Timezones on Earth - How timezone offsets are calculated?

Timezones on Earth - How timezone offsets are calculated?

   August 11, 2018       Chandrashekhar

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Have you ever wondered what is UTC + 05:30, UTC + 08:00, etc. in Timezone settings in computer?

In above image, UTC stands for Universal Time Coordinated. UTC term is often interchanged with GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

Here are the steps with examples telling how time zones have been created. 

1.)   Our Mother Earth is divided into 360 longitudinal degrees. 


2.)   The Earth completes its rotation in 24 hours. 1 day = 24 hours.

3.)   In terms of longitudinal degrees, a day, 24 hours is considered completed when the Earth completes 360 degrees rotation around its own axis. Hence, we can say, 

24 hours = 360 degrees 

If we divide 360 degrees by 24 hours, we get the "degrees present in 1 hour". 

Hence, 1 hour = 15 degrees. 

Example : GMT or UTC is at 0 degrees. 

How come Indian Timezone aka Indian Standard Time (IST) is at offset UTC + 5:30?

Explanation :

Politically accepted standard longitudinal degrees for India is 82.5 degrees. 

As already mentioned above, 

1 hour = 15 degrees
Then, 82.5 degrees = ? Offset hours 

Offset hours = longitudinal degrees for any place / 15 degrees

Offset hours = 82.5 (degrees for India) / 15
Offset hours = 5.5 hours ( 5:30 ) 

Hence IST = UTC + 5:30 hours. 

Similarly, we can calculate Timezone offset for any country if we know the longitudinal degrees for that country and vice versa. 

To get the standard longitudinal degrees for any country from its offset, use following formula. 

Longitudinal degrees = offset * 15 degrees. 

Indian longitude degrees = 5.5 * 15 = 82.5 degrees 


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