Central Time Zone (Americas)

The Central Time Zone is in the Americas and observes standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC during standard time (UTC 6) and five hours during daylight saving time (UTC 5). The clock time in this zone, composed almost totally of a strip of territory in North America, is based on the mean solar time of the 90th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. In the United States and Canada, this time zone is generically called Central Time (CT). Specifically, it is Central Standard Time (CST) when observing standard time (winter), and Central Daylight Time (CDT) when observing daylight saving (summer). In Mexico this time is known as the Tiempo del Centro (Center Time). The zone is two hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone, one hour ahead of the Mountain Time Zone, and one hour behind the Eastern Time Zone.