This article is about the time zone with daylight change in Europe. For the static time zone, see UTC+02.
Time in Europe:
Light colours indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colours indicate where a summer time is observed.
| light blue | Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) |
| blue | Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) Western European Summer Time (UTC+1) |
| red | Central European Time (UTC+1) Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) |
| yellow | Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2) |
| golden | Eastern European Time (UTC+2) Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) |
| light green | Further-eastern European Time (UTC+3) |
Time in Africa
Light colors indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colors indicate where daylight savings is observed.
Note: The islands of Cape Verde are to the west of the African mainland.
Light colors indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colors indicate where daylight savings is observed.
Note: The islands of Cape Verde are to the west of the African mainland.
Time in the Middle East
Light colors indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colors indicate where daylight savings is observed.
Light colors indicate where standard time is observed all year; dark colors indicate where daylight savings is observed.
Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the names of UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight savings time, so that it uses UTC+03:00 during the summer.
A number of African countries use UTC+02:00 all year long, where it is called Central Africa Time (CAT), although Egypt and Libya also use the term Eastern European Time[citation needed].
Contents
Usage[edit]
The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time all year round:
- Egypt, since 21 April 2015; used EEST from 1988–2010 and 2014–15.
- Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia), since 26 October 2014; also used EET in years 1945 and 1991–2011. See also Kaliningrad Time.
- Libya, since 27 October 2013; switched from Central European Time, which was used in 2012. Used year-round EET from 1980–1981, 1990–1996 and 1998–2012.
The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time during the winter only:
- Bulgaria, since 1894
- Cyprus
- Estonia, in years 1921–40 and since 1990
- Finland, since 1921
- Greece, since 1916
- Israel, since 1948 (see also Israel Standard Time)
- Jordan
- Latvia, in years 1926–40 and since 1990
- Lebanon
- Lithuania, in 1920–40 and since 1990 with break 1998–1999
- Moldova, in years 1918–40, 1941–44 and since 1991
- Palestinian territories
- Romania
- Syria
- Ukraine, in years 1922–30 and since 1990[1]
The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time in the past:
- Moscow used EET in years 1922–30 and 1991–92.
- Belarus, in years 1922–30 and 1990–2011[2]
- In Poland this time was used in years 1918–22.
- In time of World War II, Germany implemented MET (CET) in east occupied territories.
- Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol used EET as part of Ukraine in years 1991-94 and 1996-2014
- Turkey, used EET in years 1910-1978 and re-used it again in years 1985-2016. Now uses year round DST timezone called Turkey Time (TRT). The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also uses TRT.
Sometimes, due to its use on Microsoft Windows,[3] FLE Standard Time (for Finland, Lithuania, Estonia,[4] or sometimes Finland, Latvia, Estonia[5]) or GTB Standard Time (for Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria) are used to refer to Eastern European Time.
Anomalies[edit]
Since political, in addition to purely geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones, it follows that actual time zones do not precisely adhere to meridian lines. The EET (UTC+2) time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 22°30' E and 37°30' E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" UTC+2 time, actually use another time zone; likewise, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+2, even though their "physical" time zone is different from that. Following is a list of such anomalies:
Areas located outside UTC+2 longitudes using Eastern European Time (UTC+2) time[edit]
| Colour | Legal time vs local mean time |
|---|---|
| 1 h ± 30 m behind | |
| 0 h ± 30 m | |
| 1 h ± 30 m ahead | |
| 2 h ± 30 m ahead | |
| 3 h ± 30 m ahead |
Areas west of 22°30' E ("physical" UTC+1) that use UTC+2[edit]
- The westernmost part of Greece, including the cities of Patras and Ioannina, and the Ionian Islands
- The very westernmost parts of the Bulgarian provinces of Vidin and Kyustendil
- The westernmost part of Romania, including most of the area of the counties of Caraș-Severin, Timiș (capital Timișoara), Arad, and Bihor, as well as the westernmost tips of the counties of Mehedinţi and Satu Mare
- The extreme westernmost tip of Ukraine, near the border with Hungary and Slovakia, at the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), essentially comprising the city of Uzhhorod and its environs
- Western Lithuania, including the cities of Klaipėda, Tauragė, and Telšiai
- Western Latvia, including the cities of Liepāja and Ventspils
- The westernmost parts of the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, including the capital of the Saare County, Kuressaare
- The southwestern coast of Finland, including the city of Turku; also the Åland islands (of Finnish jurisdiction) – the Åland islands are the westernmost locale applying EET in the whole of Europe
Areas east of 37°30' E ("physical" UTC+3) that use UTC+2[edit]
- The easternmost part of Ukraine, including the cities of Luhansk, Donetsk, and Mariupol. The town of Milove, Luhansk Oblast, on the Ukrainian-Russian border, is the easternmost city in geographical Europe that applies UTC+2
Areas located within UTC+2 longitudes (22°30' E – 37°30' E) using other time zones[edit]
Areas that use UTC+1[edit]
These areas have sunrises and sunsets at least half an hour earlier than places on the UTC+1 meridian.
