30.12.2001 19:34 | M. E. Prokhorov/GAISH, Moscow
Every time the next New Year approached, I began to be interested in the question: “Where will he come first? Where will his journey around the Earth begin?”
In the last two years, this question interested not only me, but, of course, could not compete in popularity with the “question of the century”: “When will the new millennium begin - January 1, 2000 or 2001?”
This question actually contains several different questions. Some of them are related to physical phenomena, for example, when a given place on Earth ends average solar day December 31, 2001 or where will the Sun rise first on January 1, 2002?
In order to answer the first question, you need to find the easternmost point on Earth lying west of the date line. This is Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka (if you do not take into account the small islands lying slightly to the east). There it will happen two minutes earlier than on the Tonga Islands, and ten minutes earlier than on New Zealand's Chatham Islands. To determine the point of the earliest sunrise, it is necessary to take into account the latitude and longitude of the point, its altitude above sea level, time of year (winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere), etc. For example, on January 1, 2000, the earliest sunrise according to the Greenwich Observatory occurred on the island of Katchal, which is part of the protected Nicobar Islands group in the Bay of Bengal. Because of this, no one was able to celebrate the New Year there, and the very first meeting took place on the top of a mountain on Pitt Island, part of the Chatham Islands group subordinate to New Zealand.
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Another question is purely formal - where will January 1, 2002 come first according to the officially accepted time counting. Before discussing further, it’s worth looking at a number of pictures. The most convenient of them is a map time zones in cylindrical projection. The map was taken from the Educational Atlas of the World about 20 years ago (in fact, not too many changes have occurred on it during this time, you can read about the most important ones below). It shows that the Earth is divided into strips approximately 15° wide in longitude, in each of which a single time is set. Most often, time zone boundaries follow the borders of countries or their parts.
A very important detail on this map is. It passes along approximately 180° latitude, but experiences very interesting and important deviations for the issue we are considering. In the north, this line first deviates far to the east to go around Chukotka, and then to the west, going around the ridge of the Aleutian islands stretching from Alaska. Then the line goes exactly along the 180th longitude, deviating to the east just past New Zealand.
I always thought. that the New Year comes first to Chukotka, since it is located in the 12th time zone, and since in Russia it has been customary since the beginning of the 20th century maternity time(shifted 1 hour forward), then this is where the first phenomenon of the New Year occurs.
But everything turned out to be not so simple.
Published 12/31/17 16:31The President's 2018 New Year's address has already been published online. Putin's speech was shown in the country's easternmost time zone, where it was already New Year.
President Vladimir Putin delivered a traditional New Year's address to the country's residents. It has already been seen by residents of the easternmost time zone of Russia, where 2018 has already arrived. The video is also available online.
Addressing the residents of the country, the head of state noted that the New Year is family celebration, which is celebrated with gifts, surprises and expectations of change.
“This holiday comes to us every year, but we still perceive it as intkbbach new, kind, welcome. We believe that everything we dreamed of in these minutes, all our hopes will come true,” the president began his address to the Russians.
According to the Russian leader, changes will definitely happen if you remember and take care of your parents, understand children more and “support those around you who need our participation and spiritual generosity.”
Putin sent special congratulations to those who are currently at work or in the service, “performing military or professional duty, on duty in hospitals, piloting planes and trains.”
“We are together on this wonderful New Year’s Eve,” the president assured.
In his address, Putin did not mention anything at all about 2017.
“The time has come to say the most cherished words to each other, forgive mistakes, insults, hug, confess love, warm with care and attention. May the new year bring changes for the better in the life of every person, every family, so that everyone is healthy, so that children are born and so that they make us happy,” he said.
“Peace and prosperity to our great Russia, our beloved and only one. Be happy,” the president concluded his address.
New Year's address by President Putin 2018. Watch VIDEO
Howland Island
Baker Island
Problems with freshwater sources drinking water here are the same as Howland's. Residents of the settlements had to collect rainwater.
On this moment getting to Baker Island is not so easy; for this you need to obtain a special permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Dividing the world into time zones has its own quirks. So, for example, when in other places the calendar is already January 2, on two Pacific islands the New Year is just beginning. These are the uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands. Due to the fact that they are in the UTC-12 time zone, the New Year starts later than everyone else.
But the first to celebrate New Year's Eve are the residents of Kiribati, Christmas and Line islands. Their time zone is UTC+14, so when the time on Howland and Baker reads 11 o'clock and the calendar reads December 31st, the clock on Christmas Island will strike the hour after midnight on January 2nd.
