Clocking Russia from East to West
The world’s largest country has 11 time zones across its hemispheric span.
June 30, 2018
1. Russia is the largest country by land area, at 16.4 million square kilometers (6.3 million square miles). It spans across a total of 11 time zones, since 2014.
2. However, even that large number is not the greatest total number of time zones for a single country in the world, since France retains 12.
3. Russia’s 11 time zones reflect its sweeping expanse across Eurasia – nearly one entire hemisphere from its Western – to its Eastern-most location. (A hemisphere is 12 hours out of a 24-hour day).
Clocking Russia from East to West
France: Global Time Zone Leader
4. Unlike some countries with many time zones, such as France (12) or the UK (9), Russia’s 11 time zones do not derive from any overseas island territories or colonies.
5. The most-western time zone in Russia is in the Kaliningrad exclave, on the Baltic, which used to be part of Germany’s East Prussia region.
6. The most-eastern time zone in Russia, ten hours ahead of Kaliningrad, is Kamchatka, which is east of Japan.
Sources: The Globalist Research Center, BBC