Caroline Island was renamed Millennium Island after it became one of the first places to enter the year 2000.
The island is part of Kiribati, a Pacific island country whose territory stretches across a wide area of the International Date Line. Its name was changed in 1999 in anticipation of the global attention surrounding the new millennium.
Millennium Island is uninhabited and lies in the central Pacific. Its position near the date line meant that it was among the earliest locations on Earth to experience January 1, 2000, although the exact order of places entering a new date depends on time-zone boundaries and the distinction between inhabited and uninhabited land.
The renaming was a publicity and tourism measure rather than evidence that the island had become newly populated. The island is also known by its original name, Caroline Island, and should not be confused with Kiritimati, another Kiribati island famous for being among the first inhabited places to celebrate a new day.