Time in Finland

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Time in Finland
Europe/Mariehamn
UTC) Western European Summer Time / British Summer Time / Irish Standard Time (UTC+1) Red Central European Time (UTC+1) Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) Yellow Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2) Ochre Eastern European Time (UTC+2) Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) Green Moscow Time / Turkey Time (UTC+3) Turquoise Armenia Time / Azerbaijan Time / Georgia Time / Samara Time (UTC+4) ▉▉▉▉ Pale colours: Standard time observed all year
▉▉▉ Dark colours: Summer time
observed

coordinated universal time (UTC+02:00) and EEST is three hours ahead of coordinated universal time (UTC+03:00
). Finland adopted EET on 30 April 1921, and has observed daylight saving time in its current alignment since 1981 by advancing the clock forward one hour at 03:00 EET on the last Sunday in March and back at 04:00 EET on the last Sunday in October, doing so an hour earlier for the first two years.

Before the 19th century, each locality followed its own

telegraph. In 1862, the mean time 1:39:49.2 ahead of UT was adopted for the railway. Two separate, unsuccessful proposals for a standard time zone were made by the Diet of Finland in 1888 and 1897, when Finland was an autonomous duchy of the Russian Empire. On 30 April 1921, the newly independent government officially adopted the time zone UTC+02:00, known as Eastern European Time. Daylight saving time was first attempted in 1942, but abandoned as not useful. It was introduced again in 1981, so that Finland's time zone could always be aligned with neighbouring countries. In 2017, the Finnish parliament voted in favour of proposals calling on the European Union
to consider abolishing daylight saving time.

Finland's time zone is maintained by the

polar day lasting 73 days, whilst the southernmost localities of Finland experience less than six hours of daylight in winter and an average of 20 hours of daylight in summer. The country uses the 24 hour clock notation
.

History

Before the 19th century, there was no need for a single

telegraph, which allowed near real-time communication, also made it inconvenient for each location to observe its own solar time.[2][3]

The

geomagnetic measurements.[9]

The

GMT+02:00 (Eastern European Time). The implementation of this was overseen by the American Railway Association.[14] Between 1893 and 1895, several countries in Europe adopted standard times that corresponded with one of these three time zones, but Finland did not.[15]

In 1888, the

government that Finland adopt Eastern European Time.[19] The government agreed, and on 12 March 1920 the Minister of Justice decreed that from 1 May 1921 the standard time of Finland would be Eastern European Time.[20] On 30 April 1921 at midnight on Walpurgis Night, the official time was advanced 20 minutes and 10.9 seconds to Eastern European Time, to become the standard time zone for the country.[16][21] The time change went smoothly, and no major objections were made by Finns. The railways easily adapted to the change.[22]

1929 proposal to adopt Central European Time

Between the late 1920s and mid-1930s, development of railway and telegraph connections increased communication between Finland and its western neighbours. Finland's observance of Eastern European Time, while other countries to the west used Central European Time at GMT+01:00, caused difficulties for some businesses, such as differentiating office hours which resulted in inconveniences when making telephone connections.[22] In June 1929, the Finnish Post and Telegraph Board proposed to the Finnish government that Finland's standard time be switched to Central European Time.[23] The proposal failed to gain support, as the Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce released a statement in September arguing that Finnish companies were adequately adapting to the two time zones.[22][24]

The possible time zone change was discussed at the European Timetable Conference in Stockholm in October 1937, where the representatives of Finland, alongside Estonia and Latvia, agreed to present the proposal for the transition to Central European Time to their respective governments.[25] Initial reactions by Finns to the proposal were positive,[22] but the proposal was scrapped after the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim [fi] argued that it would misalign biological time and lead to detrimental health effects.[26] The Finnish Post and Telegraph Board also withdrew its original 1929 proposal,[27] and the Ministry of Transport rejected the proposal.[28]

Introduction of daylight saving time

directive from the European Economic Community, as did the Soviet Union in 1981.[31] In order to avoid the disturbance of changing time differences with the rest of Europe, daylight saving time was introduced again in Finland in 1981, which was observed from 02:00 EET the last Sunday in March to 03:00 EET on the last Sunday in October, following the same schedule as the other Nordic countries and the Soviet Union so that their time zones could always be aligned.[31][32] Since 1983, the change has been made an hour later.[30] When Finland joined the European Union (successor to the European Economic Community) in 1995, it continued to observe daylight saving time in line with said directive and is now bound by European Union law to follow it. The current government regulation stipulating that the European Union directive be followed came into effect in 2001.[33]

