Happy New Year 2023: Know which country will celebrate occasion first

The New Year that all of us celebrate at midnight of December 31, is dependent on something called the International Date Line.

The International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary line that extends from the North Pole to the South Pole through the center of the Pacific Ocean. This line is not straight. It was made to cross through the ocean so that different countries do not have to go through multiple date zones within the space of a few kilometers.

As explained by LiveScience, when you cross the International Date Line, depending on which direction you are going in, you either gain or lose a day.


When moving westward, you will gain a day and while travelling eastward, you will lose a day.
The International Date Line operates on a rational, practical system of universal timekeeping that is based on the movement of Earth around the sun.



Now that we have a basic understanding of IDL, let us find out the first country that will celebrate the New Year.

Kiritimati, which is part of the Kiribati Islands, is the first city that will be welcoming 2023 before anyone else.

Kiribati is a Pacific Ocean Island country with around 811 square kilometers (313 square miles) of land spread across 33 atolls and coral islands. The land surface of Kiribati consists primarily of multiple points of underwater volcanoes that protrude for an average elevation of three meters and are barely a few feet above the ocean in certain locations.

FAQs:

1. Which country will celebrate New Year first?
   Kiribati
2. Geographically what are the last places to enter the new year?
   Howland and Baker Islands, which are territories of the United States, will be the last places on Earth to celebrate the New Year (5.30 pm Sunday IST).