The standard time of the following countries is ahead or behind Greenwich Mean Time depending on whether they are east or west of the longitude passing through Greenwich : I. Cuba II. Greece III. Iraq IV. Costa Rica V. Japan Which one of the following sequential orders gives the correct arrangement of the countries according to their standard time from ahead to behind GMT?

Standard time is ahead of GMT for places east of Greenwich and behind GMT for those to the west, a rule used to determine longitude from local time differences [1]. Using current standard offsets, Japan is GMT+9, placing it furthest ahead; Iraq uses GMT+3 and Greece GMT+2, so they follow next in decreasing order; Cuba is GMT−5 and Costa Rica GMT−6, placing them behind GMT and last in the sequence [2]. Arranging from most ahead to most behind GMT therefore gives: Japan, Iraq, Greece, Cuba, Costa Rica, which corresponds to option 1.

Sources

1. [1] Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 2: The Earth's Crust > Longitude and Time > p. 12
2. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UTC_offsets