UPSC Prelims 2025 Q76: Countries With Most Time Zones — Explained

Consider the following countries:

I. United Kingdom

II. Denmark

III. New Zealand

IV. Australia

V. Brazil

How many of the above countries have more than four time zones?

  1. All the five
  2. Only four
  3. Only three
  4. Only two

Answer: (b) Only four

Statement-wise explanation

  • I: correct — The United Kingdom uses nine standard times once its overseas territories are counted. They run from UTC−8 (Pitcairn Islands) through UTC−5 (Cayman Islands), UTC−4 (Bermuda, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat), UTC−3 (Falklands), UTC−2 (South Georgia), UTC+0 (Great Britain), UTC+1 (Gibraltar) and UTC+2 (Akrotiri and Dhekelia) to UTC+6 (British Indian Ocean Territory). Nine is well above four.
  • II: correct — Denmark gets its time zones from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, not from the small mainland, which is on UTC+1. Standard country lists have long given the Kingdom of Denmark five zones: UTC−4 (Pituffik), UTC−3 (Nuuk), UTC−1 (Ittoqqortoormiit), UTC+0 (Danmarkshavn, Faroe Islands) and UTC+1 (Denmark). The official key counts Denmark this way. Greenland changed its clocks in 2023–24, though, which cuts the current count to four (see the answer note).
  • III: correct — The Realm of New Zealand has five standard times. These are UTC+12 (main islands), UTC+12:45 (Chatham Islands), UTC+13 (Tokelau), UTC−10 (Cook Islands) and UTC−11 (Niue). The realm crosses the International Date Line, which is why its offsets fall on both sides of UTC.
  • IV: correct — The mainland alone has three standard zones: Western (UTC+8), Central (UTC+9:30) and Eastern (UTC+10). External territories add more: Heard and McDonald Islands (UTC+5), Cocos (Keeling) Islands (UTC+6:30), Christmas Island (UTC+7), Lord Howe Island (UTC+10:30) and Norfolk Island (UTC+11). That makes eight, or nine with the informal UTC+8:45 used around Eucla, so well above four.
  • V: incorrect — Brazil has exactly four standard times. These are UTC−2 (Fernando de Noronha and other Atlantic islands), UTC−3 (Brasília time, used by most of the population), UTC−4 (Amazonas and most of the west) and UTC−5 (Acre). The question asks for more than four, so Brazil, the largest country in the list by area, does not qualify.

How to eliminate

The trap is to think of time zones as a matter of land width. Brazil is by far the largest of the five countries by area, but it stops at exactly four zones. The UK, Denmark and New Zealand are small at home but spread across the globe through overseas territories and dependencies. Once you know that overseas territories count, the UK (the old empire's scattered islands) and Australia (three mainland zones plus external islands) clearly pass. That rules out the 'only two' option. Brazil, with no overseas territories, cannot exceed four, which rules out 'all the five'. The choice between three and four then depends on knowing the counts for Denmark (Greenland) and New Zealand (Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Chatham). No word trick settles it; you must remember the figures. Learn this list: France 12, Russia 11, USA 11, UK 9, Australia 8–9, New Zealand 5, Denmark 5 in older lists (4 after Greenland's 2023–24 changes), Brazil 4. Also read the threshold exactly. 'More than four' excludes a country with exactly four.

Know more

Why small countries can have many time zones

A time zone is a political choice, not just a 15°-of-longitude strip. A country's count includes every standard time it uses, at home and in its overseas territories. So the countries with the most zones are former colonial powers with islands scattered across the oceans, not the widest countries.

Country Standard time zones Where they come from
France 12 Overseas territories from French Polynesia (UTC−10) to Wallis and Futuna (UTC+12)
Russia 11 One continuous landmass, UTC+2 to UTC+12
USA 11 Mainland, Alaska, Hawaii, Pacific and Caribbean territories
United Kingdom 9 British Overseas Territories, UTC−8 to UTC+6
Australia 8–9 Three mainland zones plus external island territories
New Zealand 5 Chatham Islands, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau
Denmark 4–5 Greenland and the Faroe Islands
Brazil 4 Mainland plus Atlantic islands

Two useful contrasts

  • China spans about 60° of longitude (in principle about four 15° zones), yet uses one time, UTC+8. Large width does not always mean many zones.
  • India spans about 30° of longitude but keeps one time, IST (UTC+5:30), set by the 82°30'E meridian. Whether to add a second zone for the north-east is a recurring debate.

Non-hour offsets add to the count. Examples include India (+5:30), Australia's Central zone (+9:30) and the Chatham Islands (+12:45). Zone boundaries also change over time. Greenland moved most of its territory to UTC−2 in 2023 and brought Ittoqqortoormiit onto the same time in 2024.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Time zone: The whole question rests on what counts as a separate time zone for a country, including its overseas territories.
  • Standard time: Each distinct standard time a country uses, at home or overseas, adds one to its time-zone count.
  • Half-hour and quarter-hour time zones: Offsets such as UTC+9:30 and UTC+12:45 count as separate zones and raise some countries' totals.
  • International Date Line: Some realms in the list have territories on both sides of the date line, which widens their range of offsets.
  • China's single time zone: China shows that land width alone does not decide a country's number of time zones.

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