BRAZIL TIME ZONES - BRAZIL CURRENT TIME

Brazil uses three standard time zones. From west to east the UTC/GMT - 4 is observed in six western states. UTC/GMT - 3 is used in twenty-one central and eastern states, including the capital of Brasilia and UTC/GMT -2 is observed in several islands off the east coast of Brazil, including the twenty one islands in the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.

Prior to 2008 Brazil utilized four time zones, however, the Brazilian Government moved states which had been observing UTC/GMT - 5 into the UTC/GMT - 4 time zone. This included the state of Acre and other municipalities southwest of the Amazon rainforest. In October 2010 a referendum was held in Acre in which a majority of voters indicated their desire to move back to the UTC/GMT - 5 time zone. At this time Acre is still UTC/GMT - 4.

Daylight Saving Time in Brazil is observed by most of the southern, south-eastern and central-western states which includes, Espirito Santo, the Federal District, Goias, part of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, and Tocantins. Daylight saving time is not observed in the north and north-eastern states.

Update: On October 18, 2012 the Governor of Bahia, Jaques Wagner, announced that Bahia would not observe daylight saving time starting on October 21, 2012 as originally planned. This was due to public surveys which showed a majority of respondents did not favor the country using daylight saving time. No decision has been made for future years. Previously, Bahia had not observed daylight saving time since 2003, however, the state reinstated daylight saving time on October 16, 2011.

Update - Effective October 21, 2012 the State of Tocantins will observe daylight saving time.

Also the state of Mato Grosso has announced that effective October 16, 2011 thirty-two (32) municipalities within the state will not observe daylight saving time, and will stay on standard time UTC/GMT - 4 year round. The remainder of the state, including the capital Cuiaba and 106 other cities will observe daylight saving time.

In 2008 the Brazilian government established an annual daylight saving time schedule in which daylight saving time would begin at midnight 00:00 local time on the third Sunday in October and would end on the third Sunday in February at 00:00 midnight. If the end of daylight saving time falls on the "Sunday of Carnival" the time of observance will be extended by one week.

Brazil Time Zone Map