Daylight saving time

Further information: Summer time in Europe

Finland observes daylight saving time by advancing the clock forward one hour from Eastern European Time in UTC+02:00 to Eastern European Summer Time in UTC+03:00 at 03:00 EET on the last Sunday in March and back at 04:00 EET on the last Sunday in October.[34][35] Finland has observed daylight saving time since 1981.[32] Finland's high latitude means that in summer the nights are short (in Helsinki in July, there are only five hours between sunset and sunrise), and daylight saving time has no impact on the population. In spring and autumn it does (with Helsinki experiencing between 13 and 18 hours of sunlight in spring and 11 to 6 hours in autumn), in addition to the advantage of keeping the time coordinated with other countries.[36][37]

Proposals to end daylight saving time

In 2017, the

Finnish parliament voted in favour of proposals calling on the European Union to consider abolishing daylight saving time, and a citizen's petition that same year asking the state to give up the practice received 70,000 signatures.[38] At the time, the European Commission was reviewing it. On 8 February 2018, the European Parliament voted to ask the European Commission to re-evaluate daylight saving time in Europe, and on 12 September 2018 the European Commission decided to propose an end to daylight saving time, which would thus repeal Directive 2000/84/EC. In order for this to take effect, both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament were required to approve the proposal.[39] On 4 March 2019, the European Parliament Transport and Tourism Committee approved the Commission's proposal, with a start date planned to be postponed until 2021 at the earliest in order to ensure a smooth transition.[40] This decision was later confirmed by the European Parliament on 26 March.[41][42]

As of March 2022,[43] the approval from the Council of the European Union had yet to be obtained as the European Union was preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic.[44] If the practice were to end, it is not known whether or not Finland would decide to remain on permanent winter time (UTC+02:00) or permanent summer time (UTC+03:00). Yle, Finland's national broadcasting company, has stated that the government would first gather expert opinions and consult the public before implementing changes.[44] A 2018 survey conducted by the Ministry of Justice, which received over 120,000 responses within its first 24 hours, revealed a small majority were in favour of observing permanent winter time over permanent summer time,[44][45] and a 2019 petition to observe permanent summer time received 50,000 signatures.[46]

Geography and solar time

Main article: Geography of Finland
the sun half-above a mountain, with a reflection on the lake below, encompassed in nautical twilight
Midnight sun in Inari, northern Finland

Most of Finland lies within the geographical UTC+02:00 offset. The southwestern coast of Finland, including the city of

polar day lasting 73 days.[48] Because of Finland's high latitude, in summer there is no local utility to daylight saving time.[36] All localities north of Sodankylä (67°25’N) experience polar night. The southernmost localities of Finland experience less than six hours of daylight in winter and an average of 20 hours of daylight in summer.[49][50] At Muotkavaara, a tripoint border between Finland, Norway and Russia, three time zones meet during Finland's winter time: Central European Time (UTC+01:00) in Norway, Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00) in Finland, and Moscow Time (UTC+03:00) in Russia.[51]

  Standard time
  Daylight saving time
Sunrise/sunset times for Helsinki, Finland
Month[e] Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Sunrise 09:24 08:35 07:19 06:46 05:18 04:08 04:00 04:59 06:14 07:25 07:43 08:56
Sunset 15:24 16:33 17:47 20:04 21:19 22:29 22:47 21:52 20:25 18:53 16:24 15:22
Hours of daylight 6 8 10.5 13.3 16 18.3 18.7 16.8 14.1 11.4 8.6 6.4
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration[37]

Maintenance

a large building with flagpoles in-front of it to its west
The VTT Technical Research Centre in Espoo maintains Finland's official time.

The

Mbit/s results in a 0.0001 second delay between the official time of Finland and that of what is displayed on a computer. The accuracy worsens with slower connection speeds and delayed bandwidth.[57][60]

Notation

Main article: Date and time notation in Finland

In Finnish writing, the 24-hour clock notation is used. A baseline dot is used as the standardised and recommended separator between the hour and the minute (e.g. "15.07" or "8.27"). The use of a colon is also common especially in relation to telecommunications and digital clocks, but is not recommended in normal text. Midnight is written as "24.00". The notation for times within the first hour of the day starts with one zero (e.g. "0.15"). Leading zeros are not used (e.g. no "09"). If greater accuracy is needed, seconds are added using the same symbol as the one used to separate the hours from the minutes (e.g. "1.27.36"). Fractions of a second are added using the comma as separator (e.g. "1.27.36,30"). For time ranges, a hyphen is used (e.g. "12–21" for noon till 9 pm).[61]

In normal text, the time can also be spelled out using the 12-hour clock, with clarifications as needed (e.g. nine in the morning: morning+nine → "aamuyhdeksältä").[61] The practice in Swedish is similar.[62] Finland previously used the 12-hour clock,[22] switching to 24-hour time in 1928 to comply with the 1926 Schedule Conference on European Railways' agreement for universal timetables across railways.[63]

