No country is exactly 12 hours ahead of India (IST, UTC+05:30), as locations with a 12-hour difference typically fall on a 30-minute offset, making them 11.5 or 12.5 hours ahead or behind. However, countries like Tuvalu, Nauru, and parts of Russia (Kamchatka) are at UTC+12, which is 6.5 hours ahead of India.
For example, New Zealand is one of the countries ahead of India. It follows UTC+12 or more, depending on daylight saving. On the other hand, countries like the United Kingdom are behind India. The UK observes UTC+0 or UTC+1 during daylight saving time.
India uses only one time zone (even though it spans two geographical time zones) 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).
In several countries the 12-hour clock is the dominant written and spoken system of time, predominantly in nations that were part of the former British Empire, for example, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, the United States, Canada (excluding Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and ...
The islands of Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga are 13 hours ahead of London, while the Line Island are a full 14 hours ahead. What's more bizarre is that these islands lie ACROSS the date line, so islands further west than them are over a whole day behind them in time.
India Standard Time (IST) is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), often written as GMT+5:30, meaning when it's noon in GMT, it's 5:30 PM in India, and India uses a single national time zone, this World Time Buddy page notes.
There are no official standards established for the meaning of 12am and 12pm, but it is generally accepted that 12am means midnight and 12pm means midday. The 'am' and 'pm' stand for ante meridiem and post meridiem – Latin words meaning 'before the middle of the day' and 'after the middle of the day'.
Each degree of longitudinal corresponds to a difference of four minutes. This is because the Earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours, 1 degree in 4 minutes. The standard meridian of India is 82 degree 30E, and that of London is 0 degree. So when it is 12 noon in London, it is 5.30 pm in India.
India is a big country, east to west, that chose to have a single time zone . Rather than having their time zone overly favor the eastern or western half of the country, they split the difference with a half hour offset.
Kiribati – pronounced Kiribas – is the only nation on Earth to permanently trespass into GMT+14: the earliest time zone in the world. You can think of Kiribati as the eternal land of tomorrow: if it's Sunday where you are, it's probably Monday in Kiribati.
As of 2025, DST is observed in most of Europe, most of North America and parts of Africa and Asia around the Northern Hemisphere summer, and in parts of South America and Oceania around the Southern Hemisphere summer. It was also formerly observed in other areas.
The ancient Egyptians are seen as the originators of the 24-hour day. The New Kingdom, which lasted from 1550 to 1070 bce, saw the introduction of a time system using 24 stars, 12 of which were used to mark the passage of the night.
Countries located east of the International Date Line experience the new day—and the new year—before the rest of the world. Kiribati, because of where it lies in relation to this line, enters the New Year before any other nation. But did you know, Kiribati's position is not entirely accidental?
What is the biggest country with only one timezone?
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.
Owing to the number of territories it governs beyond Europe, France has 12 (and for a period of the year 13) time zones. Metropolitan France operates on Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), while its dependencies range from Tahiti Time (UTC-10) in French Polynesia to Wallis & Futuna Time (UTC+12) in the South Pacific.
The country that is furthest ahead in time is Kiribati, a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It follows UTC+14, making it the first to welcome each new day. Compared to India, which follows Indian Standard Time (UTC+5:30), Kiribati is 8 hours and 30 minutes ahead of it.
India is 5.5 hours ahead of the UK during standard time (GMT). During the summer months when the UK is observing BST, India is 4.5 hours ahead. The time zone difference is consistent in India, which makes it easier to manage schedules across the country, even if you're in cities like Mumbai, Goa, or Hyderabad.
The country's east–west distance of more than 2,933 kilometres (1,822 mi) covers over 29° of longitude, resulting in the sun rising and setting almost two hours earlier on India's eastern border than in the Rann of Kutch in the far west.
