We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” It’s a classic excuse to relax and unwind, no matter what time it is where you are. I built a version of it inside python about 2 years ago as a joke. This is a rewritten self contained static html version.
But have you ever seen where “somewhere” actually is? I was curious, so I built this interactive map. It shows all the regions of the world where the clock on the wall actually reads 5 something PM right now.
How It Works#
This map isn’t just a simple 15° band for a single time zone. The world’s time is much more complex than that!
- It’s accurate: This map checks all 400+ official time zones known to your browser.
- It Handles DST: It automatically accounts for Daylight Saving Time, which is why the bands move in the spring and fall.
- It Includes All Offsets: It correctly finds and displays fractional time zones, like India (UTC+5:30) and Nepal (UTC+5:45), drawing a separate band for each.
- The code is fully self-contained. It uses the
Intl(Internationalization) API in your browser to check the time in every zone and Leaflet.js to draw the map.
So, the next time you hear the phrase, you can check here to see exactly who is kicking off their evening.