What will be the first and last country to receive the New Year 2024?

While in Ecuador and other Latin American countries are preparing to… New Year With parties, toasts and family company, there are several regions of the world where it is already 2024, and others where it is still several hours to welcome the new year.

This is due to the different time zones that exist on the planet and that causes some countries to be the first to change the year. The first place to say goodbye to 2023 was the Island of Kiribatiin Oceania, with a time zone of UTC +12. Regarding Ecuador, which has UTC -5, the island of Kiribati is 17 hours ahead.

In Sydneythe Australian capital, the time zone is UTC +11 (16 hours more than in Ecuador), so 2024 has also already been celebrated. Other countries that have received the New Year are Japan And China.

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But which country will be the last country to welcome the New Year 2024?

It’s about the Howland and Baker Islandstwo American territories that are not annexed to North America, but are located in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

Howland Island is uninhabited, but its 2.6 kilometer long surface is home to a protected nature reserve for birds and marine fauna. The U.S. Coast Guard comes to Baker Island annually, but there are no official civilian presences in either of these two areas.

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The time zone of both islands is UTC -12, i.e. 7 hours less than in Ecuador and 24 hours less than on the island of Kiribati. Your time zone is also used for the acronym AoE (Anywhere on earth or anywhere on earth). It means that when a day or date ends in Howland and Baker Islands, it has officially ended worldwide.

For example, it is already noon in Kiribati on January 1, 2024, in Ecuador it is only 7 p.m. on December 31, 2023, and in Howland and Baker it is noon on December 31, 2023. (JO)