# Any time zones with no inhabited lands in them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801 "2009-01-30T23:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/1 "2009-01-30T23:38:12Z")
I thought Time Zone 2 West might qualify, but then I noticed it contains South Georgia island. [sub]stupid researchers[/sub] Associated question: Which country and/or region is in a time zone most out of sync with it’s natural solar time? [Time Zone map](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Timezones2008.png) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/2 "2009-01-30T23:42:07Z")
2 West also cuts across part of Brazil, so That fails on two counts. That cape may not be densely populated, but I know there are some people living on it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/3 "2009-01-30T23:45:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 2 West also cuts across part of Brazil, so That fails on two counts. That cape may not be densely populated, but I know there are some people living on it. Yes, but that part of Brazil is not in Time Zone 2. It’s in Time Zone 3 to the west. Time zones are inconstant things, their boundaries shifted east and west to meet political and social expediencies… ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/4 "2009-01-30T23:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan;10765755I Associated question: Which country and/or region is in a time zone most out of sync with it’s natural solar time?] [Time Zone map](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Timezones2008.png) [/QUOTE] Some of that “China Zone,” no? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/5 "2009-01-31T00:04:10Z")
Well, Rod Serling has his own all to himself. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/6 "2009-01-31T00:12:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I thought Time Zone 2 West might qualify, but then I noticed it contains South Georgia island. > [sub]stupid researchers[/sub] > > … It apparently also contains [Fernando de Noronha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_de_Noronha), which, for some reason doesn’t just use the same time zone as the Brazilian mainland. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/7 "2009-01-31T00:21:24Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > It apparently also contains [Fernando de Noronha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_de_Noronha), which, for some reason doesn’t just use the same time zone as the Brazilian mainland. Cool! I’d never noticed those islands. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/8 "2009-01-31T00:30:27Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Cool! I’d never noticed those islands. Thanks! I didn’t notice them on a map. I found this text list: > **[Time zones - Wikitravel](https://wikitravel.org/en/Time_zones)** > > Although many time zones have descriptive names used by people, they are least ambiguously identified by their relationship to UTC (Universal Time, Co-ordinated). UTC used to be called GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), after the Royal Observatory located in... ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/9 "2009-01-31T00:33:53Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > I didn’t notice them on a map. I found this text list: > > [Time zones - Wikitravel](http://wikitravel.org/en/Time_zones) Well, that link certainly answers my first question. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/10 "2009-01-31T00:35:11Z")
What I also want to know: 1/2 hour time zones are strange enough, but what odd reasoning prompts Nepal and the Chatham Islands to have 45 minute offsets? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/11 "2009-01-31T00:39:43Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > What I also want to know: > > 1/2 hour time zones are strange enough, but what odd reasoning prompts Nepal and the Chatham Islands to have 45 minute offsets? Maybe they wonder why we’re 45 minutes off of their perfectly sensible timekeeping? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/12 "2009-01-31T00:56:17Z")
BTW, it appears from that list that UTC-12 has only Baker and Howland Islands in it, neither of which has had permanent inhabitants since WWII. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/13 "2009-01-31T01:48:34Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Some of that “China Zone,” no? That’s what I’m thinking, especially in the far-west, where there’s a 3.5-hour difference at the border with Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/14 "2009-01-31T01:59:51Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > BTW, it appears from that list that UTC-12 has only Baker and Howland Islands in it, neither of which has had permanent inhabitants since WWII. I’ll have to see if there are any research stations there… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/15 "2009-01-31T02:08:21Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’ll have to see if there are any research stations there… Nope, doesn’t look like it. We’ve got a winner! ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/16 "2009-01-31T02:11:56Z")
Is’t China all in one time zone? Seems to me that I’ve read that all of China runs on Bejing time. If true it must be something of a bummer for those poor folks in the far west who have to get up a 2:30 to go to work. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/17 "2009-01-31T02:17:41Z")
> [@SandyHook](#): > > Is’t China all in one time zone? > > Seems to me that I’ve read that all of China runs on Bejing time. If true it must be something of a bummer for those poor folks in the far west who have to get up a 2:30 to go to work. > [@](#): > > For a time the People’s Congress of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, thanks to its geographical location in the westernmost part of the country, had a Ürümqi Time, which was 2 hours behind Beijing Time (UTC+6). Although the Ürümqi Time is not official, most stores and government offices in Xinjiang have modified opening hours, commonly running from 10AM to 7PM Beijing Time. Times for buses, trains, and other public transportation are often given in Xinjiang time, regardless of the ethnicity of the speaker. > **[Time in China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Standard_Time)** > > The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00, where Beijing is located, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. It is the largest sovereign nation in the world that officially observes only one time zone. > The nationwide standardized time is named Beijing Time (BJT; Chinese: 北京时间) domestically and China Standard Time (CST) internationally. Daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991. > China Standard Time (UTC+8) is consistent across Mainla... ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/18 "2009-01-31T02:20:18Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > I didn’t notice them on a map. I found this text list: > > [Time zones - Wikitravel](http://wikitravel.org/en/Time_zones) I just made a small correction to that list. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/19 "2009-01-31T02:25:11Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I just made a small correction to that list. 🙂 Recognized Kenora as being in Central Time, didja? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-time-zones-with-no-inhabited-lands-in-them/483801/20 "2009-01-31T02:29:42Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Recognized Kenora as being in Central Time, didja? 🆒 Curses! You found me out.