directions for finding times
from the time zone tables

Time zone tables are provided for the following regions:

• Africa
• Asia
• Central America and the Caribbean
• Europe
• Middle East
• North America
• Pacific
• South America

In each of the tables:

• The second column gives the number of hours difference between UTC and local time. For practical purposes, in winter UTC is the same as clock time in Greenwich, England.
• The third column shows whether daylight saving time is used in the area. If a number appears in the third column, it is the difference between UTC and the local time in that area's summer, or during the period specified. Remember that the seasons reverse at the Equator; summer in Argentina is winter in Russia, and vice versa.

To find the current time at another location

1. Convert the time where you are to 24-hour time.

It's easier to do these calculations in 24-hr time, instead of using am and pm. Change your local time to 24-hr time by adding 12 if it's past noon. Two pm, for example, would become 14:00.

2. Convert the time where you are to UTC.

Find your own location in a table. Subtract the number in the second column (or the third column, if it's summer) from your local time. 

Example: Suppose you live in Greenland and it's 14:00. The table says -3. Subtracting a negative number is the same as adding, so subtracting -3 from 14:00 gives 17:00.  Now you know what the UTC time is right now.

3. Add to the UTC time.

Find the location in a table. Add the number in the second column (or the third column, if it's summer and ) to the UTC time.

Let's say one wants to know the time in New South Wales in Australia. The table says +10, or +11 if it's between October and March. Let's say it's June, so we add 10 to 17:00, and get 27:00.

This is more than 24:00, so it's already the next day in New South Wales.  Subtract 24:00, and see that it's 3 am there.

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Last revised: 5 May 2008.