- The easternmost part of the Republic of Macedonia, including the city of Strumica.
- The absolutely easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, including the city of Pirot.
- The extreme easternmost tips of Hungary and Slovakia, bordering to the north and south respectively the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), a bit to the east of the Vásárosnamény, Hungary – Uzhhorod, Ukraine (both at 22°18' E) line
- The easternmost part of Poland, including the cities of Lublin and Białystok
- The extreme northeast of Sweden, in the Norrbotten province, including the cities of Kalix and Haparanda
- The northeast of Norway, lying north of Finland, roughly coinciding with the county of Finnmark. Actually, the easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51' E, which is located east of even of the central meridian of UTC+2, i.e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The Norwegian-Russian border is the only place where CET (UTC+1/+2) borders Moscow time (UTC+3), resulting in a one (or two in winter) hour time change when crossing that border. There is a "tri-zone" point (where UTC+1, UTC+2, and UTC+3 meet) at the Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint, near the town of Rayakoski.
Areas that use UTC+3[edit]
- Belarus is located between 23°11′E and 32°47′E and is thus fully located with the physical UTC+2 area, but it uses UTC+3 year around.
- Practically all European Russia west of Moscow; this includes the chunk of land from Murmansk all the way south to Belgorod, including the cities of St. Petersburg, Novgorod, and Pskov, to name only a few. (The westernmost point of contiguous Russia, near Lavry, Pskov Oblast, 27°19' E, is actually the westernmost point in European Russia where UTC+3 is applied.) This also includes the city of Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, at 37°22' E.
- Western Turkey.
Tripoints and borders between zones[edit]
- The Norway–Russia–Finland "tri-zone" point at Muotkavaara (see Central European Time) is surrounded by three different times in winter, two in summer. It had three time zones year-around before 2014.
- Two of the four tripoints of Belarus and the tripoint of the Kaliningrad Region are surrounded by three different times in winter.
Major metropolitan areas[edit]
Winter only
- Aleppo, Syria
- Amman, Jordan
- Athens, Greece
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Brașov, Romania
- Bucharest, Romania
- Chișinău, Moldova
- Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Constanța, Romania
- Damascus, Syria
- Daugavpils, Latvia
- Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
- Gaza
- Helsinki, Finland
- Iași, Romania
- Jerusalem, Israel
- Kharkiv, Ukraine
- Kyiv, Ukraine
- Nicosia, Cyprus
- Odessa, Ukraine
- Oradea, Romania
- Ramallah, West Bank
- Riga, Latvia
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Tallinn, Estonia
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- Thessaloniki, Greece
- Timișoara, Romania
- Varna, Bulgaria
- Vilnius, Lithuania
Year round
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Benghazi, Libya
- Cairo, Egypt
- Giza, Egypt
- Kaliningrad, Russia
- Port Said, Egypt
- Tripoli, Libya
References[edit]
- ^ Ukraine to return to standard time on Oct. 30 (updated) Archived October 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Eternal Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Belarus".
- ^ "TimeZone". Microsoft.
- ^ "Foreign Legal Entity". TheFreeDictionary.com.
- ^ "Finland Latvia Estonia Time". TheFreeDictionary.com.