The concept of having a time zone comes from a basic desire to always have the local time correspond to the amount of daylight that is available. In short, most people tend to think of the middle of the day, or high noon, as being the time in which the sun is at the highest point in the sky. Obviously, the perception of this state would be different at various points around the world. The sun would appear to be at its highest point at a different time of day in Europe than it would appear to be front and center in the United States. The concept of the time zone helps to accommodate this desire.

Times zones are configured based on using an agreed upon starting point. This has been referred to as Greenwich Mean Time, universal time, and Greenwich Meridian time. Since GMT is point zero for calculating times, all time zones are understood as being a certain number of hours ahead or behind this universal time. Taking this as the basic standard, time zones are established into fifteen degree slices all around the world. The use of fifteen degrees as an acceptable standard was first developed in the late 19th century, and remains the basis for the twenty-four time zones that currently operate around the world.

An interesting fact is that while the starting point for fixing the arrangement of time zones remains the same, the actual facility that once resided at the median time location is no longer there. During the 1950s, the famed Greenwich observatory, the starting place for the concept of developing time zones, was moved to Sussex, in England. However, the original site is still considered to be the prime meridian that sets the foundation for all time zones.

While some time zones do experience a slight shift in the spring and autumn of the year, the process and function of times zones remains the same. In a world where interaction with distant locations has become a daily occurrence, that function has become even more important to establishing communications for both business and pleasure.