Time Zones and their countries
An
essay by Rubén Rivero Capriles
Rivero & Cooper, Inc. RROOPSTR
Time
zones have the function of fixing the time at any point in the planet
within just 24 hourly zones, one per each hour on the day. Due to the
roundness of Earth, all time zones begin at the North Pole, they
widen to a maximum on the Equator, and they narrow back until
converging at the South Pole. Hence their shape is similar to a
spindle or an orange cross section.
Over
a century ago every city used to have its own solar time, assigning
to the midday (12 noon) the moment when the sun would be at its
highest point or zenith. Such system brought issues concerning
railroad transit since it was not possible to publish timetables,
schedules and itineraries with precision, as cities relatively close
to each other were several solar minutes apart.
A
major legacy from the former British Empire is the widespread
adoption of the Greenwich meridian, passing through London, as the
zero meridian. The zero meridian begins at the North Pole, passes
through Greenwich and the Equator, ends at the South Pole, and
divides planet Earth in two hemispheres: Eastern and Western. Any
point on Earth nowadays is measured at a given number of degrees of
longitude East or West of Greenwich. Caracas is located 67 degrees
west of Greenwich, Asunción is 57 degrees west of Greenwich,
Djakarta is located 107 degrees East of Greenwich, and Moscow is 37
degrees East of Greenwich.
The
equator line is a circle whose distance to the North Pole is equal to
its distance to the South Pole. Unlike the zero meridian, the equator
is not an arbitrarily designed line, it is derived instead from the
Earth's rotation movement. The equator divides the Earth on two
hemispheres: South and North. Any point on Earth is measured at a
given number of degrees of latitude North or South of the Equator.
Caracas is located 10 degrees North of the Equator, Asunción is 25
degrees South of the Equator, Djakarta is located 6 degrees South of
the Equator, and Moscow is 55 degrees North of the Equator.
All
circles are divided in 360 degrees. Therefore the Earth's equator,
whose latitude is zero degrees, or any line parallel to the equator
whose latitude may reach up to ninety degrees North or South, are all
divided into 360 degrees of longitude. Each one of those degrees
represent a specific meridian which perpendicularly cuts the equator
or ant parallel of higher latitude. Hence 180 degrees are located to
the East of Greenwich, on the Eastern Hemisphere, and the remaining
180 degrees are located to the West of Greenwich, on the Western
Hemisphere.
After
dividing the 360 possible degrees between the 24 hours of the day, we
obtain that each time zone has a width of 15 degrees. Due to its
shape, the width of any time zone close to the equator is about 1,665
kilometers wide, and that width is reduced to 1,085 kilometers in
such places as central Canada, Europe or the far South of Argentina
and Chile. This is because on the equator the Earth's movement occurs
more quickly as the solar disc takes one hour to travel those 1,665
kilometers. At the higher latitudes of Canada and Chile the Earth's
movement occurs more slowly as the solar disc also takes one hour to
travel only 1,085 kilometers.
Due
to sovereign nature of nations, the limits of the time zones may be
modified upon convenience. Due to political and commercial motives,
and even because of the change in seasons, the standard 24 time zones
in practice have been increased to approximately 40. A number of
jurisdictions are ruled by intermediate time zones, differing either
half an hour or a quarter of an hour with respect to the original
time zone.
The
international date line is at the other extreme of the planet,
opposed to the Greenwich meridian. It corresponds to the 180 degrees
East meridian which is actually the same as the 180 degrees West
meridian. It is the place where East meets West and vice versa.
Ideally it corresponds to a time zone twelve hours ahead of Greenwich
(GMT+12). From now on we will refer to each time zone according to
its abbreviation: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), the plus sign and a
number corresponding to the hours and minutes ahead of the time in
Greenwich; or instead GMT, the minus sign and a number corresponding
to the hours and minutes behind the time in Greenwich.
The
Republic of Kiribati, in the middle of the equatorial Pacific Ocean,
spans three time zones due to the enormous distances between its
various atolls consisting in several tiny islands. Kiribati's
capital, Tarawa, on the Gilbert islands to the West of the country,
rests on the GMT+12 time zone. In order to unify the date throughout
the whole national territory, since 1995 the international date line
was shifted eastward, and now the Phoenix islands, to the center of
Kiribati, are located on the GMT+13 time zone and the Line islands,
in easternmost Kiribati, are on the GMT+14 time zone. Inhabitants of
the Line islands are always the first ones in the whole planet to
celebrate the arrival of the new year.
