Russia Has 11 Time Zones but Used to Have Only Nine
A long panoramic map of Russia with 11 clocks showing different times lined up along the top, from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka
Russia spans 11 time zones, more than any other country. In 2010 Dmitry Medvedev reduced them to nine to boost economic efficiency, but the change was so unpopular it was reversed in 2014.
Why Itβs Interesting
When it is midnight in Kaliningrad, it is already 10 AM in Kamchatka. The failed time zone experiment shows that even authoritarian governments cannot override the sun β human biology and daily life are bound to the rotation of the Earth.
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