IANA tz database · zone identifier

America/Fortaleza

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

UTC-03:00Abbreviation -03No DST — never observed
Time in America/Fortaleza☾ Night
19:58:03
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Offset
UTC-03:00
Abbreviation
-03
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC-03:00

same year-round

Abbreviation

-03

tzdb uses numeric abbreviations here

DST behaviour

Never

has never observed daylight saving

Country

🇧🇷 Brazil

ISO 3166: BR · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

America/Fortaleza 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 -03 or -03:00 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

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

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
24 years.

America/Fortaleza has kept UTC-03:00 year-round since 16 February 2002 — 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

−02:34:00UTC-03:00 · UNCHANGED 16 February 2002 NOW

Keeping this offset since

16 February 2002

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC − 3h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database

IdentifierAmerica/Fortaleza
ISO country codeBR🇧🇷 Brazil
Reference coordinates3.72°S, 38.50°Wtz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC-03:00abbreviation -03
Daylight offset—daylight saving has never been observed

Where it applies

One of Brazil's 16 zones.

Looking for travel-friendly info? See Fortaleza or Brasilia Standard Time.

🇧🇷
Brazil

213M people, 16 time zones — this identifier covers one of them.

Country page →
🇧🇷 Fortaleza
19:58
19:58:03 · -03
pop. 2.6MBST
🇧🇷 São Luís
19:58
19:58:03 · -03
pop. 1MBST
🇧🇷 Teresina
19:58
19:58:03 · -03
pop. 868KBST

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · Brasilia Standard Time

other identifiers keeping BST

Same offset · UTC-03:00

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/Fortaleza?
America/Fortaleza is UTC-03:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does America/Fortaleza observe daylight saving time?
No. America/Fortaleza has never observed DST — it has kept UTC-03:00 continuously since 16 February 2002.
Which country uses America/Fortaleza?
Brazil. It is one of 16 IANA zones covering the country.
Is America/Fortaleza the same as BST?
America/Fortaleza is one of the IANA zones that keeps Brasilia Standard Time (BST). Use America/Fortaleza in software — BST 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/Fortaleza
{
"iana": "America/Fortaleza",
"utc_offset": "-03:00",
"abbreviation": "-03",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": "BR"
}