Which Country Celebrates New Year 2026 First and Last? Why a 26-Hour Gap Exists
Which country celebrates New Year 2026 first? Kiribati’s Kiritimati Island leads the world, while American Samoa is the last inhabited place to celebrate. Discover why the global New Year’s countdown spans 26 hours due to the International Date Line "zig-zag" and how you can actually celebrate midnight twice in one day!
Mumbai, December 26: As the world prepares for another turn of the calendar, the geographical realities of the International Date Line mean that the celebration of New Year 2026 will span a total of 26 hours. While many major global capitals will wait hours to join the festivities, a handful of Pacific island nations will lead the world into the new year, while others - some just a short flight away - will be the very last to say goodbye to 2025.
Which country will celebrate the New Year 2026 first? The honour of being the first country to welcome 2026 belongs to the Republic of Kiribati, specifically the Kiritimati atoll (also known as Christmas Island). Located in the Line Islands, Kiritimati operates in the world’s farthest-forward time zone, UTC+14.
When the clock strikes midnight in Kiritimati, it will be only 5 am EST on December 31 in New York and 10 am GMT in London. Residents here will have already begun their first day of 2026 while most of the Western world is just beginning its final morning of 2025. How To Say 'Happy New Year 2026' and ‘Holiday Greetings’ in Different Languages? Global New Year Wishes & Etiquette Guide.
Following closely behind Kiribati:
- Chatham Islands, New Zealand: 15 minutes later (UTC+13:45).
- New Zealand, Tonga, and Samoa: One hour after Kiribati (UTC+13).
The "Time Travel" of Samoa
Notably, the nation of Samoa is now among the first to celebrate, a major shift from its history. In late 2011, Samoa moved across the International Date Line to align its time zone with major trading partners Australia and New Zealand. This decision effectively "skipped" a day in the country but secured its spot at the front of the global New Year’s line.
Ironically, this creates a unique opportunity for travelers. A one-hour flight from Samoa to its neighbor, American Samoa, allows visitors to celebrate New Year's twice, as American Samoa remains on the other side of the date line.
The Last To Bid Farewell to 2025
The global celebration concludes in the central Pacific. The last inhabited place to welcome New Year 2026 will be American Samoa and Niue, which celebrate 25 hours after Kiritimati.
However, the absolute final locations to enter the new year are the uninhabited US territories of Baker Island and Howland Island. These small patches of land sit in the UTC-12 time zone. By the time 2026 arrives there, it will already be 7 am EST on January 1 in New York, and the first celebrants in Kiribati will be finishing their first full day of the new year.
Why the Gap Exists
The staggered start to the year is a result of the 38 different local time zones currently in use. Although the world is divided into 24 theoretical hourly slices, various countries have adopted half-hour or 45-minute offsets, and some have shifted their position relative to the International Date Line for economic and political reasons.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2025 11:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).