Due to time difference, New Year is not celebrated at the same time depending on the country. Some have already passed in 2025, while others still have to wait a few hours before the final count.
It takes more than 24 hours for the New Year to be celebrated everywhere on Earth. According to National Geographicthis is due to the international date line, decided in 1884. Located halfway around the Greenwich meridian, this line oscillates between north and south depending on the positioning chosen by each country. Added to this is the fact that countries determine their own times.
According to this method of calculation, the first countries to celebrate the New Year are the Kiribati Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. For a long time, these islands were in two different time zones, but they decided to unite under the same one in 1995. As indicated by BFMTV, the Samoa Islands, New Zealand and Australia have already passed the milestone of 2025 At 4 p.m. (French time), North Korea, South Korea and Japan were able to celebrate the New Year. An hour later, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China followed. Officially, China only has one time zone, although it could have five. In practice, Urumqi, located 3,000 km from Beijing, lives on two schedules at the same time.
The United States among the last
France will not be the last country to celebrate the New Year. After France, Brazil will set off its fireworks at 4 a.m. (French time), New York at 6 a.m. and Los Angeles at 9 a.m. The last countries to celebrate the transition to 2025 will be American Samoa and the island of Niue, located in the South Pacific. Baker Island and Howland Island, two uninhabited US territories, will be the last to see the end of 2024. And if Antarctica is technically aligned with all time zones, the research stations there will spend the New Year depending on their country of origin.
published on December 31 at 6:09 p.m., Floréane Marinier, 6Medias
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