Despite the fact that there are no people on Howland and Baker and only the United States Coast Guard can visit them, we can tell a lot of interesting things about these islands. To begin with, it is worth noting that they belong to and are part of the rescue program wildlife.
Howland Island
Howland Island has a very interesting story. This piece of land in the middle of the ocean was discovered in 1822 by George Bradley Worth, who was the captain of the whaling ship Oeno. At that time, the captain named the island after himself, but 6 years later it was discovered again by another captain, Daniel Mackenzie, who gave the island the name of the owner of the ship, Minevra. Well, the third captain who discovered this land was Geo Emery Netcher. This happened in 1842, then the island received the name Howland - that was the name of the sailor who noticed unfamiliar shores.
The first documented settlement was formed on the island in 1857. At that time it was very valuable because of the ability to mine guano. After all, as the law said, if an island is not under the jurisdiction of anyone other than the island, has no owners or local population, but has guano deposits on it, then any American can own all the land. But in 1886, the British who arrived on the island declared that the right to the territory belonged to them. Then British settlers appeared on Howland and mined guano for 5 years.
The dispute over the land was finally resolved only in 1936 after the colonization of the island by America. With the dawn of long-range aviation, Howland was a Pacific strategic base. Therefore, in 1937 they began to build a runway here. It was intended for the now famous aviator Amelia Earhart, who wanted to complete her flight around the world. However, the journey ended tragically - Earhart went missing in the vicinity of Howland.
Then the Japanese bombed the island during World War II. When the war ended, all attempts to settle Howland failed. The main problem was the lack of fresh sources. It also failed to make the island attractive to tourists. Local attractions include Itascatown ruins, airplane wrecks, and the Amelia Earhart Lighthouse. Then they decided to recognize Howland as uninhabited and make it a nature reserve.
Baker Island
The island was also discovered three times by three different captains. It received its name in honor of the third captain - Michael Baker. Unlike his predecessors, Captain Baker decided to officially make the island his own. To this day, the grave of one of the sailors of his ship remains on the island.
In 1855, the island was purchased by a guano mining company. Then the same story as Howland's is repeated with Baker Island: after Great Britain claims it, in 1935 America colonizes the land and sends its volunteers, who start a settlement called Myerton. By the beginning of World War II, an airstrip was being built, but it, along with the settlement itself, gradually fell into disrepair. And in 1974, Baker became a National Wildlife Refuge.
When we are still making the final feverish preparations for the New Year, some inhabitants of the Earth not only met it and had a lot of fun, but by this time they even managed to rest and sleep. For there are places in the world where the New Year is celebrated much earlier than here. In our photo gallery we present those places where the New Year is celebrated first on our planet.
13 PHOTOS
1. Traditionally, Kiribati will be the first to celebrate the New Year 2015. More specifically, on the Linear Islands, which are located further east than the other islands of this country. In 1994, one of the presidential candidates promised citizens that if he won the election, he would make Kiribati the first to celebrate the New Year in the whole world. He won and kept his word: he moved the demarcation line of time (the conventional line on the map of time zones). Since then, Kiribati has been divided into three time zones, and in the easternmost one, midnight occurs 14 hours earlier than in London. (Photo: DS355/flickr.com). 
2. In the same time zone as Kiribati is Tokelau, which includes a group of islands consisting of three coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunono and Fakaofo. It is a dependent territory of New Zealand. The time zone change here occurred as recently as 2011, and the main reason for this was the problem of interaction in contacts with New Zealand, since previously the island was on the other side of the time demarcation line. (Photo: Haanee Naeem/flickr.com). 
3. Residents of Samoa will celebrate the New Year an hour later. In 2011, there was also a time zone change; the date December 30, 2011 was not in the Samoan calendar. This was done for better interaction and development of cooperation with Australia and New Zealand. Interestingly, the previous time zone change was carried out in 1892 in order to adjust the time to California time. (Photo: Savai’i Island/flickr.com). 
4. At the same time as in Samoa, the inhabitants of Tonga, an island located one-third of the way between New Zealand and Hawaii, south of Samoa, will celebrate the New Year. (Photo: pintxomoruno/flickr.com). 
