User:Bubbalicious82/Central Time Zone

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The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Central Standard Time (CST) is observed from the second Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March. It is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and designated internationally as UTC-6. From the second Sunday in March to the second Sunday in November most of this zone (20 states in the US and three provinces or territories in Canada) uses daylight saving time (DST), and to Central Daylight Time (CDT) which is five hours behind UTC and designated UTC-5.

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Central America

Out of the Seven countries comprising Central America, all but 1 use Central Standard Time year-round:

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Panama being the exception which recognizes Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) year round.

Canada
Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, never adjusting for Daylight Saving Time. One major exception includes Lloydminster, a city who's boarders overlap both Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe Mountain Time and DST, putting the community on the same time as all of Alberta (UTC-7) in the winter, and in time with Saskatchewan (UTC-6) during the summer.

Eastern Pacific and South America Coastline
The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round; the remainder of Ecuador uses Eastern Standard Time. Both Easter Island and Salas y Gómez Island in Chile use times that are the same as CST and DST, but they are called by other names. During the Southern Hemisphere winter (1st Sunday in April to 1st Sunday in September) the Islands use Easter Island Standard Time (UTC-6) and Easter Island Summer Time (UTC-5) during the Southern Hemisphere summer (1st Sunday in September to 1st Sunday in April) ; the remainder of Chile uses Atlantic Time Zone which has both standard (UTC--4 and daylight times UTC-3).

Daylight saving time (DST) is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called "Central Daylight Time" (CDT) and is UTC−05:00.

United States Time Zones that observe DST were affectively changed by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Beginning in 2007, DST would now begin at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March instead of the first Sunday in April, moving the time from 2 to 3 a.m. And DST would end at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November instead of the last Sunday in October, moving the time from 2 to 1 a.m.

At the time, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observed their horario de verano from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the U.S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010. However, October 2022 was the last CDT in Mexico, as they abolished DST. And the US is seeing traction in the same direction with the Sunshine Protection Act that proposes legislation that would permanently end daylight Savings Time in the US.