France's time zones

Counting its overseas territories, France spans 12 time zones, more than any other country. The total rises to 13 for part of the year when Saint-Pierre and Miquelon changes its clocks.

Russia has more on the mainland, but France wins once its territories are included.

Context

France's count includes its overseas regions and territories, which are spread across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans and Antarctica, from French Guiana and the Caribbean to Réunion, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. Because these territories sit on opposite sides of the globe, they use different standard times from metropolitan France.

The number depends on counting rules. Twelve is the figure usually given when all inhabited overseas regions and territories are included; the thirteenth appears in summer when Saint-Pierre and Miquelon shifts its clocks, as the text says. A count limited to metropolitan France gives a single zone, and lists differ on whether uninhabited or research-station territories in the southern Indian Ocean and Antarctica are counted.

Russia has eleven zones across contiguous territory, the most for a single land mass, while France holds the overall record only by including territories scattered around the world. Those territories are fully part of the French state, with residents who vote in French elections, which is why they are counted.