Every year, while much of the world is still counting down the final hours of December 31, the residents of Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Republic of Kiribati have already welcomed the New Year.
Kiritimati holds the distinction of being the first inhabited place on Earth to experience January 1, owing to its location in the UTC+14 time zone, the earliest official time zone in the world.
This unique positioning dates back to 1995, when the government of Kiribati made a strategic decision to realign the International Date Line. The move ensured that all of Kiribati’s islands would share the same calendar day, placing Kiritimati ahead of the rest of the world in terms of time.
As a result, the island greets the New Year hours before countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Samoa. Local celebrations on Kiritimati typically include community gatherings, music, traditional feasts, and cultural festivities, marking the occasion well before midnight strikes elsewhere.
While several Pacific nations are known for early New Year celebrations, Kiritimati consistently remains the very first inhabited location to usher in the New Year, making it a fascinating geographical and cultural milestone in the global calendar.
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