While Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and its iconic Opera House feature in all television reports of the arrival of the new year, the first place on earth which welcomes the new year is actually Kritimati in the Republic of Kribati. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it is not an easily accessible destination for tourists.
Kritimati is the local word for “Christmas” as “ti” is pronounced as “s.” So Kritimati is also known as Christmas Island. Which makes it very confusing as there is another island south of Indonesia which is an Australian administered territory and is known as Christmas Island.
The Australian Christmas Island has a population of about 2,000 people 10% of whom are Muslim. There is even a mosque on Christmas Island which was featured on a postage stamp issued by Australia.
After Kritimati the first New Year celebrations are held in Auckland, New Zealand followed by Sydney, Hong Kong, and then the grand event in Dubai followed by Paris and London and then moving across the Atlantic to New York’s Times Square and finally to California which celebrates the New Year at a time when many people around the world are already half way through January 1. Just north of Kritimati is Hawaii which actually is the last major populated place on earth to welcome the new year.
