Time ZonesAbout this time zone
Kinshasa is one of the 2 time zone areas of DR Congo. Computers and phones know it by the zone name Africa/Kinshasa. Its time is UTC+1, which means it is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) all year round. The short name used for this time is WAT. Compared with India (IST), it is 4 hours 30 minutes behind India.
Clock changes in 2026 and 2027
Kinshasa does not change its clocks in 2026 or 2027. The time stays at UTC+1 all year, so there is no daylight saving time to remember.
Time difference with major cities
| When it is 12:00 noon in Kinshasa, it is | In January 2026 | In July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 4:30 pm4 hours 30 minutes ahead | 4:30 pm4 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| United Kingdom | 11:00 am1 hour behind | 12:00 pmsame time |
| France | 12:00 pmsame time | 1:00 pm1 hour ahead |
| New York, United States | 6:00 am6 hours behind | 7:00 am5 hours behind |
| Chicago, United States | 5:00 am7 hours behind | 6:00 am6 hours behind |
| Los Angeles, United States | 3:00 am9 hours behind | 4:00 am8 hours behind |
| United Arab Emirates | 3:00 pm3 hours ahead | 3:00 pm3 hours ahead |
| Singapore | 7:00 pm7 hours ahead | 7:00 pm7 hours ahead |
| Japan | 8:00 pm8 hours ahead | 8:00 pm8 hours ahead |
| Sydney, Australia | 10:00 pm10 hours ahead | 9:00 pm9 hours ahead |
The table uses the offsets in force in mid January and mid July 2026. Use the converter for any other date.
Clock time and sun time in Kinshasa
A time zone is an agreement, and the sun does not follow it exactly. Kinshasa, the largest city in this zone, lies at about 15.3° east. Each degree of longitude is worth four minutes, so by the sun alone its time would be about 1 hour 1 minute ahead of UTC. The clock is set to UTC+1. The sun is therefore highest in the sky at about 11:59 am by the clock, not at 12:00. That is a close match: clock and sun agree to within a quarter of an hour. Other places in the zone, to the east or west of Kinshasa, see the sun peak a little earlier or later. Through the year the figure also drifts by up to a quarter of an hour either way.
How long the day is
Kinshasa is about 4.3° south of the equator. On the longest day of the year, around 21 December, the sun is up for about 12 hours 22 minutes. On the shortest, around 21 June, for about 11 hours 52 minutes. So close to the equator the day is almost the same length all year. Moving the clocks would gain nothing, and Kinshasa does not do it.
Office hours shared with other places
If both sides work from 9 am to 6 pm, these are the hours when a call falls inside the working day at both ends. Times are for Kinshasa.
- With India, all year: 9:00 am to 1:30 pm here, which is 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm in India (4 hours 30 minutes shared).
- With London, in January: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in London (8 hours shared). In July: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 6:00 pm in London (9 hours shared).
- With New York, in January: 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 12:00 pm in New York (3 hours shared). In July: 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in New York (4 hours shared).
How many people keep this time
The GeoNames list has 37 towns and cities of 15,000 people or more in this zone area, with about 21 million people between them. People in villages and smaller towns are not in that count, so the true number on this clock is higher.
Cities that keep this time
The largest cities in this zone: Kinshasa, Kikwit, Masina, Mbandaka, Matadi, Boma, Bandundu Province, Gemena, Bumba, Mbanza-Ngungu, Moanda, Lisala, Inkisi, Binga.
Places with exactly the same time
These zones show the same time as Kinshasa through the whole year: Algiers, Algeria, Bangui, Central African Republic, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, Douala, Cameroon, Lagos, Nigeria, Libreville, Gabon, Luanda, Angola, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Ndjamena, Chad, Niamey, Niger, Porto-Novo, Benin, Tunis, Tunisia.
The clock above uses your device's clock and the time zone rules built into your browser. Rules on this page: IANA time zone database 2026f. See About and data sources.