What staying on UTC+0 all year means
GMT is a fixed offset: UTC+0. It never observes summer time. The countries that stay on it share one practical trait. Their clocks read the same in January as they do in July.
The IANA time zone database lists these zones under the GMT metazone:
| IANA Zone | Country or Territory |
|---|---|
| Africa/Abidjan | Ivory Coast |
| Africa/Bissau | Guinea-Bissau |
| Africa/Monrovia | Liberia |
| Africa/Sao_Tome | São Tomé and Príncipe |
| America/Danmarkshavn | Greenland (Danmarkshavn) |
| Antarctica/Troll | Antarctica (Troll station) |
| Etc/GMT | Technical zone, UTC+0 |
Iceland uses GMT year-round but sits outside that metazone list. Its zone is Atlantic/Reykjavik, fixed at UTC+0 with no DST since 1968. Functionally, it is identical.
Which West African nations stay on GMT?
West Africa is the heartland of permanent GMT. Five nations in the region never shift their clocks.
Ivory Coast is the largest GMT nation by population. Abidjan, its economic capital, runs on Africa/Abidjan. On the March equinox the sun rises at 06:20 and sets at 18:27. On the December solstice it rises at 06:19 and sets at 18:08, trimming daylight to 11 hours 49 minutes. The swing is small.
Ghana uses GMT year-round. Accra operates on the same IANA zone as Abidjan. Ghana tried GMT+1 from 1972 to 1974, then reverted. It has not touched DST since.
Liberia has been on GMT since 1972. Monrovia sits on Africa/Monrovia. Before that, Liberia kept its own time standard.
Guinea-Bissau is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the group. Bissau uses Africa/Bissau.
São Tomé and Príncipe sits on the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. It switched from UTC+1 to GMT in 2018, a move the government said would align business with West African and European partners. The change was contentious. Today it sticks.
These five are historically tied to colonial timekeeping. The British, French, and Portuguese empires set their West African colonies to GMT. After independence, none adopted DST. Proximity to the prime meridian made the offset obvious.
Why do countries on GMT near the equator skip DST?
Near the equator, daylight barely shifts. Abidjan sits at 5.354°N. On the June solstice sunrise is 06:04 and sunset 18:30, giving 12 hours 26 minutes of daylight. On the December solstice the spread shrinks to 11 hours 49 minutes. There is no long summer evening to save. Shifting clocks would add only confusion.
One persistent error: the idea that Africa follows European or American DST patterns. It does not. As of 2026, no African nation observes daylight saving time. The West African GMT nations never have.
Iceland: GMT by choice, not geography
Iceland sits at roughly 21.9°W, west of the prime meridian. Solar time runs about 1 hour 28 minutes behind GMT. Yet the nation uses GMT all year.
The reason is trade. Iceland's main partners are in Europe, and GMT aligns business hours with London and Lisbon. The nation experimented with DST from 1917 to 1919 and again from 1941 to 1946. Since 1968 it has stayed on GMT with no seasonal shift.
At 64.1°N, Reykjavik gets extremes no clock change can fix. The longest day brings 21 hours of sunlight. The shortest brings 4. Icelanders adapt. The time zone is a political and economic decision, not a solar one.
A persistent myth claims Iceland should be on UTC−1. Geographically true, practically irrelevant. Iceland chose alignment with Western Europe.
Danmarkshavn: Greenland's GMT outpost
Most of Greenland uses Atlantic Time or Western Greenland Time, both with DST. One remote outpost does not.
Danmarkshavn is a research station on the northeastern coast, at about 76.8°N. No civilians live there. Scientists and military personnel staff it. Its IANA zone, America/Danmarkshavn, is fixed at UTC+0 with no DST.
For the handful of people on site, GMT matches Coordinated Universal Time, the standard for research, weather reporting, and aviation. Nobody cares about local sunrise. In winter the sun does not rise for months. In summer it does not set.
Troll station: Antarctica's GMT anchor
Antarctica has no government and no native population. Research stations pick their own time zones, often matching home-country supply lines.
Troll station, operated by Norway, uses GMT year-round under Antarctica/Troll. It sits at 72.0°S, 2.5°E. The station runs with about 40 crew in summer and 6 to 8 in winter.
Norway set Troll to GMT in 2005 to simplify coordination with other Antarctic programmes, many of which use GMT as a shared reference. In the austral winter the crew sees no sunrise for two months. In summer the sun never sets. The time zone is pure convention.
Why Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha stay on GMT
This British Overseas Territory is scattered across the South Atlantic. Three islands, one offset.
