| UTC+06:30 | |
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| Time zone | |
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| UTC offset | |
| UTC | UTC+6:30 |
| Current time | |
| 09:12, 20 January 2025 MMT [refresh] | |
| Central meridian | |
| Date-time group | |
Myanmar Standard Time ( Burmese : မြန်မာ စံတော်ချိန်, [mjəmàsàɰ̃dɔ̀dʑèiɰ̃] ), formerly Burma Standard Time (BST), is the standard time in Myanmar, 6.5 hours ahead of UTC. Myanmar Standard Time (MMT) is calculated on the basis of 97°30′E longitude. [1] MMT is used all year round, as Myanmar does not observe daylight saving time. [2] [3]
Myanmar did not have a standard time before the British colonial period. Each region kept its own local mean time, according to the Burmese calendar rules: sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight. [note 1] The day was divided into eight 3-hour segments called baho (ဗဟို), or sixty 24-minute segments called nayi (နာရီ). Although the calendar consists of time units down to the millisecond level, the popular usage never extended beyond baho and at most nayi measurements; a gong was struck every nayi while a drum (စည်) and a large bell (ခေါင်းလောင်း) were struck to mark every baho. [5]
| Type | Time | Burmese name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | 1 o'clock | နံနက် တစ်ချက်တီး | midway between sunrise and midday |
| 2 o'clock | နေ့ နှစ်ချက်တီး | noon (midday) | |
| 3 o'clock | နေ့ သုံးချက်တီး | midway between noon and sunset | |
| 4 o'clock | နေ့ လေးချက်တီး | sunset | |
| Night | 1 o'clock | ည တစ်ချက်တီး | midway between sunset and midnight |
| 2 o'clock | ည နှစ်ချက်တီး | midnight | |
| 3 o'clock | ည သုံးချက်တီး | midway between midnight and sunrise | |
| 4 o'clock | နံနက် လေးချက်တီး | sunrise |
The use of a common time began in British Burma in the late 19th century. The first confirmed mention of Rangoon Mean Time (RMT) at GMT+6:24:40 [note 2] being in use was in 1892, [6] a year before the country's first time ball observatory [note 3] was opened in Rangoon (Yangon) on 1 October 1893. [7] [8] However, the use of RMT as the common time, at least in some sectors, most probably started earlier. (The country's first rail service, between Rangoon and Prome (Pyay), began on 2 May 1877, [9] and the non-authoritative IANA time zone database says RMT was introduced in 1880. [10] ) On 1 July 1905, [11] [12] a new standard time called Burma Standard Time (BST) at GMT+6:30—set to the longitude 97° 30' E, and 5 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of RMT—was first adopted by the Railways and Telegraph administrations. [11] [13] Although the rest of the country came to adopt BST, RMT continued to be used in the city of Rangoon at least to 1927. [note 4] By 1930, however, BST apparently had been adopted in Rangoon as well. [note 5]
The standard time was changed to Japan Standard Time (JST) during the Japanese occupation of the country (1942–1945) in World War II. [14]
The standard time was reverted to GMT+6:30 after the war. [14] It has remained ever since, even after the country's independence in 1948. The only change has been its name in English; the official English name has been changed to Myanmar Standard Time [1] presumably since 1989 when the country's name in English was changed from Burma to Myanmar. [15] The country does not observe a daylight saving time. [2]
| Name | Period | Offset from UTC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rangoon Mean Time | 2 May 1877? – 30 June 1905 | UTC+6:24:40 | Standard time for British Burma from at least 1892 to 30 June 1905. Continued to be used in Rangoon (Yangon) at least to 1927 [16] perhaps until 1929. [17] |
| Burma Standard Time | 1 July 1905 – 30 April 1942 | UTC+6:30:00 | First adopted by Railways and Telegraph offices in 1905. [11] [13] The October 2021 IANA database says it was introduced in 1920 [14] but does not provide a source. |
| Japan Standard Time | 1 May 1942 – 2 May 1945 | UTC+09:00:00 | Standard time during the Japanese occupation |
| Burma/Myanmar Standard Time | 3 May 1945 – present | UTC+06:30:00 |
The IANA time zone database contains one time zone named Asia/Yangon [18] for Myanmar [14]
| Country Code | Coordinates | Time Zone | Comments | UTC offset | UTC DST offset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MM | 16°47′44″N96°09′02″E / 16.79543°N 96.15051°E | Asia/Yangon | Asia/Rangoon | +06:30 |
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term "GMT" is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom.
