Kiribati is among the first countries to celebrate New Year’s Eve because its Line Islands use UTC+14.
Kiribati is an island country spread across the central Pacific Ocean. Its Line Islands, including Kiritimati, lie on the eastern side of the International Date Line and use the world’s most advanced civil time zone, UTC+14. As a result, their calendar reaches January 1 before most other inhabited places.
The country shifted the International Date Line around its territory in 1994 so that its islands would share the same calendar date. Before the change, parts of Kiribati could be nearly a day apart by date, making administration and communication difficult.
Kiritimati is often called Christmas Island, but it is not the Australian territory with the same English name. Kiribati’s position in the first time zone does not mean every island in the country celebrates simultaneously: its three island groups use different time zones.