Year 2024: Which countries ring in New Year first and last

Kirimati island nation leads the world by ushering the New Year celebrations. It is the first country to welcome Year 2024 at 10 am Greenwich Mean Time. American Samoa, having a population of about 45,000, is the last country to celebrate New Year.

Hyderabad : As the whole world is preparing to welcome 2024, a lot of curiosity generates about the events and things associated with the New Year celebrations. The question is which country gets the chance to roll in the New Year and begin the worldwide revelry. Which country ends up last in the list to bid goodbye to Year 2023?

Kirimati is the first country to welcome New Year at 10 am Greenwich Mean Time (3.30 pm India Standard Time). The Republic of Kiribati, a bunch of islands in the Pacific Ocean having a population of over 1.2 lakh, leads the rest of the world by ushering in the New Year celebrations. Kirimati is earlier known as Christmas Island and its easternmost islands are located in the most advanced time zone on Earth. These islands straddle the equator and the International Date Line goes around these islands.

The last country to celebrate New Year is American Samoa, which lies over 2,600 kms northeast of New Zealand and 3,500 kms southwest of Hawaii. The capital city of American Samoa is Pago Pago and the country has got a population of about 45,000.

People cutting across national, regional and cultural identities are all set to take a plunge into the New Year Eve celebrations on the last day of the outgoing Year 2023. Major cities in the world are getting decked up for the big events being held at the intervening midnight of December 31, 2023, and January 1, 2024.

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