Time Zones| Zone areas | Time now | January 2026 | July 2026 | Largest cities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easter | --:-- | UTC−5 | UTC−6 | no large city |
| Punta Arenas, Coyhaique | --:-- | UTC−3 | UTC−3 | Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales |
| Santiago | --:-- | UTC−3 | UTC−4 | Santiago, Puente Alto, Maipú, Antofagasta |
How many times does Chile have?
The IANA database lists 4 separate zone areas for Chile. Grouped by the time they actually show through 2026, that makes 3 different clocks, listed above. The offsets in use run from UTC−5 to UTC−3 in January.
2 of the 4 areas change their clocks during the year. Open an area to see its dates.
Planning across the country
When you fix a call or a broadcast for people in several parts of Chile, give the time with its zone, or use the converter to show every zone at once.
Where most people are
Measured by the people living in towns of 15,000 or more (GeoNames figures), the busiest clock in Chile is the one kept in Santiago, UTC−3 in January: about 15 million people, or 99% of the total across all the zone areas. Next comes the clock of Punta Arenas (UTC−3) with about 199,000.
A worked example
When it is 9:00 am in Santiago in January, it is 7:00 am in Easter, 9:00 am in Punta Arenas.
A worked example for July
When it is 9:00 am in Santiago in July, it is 7:00 am in Easter, 10:00 am in Punta Arenas.
The widest gap inside the country
The two clocks that are farthest apart differ by 2 hours in January and by 3 hours in July, because not every part moves its clocks. On the map, the main cities run from Coyhaique at about 72.1° west to Santiago at about 70.7° west. By the sun alone those two are about 6 minutes apart.
The sun across Chile
Clocks are set by law, but the sun keeps its own time. In Coyhaique, the most westerly of the main cities (about 72.1° west), the sun is highest at about 1:48 pm by the clock in January. In Santiago, the most easterly (about 70.7° west), it is highest at about 1:43 pm. The closer that figure is to 12:00, the better the clock fits the daylight in that city. From north to south the length of the day differs too: around 21 June the sun is up for about 9 hours 56 minutes in Santiago and about 7 hours 32 minutes in Punta Arenas.
Chile and the rest of the world
When it is 12:00 noon in Santiago, it is 8:30 pm in India in January and 9:30 pm in July; 3:00 pm in London in January and 5:00 pm in July; 10:00 am in New York in January and 12:00 pm in July. Other parts of Chile are earlier or later than that by the amounts in the table at the top of this page.
Clock changes in 2026
In Santiago the dates are: Sunday 5 April 2026: at 12:00 am clocks go back 1 hour to 11:00 pm; Sunday 6 September 2026: at 12:00 am clocks go forward 1 hour to 1:00 am. These areas do not move their clocks at all: Coyhaique, Punta Arenas. So the time difference between them and the rest of the country changes twice a year.