United Arab Emirates — Time & Holidays
The UAE uses Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4) across all seven emirates and does not observe daylight saving, so the clocks are constant all year.
National & Public Holidays
| Date | Holiday | What it marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day Fixed | The start of the Gregorian year. |
| Lunar | Eid-ul-Fitr Islamic | Marks the end of Ramadan. |
| Lunar | Eid-ul-Adha Islamic | The festival of sacrifice. |
| Lunar | Islamic New Year Islamic | The first day of Muharram. |
| Lunar | Prophet's Birthday Islamic | Mawlid. |
| 1 December | Commemoration Day Fixed | Honours the nation's fallen. |
| 2 December | National Day Fixed | The founding of the union in 1971. |
Time and holidays in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates keeps a single national clock, Gulf Standard Time, four hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time at UTC+4. All seven emirates, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Sharjah and the northern emirates, share the same time, and the country does not change its clocks for daylight saving, so the offset is constant. For a place that is home to people from almost every nation on Earth, that steady, simple time zone makes coordinating with family and business partners abroad far easier.
Fixed national days and Islamic festivals
Several fixed dates anchor the year. New Year's Day on the first of January is a public holiday, reflecting the country's international character. Commemoration Day on the first of December honours Emiratis who gave their lives in service of the nation, and National Day on the second of December celebrates the founding of the union in 1971 with parades, air displays and fireworks across every emirate. As an Islamic country, the UAE also observes religious holidays that follow the lunar calendar, including Eid-ul-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Adha during the Hajj season, the Islamic New Year and the Prophet's Birthday. Because the lunar year is shorter than the solar one, these dates move earlier each year and are confirmed by moon sighting close to the time. The live clock above shows the current UAE time, fixed at UTC+4 year-round.