The time zone in Ethiopia is East Africa Time (EAT) (UTC+03:00).[1] The IANA time zone database identifier is Africa/Addis_Ababa.[2]
Ethiopia does not observe daylight saving time.[3]
Almost all Ethiopians use a modified 12-hour clock system.[4] The daytime cycle begins at dawn 12:00 (6:00:00 AM EAT) and ends at dusk 11:59:59 (5:59:59 PM EAT). The nighttime cycle begins at dusk 12:00 (6:00:00 PM EAT) and ends at dawn at 11:59:59 (5:59:59 AM EAT). The convention is that the day begins at 1:00 o'clock in the morning according to the 12-hour cycle (7:00 AM EAT) rather than midnight (12:00 AM EAT).[5] Therefore, the local population could be said to effectively observe UTC-03:00 rather than UTC+03:00 in terms of the numbering of hours and their association with 24-hour days, with the exception of the hour from 6:00 AM EAT to 6:59 AM EAT.
As of 2015[update], the modified 12-hour system remained common, despite pressure to follow international norms.[6]