time zones) live there. The television programs broadcast nationwide, for example, are only announced after Tiempo del Centro .
Summertime
From the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October there has been daylight saving time in Mexico since 1996, with the clocks being put forward one hour, i.e. UTC-8 becomes UTC-7, UTC-7 becomes UTC-6, UTC-6 becomes UTC- 5.
Before 1996, California- based Baja California was the only state with daylight saving time; this had been common for decades. There are exceptions, however, especially the state of Sonora, which is based on Arizona , where there is (for the most part) no daylight saving time and which therefore remains in UTC-7 all year round . The state of Quintana Roo uses UTC-5 year round .
The islands of the Revillagigedo Group do not use daylight saving time either. The islands of Socorro , San Benedicto and Roca Partida , like Sonora, remain in zone UTC-7 all year round . The island of Clarión uses UTC-8 all year round , but is uninhabited except for a small military garrison.
Strictly speaking, there are five time zones in Mexico all year round.