Time zones in Russia — everything you need to know

The Russian Revolution of 1917 brought many changes some of which were of time change matter. So, during this period, a decree ordered to approved the division of the country into time zones in order to facilitate the fixation of events and relationships between people. The country was divided into 11 time zones. In almost every case, the boundaries were drawn along the meridians.

The number of time zones in Russia

The situation has not changed since that time. Currently there are eleven time zones in Russia. The capital city of Russia, Moscow is in the second time zone and, for example, the Khabarovsk Territory is in the ninth time zone.

Moscow time is a starting point in determining local time anywhere in the country. The difference is calculated by the number of full hours - seconds and minutes are the same throughout all the time zones.

To avoid time confusion, the work of river, aviation, sea and rail transport is carried out according to Moscow time.

Starting from the third time zone, the time difference according to Moscow time starts from +1. That is, when it is 15:00 in Moscow, then in Astrakhan, Samara or Orenburg it is already 16:00. The maximum time difference with the capital is in the 11 time zone. The Kamchatka Territory and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug are situated there. The time difference is 9 hours.

There is 1st time zone in Russia which is 1hour behind Moscow time. 12:00 Moscow times equals to 11:00 in this time zone. There is only one region in the 1st time zone - the Kaliningrad region.

The boundaries of time zones pass along the borders of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Each constituent entity of the Russian Federation is included in one time zone. But there are two exceptions - Yakutia and Sakhalin Region.

Decree time

On 21 June 1930, the Soviet Union advanced all clocks by one hour - from June 21 to September 30. This was due to a lack of electricity caused by power plants overload in the winter evening hours.

In 1992 decree time was restored on the territory of Russia. All clocks was once again advanced by one hour. And after 1992, the transition of the regions to the time of the western time zone continued. During this period the following regions switched over to Moscow time+: Altai Krai and the Republic of Altai, Novosibirsk Region. Sakhalin Region switched over to Moscow time +7.

In 2001 decree time was cancelled. At at that time there was issed a regulation "On the transition of the Russian Federation to the standard time."

Daylight Saving Time transition

The usage of daylight saving time ended in 2011. During this period all the clocks was advanced by one hour relative to Standard time. Daylight saving time transition was being held during spring. In the autumn the country was back to winter time. Mandatory daylight saving time transition was introduced on April 1, 1981.

One of the reason why the idea of season bound clock change was rejected was the fact that doctors and psychologists agreed that the annual change of clocks aggravates chronic diseases and negatively affects the psychological health.

The way to determine the time zone of a city

Thanks to the time zone system, it is very easy to find out the exact time in any locality of the Russian Federation. Moreover, now the country does not switch over to summer and winter time.

The easiest way to find out the city’s time zone is to use a special time zone map. With the help of time zone map you can calculate what time zone the person currently is. You can also find out the time zone of any city on our website - TimeServer.ru.

Interesting Time Zone facts

• The Republic of Yakutia occupies 3 time zones, the Sakhalin Oblast occupies 2 time zones. The remaining regions of the Russian Federation are within the boundaries of only one time zone.
• There is Ratmanova Island in the Bering Strait - it belongs to the Russian Federation. At a distance of 4 km is the island of Kruzenshtern - this is the territory of the United States of America. This distance can be easily covered with the help of a motor boat - it will take no more than 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, according to the time zone rules, they are separated by 21 hours.
• Another curious fact that concerns time zones in Russia: The Republic of Tatarstan is in the Moscow time zone. At the same time, Bashkiria is 2 hours ahead of Moscow time.