What is the time zone of Europe and how to determine how much time is there now

Our globe revolves around its axis in the direction from west to east. Thus, for us the Sun seems to be moving in the opposite direction. In the morning we see it in the east, and in the evening - sloping to the west. But what happens if we change the point of our location and move, for example, a thousand kilometers to the east? It turns out that in this area the Sun appears above the horizon earlier. But in the locality, lying to the west of the first observation point, the sun has not yet risen. Thus, at the same time, at different points on the globe, the dials indicate different numbers. So what is the time zone of Europe? This is the region in which the same time is set.

In general, there are 24 such belts in the world - in terms of the number of hours in a day. It is important to know that there is a so-called line for changing dates. It passes through the Pacific Ocean. When west of this line is noon March 24, east - one o'clock in the afternoon, but only 23 numbers. The Greenwich Meridian sets the tone for all time on Earth . It is named after a small village not far from London. Thus, Great Britain (and Ireland, Portugal and Iceland at the same time) enter the zero time zone of Europe. It is indicated by the symbol UTC 0.

To the west of it extends the Atlantic Ocean with a few islands. Nevertheless, time also exists there. If there is noon in London, then in the belt of UTC-1 - only eleven o'clock in the morning. But in the territories lying east of Greenwich, day has come. This time zone of Europe is designated UTC + 1. It covers several countries at once: from Spain in the west to Poland in the east. Therefore, the time there is called West European.

The time zone of Europe, called UTC + 2, stretches even more to the east. It covers Finland, the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. In the winter another belt is formed - Belarus. She does not translate the hands of the clock on the last Sunday in October an hour ago. Thus, from November to March, when noon is in London, in Minsk - three days.

It introduces disagreement in the time zones of Europe and the Russian Federation. She also lives all year round in summer time. Therefore, in June, the difference with the UK from Moscow is + 3 hours, and in December + 4. Generally, it is difficult to judge that in the division of the Earth into time zones from geography, and that - from politics. The southern countries do not switch to summer time, because they do not need it - the sun rises so high above the horizon, and the light day is approximately 12 hours. In the countries lying behind the Polar belt, the concept of "day" in December is very conditional.

In general, one time zone is not limited to Europe. It passes a long strip from the North Pole to the South Pole and covers many territories lying in Africa or Asia. If it were not for the political division of territories into states, these belts would divide our planet into 24 identical segments. But for the convenience of each country adheres to one time. For example, the eastern territories of Ukraine still live an hour later than the more western Russian lands. Therefore, Europe's time zones on the map have a lot of strange bends - their boundaries pass through the state's "cordons" of states.