Which countries will be the first to celebrate the New Year and which will be the last? This article provides an overview on when 2023 will arrive in different times across the globe. Samoa and Kiribati Islands will be the first places to welcome the New Year, celebrating at 11am CET on December 31. The last places to ring in 2023 will be Baker Island and Howland Island, two tiny outlying islands of the US. Both islands will see the New Year at 1pm CET on January 1… But as they are uninhabited, we normally forget about them. Second to last will be American Samoa at 12pm.
Using CET time, this is when the world will welcome 2021:
1. December 31
- 11 AM – Samoa and Kiribati Islands
- 11:15 AM – New Zealand
- 2 PM – Most of Australia
- 4 PM – Japan, South Korea, and North Korea
- 5 PM – China, Philippines, and Singapore
- 6 PM – Thailand, Cambodia, and large parts of Indonesia
- 7 PM – Bangladesh
- 7:15 PM – Nepal
- 7:30 PM – India and Sri Lanka
- 8 PM – Pakistan
- 9 PM – Azerbaijan
- 9:30 PM – Iran
- 10 PM – Turkey, Iraq, Kenya and most of Russia
- 11 PM – Greece, Romania, South Africa, Hungary and other central and eastern European cities
2. January 1
- Midnight – Germany, France, Italy, Algeria, Belgium, Spain
- 1 AM – UK, Ireland, Ghana, Iceland, Portugal
- 3 AM – Regions of Brazil
- 4 AM – Argentina, regions of Brazil, Chile, Paraguay
- 5 AM – Some regions of Canada, Bolivia, Puerto Rico
- 6 AM – Eastern Standard Time in the US (New York, Washington, Detroit and Cuba)
- 7 AM – Central Standard Time in the US – Chicago
- 8 AM – Mountain Standard Time in the US – Colorado, Arizona
- 9 AM – Pacific Standard Time in the US – LA, Nevada
- 10 AM – Alaska
- 11 AM – Hawaii
- 12 PM – American Samoa
- 1 PM – Baker Island, Howland Island
