Python: Set the default timezone used by all date/time functions

Last update on April 22 2025 12:47:15 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

54. Set Default Timezone

Write a Python program to set the default timezone used by all date/time functions.

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

# Import the os and time modules
import os, time

# Print the current time in the default timezone before the timezone change
print(time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')) # before timezone change

# Set the new timezone to 'America/Los_Angeles'
os.environ['TZ'] = 'America/Los_Angeles'

# Apply the timezone change
time.tzset()

# Print the current time in the new timezone after the timezone change
print(time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')) # after timezone change

Output:

2020-07-21 13:09:47
2020-07-21 06:09:47

Explanation:

In the exercise above,

The code imports the "os" and "time" modules. time.
It prints the current time in the default timezone using "time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')". This function formats the time according to the given format string, which represents the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.
It sets the new timezone to 'America/Los_Angeles' by updating the 'TZ' environment variable in the "os.environ" dictionary.
It applies the timezone change using "time.tzset()", which refreshes the timezone settings.
It prints the current time in the new timezone after the timezone change using the same "time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')" function.

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a Python program to set the default timezone for all datetime operations to a specified timezone and then display the current time in that timezone.
Write a Python script to configure the default timezone in your application and then convert a local datetime to that timezone.
Write a Python function to change the system’s default timezone temporarily and then print the current time in the new timezone.
Write a Python program to set and reset the default timezone using the pytz module and then demonstrate the effect on datetime outputs.

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