Kiribati is among the first countries to enter the new year because it includes Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island.
Kiritimati lies in Kiribati's Line Islands, which use UTC+14, the world's furthest-forward civil time zone. As a result, midnight arrives there before it reaches most other inhabited places. The island's name comes from the local pronunciation of “Christmas,” reflecting its European naming history rather than a special New Year's designation.
Kiribati is an island republic spread across the central Pacific. Its territory includes the Gilbert, Phoenix, and Line island groups, which extend across a large area of ocean. Because the islands are widely separated, the country uses more than one time zone.
People sometimes describe Kiribati as the first country to celebrate New Year's Eve, but the more precise claim concerns the Line Islands and their UTC+14 time. Time-zone boundaries are set by governments and can change; they are not determined solely by longitude. Kiritimati's position makes it a frequent subject of international New Year coverage.