Kiribati was the first country to enter 2000 during the Millennium celebrations.
The Pacific island nation reached the new millennium first because its Line Islands, including Kiritimati, use UTC+14, the world's furthest-forward standard time zone. When midnight arrived there, much of the rest of the world was still on December 31, 1999. International broadcasters highlighted the moment as the first sunrise and first midnight of the year 2000.
Kiribati's position at the front of the calendar is connected to the International Date Line. In 1994, the country moved the date line around its eastern islands so that its territory would share the same calendar day. The change helped coordinate national administration and communications across widely separated islands.
“First country” refers to the country to experience midnight, not necessarily the first location on Earth in every geographic sense. Time-zone rules and the date-line arrangement are what make the claim precise. Neighboring Pacific countries also entered 2000 soon afterward.