,
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 (typicall ...
(DST) is permanently observed in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. Previously, time was advanced to
UTC+01:00 at 02:00 on the last Sunday of March, and reverted to
UTC±00:00 (
standard time
Standard time is the synchronisation of clocks within a geographical region to a single time standard, rather than a local mean time standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the r ...
), defined as
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...
locally, at 03:00 on the last Sunday of October. This practice was continued through October 2018, after which clocks were permanently advanced. An exception was made during the month of
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
during which clocks reverted to
UTC+00:00 (
standard time
Standard time is the synchronisation of clocks within a geographical region to a single time standard, rather than a local mean time standard. Generally, standard time agrees with the local mean time at some meridian that passes through the r ...
).
For 2014, these dates were:
:* 29 March – advance to
UTC+01:00 (DST)
:* 28 June – return to
UTC+00:00 (start of Ramadan)
:* 2 August – advance to
UTC+01:00 (end of Ramadan)
:* 26 October – return to
UTC+00:00 (standard time)
History
* 2008: DST began on 1 June and ended on 1 September. This was the first time Morocco had used daylight saving time since 1978.
* 2009: DST began on 1 June and ended on 21 August.
* 2010: DST began on 2 May and ended on 8 August, just before
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
, as had been the case in recent years.
* 2011: DST began on 2 April at midnight and ended on 31 July at midnight.
* 2012: On 8 March 2012, the
Moroccan Cabinet approved a bill for the permanent adoption of DST with predictable start and finish dates. However, before the start of DST, they changed it to advance to
UTC+01:00 at 02:00 on the last Sunday of April, and return to UTC at 03:00 on the last Sunday of September, with the exception of the holy month of Ramadan, during which DST will not be observed.
As a result, the time changes in 2012 were:
** 29 April – advance to
UTC+01:00 (DST)
** 20 July – return to
UTC+00:00 (start of Ramadan)
** 20 August – advance to
UTC+01:00 (end of Ramadan)
** 30 September – return to
UTC+00:00 (standard time)
* 2013: DST followed the 2012 law at first:
** 28 April – advance to
UTC+01:00 (DST)
** 7 July – return to
UTC+00:00 (start of Ramadan)
** 10 August – advance to
UTC+01:00 (end of Ramadan)
**28 September – The government announced a change in policy, which moved the end of DST from the last Sunday in September (which was to be the next day) to the last Sunday in October (27 October). At the same time, they moved the beginning of DST back to the last Sunday in March (next 30 March 2014). As usual, advancements to DST (
UTC+01:00) occurred at 02:00 and returns to standard time (
UTC+00:00) occurred at 03:00.
*2018: Switch to permanent DST:
On 26 October in a government decree, the government changed
UTC offset for Morocco Time Zone, Morocco
Time Zone
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...
now use
UTC+01:00 all year round except during
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
. However, this decree mandates permanent daylight saving time.
References
See also
{{Africa topic, Daylight saving time in
Time in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...