Daylight saving time in the context of "Civil time"

There are 11 time zones in Russia, which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02:00 to UTC+12:00. Daylight saving time (DST) has not been used in Russia since 26 October 2014. From 27 March 2011 to 26 October 2014, permanent DST was used.

A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.

Each time zone is defined by a standard offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The offsets range from UTC−12:00 to UTC+14:00, and are usually a whole number of hours, but a few zones are offset by an additional 30 or 45 minutes, such as in India and Nepal. Some areas in a time zone may use a different offset for part of the year, typically one hour ahead during spring and summer, a practice known as daylight saving time (DST).

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term "GMT" is also used as one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom.

Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian and reaches its highest point in the sky there. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, a discrepancy described by the equation of time. Noon GMT is the annual average (the arithmetic mean) moment of this event, which accounts for the word "mean" in "Greenwich Mean Time".

Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight saving time where and when applicable. In some places this is known as standard time.

Some sources continue to use the term local time to mean solar time as opposed to standard time, but they are in the minority. Terms such as local mean time also relate to solar time.

South Korea has one time zone, Korea Standard Time (UTC+9), which is abbreviated KST. South Korea currently does not observe daylight saving time.

From May 8 to October 9 in 1988, daylight saving time was tested to better accommodate the calendar of competitions held during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00, where Beijing is located, even though the country spans five geographical time zones. It is the largest sovereign nation in the world that officially observes only one time zone.

The nationwide standardized time is named Beijing Time (BJT; Chinese: 北京时间) domestically and China Standard Time (CST) internationally. Daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991.

Kaliningrad Time (KALT; Russian: калининградское время, romanized: kaliningradskoye vremya) is the time zone two hours ahead of UTC (UTC+02:00) and one hour behind Moscow Time (MSK−1). It is used in Kaliningrad Oblast.

Until 2011, Kaliningrad Time was identical to Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00; UTC+03:00 with daylight saving time). On 27 March 2011, Russia moved to permanent DST, switching Kaliningrad time permanently to UTC+03:00. On 26 October 2014, this law was reversed but daylight saving time was not reintroduced, so Kaliningrad is now permanently set to UTC+02:00.

Moscow Time (MSK; Russian: моско́вское вре́мя, romanized: moskovskoye vremya) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia, after the non-continguous Kaliningrad enclave. It has been set to UTC+03:00 without DST since 26 October 2014; before that date it had been set to UTC+04:00 year-round on 27 March 2011.

Moscow Time is used to schedule trains (until 1 August 2018), ships, etc. throughout Russia, but air transport in Russia is scheduled using local time. Since 1 August 2018, Russian railways switched to using local time. Time in Russia is often announced throughout the country's other timezones on radio stations as Moscow Time, which is also registered in telegrams, etc. Descriptions of time zones in Russia are often based on Moscow Time rather than UTC; for example, Yakutsk (UTC+09:00) is said to be MSK+6 in Russia.

Yekaterinburg Time (YEKT) is the time zone five hours ahead of UTC (UTC+05:00) and 2 hours ahead of Moscow Time (MSK+2).

In 2011, Russia moved to year-round daylight saving time. Instead of switching between UTC+05:00 in winter and UTC+06:00 in summer, Yekaterinburg time was set to UTC+06:00 until 2014, when it was reset back to UTC+05:00 year-round.