Time in Mexico
Encyclopedia
Mexico
uses three different UTC offsets as defined in the federal Law of Time Systems:
In addition, the law dictates that all island territories should fall within the time zone corresponding to their geographic location.
Daylight saving time
(horario estacional in Spanish
as referred to in the law, but horario de verano in colloquial speech) has been observed in Mexico beginning in 1996. Except for Baja California
, it does not coincide with the longer extended daylight saving period adopted for 2007 in the United States. Rather, the law dictates that daylight saving time be observed between 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April through 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.
As the United States now starts DST on the second Sunday in March and ends it on the first Sunday in November, Mexico's time zones are now out of synchronization with the United States' Pacific, Mountain, and Central time zones for two periods each year, during which Mexico City clocks match those in Denver instead of those in Chicago. The first is the three or four weeks between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in April. The second is the single week between the last Sunday in October and the first Sunday in November. The Mexican Stock Exchange changes its hours during these periods in order to maintain synchronization with the U.S. markets.
In 1998 the state of Chihuahua moved from Central time to Mountain time. Later in 2001 Mexico experimented with a shorter daylight saving period from the first Sunday in May till the last Sunday in September. The areas that border the United States began observing DST on the US schedule in 2010.
Daylight saving time is observed in all parts of the country except for the state of Sonora
, which decided to remain on standard time beginning in 1999 to coincide with the non-observation in Arizona
, with which Sonora shares its northern border. The island territories do not currently observe daylight time either. During DST period, Mexico uses 4 different time zones.
In Baja California
daylight saving time has been observed for several decades and until 1996 was the only Mexican state to observe DST.
On 2010-01-06 a zone America/Ensenada named for Ensenada, Baja California
was scheduled for inclusion with the comment "Split off Mexican cities (near US border) that are to follow US rules starting in 2010. Tijuana splits into Tijuana and Ensenada."
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
uses three different UTC offsets as defined in the federal Law of Time Systems:
- Zone 1 (Central Zone) covers most of Mexico and is equivalent to UTC-06:00 (the equivalent of Canadian and U.S. Central Time ZoneCentral Time zoneIn North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
). - Zone 2 (Pacific Zone) covers the states of Baja California SurBaja California SurBaja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...
, Chihuahua, NayaritNayaritNayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
, SinaloaSinaloaSinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
, and SonoraSonoraSonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, which use UTC-07:00 (the equivalent of Canadian and U.S. Mountain Time ZoneMountain Time ZoneThe Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time, during the shortest days of autumn and winter , and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time in the spring, summer, and early autumn...
). - Zone 3 (Northwest Zone) covers the state of Baja California and uses UTC-08:00 (the equivalent of Canadian and U.S. Pacific Time ZonePacific Time ZoneThe Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
).
In addition, the law dictates that all island territories should fall within the time zone corresponding to their geographic location.
History
In 1930 three zones are decreed :- "Hora del Golfo", con meridiano 90°;
- "Hora del Centro", meridiano 105°
- "Hora del Oeste", correspondiente al meridiano 120°.
Daylight saving time
First observation of DST was in 1931 .Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
(horario estacional in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as referred to in the law, but horario de verano in colloquial speech) has been observed in Mexico beginning in 1996. Except for Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, it does not coincide with the longer extended daylight saving period adopted for 2007 in the United States. Rather, the law dictates that daylight saving time be observed between 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April through 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.
As the United States now starts DST on the second Sunday in March and ends it on the first Sunday in November, Mexico's time zones are now out of synchronization with the United States' Pacific, Mountain, and Central time zones for two periods each year, during which Mexico City clocks match those in Denver instead of those in Chicago. The first is the three or four weeks between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in April. The second is the single week between the last Sunday in October and the first Sunday in November. The Mexican Stock Exchange changes its hours during these periods in order to maintain synchronization with the U.S. markets.
In 1998 the state of Chihuahua moved from Central time to Mountain time. Later in 2001 Mexico experimented with a shorter daylight saving period from the first Sunday in May till the last Sunday in September. The areas that border the United States began observing DST on the US schedule in 2010.
Daylight saving time is observed in all parts of the country except for the state of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, which decided to remain on standard time beginning in 1999 to coincide with the non-observation in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, with which Sonora shares its northern border. The island territories do not currently observe daylight time either. During DST period, Mexico uses 4 different time zones.
In Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
daylight saving time has been observed for several decades and until 1996 was the only Mexican state to observe DST.
tz database
Data for Mexico from zone.tab in the tz database. Columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself.| c.c.* | coordinates* | TZ* | comments* | UTC offset | UTC offset DST | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTC-05:00 | |||
| UTC-05:00 | |||
| UTC-05:00 | |||
| UTC-05:00 | |||
| UTC-05:00 | |||
| UTC-06:00 | |||
| UTC-06:00 | |||
| UTC-06:00 | |||
| - | |||
| UTC-07:00 | |||
| UTC-07:00 | |||
| ? |
On 2010-01-06 a zone America/Ensenada named for Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
was scheduled for inclusion with the comment "Split off Mexican cities (near US border) that are to follow US rules starting in 2010. Tijuana splits into Tijuana and Ensenada."