Which country celebrates New Year first?

Most Brits look to Australia as the first country to see in the New Year but this is not the case.

Kiritimati Island - also known as Christmas Island - and a string of 10 other mostly uninhabited islands in the central Pacific Ocean will be the first to ring in 2023.

Despite lying directly south of Hawaii, Kiritimati Island will celebrate the New Year nearly a full day earlier.
Oceania is the place in the world which marks the New Year celebration first. Tonga, Kiribati and Samoa- tiny Pacific island nations- are the first to ring in a new Calendar year as here, January 1 starts at 10 am GMT or 3:30 pm as per Indian Standard Timing on December 31.

They see in the New Year while Brits are still sipping their morning coffee at 10am GMT on December 31.



Where will the New Year arrive last?

As the chain reaction of time zones celebrating causes somewhat of a ripple effect across the Earth, there always has to be someone who has to wait the longest.

The last place to ring in 2023 will be Baker Island and Howland Island, who will see the New Year at 12pm GMT on January 1.

Albeit uninhabited islands, there may not be many party poppers or champagne corks seeing the New Year in, but the day technically ends an hour later in the US territories.