Benin · WAT
Tue, 15 Sept 2026
Timezone Guide
Parakou, Benin runs on UTC+1. This time zone stays fixed year-round at UTC+1 — daylight saving time is not observed. There is a 5-hour difference between Parakou and New York. Standard 9-to-6 working hours overlap for about 4 hours a day with New York. A good time to connect: 14:00–18:00 in Parakou lines up with 09:00–13:00 in New York. Parakou and London currently share the same clock. Standard 9-to-6 working hours overlap for about 9 hours a day with London. A good time to connect: 09:00–18:00 in Parakou lines up with 09:00–18:00 in London. There is a 8-hour difference between Parakou and Tokyo. Standard 9-to-6 working hours overlap for about 1 hours a day with Tokyo. A good time to connect: 09:00–10:00 in Parakou lines up with 17:00–18:00 in Tokyo. This timezone is also shared with cities such as Lisbon, Lagos, Casablanca. Keeping these offsets in mind makes it easier to schedule calls or travel to and from Parakou.
Practical Info
Parakou (Benin) is home to roughly 260K people. Today brings about 12.7 hours of daylight: sunrise at 06:30, sunset at 19:12. This time zone stays fixed year-round at UTC+1 — daylight saving time is not observed. It sits in the Northern Hemisphere, about 9° north of the equator. Traffic drives on the right.
Flag
Benin
Capital
Porto-Novo
Continent
Africa
Time Zone
WAT · Africa/Porto-Novo
Coordinates
9.34°N, 2.63°E
Currency
XOF (CFA)
Calling Code
+229
Driving Side
Right
Hemisphere
Northern
Language
French
Measurement System
Metric
Did You Know?
Parakou is the northern terminus of Benin's railway from Cotonou, built from 1936 and never extended to Niger as planned — which left the city as the transfer point where rail freight becomes road freight for the whole Sahel.
The clock: Parakou keeps UTC+1. The Gaani festival each year marks the Bariba new year with horsemen in full regalia.
Annual Daylight
Working Hours
7h overlap