Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the names of
UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time or UTC is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about one second of mean solar time (such as UT1) at 0° longitude (at the IERS Reference Meridian as the currently use ...
. The zone uses
daylight saving time, so that it uses
UTC+03:00 during the summer.
A number of African countries use
UTC+02:00 all year long, where it is called
Central Africa Time
Central Africa Time or CAT, is a time zone used in central and southern Africa. Central Africa Time is two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC+02:00), which is the same as the adjacent South Africa Standard Time, Egypt Standard Time, ...
(CAT), although
Egypt and
Libya also use the term ''Eastern European Time''.
The most populous city in the Eastern European Time zone is
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, with the most populous EET city in Europe being
Athens.
Usage
The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time all year round:
*
Egypt, since 21 April 2015; used
EEST
Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes i ...
(
UTC+02:00;
UTC+03:00 with
daylight saving time) from 1988–2010 and 16 May–26 September 2014. See also
Egypt Standard Time
Egypt Standard Time (EGY) ( ''Tawqīt Miṣr al-qiyāsiyy'') is UTC+02:00, which is equivalent to Eastern European Time, Central Africa Time, South African Standard Time and Central European Summer Time, and is co-linear with neighbouring ...
.
*
Kaliningrad Oblast (
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
), since 26 October 2014; also used EET in years 1945 and 1991–2011. See also
Kaliningrad Time
Kaliningrad Time is the time zone two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00) and one hour behind Moscow Time (MSK−1). It is used in Kaliningrad Oblast.
Until 2011, Kaliningrad Time was identical to Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00; UTC+03:00 with d ...
.
*
Libya, since 27 October 2013; switched from
Central European Time, which was used in 2012. Used year-round EET from 1980–1981, 1990–1996 and 1998–2012.
The following countries, parts of countries, and territories use Eastern European Time during the winter only:
*
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
, since 1894, except between 1942 and 1945
*
Estonia, in years 1921–40 and since 1990
*
Finland, since 1921
*
Greece, since 1916
*
Israel, since 1948 (see also
Israel Standard Time
Israel Standard Time (IST) ( he, שעון ישראל ', lit. "Clock of Israel") is the standard time zone in Israel. It is two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00).
Overview History
At the beginning of the British Mandate, the time zone of the mand ...
)
*
Jordan
*
Latvia, in years 1926–40 and since 1990
*
Lebanon
*
Lithuania, in 1920–40 and since 1990 with break 1998–1999
*
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
, in years 1918–40, 1941–44 and since 1991
** Including
Transnistria
*
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
(see also
Palestine Standard Time)
*
Romania
*
Syria
*
Ukraine, in years 1922–30 and since 1990
The following countries, parts of countries, and territories used Eastern European Time in the past:
*
Moscow used EET in years 1922–30 and 1991–92.
*
Belarus, in years 1922–30 and 1990–2011
* In
Poland, this time was used in years 1919–22.
*
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a po ...
used EET as part of Ukraine between 1991–1994 and 1996–2014 and started using
Moscow Time
Moscow Time (MSK, russian: моско́вское вре́мя) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia. It has ...
due to the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.
The events in Kyiv ...
in 2014.
*
Turkey, used EET in years 1910-1978 and re-used it again in years 1985–2016.
Sometimes, due to its use on
Microsoft Windows, FLE Standard Time (for Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, or sometimes Finland, Latvia, Estonia
) or GTB Standard Time (for Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria) are used to refer to Eastern European Time.
Anomalies
Since political, in addition to purely geographical, criteria are used in the drawing of time zones, it follows that time zones do not precisely adhere to meridian lines. The EET (
UTC+02:00) time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 22°30' E and 37°30' E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical"
UTC+02:00 time, are in another time zone; likewise, there are European areas that have gone for
UTC+02:00, even though their "physical" time zone is different from that. Following is a list of such anomalies:
Areas located outside UTC+02:00 longitudes using Eastern European Time ( UTC+02:00) time
Areas west of 22°30' E ("physical" UTC+01:00) that use UTC+02:00
* The westernmost part of Greece, including the cities of
Patras and
Ioannina, and the
Ionian Islands
* The very westernmost parts of the
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
n provinces of
Vidin and
Kyustendil
* The westernmost part of
Romania, including most of the area of the counties of
Caraș-Severin,
Timiș (capital
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
),
Arad, and
Bihor, as well as the westernmost tips of the counties of
Mehedinți and
Satu Mare
* The extreme westernmost tip of
Ukraine, near the border with Hungary and
Slovakia, at the Ukrainian
Transcarpathian Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
(
Zakarpattia Oblast), essentially comprising the city of
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and th ...
and its environs
* Most of the
Kaliningrad Oblast, including the cities of
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
and
Baltiysk
Baltiysk (russian: Балти́йск; german: Pillau; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; pl, Piława; lt, Piliava; Yiddish: פּילאַווע, ''Pilave'') is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, R ...
* Western
Lithuania, including the cities of
Klaipėda
Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the Klaipėda County, eponymous county, it is List of cities in Lithuania, the third largest ...
,
Tauragė, and
Telšiai
* Western
Latvia, including the cities of
Liepāja and
Ventspils
* The westernmost parts of the
Estonian islands of
Saaremaa and
Hiiumaa, including the capital of the
Saare County
Saare County ( et, Saare maakond or ''Saaremaa''; la, Oesel; german: Ösel; sv, Ösel) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It consists of Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia, and several smaller islands near it, most notably Muhu, Ruhnu, Abru ...
,
Kuressaare
* The southwestern coast of
Finland, including the city of
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 1 ...
