What is the difference in time with Ukraine: one hour or two?

The time difference with Ukraine worries many residents of Russia. Most often this question puzzles travelers and business people who need to make trips, calls and plan meetings. But people far from business and time management may be interested in this issue, because many Russians have relatives and friends in a neighboring country. So what's the difference in time with Ukraine now?

Step forward and two backwards

Since the times of the USSR, every resident of that mighty power, and subsequently of the countries formed after the collapse of the Union, knew that the hours in Kiev and Moscow show different times. The difference in the position of the arrows from time immemorial pointed to the fact that the capital of Russia "is in a hurry to live" compared to its brother for one hour.

Thus, the time difference between Kiev and Moscow is 60 minutes. True, in recent years, many citizens of both countries have become entangled, because some time ago this difference increased by two hours, then the authorities again returned the customary difference for people.

If the difference of one hour is the norm that is conditioned by the time zones, then any other changes to either side are already the games of "great watchmakers" who can not decide on the question of Russia's transition to the so-called "summer" and "winter" time .

Why different countries have different time?

The Earth is a huge planet, 251 countries are on its territory. Most of them have one time zone. But some are so vast that their territory falls under several time zones.

Our planet is divided into 24 sectors, each time corresponds to its own time relative to the zero meridian, which is the reference point for time. This explains the time difference with Ukraine and other countries of the world, as well as within Russia itself.

The dividing strips are the meridians. But this section is very conditional, and often the lines can "walk" in different directions. This is because the borders of states and their individual administrative units are unclear. To make life easier for the civilian population, time in some regions is slightly adjusted, this helps to avoid confusion.

In our country there are eleven time zones, in the USA and Canada - six. Therefore, even in the territory of one country, there is often a time difference. There are nine such countries, but one of them averaged its time, creating a single time zone for the entire territory (China).

In which time zone is Ukraine located?

For the convenience of time adjustment, there is a single system from which time is determined in a particular country. It is called the Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) scale. According to it, each time zone is assigned its own time, while the zero meridian is the starting point, and the time zones around the Earth have a positive or negative value. Roughly speaking, one division is one hour, the difference between meridians is about 15 degrees.

The Kiev time is calculated on the basis that Ukraine is in the time zone, which is designated on the scale as UTC + 2, so-called Eastern European time operates in Kiev.

By the standards of Russia, Ukraine is a small country. At the same time, it is the largest state in Europe, although the time in it is the same everywhere, part of the territory of the country (Transcarpathia) is in the first time zone, and some territories of Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions are in the third time zone, On which the Moscow time is determined.

Time Zones in Russia

As already mentioned above, in the Russian Federation the largest number of time zones among all states of the world. Its territory extends from west to east, with Kaliningrad in the first time zone, and in the city of Anadar, which is located in the Far East, the scale value is defined as UTC + 12.

Such a time difference is an amazing phenomenon. People sometimes have to be very difficult, because it is necessary to maintain kinship, friendly and business relations not only at a distance, but also having such enormous differences in the time of day, because when Moscow is still a day, it's already evening in Krasnoyarsk, and in Magadan - a deep night.

Nevertheless, Moscow time is determined by the location of the capital of Russia on the map. It is in the third time zone (UTC + 3).

Why is Ukraine between Ukraine and Russia two hours of time difference?

Each person has his own opinion on the practice of translating watches in our country. Opponents and supporters of this process are divided into two opposing camps. While scientists, economists and pragmatic people wholeheartedly support the idea of switching to "winter" and "summer" time, most of the inhabitants of the country are categorically against it.

The main reason for this negative attitude is the enormous stress that people experience. It is difficult for children and adults to adjust to the new time . Therefore, periodically there are legislative initiatives that somewhat change the orderly course of things. This happened in 2009, when the Russian Federation refused to translate the arrows in November. At the same time, other countries have done this. Then the time difference with Ukraine was two hours. The consequences of this decision were very ambiguous, and soon the state decided to resume the transfer of the shooters.

Cat in the woods, who on firewood

The practice of translating the clock in autumn and spring originated more than a century ago. The United Kingdom for the first time carried out such a procedure, although the very idea of such savings did not belong to the British, but to the Americans, or rather to Benjamin Franklin. Surprisingly, the process of transferring arrows has taken root in many countries around the world (78 states move arrows twice a year). But recently there has been a tendency to abandon this tradition, so the difference in time can vary even more in different countries. Ukraine, Russia, the Baltic countries are in an intermediate state and have not reached a final decision. But in Georgia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and a number of other countries neighboring with Russia, they refused to switch to "winter time" for a long time.