IANA tz database · zone identifier

America/Costa_Rica

The IANA tz database identifier for Central Standard Time in Costa Rica. Store this string — not the abbreviation, not the offset — and your timestamps stay correct forever.

UTC-06:00Abbreviation CSTNo DST — never observed
Time in America/Costa_Rica☀ Daylight
17:00:04
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Offset
UTC-06:00
Abbreviation
CST
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC-06:00

same year-round

Abbreviation

CST

used year-round

DST behaviour

Never

has never observed daylight saving

Country

🇨🇷 Costa Rica

ISO 3166: CR · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

America/Costa_Rica 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 CST or -06:00 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

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

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
34 years.

America/Costa_Rica has kept UTC-06:00 year-round since 14 March 1992 — 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

−05:36:20UTC-06:00 · UNCHANGED 14 March 1992 NOW

Keeping this offset since

14 March 1992

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC − 6h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database

IdentifierAmerica/Costa_Rica
ISO country codeCR🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Reference coordinates9.93°N, 84.08°Wtz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC-06:00abbreviation CST
Daylight offset—daylight saving has never been observed

Where it applies

All of Costa Rica, one clock.

Looking for travel-friendly info? See San José or Central Standard Time.

🇨🇷
Costa Rica

5.3M people, one time zone. The whole country resolves to America/Costa_Rica.

Country page →
🇨🇷 San José
17:00
17:00:04 · CST
pop. 335KCST

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · Central Standard Time

other identifiers keeping CST

Same offset · UTC-06:00

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 America/Costa_Rica?
America/Costa_Rica is UTC-06:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does America/Costa_Rica observe daylight saving time?
No. America/Costa_Rica has never observed DST — it has kept UTC-06:00 continuously since 14 March 1992.
Which country uses America/Costa_Rica?
Costa Rica. The identifier covers the whole country.
Is America/Costa_Rica the same as CST?
America/Costa_Rica is one of the IANA zones that keeps Central Standard Time (CST). Use America/Costa_Rica in software — CST 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=America/Costa_Rica
{
"iana": "America/Costa_Rica",
"utc_offset": "-06:00",
"abbreviation": "CST",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": "CR"
}