New Year 2020: These are the first and the last countries to witness celebration

With New Year 2020 arriving at different time zones across the world here is a list of which nation will kick off the New Year first and last. While the fireworks display over the Sydney harbour generally symbolizes the beginning of the New Year but it may be surprising to know that Australia is not the first country in the world to celebrate New Year. In fact, the first country to celebrate New Year is the small Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati.

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New Zealand follows next in celebrating the New Year, followed by Australia, Japan, and South Korea, while the last place to celebrate New Year is Bakers Island which lies in central Pacific Ocean. According to the reports, here is the list of nations who will kick off New Year first and last. 

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Countries celebrating New Year (time in IST)

Tonga Samoa and Christmas Island/ Kiribati will ring in the New Year first at 3:30 pm IST
Chatham Island - 3:45 pm
New Zealand - 4:30 pm
Russia -  5:30 pm
Australia - 6:30 pm
Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek - 8 pm
Japan and South Korea - 8:30 pm
China and Phillipines - 9:30 pm
Indonesia and Thailand - 10:30 pm 
Nepal - 11:45 pm
India and Sri lanka -  12:00 am
Pakistan - 12:30 am
 Afghanistan - 1 am
United Kingdom - 5:30 am
US and Canada - 9:30 am to 1:30 pm
American Samoa - 5:50 pm
Baker Island lying on Pacific Ocean will ring in the New Year the last.

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Australia to ring in new year next

The New Year celebrations will now move to New Zealand and Australia and all the eyes will be on the iconic fireworks of Sydney, which was under threat due to catastrophic ongoing bushfires. An online petition was initiated six weeks ago demanding the cancellation of the fireworks and has been signed by more than 2,60,000 people. The city spokesperson appreciated the concerns of the public but added that preparations and planning for the New Year’s Eve started 15 months ago. 

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