IANA tz database · zone identifier

Africa/Kinshasa

The IANA tz database identifier for West Africa Standard Time in DR Congo. Store this string — not the abbreviation, not the offset — and your timestamps stay correct forever.

UTC+01:00Abbreviation WATNo DST — never observed
Time in Africa/Kinshasa☾ Night
00:00:12
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Offset
UTC+01:00
Abbreviation
WAT
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC+01:00

same year-round

Abbreviation

WAT

used year-round

DST behaviour

Never

has never observed daylight saving

Country

🇨🇩 DR Congo

ISO 3166: CD · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

Africa/Kinshasa is the identifier to use in code and config for this region. Every modern language, database, and OS resolves it through the same tz database, so the examples here behave identically everywhere.

Avoid storing WAT or +01:00 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

// format a date in this zone
new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', {
timeZone: 'Africa/Kinshasa',
dateStyle: 'full', timeStyle: 'long'
}).format(new Date());

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
128 years.

Africa/Kinshasa has kept UTC+01:00 year-round since 8 November 1897 — no daylight saving and no offset changes on record since. It is among the most stable identifiers in the database.

Every offset this zone has kept

+01:01:12UTC+01:00 · UNCHANGED 8 November 1897 NOW

Keeping this offset since

8 November 1897

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC + 1h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database

IdentifierAfrica/Kinshasa
ISO country codeCD🇨🇩 DR Congo
Reference coordinates4.30°S, 15.30°Etz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC+01:00abbreviation WAT
Daylight offset—daylight saving has never been observed

Where it applies

One of DR Congo's 2 zones.

Looking for travel-friendly info? See Kinshasa or West Africa Standard Time.

🇨🇩
DR Congo

106M people, 2 time zones — this identifier covers one of them.

Country page →
🇨🇩 Kinshasa
00:00
00:00:12 · WAT
pop. 15MWAT
🇨🇩 Kikwit
00:00
00:00:12 · WAT
pop. 398KWAT

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · West Africa Standard Time

other identifiers keeping WAT

Same offset · UTC+01:00

other zones keeping this offset right now

Frequently asked questions

Answers specific to this identifier — generated from the database record. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].

What UTC offset is Africa/Kinshasa?
Africa/Kinshasa is UTC+01:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does Africa/Kinshasa observe daylight saving time?
No. Africa/Kinshasa has never observed DST — it has kept UTC+01:00 continuously since 8 November 1897.
Which country uses Africa/Kinshasa?
DR Congo. It is one of 2 IANA zones covering the country.
Is Africa/Kinshasa the same as WAT?
Africa/Kinshasa is one of the IANA zones that keeps West Africa Standard Time (WAT). Use Africa/Kinshasa in software — WAT is a human-friendly label, not a valid identifier.

Free · Developer API

This zone, as JSON.

Everything on this page — offset, abbreviation, DST rules, coordinates — from one endpoint, always current with the latest tzdb release.

GET /v1/timezones Live

countries, cities, convert, DST transitions coming next.

Get your free API key →
// this identifier, resolved live
GET /v1/timezones?iana=Africa/Kinshasa
{
"iana": "Africa/Kinshasa",
"utc_offset": "+01:00",
"abbreviation": "WAT",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": "CD"
}