Kiritimati is widely associated with being among the first inhabited places to welcome each New Year because it uses UTC+14.
Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is part of the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean. Its official time is Line Islands Time, UTC+14, the world’s most advanced civil time zone. That position means midnight arrives there before it reaches locations farther west, although the exact order of celebrations depends on the date-line arrangement and which locations are inhabited.
Kiribati moved the International Date Line around its eastern islands in 1995 so the country could share the same calendar date across its territory. The change placed the Line Islands on the side of the date line that experiences a new day earliest.
Kiritimati should not be confused with Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, an Australian territory. Their names look similar, but they are geographically and politically distinct places.