How many time zones does France have?
If you ask someone how many time zones France has, most would probably reply that France has one time zone. But this isn’t correct. In actuality, France has 13 time zones, thanks to its overseas territories, including France’s claim to Adélie Land in Antarctica, which is in timezone UTC+05:10. That’s more than any other country in the world, including Russia.
Some sources say France only has 12 time zones because most countries don’t recognize France’s claim on Adélie Land in Antarctica. Only 7 countries maintain territorial claims in Antarctica (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom)
RELATED: How do time zones work and why do we have them?
Where are France’s time zones located?
Here’s a look at France’s time zones organized by UTC, including daylight savings.
In France’s case, only two places in France observe daylight savings.
- UTC +02:00: Metropolitan France, the part of France that is in Europe
- UTC−02:00: Saint Pierre and Miquelon, France’s territory off the coast of Canada. Follows the US and Canadian schedules for daylight savings.
We usually don’t count daylight savings as an additional time zone.
| Standard time | Summer (daylight savings) |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UTC−10:00 | Society Islands and Tuamotus Austral Islands | |
| 2 | UTC−09:30 | Marquesas Islands | |
| 3 | UTC−09:00 | Gambier Islands | |
| 4 | UTC−08:00 | Clipperton Island | |
| 5 | UTC−04:00 (AST) | Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin | |
| 6 | UTC−03:00 (PMST) | French Guiana | |
| UTC−03:00 | UTC−02:00. 2nd Sunday in March to 2nd Sunday in November (same as US & Canada) |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Off the coast of Canada) |
|
| 7 | UTC+01:00 (CET) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October |
Metropolitan France Time Zone (Central European France and Paris time) |
| 8 | UTC+03:00 | Mayotte & Scattered Islands (group of islands near Madagascar Indian Ocean | |
| 9 | UTC+04:00 | Réunion, Crozet Islands (in the southern Indian Ocean) | |
| 10 | UTC+05:00 | Kerguelen Islands, Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands | |
| 11 | UTC+05:10 | Adélie Land (French claim on the continent of Antarctica) Not recognized by many countries |
|
| 12 | UTC+11:00 | New Caledonia | |
| 13 | UTC+12:00 | Wallis and Futuna |
France’s time zones by region and territories
Here is a different look at France’s time zones by region/territory.
| FRENCH TERRITORY | STANDARD time |
SUMMER (Daylight savings)time |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| French Polynesia | Society, Tuamotu and Austral islands |
UTC−10:00 | |
| Marquesas Islands | UTC−09:30 | ||
| Gambier Islands | UTC−09:00 | ||
| Clipperton Island | UTC−08:00 | ||
| Guadeloupe | UTC−04:00 | ||
| Martinique | UTC−04:00 | ||
| Saint Barthélemy | UTC−04:00 | ||
| Saint Martin | UTC−04:00 | ||
| French Guiana | UTC−03:00 | ||
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon | UTC−03:00 | UTC−02:00 | |
| Metropolitan France | Europe/Paris | UTC+01:00 | UTC+02:00 |
| Mayotte | UTC+03:00 | ||
| Réunion | UTC+04:00 | ||
| French Southern and Antarctica Lands (Uninhabited except for transient researchers) |
Scattered Islands | UTC+03:00 | |
| Crozet Islands | UTC+04:00 | ||
| Kerguelen, Saint Paul and Amsterdam islands |
UTC+05:00 | ||
| Adélie Land | UTC+10:00 | ||
| New Caledonia | UTC+11:00 | ||
| Wallis and Futuna | UTC+12:00 |
Wrapping up France time zones
The next time someone asks you about France’s time zones, you can blow them away with your time zone knowledge.
