Timezone Dataset

This dataset bundles two key resources that describe global timezones:

• A JSON file (timezone-info.json) containing structured information about each timezone (ISO country codes, IANA timezone identifier, offsets, abbreviations, alias relationships, etc.). The JSON is derived from the Wikipedia tz database table to provide human-friendly metadata.
• A ZIP archive (timezone-geojson.zip) containing individual GeoJSON files, one per timezone, representing the geographical boundaries. Each geometry file is produced by dissolving the polygons from the geo-tz package so only the outer boundaries remain.

Sources

The dataset is curated from authoritative, open sources:

• IANA Time Zone Database – canonical definitions of timekeeping rules and timezone identifiers.
• timezone-boundary-builder – precise boundary geometries maintained by Evan Siroky, used by the geo-tz Node.js package.
• Wikipedia’s tz database article – the basis for the textual metadata (country coverage, abbreviations, alias relationships).

Contents

• timezone-info.json – JSON array with one object per tz database identifier. Fields include:
  • countryCodes – ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes covered by the timezone.
  • tzIdentifier – IANA timezone name (e.g., America/New_York).
  • type – canonical for primary zones or alias for links.
  • utcOffsetStandard / utcOffsetDst – offsets in ±HH:MM format.
  • abbreviationStandard / abbreviationDst – common short forms (CET, GMT, etc.).
  • canonicalLink – for aliases, the target canonical timezone.
• timezone-geojson.zip – ZIP archive with GeoJSON Feature files. Each file is named after the timezone (with slashes replaced by underscores or similar) and contains a single Feature describing the dissolved outer boundary of that timezone’s region.

Data Types

Data Type	Description	Format / Path
Metadata JSON	Structured list of timezones with country coverage, offsets, abbreviations, and alias relationships.	timezone-info.json
Geometry ZIP	Compressed archive of per-timezone GeoJSON Feature files describing dissolved outer boundaries.	timezone-geojson.zip
GeoJSON Feature	Inside the ZIP, each file is a GeoJSON Feature with a Polygon or MultiPolygon geometry and { tzid } properties.	timezone-geojson.zip/<timezone>.geojson

Usage Notes

• The JSON can be consumed directly for metadata, lookup, or UI display of timezone names and offsets.
• The GeoJSON files enable spatial operations such as point-in-polygon checks, map rendering, and geospatial indexing.
• If a JSON entry has type = "alias", consult canonicalLink to find the canonical timezone geometry.

Licensing

Respect the upstream licenses. These resources are open, but you must review the specific license terms to ensure your usage is compliant. Consult the linked pages below for the most up-to-date details.

• IANA’s timezone database (public domain / BSD-style). See the tz-link.html reference for licensing details.
• timezone-boundary-builder data (MIT license). See the project license for attribution requirements.
• Wikipedia content (co-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)). Attribute the article when using the metadata and preserve the share-alike terms.