Prior
to 1995 the Phoenix islands were regimented by the GMT-11 time zone,
and the Line islands were on the GMT-10 time zone. This meant that
when in Tarawa it was 8 am on September 27, 1994, on the Phoenix
islands it was 9 am on September 26, 1994, and on the Line islands it
was 10 am on September 26, 1994. Due to the eastward shift of the
international date line within Kiribati's territorial waters,
nowadays these islands conserve their time as the previous time is
increased in 24 hours, but the date is changed to the following day,
so that the date is the same as in the capital, Tarawa. The Line
islands (GMT+14) also have the same time as the Hawaii islands
(GMT-10), as will be detailed later on, but the date in the calendar
is always one day ahead.
The
kingdom of Tonga, in Oceania, is also located on the GMT+13 time
zone. Other nations regimented bu the GMT+12 time zone are Nauru,
Tuvalu, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, as well as the U.S. island of
Wake.
The
Chatham islands, off the east coast of New Zealand, also shifted the
International Date Line forty-five minutes ahead. During the austral
winter they are on the GMT+12:45 time zone and during the austral
summer they shift further into the GMT+13:45 time zone. The rest of
New Zealand, during the austral winter, is on the GMT+12 time zone,
and during the austral summer the country forwards into the GMT+13
time zone.
Due
to its location in the Southern hemisphere, midway between the
equator and the South Pole, the difference in solar lighting between
the austral winter (from June through September) and the austral
summer (from December through March) is substantial. During the
austral winter, the sun rises approximately at 7 am and sets around 5
pm. During the austral summer in New Zealand, they advance their
clocks one hour ahead, so the sun rises at 6 am but sets at 9 pm.
This time shift ahead is mandated in order to save electricity during
the austral summer evenings.
Antarctica
is crossed by every single time zone, all of which progressively
narrow down to converge at the South Pole. The South Pole is no
longer as remote as it was during the 20th
century, there is a building for a modern U.S. scientific base where
hundreds of people live together. At the South Pole it is daylight
during the six months that elapse between October and March and it is
nighttime during the following six months between April and
September. The only noontime during the whole year happens in
December and the only midnight occurs in June. For this reason at the
South Pole it is irrelevant to choose any time zone in particular in
order to count the hours and minutes corresponding to any arbitrary
24-hour period of either continuous daylight or continuous darkness.
In spite of this, at the South Pole scientific base a convention was
adopted to adjust clocks according to the GMT+12 time zone during the
austral winter and according to the GMT+13 time zone during the
austral summer. This convention of following the New Zealand time was
adopted because the supplies transported by air to the South Pole
come from the McMurdo base on the Northeastern Antarctica coast. In
turn, the McMurdo base is directly to the South of New Zealand, the
country where those supplies are ahipped from, by either air or
ocean.
Moving
westward, the Solomon islands, the Republic of Vanuatu and the French
New Caledonia share the GMT+11 time zone during the whole year. The
Republic of Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and the U.S. islands of
Guam, Saipan and Northern Marianas share the GMT+10 time zone
throughout the whole year.
Australia
is a continent spanning three time zones. During the austral winter
(from June through September), Sydney in eastern Australia is located
on the GMT+10 time zone, Adelaide in central Australia is on GMT+9:30
and Perth in western Australia is on GMT+8. The major cities within
Central Australia are close to the boundary with the Eastern
Australia time zone, thus it was decided that they would be half an
hour behind the Pacific coast and one hour and a half ahead of the
Indian Ocean coast. In Australia clock are also forwarded one hour
ahead during the austral summer (from December through March). As a
consequence, during the austral summer Sydney forwards its time zone
into GMT+11, Adelaide in turn forwards it into GMT+10:30 and Perth
forwards it into GMT+9.
However,
in the state of Queensland in Northeastern Australia, due to its
tropical location closer to the equator, the GMT+10 time zone is
maintained throughout the whole year. Similarly, in the Northern
Territory the GMT+9:30 is maintained all year long.
In
Japan, North Korea and South Korea, in the Northern hemisphere, they
are always set nine hours ahead of Greenwich (GMT+9). In these
countries clocks are not forwarded one hour ahead during the boreal
summer (from June to September); instead, they maintain their time
zone corresponding to the boreal winter (from December through March)
throughout the whole year. Thus all year long they share the GMT+9
time zone with Southern hemisphere locations such as the Democratic
Republic of Timor and the western section of the island of New Guinea
which belongs to the Republic of Indonesia.
