Moscow city. Greenwich Mean Time Zone

Within 24 hours the Earth makes a complete revolution. Therefore, on different parts of the globe, the clock shows a different time. For the convenience of counting, the entire territory of the Earth was divided into time zones. Their boundaries were to be determined by the meridians and to stand apart from each other by 15 degrees. But this division is inconvenient for many states. Therefore, small countries consider local time according to the capital. And in large states had to allocate several time zones. But all the same, the basic calculations, for example the time of rail and air flights, are conducted in the metropolitan time. In Russia, such a guideline is Moscow. The time zone of other cities is counted from it.

History of time zones

Until the 19th century, there was no question of temporary confusion. Each state lived according to its local time, and long distance travel was a rarity. But with the advent of rail services, there was a problem in scheduling trains. Therefore, at the International Congress in the 80 years of the 19th century, it was decided to divide the territory of the Earth into time zones. Counting began to lead from the zero meridian - Greenwich - to the east. The difference between them is one hour. Therefore, there are 24 belts. But until recently all the issues related to this have not yet been resolved, and there is a lot of confusion in the countdown.

How the division into time zones occurs

Theoretically, the time zones pass along the meridians and are 15 degrees apart. But in practice they are often shifted, it happens that they even disappear. This is due to the division of territory into states. And many countries, disregarding the belts, introduce their own time in the capital. Therefore, the division into belts is now often conditional. But in the states that occupy a large territory, it is important not only local time, but also the capital. For example, in Russia the countdown is from the city of Moscow. Her time zone from Greenwich is the second. But all Russian cities consider time not from him, but from Moscow.

Introduction of the Russian time in Russia

Only in 1919 in Russia was introduced an international system of time zones. The territory of the country was divided into 11 zones. But not always their border runs along the meridians. For example, Moscow is the starting point in Russia. Its time zone from Greenwich was adopted by UTC + 2. UTC is the worldwide designation of the world time for Greenwich. But since the city is located on the border of the belts, the summer time was entered, and the difference became UTC + 3, which more corresponded to the natural rhythms.

What time zone in Moscow is now

Several times in the history of the country there have been changes in the division into time zones. In the 30s, the transition to summer time was canceled , and the UTC + 3 belt was preserved in Moscow. It was believed that this was the most suitable division, because in many countries, if the city lies on the border of belts, it is referred to the eastern. But from 1981 to 2011, Russia again introduced summer time. Moscow was in summer ahead of Greenwich for 4 hours. And after the cancellation of the annual transfer of the shooters, the capital remained in the UTC + 4 time zone. And now we live 2 hours ahead of the time taken when dividing the country into time zones.

Time zones in Russia now

In 2010, the country was changed into a belt division. And now Russia is located in 9 time zones. The Middle Volga and Chukotka-Kamchatka belt completely disappeared. Udmurtia and Samara switched to Moscow time, and Chukotka and Kamchatka - to Magadan. The difference between the belts is one hour. To calculate the local time, you need to know which time zone you are in. How are time zones relative to Moscow considered?

They are counted from Kaliningrad. This is the first time zone. The difference with Moscow time is 1 hour. After all, this city is located west of Moscow. All European Russia lives by the time of the capital. It differs from Greenwich for 4 hours. In our country this is the second time zone. It is the most populous. The next zone is the third, but the difference with Moscow is not 1, but 2 hours. It includes the Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk regions, the Perm Territory, the Khanty-Mansiysk District, the Republic of Bashkortostan and some other administrative units.

The remaining time zones differ from each other by one hour. Not always their borders are connected with the international division into time zones. For example, the fourth zone is adopted only in the Altai and in several neighboring regions, and the fifth zone in Tyva, Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Most often, the division into zones depends on the borders of the republics and regions, but there are exceptions. For example, Yakutia lies in three belts, and the Sakhalin region in two. The most distant regions of Russia differ in time with Moscow for 8 hours. The time in them is calculated from the Moscow time zone formula - MSK + 8. The plus sign indicates that the zone is located to the east, and the minus is to the west of Moscow.

Because of the constant translations of time and confusion with time zones, Moscow time does not coincide slightly with the astronomical time. But all the same, it is counted in the country from the city of Moscow. Time zone it needs to know, so when moving to another region correctly set the time on the clock.