Russia, Brazil, Turkey and 10 more countries that stopped changing their clocks

Ending daylight saving time is only half a decision. Once a government stops moving its clocks twice a year, it still has to choose which time to keep. That second choice decides whether the clock favors brighter mornings or later evening light.

In this selection, most countries that abolished daylight saving time settled on permanent standard time, the setting their clocks used outside the summer months. Brazil took that route by presidential decree in April 2019. Mexico passed a law in October 2022 that ended seasonal clock changes for most of the country. China, Japan, India and Kyrgyzstan also keep standard time all year.

A smaller group made the summer offset permanent, an approach sometimes called permanent daylight time. Turkey ended seasonal clock changes in 2016 and kept UTC+3, its former summer time, as its year-round setting. Belarus took the same step in 2011 and has held UTC+3 ever since.

Russia tried both. In March 2011, under President Dmitry Medvedev, the country moved to permanent summer time. In October 2014, under President Vladimir Putin, it switched to permanent standard time. Most of its zones shifted back one hour. The reversal shows that the choice of which time to keep can be reopened after the clocks stop moving.

Ending clock changes has not been a one-way trend. Egypt went the other way in 2023 and reintroduced daylight saving time.

The 13 countries in this slideshow are a selection, not a complete list of countries that do not observe daylight saving time. They span Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some ended the practice decades ago. Japan, for example, ran daylight saving time during the U.S. occupation from 1948 to 1951 and then abolished it. Others, including Brazil and Mexico, acted far more recently.

Each slide explains what one country dropped and what it uses now. Iceland stays on Greenwich Mean Time all year, even though UTC+0 sits further east than its solar position suggests. Argentina last used daylight saving time in 2009 and now holds at UTC-3.

Illustration: Quartz

Russia stopped changing its clocks in March 2011 by staying on summer time all year. In October 2014 it reversed course and settled on permanent standard, or winter, time instead.

The first change came under President Dmitry Medvedev. In March 2011, Russian clocks moved forward for summer as they had in earlier years. That autumn, they stayed where they were instead of falling back. That spring shift turned out to be the last routine seasonal change of the period.

Permanent summer time holds clocks one hour ahead of standard time in every season. During the summer months, clock times matched the old routine. The change showed up in winter, when sunrise arrived an hour later by the clock than it would under standard time.

For people who start work or school at a fixed clock hour, that start fell closer to sunrise, or before it. The hour of light moved to the late afternoon instead.

That arrangement lasted until October 2014. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia then moved to permanent standard time. Most of its time zones shifted back one hour. The reversal did not apply uniformly across the country. Not every zone made the same one-hour move.

In the zones that shifted, the trade-off flipped. Winter mornings now get light an hour earlier by the clock than they did under the summer-time setting. Summer evenings lose that hour, with daylight ending an hour earlier by the clock than it did from 2011 to 2014.

The 2014 move was a one-time adjustment, not a return to seasonal changes. Clocks went back once and then stayed put. Residents faced one final autumn shift and none after it.

Russia has kept permanent standard time, with no seasonal clock changes, since the October 2014 switch. Since then, the clock readings for sunrise and sunset in each zone have moved only with the seasons.

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Turkey stopped changing its clocks in 2016 and kept its former summer time as the permanent setting. The country now runs on UTC+3 all year, three hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time.

Before the change, Turkey followed the same seasonal pattern as much of Europe. Its clocks sat at UTC+2 in winter and moved forward one hour to UTC+3 in summer. Ending the switch left the clocks on the summer setting through every winter that followed.

Most countries in this selection returned to standard time instead. Turkey locked in the offset it had once used only during the warmer months.

The practical effect shows up most clearly in winter. With clocks one hour ahead of the old standard time, sunrise arrives an hour later by the clock in the darker months. Evenings keep that extra hour of daylight in exchange.

Geography shapes how that trade-off lands. Turkey stretches a long way from west to east. UTC+3 matches solar time at the 45th meridian east, close to the country's eastern border. Istanbul sits near the 29th meridian east, about 16 degrees west of that line. That gap puts clock time in Istanbul roughly an hour ahead of the sun.

