In less than 24 hours, the whole world will enter the first day of 2020. But, which country can enjoy this joy the earliest?
Samoa, Kiribati island nation and Christmas Island (Australia) will be the first 3 places to celebrate the new year globally. According to the time zone in Vietnam, this time will arrive at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31. Samoa is a country located to the west of the Samoan Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, the population is descended from the Polynesian people who migrated 3500 years ago.
The island nation of Kiribati is one of the three earliest places to welcome the New Year 2020.
The last place where the New Year god knocks on the door is the small remote island in the United States. Baker Island and Howland – two uninhabited islands of the US territory – will experience this momentous moment at 19:00 on January 1 (Vietnam time). Both of these locations are uninhabited atolls, but are still regularly visited by the navy to check on the situation, which are part of the National Wildlife Refuge.
The next place on the list of late New Year’s Eve is American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, to the southeast of Samoa, nearly 900 km from Tonga. This place welcomes the new year at 6pm on January 1 (Vietnam time).
For Asian countries, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Timor Leste will be the first 4 countries to enter 2020 at 10 pm on December 31 (Vietnam time). Some areas of Indonesia will pass New Year’s Eve at this exact moment. In addition, people living in part of Russia and the Atlantic island nation of Palau will also wish each other a New Year’s greeting at 10 pm on December 31.