what is unusual about Newfoundland time zone and why was it done this way?

Question

what is unusual about Newfoundland time zone and why was it done this way?

Answer 1

Great question!



Newfoundland’s unique time zone



Many people wonder why the Province of Newfoundland has a time zone that varies by the half hour rather than the standard one hour. While the system of Standard Time employs 24 meridians, and each are theoretically the centres of 24 Standard Time zones, some adjustments have been made to the time zones for the convenience of inhabitants that lie within the zones. Newfoundland, (but not Labrador), lies squarely in the eastern half of its time zone, exactly three and a half hours from Greenwich. The Newfoundland government attempted to bring the province into conformity with the other Atlantic provinces in 1963, but withdrew in the face of stiff public opposition. Other countries that operate on the half hour time difference are: Suriname, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, and Central Australia.

Answer 2

The Newfoundland Standard Time Zone (NST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting 3½ hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), resulting in UTC-3:30.



NST is used only in Canada, and there only by the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Officially, the island of Newfoundland, plus its offshore islands, is the only part of the province that uses NST; Labrador, the mainland portion, officially uses Atlantic Standard Time. However, the southeastern tip of Labrador unofficially uses NST because it is more closely tied economically to the island than it is to the remainder of Labrador.



NST is known as Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT) during daylight saving time, and has one hour added to make it 2½ hours behind UTC (UTC-2:30).

Answer 3

It is a HALF hour different from Eastern time in the USA, and I have no idea why.