Windhoek, Namibia · UTC+2
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Windhoek is in the Central Africa Time zone (CAT/UTC+2). Namibia abolished daylight saving time in 2017, keeping UTC+2 year-round.
Windhoek sits at about 1,700 meters elevation in the Khomas Highland, which gives Namibia’s capital a mild, dry climate despite being at 22 degrees south. The city averages over 300 sunny days per year, and the thin air and altitude give the light a particular clarity.
Namibia keeps West Africa Time, UTC+1 in standard time and UTC+2 in summer (DST runs from the first Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April, the southern hemisphere summer). The DST adoption is unusual for an African country; most of sub-Saharan Africa does not observe DST. Namibia’s decision reflects practical alignment with South Africa, its dominant trading partner.
The German colonial history is still visible in Windhoek’s architecture. The Christuskirche (1910), the Alt Feste fortress, and the Tintenpalast (parliament building) all carry German colonial design. The Herero and Nama genocide committed by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908 is Namibia’s foundational historical trauma and is now internationally recognized as genocide.
colonial architecture and desert capital
The Namibian desert begins at the edge of the city. The Namib, one of the world’s oldest deserts, stretches to the Atlantic coast. The distance between Windhoek and the sea is roughly 350 kilometers of largely uninhabited arid landscape.
9am in Windhoek is 7am in London. Walvis Bay on the coast keeps the same timezone.
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Read more about time in Namibia →Same time as Windhoek
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Questions about time in Windhoek
- What timezone is Windhoek in?
- Windhoek uses the IANA timezone
Africa/Windhoek. The UTC offset is always UTC+2 — this timezone does not observe daylight saving time. - Does Windhoek observe daylight saving time?
- No. Windhoek does not observe daylight saving time. The UTC offset remains UTC+2 all year round.
- What is the current UTC offset for Windhoek?
- Windhoek is currently at UTC+2.
- What is the time difference between Windhoek and New York?
- Windhoek is currently 6 hours ahead of New York.
- What is the time difference between Windhoek and London?
- Windhoek is currently 1 hour ahead of London.
- What is the time difference between Windhoek and Los Angeles?
- Windhoek is currently 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles.
- What is the time difference between Windhoek and Tokyo?
- Windhoek is currently 7 hours behind Tokyo.
- What is the IANA timezone name for Windhoek?
- The IANA timezone database identifier for Windhoek is
Africa/Windhoek. Use this string in programming languages and APIs: JavaScript (`new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', { timeZone: 'Africa/Windhoek' })`), Python (`pytz.timezone('Africa/Windhoek')`), or any IANA-compatible library.