New Year's Eve 2026, Here's the Order of the First to Last Countries to Celebrate It

JAKARTA - New Year's Eve is always synonymous with celebrations, countdown, and fireworks parties that are carried out simultaneously in various parts of the world. However, the moment of the new year does not occur at the same time in every country.

The difference in time zones makes some areas welcome the new year first, while other areas are still at the end of the previous year.

The time difference will also be seen in the celebration of welcoming the new year 2026. A number of regions and countries will enter the new year earlier or later than the Indonesian region, depending on the time zone used.

Based on data from the Timeanddate weather and time information site, the first region in the world to welcome the new year 2026 is Kiritimati or Christmas Island which is located in the Republic of Kiribati.

Kiritimati is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean that is in the Line Islands Time (LINT) time zone. This time zone is recorded seven hours faster than Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

With this difference, people on Kiritimati Island will enter 2026 on Wednesday at 17.00 WIB.

After Kiritimati, the next area to welcome the new year is the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. This area entered the new year at 00.00 local time or Chatham Island Daylight Time (CHADT), which is equivalent to 17.15 WIB.

Other major cities in New Zealand, such as Wellington and Auckland, will celebrate the new year at 18.00 WIB.

Meanwhile, most of Australia will enter the new year of 2026 in the time range between 20.00 to 20.30 WIB.

In the East Asian region, countries such as Japan, South Korea, and North Korea will welcome the new year at 22.00 WIB. This time is the same as the regions in Indonesia that use the Eastern Indonesia Time (WIT) zone.

As for Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, they will enter 2026 in conjunction with areas in Indonesia that are in the Central Indonesian Time (WITA) zone, such as Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara.

Countries that are in the same time zone as Western Indonesia Time (WIB) include Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. In Indonesia itself, the WIB zone includes the islands of Sumatra, Java, and West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

After Indonesia, it is the turn of countries in the European and American regions to follow into the new year. The time difference between Indonesia and Europe ranges from six to seven hours, while the American region has a time difference of up to about 12 hours later than Indonesia.

The last region in the world to welcome the new year 2026 is Baker Island and Howland Island. Both islands in the Pacific Ocean and are part of the United States will enter 2026 on Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 19.00 WIB.