Samoa is always the first country to ring in the New Year. American Samoa, its neighbor just 101 miles away, has to watch in envy and wait a full day.
You can thank time zones for that.
There are 39 different local times in use, which means it takes 26 hours for the entire world to enter the New Year.
So, if you really, really, really love to hum “Auld Lang Syne,” the list below will get you in the spirit — over and over and over again.
Or if you’re really adventurous (and really rich), you can just hop on a private jet for a flight from Sydney to Honolulu and enjoy it in person twice.
Here’s when the world will be ringing in the New Year, relative to East Coast time.
Monday, December 31, 2018
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
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
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 (unincorporated US territories in the Pacific)