Which country has the most time zones?
France has the most time zones of any country, with 12, or 13 including its claim in Antarctica. This is because of its overseas territories around the world.
Mainland France uses only one time zone, Central European Time. But France also governs overseas regions and territories such as French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Réunion, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana. These are spread across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, so together they cover 12 different time zones.
The United States and Russia each have 11 time zones when territories are included. Russia's 11 zones are all on its continuous landmass, making it the country with the most time zones in one connected area. The United Kingdom, with its overseas territories, has 9.
One time for a huge country
China is about as wide as the continental United States, which uses four main time zones, but China uses a single official time zone, Beijing Time. As a result, in far western China, the sun can rise as late as about 10 a.m. in winter.
Did You Know?
Time zones were introduced in the 1800s mainly because of railways, which needed consistent schedules. Before that, towns set their clocks by local solar time.