UTC+14 helps make Kiritimati, in Kiribati, one of the first inhabited places to enter a new year.
Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is part of Kiribati's Line Islands. The islands use Line Islands Time, which is 14 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. Because the International Date Line bends around national territory in this region, Kiribati's eastern islands reach a new calendar date before most other inhabited places.
Kiribati moved the date line in 1994 so that its far-flung islands would share the same calendar day. Before the change, the country was divided by the date line, creating practical problems for government, travel, and communication.
The phrase “first in the world” can be oversimplified. Exact ordering depends on which inhabited locations and territories are being compared, and islands may enter the new year at the same offset. Kiritimati is nevertheless a standard example of an early inhabited New Year location.