Time zone
![Plaque commemorating the Railway General Time Convention of 1883 in North America](/Images/godic/202502/13/Time_zone_chicago3115.jpg")
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![Time zones map (Last update: May 2016)](/Images/godic/202502/13/Standard_World_Time_Zones3115.png")
![Political map showing how a great part of the world has a gap between the official time and the solar.](/Images/godic/202502/13/Solar_time_vs_standard_time3116.png")
A time zone is a region that observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries of countries and their subdivisions because it is convenient for areas in close commercial or other communication to keep the same time.