Olson Timezone Database for Python

2020.1 · maintenance · verified Sun Mar 29

pytzdata is a Python library that provides access to the IANA/Olson timezone database files. It packages a snapshot of this database, allowing applications to retrieve raw timezone definitions. The current version, 2020.1, was released in July 2020. The project does not appear to follow a regular release cadence and is effectively in maintenance mode, largely superseded by the standard library `zoneinfo` module in Python 3.9+ and the `tzdata` package.

Warnings

deprecated The `pytzdata` package itself has not been updated since July 2020. For new projects on Python 3.9 and later, the standard library's `zoneinfo` module, typically combined with the `tzdata` PyPI package, is the recommended and more up-to-date solution for timezone handling.
Fix: For Python 3.9+, use `from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo` and `pip install tzdata`. For older Python versions requiring external timezone libraries, consider `dateutil.tz` or pinning `pytzdata` and `pytz` to known working versions while being aware of potential data staleness.
gotcha pytzdata only provides the raw IANA/Olson timezone *data files*. It does not provide `tzinfo` objects for direct use with Python's `datetime` module. Libraries like `pytz` (which historically used `pytzdata`'s format) or `zoneinfo` are required to create timezone-aware `datetime` objects.
Fix: To create timezone-aware `datetime` objects, use `pytz.timezone('Europe/Paris')` (for `pytz`) or `ZoneInfo('Europe/Paris')` (for `zoneinfo` with Python 3.9+ and `tzdata` installed). Do not attempt to use `pytzdata` imports directly as `tzinfo` objects.
gotcha Due to its last release being in 2020, the timezone data bundled with `pytzdata` (version 2020.1) may be outdated. IANA Time Zone Database rules are updated periodically, and `pytzdata` will not reflect these changes without a new release.
Fix: Ensure your timezone data is current. If using Python 3.9+, prefer `zoneinfo` with `tzdata`, which is updated more frequently. If you must use `pytzdata`, be aware that recent changes to daylight saving rules or geopolitical timezone changes might not be reflected.

Install

pip install pytzdata Install stable version

Imports

tz_file
```
from pytzdata import tz_file
```
`timezone` is part of the `pytz` library, not `pytzdata`. `pytzdata` provides data files, not `tzinfo` objects.
tz_path
```
from pytzdata import tz_path
```
set_directory
```
import pytzdata
pytzdata.set_directory('/custom/zoneinfo')
```
Used to point `pytzdata` to a custom directory containing timezone data files.

Quickstart

Demonstrates how to retrieve the file path for a timezone or access its raw content using `tz_path` and `tz_file`.

from pytzdata import tz_path

# Get the path to a specific timezone file
paris_tz_path = tz_path('Europe/Paris')
print(f"Path to Europe/Paris timezone data: {paris_tz_path}")

from pytzdata import tz_file

# Access the content of a specific timezone file
with tz_file('America/New_York') as f:
    content_start = f.read(50)
    print(f"First 50 bytes of America/New_York data: {content_start}...")

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