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The first country to celebrate New Year’s Eve annually is the Oceanic country Kiribati—the island of Kiritimati to be precise. Kiribati is an island country, made up of more than 30 islands and atolls spread over hundreds of miles, and the International Date Line actually loops eastward around the country's easternmost islands (including Kiritimati) in order to keep them all in the same day (otherwise the country's eastern islands would be up to 24 hours behind the western islands). Kiribati is also the only country to have territory in all four hemispheres.
The cities and countries of Chatham Islands, New Zealand; Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia; and Sydney, Australia celebrate the new year shortly after Kiribati.
New Year's Day arrives at a different hour in each of the Earth's 24 time zones, as illustrated by the comparisons and table below.
When the clock strikes midnight (UTC+14) and begins New Year’s Day in Kiritimati, Kiribati, it’s 9pm in Sydney, Australia. In London, England, it’s only 10am on December 31, though most other European countries are slightly ahead—for example, it's 11:00 AM in Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; and Rome, Italy.
As for the countries of North America, in the United States, it’s 5am in New York City, 4am in Chicago, only 2am in Los Angeles, and 12am—the very start of December 31—in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Canadian city of Ottawa, Ontario shares a time zone with New York City, so its local time would be just 5am on Dec. 31 when Kiritimati reaches midnight, January 1st. Mexico City, Mexico celebrates the same time as Belize City, Belize in South America and Chicago in the US, so its local time would be 4am.
12am in Kiritimati corresponds to 7am in Rio de Janeiro on December 31 in the South American country of Brazil. Moreover, it corresponds to only 4am in Belize City, located in the Central American Country Belize.
Many countries in Africa are located almost directly across the globe from the International Date Line. When it’s midnight on New Year’s Day in Kiritimati, Kiribati, it’s 11am in Lagos, Nigeria the day before. In Cairo, Egypt, it’s noon on New Year's Eve.
Asia is the world's largest continent, and includes two of the largest countries in the world—Russia alone stretches across eleven time zones. Midnight on January 1 in Kiritimati occurs at 6pm Dec. 31 in Shanghai, China; at 3pm Karachi, Pakistan; and at 7pm in Tokyo, Japan.
Country | City | Local Time |
---|---|---|
Kiribati | Kiritimati | 12:00 AM (midnight) |
New Zealand | Chatham Islands | 11:45 PM |
Russia | Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky | 10:00 PM |
Australia | Sydney | 9:00 PM |
Japan | Tokyo | 7:00 PM |
China | Shanghai | 6:00 PM |
Pakistan | Karachi | 3:00 PM |
Russia | Moscow | 1:00 PM |
Egypt | Cairo | 12:00 PM (noon) |
Nigeria | Lagos | 11:00 AM |
France | Paris | 11:00 AM |
England | London | 10:00 AM |
Iceland | Reykjavik | 10:00 AM |
Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | 7:00 AM |
United States | New York | 5:00 AM |
Canada | Ottawa | 5:00 AM |
United States | Chicago | 4:00 AM |
Mexico | Mexico City | 4:00 AM |
Belize | Belize City | 4:00 AM |
United States | Los Angeles | 2:00 AM |
United States | Honolulu | 12:00 AM (previous day) |
A former British colony and current member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Kiribati is a developing country—one of the least-developed countries in the world, in fact—with a Human Development Index score of .624. The tiny island country's New Year's celebrations are notably more modest than the fireworks-centered spectaculars in cities such as New York, Sydney, or London—Kiritimati's population is fewer than 10,000 people.
However, the Kiribati temperature on New Year’s Eve is much warmer than in some parts of Europe and North America. It’s usually between 25-30 degrees Celsius (77-86 Fahrenheit), which permits snorkeling, swimming or fishing, and golfing on New Year's Eve. People also gather at the public maneaba (meeting place), which has the same shape as an American park pavilion but with roofs made of coconut wood. Finally, music and dancing have always been a part of Kiribati culture, and are likely to be a part of the country's NYE observance.
The name Kiribati is actually pronounced "Kiribass" because ti has an s sound in Gilbertese, the country's spoken language. Kiribati obtained its independence from the UK (and chose its current name) in 1979, making it one of the world's youngest sovereign states other than the dozen-plus countries formed from the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Kiribati consists of 32 coral atolls, which are land formations composed of reef rings around lagoons, and one raised coral island. While the atolls of Kiribati have an collective area of only 811 km² (313 mi²), they are spread over 3.5 million km² (1.4 million mi²) of ocean area.
Kiritimati is the Gilbertese language translation of the word "Christmas", and refers to one of the island's alternate names, Christmas Island, which it acquired when British explorer James Cook arrived there on Christmas Eve in 1777. Note, however, that Kiritimati is different from the island officially named Christmas Island, which is located in the Indian Ocean and is a territory of Australia, as well as similarly named islands off the coasts of Tasmania and Nova Scotia. While archeological evidence indicates that the Polynesian people visited and occasionally occupied Kiritimati as early as 1250 AD, the first permanent settlement in the modern era did not begin until 1882. The militaries of both the US and the UK used Kiritimati as a nuclear testing site in the 1950s and 1960s.
A number of Oceanic islands such as American Samoa and Baker Island are actually located to the west of Kiritimati, but still to the east of the International Date Line's original path. Because the redrawn International Date Line returns to this original path after wrapping around Kiribati, these islands experience the new year 24-26 hours after Kiritimati.
