Time ZonesAbout this time zone
Santiago is one of the 4 time zone areas of Chile. Computers and phones know it by the zone name America/Santiago. Its time is UTC−3 in January and UTC−4 in July, because the clocks are changed during the year. Compared with India (IST), it is 8 hours 30 minutes behind India in January and 9 hours 30 minutes behind India in July.
Clock changes in 2026 and 2027
Santiago changes its clocks during the year. These are the changes for 2026 and 2027, worked out from the rules in the IANA time zone database.
| Clock change (local time) | New offset |
|---|---|
| Sunday 5 April 2026: at 12:00 am clocks go back 1 hour to 11:00 pm | UTC−4 |
| Sunday 6 September 2026: at 12:00 am clocks go forward 1 hour to 1:00 am | UTC−3 |
| Sunday 4 April 2027: at 12:00 am clocks go back 1 hour to 11:00 pm | UTC−4 |
| Sunday 5 September 2027: at 12:00 am clocks go forward 1 hour to 1:00 am | UTC−3 |
Governments sometimes change these rules at short notice. Check an official source before fixing travel or meetings far ahead.
Counting from those dates, the clocks in Santiago stay forward for 209 days, from 6 September 2026 to 4 April 2027. That is about 30 weeks, or 57% of a year, on UTC−3 and the rest on UTC−4. The forward period runs across the new year, because summer in the southern half of the world falls in December and January.
Time difference with major cities
| When it is 12:00 noon in Santiago, it is | In January 2026 | In July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| India | 8:30 pm8 hours 30 minutes ahead | 9:30 pm9 hours 30 minutes ahead |
| United Kingdom | 3:00 pm3 hours ahead | 5:00 pm5 hours ahead |
| France | 4:00 pm4 hours ahead | 6:00 pm6 hours ahead |
| New York, United States | 10:00 am2 hours behind | 12:00 pmsame time |
| Chicago, United States | 9:00 am3 hours behind | 11:00 am1 hour behind |
| Los Angeles, United States | 7:00 am5 hours behind | 9:00 am3 hours behind |
| United Arab Emirates | 7:00 pm7 hours ahead | 8:00 pm8 hours ahead |
| Singapore | 11:00 pm11 hours ahead | 12:00 am next day12 hours ahead |
| Japan | 12:00 am next day12 hours ahead | 1:00 am next day13 hours ahead |
| Sydney, Australia | 2:00 am next day14 hours ahead | 2:00 am next day14 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 Santiago
A time zone is an agreement, and the sun does not follow it exactly. Santiago, the largest city in this zone, lies at about 70.7° west. Each degree of longitude is worth four minutes, so by the sun alone its time would be about 4 hours 43 minutes behind UTC. The clock is set to UTC−4. The sun is therefore highest in the sky at about 12:43 pm by the clock on standard time, and at about 1:43 pm while the clocks are moved (UTC−3). The clock runs ahead of the sun here, which means later sunrises and lighter evenings than the map alone would give. Other places in the zone, to the east or west of Santiago, 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
Santiago is about 33.5° south of the equator. On the longest day of the year, around 21 December, the sun is up for about 14 hours 22 minutes. On the shortest, around 21 June, for about 9 hours 56 minutes. That swing of about 4 hours 26 minutes between summer and winter is the reason clocks are moved here: the extra summer daylight is shifted from the early morning to the evening.
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 Santiago.
- With India, in January: 9:00 am to 9:30 am here, which is 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm in India (30 minutes shared). In July: no shared office hour: 9:00 am here is 6:30 pm in India, and 6:00 pm here is 3:30 am there, so one side has to start early or stay late.
- With London, in January: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm here, which is 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm in London (6 hours shared). In July: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm here, which is 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm in London (4 hours shared).
- With New York, in January: 11:00 am to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in New York (7 hours shared). In July: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm here, which is 9:00 am to 6:00 pm in New York (9 hours shared).
How many people keep this time
The GeoNames list has 135 towns and cities of 15,000 people or more in this zone area, with about 15 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: Santiago, Puente Alto, Maipú, Antofagasta, Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, San Bernardo, Puerto Montt, Arica, Peñalolén, Temuco, Concepción, Rancagua, Quilicura.
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.