# Who will reach 2006 first? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813 "2005-12-31T02:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/1 "2005-12-31T02:49:28Z")
I think it is New Zealand, but I don’t know about those other Pacific Islands ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/2 "2005-12-31T02:57:48Z")
Fiji. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/3 "2005-12-31T03:06:13Z")
It is actually [Kiritimati on the Christmas Islands, in Kiribati](http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/firstnewyear.html). Check that site to see how the New Years rolls through. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/4 "2005-12-31T03:20:39Z")
I never realized that by the time the US celebrates New Year’s the rest of the world already has. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/5 "2005-12-31T03:22:32Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > I never realized that by the time the US celebrates New Year’s the rest of the world already has. Well, this is just going to make you feel sick: [spoiler]The pull that same trick every day[/spolier] ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/6 "2005-12-31T17:38:57Z")
On the subject, where does tonight’s intercalary second go? Is it between 23:59:59 and 00:00:00 at every local midnight, or just at midnight UTC? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/7 "2005-12-31T19:11:01Z")
Technically, the island of **Guam** is a US Territory and their motto is “Where America’s Day Begins”. Still, it is a “whopping” 4 hours behind Kiritimati. [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html](http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html) ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/8 "2005-12-31T19:12:46Z")
> [@Tevildo](#): > > On the subject, where does tonight’s intercalary second go? Is it between 23:59:59 and 00:00:00 at every local midnight, or just at midnight UTC? I heard that there will be a 23:59:60 before it turns over to 00:00:00. Sure will stir upp some confusion at the New Years’ count-down! ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/9 "2005-12-31T19:40:38Z")
> [@cactus waltz](#): > > I heard that there will be a 23:59:60 before it turns over to 00:00:00. Sure will stir upp some confusion at the New Years’ count-down! Yes, there will. 🙂 My question is - does every timezone put in the intercalary second at midnight, or is it put in at 23:59:60 UTC? In other words, in (say) New York, is the extra second at midnight or 7pm? ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/10 "2005-12-31T20:17:18Z")
[Midnight UTC](http://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/bulletinc.dat) ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/11 "2006-01-01T03:03:45Z")
Who celebrates it last? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/12 "2006-01-01T03:13:37Z")
> [@Good Egg](#): > > Who celebrates it last? Samoa. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/13 "2006-01-01T03:15:03Z")
According to **Shagnasty** ’s link it seems to be Samoa. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/14 "2006-01-01T05:17:42Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > According to **Shagnasty** ’s link it seems to be Samoa. Isn’t that were Duran Duran recorded _Rio_? (If you want extra bad jokes, I have samoa right here.) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/15 "2006-01-01T16:24:00Z")
Doesn’t the line actually go right through Kiribati? That would make them first AND last! My BIL was born on Kiribati, Aussie/Brit extraction. Makes for an interesting entry into the “so where were you born?” conversation, even if the general response is “WHERE?!?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-reach-2006-first/337813/16 "2006-01-02T05:34:25Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Doesn’t the line actually go right through Kiribati? That would make them first AND last! It used to, but about 12 years ago, they decided to put the entire country on the same day. So effectively, they moved the IDL way to the east. Lots of maps published since have not changed the date line and so are wrong. The IDL, by the way, has no official status. It’s just a cartographer’s convention, showing dividing line between places that are about 24 hours (give or take a few) apart.