Country | Order of Arrival | Local Time When New Year Arrives |
---|---|---|
Kiribati | 1 | 12:00:00 AM Jan 01 |
Samoa | 2 | 11:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Tonga | 2 | 11:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Tokelau | 2 | 11:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
New Zealand | 3 | 10:45:00 PM Dec 31 |
Russia | 4 | 10:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Fiji | 4 | 10:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Marshall Islands | 4 | 10:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Nauru | 4 | 10:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Wallis and Futuna | 4 | 10:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Tuvalu | 4 | 10:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Australia | 5 | 9:30:00 PM Dec 31 |
Papua New Guinea | 6 | 9:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Guam | 6 | 9:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Micronesia | 6 | 9:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 6 | 9:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Indonesia | 7 | 7:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Japan | 7 | 7:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
South Korea | 7 | 7:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
North Korea | 7 | 7:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Timor Leste | 7 | 7:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Palau | 7 | 7:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
China | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Philippines | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Malaysia | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Taiwan | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Hong Kong | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Singapore | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Mongolia | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Macau | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Brunei | 8 | 6:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Vietnam | 9 | 5:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Thailand | 9 | 5:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Cambodia | 9 | 5:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Laos | 9 | 5:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Myanmar | 10 | 4:30:00 PM Dec 31 |
Bangladesh | 11 | 4:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Kazakhstan | 11 | 4:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Kyrgyzstan | 11 | 4:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Bhutan | 11 | 4:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Nepal | 12 | 3:45:00 PM Dec 31 |
India | 13 | 3:30:00 PM Dec 31 |
Sri Lanka | 13 | 3:30:00 PM Dec 31 |
Pakistan | 14 | 3:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Uzbekistan | 14 | 3:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Tajikistan | 14 | 3:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Turkmenistan | 14 | 3:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Maldives | 14 | 3:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Afghanistan | 15 | 2:30:00 PM Dec 31 |
United Arab Emirates | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Azerbaijan | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Oman | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Georgia | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Armenia | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Mauritius | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Reunion | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Seychelles | 16 | 2:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Iran | 17 | 1:30:00 PM Dec 31 |
Ethiopia | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Turkey | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Tanzania | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Kenya | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Uganda | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Iraq | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Yemen | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Ukraine | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Saudi Arabia | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Madagascar | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Syria | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Somalia | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Jordan | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Belarus | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Kuwait | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Eritrea | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Qatar | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Bahrain | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Djibouti | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Comoros | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Mayotte | 18 | 1:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Egypt | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
DR Congo | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
South Africa | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Sudan | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Mozambique | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Malawi | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Zambia | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Romania | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Zimbabwe | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Rwanda | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Burundi | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
South Sudan | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Greece | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Israel | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Libya | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Bulgaria | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Lebanon | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Finland | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Palestine | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Moldova | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Namibia | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Lithuania | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Botswana | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Lesotho | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Latvia | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Estonia | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Cyprus | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Eswatini | 19 | 12:00:00 PM Dec 31 |
Nigeria | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Germany | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
France | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Italy | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Spain | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Algeria | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Poland | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Morocco | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Angola | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Cameroon | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Niger | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Chad | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Netherlands | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Benin | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Tunisia | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Belgium | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Czech Republic | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Sweden | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Hungary | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Austria | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Switzerland | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Serbia | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Republic of the Congo | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Denmark | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Norway | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Slovakia | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Central African Republic | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Croatia | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Albania | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Gabon | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Slovenia | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Equatorial Guinea | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
North Macedonia | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Luxembourg | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Montenegro | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Western Sahara | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Malta | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Andorra | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Liechtenstein | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Gibraltar | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Monaco | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
San Marino | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Vatican City | 20 | 11:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
United Kingdom | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Ghana | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Ivory Coast | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Mali | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Burkina Faso | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Senegal | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Guinea | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Portugal | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Togo | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Sierra Leone | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Liberia | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Ireland | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Mauritania | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Gambia | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Guinea Bissau | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Iceland | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Jersey | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Isle of Man | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Guernsey | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Greenland | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Faroe Islands | 21 | 10:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Cape Verde | 22 | 9:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Brazil | 23 | 8:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Argentina | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Chile | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Uruguay | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Suriname | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
French Guiana | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Falkland Islands | 24 | 7:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Canada | 25 | 6:30:00 AM Dec 31 |
Venezuela | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Bolivia | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Dominican Republic | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Paraguay | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Puerto Rico | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Guyana | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Guadeloupe | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Martinique | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Barbados | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Curacao | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Saint Lucia | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Grenada | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Aruba | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
United States Virgin Islands | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Dominica | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Bermuda | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Sint Maarten | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
British Virgin Islands | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Saint Martin | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Anguilla | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Saint Barthelemy | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Montserrat | 26 | 6:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
United States | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Mexico | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Colombia | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Peru | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Ecuador | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Haiti | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Cuba | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Panama | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Jamaica | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Bahamas | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Cayman Islands | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 27 | 5:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Guatemala | 28 | 4:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Honduras | 28 | 4:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Nicaragua | 28 | 4:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
El Salvador | 28 | 4:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Costa Rica | 28 | 4:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Belize | 28 | 4:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
French Polynesia | 29 | 1:00:00 AM Dec 31 |
Cook Islands | 30 | 12:00:00 AM Dec 31 |