The decision also changed Turkey's time relationship with its western neighbors. Greece and Bulgaria, both European Union members, still move their clocks twice a year between UTC+2 and UTC+3. In summer, Istanbul, Athens and Sofia share the same time. In winter, Turkey runs one hour ahead of both countries.

To the south, the picture is more settled. Iraq also stays on UTC+3 all year. Its border with Turkey carries no time difference in any season. Syria moved to permanent UTC+3 in 2022 and now matches Turkey year-round as well.

Farther east, the gap runs the other way. Georgia and Armenia both use UTC+4, which puts them one hour ahead of Turkey all year.

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Belarus stopped changing its clocks in 2011 and has stayed on UTC+3 ever since. Instead of falling back to standard time each autumn, the country made its former summer offset the permanent setting.

Before the change, Belarus followed the seasonal pattern used across much of Europe. Its clocks ran on UTC+2 in winter and moved forward to UTC+3 in summer. Ending the switch meant keeping the summer setting through the colder months.

The decision leaves Belarus out of step with most of its neighbors for part of each year. Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine use UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer. Belarus matches them in summer and sits one hour ahead of them in winter. Poland uses UTC+1 in winter, two hours behind Belarus, and UTC+2 in summer, one hour behind.

Russia is the exception. Moscow has used UTC+3 since Russia's 2014 clock change, so Minsk and Moscow show the same time throughout the year. Between 2011 and 2014, Moscow kept UTC+4 under Russia's permanent summer time, one hour ahead of Minsk.

The offset also sits well ahead of the sun in Belarus. Minsk lies at roughly 27.5 degrees east longitude. Each hour of a time zone spans 15 degrees, so UTC+2 is centered on 30 degrees east. That puts the capital close to the UTC+2 meridian, while UTC+3 is centered on 45 degrees east.

Clocks set ahead of solar time push sunrise later on the clock face. In Belarus, that means darker winter mornings than the country would have on UTC+2. The trade is more evening daylight in winter, an effect the old system produced only in summer.

For travelers and businesses, the practical point is that Belarus never changes its clocks. A call scheduled between Minsk and another European capital shifts only when that city's country moves its own clocks forward or back.

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Kyrgyzstan abolished daylight saving time in 2005 and has kept its clocks on UTC+6 ever since. The Central Asian country now runs on one fixed offset all year, with no spring or autumn clock changes.

UTC+6 means local clocks sit six hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time, the global reference standard for civil time. When it is noon in London during the U.K. winter, it is 6 p.m. in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.

That gap stays fixed on the Kyrgyz side. It still moves when other countries change their own clocks. When the U.K. switches to British Summer Time, the difference with London narrows to five hours.

Kyrgyzstan's fixed offset also sets its gap with neighbors. Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which border it to the west and south, both use UTC+5. That puts Bishkek one hour ahead of Tashkent and Dushanbe.

To the east, China uses one national time zone at UTC+8 across its entire territory. Bishkek sits two hours behind Beijing time throughout the year.

Time zones are built around reference lines of longitude spaced 15 degrees apart, one for each hour. The reference line for UTC+6 is the 90th meridian east. All of Kyrgyzstan lies west of that line.

Bishkek lies near 74.6 degrees east longitude. Each degree of longitude equals four minutes of solar time. That places the capital's clocks roughly an hour ahead of the sun.

The sun reaches its highest point after noon on the clock. Sunrise and sunset both arrive later by the clock than they would in a zone centered on the country.

That arrangement gives residents relatively late evening daylight across the year. The trade-off is darker mornings in winter, when days are short.

Kyrgyzstan became independent in 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved. Its 2005 change came six years before Belarus and Russia ended seasonal clock changes in 2011.

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Iceland uses Greenwich Mean Time, or UTC+0, all year and does not move its clocks in spring or autumn. The whole country runs on that single offset.

