Story: Timekeeping

Time zones in the Pacific

Time zones in the Pacific

This map shows the hours ahead of Co-ordinated Universal Time (previously Greenwich Mean Time) of places in the Pacific. There are some interesting anomalies. Kiribati (just south of the equator) was originally split by the International Date Line. However, in 1995 the line was moved far to the east so that the whole country could share the same date. The result is that the islands in the east of Kiribati are a day apart from Hawaii, despite being at the same longitude. The Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand, are one of the few places in the world to use a quarter-hour unit. They are 12 hours 45 minutes ahead of Universal Time.

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World Time Zone

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'Timekeeping - Modern times', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/map/6705/time-zones-in-the-pacific (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 12 Jun 2006