IANA tz database · zone identifier

Asia/Colombo

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

UTC+05:30Abbreviation +0530No daylight saving
Time in Asia/Colombo☾ Night
19:37:43
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Offset
UTC+05:30
Abbreviation
+0530
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC+05:30

same year-round

Abbreviation

+0530

tzdb uses numeric abbreviations here

DST behaviour

None

one offset all year

Country

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka

ISO 3166: LK · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

Asia/Colombo 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 +0530 or +05:30 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

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

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
20 years.

Asia/Colombo has kept UTC+05:30 year-round since 15 April 2006 — 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

+05:19:24UTC+05:30 · UNCHANGED 15 April 2006 NOW

Keeping this offset since

15 April 2006

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC + 5:30h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database · release 2026e

IdentifierAsia/Colombo
ISO country codeLK🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
Reference coordinates6.93°N, 79.85°Etz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC+05:30abbreviation +0530
Daylight offset—no daylight saving time
tzdb release2026edata current as of this IANA release

Where it applies

All of Sri Lanka, one clock.

Looking for travel-friendly info? See Colombo or India Standard Time.

🇱🇰
Sri Lanka

21M people, one time zone. The whole country resolves to Asia/Colombo.

Country page →
🇱🇰 Colombo
19:37
19:37:43 · +0530
pop. 648KIST
🇱🇰 Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
19:37
19:37:43 · +0530
pop. 116KIST

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · India Standard Time

other identifiers keeping IST

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/Colombo?
Asia/Colombo is UTC+05:30, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does Asia/Colombo observe daylight saving time?
No. Asia/Colombo stays on UTC+05:30 all year, as it has since 15 April 2006.
Which country uses Asia/Colombo?
Sri Lanka. The identifier covers the whole country.
Is Asia/Colombo the same as IST?
Asia/Colombo is one of the IANA zones that keeps India Standard Time (IST). Use Asia/Colombo in software — IST 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/Asia/Colombo
{
"data": {
"iana": "Asia/Colombo",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": { "code": "LK", "name": "Sri Lanka" },
"current": {
"utc_offset": "+05:30",
"abbreviation": "+0530",
…
},
…
}
}