When travelling to Amsterdam you might want to know what the time zone is over there. Imagine arriving in Amsterdam with a jetlag and losing valuable time to enjoy the city to it’s fullest.
Amsterdam Time is in the Central European Time Zone. Central European Standard Time (CET) is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1). In the summertime is shifted forward by 1 hour, 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+2). After the Summer months, the time in Amsterdam Time is shifted back by 1 hour to Central European Time (CET) or (GMT+1).
The answer above sounds technical but I promise I will break it down in this article. So stick around!
What is a time zone?
A time zone is an area on earth where time is the same. These time zones are originated after centuries of perfection in measuring time. Especially with the development of the train rail, the need arose for a generalized time.
The time in an area is referred to as UTC (Universal Time Coordinated). UTC is the standard time since 1972 based on an atomic clock and coordinated with the rotation of the earth. In the military sphere, UTC is often called “Zulu time”.
UTC is almost the same as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) which includes the United Kingdom. Originally the GMT was the mean solar time on the longitude of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, a hilltop observatory in the London borough of Greenwich.
The earth rotates around its axis in 24 hours. If the earth is divided into 24 zones, theoretical every time zone consists of one hour and is 15° wide (360°/24). This theory is only used on the open sea in international waters (also called nautical time or sea time).
In reality, there are more than 24 time zones. Worldwide there are 40 different time zones being used. In practice time zones often follow national borders and countries use the time zone of a major neighbouring country as a starting point for practical reasons.
What are all the different time zones in the world?
Below a list of all time zones. Countries with a * use a periodic summertime
UTC – 12:00
Baker | Howland
UTC – 11:00
American Samoa | Niue | Jarvis Island | Kingman Reef | Midway Atoll | Palmyra
UTC – 10:00 (HST – Hawaiian Standard Time)
Cook Islands | Tahiti | Hawaii | Johnston Atoll
UTC – 9:30
Marquesas Islands
UTC – 9:00 (AKST – Alaska Standard Time)
Alaska* | Gambier Islands
UTC – 8:00 (PST – Pacific Standard Time)
Canada (British Colombia*, Yukon*) | Mexico (Baja California*) | United States (California*, Idaho (north), Nevada*, Oregon*, Washington*) | Pitcairn Islands | Clipperton Island
UTC – 7:00 (MST – Mountain Standard Time)
Canada (Alberta*, Northwest Territories*, Nunavut Mountain *) | Mexico (Chihuahua*, Sinaloa*, Sonora*, Nayarit (part)*, Baja California Sur*) | United States (Arizona (most)*, Colorado*, Idaho (South)*, Montana*, Nebraska (West)*, New Mexico*), North Dakota (West)*, South Dakota (West)*, Utah*, Wyoming*)
UTC – 6:00 (CST – Central Standard Time)
Belize | Canada (Manitoba*, Nunavut (Southampton Island)*, Ontario (Western)*, Saskatchewan) | Costa Rica | Ecuador (Galapagos Islands) | El Salvador | Guatemala | Honduras | Chile (Easter Island) | Mexico (most)* | Nicaragua | United States (Alabama*, Arkansas*, Florida (west of panhandle)*, Illinois*, Iowa*, Kansas*, Kentucky (west)*, Louisiana*, Minnesota*, Mississippi*, Missouri*, Nebraska (East)*, North Dakota (East)*, Oklahoma*, South Dakota (East)*, Tennessee (West)*, Texas*, Wisconsin*)
UTC – 5:00 (EST – Eastern Standard Time)
Bahama’s* | Brazil (Acre) | Canada (Nunavut (East)*, Ontario*, Quebec*) | Cayman Islands | Colombia | Cuba* | Ecuador | Haiti* | Jamaica | Panama | Peru | Turks and Caicos Islands* | United States (Connecticut*, Delaware*, District of Colombia*, Florida (most)*, Georgia*, Indiana, Kentucky (east)*, Maine*, Maryland*, Massachusetts*, Michigan*, New Hampshire*, New Jersey*, New York*, North Carolina*, Ohio*, Pennsylvania*, Rhode Island*, South Carolina*, Tennessee (east)*, Vermont*, Virginia*, West Virginia*)
UTC – 4:00 (AST – Atlantic Standard Time)
Anguilla | Antigua and Barbuda | Aruba | Barbados | Bermuda* | Bolivia | Brazil (Amazonas, Mato Grosso*, Mato Grosso do Sul*, Rondonia, Roraima) | British Virgin Islands | Canada (Labrador*, New Brunswick*, Nova Scotia*, Prins Edward Island*) | Caribbean Netherlands | Curacao | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Falkland Island | Grenada | Guadeloupe | Guyana | Martinique | Montserrat | Paraguay* | Puerto Rico | Saint Barthelemy | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Martin | Sint Maarten | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Trinidad and Tobago | US Virgin Islands | Venezuela
UTC – 3:30
