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We were discussing what time it was at our different offices at work today, and so I looked up a map with all the different time zones in it, and I noticed that all the time zones were a couple of hours ahead, or behind except for a small amount that were that time plus a half hour ahead. Example my current time was 8:30 other time zones were reading 9:30, 5:30 etc...while there were two places that gave the time as 10:00, or 5:00. Any reason for the extra half hour even though places near by don't have it?
The short answer is that the decisions made by nations' leaders many decades ago was largely political.
Just look at India as an example. India is currently 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC (Greenwich meantime).
Yet, China chooses to have 1 timezone due to the Communist takeover in 1949 for a very large country, disregarding its less populous western portion. Prior to that timeframe, China had 5 official time zones.
I noticed such oddities when I traveled to many countries and I read up on the why.
The short answer is that the decisions made by nations' leaders many decades ago was largely political.
Just look at India as an example. India is currently 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of UTC (Greenwich meantime).
Yet, China chooses to have 1 timezone due to the Communist takeover in 1949 for a very large country, disregarding its less populous western portion. Prior to that timeframe, China had 5 official time zones.
I noticed such oddities when I traveled to many countries and I read up on the why.
In the case of India, it's really not THAT wide - equivalent to around 2 time zones - and the hassle given the large population density isn't worth it.
A geographical oddity in the United States: Eastern Oregon is only one hour behind the Florida Panhandle.
Not so much a geographical oddity, but rather, a regulatory or perhaps legal peculiarity.
But wrap your noodle around this: on Sunday, November 4, 2018, it was 2:00 AM in both the Florida Panhandle and in an eastern part of Oregon. Since 2007, it's happened every year, on the first Sunday in November.
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