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According to this map Greenland has four time zones. On one hand, it is understandable given the vast size of the island. On the other hand, Wikipædia gives the size of population of Greenland to be slightly above 56 thousand. According to the same source, the largest cities of the UTC-4 zone and UTC-1 zone have 646 and 345 inhabitants, respectively.

It sounds a bit unusual to create a separate time zone for a few hundred of people (unless they live on a separate island). Would it not be easier if every islander's clock would show exactly the same time (even the reverse solution, namely, to create, for example, three time zones: Eastern (UTC-2), Central (UTC-3), Western (UTC-4) of comparable size for different parts of the island looks more logical than the current state of affairs)? So, why tiny time zones (historical reasons, for example?) and are there any plans to change it?

Update

It looks like the map I referred to is somewhat outdated. According to the resource https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/greenland (thanks to @trond hansen), the time zones currently in use in Greenland are as follows: UTC-3, UTC-1, UTC+0 (which looks a bit more common, but does not answer why three zones are needed).

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  • $\begingroup$ this is a question about danish law, logic need not apply. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Sep 2 at 15:15
  • $\begingroup$ here is some information about greenland timeanddate.com/worldclock/greenland $\endgroup$
    – trond hansen
    Commented Sep 3 at 3:24
  • $\begingroup$ @trondhansen Thank you, I have updated the question. $\endgroup$
    – S. N.
    Commented Sep 3 at 14:44
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    $\begingroup$ @S.N. this seems like the right site to me. There may be no great answer, and it's not nearly as crazy as China being one time zone. Honestly if you look at timeanddate.com/time/map it shows that Greenland should be in 5 time zones based upon the background lines. $\endgroup$
    – JeopardyTempest
    Commented Sep 3 at 15:37
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    $\begingroup$ @JeopardyTempest You are right. Were the island area divided by meridians, it would be at least logical, albeit hardly optimal. Also, dividing the area into a few time zones of approximately the same size sounds like a solution which ist based on reality of daylight period and common sense. What I can't understand is why two tiny time zones (one of which differs by two hours!) were «carved out» of a huge one. Did not know about China being one time zone, yes, that is also a very bizarre situation. $\endgroup$
    – S. N.
    Commented Sep 4 at 10:07

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