France has the largest number of time zones of any country when its overseas territories are counted.
France spans 12 standard time zones because its territory includes islands and regions distributed across the Atlantic, Caribbean, South America, Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Antarctic areas. During part of the year, daylight-saving changes can give France 13 different local times in use, depending on the definition and date being counted.
Metropolitan France uses Central European Time in winter and Central European Summer Time in summer. Overseas France includes places such as French Guiana, Réunion, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, each positioned in different parts of the globe.
Russia is often assumed to hold the record because it stretches across 11 time zones on one continuous landmass. The United States also spans many zones once its territories are included, but France’s worldwide territorial spread gives it the higher total.