The
time zone that regiments the greatest amount of population is GMT+8
by far. Billions of people living in such densely populated locations
as Brunei, the central islands of Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau,
Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Mongolia and the
People's Republic of China share this time zone.
China
is a country which theoretically could span four time zones due to
its enormous territory. However, the entire country is regimented by
the time zone that corresponds to its easternmost part, eight hours
ahead of Greenwich (GMT+8). In this area are located its most
populous cities. Similarly to Japan, China does not observe boreal
summer daylight savings time.
In
Tibet, located in western China, during the boreal winter the sun
rises at 9 am and sets at 7 pm. During the boreal summer in Tibet the
sun rises at 7 am and sets at 9 pm. In Shanghai, located in Eastern
China, during the boreal winter the sun rises at 7 am and sets at 5
pm. During the boreal summer in Shanghai the sun rises at 5 am and
sets at 7 pm.
Most
of Southeast Asia uses the GMT+7 time zone, including Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand, Vietnam and the islands of Java and Sumatra in Western
Indonesia. The neighboring Myanmar uses the GMT+6:30 time zone.
Bangladesh, Bhutan and eastern Kazakhstan are regimented bu the GMT+6
time zone, while Nepal uses the GMT+5:45 time zone.
India's
case is similar to China's. The official time is five and a half
hours ahead of Greenwich for the whole country during the entire year
(GMT+5:30). Due to the extensiveness of its territory, there are also
wide differences between the time of sunrise and sunset if we are
located in eastern cities such as Calcutta, where sunrise and sunset
occur earlier; or if we travel westward towards Bombay, where sunrise
and sunset occur later.
In
Pakistan during the boreal winter the GMT+5 time zone is used, and
during the boreal summer it is forwarded ahead to GMT+6. In this
exceptional case despite traveling westward the clock is forwarded.
Even though Pakistan is located to the West of India, Pakistan is
half an hour ahead of India during the boreal summer. The Republics
of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as
Western Kazakhstan use the GMT+5 time zone during the whole year. The
Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan also use it during the boreal
summer. During the boreal winter both Republics switch their clocks
back to GMT+4.
Russia,
the world's largest country, is spanned by eleven time zones, all of
which are narrow due to Russia's geographic location close to the
North Pole. In Moscow the boreal winter time is GMT+3, and the boreal
summer time is forwarded ahead to GMT+4. In Vladivostok the boreal
winter time is GMT+10 and the boreal summer time is forwarded ahead
to GMT+11. The variations of the sunlight period depending on the
seasons are quite noticeable; however, due to the quite rigid
compliance to the time zone boundaries, unlike India or China, the
Russian noontime generally occurs between 1 pm and 2 pm official
time. This is due to the fact that Russia decided to add, on average,
an extra hour to each of its original time zones during the boreal
winter. Russia consequently decided to add, on average, two extra
hours to each of its original time zones during the boreal summer.
The
trend for many countries to forward their clocks ahead of their
original time zones, we may recall, is due to many people's desire to
postpone sunset time in order to save energy during those early
evening hours. As a consequence, an artificially late sunrise is
noxious for children who must wake up early and travel to school in
darkness.
It
is interesting to notice that during the boreal summer, the city of
Vladivostok (GMT+11), in Easternmost Russia, is two hours ahead of
Japan (GMT+9), and during the boreal winter Vladivostok (GMT+10) is
one hour ahead of Japan (GMT+9). This fact is curious if we observe
that Vladivostok is to the west of Japan, so we would have expected
that this part of Russia would be behind the Japanese time zone. We
should remind ourselves that it is not an official policy in Japan to
forward the clocks ahead for energy savings reasons.
When
comparing the summer and winter times between the Northern and
southern hemispheres, we may also notice a few curious facts. For
example, during December Vladivostok (GMT+10) is one hour behind
Sydney (GMT+11), and during June Vladivostok (GMT+11) is one hour
ahead of Sydney (GMT+10). This is due to the fact that the boreal
summer occurs simultaneously with the austral winter, and conversely
the austral summer occurs along the boreal winter.
