Laayoune, Western Sahara · UTC+1
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Laayoune is the largest city in Western Sahara, a disputed territory administered by Morocco but claimed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The city runs on Africa/El_Aaiun time, which follows Morocco’s clock: UTC+1 in standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving, with the unusual practice of reverting to UTC+1 during Ramadan regardless of DST.
Morocco’s Ramadan reversion is one of the more unusual timezone practices in the world. The government advances clocks in spring for DST, then reverts them during Ramadan (even if Ramadan falls in summer), then advances again after Ramadan ends, before finally reverting at the end of DST in autumn. In years when Ramadan spans the DST transition dates, the clock can change four or five times within a few weeks.
disputed territory, Morocco’s most subsidized city
Laayoune is a planned city, laid out under Spanish colonial administration as the capital of the Spanish Sahara province. Spain withdrew in 1975 and Morocco moved in. The current city is heavily subsidized by Morocco as a political statement of integration.
At 27 degrees north, Laayoune has noticeable seasonal light variation: about 10.5 hours in December, 13.5 in June. The Saharan climate delivers relentless sunshine almost year-round, making daylight variation more about heat intensity than usable light.
9am in Laayoune is 8am in London during standard time, one hour ahead.
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Questions about time in Laayoune
- What timezone is Laayoune in?
- Laayoune uses the IANA timezone
Africa/El_Aaiun. The UTC offset is always UTC+1 - this timezone does not observe daylight saving time. - Does Laayoune observe daylight saving time?
- No. Laayoune does not observe daylight saving time. The UTC offset remains UTC+1 all year round.
- What is the current UTC offset for Laayoune?
- Laayoune is currently at UTC+1.
- What is the time difference between Laayoune and New York?
- Laayoune is currently 5 hours ahead of New York.
- What is the time difference between Laayoune and Los Angeles?
- Laayoune is currently 8 hours ahead of Los Angeles.
- What is the time difference between Laayoune and Tokyo?
- Laayoune is currently 8 hours behind Tokyo.
- What is the IANA timezone name for Laayoune?
- The IANA timezone database identifier for Laayoune is
Africa/El_Aaiun. Use this string in programming languages and APIs: JavaScript (`new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', { timeZone: 'Africa/El_Aaiun' })`), Python (`pytz.timezone('Africa/El_Aaiun')`), or any IANA-compatible library.