0 WHEN DOES 'DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME' BEGINS AND ENDS FOR 2012?

Well, that depends on where you live.

Most of the United States and Canada begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.

In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). It begins the last Sunday in March and ends the last Sunday in October. In the EU, all time zones change at the same moment.

Today, approximately 70 countries utilize Daylight Saving Time in at least a portion of the country. Most areas of North America and Europe observe daylight saving time (DST), while most areas of Africa and Asia do not.  Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not observe some form of daylight saving.

South America is mixed, with most countries in the warmer north of the continent near the equator not observing DST, while Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay and southern parts of Brazil do.  Oceania is also mixed, with New Zealand and parts of southern Australia observing DST, while most other areas do not.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

Daylight Saving Time (DST)—also "summer time" in several countries including in British English and European official terminology (see Terminology)—is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summer time so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.  Modern DST was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson.  Many countries have used it since then; details vary by location and change occasionally. When DST is not observed, it is called standard time, normal time or winter time.

Daylight Saving Time Around the World

Equatorial and tropical countries (lower latitudes) generally do not observe Daylight Saving Time. Since the daylight hours are similar during every season, there is no advantage to moving clocks forward during the summer. China has had a single time zone since May 1, 1980, observing summer Daylight Saving Time from 1986 through 1991; they do not observe DST now.

A

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Afghanistan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Albania	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25. END: Sunday, October 28
Algeria	All locations	No DST in 2012
Andorra	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Angola	All locations	No DST in 2012
Anguilla	All locations	No DST in 2012
Antarctica	Most locations (Ex. Mawson) Some locations (Ex. South Pole)	No DST in 2012 START:Sunday, September 30 END:Sunday, April 1
Antigua and Barbuda	All locations	No DST in 2012
Argentina	All locations	No DST in 2012
Armenia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Aruba	All locations	No DST in 2012
Australia	Most locations (Ex. Melbourne) Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia,Christmas Island (Ex. Brisbane) Lord Howe Island Other (Ex. Macquarie Island)	START:Sunday, October 7 END: Sunday, April 1 No DST in 2012 START:Sunday, October 7 END: Sunday, April 1 DST All Year in 2012.
Austria	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25. END: Sunday, October 28
Azerbaijan	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25. END: Sunday, October 28

B

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Bahrain	All locations	No DST in 2012
Bangladesh	All locations	No DST in 2012
Barbados	All locations	No DST in 2012
Belarus	All locations	No DST in 2012
Belgium	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25. END: Sunday, October 28
Belize	All locations	No DST in 2012
Benin	All locations	No DST in 2012
Bermuda	All locations	START: Sunday, March 11. END: Sunday, November 4
Bhutan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Bolivia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Bosnia and Herzegovina	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25. END: Sunday, October 28
Botswana	All locations	No DST in 2012
Brazil	Most locations (Ex. Rio de Janeiro) Amazonas, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Para,Paraíba, Ceará, Amapá, Alagoas, Rondônia, Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí, Maranhão, Acre, Roraima, Tocantins (Ex. Manaus) Bahia Tocantins	START:Sunday, October 21 END:Sunday, February 26 No DST in 2012 DOES NOT START THIS YEAR END: Sunday, February 26 START: Sunday, October 21 END:Does NOT END THIS YEAR
Britische Jungferninseln	All locations	No DST in 2012
British Indian Ocean Territory	All locations	No DST in 2012
Brunei	All locations	No DST in 2012
Bulgaria	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25. END: Sunday, October 28
Burkina Faso	All locations	No DST in 2012
Burundi	All locations	No DST in 2012

