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TIME ZONE POPULATION PROJECT
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This project is an attempt to estimate total human population by time zone (GMT offset).

This is an inexact exercise by its nature. No official database exists for this information. Population movement and growth, time zone demarcation changes, and remoteness of some areas make it challenging to estimate accurately. But this is the most comprehensive attempt that I'm aware of. The goal is to update this project on a regular basis with updated time zone and population statistics.

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Comments, Feedback, Suggestions:
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segacs@segacs.com
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Notes
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Methodology:
- Population estimates based on: Wikipedia latest estimates. Where no current estimates are available, most recent census data was used.
- Time zone boundaries based on: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone#Offsets_from_UTC.
- Where required for clarification, https://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/ was used.
- Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) was used to calculate offsets in all cases.
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Multiple Time Zone Countries: (excluding overseas possessions)

- Canada: 6 time zones. Provincial estimates were used for all provinces that fall entirely in a single time zone. For divided provinces and territories, municipal census and/or riding data was used according to dividing lines.
- USA: 9 time zones. State populations were used for all states that fall entirely in a single time zone. For divided states, county populations were allocated according to dividing lines.
- Mexico: 4 time zones. State population data was used, except in the cases of Bahía de Banderas and Colima, which were estimated separately.
- Brazil: 4 time zones. State population data was used, except for the small Atlantic islands in UTC -5:00, and in the cases of Amazonas, which was divided between the Sudoeste region (UTC -5) and the remainder of the state (UTC -4).
- Chile: Easter Island was counted in its separate time zone from mainland Chile.
- Ecuador: Galapagos Islands counted in their separate time zone from mainland Ecuador.
- Greenland: Autonomous territory of Denmark. 4 time zones, with Thule Air Base and Danmarkshavn weather station having their own respective time zones. The small populations were estimated based on staff at these stations. The main areas of Greenland were divided by region, with east and west divided according to settlement estimates.
- Spain: 2 time zones. Majority of country uses UTC +1:00. Canary Islands use UTC +0:00.
- Portugal: 2 time zones. Majority of country uses UTC +0:00. Azores use UTC -1:00.
- Western Sahara: Administered by Morocco (disputed) and counted in its separate time zone from the remainder of Morocco. Population estimate was used, since borders are disputed.
- Russia: 11 time zones. Population estimates from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Russia were used.
- Mongolia: 2 time zones. Majority of country uses UTC +8:00, with three western provinces using UTC +7:00. Provincial population estimates used.
- Australia: 3 main time zones, plus one unofficial time zone for Eucla (see below). Divided by state, except for Eucla, Broken Hill, Lord Howe Island, and overseas possessions Macquarie Island and Norfolk Island.
- Kazakhstan: 2 time zones. Most provinces use UTC +6:00 with three westernmost provinces using UTC +5:00. Provincial population estimates used.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo: 2 time zones, UTC +1:00 and UTC +2:00. Provinces were allocated according to their time zone based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo.
- Indonesia: 3 time zones. Allocated according to province/region, except for Lesser Sunda Islands, which were estimated based on individual island populations where available.
- Micronesia: 2 time zones. Allocated by state.
- Kiribati: 3 time zones. Majority of population in UTC +12:00. Phoenix Islands in UTC +13:00 and Line Islands in UTC +14:00.
- Overseas departments, territories, autonomous communities and unincorporated islands were all calculated as separate entities in their respective time zones.
- Antarctica: Divided into multiple zones based on territorial claims. Research station populations (summer) were used for population estimates in all cases. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Antarctica.
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Known Issues:
- Inconsistent population estimates - census dates vary by country. Latest population estimate used in all cases where available. In some cases, estimates by state or region are older than total country estimates, so values may not add up to 100%.
- Daylight savings time has deliberately not been factored in, except in cases where a country has made the decision to go on permanent DST (e.g. Turkey). In those cases, permanent DST is taken as the "new standard" time and used.
- USA - divided counties and regions: North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida all have time zones that divide individual counties. Since no reliable population estimates are available for either side of this demarcation, the divided counties have been allocated 50% to each side of the boundary.
- Cyprus - as of 2016, Turkish controlled areas of Northern Cyprus have advanced to a time zone ahead of the rest of Cyprus. The UN buffer zone (Green Line) contains approximately 10,000 UN staff members and families, and it is unclear what official time will be used. For the moment, this area has been included on GMT +2:00 along with the remainder of Cyprus. If this situation changes, this will be updated.
- Greenland - small weather stations in Northeastern Greenland have difficult to estimate populations. These areas use Iceland time, but are mostly remote and uninhabited. Population of 8 has been used for this region, which was last known permanent weather station staff number.
- Palestinian Territories - Israeli citizens living in the West Bank or other disputed areas were counted as part of Israel.
- Syria - no reliable population estimates available since 2014 due to ongoing civil war. Most recent estimates were used, but actual population likely far smaller.
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Unofficial Time Zones: Three specific cases:
- Canada - Labrador: Officially the entirety of Labrador is on Newfoundland Time (GMT -3:30) but in practice, all areas of Labrador except for the southeastern region use Atlantic Time (GMT -4:00). The provincial riding of Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair was used for population data for southeastern Labrador and included in GMT -3:30, with the remainder of the region included in GMT -4:00.
- Australia - Eucla, and several roadhouses along the Eyre Highway, unofficially use their own 15-minute offset time zone (GMT +8:45). No official population estimate for this region is available, so the unofficial estimate of 200 people has been used for this zone.
- China - Xinjiang Province: Officially all of China is on GMT +8:00. However, the far western province of Xinjiang unofficially uses GMT +6:00. The entire population of Xinjiang has therefore been included in GMT +6:00 and subtracted from GMT +8:00.
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Unpopulated or Former Time Zones:
- UTC -12:00 - used only for Howland Island and Baker Island, both uninhabited US possessions. No permanent population.
- UTC -4:30 - formerly used in Venezuela, which advanced to UTC -4:00 in April 2016. No longer used anywhere.
- UTC +11:30 - formerly used for Norfolk Island (NZ) but no longer used as of October 4, 2015. No longer used anywhere.
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