Canada (Newfoundland*)
UTC – 3:00
Argentina | Brazil (Alagoas, Amapa, Bahia, Ceara, Federal District*, Esperito Santo*, Goias*, Maranhao, Minas Gerais*, Para, Paraiba, Parana*, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro*, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul*, Santa Catarina*, Sao Paulo*, Sergipe, Tocantins) | Chile | French Guyana | Greenland (most)* | Saint Pierrre and Miquelon* | Suriname | Uruguay*
UTC – 2:00
Brazil (Fernando de Noronha)
UTC – 1:00
Cape Verde| Greenland (Ittoqqortoormiit) | Portugal (Azores*)
UTC / GMT (WET – West European Time)
Burkina Faso | Faroe islands* | Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Iceland | Ireland* | Ivory Coast | Liberia | Mali | Mauritania | Portugal* | Saint Helena | Senegal | Sierra Leone | Spain (Canary Islands)* | Sao Tome and Principe | Togo
Bahrain | Belarus |Comoros | Djibouti | Eritrea | Ethiopia | French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Scattered Islands, Bassas da India, Europa Island and Juan de Nova Island) | Iraq | Jemen | Jordania | Kenya | Kuwait | Madagascar | Mayotte | Qatar | Russia (Zone 2- Moscow Time s.a. Moscow, St Petersburg)) | Saudi Arabia | Somalia | Tanzania | Turkey | Uganda | Yemen
UTC + 3:30
Iran*
UTC + 4:00
Armenia | French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Crozet Islands, Scattered Islands, Glorioso Islands, Tromelin Island) | Georgia | Mauritius | Oman | Oman | Reunion | Russia (Zone 3) | Seychelles | United Arab Emirates
UTC + 4:30
Afghanistan
UTC + 5:00
Azerbaijan* | French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Kerguelen Islands, St. Paul, Amsterdam Islands) | Heard Islands and McDonald Islands | Kazakhstan (west) | Maldives | Pakistan | Russia (Zone 4 – Ys.a. Ekaterinburg, Perm) | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan | Uzbekistan
UTC + 5:30(IST – Indian Standard Time)
India | Sri Lanka
UTC + 5:45
Nepal
UTC + 6:00
Bangladesh | Bhutan | Kazakhstan (East) | Kyrgyzstan | Russia (Zone 5 – s.a. Novosibirsk, Omsk )
UTC + 6:30
Cocos Islands | Myanmar
UTC +7:00
Australia (Christmas Island) | Cambodia |Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan) | Laos | Russia (Zone 6 – s.a. Krasnojark) | Thailand | Vietnam
UTC + 8:00(AWST – Australian Western Standard Time)
Australia (Western Australia) | Brunei | China | Hong Kong | Indonesia (Central)| Macau | Malaysia | Mongolia | Philippines Russia (Zone 7 – s.a. Irkutsk) | Singapore | Taiwan
UTC + 8:45
Australia (Eucla)
UTC + 9
Indonesia (Maluku, Papua) | Japan | North Korea | Palau | Russia (Zone 8 – s.a. Yakutsk) | South Korea | Timor-Leste
UTC + 9:30 (ACST – Australian Central Standard Time)
Australia (Northern Territory, South Australia)
UTC + 10:00(AEST – Australian Eastern Standard Time)
Australia (Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland Tasmania, Victoria) | Guam | Micronesia (Yap, Chuuk) | Northern Mariana Islands | Papua New Guinea | Russia (Zone 9 – s.a. Vladivostok)
UTC + 10:30
Australia (Lord Howe Island)
UTC + 11:00
Micronesia (Kosrae, Pohnpei) | New Caledonia | Norfolk Island | Russia (Zone 10 – s.a. Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamtsjatski) | Solomon Islands | Vanuatu
UTC + 12:00
Fiji* | Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) | Marshall Islands | Nauru | New Zealand* | Russia (Zone 11 – s.a. Kamchatka) | Tuvalu | Wake Island | Wallis and Futuna
The day on earth officially starts on the Line Islands in Kiribati which is 14 hours ahead of UTC (UTC + 14:00). Another fact is that 26 hours later (UTC – 12:00) the day starts at Howland and baker and also ends 24 hours later. Two consequents are:
A date remains somewhere on earth for 50 hours
Between 10:00 and 12:00 UTC, there are three different sets of data
Is Amsterdam CET time zone?
CET (Central European Time) is used in most parts of Europe. Amsterdam observes CET as standard time which is one hour ahead of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), UTC+1:00. When days are getting longer and nights shorter during the summer, CEST (Central European Summer Time) is being observed. Time is then shifted forward by one hour.
What time zone is Amsterdam in GMT?
In comparison with CET, Amsterdam is one hour ahead in GMT (GMT+1:00)
What time zone does the Netherlands use?
The Netherlands uses the CET (Central European Time) which is used in most parts of Europe and a few North African countries. When days are getting longer and nights shorter during the summer, CEST (Central European Summer Time) is being observed. Time is then shifted forward by one hour.
Is Amsterdam same time as the UK?
Considering that Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and the UK are in different time zones, the Netherlands is one hour ahead of the UK
