The world’s largest country, Russia, spans 11 time zones
Recommended for Middle Grades
Did you know that when it’s 2 pm in India, it’s 9:30 am in London, UK? This is because we are in different time zones.
What is a time zone?
It is a region of Earth that has adopted the same standard time. It is usually referred to as the local time. Such zones exist because the Sun rises and sets at different times around the world.
How many time zones does the world have?
The world is divided into 24 time zones.
Russia covers 11 of the world’s 24 time zones. This is the highest number of any country. Russia is so huge that when its eastern side is in the middle of the working day, the western regions are still fast asleep.
Imagine that a mere 150 years ago the world had no such zones at all! At that time, cities had their own so-called local solar times, where midday came when the Sun reached its height.
In the earlier Russian Empire, the railroads of Russia used St Petersburg time for all schedules. Officially, Russia joined the international system of time zones only after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
The borders of the 11 time zones in the country have been revised many times over the years. In 2009, Russia even reduced them to 9. But then in 2014, they went back to 11.
Different regions of Russia
Not only that, some regions cover more than one. For example, the Yakutia region has three time zones. To make things a little easier, people in Russia often refer to Moscow time (MSK) rather than UTC and designate their time zones as MSK +1, etc. UTC or Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time.
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