The World's Weirdest Time Zones: Why Some Countries Use Half-Hour and 45-Minute Offsets

Quick quiz: how many time zones are there in the world?

If you said 24, you're technically wrong. There are actually over 40 unique time offsets in use today. And some of them are just plain weird.

You've got Nepal at UTC+5:45 (yes, forty-five minutes). India at UTC+5:30. The Chatham Islands running 45 minutes ahead of mainland New Zealand. And then there's China—a country the size of the continental United States that somehow operates on a single time zone.

Let's dig into why these quirks exist and what they mean for travelers, developers, and anyone trying to schedule a meeting across these regions.

The 45-Minute Rebels: Nepal and Chatham Islands

Nepal (UTC+5:45)

Nepal holds the distinction of being one of only three places on Earth using a 45-minute offset. But why?

Here's the thing—until 1920, Nepal used local solar time, which worked out to roughly UTC+5:41:16 (those extra 16 seconds are very Nepali). Then they switched to Indian Standard Time for convenience. But in 1986, Nepal decided to move its clocks forward by 15 minutes.

The official reason? Geography. Nepal sits between the standard meridians used for UTC+5:30 and UTC+6:00, so UTC+5:45 is a reasonable middle ground.

The unofficial reason? National identity. Being exactly 15 minutes different from India sends a message: "We're our own country, thanks."

For travelers, this means crossing from India to Nepal doesn't just change countries—it changes time by 15 minutes. Your phone might take a moment to figure out what just happened.

The Chatham Islands (UTC+12:45)

About 800 kilometers east of New Zealand's South Island sits a tiny archipelago that runs 45 minutes ahead of the mainland. Chatham Standard Time (CHAST) is UTC+12:45, making it one of the first places on Earth to see the new day.

The offset exists because the islands are far enough east that New Zealand's standard time doesn't quite fit. Rather than rounding to the nearest hour, they split the difference.

During daylight saving time, things get even weirder. The islands shift to UTC+13:45—that's 13 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Greenwich. When New Zealand changes clocks, so do the Chatham Islands, but at 2:45 AM rather than 2:00 AM.

The Half-Hour Club

India (UTC+5:30)

About 1.4 billion people—roughly one-fifth of humanity—live in a half-hour time zone. That's India.

The country spans from 68°E to 97°E longitude, which technically should cover two or three time zones. But India chose UTC+5:30, putting the country squarely between UTC+5 and UTC+6.

Why not just pick one whole hour? India sits right in the middle geographically. Choosing UTC+5 would have the east waking up in darkness. Choosing UTC+6 would have the west experiencing late sunrises. The compromise was 5:30.

Iran (UTC+3:30)

Iran is another major country using a 30-minute offset. At UTC+3:30, it sits between Turkey (UTC+3) and Afghanistan (UTC+4:30).

Here's a fun border fact: if you cross from Iran into Pakistan, you jump forward 90 minutes. Cross from Iran into Afghanistan, and you gain a full hour. The region around the Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan border is one of the most time-zone-confusing places on the planet.

Newfoundland (UTC-3:30)

On the other side of the world, Canada's easternmost province stubbornly refuses to align with Atlantic Standard Time. Newfoundland runs at UTC-3:30, half an hour ahead of the Maritime provinces.

This makes Newfoundland one of the few places in North America with a fractional offset. If you're scheduling a call with someone in St. John's, double-check your math.

The Lord Howe Island Anomaly

Lord Howe Island, a tiny speck between Australia and New Zealand, takes things to another level.

Normally, the island runs on UTC+10:30. But during daylight saving time, instead of jumping forward one hour like everywhere else, Lord Howe Island only moves forward 30 minutes—to UTC+11.

Why? The island wanted to stay synchronized with Sydney during summer without creating a two-hour gap during winter. The solution: a 30-minute DST shift.

This makes Lord Howe Island one of the only places on Earth where clocks change by half an hour instead of a full hour. The roughly 350 residents have learned to live with it.

China: One Country, One Time Zone

And then there's China.

From a geographic standpoint, China should have five time zones. The country stretches about 5,200 kilometers from east to west, roughly the same distance as the continental United States (which has four mainland time zones, plus Alaska and Hawaii).

But since 1949, all of China has operated on Beijing Time (UTC+8). Chairman Mao Zedong unified the country under a single time zone as a symbol of national unity.

The consequences are real. In Kashgar, in China's far west, the sun doesn't rise until after 9 AM in winter. Schools and businesses often operate on informal local schedules, starting work hours later than in eastern China.

In Xinjiang province, many Uyghur residents use an unofficial "Xinjiang Time" (UTC+6) in daily life, while official government business runs on Beijing Time. It's a daily reminder of the tension between political unity and practical reality.

What This Means for You

If you're traveling through these regions, here are some practical tips:

• Update your phone's automatic time setting before crossing borders. Some phones struggle with 15 or 45-minute offsets.
• Double-check meeting times when scheduling across fractional time zones. Many calendar apps handle them fine, but not all do.
• Be specific about which time you mean. "3 PM India time" is unambiguous, but "3 PM" when you're near the Nepal border could mean two different things.

For developers, always use IANA timezone identifiers like "Asia/Kathmandu" or "Pacific/Chatham" rather than UTC offsets. The identifiers handle all the weird cases automatically.

The Bottom Line

Time zones were invented to bring order to chaos. But humans, being humans, added their own chaos back in.

Some fractional offsets make geographic sense—India really does sit between meridians. Others are political statements—Nepal's 15-minute difference from India isn't an accident. And some, like China's single time zone, prioritize national unity over solar accuracy.

For most of us, these oddities are just trivia. But if you're ever scheduling a call between Kathmandu, Kashgar, and the Chatham Islands, you'll appreciate knowing that time isn't as straightforward as it seems.

Need to convert times across these unusual zones? Our timezone converter handles all the fractional offsets automatically. Or check out our guide on understanding time zones for more background on how we got here.

References

1. Half Hour and 45-Minute Time Zones - TimeandDate.com
2. Why Does China Have Only One Time Zone? - TimeandDate.com
3. Time in China - Wikipedia
4. Lord Howe Island's Time - Atlas Obscura
5. Chatham Standard Time Zone - Wikipedia
6. IANA Time Zone Database - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority