Brazil uses four timezones: Fernando de Noronha Time (UTC-2), Brasilia Time (UTC-3), Amazon Time (UTC-4), and Acre Time (UTC-5). Since April 25, 2019, Brazil does not observe daylight saving time. IANA identifiers: America/Sao_Paulo, America/Manaus, America/Rio_Branco, America/Noronha.
Key facts about time in Brazil
- Timezone: Multiple (FNT, BRT, AMT, ACT)
- UTC offset: UTC-2 (Fernando de Noronha), UTC-3 (Brasilia/coast), UTC-4 (Amazon), UTC-5 (Acre)
- DST: No (abolished 2019, Decree No. 9.772)
- IANA identifier: America/Sao_Paulo, America/Manaus, America/Rio_Branco, America/Noronha
- Capital: Brasilia
Brazil is the fifth-largest country on Earth by area, covering 8,515,767 square kilometers across the South American continent. It contains the Amazon rainforest, Atlantic coast, Pantanal wetlands, and the Sertão semidesert. It runs on four different clocks.
Getting here took nearly a century of DST experiments, regional negotiations, and presidential decrees.
The four zones
BRT (Brasília Time, UTC-3): The main timezone. Covers the South, Southeast, and Northeast regions, plus Goiás, Tocantins, Pará, Amapá, and the Federal District. Approximately 93% of Brazil’s population lives in this zone, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília.
AMT (Amazon Time, UTC-4): Covers Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima, and most of Amazonas, including Manaus. This zone covers about 36% of Brazil’s land area while holding roughly 6% of its population.
ACT (Acre Time, UTC-5): Covers the state of Acre and the southwestern part of Amazonas. Acre borders Peru to the west and southwest, and Bolivia to the southeast. UTC-5 places Acre on the same clock as Peru, its primary commercial neighbor. Acre moved to UTC-4 briefly in 2008 under Law 11.662, then reverted to UTC-5 on November 10, 2013 via Law 12.876.
FNT (Fernando de Noronha Time, UTC-2): Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago of 21 islands and islets located approximately 354 kilometers off the northeastern coast of Brazil. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated in 2001 as part of the Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves. The archipelago covers 26 square kilometers and had a resident population of about 3,167 as of 2022. It observes UTC-2 permanently, with no DST, placing it one hour ahead of mainland coastal Brazil.
The DST history
Brazil first observed daylight saving time in 1931 under Decree 20,466, which took effect on October 3 of that year. After several periods of use and suspension through the 20th century, DST was revived in 1985 under Decree 91,698. From 1985 onward, DST applied to southern and southeastern states (São Paulo, Rio, Brasília, Minas Gerais, and others) while excluding the north, which lies too close to the equator for significant daylight variation.
The DST system was consistently controversial. Northern states, which did not observe it, resented the scheduling confusion with the south. Agricultural and religious communities objected to the disruptions. The broadcasting industry, serving national audiences across multiple zones, found half-national DST particularly difficult to manage.
The rules changed frequently. DST start and end dates shifted year to year based on election schedules and administrative decisions. The IANA tz database records that Brazil’s 2002 election caused DST to be postponed because voting machines could not accommodate a clock change between election rounds.
On April 25, 2019, President Jair Bolsonaro signed Decree No. 9.772, permanently abolishing daylight saving time in Brazil. The stated rationale was that studies showed DST did not provide significant energy savings in Brazil. Brazil has not observed DST since.
The Amazon and the absence of seasons
In the Amazon basin, the sun rises close to 6 AM and sets close to 6 PM year-round, with minimal variation. Manaus sits at approximately 3 degrees south latitude. The “seasons” in Amazonia are defined by rainfall, not by temperature or daylight: wet season and dry season, not summer and winter. Daylight saving time was structurally irrelevant in the Amazon, which is one reason the northern states never observed it.
Carnival and the calendar
Rio’s Carnival begins on the Friday preceding Lent and ends on Ash Wednesday, a span of five days. Because Ash Wednesday falls 46 days before Easter, and Easter is calculated by the first full moon after the northern hemisphere spring equinox, the timing of Carnival shifts annually across late January through early March.
Sambódromo parades for the major samba schools run through the night into the early morning hours. The entire calendar of Carnival coordination, from judging panels to broadcast schedules, operates on BRT (UTC-3).