New Year Celebration Timings: Know Which Country Celebrates First And Who’s Last

The first countries in the world to celebrate a New Year are the Pacific islands of Tonga, Samoa and Christmas /Kiribati, where January 1 commences at 10 am Greenwich Mean Time.

A new year celebration in Time Square, New York City, Usa.

New Year Celebration Timing: It’s time to bid adieu to the Covid year 2020, and welcome the first year of a new decade. We will be entering 2021 amid pandemic along with the growing fear of the mutant virus being detected in some countries. However, it’s also the year full of hope and determination to break free from the virus. Although the New Year celebrations will remain muted but cities across the world including the Australian city of Sydney, known for its iconic New Year celebrations, too, has asked its people to stay at home this year and ring in 2021. Sydney,  known for its grand fireworks, has always been thought as the first city in the world, and Australia as the first country, to welcome a New Year. However, it is not true. The first countries in the world to celebrate a New Year are the Pacific islands of Tonga, Samoa and Christmas /Kiribati, where January 1 commences at 10 am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or 3:30 pm as per the Indian Standard Time (IST), on December 31. It is interesting to note that the last place to welcome the New Year are the uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands, near the United States. It rings in the New Year at 12 pm GMT or 5:30 pm IST, on January 1. American Samoa is the second last to celebrate the New Year, at 11 am GMT or 4:30 pm IST, on January 1. Timings of New Year in countries around the world December 31 (as per GMT):

• New Zealand: 10:15 am
• Australia (most regions): 1 pm
• Japan, South Korea and North Korea: 3 pm
• China, Philippines and Singapore: 4 pm
• Bangladesh: 6 pm, Nepal: 6:15 pm, India and Sri Lanka: 6:30 pm, Pakistan: 7 pm
• Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Spain: 11 pm
• UK, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal: 12 am

January 1:

• Brazil (some regions): 2 am
• Argentina, Brazil (some regions), Chile and Paraguay: 3 am
• New York, Washington, Detroit: 5 am
• Chicago: 6 am, Colorado and Arizona: 7 am, Nevada: 8 am
• Alaska: 9 am, Hawaii: 10 am
• American Samoa: 11 am
• Howland and Baker Islands: 12 pm