IANA time zone database

In the

zone.tab – Europe/Helsinki and Europe/Mariehamn for Åland. "AX" and "FI" refer to the country's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes, the former being for Åland and the latter for the country in general.[64] The table below displays data taken directly from zone.tab of the IANA time zone database. Columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself:[65]

c.c.* coordinates* TZ* Comments UTC offset DST
FI
 +6010+02458
Europe/Helsinki
 +02:00 +03:00
AX
 +6006+01957
Europe/Mariehamn
 +02:00 +03:00

Computers which do not support "Europe/Helsinki" or "Europe/Mariehamn" may use the older POSIX syntax: TZ="EET-2EEST,M3.5.0/3,M10.5.0/4".[66]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Finnish: Itä-Euroopan aika; Swedish: Östeuropeisk tid.
  2. ^ Finnish: Itä-Euroopan kesäaika; Swedish: Östeuropeisk sommartid.
  3. ^ Measured at 60°09′42″N 024°57′18″E / 60.16167°N 24.95500°E / 60.16167; 24.95500.[4]
  4. ^ Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) has since replaced Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the world time standard.[10]
  5. ^ On the first of every month.

Citations

  1. ^ Bonsdorff, Wäinö Waldemar (1909). "Aikaerot" [Time differences]. Tietosanakirja (in Finnish). Vol. 1. Tietosanakirja-Osakeyhtiö [fi]. p. 144 (72). Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b Heikki 1999, p. 81.
  3. ^ Lehti & Markkanen 2010, pp. 191–192.
  4. ^ Maskelyne 1934, p. 688.
  5. JSTOR 1774359. Archived
    from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  6. ^ Heikki 1999, pp. 82–83.
  7. ^ Frederiksen, Niels Christian (1902). Finland; Its Public and Private Economy (1 ed.). E. Arnold. p. 244. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  8. ^ a b Heikki 1999, p. 83.
  9. ^ Simojoki 1978, p. 63.
  10. ^ "XVIth General Assembly: Grenoble, France 1976" (PDF). International Astronomical Union. 1976. pp. 27–28.
  11. ^ International Conference Held at Washington for the Purpose of Fixing a Prime Meridian and a Universal Day. October, 1884. Protocols of the Proceedings. 1884. p. 142. Retrieved 7 April 2022 – via Project Gutenberg.
  12. ISBN 978-0192159489
    . Retrieved 7 April 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Gould 1925, p. 8.
  14. ^ American Association of Passenger Traffic Officers (November 1893). W.F. Allen (ed.). "Editorial comments". Traveler's Official Railway Guide: North American Freight Service Edition. No. 6 of the 26th year. New York; Philadelphia: National Railway Publication Company. p. xix (19). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  15. ^ Gould 1925, p. 2.
  16. ^ a b c d Heikki 1999, p. 87.
  17. ^ Donnerin, Anders (8 March 1897). "Yleisen anomuslautakunnan mietintö N:o 2" [Report of the General Petitions Committee No. 2]. Uusi Suomi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  18. ^ Bonsdorff, Ernst (13 March 1897). "Pappissääty. Yhteinen keskiaika" [Estates. The common mean time]. Uusi Suomi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  19. ^ "Aikareformi" [Time reform]. Uusi Suomi (in Finnish). 10 December 1919. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  20. ^ "Keskiaurinkoaika otetaan käytäntöön Suomessa" [Standard solar time is put into practice in Finland]. Aamulehti (in Finnish). 13 March 1920. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  21. ^ a b Gould 1935, p. 17.
  22. ^ a b c d e Pekka, Linnainen (18 March 2021). "Ajanlasku Suomenlahden erottajana ja yhdistäjänä" [Time as a divider and unifier of the Gulf of Finland] (in Finnish). Estofennia. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022. Ehdotus kaatui Keskuskauppakamarin epäävään lausuntoon, jossa yritysten arveltiin sopeutuvan mainittuihin hankaluuksiin ja viitattiin Yhdysvaltoihin, jonka liike-elämä toimi tehokkaasti neljällä auringonkiertoa vastaavalla vyöhykkeellä. [The proposal collapsed following a negative statement from the Central Chamber of Commerce, which suggested that businesses would adapt to the difficulties mentioned and referred to the United States, where business operated efficiently in four time zones.]
  23. ^ "Keski-Euroopan aika käytäntöön myös Suomessa" [Central European Time in practice also in Finland]. Uusi Suomi (in Finnish). 19 June 1929. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  24. ^ "Keski-Euroopan ajan käytäntöönottaminen" [Putting Central European Time into practice]. Demokraatti (in Finnish). 5 September 1929. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot. Keski-Euroopan ajan käytäntöönottaminen meillä. Keskuskauppakamari ehdottaa, että esitys saisi tällä kertaa raueta. [Implementing Central European Time in our country. The Central Chamber of Commerce proposes that the proposal be allowed to lapse at this time.]
  25. ^ "Kellad 1 tund taha" [Clocks 1 hour behind]. Vaba Maa (in Estonian). 9 October 1937. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via DIGAR Eesti artiklid.
  26. ^ "Päivän siirtäminen auringonlaskua kohti tuo terveydellisiä haittoja" [Moving the day towards sunset brings health hazards]. Demokraatti (in Finnish). 10 December 1937. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  27. ^ "Posti- ja lennätinhallitus vastustaa Keski-Euroopan aikaa" [The Finnish Post and Telegraph Board opposes Central European Time]. Ajan Suunta (in Finnish). 18 December 1937. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  28. ^ "Keski-Euroopan ajan käytäntöönotto" [Implementation of Central European Time]. Uusi Suomi (in Finnish). 9 January 1938. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  29. ^ "Kesäaikaan siirtymistä vaativat terveydelliset ja taloudelliset syyt" [The transition to summer time is required for health and economic reasons]. Laatokka (in Finnish). 28 February 1942. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  30. ^ a b Heikki 2013, pp. 104–105.
