What countries have a surprising number of time zones? I’ll admit I often don’t think of the time zones of a given country when reading about world news. However, today’s list takes a look at countries that have far more time zones than you might expect.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-940320364-1200x675.jpg)
©iStock.com/vistoff
The DRC is a fairly large country in Africa. It starts off our list with 2 time zones, which is honestly surprising.
- UTC +01:00
- UTC +02:00
Kiribati
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock-1231235311-huge-licensed-scaled-1-1200x899.jpg)
©Kyung Muk Lim/Shutterstock.com
Kiribati is part of the region known as Oceania. You’ll also find countries like Australia and New Zealand lumped into the region. With 3 time zones, the small country has a surprising number of time zones.
- UTC +12:00
- UTC +13:00
- UTC +14:00
Chile
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock-1116349802-huge-licensed-scaled-1-1200x646.jpg)
©Marianna Ianovska/Shutterstock.com
Chile is a larger country in South America and has 3 time zones. This gives it a surprising number of time zones, especially considering how many are part of the mainland.
- UTC -06:00
- UTC -04:00
- UTC -03:00
Indonesia
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-1286082070-1200x857.jpg)
©iStock.com/Vector
Indonesia is one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia. With 3 time zones to account for, it has the most in the region.
- UTC +07:00
- UTC +08:00
- UTC +09:00
Mexico
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-689193838-1200x798.jpg)
North America has three massive countries on the continent. Mexico has a surprising number of time zones, coming in only at 4. That does account for everything within the country’s borders, however.
- UTC -08:00
- UTC -07:00
- UTC -06:00
- UTC -05:00
Brazil
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-518230906-1200x800.jpg)
©iStock.com/Yuri de Mesquita Bar
Brazil is the largest country in all of South America and has a surprising number of time zones to back that up. It has a total of 4, which includes the islands off the Brazillian coast.
- UTC -05:00
- UTC -04:00
- UTC -03:00
- UTC -02:00
New Zealand
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-1162285825-1200x745.jpg)
©iStock.com/Rawf8
New Zealand is similar to its neighbor in Oceania, Australia. While the country only has 5 time zones, that is still quite a surprising number of time zones considering the size of the islands.
- UTC -11:00
- UTC -10:00
- UTC +12:00
- UTC +12:45
- UTC +13:00
Denmark
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock-1476195866-huge-licensed-scaled-1-1200x800.jpg)
©Nick N A/Shutterstock.com
Denmark also includes places like Greenland, which is considered a Danish holding despite being autonomous.
- UTC -04:00
- UTC -03:00
- UTC -01:00
- UTC +00:00
- UTC +01:00
Canada
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-1463307322.jpg)
©Jordan Feeg/Shutterstock.com
Canada is a big place, and with a surprising 6 time zones it has more than earned a place on this list.
- UTC -08:00
- UTC -07:00
- UTC -06:00
- UTC -05:00
- UTC -04:00
- UTC -03:30
The United Kingdom
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock-656103475-huge-licensed-scaled-1-1200x783.jpg)
©Melinda Nagy/Shutterstock.com
The United Kingdom is the least shocking entry for any country with a surprising number of time zones. At 9 in total, I’m honestly more surprised it doesn’t have more time zones across the globe to account for.
- UTC -08:00
- UTC -05:00
- UTC -04:00
- UTC -03:00
- UTC -02:00
- UTC +00:00
- UTC +01:00
- UTC +02:00
- UTC +06:00
Australia
![](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock-2333401423-huge-licensed-scaled.jpg)
©saita_yoko/Shutterstock.com
Australia comes in at 9 time zones, which includes the islands surrounding the main continent. This ties it up with the United Kingdom, which has holdings around much of the world still.
- UTC +05:00
- UTC +06:30
- UTC +07:00
- UTC +08:00
- UTC +08:45
- UTC +09:30
- UTC +10:00
- UTC +10:30
- UTC +11:00
The United States of America
![](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Tech-Companies-in-New-York-header-scaled.jpg)
©shutterupeire/Shutterstock.com
The United States is tied up with Russia at 11. It does have a surprising number of time zones. This does account for more than just the contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Alaska, however.
- UTC -12:00
- UTC -11:00
- UTC -10:00
- UTC -09:00
- UTC -08:00
- UTC -07:00
- UTC -06:00
- UTC -05:00
- UTC -04:00
- UTC +10:00
- UTC +12:00
Russia
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock-232725670-huge-licensed-scaled-1-1200x766.jpg)
©Reidl/Shutterstock.com
Russia probably isn’t a shock, despite having a surprising number of time zones. All of Russia’s account for the sheer size of the country, with all recorded timezones corresponding to places within Russia’s borders.
- UTC +02:00
- UTC +03:00
- UTC +04:00
- UTC +05:00
- UTC +06:00
- UTC +07:00
- UTC +08:00
- UTC +09:00
- UTC +10:00
- UTC +11:00
- UTC +12:00
France
![surprising number of time zones](https://history-computer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/iStock-1336449613.jpg)
©iStock.com/NicoElNino
France has a total of 13, rounding out the list of countries with a surprising number of time zones. This encompasses various territories held by France, with places like the Crozet Islands, Saint Paul, and New Caledonia beyond just the mainland.
- UTC -10:00
- UTC -09:30
- UTC -09:00
- UTC -08:00
- UTC -04:00
- UTC -03:00
- UTC +01:00
- UTC +03:00
- UTC +04:00
- UTC +05:00
- UTC +11:00
- UTC +12:00
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Peyker/Shutterstock.com.