On December 31, people from all over the world join in their New Year’s Eve celebrations, with fireworks, parties and (most important of all), inspiring posts on social media.
However, instead of a shared moment of joy, the nature of our rotating planet means that the real time the new year begins is different for countries around the world.
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So while some of the easternmost places mark the New Year on the morning of December 31, UK time, others in the west are still waiting for the big moment more than 24 hours later, when many British people will start 2021 sleeping a hangover.
To help you follow the action throughout the day (and as a useful guide in case you have relatives to call in remote places), here’s a full-time hourly guide to New Year’s Eve schedules all over the world.
When the clocks strike midnight all over the world at UK time
New Year’s Eve
9am – Kiribati (Illes Line)
10am – Christmas Islands, Kiribati (Phoenix Island), Samoa, Tonga
10.15 h – Chatham Islands
11am – New Zealand (Auckland and Wellington), Micronesia (east)
12h – Marshall Islands, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, Nauru, Tuvalu, Wake Island, Russia (Far East), Micronesia (West)
12.30pm – Australia (Lord Howe Island, New South Wales)
1 p.m. – Australia (Tasmania, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne), Papua New Guinea, Guam
13.30 h – Australia (Adelaide and Broken Hill)
2 p.m. – Australia (Brisbane)
2.30 p.m. – Australia (Darwin)
15h – Indonesia (east), Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia (Siberia), East Timor
15.15h – Australia (Eucla)
16h – China, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia (center), Malaysia, Russia (Irkutsk), Singapore, Taiwan, Mongolia (east), Brunei
5 p.m. – Cambodia, Indonesia (West), Laos, Mongolia (West), Russia (Altai), Thailand, Vietnam
5.30 p.m. – Myanmar, Cocos Islands
6 p.m. – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan (east), Kygryzstan, Russia (Omsk astblast), British Indian Ocean Territory
18.15h – Nepal
6:30 p.m. – India, Sri Lanka
19h – Kazakhstan (West), Maldives, Pakistan, Russia (Ekaterinburg), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
7.30 pm – Afghanistan
20h – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Mauritius, Oman, Reunion, Russia (Volgograd, Samara), Seychelles, United Arab Emirates
20.30 h – Iran
9 p.m. – Bahrain, Belarus, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Iraq, Kenya, Kuwait, Madagascar, Qatar, Russia (Moscow), Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Yemen
22h – Botswana, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Libya, Malawi, Moldova (Transnistria), Mozambique, Namibia, Palestine, Romania , Russia (Kaliningrad), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Ukraine, Zambia, Zimbabwe
23h – Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Bandundu, Bas-Congo, Ecuador and Kinshasa), Croatia, Czech Republic , Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (except Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, United Kingdom (Gibraltar), Vatican City, Western Sahara
12h – Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Denmark (Faroe Islands, parts of Greenland), Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Iceland, Ireland, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Portugal (excluding the Azores), São Tomé and Príncipe, Spain (Canary Islands), Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, United Kingdom
New Year’s Day
1 h – Cape Verde, Denmark (Ittoqqortoormiit and surroundings), Portugal (Azores)
02:00 – Brazil (Fernando de Noronha), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
3h – Argentina, Brazil (except Acre, Amazon, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondônia and Roraima), Denmark (parts of Greenland), French Guiana, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Suriname, United Kingdom (Falkland Islands), Uruguay
3.30am – Canada (Labrador and Newfoundland)
4h – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil (Amazon (except the westernmost municipalities), Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondonia and Roraima), Canada (Atlantic time zone), Chile (except the island of Easter), Denmark (Pituffik (Thule)), Dominica, Dominican Republic, France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin), Grenada, Guyana, Netherlands (Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao, Saint Maarten), Paraguay , Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands), United States (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands), Venezuela
5h – Bahamas, Brazil, (Acre, Amazonas), Canada (eastern time zone), Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico (Quintana Roo), Panama, Peru, United Kingdom (Cayman Islands), United States (eastern time) Zone)
6h – Belize, Canada (Central Time Zone), Chile (Easter Island), Costa Rica, Ecuador (Galápagos Islands), El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (except Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa and Sonora), Nicaragua, United States (Central Time Zone)
7h – Canada (mountain time zone), Mexico (Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora), United States (mountain time zone)
8h – Canada (Pacific time zone), France (Clipperton Island), Mexico (Baja California), United Kingdom (Pitcairn Islands), United States (Pacific time zone)
9am – France (Gambier Islands), United States (Alaska)
9.30am – France (Marquesas Islands)
10am – France (French Polynesia), New Zealand (Cook Islands), United States (Hawaii-Aleutian time zone)
11am – United States (American Samoa, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll), New Zealand (Niue)
12h – United States (Baker Island, Howland Island)