That setting puts Iceland's clocks ahead of the sun. Greenwich Mean Time takes its name from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, in southeast London, where the prime meridian runs. Iceland lies entirely west of that line.

In theory, each standard time zone covers 15 degrees of longitude, equal to one hour of the sun's movement. On longitude alone, Iceland would fall in a zone behind GMT. Keeping UTC+0 means its clocks show a later hour than local solar time.

The effect resembles a permanent form of summer time. Summer time moves clocks forward an hour to push daylight later into the evening. Iceland reaches a similar result without any clock change. Its standard offset already runs ahead of the sun.

The arrangement also puts Iceland on the same clock as the U.K. for part of the year. The U.K. uses GMT from late October to late March. It then switches to British Summer Time, or UTC+1, for the rest of the year. In the British winter, Reykjavik and London show the same time. During British Summer Time, London runs one hour ahead.

Iceland's far northern position shapes how any time setting plays out. The main island sits just south of the Arctic Circle. The small northern island of Grímsey straddles the line.

Reykjavik, the capital, sits on the southwest coast of the main island. Daylight hours there swing widely between June and December. Around the summer solstice, nights in Reykjavik barely darken. Around the winter solstice, the capital gets only a few hours of daylight.

Those seasonal swings in light dwarf the one-hour shift a clock change would make. A fixed offset removes the twice-yearly adjustment. The seasons still bring large changes in when the sun rises and sets.

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Argentina stopped using daylight saving time after its most recent period ended in 2009. The country now keeps UTC-3 all year and no longer changes its clocks with the seasons.

Summer time was never a fixed annual habit in Argentina. The country observed daylight saving at some points and dropped it at others. No seasonal clock change has followed the period that ended in 2009.

UTC-3 means Argentine clocks run three hours behind Coordinated Universal Time throughout the year. When it is noon in London during the northern winter, it is 9 a.m. in Buenos Aires. When the U.K. moves to British Summer Time, or UTC+1, the gap widens to four hours. Noon in London then means 8 a.m. in Buenos Aires.

Each standard time zone spans 15 degrees of longitude, and UTC-3 is centered on the 45th meridian west. Buenos Aires sits near 58 degrees west. Córdoba and Mendoza lie farther west still. The zone closest to Buenos Aires by longitude is UTC-4, which is centered on 60 degrees west.

The sun crosses one degree of longitude every four minutes. Buenos Aires sits about 13 degrees west of the UTC-3 center line, so its average solar noon falls close to 1 p.m. on the clock. In Mendoza, near 69 degrees west, it falls closer to 1:30 p.m.

Argentine clock time therefore runs ahead of the sun across the country. Evenings stay lighter and mornings stay darker than a zone matched to Argentina's longitude would produce.

Argentina lies in the Southern Hemisphere, where summer runs from December to February. Its warm season is the reverse of the one in the U.S. and Europe.

The fixed offset also lines Argentina up with nearby clocks. Uruguay keeps UTC-3, as does the Brasília time zone used by Brazil's capital region. Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Brasília share the same hour all year.

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Brazil ended daylight saving time through a presidential decree signed by President Jair Bolsonaro in April 2019. Since then, the country has kept standard time all year in each of its time zones, with no seasonal clock changes.

The change came through executive action. A decree is issued by the president. It does not require a new law passed by Brazil's Congress.

Brazil spans four official time zones. They run from UTC-2 on Atlantic islands such as Fernando de Noronha to UTC-5 in the far western state of Acre. Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, sits at UTC-4. Brasília time, at UTC-3, is the national reference. It covers the capital as well as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Most of Brazil lies in the Southern Hemisphere. Its summer time therefore ran during the southern summer. The season started late in the calendar year and ended in the early months of the next. Clocks moved forward one hour for that period.

Not every state took part. In recent decades, the clock change applied mainly to states in the South, Southeast and Center-West. Most states in the North and Northeast, closer to the equator, stayed on standard time year-round.

Geography explains that split. Near the equator, sunrise and sunset times change only slightly from season to season. Moving the clock there shifts little daylight into the evening. Farther south, the gap between summer and winter daylight is wider.

