Difference Between CET and CST

CET vs CST

The Earth rotates on its axis and around the sun which causes different locations to experience different times of day and night. While those facing the sun experience daytime, those that are situated on the other side experience nighttime while it is dawn or afternoon in other locations.

The time of day is determined by the position of the sun, and man has devised a way to measure time. Mean solar time is the basis for standard time. Regions of the Earth have legally mandated standard time called time zones which are adjusted according to seasons; the standard time zone and daylight saving time during summer.

There are 40 land time zones and 25 nautical time zones. Standard time for each time zone starts at the Greenwich, England meridian and extends around the globe. Local time in neighboring time zones would differ by one hour. Prior to 1972, time zones were based on the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but today they are based on the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

New Zealand was the first country to adapt a standard time zone which is 11 hours and 30 minutes ahead of GMT. While most countries have uniform time zones, those that have bigger land areas use several time zones.
Two of these time zones are the Central European Time (CET) and the Central Standard Time (CST). The CET is used in Europe and is one hour ahead of the UTC or GMT. With the exception of Great Britain, most European countries have adapted the CET making British time behind by one hour compared to countries that use CET.
In Britain, the switch to CET has been met with apprehension by most people, and although experiments have been conducted to determine its advantages they were inconclusive.

The Central Standard Time (CST), on the other hand, is used in North America, particularly in Canada and the United States of America. It is six hours behind the UTC and is based on the mean solar time of the 90th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.
It is also the time zone being used in most regions of the country of Mexico except Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California. Its capital, Mexico City, uses the Central Standard Time zone.
CST is two hours ahead of Pacific Time Zone, one hour ahead of Mountain Time Zone, and one hour behind Eastern Time Zone while CET is seven hours behind Pacific Time Zone.

Summary:

1.CET is an acronym for Central European Time while CST is an acronym for Central Standard Time.
2.Central European Time is used in most European countries except Great Britain while Central Standard Time is used in parts of the United States of America, parts of Canada, and most regions of the country of Mexico.
3.Central European Time Zone is one hour ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) while Central Standard Time Zone is six hours behind the UTC and GMT.

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