The island country of Kiribati located in Micronesia in the central Pacific Ocean is the first nation to ring in the new year worldwide.
Specifically, its Kiritimati Atoll or Christmas Island enters 2025 before anyone else when its clock strikes midnight (6 p.m. Manila time).
Said to be one of the least-developed countries in the world, the former British colony and current Commonwealth of Nations member is ahead of everyone in its New Year’s celebrations. These usually take place in family homes, bars, hotels, as well as Christian and local maneaba (meeting houses) islandwide.
Kiribati locals feast on menus typically featuring roast pig, crayfish, and traditional foods like taro and banana. Coconuts also feature on their tables, with sap collected from coconut flowers serving as a common beverage consumed in tandem with water, tea, or alcohol.
A quarter after Kiribati, the Chatham Islands off the eastern coast of New Zealand are next to welcome 2025.
An hour later, most of New Zealand, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands, and some Antarctica regions are next in line.
In the next several hours, much of Oceania and parts of other continents take turns entering the new year. These include Fiji, a small portion of eastern Russia, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu among other Pacific islands, much of Australia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, parts of Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, a small part of Antarctica, and Guam.
An hour before the Philippines, mostly Asian countries celebrate the new year. Namely, these are Japan, South Korea, North Korea, a small part of Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Palau, a small part of Russia, and western Australia.
Finally, the Philippines enters 2025 six hours after Kiribati. The country celebrates the new year along with China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macao, Brunei, parts of Indonesia, most of Mongolia, Russia’s Irkutsk region, and more parts of Antarctica.
On the other hand, among the last places to kick off the 2025 New Year are
American Samoa, as well as Hawaii, Alaska, and the outlying islands of the U.S., which are among the territories that will be the last to participate in the New Year’s festivities.
