Kiribati is famous for celebrating New Year’s first because its Line Islands use UTC+14.
Kiribati is an island country in the central Pacific Ocean made up of the Gilbert, Phoenix, and Line island groups. Its Line Islands, including Kiritimati, observe the world’s most advanced standard time zone, UTC+14. As a result, midnight arrives there before it arrives in most other inhabited places.
The time-zone position is connected to the International Date Line. In 1995, Kiribati moved the date line around its eastern islands so that the country’s territory would share the same calendar date. The adjustment removed a situation in which parts of Kiribati were nearly a day apart by date, despite belonging to one nation.
People often simplify this fact by saying the entire country is always the first place on Earth to celebrate. The precise claim depends on the inhabited location and the time-zone comparison being used. Kiritimati is the best-known Kiribati location in New Year coverage, while nearby Pacific nations celebrate soon afterward.