Contrary to the U.S.-Centric idea that New Year’s starts when the ball drops in Times Square, other parts of the world have their own celebrations. So, get over yourself New York, Samoa is always the first to ring in the New Year. (American Samoa, just 101 miles away, has to wait a full day.)
You can thank time 39 different zones for that, which means it took 26 hours for the entire world to enter 2018. (You can watch Hong Kong‘s massive celebration below.)
If you’re REALLY adventurous (and if you happen to have a private plane), you can fly from Sydney to Honolulu and enjoy the celebrations twice in one day!
Here’s how the time zones celebrated, courtesy CNN:
Sunday, December 31, 2017
5 a.m. Samoa and Christmas Island/Kiribati
5:15 a.m. Chatham Islands/New Zealand
6 a.m. New Zealand with exceptions and five more locations/islands
7 a.m. Small region of Russia and six more locations
8 a.m. Much of Australia and eight more
8:30 a.m. Small region of Australia
9 a.m. Queensland/Australia and six more
9:30 a.m. Northern Territory/Australia
10 a.m. Japan, South Korea and four more
10:15 a.m. Western Australia/Australia
10:30 a.m. North Korea
11 a.m. China, Philippines and 10 more
Noon Much of Indonesia, Thailand and seven more
12:30 p.m. Myanmar and Cocos Islands
1 p.m. Bangladesh and six more
1:15 p.m. Nepal
1:30 p.m. India and Sri Lanka
2 p.m. Pakistan and eight more
2:30 p.m. Afghanistan
3 p.m. Azerbaijan and eight more
3:30 p.m. Iran
4 p.m. Moscow/Russia and 22 more
5 p.m. Greece and 31 more
6 p.m. Germany and 43 more
7 p.m. United Kingdom and 26 more
8 p.m. Cabo Verde and two more
9 p.m. Regions of Brazil and South Georgia/Sandwich Is.
10 p.m. Argentina, regions of Brazil and nine more
10:30 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador/Canada
11 p.m. Some regions of Canada and 29 more
10 cities that always throw a great New Year’s Eve show
Monday, January 1, 2018
Midnight US (East Coast), regions of Canada, Colombia and 11 more
1 a.m. US (Central), Mexico and eight more
2 a.m. US (Mountain) and two more
3 a.m. US (Pacific) and four more
4 a.m. US (Alaska) and regions of French Polynesia
4:30 a.m. Marquesas Islands/French Polynesia
5 a.m. US (Hawaii) and two more
6 a.m. American Samoa and two more
7 a.m. Much of US Minor Outlying Islands
(via CNN)
