Sri Lanka Standard Time (SLST) ( si, ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සම්මත වේලාව , Shri Lankavay Sammatha Velava, ta, இலங்கை நியம நேரம்) is the time zone for
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. It is 5
hours and 30
minutes ahead of
GMT/
UTC (
UTC+05:30).
On 15 April 2006, Sri Lanka Time reverted to match
Indian Standard Time
Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and av ...
calculated from the
Allahabad Observatory in India 82.5 ° longitude East of
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...
, the reference point for GMT. This time zone applies to the entirety of Sri Lanka.
Since 1880, the time zone in Sri Lanka (or formerly, Ceylon) has varied from
UTC+05:30 to
UTC+06:30.
In 1880, Ceylon observed
UTC+05:30. During World War II, in January 1942, when the Japanese were on the verge of invading Ceylon, the official time shifted to
UTC+06:00. In September 1942, the official time further advanced to
UTC+06:30.
When the war ended in 1945, Ceylon reverted to
UTC+05:30 to be in the same time zone as India. However, in May 1996, Sri Lanka switched to
UTC+06:30 in Sri Lanka. In October 1996, official time was moved back by half an hour to
UTC+06:00. However,
Tamil Tiger controlled areas observed a time zone of
UTC+05:30.
Nevertheless, on April 15th. 2006, the government changed the official time to
UTC+05:30. By doing so, Sri Lanka aimed to align its time zone with that of India. English writer Sir
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.
He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...
who was then staying in Sri Lanka protested against the switch, arguing that it would make life inconvenient to everyone who has to relate to the rest of the world.
Sri Lanka does not currently observe
daylight saving time
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typical ...
, though it previously did during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
See also
*
Indian Standard Time
Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and av ...
*
Time in Sri Lanka
References
{{Asia topic, Time in
Time zones
Geography of Sri Lanka