Iran
and Afghanistan both share the GMT+4:30 time zone. However, Iran
forwards its clocks one hour ahead (GMT+5:30) during the boreal
summer. We also observe here the peculiar case that during the boreal
summer, in Iran the time is ahead of Afghanistan's, even though Iran
is located to the West of Afghanistan.
In
the Arabian peninsula, the countries to the East such as Oman and the
United Arab Emirates share the GMT+4 time zone. The former Soviet
Republic of Georgia also uses the GMT+4 time zone during the whole
year.
The
rest of the Arabian peninsula, including Bahrein, Qatar, Yemen and
Saudi Arabia, shares the GMT+3 time zone. Further North, the
Republics of Irak and Kuwait also share the GMT+3 time zone. None of
these countries observes boreal summer daylight savings time.
Neuralgic
points in the Middle East such as Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine
and Jordan also share during the winter the GMT+3 time zone in
accordance with the rest of the region. However, during the boreal
summer the forward their clocks one hour ahead and located themselves
on the GMT+4 time zone. This situation, as we previously observed, is
identical as in Moscow, Russia.
Due
to the presence of the equatorial line on African soil, almost all of
the continent is regimented by uniform time zones throughout the
year. Only Egypt (GMT+2) and Tunisia (GMT+1) observe the boreal
winter time while Namibia (GMT+2) observes the austral summer time.
During the other half of the year, Egypt (GMT+3) and Tunisia (GMT+2)
observe the boreal summer time while Namibia (GMT+1) observes the
austral winter time.
The
majority of East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Djibouti, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar and the eastern portion
of the Democratic Republic of Congo) is regimented the whole year by
the GMT+3 time zone. Most of Central Africa (Angola, the Western
portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo,
Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, the Central African republic,
Nigeria, Benin, Chad and Algeria) switch directly their clocks two
hours behind towards the GMT+1 time zone during the whole year. That
is, when crossing the border between some countries in Central Africa
and East Africa, the clock must be adjusted for two hours instead of
one, as it would be usual.
The
intermediate time zone in Africa is GMT+2, and takes a hold
throughout the year only in Southernmost countries such as Malawi,
Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and the Republic of
South Africa. Finally, countries in West Africa such as Togo, Ghana,
the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau,
Burkina Faso, Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Western Sahara and
Morocco share with Greenwich the base time zone GMT+0.
Due
to its small territory, Europe is spanned by just three time zones.
All European countries observe boreal winter time and an additional
hour during the boreal summer. Easternmost Europe (Finland, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria,
Greece, Turkey and Cyprus) all share with Egypt the GMT+2 time zone
during the boreal winter and the GMT+3 time zone during the boreal
summer. Another valid comparison would be that these countries during
the boreal winter share their time zone with the Southern African
countries and during the boreal summer they share their time zone
with most Arabian peninsula countries.
Almost
all countries in Western, Central and Eastern Europe share with
Tunisia the GMT+1 time zone during the boreal winter and GMT+2 during
the boreal summer. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia, the
Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, Italy,
the Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany,
the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Andorra and
peninsular Spain, including the Balearic islands, share their time
zone with Southern Africa (GMT+2) during the boreal summer and they
share their time zone with Central Africa (GMT+1) during the boreal
winter.
Only
the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal along with the Madeira islands,
and Spain's Canary islands are regimented during the boreal summer by
the base time zone GMT+0, but during the boreal summer they forward
their time zone ahead to GMT+1. Therefore, these three countries
share their time zone with the countries of Western Africa (GMT+0)
during the boreal winter and these three countries share their time
zone with the countries of Central Africa (GMT+1) during the boreal
summer. Iceland, in turn, is regimented by GMT+0 during the whole
year as is the case of Western Africa.
The
following time zones belong to islands located on the Atlantic Ocean.
GMT-1 is used in Cape Verde throughout the year, as well as in the
Azores islands and easternmost Greenland during the boreal winter.
The Azores islands and easternmost Greenland forward their time zone
ahead to GMT+0 during the boreal summer. The South Sandwich islands,
as well as the Brazilian island Fernando de Noronha, are located on
the GMT-2 time zone, as well as most of Greenland during the boreal
summer. During the boreal winter, most of Greenland switches its
clocks back toward the GMT-3 time zone. The island of Newfoundland
during the boreal winter is on the GMT-3:30 time zone and during the
boreal summer forwards its clocks ahead towards the GMT-2:30 time
zone.
