Although huge fireworks over Sydney Opera House is often the first sign of New Year celebrations reported in the UK, our antipodal friends aren’t the first to see in January 1
The year is almost at an end as countries across the globe are set to welcome in 2025 – but which is the first nation to celebrate New Year’s Day?
Here in the UK, the lunchtime news on New Year’s Eve shows colourful fireworks screeching high above Sydney Opera House as the eastern side of Australia – 11 hours ahead of us – brings in the next year. So you might be forgiven for thinking that people living Down Under are the first to enjoy a fresh January.
However, it’s not Australia or New Zealand that make it to a new day first, nor any islands associated with them. The world is most commonly split into 24 time zones (although some say there are as many as 38) and the first given zone is therefore the further in time ahead.
With this in mind, the tiny island of Kiritimati Island – also known as Christmas Island – is actually the first country to see in the New Year. The atoll in the Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Line Islands, which is part of the Kiribati Islands, and is a huge 14 hours ahead of the UK.
This means that by 10am GMT on December 31, while many people here might still be eating a late breakfast or an early brunch, the 7,380 people of Kiritimati will already by in 2025. In addition, there are 10 other mostly uninhabited atolls in the central Pacific Ocean that will celebrate around the same time. By 11am GMT, the Pacific islands of Tonga and Samoa, along with the much bigger New Zealand, will be celebrating the New Year.
Of course, if there’s a first country to bring in the celebrations then there must be a last country. This honour goes to the uninhabited US territories of Howland Island and Baker Island, both southwest of Hawaii. By the time the clock strikes 12pm GMT on January 1, it will only have just turned midnight on the same day in those territories.
If you’re planning to see in the New Year with a bang yourself, there are lots of things you can do to make sure your festive shindig is one to remember – even on a small budget. One financial expert recently shared a handful of tips here to save on costs so that you don’t end up waking up with less money than you planned for to add to your banging head.
