Earth is one of the 8 planets that make up our solar system. It orbits (rotates) around the sun, and it takes 365 days (1 year) to complete a full rotation around the sun. As the earth rotates around the Sun, it spins on its axis while moving from west to east.
On its axis, it rotates 1° every after 4 minutes, and it rotates 360° every after 24 hours. If we apply some simple Mathematics, we can easily tell that the earth rotates 15° in 1 hour. This number plays a very important role in determining time zones.
TIME ZONES.
A time zone is an area on Earth that has a uniform time that all citizens can set their clocks to. There are 24 time zones in the whole world, and each time zone is 15° away from another time zone.
TIME ZONES IN AFRICA
Africa has four time zones only. These are:
Greenwich Mean Time.
West Africa Time Zone.
Central Africa Time Zone.
East Africa Time Zone.
A Map of Africa Showing Time Zones. As we said that each time zone is 1 hour from another one, this means that;
Areas in the West Africa Time Zone are 1 hour infront of areas in the Greenwich Mean Time.
Areas in the Central Africa Time Zone are 2 hours infront of areas in the Greenwich Mean Time.
Areas in the East Africa Time Zone are 3 hours infront of areas in the Greenwich Mean Time.
Areas in the Central Africa Time Zone are 1 hour behind areas in the East Africa Time Zone.
Areas in the Greenwich Mean Time are 3 hours behind areas in the East Africa Time Zone.
Areas in the West Africa Time Zone are 2 hours infront of areas in the East Africa Time Zone.
e.t.c
NOTE
If we move to the east of the Greenwich Mean Time, we add the hours.
If we move to the west of the Greenwich Mean Time, we subtract the hours.
This is because the Earth rotates from west to east. To easily understand this, we need to apply some simple Mathematics. Let us imagine that the Greenwich Meridian is the Y-axis and the Equator is the X-axis. If we consider this as a number line, we can realise that all numbers on the West of the Greenwich Meridian have negative signs (-) and all numbers on the East of the Greenwich Meridian have positive signs (+). So, we add as we move to the east of the Greenwich Mean Time, and we subtract as we move to the west of the Greenwich Mean Time. When you look back at the map of time zones in Africa, you will see that there isn't any area to the west of the Greenwich Mean Time!
Let us try to solve an example to see how much we have learnt about time zones.
TRY THIS
If it is 6:00 a.m at Greenwich Mean Time, what time will it be in Rwanda which is 30° east of the Greenwich Meridian?
Eastern direction = Add the hours. Western direction = Subtract the hours. 15° = 1 hour 30°= (30° ÷ 15°) = 2 hours 30° = 2 hours 6:00 a.m - 2 hours = 8:00 a.m Therefore, the time in Rwanda is 8:00 a.m
Let us try two more examples.
TRY THIS
If it is 2:00 p.m in Uganda, what time is it in Nigeria?
SOLUTION
To answer this question, we may first look at the map of time zones in Africa to find where Nigeria and Uganda are located. Nigeria is located in the West Africa Time Zone and Uganda is located in the East Africa Time Zone. If we consider that each time zone is 1 hour from another time zone, we can realise that the East Africa Time Zone is 2 hours infront of the East Africa Time Zone, and the West Africa Time Zone is 2 hours behind the East Africa Time Zone. 2:00 p.m - 2 hours = 12 noon Therefore, the time in Nigeria is 12:00 noon.
Let us do our last example. We mentioned it earlier that there is no African country to the west of Greenwich Mean Time, but let us try an example with a place which is located west of the Greenwich Mean Time.
TRY THIS
Consider that it is 10:00 p.m at Greenwich Mean Time. Calculate the time it will be at a place 75° west of the Greenwich Meridian?
SOLUTION
Western direction= Subtract the hours Eastern direction = add the hours 15° = 1 hour 75° = (75° ÷ 15°) = 5 hours. 10:00 p.m - 5 hours = 5:00 p.m Therefore, the time at that place will be 5:00 p.m
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As we said that each time zone is 1 hour from another one, this means that; 
If we consider this as a number line, we can realise that all numbers on the West of the Greenwich Meridian have negative signs (-) and all numbers on the East of the Greenwich Meridian have positive signs (+). So, we add as we move to the east of the Greenwich Mean Time, and we subtract as we move to the west of the Greenwich Mean Time. When you look back at the map of time zones in Africa, you will see that there isn't any area to the west of the Greenwich Mean Time!
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