Southeastern
Brazil is the country's most populous region. During the austral
summer they are on the GMT-2 time zone. There are located Sao Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre and Brasilia. During the austral winter
their clocks are switched back one hour in order to arrive to the
GMT-3 time zone. During the austral summer Southeastern Brazil
(GMT-2) is two hours behind the United Kingdom, which in turn is
experiencing the boreal winter time zone. As seasons are opposite in
the Southern and Northern hemispheres, during the austral winter
Southernmost Brazil (GMT-3) is four hours behind the United Kingdom
(GMT+1), which in turn is experiencing its boreal summer time zone.
Northeastern
Brazil maintains its GMT-3 time zone throughout the whole year. There
are located Salvador de Bahia, Recife, Fortaleza and Belém. The
Republic of Suriname and the French Overseas Department of Guyane
also share this GMT-3 time zone. Northwestern Brazil, bordering
Venezuela, Colombia and Peru maintains the GMT-4 time zone throughout
the whole year. There are located the cities of Boa Vista, Manaus and
Rio Branco. Southwestern Brazil, specifically the states of Mato
Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as the Republic of Paraguay,
observe the GMT-4 time zone during the austral winter and they
forward their time zone ahead to GMT-3 during the austral summer.
The
province of San Luis in Argentina uses the GMT-4 time zone during the
austral winter. That is the only part of the country where the solar
time corresponds with the official time set for the time zone. During
the austral summer clocks in San Luis are forwarded one hour ahead
towards GMT-3. The rest of the provinces in Western Argentina use the
GMT-3 throughout the whole year, which results in the solar noontime
occurring around 1 pm. The most densely populated part of Argentina,
to the East, as well as the Eastern Republic of Uruguay use the GMT-3
time zone during the austral winter and forward their clocks toward
the GMT-2 time zone during the austral summer. As a consequence,
solar noontime in the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo during
the austral summer really occurs around 2 pm.
In
Chile the time zone coincides exactly with San Luis Province in
Argentina. They are both regimented by GMT-4 during the austral
winter and by GMT-3 during the austral summer. However, since Chile
is to the west of Argentina, the solar noontime in Chile is analogous
to that of Buenos Aires, because the sun reaches its zenith at 1 pm
during the austral winter and at 2 pm during the austral summer. Both
in Chile and Argentina these clock forwarding policies are motivated
by energy savings issues. Easter Island, a Chilean territory on the
Pacific Ocean, is always two hours behind continental Chile,
therefore they are regimented by the GMT-6 time zone during the
austral winter and during the austral summer they are regimented by
the GMT-5 time zone.
The
Republics of Bolivia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and
Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Dominican Republic; as well
as Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles of Curacao, Bonaire and Saint
Marteen; the French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe ans
Martinique; the British possessions of Montserrat, Anguila and the
British Virgin Islands; the U.S. associated commonwealth of Puerto
Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all share the GMT-4 time zone
throughout the whole year. The Atlantic Provinces of Canada, as well
as the British posession of Bermuda also use this time zone during
the boreal winter, but they forward their clocks ahead towards the
GMT-3 time zone during the boreal summer.
The
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has established its legal time the
one corresponding to the GMT-4:30 time zone. This happens because the
67 degrees and 30 minutes meridian West of Greenwich, which
constitutes the ideal boundary between the GMT-4 and GMT-5 time
zones, happens to divide our national territory in two almost equal
halves. Therefore the solar time at the Center of the country is now
quite similar to the legal time. In Caracas the solar noontime
happens at around 11:55 am. throughout the year. We have already
noticed that this case is not a common occurrence in the rest of the
planet, where there is a widespread tendency to shift most time zones
eastwards. In Eastern Venezuela the solar time does not exceed being
half an hour ahead of the legal time, and in Western Venezuela the
solar time does not exceed being half an hour behind of the legal
time. Due to the country's proximity to the equatorial line, the
difference in sunlight between the various months of the year is
small, therefore a forwarding of the legal time is not justified for
energy savings reasons.
The
Republics of Colombia (including the San Andrés archipel), Ecuador,
Peru, Panama, Haiti and Jamaica, as well as the British possession of
the Cayman islands, all share the GMT-5 time zone throughout the
year. The Republics of Cuba and the Bahamas, as well as the British
possession of Turks & Caicos and Eastern United States of America
and Eastern Canada all share the GMT-5 time zone during the boreal
winter and forward ahead to GMT-4 during the boreal summer.
