Kiribati is among the first countries to enter a new calendar year because its Line Islands use UTC+14. The country spans a wide area of the Pacific Ocean, so its islands do not all share the same local time. Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, is the best-known inhabited place associated with the earliest date on the civil calendar.
Kiribati moved the International Date Line eastward around its territory in the 1990s. The change was intended to place the country's scattered islands on the same side of the date line, making administration and communication easier. As a result, the Line Islands became among the first inhabited locations to experience each new day.
Being first by the clock does not mean every part of Kiribati celebrates at exactly the same moment. The Gilbert, Phoenix, and Line island groups use different time zones. The time-zone fact also changes in practical importance when other countries alter daylight-saving rules, though Kiribati's UTC+14 zone remains a famous New Year's reference point.