Saint Helena and Ascension sit near the same longitude as London, roughly 5.7°W and 14.4°W. Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island on Earth, lies at 12.3°W. All three use Atlantic/St_Helena, fixed at UTC+0 with no DST.
The combined population is small. No industry on the islands would benefit from shifting clocks. Their nearest large neighbour is South Africa. GMT is a colonial inheritance that has simply stuck.
São Tomé and Príncipe: the equator's newest GMT nation
This two-island nation sits in the Gulf of Guinea, right on the equator. Its IANA zone is Africa/Sao_Tome.
The country spent most of the 20th century on UTC+1. In 2018 it switched to GMT. The government argued the move would boost business with Ghana and Ivory Coast. Opponents said it disrupted daily life.
Today São Tomé is firmly on GMT. The capital, São Tomé City, sits at 0.34°N. Daylight variation is negligible. The nation has never used DST.
Why do countries on GMT skip daylight saving?
Geography. Near the equator, daylight is nearly constant. DST would save nothing.
Politics. Most of these nations are former colonies that never adopted DST, or abandoned it after independence. Their trading partners mix GMT and Central European Time zones. GMT is a neutral middle.
Economics. DST disrupts transport schedules, broadcasting, and business. For small economies the cost outweighs any gain.
One common misconception: that the UK is on GMT all year. It is not. Britain uses GMT in winter and British Summer Time (UTC+1) in summer. The UK has observed DST since 1916, with two exceptions: double summer time during World War II, and a year-round BST experiment from 1968 to 1971. That experiment was abandoned after complaints from Scotland about dark mornings.
Portugal, despite sharing the UK's longitude, uses Western European Time (UTC+0) in winter and Western European Summer Time (UTC+1) in summer. Portugal is on GMT in winter only.
Every territory on GMT, all year
| Country or Territory | IANA Zone | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ivory Coast | Africa/Abidjan | Largest GMT nation by population |
| Ghana | Africa/Abidjan | GMT since 1974, no DST |
| Liberia | Africa/Monrovia | GMT since 1972 |
| Guinea-Bissau | Africa/Bissau | No DST |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Africa/Sao_Tome | Switched to GMT in 2018 |
| Iceland | Atlantic/Reykjavik | GMT since 1968, no DST |
| Greenland (Danmarkshavn) | America/Danmarkshavn | Research staff only |
| Antarctica (Troll station) | Antarctica/Troll | Norwegian research station |
| Saint Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha | Atlantic/St_Helena | British Overseas Territory |
Largest cities on GMT
Populations from GeoNames:
| City | Nation | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Abidjan | Ivory Coast | 6,321,017 |
| Monrovia | Liberia | 1,542,549 |
| Abobo | Ivory Coast | 1,340,083 |
| Bouaké | Ivory Coast | 832,371 |
| Korhogo | Ivory Coast | 440,926 |
| Bissau | Guinea-Bissau | 439,704 |
| Daloa | Ivory Coast | 421,871 |
| Koumassi | Ivory Coast | 412,282 |
| San-Pédro | Ivory Coast | 390,654 |
| Gagnoa | Ivory Coast | 277,044 |
Why did Iceland abandon daylight saving?
Iceland's DST history is short. It observed DST from 1917 to 1919, then again from 1941 to 1946. In 1968 it abolished DST and locked onto GMT.
Extreme latitude drove the decision. Reykjavik sits at 64.1°N. The longest day brings 21 hours of light, the shortest just 4. Shifting an hour from morning to evening delivers no meaningful benefit. Icelanders simply live with the light they get.
Ghana's two-year experiment with GMT+1
Ghana gained independence in 1957 on GMT. In 1972 it switched to GMT+1, known as West Africa Time, aiming to give citizens more evening daylight.
The experiment lasted two years. In 1974 Ghana reverted to GMT and has stayed there ever since, with no DST. Accra matches London in winter and runs one hour behind London in summer, when Britain is on BST.
Business hours in Ghana typically run 08:00 to 17:00, year-round, with no seasonal shift.
What GMT is not
GMT gets confused with several other labels. Here is the distinction.
GMT (UTC+0) is a fixed offset with no DST. The places above use it all year.
WET (Western European Time, UTC+0 in winter) is used by Portugal, Ireland, the Canary Islands, and the Faroe Islands. All switch to UTC+1 in summer.
BST (British Summer Time, UTC+1) is the UK's summer time, running from late March to late October.
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the global time standard. GMT is a time zone. UTC is not. For civilian use they read the same on a clock.
The UK is a special case. It is the home of GMT but only stays on it for roughly half the year. Britain switches to BST on the last Sunday of March and back to GMT on the last Sunday of October. A call booked with London in July is not a GMT call. It is a BST call, one hour ahead.