The
Republics of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala
and Belice, as well as the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan, all
share the GMT-6 time zone throughout the year. Most of the Mexican
United States, the Central United States of America, the provinces of
Manitoba and the Western portion of Ontario in Canada also use the
GMT-6 time zone during the boreal winter and forward their clocks one
hour ahead towards GMT-5 during the boreal summer.
The
Mexican state of Sonora and the U.S. state of Arizona maintain the
GMT-7 time zone throughout the year. The Mexican states of Nayarit,
Sinaloa, South Lower California and Chihuahua, the U.S. states close
to the Rocky Mountains with the previously mentioned exception of
Arizona, the Canadian province of Alberta and the easternmost portion
of British Columbia and the Canadian Northwest Territories all share
the GMT-7 time zone during the boreal winter and forward their clocks
ahead towards the GMT-6 time zone during the boreal summer.
The
British possession of the Pitcairn islands on the Pacific Ocean uses
the GMT-8 time zone throughout the year. The Mexican State of Lower
California, the U.S. Pacific coast and Nevada, most of the Canadian
province of British Columbia and the Canadian territory of Yukon all
share the GMT-8 time zone during the boreal winter and they forward
their clocks one hour ahead toward GMT-7 during the boreal summer.
The
archipelago of the Gambier islands, within French Polynesia uses the
GMT-9 time zone throughout the year. The U.S. state of Alaska
(excepting the Aleutian islands) uses the GMT-9 time zone during the
boreal winter and forward their clocks one hour ahead to the GMT-8
time zone during the boreal summer. The Marquesas islands, also
belonging to French Polynesia, use the GMT-9:30 time zone throughout
the year.
The
French Polynesia islands of Tahiti and Bora-Bora, the New Zealand
islands of Cook and Tokelau, and the insular U.S. state of Hawaii all
share the GMT-10 time zone throughout the year. The Aleutian islands
of Alaska also use the GMT-10 time zone during the boreal winter and
forward their clocks one hour ahead towards the GMT-9 time zone
during the boreal summer.
Before
crossing again the international date line, we finally arrive to the
last established time zone, GMT-11. No other part of the world has
its date and time any earlier. In this area of the Pacific Ocean,
the U.S, islands of Midway and Samoa, as well as the New Zealand
island of Niue, share this time zone throughout the year. These
islands are close to the Phoenix islands in Kiribati (GMT+13). When
in Midway, Samoa and Niue it is April 22nd at 2:30 pm, on
Kiribati's Phoenix islands, as well as in the Kingdom of Tonga, it is
also 2:30 pm. but the date is one day ahead, on April 23rd.
In
our today's globalized world, we can see the differences between all
the aforementioned time zones as an opportunity to distribute the
time in the whole planet to the benefit of the entire humanity. For
example, the software creation teams in California (GMT-8 or GMT-7,
according to the season), during the early evening communicate with
their colleagues in Bangalore (GMT+5:30) while in India it is early
in the morning, so they may exchange information. Then the Indian
engineers follow up on the work and meet again through
teleconferencing at the end of the afternoon with the Californians,
who are in turn arriving to their workplace in the morning. Thus many
companies may double up their productivity because their global
workforce is on duty 24 hours a day. While some people are resting,
the others are perfecting the task and pass the baton again every 12
hours.
Due
to Venezuela's geographic location, the most convenient schedule for
us to communicate with Europe, Africa and the Middle East is during
the morning, since our remote partners are working their afternoon
shift. The most convenient time for us to communicate with Western
North America is during our afternoon time, because for them it is
the late morning. Our communication with Oceania is optimized when
the sun is setting for us, because it is already the mid morning for
Oceanians. Our communication with East Asia is more challenging, we
must plan our conferences with them either during our sunrise, when
the Sun has already set for East Asians; or alternatively we must
wait until our evening when in East Asia the Sun is just rising. Even
though adapting our local schedule for global relationships may
proved uncomfortable, the benefits we reap through an interconnected
world are worth the effort of transcending different time zones,
climates, languages and cultures.
Rubén
Rivero Capriles
Spanish
original completed in Caracas, on April 23, 2009.
English
translation completed by the author in Caracas, on July 14, 2009.
Rivero & Cooper, Inc. RROOPSTR