The decree made standard time the permanent setting for the whole country. São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro now stay on UTC-3 through the southern summer. Sunrise and sunset there arrive one hour earlier on the clock than they did under the old summer schedule.

The 2019 decree also ended the regional split. States in the South, Southeast and Center-West that once changed their clocks now follow the same year-round practice as the states that never did.

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Mexico ended daylight saving time for most of the country through a law passed in October 2022. Most of Mexico now stays on standard time all year instead of moving its clocks forward each spring.

The country did not lock in its former summer offset. It kept standard time, the setting its clocks had used outside the daylight saving months. That puts Mexico among the countries that chose permanent standard time rather than permanent summer time.

The choice changes how the clock lines up with daylight in the warmer months. Clocks no longer jump ahead by an hour in spring. Summer sunrise and sunset both arrive an hour earlier by the clock than they did under the old seasonal schedule. Mornings get daylight sooner, and evenings lose that extra hour of light.

Winter timekeeping is unchanged by the law. During those months, the old schedule already ran on standard time. The clock reads the same as it did before.

For most residents, the practical change is the end of the twice-yearly adjustment. There is no spring-forward hour to lose and no autumn hour to regain. Work, school and transport timetables no longer shift around a seasonal clock change.

The law did not apply the same way everywhere. Border municipalities that follow U.S. clock changes were treated separately from the rest of the country.

As a result, Mexico does not run on one uniform arrangement across all of its territory. In most places, though, the twice-yearly clock change is gone.

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Uruguay no longer moves its clocks forward for summer. It has not used daylight saving time in recent years and keeps standard time all year.

Uruguay's clocks therefore show the same offset in January as in July. The country lies in the Southern Hemisphere, where summer falls roughly between December and February. Under daylight saving time, that is the season when clocks would jump ahead one hour.

Without that shift, summer sunsets arrive an hour earlier on the clock than they would under summer time. Summer sunrises arrive an hour earlier too. The daylight itself does not change. Only the clock reading attached to it does.

Winter looks the same either way. A country that observes daylight saving time returns to standard time for the colder months. Uruguay's June and July clocks match what a seasonal schedule would show. The practical difference from daylight saving time sits entirely in the summer half of the year.

Residents also skip the two transition nights each year. There is no spring night that loses an hour and no autumn night that gains one.

The time gap between Uruguay and countries that still change their clocks continues to shift twice a year. Those shifts now come entirely from the other side. Uruguay's own clocks stay put.

A Northern Hemisphere country that observes summer time changes its clocks in its own spring and autumn. Those months are autumn and spring in Uruguay. The gap therefore widens or narrows by one hour while Uruguay's seasons run the opposite way.

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China used daylight saving time from 1986 to 1991 and then dropped it. The country now runs on one national time zone, UTC+8, all year, with no seasonal clock changes anywhere within its borders.

UTC+8 sits eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The official name for China's clock is Beijing Time. The same time applies from the eastern seaboard to the far western interior.

The summer time experiment covered six summers, from 1986 through 1991. During each of those summers, clocks moved forward in spring and back in autumn.

After 1991, China kept its standard time rather than freezing its former summer offset. Its clocks today show the same setting they used outside the summer months during the experiment.

A single zone means the clock reads the same everywhere in the country. China covers a wide span from east to west. The gap between clock time and the sun's position grows the farther west a person goes. In the western regions, sunrise and sunset arrive much later by the clock than they do in eastern cities.

Daylight saving time would have pushed clocks a further hour ahead of the sun each summer. Ending it removed that seasonal shift. The gap between clock and sun in the west remains, but it no longer changes from season to season.

Choosing standard time over the summer offset also shaped that western gap. A permanent summer setting would have kept clocks an hour further from solar time in every season, not just in summer.

For travelers and businesses, the result is one fixed reference point. A meeting set in Beijing Time falls at the same clock hour in every Chinese city, in every month of the year.

The time difference between Beijing and cities that still change their clocks, such as London or New York, still moves twice a year. Those shifts now come only from the other side.

