tidzones

A timezone is a region of the Earth that observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. Because the Earth rotates, different parts of the Earth experience daylight at different times. To simplify timekeeping, the world is divided into timezones.

Historically, time was determined locally by the position of the sun. As travel and communication improved, this became increasingly inconvenient. The development of railways was a major catalyst for the standardization of time. In the late 19th century, major countries began to adopt standardized timezones. The International Meridian Conference in 1884 established the Prime Meridian passing through Greenwich, England, as the reference point for longitude and the basis for Universal Time.

Most timezones are offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by an integer number of hours, such as UTC+1 or UTC-5. However, some timezones have offsets of 30 or 45 minutes, such as India Standard Time (UTC+5:30) or Nepal Standard Time (UTC+5:45). The boundaries of timezones are not strictly based on longitude but often follow political or geographical borders to avoid fragmenting regions into different times.

Many regions also observe Daylight Saving Time (DST), where clocks are advanced by one hour during warmer months to make better use of daylight. This practice is not universally adopted and its implementation varies by country and region. The system of timezones aims to provide a practical framework for global timekeeping, despite its complexities.