Kiritimati is often among the first inhabited places to enter a new calendar year.
Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, is part of Kiribati's Line Islands. The islands use UTC+14, the world's most advanced civil time zone, so midnight arrives there before it does in locations farther west.
The timing results from the International Date Line and each country's chosen time-zone boundaries, not from the island being physically closer to the Sun. Kiribati moved the date line around its eastern islands in 1995 so the country could share the same calendar date across its territory.
Kiritimati is not the only place whose residents celebrate early, and “first” can depend on whether a list counts inhabited locations, territories, or particular settlements. The stable geographic fact is its UTC+14 civil time and its position in the Line Islands.