C

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Cambodia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Cameroon	All locations	No DST in 2012
Canada	Most locations (Ex.Montreal) Much of Saskatchewan, small region of British Columbia, small region of Nunavut Territory, small region of Quebec, small region of Ontario	START: Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4 No DST in 2012
Cape Verde	All locations	No DST in 2012
Cayman Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Central African Republic	All locations	No DST in 2012
Chad	All locations	No DST in 2012
Chile	Most locations(Ex. Santiago) Other (Ex. Easter Island)	START: Sunday, September 2 END:Sunday, April 29 START: Saturday, September 1 END: Saturday, April 28
China	All locations	No DST in 2012
Colombia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Commonwealth of the Norther Mariana Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Comoros	All locations	No DST in 2012
Cook Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Costa Rica	All locations	No DST in 2012
Cote d'lvoire	All locations	No DST in 2012
Croatia	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Cuba	All locations	START: Sunday, April 1 END: Sunday, November 11
Curaçao	All locations	No DST in 2012
Cyprus	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Czech Republic	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28

D

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Democratic Republic of the Congo	All locations	No DST in 2012
Denmark	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Departmental Collectivity of Mayotte	All locations	No DST in 2012
Dijibouti	All locations	No DST in 2012
Dominica	All locations	No DST in 2012
Dominican Republic	All locations	No DST in 2012

E

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
East Timor	All locations	No DST in 2012
Ecuador	All locations	No DST in 2012
Egypt	All locations	No DST in 2012
El Salvador	All locations	No DST in 2012
Equatorial Guinea	All locations	No DST in 2012
Eritrea	All locations	No DST in 2012
Estonia	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Ethiopia	All locations	No DST in 2012

F

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Falkland Islands	All locations	DST All Year in 2012
Färöer	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Fiji	All locations	START: Sunday, October 21 END: Sunday, Janurary 22
Finland	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
France	Most locations (Ex. Paris) Tahiti, New Caledonia, Marquesas Islands	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28 No DST in 2012
Französisch-Guayana	All locations	No DST in 2012
Französisch-Polynesien	All locations	No DST in 2012

G

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Gabon	All locations	No DST in 2012
Gaza Strip	All locations	START: Friday, March 30 END:  Friday, September 21
Georgia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Germany	All locations	START: Saturday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Ghana	All locations	No DST in 2012
Gibraltar	All locations	START: Saturday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Greece	All locations	START: Saturday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Greenland	Most locations(Ex. Nuuk) Ittoqqortoormiit Qaanaaq Danmarkshavn	START: Saturday, March 24 END: Saturday, October 27 START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28 START: Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4 No DST in 2012
Grenada	All locations	No DST in 2012
Guadeloupe	All locations	No DST in 2012
Guatemala	All locations	No DST in 2012
Guinea	All locations	No DST in 2012
Guinea-Bissau	All locations	No DST in 2012
Guyana	All locations	No DST in 2012

H

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Haiti	All locations	START:  Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4
Holy See (Vatican City)	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Honduras	All locations	No DST in 2012
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region	All locations	No DST in 2012
Hungary	All locations	START: Saturday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28

I

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Iceland	All locations	No DST in 2012
India	All locations	No DST in 2012
Indonesia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Iran	All locations	START: Wednesday, March 21 END:  Friday, September 21
Iraq	All locations	No DST in 2012
Ireland	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Isle of Man	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Israel	All locations	START: Friday, March 30 END: Sunday, September 23
Italy	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28

J, K, L

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Jamaica	All locations	No DST in 2012
Japan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Jordan	All locations	START: Friday, March 30 END: DOES NOT END THIS YEAR
Kazakhstan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Kenya	All locations	No DST in 2012
Kerguelen	All locations	No DST in 2012
Kiribati	All locations	No DST in 2012
Kosovo	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Kuwait	All locations	No DST in 2012
Kyrgyzstan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Laos	All locations	No DST in 2012
Latvia	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Lebanon	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Lesotho	All locations	No DST in 2012
Liberia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Libya	All locations	No DST in 2012
Liechtenstein	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Lithuania	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Luxembourg	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28

