"Unlikely but true, France does indeed have 12 different time zones. But there is no need to change your watch if you're travelling from Paris to Toulouse. Question: I read that France has 12 different time zones - how is this possible? It's true, France does have 12 different time zones. In fact (pub quiz fact alert) France has the largest number of time zones of any country in the world, beating the USA and Russia which have 11 each."
"No, the reason that France has so many time zones is because of its overseas territories. Like many former colonial powers, France has territories outside of Europe, but the difference with France is that some of these territories are classed as départements d'outre-mer (overseas départements) and are counted as part of France. They have exactly the same government structure as the rest of France and therefore the Caribbean island of Martinique is as much a part of France as Brest, Bordeaux or Brive."
France has twelve time zones because overseas departments and territories worldwide adopt French time designations. Metropolitan France and Corsica use Central European Time (GMT+1), but overseas départements d'outre-mer are integral parts of France with the same government structure as mainland départements. Collectivités d'outre-mer have greater autonomy but remain linked on issues such as defence. French territories are scattered across the Caribbean, South America, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and the Antarctic, giving France a presence on all five continents and a land border with Brazil via French Guiana. French Polynesia spans two South Pacific zones, GMT−10 and GMT−9.
Read at The Local France
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