Daylight saving time in Brazil

Daylight saving time in Brazil (called horário de verão—"summer time"—in Portuguese) was first adopted in 1931.^[1] Initially, it applied to the whole country (with an exception in part of 1963); since 1988, it started being used only in part of the country.^[2]

The duration and regional applicability of DST has varied over the years (see Portuguese Wikipedia page for details). As of 2011, DST is used only in the southern region (the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná), the southeast region (the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais), the central-west region (the state of Goiás and the Distrito Federal, and the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul), and in Bahia.

Since October 2011, 32 municipalities of eastern Mato Grosso, have stopped following DST and will remain on Brasilia time, UTC-03:00, all year round.

Formerly, starting and ending dates were variable, but in 2008, a decree (No. 6558 of 9 September 2008) established a permanent rule: DST starts at 00:00 on the third Sunday in October and ends at 00:00 on the third Sunday in February—unless the latter falls during Carnaval: in this case, the end of DST is postponed by one week. The next six times in which the end of DST is scheduled to be postponed are 2012, 2015, 2023, 2026, 2034 and 2037.

History

Before 2008, there were no fixed start and end dates for summer time, nor which states should or should not follow it; they were decided every year by one or more decrees, sometimes published very close to their start date.^[2]

On 8 September 2008, Presidential Decree n. 6.558 established fixed start and end dates and listed the Brazilian federative units that will annually observe daylight saving time.^[3] Later, Presidential Decree n. 7.584, of 13 October 2011, added the state of Bahia to the list of DST observing territories.^[4]

Beginning in October 2011, a number of municipalities in eastern Mato Grosso, in the Araguaia region, will not use DST, using UTC+03:00 all year round. These include Água Boa, Alto da Boa Vista, Alto Araguaia, Alto Taquari, Araguaiana, Araguainha, Barra do Garças, Bom Jesus do Araguaia, Campinápolis, Canabrava do Norte, Canarana, Cocalinho, Confresa, General Carneiro, Luciara, Nova Nazaré, Nova Xavantina, Novo Santo Antônio, Novo São Joaquim, Pontal do Araguaia, Ponte Branca, Porto Alegre do Norte, Querência, Ribeirão Cascalheira, Ribeirãozinho, Santa Cruz do Xingu, Santa Terezinha, São Félix do Araguaia, São José do Xingu, Serra Nova Dourada, Torixoréu, and Vila Rica^[5].

References

1. ^ "HISTÓRICO DO HORÁRIO DE VERÃO" (in Portuguese). http://pcdsh01.on.br/HISTHV.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-23. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Decretos sobre o Horário de Verão no Brasil" (in Portuguese). http://pcdsh01.on.br/DecHV.html. Retrieved 2007-01-23. 
3. ^ "Decreto 6.558 de 2008, sobre o Horário de Verão no Brasil" (in Portuguese). http://pcdsh01.on.br/HVdecreto6558_20080908.JPG. Retrieved 2008-11-08. 
4. ^ "Decreto 7.584 de 2011, sobre o Horário de Verão no Brasil" (in Portuguese). http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2011-2014/2011/Decreto/D7584.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-16. 
5. ^ http://www.circuitomt.com.br/editorias/geral/6392-mt-deve-ter-maior-reducao-de-energia-da-decada.html

See also

• Time in Brazil
• Daylight saving time by country