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.
Universal Time is a time standard based on Earth's rotation. While originally it was mean solar time at 0° longitude, precise measurements of the Sun are difficult. Therefore, UT1 is computed from a measure of the Earth's angle with respect to the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF), called the Earth Rotation Angle. UT1 is the same everywhere on Earth. UT1 is required to follow the relationship
Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in:
Japan Standard Time, or Japan Central Standard Time, is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to as Tokyo Standard Time.
Hong Kong Time is the time in Hong Kong, observed at UTC+08:00 all year round. The Hong Kong Observatory is the official timekeeper of the Hong Kong Time. It is indicated as Asia/Hong_Kong in the IANA time zone database.
In modern usage, civil time refers to statutory time as designated by civilian authorities. Modern civil time is generally national standard time in a time zone at a fixed offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), possibly adjusted by daylight saving time during part of the year. UTC is calculated by reference to atomic clocks and was adopted in 1972. Older systems use telescope observations.
The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00, where Beijing is located, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. It is the largest sovereign nation in the world that officially observes only one time zone.
The United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time (UTC+01:00). The latter applies between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October.
Malaysian Standard Time or Malaysian Time (MYT) is the standard time used in Malaysia. It is 8 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Malaysia does not observe daylight saving time.
Iran Standard Time (IRST) or Iran Time (IT) is the time zone used in Iran. Iran uses a UTC offset UTC+03:30. IRST is defined by the 52.5 degrees east meridian, the same meridian which defines the Iranian calendar and is the official meridian of Iran.
India uses only one time zone across the whole nation and all its territories, called Indian Standard Time (IST), which equates to UTC+05:30, i.e. five and a half hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). India does not currently observe daylight saving time.
Venezuela uses the UTC−04:00 time offset, and they had previously used UTC−04:30 from 9 December 2007 until 30 April 2016. The time is commonly called Venezuelan Standard Time (VET), and legally referred to as Hora Legal de Venezuela (HLV) or Venezuela's Legal Time. The HLV is administered by the Navigation and Hydrography Service, in the Cagigal Naval Observatory, Caracas.
The Burmese calendar is a lunisolar calendar in which the months are based on lunar months and years are based on sidereal years. The calendar is largely based on an older version of the Hindu calendar, though unlike the Indian systems, it employs a version of the Metonic cycle. The calendar therefore has to reconcile the sidereal years of the Hindu calendar with the Metonic cycle's near tropical years by adding intercalary months and days at irregular intervals.
Portugal has two time zones and observes daylight saving time. Continental Portugal and Madeira use UTC+00:00, while the Azores use UTC–01:00. Daylight saving time is observed nationwide from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October, when continental Portugal and Madeira advance one hour to UTC+01:00, and the Azores advances one hour to UTC+00:00.
Saudi Arabia Standard Time, abbreviated as SAST, is the standard time zone of Saudi Arabia. The time zone is 3 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+03:00) with no daylight savings. SAST is defined by the 45th Meridian East. Before a standardized time zone was introduced, the country used Arabic time, in which clocks were set to midnight at sundown. Because of confusion between various other systems also used in the kingdom, the standardized use of a time zone was established.
Finland uses Eastern European Time (EET) during the winter as standard time and Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) during the summer as daylight saving time. EET is two hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+02:00) and EEST is three hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+03:00). Finland adopted EET on 30 April 1921, and has observed daylight saving time in its current alignment since 1981 by advancing the clock forward one hour at 03:00 EET on the last Sunday in March and back at 04:00 EET on the last Sunday in October, doing so an hour earlier for the first two years.
Time in Palau is given by Palau Time. Palau does not have an associated daylight saving time.
Time in Liberia is given by a single time zone, denoted as Greenwich Mean Time. Liberia shares this time zone with several other countries, including fourteen in western Africa where it was formerly known as Western Sahara Standard Time (WSST). Liberia has never observed daylight saving time (DST).
Nigeria observes West Africa Time (WAT), which is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+01:00), year-round as standard time. Nigeria has never observed daylight saving time. It shares WAT with fourteen other countries in Africa. Nigeria's local mean time was UTC+00:13:35.
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