5. Residents of the Chatham Islands will be the next to celebrate the New Year. This small archipelago consists of two inhabited islands - Chatham and Pitta. Other small islands have reserve status and are largely inaccessible to both island residents and tourists. Interestingly, Chatham Island has its own time zone, which differs by 45 minutes (less) from the time in New Zealand. (Photo: Phil Pledger/flickr.com). 
6. After the Chatham Islanders, New Zealand will be the next to celebrate New Year 2015. (Photo: Philipp Klinger Photography/flickr.com). 
7. At the same time as in New Zealand, they will celebrate the New Year in Fiji. This is a state that is located on 322 islands and islets of volcanic origin, surrounded by coral reefs, of which only 110 islands are inhabited. (Photo: brad/flickr.com). 
8. The first mainland state whose residents will celebrate the New Year 2015 (at the same time as the residents of New Zealand and Fiji) is Russia, or more precisely, the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, located in the southeastern part of the volcanic Kamchatka peninsula. (Photo: Jasja/flickr.com). 
9. In the same time zone as Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, there are numerous small islands and archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean: Tuvalu, Nauru, Wallis and Futuna, Wake and the Marshall Islands. In the photo: Nauru island. (Photo: Hadi Zaher/flickr.com). 
10. We travel further and move west. Next to celebrate the New Year will be the residents of New Caledonia, a French overseas territory located in the Western Pacific Ocean, in Melanesia, about 1,400 kilometers east of Australia and 1,500 kilometers northwest of New Zealand. (Photo: Tonton des Iles-Bye bye Everyone /flickr.com).
Countries that celebrate the New Year at the same time as New Caledonia are: Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia and Solomon Islands.
11. Together with New Caledonia, the residents of another one will celebrate the New Year 2015 Russian city- Magadan. (Photo: Tramp/flickr.com). 
12. On our journey, we finally arrived in Australia, where the first to celebrate the New Year, of course, were the residents of the east coast - Sydney and Melbourne. (Photo: El Mundo, Economía y Negocios/flickr.com). 
13. Simultaneously with the residents of Sydney and Melbourne, the New Year will be celebrated in Vladivostok and on such Pacific islands as Guam, the Mariana Islands and Papua New Guinea. In the photo: the island of Guam. New Year is traditionally celebrated almost all over the world on December 31st. However, the dwarf Kingdom of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean is the first to celebrate the New Year. And they finish - in Haiti and Samoa - in 25 hours.
0.15 - Chatham Island (New Zealand), remote from the main islands of New Zealand, is located in a special time zone and is the second place where the New Year comes.
1.00 - New Zealand (Wellington, Auckland, etc.) and polar explorers from the South Pole in Antarctica celebrate the New Year.
2.00 - The New Year begins for residents of the extreme eastern Russia(Anadyr, Kamchatka), the Fiji Islands and some other Pacific islands (Nauru, Tuvalu, etc.)
2.30 - Norfolk Island (Australia).
3.00 - Part of eastern Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra) and some Pacific islands (Vanuatu, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, etc.).
Australia. A huge celebration is being held in Sydney. IN New Year's Eve the whole city looks like an incomparably decorated Christmas tree, the branches of which bend under the weight of all the decorations. The sky over Sydney sparkles with numerous fireworks and salutes.
3.30 - South Australia (Adelaide).
4.00 - Queensland state in Australia (Brisbane), part of Russia (Vladivostok) and some islands ( Papua New Guinea, Mariana Islands).
4.30 - Northern Territories of Australia (Darwin).
5.00 - Japan and Korea.
In Japan, New Year is celebrated on January 1st. The custom of seeing off the Old Year is obligatory, including organizing receptions and visiting restaurants. As the New Year begins, the Japanese begin to laugh. They believe that laughter will bring them good luck in the coming year.
6.00 - China, part of Southeast Asia and the remaining territories of Australia.
7.00 - Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia.
7.30 - Myanmar.
8.00 - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and part of Russia (Novosibirsk, Omsk).
8.15 - Nepal.
8.30 - India.
In India, New Year is celebrated in different ways. In one part, the holiday is considered open when a paper kite is struck by a burning arrow.
9.00 - Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and part of Russia (Ekaterinburg, Ufa).
9.30 - Afghanistan.
10.00 - Armenia, Azerbaijan, part of Russia (Samara), some islands in the Indian Ocean.
10.30 - Iran.
11.00 - Part of East Asia, part of Africa, part of Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg).
12.00 - Eastern Europe(Romania, Greece, Ukraine, etc.), Turkey, Israel, Finland, part of Africa.
