What time is it? Well, that depends on where you are in the world! When it’s 6:00 a.m. in California, it’s 10:00 a.m. in New York. It would also be 3:00 p.m. in London and 2:00 a.m. the next day in Sydney, Australia! The world is split into 24 different time zones. You can see the different time zones on the map above. Without time zones, you might have your breakfast when the sun goes down or go to bed as the sun rises!
If you travel east around the world, you will lose hours. If you travel west, you will gain hours. If you travel far enough and fast enough, you could even arrive before the time you left!
But can you imagine skipping an entire day? The people of Samoa, a nation in the South Pacific, did exactly that! Samoa is located next to the international date line. This line marks the beginning of the next calendar day. For Samoans, moving to the next times zone in one direction meant the time changed one hour for them. But moving to the next time zone the other direction changed the time by a day!
Samoa trades more with Australia, New Zealand, and Asia rather than the United States. So, Samoans decided to move the international date line boundary for their country. In 2011, Samoans went to bed on December 29. They woke up on December 31! Now Samoa is on the west side of the line.
What Do You Think? How important do you think time zones are?
Photo Credit: EPS/Shutterstock
