New Year 2022: Which country celebrates New Year first and last? All you need to know

As we inch closer to say goodbye to 2021 and welcome 2022 with fresh hope and light, there is something that you ought to know.

Although New Year celebrations across the world start before midnight, not everyone celebrates the day at the same time. 

There are some parts of the world that celebrate the New year at first, and there are countries that celebrate the new year at last.

Which country celebrates the New Year first?

• Fireworks exploding over Australia, America, and the rest of the countries usually symbolise the start of global New Year festivities, but they are not the first countries to start the New Year celebration. People living in Oceania are the first to celebrate the New Year. Every year, the Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati are the first countries where the New Year celebration starts at first, as January 1 begins at 10 am GMT (or 3:30 IST) on December 31.

Which country celebrates New Year at last?

• People living on the tiny islands of Howland and Baker Island, near the United States, are the last to celebrate the New Year. The celebration begins at 12 pm GMT (or 5:30 pm IST) on January 1. Whereas, the second last country to welcome the New Year is American Samoa which is just 558 miles away from Tonga.

What time does the New Year arrive around the world?

• Samoa and Christmas Island/Kiribati- 10 am
• New Zealand- 10:15 am
• Most of Australia - 1 pm
• Japan, South Korea, and North Korea - 3 pm
• China, Philippines, Singapore- 4 pm
• Thailand, Cambodia, and large parts of Indonesia- 5:00 pm
• Bangladesh - 6 pm
• Nepal - 6:15 pm
• India and Sri Lanka- 6:00 pm
• Pakistan- 7 pm
• Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain- 11 pm
• UK, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal- 12 am

January 1 (as per GMT)

• 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 Island - 12 pm

Image: Unsplash, Representative