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Which time zone does Hawaii observe?
- Hawaii is one of only two U.S. states located in the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone.
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What is Hawaii known for?
- Hawaii is known by several nicknames, including "The Aloha State" and "Paradise of the Pacific."
- It became the 50th state of the United States.
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How large is Hawaii compared to other U.S. states?
- Hawaii is one of the smallest and least populated states in the U.S.
- However, it has one of the longest coastlines due to its many islands.
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How many islands make up Hawaii?
- Hawaii is composed of eight major islands and hundreds of smaller ones.
⮕ History of the Hawaii Time Zone
Time zones were first introduced in the US in the late 19th century. At that time, Hawaii was a US territory, not a state. Before Hawaii became a state, GMT -10:30 was the standard time in the area. By the time Hawaii did become a state, on August 21 of 1959, the time zone system had been fully installed all around the US. Due to the fact that Hawaii is so far away from the continental United States, it needed its own separate time zone and couldn't fit in with the time zones used through the other states. It was therefore placed in the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone.
Interestingly, cable TV networks in Hawaii aren't adapted to this time zone. On most channels, the state receives the west coast feed, meaning that the scheduled airing hours for many TV shows are completely out of sync with the actual time in the state of Hawaii. Hawaiian citizens and visitors have had to get used to this slightly odd system.
⮕ Time Zone
Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone
As the name suggests, the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone covers the state of Hawaii and also some of the Aleutian Islands, located partly in Alaska. This means that Hawaii's time zone is shared with a small part of Alaska too, specifically the Aleutian Islands to the west of 169° 30' W. Some parts of French Polynesia and other islands also use the same time as the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone but aren't technically classed as being in the zone. The Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone is ten hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Daylight Savings in Hawaii
Daylight savings is used in almost all of the US but does not apply in Hawaii. In the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone, daylight saving time does apply in the Aleutian Islands but not in the state of Hawaii. In the Aleutian Islands, the time becomes nine hours behind UTC during daylight saving periods. It was officially agreed that Hawaii did not need to use daylight savings as it is very close to the equator, meaning that sunrise and sunset times stay more or less the same throughout the year so the state would gain no advantage from using daylight savings. Arizona is the only other US state that does not make use of daylight savings.
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