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 United States of America, endowed with substantial landmass and overseas holdings, shares the second-place distinction with Russia, both amassing 11 time zones. The United States divides these zones into six stemming from its 50 states and an additional five from its various overseas territories.
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.
According to the clock, the first areas to experience a new day and a New Year are islands that use UTC+14:00. These include portions of the Republic of Kiribati, including Millennium Island and Kiritimati in the Line Islands.
Key Takeaways. The United States had the highest number of billionaires in 2025 with 902, according to Forbes. China and India had 516 and 205 billionaires, respectively.
Vatican City holds the title as the world's smallest country, with an area of just 0.17 square mile (0.44 square km). As a point of comparison, the largest country in the world, Russia, is almost 39 million times bigger. Close behind Vatican City is Monaco, measuring 0.8 square mile (2.1 square km).
What is the smallest country with multiple time zones?
The Federated States of Micronesia is a single nation comprising more than 600 islands covering an area estimated by the World Bank to be 700 square kilometres (270 square miles). The country is divided into two time zones (UTC+10 and UTC+11), making it the smallest country by area to adopt more than one time zone.
France, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium were all originally in the same time zone as the UK, but Germany changed their time to match the German zone (one hour ahead of the UK) during their occupation of those countries during the war. Meanwhile, Spanish dictator Franco changed the time to an hour ahead in Spain too.
Maximum time difference between two countries is 26 hours ⏱ You can see that the most extreme time zones are +14 hours at Line Islands (Kiribati), and -12 hours in and around Baker Islands (US). Therefore, the maximum possible difference between times on Earth is 26 hours.
Spain has two time zones. Spain mainly uses CET (UTC+01:00) in Peninsular Spain, Balearic Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla. In the Canary Islands, the time zone is WET (UTC±00:00).
In this Swiss town, all clocks stop at 11, and everything, from churches to celebrations, revolves around the number 11. Summarized by AI. The Swiss town of Solothurn marches to the beat of a different hour. Clocks here only go to 11, a nod to a legendary elf (means 11 in German), who brought peace to the town.
With a total area of 6,592,850 square miles (17,075,400 square km), Russia is the world's largest country. A distant second is Canada, with 3,855,103 square miles (9,984,670 square km). At the opposite end is Vatican City, which is the world's smallest country. It covers just 0.17 square mile (0.44 square km).
The first place to usher in 2025 will be Christmas Island (Kiritimati) in the Republic of Kiribati. A small island in the Pacific Ocean, it will be the first to see the new year at 5 am EST (3.30 pm IST).
Egypt is the oldest country in the world if we accept its founding as 3150 B.C.E. That's the estimated beginning of the reign of Narmer, the first king of the first dynasty of Egypt, and the end of the period considered predynastic or ancient Egypt. The Narmer Palette (circa 3200-3000 B.C.E.)
Time is kept from an imaginary line running through Greenwich, England, called the Prime Meridian. The International Date Line is an imaginary line located halfway around the world at roughly 180 degrees longitude that separates one day from the next. If you cross the International Date Line, the date changes.