M, N, O

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Macau Special Administrative Region	All locations	No DST in 2012
Madagascar	All locations	No DST in 2012
Malawi	All locations	No DST in 2012
Malaysia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Maldives	All locations	No DST in 2012
Mali	All locations	No DST in 2012
Malta	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Marshall Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Martinique	All locations	No DST in 2012
Mauritania	All locations	No DST in 2012
Mauritius	All locations	No DST in 2012
Mexico	Most locations (Ex. Mexico City) Baja California, much of Chihuahua,Tamaulipas, Sonora (Ex. Hermosillo)	START: Sunday, April 1 END: Sunday, October 28 START: Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4 No DST in 2012
Micronesia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Moldova	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Monaco	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Mongolia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Montenegro	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Montserrat	All locations	No DST in 2012
Morocco	All locations	START: Sunday, April 29 END: Sunday, September 30
Mozambique	All locations	No DST in 2012
Myanmar	All locations	No DST in 2012
Namibia	All locations	START: Sunday, September 2 END: Sunday, April 1
Nauru	All locations	No DST in 2012
Nepal	All locations	No DST in 2012
Netherlands	Most locations (Ex. Amsterdam) Saint Martin	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28 No DST in 2012
New Zealand	All locations	START: Sunday, September 30 END: Sunday, April 1
Nicaragua	All locations	No DST in 2012
Niger	All locations	No DST in 2012
Nigeria	All locations	No DST in 2012
Niue	All locations	No DST in 2012
Norfokinsel	All locations	No DST in 2012
North Korea	All locations	No DST in 2012
Norway	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Oman	All locations	No DST in 2012

P, Q, R

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Pakistan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Palau	All locations	No DST in 2012
Panama	All locations	No DST in 2012
Papua New Guinea	All locations	No DST in 2012
Paraguay	All locations	START: Sunday, October 7 END: Sunday, April 8
Peru	All locations	No DST in 2012
Philippines	All locations	No DST in 2012
Pitcairninseln	All locations	No DST in 2012
Poland	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Portugal	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Puerto Rico	All locations	No DST in 2012
Qatar	All locations	No DST in 2012
Republic of Macedonia	All locations	START: N/A END:  N/A
Republic of South Sudan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Republic of the Congo	All locations	No DST in 2012
Reunion	All locations	No DST in 2012
Romania	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Russia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Rwanda	All locations	No DST in 2012

S

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Saint Kitts and Nevis	All locations	No DST in 2012
Saint Lucia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	All locations	No DST in 2012
Samoa	All locations	START: Sunday, September 30 END: Saturday, April 1
San Marino	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Sao Tome and Principe	All locations	No DST in 2012
Saudi Arabia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Senegal	All locations	No DST in 2012
Serbia	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Seychelles	All locations	No DST in 2012
Sierra Leone	All locations	No DST in 2012
Singapore	All locations	No DST in 2012
Slovakia	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Slovenia	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Solomon Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Somalia	All locations	No DST in 2012
South Africa	All locations	No DST in 2012
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
South Korea	All locations	No DST in 2012
Spain	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Sri Lanka	All locations	No DST in 2012
St. Helena	All locations	No DST in 2012
Sudan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Suriname	All locations	No DST in 2012
Swaziland	All locations	No DST in 2012
Sweden	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Switzerland	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Syria	All locations	START: Friday, March 30 END: Friday, October 26

T, U

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Taiwan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Tajikistan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Tanzania	All locations	No DST in 2012
Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon	All locations	N/A
Territory of American Samoa	All locations	No DST in 2012
Territory of Cocos (Keeling)Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Territory of Guam	All locations	No DST in 201
Thailand	All locations	No DST in 2012
The Bahamas	All locations	START: Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4
The Gambia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Togo	All locations	No DST in 2012
Tokelau	All locations	No DST in 2012
Tonga	All locations	No DST in 2012
Trinidad and Tobago	All locations	No DST in 2012
Tunisia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Turkey	All locations	START: Monday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
Turkmenistan	All locations	No DST in 2012
Turks and Caicos Islands	All locations	START: Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4
Tuvalu	All locations	No DST in 2012
Uganda	All locations	No DST in 2012
Ukraine	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END:  Sunday, October 28
United Arab Emirates	All locations	No DST in 2012
United Kingdom	All locations	START: Sunday, March 25 END: Sunday, October 28
United States	Most locations (Ex. Washington, D.C.) Hawaii, Arizona, Midway Islands, Wake Island (Ex. Honolulu)	START: Sunday, March 11 END: Sunday, November 4 No DST in 2012
United States Virgin Islands	All locations	No DST in 2012
Uruguay	All locations	START: Sunday, October 7 END: Sunday, March 11
Uzbekistan	All locations	No DST in 2012