Finland. Finnish families gather around a variety of dishes New Year's table. The children are waiting for a large basket of gifts from Joulupukki, the name of the Finnish Father Frost. On New Year's Eve, Finns tell fortunes to find out their future.
In Greece, New Year is St. Basil's Day. Saint Basil was known for his kindness, and Greek children leave their shoes by the fireplace in the hope that Saint Basil will fill the shoes with gifts.
13.00 - Western and Central Europe(Belgium, Italy, France, Hungary, Sweden, etc.), part of Africa.
Italy. As soon as the New Year begins, Italians rush to get rid of things that have already served their purpose. In Italy, the custom of bringing clean water from a spring on the first morning of the new year has been preserved, as it is believed that water brings happiness.
France. Even before Christmas, the French hang a branch of mistletoe over the door of their houses, believing that it will bring good luck next year. In addition, the French decorate the entire house with flowers and always place them on the table. In every house they try to place a model depicting the scene of the Birth of Christ. According to tradition, a good winemaker should clink glasses with a barrel of wine on New Year’s Eve, congratulate it on the holiday and drink to the future harvest.
14.00 - Prime Meridian (Greenwich), Great Britain, Portugal, part of Africa.
Great Britain. The ringing of a bell announces the New Year in England. The British have a tradition to let the old year out of the house; before the bell rings, they open the back doors of the houses, and then open the front doors to let in the New Year. New Year gifts in the English family circle, they are distributed according to the old tradition - by lot.
15.00 - Azores.
16.00 - Brazil.
Brazil. On New Year's Eve, residents of Rio de Janeiro go to the ocean and bring gifts to the Goddess of the Sea Yemanja. Traditionally, Brazilians dress in white clothes, which symbolizes a plea for peace addressed to the Goddess of the Sea.
17.00 - Argentina and part of eastern South America.
17.30 - Newfoundland Island (Canada).
18.00 - Eastern Canada, many Caribbean islands, part of South America.
19.00 - Eastern parts of Canada (Ottawa) and USA (Washington, New York), West Side South America.
USA. In New York, in Times Square, the traditional ceremonial descent of the famous Ball, sparkling with thousands of neon lights, takes place.
20.00 - Central parts of Canada and the USA (Chicago, Houston), Mexico and most Latin American countries.
21.00 - Part of Canada (Edmonton, Calgary) and the USA (Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City).
22.00 - Western parts of Canada (Vancouver, and USA (Los Angeles, San Francisco).
23.00 - State of Alaska (USA).
23.30 - Marquesas Islands as part of French Polynesia.
24.00 - Hawaiian Islands (USA), Tahiti and Cook Islands.
25.00 - Residents of Samoa are the last to celebrate the New Year.
So, Saudi Arabia doesn't celebrate New Year at all. The fact is that celebrating the change of dates is considered alien to Islam in principle. For the faithful in Saudi Arabia, there are only three holidays: Independence Day, the celebration of the end of the month of Ramadan and the Feast of Sacrifice.
IN Israel January 1 is also a working day, unless, of course, it is Saturday - a holy day for the Jews. Israelis celebrate their New Year in the fall - on the new moon of the month of Tishrei according to the Jewish calendar (September or October). This holiday is called Rosh Hashanah. It is celebrated for 2 days.
January 1 is an ordinary day and on Iran. The country lives according to the Persian calendar. New Year is celebrated in Iran on the vernal equinox - March 21. The holiday is called Navruz, that is, a new day.
In a multicultural India There are so many holidays that if we had to celebrate everything, there would be no time to work. Therefore, some of them have become "holidays by choice." On these days, all institutions and offices are open, but employees can take time off. January 1st is one of these holidays. March 22 marks the New Year according to the unified national calendar of India. In Kerala, New Year is celebrated on April 13th. It is called Vishu. Sikhs celebrate their New Year - Vaisakhi - on the same day. In South India, Divapali is widely celebrated in the fall, which also signifies the arrival of the new year. This is not a complete list of New Year's days that can be celebrated in India. By the way, among the “holidays to choose from” there is also Catholic Christmas.
IN South Korea January 1 is a day off. Decorated Christmas trees and Santa Clauses are common here, but the beginning of the year in Korea is perceived not as a holiday, but as an additional day off, which can be spent in a pleasant circle of family and friends. But if anything is celebrated on an unprecedented scale, it is Seollal - New Year according to the lunar calendar. On this day, most Koreans go to their hometowns to honor their ancestors.
