Of course a region could ignore that, and just choose the absolute worst time zone possible, like Boise Idaho. They only get nine hours of sunlight in December, and they're in the Mountain time zone, which puts sunrise right aaround 8:00 and sunset right after 5:00. If you work a regular 8-to-5 office job, and you aren't seated near a window, you could completely miss seeing the sun, unless you go outside for lunch.