The timezone EST in Panama

Only 1 nationwide time zone

UTC	-5
Standard time:	Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Daylight saving time:	none

Panama has an east-west extension of 5.3 degrees of longitude. Given the country's location in Central America, this corresponds to about 590 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 21 minutes. This means the sun rises and sets 21 minutes later in the west than in the east.


The Eastern Standard Time also applies in parts of Mexico, on the Cayman Islands, in parts of the United States, on the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti and in parts of Canada.

No daylight saving time in Panama

Due to the sun's orbit around the equator, the days are longer in summer (June to September in the northern 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 its proximity to the equator, the impact in Panama would not be particularly large. Panama City is located just 1,000 km from the equator. A day in midsummer would then not last from 05:59 to 18:40, but from 06:59 to 19:40. 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, daylight saving time was never introduced in Panama.