Time zones in the United States
The size of the United States of America is expressed in its eleven time zones (9 established by law and 2 in use). The time in a time zone is called Standard Time . In states that switch to daylight saving time, this is known as Daylight Saving Time .
Time zones on the contiguous mainland area
There are four time zones in the contiguous mainland United States:
- In the east, from the coast inland to the Great Lakes and Appalachians , the Eastern Standard Time Zone (EST), UTC − 5 , is six hours behind Central European Time (CET).
- From Chicago , the Central Standard Time Zone (CST), UTC − 6 , extends west to Texas and the Great Plains . The difference to CET is minus seven hours.
- Eight hours behind CET includes the Mountain Standard Time Zone (MST), UTC − 7 , the Rocky Mountains and the southwestern states.
- The Pacific Standard Time Zone (PST), UTC − 8 , nine hours behind CET applies on the west coast .
Time zones outside the contiguous mainland area
Outside the contiguous mainland area of the United States, there are five time zones established by law and two more in use:
- The Baker Island Time Zone (BIT), UTC − 12 , includes the uninhabited islands of Baker Island and Howland Island (these are also the only two land areas in the world with this time zone).
- The Samoa Standard Time Zone (SST), UTC − 11 , applies in American Samoa and the Midway Islands .
- The Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time Zone (HAST), UTC − 10 , includes Hawaii and the Outer Aleutian Islands .
- The Alaska Standard Time Zone (AKST), UTC − 9 , applies to most of the state of Alaska .
- The Atlantic Standard Time Zone (AST), UTC − 4 , applies in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands .
- The Chamorro Standard Time Zone (ChST), UTC + 10 , includes Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands .
- The Wake Island Time Zone (WAKT), UTC + 12 , applies to the Wake Atoll .
Summertime
Daylight Saving Time (DST) has started in the United States since 2007 in most US states and territories on the second Sunday in March at 2 a.m. and ends on the first Sunday in November at 2 a.m. There is no daylight saving time in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation Reservation , which changes to daylight saving time. The Hopi Nation Reservation, which is located within the Navajo Reservation, does not, however, allow daylight saving time) With). This means that Arizona has the same time as California in the summer.
development
In 1869 Charles F. Dowd campaigned for the first time to create four national time zones that largely corresponded to those used today. The proposal was largely astonishing and was rejected by the British Association for the Advancement of Sciences as "too utopian".
As recently as 1883, the United States did not have a uniform and binding national system of local time zones. On November 18, 1883, the introduction of time zones and the associated synchronization of local times took place. The decision had been promoted mainly by the national railways as part of the National Railway Time Convention . Although it was not legally binding, it met with the greatest possible response.
In individual cities - z. B. Washington - as a result of conflicts between the individual authorities, it happened that public clocks continued to show different times for years.
Due to the different time zones, the effect of western voting occurs in elections in the states .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael O'Malley: Keeping Watch: A History of American Time . Viking Penguin, New York 1990, p. 107, quoted from Bill Bryson : Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the United States . Black Swan, 1998, ISBN 0-552-99805-2 , p. 79.
- ^ Bill Bryson : Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the United States . Black Swan, 1998, ISBN 0-552-99805-2 , p. 78.
- ^ A b Bill Bryson : Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the United States , Black Swan, 1998, ISBN 0-552-99805-2 , p. 80.