New Year’s Eve countdown: Which country celebrates New Year last?
Many countries are already celebrating the start of a new year. But while many of us have to wait a while until 2020 arrives, Express.co.uk takes a look at the order New Year is celebrated around the world.
Which country celebrated New Year first?
Samoa was the first country to ring in the New Year.
The islands situated in the South Pacific celebrated the dawn of a new decade, 14 hours ahead of the UK.
At 10.15am GMT, Chatham Islands, New Zealand, followed shortly afterwards.
With some exceptions, New Zealand celebrated the new year at 11am GMT.
READ MORE: New Year’s Eve 2019: Why 2020 is NOT the start of new decade tonight
New Year’s Eve countdown: Which country celebrates New Year last? (Image: GETTY)
New Year’s Eve countdown: Australia welcomed the New Year with fireworks over Sydney Harbour (Image: AAP/PA Images)
Which other countries have already celebrated 2020?
Many countries have now officially entered the new decade.
The countries include Australia, Japan, South Korea and China.
At 5pm GMT, much of Indonesia and Thailand celebrated midnight.
They will be followed by Myanmar and Cocos Islands at 5.30pm GMT.
New Year’s Eve countdown: People celebrating in Metro Manila, Philippines (Image: REUTERS)
Hong Kong officially entered 2020 at 4pm GMT, however, celebrations this year were muted as pro-democracy protests took to the streets.
More than 1,000 people formed human chains in various districts to protest against the government, with police deployed to deal with crowds.
Protestors are urging people not to give up on the fight for democracy in 2020.
One attendee of a rally told Reuters: “Liberate HK, Revolution of our time is my New Year wish.”
DON’T MISS:
Daily horoscope for December 31: YOUR zodiac and astrology forecast [ANALYSIS]
New Year’s: Drink driving penalty offences are highest tomorrow [INSIGHT]
New Year’s Eve fireworks live stream: How to watch London display LIVE [LIVE]
Which country celebrates New Year last?
The last places to celebrate the New Year are Baker Island and Howland Island, which will see the New Year at 12pm GMT on January 1.
However these islands are uninhabited, so this does not impact any residents.
Second to last will be American Samoa at 11am GMT – located just 558 miles from Tonga, where locals and visitors were ringing in the new year a full 25 hours before.
New Year’s Eve countdown: Brisbane in Australia also lit up the skies at midnight (Image: AAP/PA Images)
In general, the USA celebrates the New Year later than other regions.
The USA is divided into many different time zones.
As a result, between 5am and 12am GMT on Wednesday, January 1, we will see different US territories entering the New Year.
Other areas which celebrate the new year much later than others include American Samoa at 11am GMT on Wednesday, and Marquesas Islands/French Polynesia at 9.30am GMT, Wednesday.
You may be interested
You can easily disassemble this repairable smartwatch using just a Phillips screwdriver
admin - Nov 22, 2024[ad_1] The Spectra is a new smartwatch designed from the ground up to be hackable and easy to repair. It…
Ed Sheeran 'helped Ipswich sign player' before appearing with Taylor Swift
admin - Nov 22, 2024[ad_1] Ed Sheeran helped Ipswich Town to sign a player over the summer just before getting on stage with Taylor…
Strava closes the gates to sharing fitness data with other apps
admin - Nov 20, 2024[ad_1] We wanted to provide some additional context around the changes to our API Agreement and the impact for our…
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Featured Post
