Question

Why does every country have its own standard time?

Answer 1

• The world is divided into 24 time zones. 
• The width of each time zone is 15° of longitude. 
• This means that the difference between one time zone and the next is one hour.
• Some countries would have more than one time zone with less than one hour division. 
• This is considered too complicated to be useful. 
• That is why some countries choose the time along one of the meridians that pass throught their territory and follow the time of that meridian for the whole country. 
• This time is called standard time.

Answer 2

The local time of the standard meridian is taken as the local time for the whole country. This concept of standard time for the whole country is needed because time varies with change in longitudes. If all places on different meridians follow their own local time, there would be confusion and chaos.