The timezone TOT in Tonga

Only 1 nationwide time zone

UTC	+13
Standard time:	Tonga Time (TOT)
Daylight saving time:	discontinued 2017

Tonga has an east-west extension of 1.4 degrees of longitude. Given the country's location in Polynesia, this corresponds to about 150 kilometers. With such a small extent the course of the sun at different positions in the country hardly matters. The position of the sun in the west of the country deviates from that in the east only about 6 minutes. This means the sun rises and sets 6 minutes later in the west than in the east.

No more daylight saving time in Tonga

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 Tonga is not particularly large. Nuku‘alofa is only 2,350 km from the equator. A day in midsummer would then not last from 05:55 to 19:23, but from 06:55 to 20:23. 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 Tonga.

Changes in Daylight Saving Times

In Tonga Daylight Saving Time has been observed since 1999 until 01/15/2017.