Editing Time zone (section)

{{Short description|Area that observes a uniform standard time}}
{{About|time zones in general|a list of time zones by country|List of time zones by country|more time zone lists|Lists of time zones|other uses}}
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[[File:World Time Zones Map.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Time zones of the world]]

A '''time zone''' is an area which observes a uniform [[standard time]] for [[legal]], [[Commerce|commercial]] and [[social]] purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between [[Country|countries]] and their [[Administrative division|subdivisions]] instead of strictly following [[longitude]], because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.

Each time zone is defined by a standard offset from [[Coordinated Universal Time]] (UTC). The offsets range from [[UTC−12:00]] to [[UTC+14:00]], and are usually a whole number of hours, but a few zones are offset by an additional 30 or 45 minutes, such as in [[Indian Standard Time|India]] and [[Nepal Time|Nepal]]. Some areas in a time zone may use a different offset for part of the year, typically one hour ahead during [[spring (season)|spring]] and [[summer]], a practice known as [[daylight saving time]] (DST).

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