Kiribati is among the first inhabited countries to celebrate New Year’s Day because its Line Islands use UTC+14.
Kiribati is an island country spread across a large area of the central Pacific Ocean. Its Line Islands, including Kiritimati, lie on the far eastern side of the international date-line system and observe the world’s most advanced standard time zone, UTC+14. As a result, midnight arrives there before it does in most other inhabited places.
The situation changed in 1995, when Kiribati moved the International Date Line around its eastern islands so that the country would share one calendar day. Before that adjustment, different parts of Kiribati could be on different sides of the date line.
Kiritimati is often called Christmas Island, but it is not the same place as Australia’s Christmas Island. “First country to celebrate” can be imprecise because countries span time zones; the clearest statement is that Kiribati’s Line Islands are among the first inhabited locations to reach the new year.