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Japan used daylight saving time from 1948 to 1951, during the U.S. occupation that followed World War II. The country then abolished it and returned to permanent standard time, with no seasonal clock changes since.

That standard time is Japan Standard Time, set at UTC+9. A single zone covers the whole country, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south. Clocks read the same in every prefecture throughout the year.

The reference line for Japan Standard Time is the 135th meridian east. It passes through the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kobe. Mean solar noon on that line matches noon on the clock.

The single zone stretches across a wide span of longitude, and the sun's timing varies by region. Eastern Hokkaido lies well east of the reference meridian. There, summer sunrise comes very early by the clock. Okinawa lies well to the west. Sunrise and sunset there come later by the clock than in Tokyo.

The dates place the experiment inside the occupation era. Japan surrendered in 1945, and Allied forces led by the U.S. administered the country in the years that followed. Summer time began in 1948, partway through that period.

The practice ended in 1951. That same year, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty with the Allied powers. The treaty took effect in 1952 and formally ended the occupation.

Summer time in Japan did not outlast the occupation. It stopped before the treaty took effect. Japan has not brought it back since full sovereignty returned.

Because Japan's clocks stay fixed, its time gap with countries that still change theirs shifts during the year. Japan sits nine hours ahead of the U.K. in winter. The gap narrows to eight hours while the U.K. observes British Summer Time.

The same seasonal shift applies to U.S. cities that observe daylight saving time. Seen from Tokyo, a call set for the same local time in New York starts at a different Japanese hour in summer than in winter.

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India keeps India Standard Time, set at UTC+5:30, every day of the year. The country does not move its clocks forward in spring or back in autumn. Its choice is permanent standard time.

The UTC+5:30 setting puts Indian clocks five and a half hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. Most of the world's time zones sit on whole-hour offsets from UTC. India's half-hour step means a call set on the hour in many other countries starts on the half hour in India.

One time zone covers the whole country. India Standard Time applies from the western states to the eastern ones. It does not shift with the seasons.

With India's clocks fixed, any seasonal change in its gap with another country comes from the other side. The U.K. shows how this works. In winter, British clocks run on Greenwich Mean Time, five and a half hours behind India. When the U.K. moves to British Summer Time, at UTC+1, the gap narrows to four and a half hours.

The same pattern applies to New York. The city runs on UTC-5 in winter, 10 and a half hours behind India. During U.S. daylight saving time, at UTC-4, the difference shrinks to nine and a half hours.

For people in India, a recurring meeting tied to London or New York office hours moves twice a year on Indian clocks. Indian offices never have to reset a clock themselves.

India has not always run on a fixed clock. It used daylight saving time briefly during wartime periods. Those spells did not last. The country returned to standard time afterward and has stayed on it.

India's fixed offset also sets its position against other countries that stopped changing their clocks. India sits two and a half hours behind China, which runs a single national zone at UTC+8. It sits half an hour behind Kyrgyzstan, which stays on UTC+6 year-round. None of the three countries moves its clocks. Those gaps stay the same in every season.

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South Korea used daylight saving time during several separate periods and later dropped it. The country now keeps Korea Standard Time, UTC+9, all year, with no seasonal clock changes.

Korea Standard Time runs nine hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. Japan uses the same offset, so clocks in Seoul and Tokyo show the same hour throughout the year. A single time zone covers all of South Korea, from Seoul to the southern island of Jeju.

The UTC+9 offset is tied to the 135th meridian east. Seoul lies well to the west of that line. As a result, solar noon in the capital arrives after 12:00 on the clock, even without summer time.

That gap shaped what summer time meant in South Korea. Moving the clocks forward one hour pushed clock time even further ahead of the sun. Summer sunrises and sunsets came later by the clock than they would have under standard time alone.

Standard time keeps that gap at its smaller size. Under the current setup, the clock's lead over the sun no longer jumps by an hour between seasons.

South Korea's summer time came in separate episodes rather than one continuous program. The country has not reinstated seasonal clock changes since dropping them.