On 2019-01-17 17:58, Paul.Koning@dell.com wrote:
On Jan 17, 2019, at 3:33 PM, Deborah Goldsmith via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote: Apparently, this resort in the Maldives has its own time zone and observes GMT+06 year round, unlike Male at GMT+05. It looks like we’d need a new zone for this. Source: Internal reports and: http://conradglobalmediacenter.com/assets/CNRD/docs/FactSheets/ConradMaldive... (search for “Local Time”) I wasn’t able to find any source contradicting this information. Apparently it’s a known issue that Maldives resort islands have their own (unofficial) time zones: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/maldives While the TZ database as I understand it tries to reflect the reality on the ground even if it conflicts with official viewpoints, I wonder how far it should go in accommodating what feels like a "private timezone". It's one thing to reflect the reality within a region whose administration is disputed, as happened recently. But this case seems different and I wonder whether it should be ignored. Not any different than the situations on reserves in the US e.g. Arizona, or various other locations where the time used locally differs from the official time at the local USPO or other goverment outpost. Seems more like an agreement across atolls/regions to keep to a more "relaxed" time zone for tourist reasons. There appears to be no more evidence to assume that these zones are "private" than there is to assume that they are promoted by the tourist bureau, and no reason to treat them differently from any other local variation. If you examine some of the local variations in sparsely populated regions you may find the cause of that variation is a primary local employer with an office elsewhere. There does not seem to be anything like definitive information on atoll/region time zones - just mentions on web sites, or lists of atolls/regions in comments. Variation from +05, to mainly +0600 ("island" time), some +0530 or +0630, maybe +0700, across 21 administrative subdivisions does not seem excessive:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Maldives "It consists of approximately 1,190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making this one of the most disparate countries in the world."
If it is decided to support this, presumably all the other private timezones mentioned in that timeanddate page would also be. How many are there? If these are private decisions, there is no reason that two organizations which happen to use the same rule today will still do so tomorrow, so we might end up with one zone per resorts. Having more timezones in Maldives than in the USA seems a bit strange. Australia, Canada, and Russia also have more time zones than the USA; China has one and that seems more strange: politicians like to do things that make them feel special or unique, and changing a time zone is a popular way to do that.
-- Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada This email may be disturbing to some readers as it contains too much technical detail. Reader discretion is advised.