New Year is celebrated all over the world through various traditions because the change of day at this moment is special. However, it is unique, the turn of the year in each country is not carried out simultaneously based on differences in global time zones because of the round Earth's rotation.
In 1884, a conference was held to introduce the idea of an international date line. The peculiarities of the international date line determine the official starting and ending points for each day in all parts of the world.
The international date line roughly follows the 180th meridian from north to south through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that is, it is located halfway across the world from the prime meridian, which runs through Greenwich, England.
Based on the peculiarities of the international date line, here are the first and last countries to celebrate the New Year, as quoted by National Geographic, Monday (2/1/2022).
The first country to welcome the New Year
The first landmasses to welcome the New Year are Kiritimati Island and a string of 10 other, mostly uninhabited atolls (islands) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
One of the 33 islands that make up the Republic of Kiribati, Kiritimati is located almost directly south of Hawaii on the same meridian. Because of this location, Kiritimati (and the 10 nearby atolls) experiences New Years one day earlier than the other islands.
Historically, the international date line has crossed Kiribati, causing the day to vary depending on whether we are in the western or easternmost part of the country.
But in 1995, Kiribati moved their date line, so that the entire island experiences the same day change and this has become a tourist attraction for tourists who want to be the first to greet the New Year.
The last country to welcome the New Year
The last place to welcome the New Year is the island of Niue and American Samoa southwest of Kiribati in the South Pacific.
Nearby, Samoa (as opposed to American Samoa), was once one of the last countries to greet the New Year. Then in 2011, the country decided to change the time zone to align with their trading partners, namely Australia and New Zealand.
Because of this change, Samoa jumped over the international date line so that it is now one of the countries that welcomes the New Year earlier.