; also the
Åland islands (of Finnish jurisdiction) – the
Åland islands are the westernmost locale applying EET in the whole of Europe
*Most of
Libya including the capital
Tripoli
Areas east of 37°30' E ("physical"
UTC+03:00) that use
UTC+02:00
* Eastern parts of
Ukraine, including the city of
Mariupol'
Areas located within UTC+02:00 longitudes (22°30' E – 37°30' E) using other time zones
Areas that use UTC+01:00
These areas have sunrises and sunsets at least half an hour earlier than places on the
UTC+01:00 meridian.
*The easternmost part of
North Macedonia, including the city of
Strumica.
*The absolutely easternmost part of
Serbia, in the
Pirot District, including the city of
Pirot
Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative are ...
.
*The extreme easternmost tips of Hungary and
Slovakia, bordering to the north and south respectively the Ukrainian
Transcarpathian Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
(
Zakarpattia Oblast), a bit to the east of the
Vásárosnamény
Vásárosnamény is a small town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It also includes Vitka since 1969, and in 1939 Gergelyi and Ugornya formed by uniting Gergelyiugornya.
Postal history
Pri ...
, Hungary –
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and th ...
,
Ukraine (both at 22°18' E) line
*The easternmost part of Poland, including the cities of
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...
and
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...
*The extreme northeast of Sweden, in the
Norrbotten province, including the cities of
Kalix
Kalix ( sv, Kalix; Kalix dialect: ''Kôlis'', , phonemically ; fi, Kainuu; fit, Kainus) is a locality and the seat of the Kalix Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The name Kalix is believed to originate from the Sami word ''Gálásea ...
and
Haparanda
*The northeast of Norway, lying north of Finland, roughly coinciding with the county of
Finnmark
Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024.
On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbour ...
. The easternmost town in Norway,
Vardø, lies at 30°51' E, which is located east of even of the central meridian of
UTC+02:00, i.e. east of
Istanbul and
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
. The
Norwegian-Russian border and
Belarus–Poland border
The Belarusian-Polish border is the state border between the Republic of Poland (EU member) and the Republic of Belarus (Union State). It has a total length of , or are the only places where CET (UTC+1/+2) borders Moscow time (
UTC+03:00), resulting in a one (or two in winter) hour time change when crossing that border. There is a "tri-zone" point (where
UTC+01:00,
UTC+02:00, and
UTC+03:00 meet) at the
Norway-Finland-Russia tripoint, near the town of
Rayakoski.
Areas that use UTC+03:00
*
Belarus is located between 23°11′E and 32°47′E and is thus fully located with the physical
UTC+02:00 area, but it uses
UTC+03:00 year around.
* Practically all
European Russia west of Moscow (except
Kaliningrad Oblast); this includes the chunk of land from
Murmansk all the way south to
Belgorod
Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics
The population of ...
, including the cities of
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Novgorod, and
Pskov, to name only a few. (The westernmost point of contiguous Russia, near
Lavry
Lavry (russian: Лавры; et, Laura) is a village in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast
Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its a ...
,
Pskov Oblast, 27°19' E, is the westernmost point in European Russia where
UTC+03:00 is applied.) This also includes the city of
Anapa, at the westernmost tip of the
Krasnodar Krai near the entrance to the Sea of Azov, at 37°22' E.
* Parts of western
Syria, including the capital
Damascus
* Most of
Jordan, including the capital
Amman
* Western half of
Turkey, including the capital
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...
and the most populous city
Istanbul
Tripoints and borders between zones
* The Norway–Russia–Finland "tri-zone" point at
Muotkavaara
__NOTOC__
Muotkavaara ( Finnish name; Norwegian: ''Krokfjell''; russian: Муоткавара or , se, Muotkevárri, smn, Myetkivääri) is a hill in Lapland at the boundary between Finland, Norway and Russia. It is the second northernmost inte ...
(see
Central European Time) is surrounded by three different times in winter, two in summer. It had three time zones year-around before 2014.
* Two of the four tripoints of
Belarus and the tripoint of the
Kaliningrad Region
Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administra ...
are surrounded by three different times in winter.
Major metropolitan areas
Winter only
*
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
, Syria
*
Amman, Jordan
*
Athens, Greece
*
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...
, Lebanon
*
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...
, Romania
*
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, Romania
*
Chișinău, Moldova
*
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Status
, subdivision_name2 = County seat
, settlement_type = City
, le ...
, Romania
*
Constanța
Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...
, Romania
*
Damascus, Syria
*
Daugavpils, Latvia
*
Dnipro
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Riv ...
, Ukraine
*
Gaza, Palestine
*
Helsinki, Finland
*
Iași, Romania
*
Jerusalem, Israel
*
Kaunas, Lithuania
*
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. , Ukraine
*
Kyiv, Ukraine
*
Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, Romanization of Armenian, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, Capital city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is ...
, Cyprus
*
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, Ukraine
*
Oradea, Romania
*
Oulu, Finland
*
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
*
Ramallah, Palestine
*
Riga, Latvia
*
Sofia, Bulgaria
*
Tallinn, Estonia
*
Tampere, Finland
*
Tel Aviv, Israel
*
Thessaloniki, Greece
*
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
, Romania
*
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 1 ...
, Finland
*
Varna, Bulgaria
*
Vilnius, Lithuania
Year round
*
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, Egypt
*
Benghazi
Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη ('' Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghaz ...
, Libya
*
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Egypt
*
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
, Egypt
*
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, Russia
*
Port Said, Egypt
*
Tripoli, Libya
References
{{reflist
Time zones
Time in Europe
Geography of Eastern Europe