Time in Kazakhstan

Time in Kazakhstan^[a] is regulated^[1] by the Decree "On the Procedure for Calculating Time on the Territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan",^[b] according to which time zone is applied: UTC+05:00 (from March 1, 2024);^[2] Daylight Saving Time is not observed, having been abolished in 2005.^[3]

Time in Kazakhstan

Map of Kazakhstan time zones

Current time Kazakhstan Time (UTC+5) 8:16 pm, April 16, 2025 [refresh]

Even though the territory of Kazakhstan spans four geographical time zones (from UTC+03:00 to UTC+06:00), it observes UTC+05:00 year round.^[4]

The difference in geographical longitude between the extreme eastern and western points of Kazakhstan is 40°45′, which corresponds to the difference in local solar time of 2 hours 43 minutes.^{[citation needed]}

IANA time zone database

The tz database identifies seven zones for Kazakhstan. Data in columns marked * are from the file zone.tab of the database.

coordinates*	tzid*	comments*	UTC offset
+4315+07657	Asia/Almaty	most areas	rUTC+05:00
+4448+06528	Asia/Qyzylorda	Qyzylorda
+5312+06337	Asia/Qostanay	Qostanai
+5017+05710	Asia/Aqtobe	Aqtobe
+4431+05016	Asia/Aqtau	Mangystau
+4707+05156	Asia/Atyrau	Atyrau
+5113+05121	Asia/Oral	West Kazakhstan

According to an email on the tz mailing list, Qostanay Region could be part of Asia/Qyzylorda.^[5]

Time by region

Regions of Kazakhstan

Geographic time zones on the territory of Kazakhstan

Region	Type	tzid	UTC offset
Almaty (city)	city[c]	Asia/Almaty	UTC+05:00
Almaty (region)	region	Asia/Almaty
Aqmola	region	Asia/Almaty
Aqtobe	region	Asia/Aqtobe
Astana	city[c]	Asia/Almaty
Atyrau	region	Asia/Atyrau
Baiqonur[6]	city[d]	Asia/Qyzylorda
East Kazakhstan	region	Asia/Almaty
Jambyl	region	Asia/Almaty
Mangystau	region	Asia/Aqtau
North Kazakhstan	region	Asia/Almaty
Pavlodar	region	Asia/Almaty
Qaragandy	region	Asia/Almaty
Qyzylorda	region	Asia/Qyzylorda
Qostanai	region	Asia/Qostanay
Shymkent	city[c]	Asia/Almaty
Türkistan	region	Asia/Almaty
Ulytau	region	Asia/Almaty
West Kazakhstan	region	Asia/Oral

Time unification

The Ministry of Ecology of Kazakhstan say that Kazakhstan may unify the UTC offset to UTC+6, i.e. the Astana time. It was assumed that the proposal could be implemented on the night of November 30 to December 1, 2023. Soon they decided to abandon this plan and unify the time of the capital according to the time in the western regions (UTC+5).^[7] The change was implemented on March 1, 2024.

Notes

1. Kazakh: Qazaqstandağy uaqyt
2. Kazakh: «Qazaqstan Respublikasy aumağynda uaqyt esepteu tärtıbı turaly»
3. Almaty, Astana and Shymkent cities have the status of State importance and do not relate to any region.
4. Baikonur city has a special status because it is currently being leased to Russia with Baikonur cosmodrome until 2050.