Life
9 Places That Don't Observe Daylight Saving Time Around The World
Daylight saving time is starting soon, and when it does, it means we will lose an hour of sleep. But when fall finally comes back around, we'll gain that hour right back. It always feels like people are just trying to remember if you are losing or gaining more sleep, doesn't it? While you've probably been moving your clocks back and forth since you were a kid, did you know that there are actually some places that don't observe daylight saving time? What rebels.
There are even two states here in the United States that don't participate in daylight saving time. Hawaii is one. They're off to the side doing their own amazing thing. Can you guess the other? Arizona. There are also whole countries that don't observe daylight saving time, like Costa Rica and Australia. Do these places just not want more sunlight? Or could they just not be bothered with remembering to change their clocks? It turns out a lot of their reasoning has to do with their location. Some places already got a lot of sunlight year-round and didn't need to shift their clocks when the daylight saving time tradition started in 1916 in Germany, to save energy for the war effort, according to Timeanddate.com.
Many of the places that opt out of daylight saving time make sense, while other areas may surprise you. Here's a list of places around the world that don't ever have to worry about changing their clocks unless the battery runs out.
1Arizona
Arizona seems to be the state that surprises everyone by not participating in daylight saving time. In 1966 Arizona opted out of observing it due to their location and temperature, according USA Today — they get a lot of sunlight and a lot of heat.
2Hawaii
Hawaii opted out pretty much for the same reason Arizona did because it's just too hot. Also, Beat of Hawaii explained, there the sun rises and sets at the same time every day, which would make daylight saving time absolutely pointless. Sounds like it would actually complicate things.
3Puerto Rico
The last time Puerto Rico observed daylight saving time was back in 1945, according to Timeanddate.com. Again, their closeness to the equator and the fact that they get a lot of sunlight is why. The same goes for the other overseas territories like The Virgin Islands and Guam, reported Time.
4Iceland
According to the Almanac of the University of Iceland, Iceland did try changing the clocks between the years 1943 and 1968, but have since decided to opt out in switching their clocks. Iceland already gets wonky daylight hours. Between mid-May and August, there are only a few hours of darkness. This is called "midnight sun," and during the winter there are only about maybe 5 hours of actual sunlight. Not sure daylight saving time would've helped much.
5Parts of Australia
Although daylight saving time is observed in most of Australia, it is not observed in Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, according to the the country's official government site.
6Asia
Many parts of Asia don't observe in daylight saving time. That would include China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Egypt, Iraq, Philippines, Vietnam, and Turkey who only recently stopped changing their clocks in 2016, according to TimeTemperature.com.
7Russia
BBC News explained that on October 26th, 2014, Russia set their clocks back to observe "winter time," but since then they haven't returned to "summer time." This keeps them at standard time all year.
8Nepal
Nepal has never participated in daylight saving time, according to Timeandddate.com, and we can't see any reason why they would.
9Costa Rica
Clocks do not change in Costa Rica, according to Qcostarica.com, and according to this article, it can be argued that it could actually be more of a burden for the residents of the country if they were to start.
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