the following places use a local time zome that is a *non*integer number
of hours displaced from GMT/UTC time. (These are for local standard
times, so no allowances have been made for any possible daylight savings
times that might be in force during some part of the year).
Iles Marquises (French Polynesia) Local time = UTC - 9.5
Newfoundland (Island) Local time = UTC - 3.5
Iran Local Time = UTC + 3.5
Afganistan Local Time = UTC + 4.5
India (& its Island posessions) Local Time = UTC + 5.5
Nepal Local Time = UTC + 5.75
Burma Local Time = UTC + 6.5
Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Aust.) Local Time = UTC + 6.5
Northern Territory & South Australia Local Time = UTC + 9.5
Lord Howe Island (Aust.) Local Time = UTC +10.5
Norfolk Island (Aust.) Local Time = UTC +11.5
Chatham Islands (N.Z.) Local Time = UTC +12.75
Also, regarding the earliest arrival of the new year, it is interesting
that Tonga has a time zone that is a full *13* hours ahead of UTC time
(with the Chatham Islands following behind closely by 15 minutes). The
new year seems to have come in last for Samoa which (at UTC - 11) has the
same time zome as Tonga, but is a full day behind it.
It seems that most of the places that have non-integer time zones tend to
be either Commonwealth nations (or other former British possessions) or
Muslim countries. I wonder if the reason for such a situation is related
to a historical desire of colonial masters (or maybe the sea captains &
admirals of the Royal Navy) to have their tea at the proper time for
their local longitude, or for mandated daily prayers to be offered at the
Quran-ically correct times relative to meridian transit.
In any event it seems that the number of places with non-integer time
zones has been declining in recent years. I have a map at home which is
a little over a decade old that shows the Cook Islands, Pitcairn Island,
and Nauru as having half-integer time zones, Nepal as being at
UTC + 5 hrs 40 min, and Saudi Arabia and some neighboring emirates as
being on local "Sun Time". The map referred to above (which supposedly
is up to date as of the year 2000) has all of these places as now being
on integer time zones--except for Nepal which has apparently shifted
ahead by *5 minutes* to a UTC + 5 3/4 hour time zone.