[en] Statistics about time zones in Europe

How many people live in the different time zones of Europe? Let's look at Standard or Winter Time first:

Time zones in Europe (winter)

56% of the population of Europe live in the Central European time zone, 40% are distributed among the Western, Eastern and Further Eastern (Moscow) time zones.

Looking at the European Union, the Russian Federation and the rest of Europe separately, the pictures are different:

Time zones in the EU in winter

73% of the EU live in the Central European time zone. This includes mostly Germany, France and Italy. 16% are in the Western European time zone, mostly the United Kingdom. 10% are in the Eastern European time zone, mostly Romania and Bulgaria. Another 0.6% live on the Azores or in the overseas territories of France and the Netherlands.

Time zones in Russia

62% of Russia live with Moscow Time, 15% have Yekaterinburg Time, 5% Samara Time, 0.7% Kaliningrad Time. 18% of Russia's population are distributed among the 7 Siberian time zones.

Winter Time in the rest of Europe

The rest of Europe occupies four time zones: 54% have Eastern European Time (mostly Ukraine and European Turkey), 31% have Central Time, 15% live under Russian control with Moscow Time, 0.3% are in Iceland with Western European Time.

In summer, clocks move forward in all of Europe except for Russia, Belarus and Iceland. That is when the EU gets closer to Russia, chronologically speaking:

Time zones in Europe (summer)

These statistics are based on population figures from English Wikipedia consulted in May 2016. The Azores, Madeira and Iceland are considered European, as well as the European parts of Turkey (Turkish Thrace) and Russia (Central, Southern, Northwestern, Volga and North Caucasian Federal Districts). Crimea and the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk are considered Ukrainian territories under Moscow Time.