Coordinated Universal Time

It has been suggested that UTC offset be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2024.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communication, navigation, scientific research, and commerce.

UTC has been widely embraced by most countries and is the effective successor to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in everyday usage and common applications.^[a] In specialized domains such as scientific research, navigation, and timekeeping, other standards such as UT1 and International Atomic Time (TAI) are also used alongside UTC.

UTC is based on TAI, which is a weighted average of hundreds of atomic clocks worldwide. UTC is within about one second of mean solar time at 0° longitude, the currently used prime meridian, and is not adjusted for daylight saving time.

The coordination of time and frequency transmissions around the world began on 1 January 1960. UTC was first officially adopted as a standard in 1963 and "UTC" became the official abbreviation of Coordinated Universal Time in 1967.^[2] The current version of UTC is defined by the International Telecommunication Union.

Since adoption, UTC has been adjusted several times, notably adding leap seconds in 1972. Recent years have seen significant developments in the realm of UTC, particularly in discussions about eliminating leap seconds from the timekeeping system because leap seconds occasionally disrupt timekeeping systems worldwide. The General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted a resolution to alter UTC with a new system that would eliminate leap seconds by 2035.^[3]

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