If you are traveling westward, you gain a day, and if you are traveling eastward, you lose a day. For example, if a traveler moves eastward across the Pacific Ocean from Wake Island to the Hawaiian Islands on June 25, they will jump backward to June 24 as soon as they cross the IDL.

When you cross the International Date Line from west to east, you subtract a day, and if you cross the line from east to west, you add a day. Depending on which time zone the country follows, the time difference on either side of the line is not always 24 hours.

Accordingly, Samoa, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands and Chatham Islands are all west of the IDL and have the same date. American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, and French Polynesia are east of the IDL and one day behind.

International Date Line is very important. As we know that it is drawn in a zigzag manner because it deviates at places on map so that it does not cut through any island or cause confusion of dates in country.

international date line, imaginary line on the earth’s surface, generally following the 180° meridian of longitude, where, by international agreement, travelers change dates. The date line is necessary to avoid a confusion that would otherwise result.

In October 1884 astronomers and representatives from 25 countries convened in Washington at the International Meridian Conference to recommend a common prime meridian for geographical and nautical charts that would be acceptable to all parties concerned.

Kiribati

World Time Zones

UTC+11 is a time offset that adds 11 hours to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It is observed in the BST, KOST, MAGT, MIST, NCT, NFT, PONT, SAKT, SBT, SRET, VUT during standard time, and in the AEDT, LHDT during the other months (Daylight saving time).

Current Local Times Around the World

TIL the least populated timezone in the world is GMT +10.5, which is only occupied by the Lord Howe Islands, a small chain of islands about 400 miles NE of Sydney, Australia with only about 350 people who live on it.

Warning

+08:00 Malaysia Standard Time