> [!NOTE]
> **Before you begin:** Before you start using the Time Zone API, you need a project with a billing account and the Time Zone API enabled. We recommend creating multiple Project Owners and Billing Administrators, so that you'll always have someone with these roles available to your team. To learn more, see [Set up in Cloud console](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/cloud-setup).

The Time Zone API provides time offset data for locations on the surface of the
earth. Request the time zone information for a specific latitude/longitude pair and date.
The API returns the name of that time zone, the time offset from UTC, and the
daylight savings offset.

## Sample request and response

Access the Time Zone API through an **HTTPS** interface, with
requests constructed as a URL string, using latitude/longitude coordinates to
specify the `location`, a `timestamp` to specify the date,
and your API key.

The below query performs a time zone request for Nevada, USA. The timestamp
is set to March 8th, 2012.

### URL

```
https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/timezone/json
  ?location=39.6034810%2C-119.6822510
  ×tamp=1733428634
  &key=YOUR_API_KEY
```

### curl

```
curl -L -X GET 'https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/timezone/json?location=39.6034810%2C-119.6822510×tamp=1733428634&key=YOUR_API_KEY'
```

You can test this by entering the URL into your web browser (be sure to replace
`YOUR_API_KEY` with [your actual API key](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/get-started.md.txt#get-a-key)).
The response includes the time zone data for the specified location and date
`(timestamp)`.

View the [developer's guide](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/overview.md.txt)
for more information about
[building request URLs and available parameters](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/overview.md.txt#requests)
and [understanding the response](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/overview.md.txt#TimeZoneResponse).

Below is a sample response, in JSON:

### JSON

```json
{
  "dstOffset": 0,
  "rawOffset": -28800,
  "status": "OK",
  "timeZoneId": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "timeZoneName": "Pacific Standard Time",
}
```

### XML

```xml
<TimeZoneResponse>
 <status>OK</status>
 <raw_offset>-28800.0000000</raw_offset>
 <dst_offset>0.0000000</dst_offset>
 <time_zone_id>America/Los_Angeles</time_zone_id>
 <time_zone_name>Pacific Standard Time</time_zone_name>
</TimeZoneResponse>
```

## Start coding with our client libraries

Client libraries make developing with the Google Maps web service APIs easier by providing simple,
native implementations of common tasks such as authentication, request
throttling and automatic retry. The Time Zone API is available
in the
[Java Client,
Python Client, Go Client and Node.js Client for Google Maps Services](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/client-library).

## Authentication, quotas, pricing, and policies

### Authentication

To use the Time Zone API, you must first enable the API and obtain the proper
authentication credentials. For more information, see
[Get Started with Google Maps Platform](https://developers.google.com/maps/get-started.md.txt).

### Quotas and pricing

Review the [usage and billing](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/usage-limits) page
for details on the quotas and pricing set for the Time Zone API.

### Policies

Use of the Time Zone API must be in accordance with the
[API policies](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/policies.md.txt).

## Learn more

In the Time Zone API, you can also set a language parameter
to return results in languages other than the default of English. See the
[Time Zone API
Developer Guide](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/overview) for more examples and other details.

The [Time Zone API Developer Guide](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/timezone/overview.md.txt) is intended for website and mobile
developers who want to include time data on maps provided by one of the Google Maps Platform
APIs. It provides an introduction to using the API and reference material on the available
parameters.