Egypt Standard Time
| Light Blue | Cape Verde Time[a] (UTC−1) |
| Blue | Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) |
| Red | (UTC+1) |
| Yellow | (UTC+2) |
| Ochre | Egypt Standard Time (UTC+2) |
| Egypt Summer Time (UTC+3) | |
| Green | East Africa Time (UTC+3) |
| Turquoise | (UTC+4) |
b Mauritius and the Seychelles are east and northeast of Madagascar, respectively.
| Offset | Zone(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| UTC+2 | ||
| UTC+3 | ||
| UTC+3 | ||
| UTC+3:30 | Iran Standard Time | |
| UTC+4 | Gulf Standard Time |
Egypt Standard Time (EGY) (Arabic: توقيت مصر القياسي Tawqīt Miṣr al-qiyāsiyy) is UTC+02:00 during the winter, which is equivalent to Eastern European Time, Central Africa Time, and South African Standard Time. It is co-linear with neighboring Libya and Sudan only during the winter months.
For energy conservation, Egypt observes Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00) during the summer months, making it equivalent to Arabia Standard Time, East Africa Time, Moscow Time, and Turkey Time. Daylight Saving Time (DST) was previously used from 1957 to 2010, and from 2014 to 2015, before being reintroduced in 2023.
History
[edit]On 21 April 2011, the interim government abolished summer time. Standard time was therefore observed all year long. Before the Egypt revolution, the government was planning to take a decision to abolish summer time in 2011 before President Hosni Mubarak's term expired in September 2011.
On 7 May 2014, the Egyptian interim government decided to use summer time starting from 15 May 2014, the third Friday of May, with an exception for the holy month of Ramadan. This occurred just before the Egyptian presidential elections were expected to start.[1]
On 20 April 2015, the Egyptian government decided against observing summer time following a poll that had been held in April 2015 regarding applying DST or not. The government decided to make the necessary amendment to the laws and asked the ministers to work on a study to determine the probability of applying daylight saving time in coming years or not.[2] The ministry of electricity assured that the achieved electricity saving from applying summer time is not of any tangible effect.[3]
On 29 April 2016, the government under Prime Minister Sherif Ismail decided to use summer time again (UTC+03:00) by 7 July. It was to begin after Ramadan and last until the end of October. However, it was cancelled on 4 July following a vote by the Egyptian Parliament on 28 June to abolish DST, and to comply with the April 2015 presidential decree to refrain from introducing DST.
On 1 March 2023, the Egyptian Cabinet passed law 24 of 2023 to reinstate DST, moving to UTC+03:00 starting from the last Friday of April at 00:01 until the last Thursday of October at 23:59.[4] On 16 April 2023, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ratified and signed the law, and the clock change took effect on 28 April of that year.[5]
Time zone changes
[edit]| Period in use | Time offset from GMT | Name of time zone |
|---|---|---|
| Prior to 1900 | UTC+02:05:09 | Cairo mean time |
| 1900–1939 | UTC+02:00 | Eastern European Time |
| 15 July 1940 – 1 November 1945 | UTC+02:00 UTC+03:00 |
Eastern European Time Eastern European Summer Time |
| 1946–1957 | UTC+02:00 | Eastern European Time |
| 10 May 1957 – 19 April 2011 | UTC+02:00 UTC+03:00 |
Eastern European Time Eastern European Summer Time |
| 20 April 2011 – 15 May 2014 | UTC+02:00 | Eastern European Time |
| 16 May 2014 – 19 April 2015 | UTC+02:00 UTC+03:00 |
Eastern European Time Eastern European Summer Time |
| 20 April 2015 – 27 April 2023 | UTC+02:00 | Eastern European Time |
| 28 April 2023 – present | UTC+02:00 UTC+03:00 |
Eastern European Time Eastern European Summer Time |
IANA time zone database
[edit]The IANA time zone database contains one zone for Egypt in the file zone.tab.
| c.c. | Coordinates | Timezone name | Comments | UTC offset (Std.) | UTC offset (DST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EG | +3003 |
Africa |
+02:00 | +03:00 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Egypt's government to re-apply daylight saving time".
- ↑ "No daylight saving this summer: Egypt's prime minister".
- ↑ "Council of Ministers Postpones Using Summer Time This Year". Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2015. (in Arabic)
- ↑ "Egypt to reapply daylight-saving time annually to rationalise use of energy – Society – Egypt". Ahram Online. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ↑ "Egypt's President Sisi ratifies bill to reinstate daylight-saving time". Egypt Today. 17 April 2023.
External links
[edit]- Al-Ahram: Daylight savings time in Egypt postponed to July
- Al-Ahram: Egypt's government to re-apply daylight saving time
- Almasry Alyoum: Egypt to cancel daylight saving time
- Time and Date.com: Egypt Abolishes Daylight Saving Time
- Time and Date.com: Egypt re-introduces Daylight Saving Time