V, W, Y and Z

COUNTRY	REGION/STATES	DST START and END Dates
Vanuatu	All locations	No DST in 2012
Venezuela	All locations	No DST in 2012
Vietnam	All locations	No DST in 2012
Wallis und Futuna	All locations	No DST in 2012
West Bank	All locations	START: Friday, March 30 END: Friday, September 21
Western Sahara	All locations	START: Sunday, April 29* END: Sunday, September 30*
Yemen	All locations	No DST in 2012
Zambia	All locations	No DST in 2012
Zimbabwe	All locations	No DST in 2012

There are many oddities. For example, some parts of the U.S. and Canada do not observe Daylight Saving Time, such as the state of Arizona (U.S.) and the province Saskatchewan (Canada).

Observance can also be erratic. For example, Chile delayed its changeover date for the Pope's visit in 1987, as well as for a presidential inauguration in 1990.

Europe

In general, all countries in Europe except Belarus, Iceland, Russia and Ukraine observe DST, and most change on the same date and time, starting on the last Sunday in March and ending on the last Sunday in October.

Before 1996, DST ended on the last Sunday in September in most European countries; however in the United Kingdom and Ireland DST ended on the fourth (which some years is not the last) Sunday in October.

European Countries Without DST
These countries or regions do not use daylight saving time:

• Belarus, ended its last DST switching after moving the clocks forward in Spring 2011, and is now observing UTC + 03:00 all year round.

• Iceland, observing UTC all year round despite being at a longitude which would indicate UTC-1, the country may be thought of as being on continuous DST. Iceland's high latitude means that sunset and sunrise times change by many hours over the year, and the effect of changing the clock by one hour would, in comparison, be small.

• Russia, ended its last DST switching after moving the clocks forward in Spring 2011, and is now observing the time that formerly was DST, all year round. Many areas have its time two hours ahead of the mean solar time. Moscow has UTC + 04:00.

• Ukraine, ended its last DST switching after moving the clocks forward in Spring 2011, and is now observing UTC + 03:00 all year round.

Canada
In Canada, time is under provincial and territorial jurisdiction, not federal. Since at least the 1970s, all provinces and territories have matched their DST start and end dates to those used in the United States, and when the U.S. Congress changed the rules effective 2007 the provinces and territories (except Saskatchewan) changed their time legislation to match. Since 2007, DST in Canada starts on the second Sunday in March, and returns to standard time on the first Sunday of November, to coincide with the U.S. dates.  Most of Saskatchewan does not technically observe DST but rather observes a skewed 'standard time' that has been advanced one hour forward permanently (that is, observing what is sometimes known as 'year-round DST').


United States
Most areas of the United States currently observe daylight saving time. The exceptions are Arizona, Hawaii, and the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. In Arizona, the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time.
From 1987 to 2006, daylight saving time in the United States began on the first Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday of October. The time is adjusted at 2:00 a.m. (02:00) local time.
By the Energy Policy Act of 2005, daylight saving time (DST) was extended in the United States beginning in 2007. DST currently starts on the second Sunday of March, which is three or four weeks earlier than in the past, and it ends on the first Sunday of November, one week later than in years past. The time is adjusted at 2:00 a.m. (02:00) local time. This change resulted in a new DST period that is four weeks (five in years when March has five Sundays) longer than in previous years.


Finally...
The practice has been both praised and criticized.  Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but causes problems for farming, evening entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun.  Its effect on health and crime is less clear. Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity, modern heating and cooling usage patterns differ greatly, and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited or contradictory.

DST clock shifts present other challenges. They complicate timekeeping, and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, recordkeeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns.  Software can often adjust computer clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST protocols are changed.


Source(s):  wikipedia, timeanddate.com, webexhibits.org, wikipedia, nationalgeographic.com