Kiribati became the first country to enter January 1 after shifting its international date line in 1995.
Kiribati is a Pacific island nation whose territory stretches across a wide area of ocean. Before 1995, the International Date Line separated the country's eastern and western island groups, creating a calendar difference within one nation. Kiribati moved the line eastward around its territory so the islands would share the same date.
The change placed the Line Islands, including Kiritimati, on the side of the date line that reaches a new calendar day earliest. This is why Kiritimati is frequently described in travel coverage as one of the first inhabited places to welcome a new year.
The International Date Line is not a perfectly straight natural boundary; it bends to accommodate political and economic needs. Samoa later made its own major date change in 2011, but that event should not be confused with Kiribati's 1995 adjustment.