IANA tz database · zone identifier

Asia/Aqtau

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

UTC+05:00Abbreviation +05No DST — never observed
Time in Asia/Aqtau☾ Night
03:59:55
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Offset
UTC+05:00
Abbreviation
+05
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC+05:00

same year-round

Abbreviation

+05

tzdb uses numeric abbreviations here

DST behaviour

Never

has never observed daylight saving

Country

🇰🇿 Kazakhstan

ISO 3166: KZ · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

Asia/Aqtau 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 +05 or +05:00 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

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

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
21 years.

Asia/Aqtau has kept UTC+05:00 year-round since 31 October 2004 — 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

+03:21:04UTC+05:00 · UNCHANGED 31 October 2004 NOW

Keeping this offset since

31 October 2004

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC + 5h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database

IdentifierAsia/Aqtau
ISO country codeKZ🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
Reference coordinates44.52°N, 50.27°Etz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC+05:00abbreviation +05
Daylight offset—daylight saving has never been observed

Where it applies

One of Kazakhstan's 7 zones.

🇰🇿
Kazakhstan

20M people, 7 time zones — this identifier covers one of them.

Country page →

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · West Kazakhstan Time

other identifiers keeping WKT

Same offset · UTC+05:00

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 Asia/Aqtau?
Asia/Aqtau is UTC+05:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does Asia/Aqtau observe daylight saving time?
No. Asia/Aqtau has never observed DST — it has kept UTC+05:00 continuously since 31 October 2004.
Which country uses Asia/Aqtau?
Kazakhstan. It is one of 7 IANA zones covering the country.
Is Asia/Aqtau the same as WKT?
Asia/Aqtau is one of the IANA zones that keeps West Kazakhstan Time (WKT). Use Asia/Aqtau in software — WKT 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=Asia/Aqtau
{
"iana": "Asia/Aqtau",
"utc_offset": "+05:00",
"abbreviation": "+05",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": "KZ"
}