The timezone CAT in Namibia

Only 1 nationwide time zone

UTC	+2
Standard time:	Central Africa Time (CAT)
Daylight saving time:	discontinued 2017

Namibia has an east-west extension of 10.4 degrees of longitude. Given the country's location in Southern Africa, this corresponds to about 1100 kilometers. With this still relatively small extension, the course of the sun is only slightly different at various positions in the country. The position of the sun in the west of the country differs from that in the east by only about 42 minutes. This means the sun rises and sets 42 minutes later in the west than in the east.


The Central Africa Time also applies in Malawi, Burundi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, in parts of the Congo (Dem. Republic), in Zambia and in Mozambique.

No more daylight saving time in Namibia

Due to the sun's orbit around the equator, the days are longer in summer (November to February in the southern hemisphere). Countries that switch to daylight saving time in the summer months align the daylight phase with the human rhythm. Unused bright morning hours are thus shifted into the evening (more information on daylight saving time here).

Due to the relative proximity to the equator, the impact in Namibia is not particularly large. Windhoek is only 2,500 km from the equator. A day in midsummer would then not last from 06:03 to 19:36, but from 07:03 to 20:36. The effect would be quite noticeable in the evening, but the sun rising later in the morning falls at a time when many people are already awake. Thus, in 2017, the decision was made to finally abandon daylight saving time in Namibia.

Changes in Daylight Saving Times

In Namibia Daylight Saving Time has been observed since 1942 until 09/03/2017.