  31. ^ a b Heikki 2007, p. 105.
  32. ^ a b Yli-Ojanperä, Elina (15 March 2007). "Suomi siirtyi kesäaikaan" [Finland moved to summer time] (in Finnish). Yle. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  33. ^ "753/2001". Finlex (in Finnish). Finnish Government. 30 August 2001. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  34. ^ "Finland". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). n.d. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021. daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
  35. ^ "Directive 2000/84/EC on summer time arrangements". EUR-Lex. European Commission. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  36. ^ a b Heikki 2013, p. 104.
  37. ^ a b "Europe/Helsinki". NOAA Solar Calculator. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  38. ^ Forsell, Tuomas (26 October 2017). "Finland wants EU to give up daylight saving time". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  39. ^ "State of the Union 2018: Q&A on the Commission's proposal to put an end to seasonal clock changes". European Commission. European Union. 12 September 2018. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  40. ^ "Could switching between summer and winter time end in 2021?". European Parliament News Press Releases. 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  41. ^ "EU Parliament votes to end seasonal clock changes". Yle. 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  42. ^ "European MPs vote to end summer time clock changes". BBC News. 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  43. ^ "Clocks will be moved forward to summer time next Sunday". Helsinki Times. 24 March 2022. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  44. ^ a b c "Clocks go back as Covid crisis delays EU decision". Yle. 30 November 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  45. ^ Teivainen, Aleksi (28 September 2018). "Over 120,000 Finns respond to time zone survey in little over 24 hours". Helsinki Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  46. ^ "Citizens' initiative backing permanent summer time breaks 50k-mark". Yle. 1 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  47. U.S. Naval Observatory. n.d. Archived
    from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  48. ISBN 978-9264012783. Archived
    from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  49. ISBN 978-9516977662. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  50. ^ "Jälleen lähestymme vuoden synkintä pimeyttä" [Again, we are approaching the darkest darkness of the year]. Finnish Meteorological Institute (in Finnish). 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  51. ^ Brownstone, Andy (host) (23 March 2011). About Time: Where three time zones meet (Video). BBC News. Event occurs at 00:14. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  52. ^ "1015/2014". Finlex (in Finnish). Finnish Government. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  53. ^ ITU Radiocommunication Assembly (2002). "Standard-frequency and time-signal emissions" (PDF). International Telecommunication Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  54. ^ Heikki 1999, p. 100.
  55. ^ "Leap Seconds List". International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  56. Observatoire de Paris. Archived from the original
    on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  57. ^ a b Wallin, Anders (3 April 2020). "SI units in Finland, time and frequency". VTT News. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  58. ^ "Metrologia: VTT MIKES" [Metrology: VTT MIKES] (in Finnish). VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. n.d. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  59. ^ "UTC–UTC(MIKE)". Time Department Data Base. International Bureau of Weights and Measures. n.d. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  60. ^ "Suomen aika: NTP-palvelu" [Finnish time: NTP service] (in Finnish). VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. n.d. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  61. ^ a b "Ajanilmaukset: kellonajat (merkintä ja taivutus)" [Temporal expressions: (notation and inflection)] (in Finnish). Institute for the Languages of Finland. n.d. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  62. ISBN 978-9138326251
    .
  63. ^ "Uusi aikataulu ja 24 tunnin aikajako [15.5.1928 alkaen]" [New schedule and notation of 24 hours [from 15.5.1928]]. Aamulehti (in Finnish). 12 May 1928. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022 – via Digitaaliset aineistot.
  64. ^ "Aikavyöhykkeet – kesäaika – talviaika" [Time zones – daylight saving time – winter time]. kellonaika.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  65. ^ "Europe (2020 edition)". tz database. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  66. Olson, Arthur David (22 April 2016). "[tz] Time zone selection" (Mailing list). ICANN. Archived
    from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links
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