Consider the following countries : I. United Kingdom II. Denmark III. New Zealand IV. Australia V. Brazil How many of the above countries have more than four time zones?
- (a) All the five
- (b) Only four ✓ UPSC's answer
- (c) Only three
- (d) Only two
Why the answer is (b)
• Counting overseas territories and dependencies, several countries span many time zones.
• The United Kingdom, with territories from the Pitcairn Islands to the British Indian Ocean Territory, uses about nine zones; Denmark, through Greenland and the Faroe Islands, uses five; New Zealand, with the Chatham Islands, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, uses five; Australia, including Lord Howe, Christmas, Cocos and Norfolk islands, uses up to nine — four countries with more than four zones.
• Brazil, despite its size, has exactly four time zones (UTC−2 to UTC−5), so it does not exceed four.
• Hence four of the five, option (b).
• France and Russia, not listed, hold the records with twelve and eleven zones respectively.
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) All the five
- Brazil has exactly four zones, so not all five exceed four.
- (c) Only three
- Four countries (UK, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia) exceed four zones, not three.
- (d) Only two
- Four countries qualify, not two.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2025, held on 25 May 2025. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.