What's the rationale & history behind countries with half hour time
zone increments? e.g. Newfoundland?

Hi - 

This is a peculiar situation which may be just an accident of history
- in any case, I'm afraid I haven't been able to locate a definitive
explanation for it.

The newsgroup thread below also puzzles over the subject:

rec.travel.misc
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X4D632281


grimace

Hi,

Take a look at this quote from
http://www.circ.uab.edu/nypldr/1time/standard.htm

"Standard time was fixed in 1883 to prevent the myriad of short time
differences that would result if every locality determined the mean
solar time by different meridians, depending on the longitude of the
particular place. Lines at every 15° longitude were drawn down a map
of Earth to create 24 international time zones differing from each
preceding and following zone by one hour. Because of political
boundaries, such lines often depart from the strict 15° rule and
sometimes zigzag or demarcate ares that differ by half an hour only."

So here's my take on Newfoundland. Atlantic standard time is based on
60 degrees west of Greenwich. Newfoundland standard time is based on
52 degrees west. Eight degrees is more than half of 15 degrees, so it
makes sense for Newfoundland to be 30 minutes ahead.

The info is off that site. Anyway, I hope this helps.

Luciph

If you're interested in Time Zones in general and how they came to be,
I *highly* recommend:

"Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time"
by Clark Blaise.

An absolutely fascinating read (it's on my bookshelf)!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375727523/qid=1029257311/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-7852489-2020927#product-details

While it doesn't answer you specifition, it certianly will give you a
view into the mindset of the "times" (pun intended).
 
websearcher-ga

"specifition" ????

Wow, what a I-erased-half-of-two-words typo!

That should read "specific question".

;-)

Also, if you're interested in looking at a map while you ponder, you
can go here: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ref/jpg/802801.jpg

Many other useful maps can be found at
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
by clicking on 'reference maps' at the top.

Luciph

This is an interesting question.

Here are the oddball time zones I found on
(http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/world_tzones.html):

Iran +3.5
Afghanistan +4.5
India +5.5
Burma +6.5
Northern Territory and South Australia +9.5
????? +10.5
Norfolk Island +11.5
Newfoundland -3.5
????? -8.5
Part of French Polynesia -9.5

Unfortunately, the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
(enl.cuff.com) is down today.

Newfoundland did not join Canada until 1949, which may account in part
for its difference from Atlantic Time. Labrador is part of the same
province as the island of Newfoundland but uses Atlantic Time.

The page "Information about Newfoundland and Labrador"
(http://www.advertisenorth.com/outfitters/why_newf.html) uses the time
zone as part of a sales pitch:
"Our unique time zone provides a competitive advantage, as well as a
potential cost advantage to companies conducting business throughout
North America."

Here is a page about a time zone debate in India:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/debates/south_asian/1507586.stm

Australia chose its three time zones at a 1892 conference of what were
then the seperate colonies on the continent, according to this
government document (http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:80F2K8YbV54C:www.nsc.gov.au/PDF_WORD/Info/L08.pdf+%22South+Australia%22+%22time+zone%22+half&hl=en&ie=UTF-8).

South Australia has debated whether to change its time zone since at
least 1986, according to the above site.

These are calls from politicians to put S. Australia on a "normal"
time zone:
http://sa.democrats.org.au/Media/99/990526_c.htm
http://sa.democrats.org.au/Media/2000/0210_b.htm

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.

#

Nunavut

Normally would have 3 time zones, but has opted to go with one-
Central Time. They were on Central Daylight Time during the summer of
2000 and have decided to stay on daylight time during the winter of
2000-2001 which makes them the same as the Eastern Time Zone. In the
continuing saga of time in Nunavut, two communities, Kugluktuk and
Cambridge Bay , will change their clocks in the spring and the fall.
According to the NRC web site, Nunavut reverted to 3 time zones on
April 1, 2001.

b inquisitive! says lil'b 

Search History:

First website result returned on search term "Newfoundland time zone"
-
www.canadainfolink.ca/time.htm