Coordinated Universal Time Images

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). For most purposes, UTC is synonymous with GMT, but GMT is no longer precisely defined by the scientific community.

The UTC was officially formalized in 1963 by the International Radio Consultative Committee in Recommendation 374, having been initiated by several national time laboratories. The system was adjusted several times until leap seconds were adopted in 1972 to simplify future adjustments. A number of proposals have been made to replace UTC with a new system which would eliminate leap seconds but no consensus has yet been reached.

The current version of UTC is defined by International Telecommunications Union Recommendation (ITU-R TF.460-6), Standard-frequency and time-signal emissions. and is based on International Atomic Time (TAI) with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate for the slowing of Earth's rotation. Leap seconds keep UTC within 0.9 seconds of UT1. In the 41 years up to and including 2012, a total of 25 leap seconds have been added; the most recent was added on 30 June 2012.

If high precision is not required, the general term Universal Time (UT) may be used. The term Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) does not have a precise definition at the sub-second level, but it is often considered equivalent to UTC or UT1. Saying "GMT" often implies either UTC or UT1 when used within informal or casual contexts. In technical contexts, usage of "GMT" is avoided; the unambiguous terminology "UTC" or "UT1" is preferred.

Time zones around the world are expressed as positive or negative offsets from UTC, as in the list of time zones by UTC offset.