Time in Brazil |
Knowing the correct time
for a specific location in Brazil can often be confusing. At one time,
Brazil had four different time zones but, in 2008, things changed;
boundries were redrawn and cosolidated, and the start and stop dates of
Daylight Savings Time were standardized. These changes effectively resulted
in three time zones. One time zone is only for Fernando de Noronha, an
archipelago of 21 islands about 350 km (220 miles) offshore mainland Brazil
in the Atlantic Ocean. This leaves only two time zones of concern to most
More than half of Brazil
is in what is sometimes called the Brazil Eastern Time Zone or the
Brasilía Time Zone There is some confusion about this because
about half of the states in this time zone observe Daylight Savings Time—known
in Brazil as horário de verão or, often, simply
de verão (summer time)—while the other half do not.
The exact start
and end dates for Daylight Savings Time change every year and roughly
correspond to the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere.
states that the majority of foreigners visit for both business
and pleasure (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goias,
the Federal District of Brasília, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná,
Santa Catarina and Espírito Santo) are all in the same Brazil
Eastern Time Zone—standard time being three hours behind GMT/UTC
-3 (Greenwich Mean Time/Universal Coordinated Time). These states also
adhere to Daylight Savings Time. Click
for current time in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília.The
states in the Brazil Eastern Time Zone that do not observe
Daylight Savings Time include Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba,
Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, Tocantins, Maranhão,
Pará and Amapá.
map courtesy of Wikipedia
The other Brazilian time
zone might fairly be called the Brazil Western Time Zone—standard
time being four hours behind GMT/UTC -4 (Greenwich Mean Time/Universal
Coordinated Time). It includes the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do
Sul, Rondônia, Amazonas and Acre. Again, about half the states observe
Daylight Savings Time (Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) while the other
half do not (Rondônia, Amazonas and Acre).
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