Breaking news: Earth is round—and fast. Our blue marble zooms through space, orbiting the sun at 67,000 miles per hour while rotating on its axis at a surface speed of 1,000 miles per hour. What does this have to do with New Year’s Eve? Well, because of the Earth’s rotation different countries celebrate New Year’s Eve at different times during the last and first day of the year.
The small Pacific island nations of Samoa and Kiribati/Christmas Island are the first to see the New Year on Dec 31. As Samoans are counting down to midnight, most New Yorkers are still asleep at 5 a.m. EST. The last (inhabited) country to ring in the New Year is American Samoa, on Jan 1 at 6 a.m. EST.
The rest of the world celebrates New Year’s Eve somewhere in between these times. Following is a list showing the time on the U.S. east coast when it’s midnight in each of the countries listed (the list includes some countries, not all). Keep in mind that there’s more than one time zone in some of the countries, so different cities enter the New Year at different times.
Dec 31
5:00 a.m. – Samoa and Christmas Island/Kiribati Kiritimati
5:15 a.m. – Chatham Islands/New Zealand
6:00 a.m. – New Zealand
7:00 a.m. – Small region of Russia
8:00 a.m. – Much of Australia
8:30 a.m. – Small region of Australia
9:00 a.m. – Queensland/Australia
9:30 a.m. – Northern territory Australia
10:00 a.m. – Japan, South Korea
10:15 a.m. – Western Australia
11:00 a.m. – China, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore
12:00 noon – Most of Indonesia, Thailand
12:30 p.m. – Myanmar and Cocos Islands
1:00 p.m. – Bangladesh
1:15 p.m. – Nepal
1:30 p.m. – India and Sri Lanka
2:00 p.m. – Pakistan
2:30 p.m. – Afghanistan
3:00 p.m. – Azerbaijan
3:30 p.m. – Iran
4:00 p.m. – Russia, Iraq, Nairobi
5:00 p.m. – Greece, Egypt, Romania, South Africa
6:00 p.m. – Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Algeria
7:00 p.m. – United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal
8:00 p.m. – Cabo Verde
9:00 p.m. – Brazil and South Georgia (island)
10:00 p.m. – Most of Brazil, Argentina, Chile
10:30 p.m. – Newfoundland, Canada
11:00 p.m. – Some regions of Canada, Venezuela, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
Jan 1
12:00 midnight – U.S. East Time Zone, regions of Canada
1:00 a.m. – U.S. Central Time, regions of Canada, Mexico, Guatemala
2:00 a.m. – U.S. Mountain Time, regions of Canada
3:00 a.m. – U.S. Pacific Time, regions of Canada
4:00 a.m. – Alaska in the U.S., regions of French Polynesia
4:30 a.m. – Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia
5:00 a.m. – Hawaii, Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, Adak Island in Alaska
6:00 a.m. – American Samoa
7:00 a.m. – Much of U.S. Minor Outlying, including Baker Island, Howland Island
Sources: TimeAndDate.com, WorldTimeZone.com
New Year’s Eve in Samoa – First
Ironically, Samoa used to be one of the last places on Earth to welcome the New Year. But on Dec 29, 2011, the country moved the International Date Line eastward to improve trade ties with Australia and New Zealand. With that move, Samoa lost an entire day, Dec 30, but became the first country in the world to see the New Year.
New Years in Samoa focuses on spending time with family and friends. The holiday extends over several days when Samoans decorate their homes with flowers and colored papers and give each other inexpensive gifts. The New Year festivities wouldn’t be complete without a Fiafia Night, which involves a traditional buffet and entertainment featuring singing, dancing and an amazing fire knife dance known as Siva Afi.
Samoa is located approximately halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii and has a population of 180,000 people. Travelers often take a short, half-hour flight to American Samoa to celebrate New Year’s Eve a second time.
New Year’s Eve in American Samoa – Last
After Samoa jumped to the other side of the International Date line, American Samoa became the last inhabited place in the world to celebrate the New Year. When American Samoa is counting down to midnight, American revelers in the east coast are still passed out and a few hours away from nursing their hangovers.
American Samoa is a group of volcanic islands and the only inhabited U.S. territory south of the equator. It’s a tropical paradise—about 90 percent of the islands covered with tropical rainforest. The capital city of Pago Pago on the main island of Tutuila is the urban center of the entire territory, with a bustling harbor (one of the best in the South Pacific) and an ancient way of life that its 4,000 residents still practice today.