IANA tz database · zone identifier

Africa/Porto-Novo

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

UTC+01:00Abbreviation WATNo daylight saving
Time in Africa/Porto-Novo☾ Night
00:03:46
Thursday, October 15, 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

None

one offset all year

Country

🇧🇯 Benin

ISO 3166: BJ · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

Africa/Porto-Novo 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/Porto-Novo',
dateStyle: 'full', timeStyle: 'long'
}).format(new Date());

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
92 years.

Africa/Porto-Novo has kept UTC+01:00 year-round since 26 February 1934 — 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

+00:10:28UTC+01:00 · UNCHANGED 26 February 1934 NOW

Keeping this offset since

26 February 1934

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 · release 2026d

IdentifierAfrica/Porto-Novo
ISO country codeBJ🇧🇯 Benin
Reference coordinates6.48°N, 2.62°Etz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC+01:00abbreviation WAT
Daylight offset—no daylight saving time
tzdb release2026ddata current as of this IANA release

Where it applies

All of Benin, one clock.

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

🇧🇯
Benin

14M people, one time zone. The whole country resolves to Africa/Porto-Novo.

Country page →
🇧🇯 Cotonou
00:03
00:03:46 · WAT
pop. 780KWAT
🇧🇯 Porto-Novo
00:03
00:03:46 · WAT
pop. 234KWAT

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/Porto-Novo?
Africa/Porto-Novo is UTC+01:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does Africa/Porto-Novo observe daylight saving time?
No. Africa/Porto-Novo stays on UTC+01:00 all year, as it has since 26 February 1934.
Which country uses Africa/Porto-Novo?
Benin. The identifier covers the whole country.
Is Africa/Porto-Novo the same as WAT?
Africa/Porto-Novo is one of the IANA zones that keeps West Africa Standard Time (WAT). Use Africa/Porto-Novo in software — WAT is a human-friendly label, not a valid identifier.

Free · Developer API

This zone, as JSON.

Its live offset, abbreviation and DST status, plus its coordinates and country, from one endpoint.

GET /v1/timezones Live

Also in the API: time zones by coordinates, conversions that flag daylight saving gaps, and abbreviations decoded.

Get your free API key → All endpoints Plans and pricing

Moving off WorldTimeAPI? Our drop-in replacement needs no key.

// this identifier, resolved live
GET /v1/timezones/Africa/Porto-Novo
{
"data": {
"iana": "Africa/Porto-Novo",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": { "code": "BJ", "name": "Benin" },
"current": {
"utc_offset": "+01:00",
"abbreviation": "WAT",
…
},
…
}
}