Egypt observes Eastern European Time (EET), which corresponds to UTC+2, throughout the year. This means that Egypt shares the same time zone as neighboring Libya.
Time zones in Africa
Egypt Standard Time (EGY) is equivalent to Eastern European Time, Central Africa Time, South African Standard Time, and Central European Summer Time. It is also co-linear with neighboring Libya and Sudan during winter.
Daylight Saving Time in Egypt: A History of Changes
Egypt has a varied history with Daylight Saving Time (DST), marked by periods of implementation and abolishment. The concept of DST was first introduced in 1940 but was discontinued in 1945.
Egypt formally observed daylight saving time from the last Friday of April until the first Friday of October. However, because of Ramadan, the dates varied: in 2006, it ended on September 22; in 2007, on September 7; and in 2008, on August 29.
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- April 20, 2011: Egypt stopped observing summer time.
- May 2014: Daylight saving time was re-introduced.
DST started on Friday, May 16, with the period stopped during Ramadan, and then ended on Friday, September 26, but was abolished in 2015.
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In March 2023, the Egyptian parliament decided to permanently reintroduce daylight saving time in order to achieve economic benefits, according to the government.
Controversies and Debates Surrounding DST
The implementation of DST has been a subject of critical debate in Egypt, as it has been in many other countries.
Opponents doubt the benefits for energy consumption and instead point to negative effects on health and daily rhythms. Religious objections also play a role, especially in Muslim countries: during Ramadan, the time change causes shifts in prayer times and fasting.
As the clock is always set one hour ahead during summer time, it gets dark later. However, people fast until sunset, which is also one hour later. This meets with social disapproval.
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In some years, the time change was therefore suspended or postponed during the month of fasting.
Egypt's Time Zone in Regional Context
Egypt is an exception in a regional comparison.
Only 1 nationwide time zone. Egypt has an east-west extension of 9.4 degrees of longitude. Given the country's location in Northern Africa, this corresponds to about 910 kilometers. With this still relatively small extension, the course of the sun is only slightly different at various positions in the country.
The position of the sun in the west of the country differs from that in the east by only about 37 minutes. This means the sun rises and sets 37 minutes later in the west than in the east. However, this time difference is still normal and is no reason for multiple time zones. This would only really make sense from 15 degrees of longitude.
Future Time Changes
Unlike in North America, the clocks in Egypt do not change on the same day. Instead of the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, Egypt has different dates for the time change.
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Changes to summer and winter time Egypt has already introduced and abolished daylight saving time several times. Daylight saving time was first introduced in 1988. As in other countries, this was justified with the aim of saving energy and making better use of daylight hours. Daylight saving time was used for years, but was suspended after the revolution in 2011. It was briefly reintroduced in 2014, but was interrupted during Ramadan. It was abolished again in 2015.
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