New Year rings in around the world as curtain closes on 2020
UPDATE: This New Year’s Eve was celebrated like no other in most of the world, with many bidding farewell to a year they’d prefer to forget.
From the South Pacific to New York City, pandemic restrictions on open air gatherings saw people turning to made-for-TV fireworks displays or packing it in early since they could not toast the end of 2020 in the presence of friends or carousing strangers.
As midnight rolled from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the New Year’s experience mirrored national responses to the virus itself. Some countries and cities canceled or scaled back their festivities, while others without active outbreaks carried on like any other year.
Australia was among the first to ring in 2021. In past years, 1 million people crowded Sydney’s harbor to watch fireworks. This time, most watched on television as authorities urged residents to stay home to see the seven minutes of pyrotechnics that lit up the Sydney Harbor Bridge and its surroundings.
In New York’s Times Square, the ball dropped like always, but police fenced off the site synonymous with New Year’s Eve to prevent crowds of any size from gathering.
ORIGINAL REPORT: People around the world are beginning to wave goodbye to 2020 and welcome 2021.
The Pacific Island nations of Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati were the first to see in the new year — when it was still 5 a.m. on December 31 on the East Coast of the United States and 11 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the global standard). New Zealand was next, an hour later.
American Samoa, just 101 miles from Samoa but in an entirely different timezone, must wait a full day before seeing in 2021.
There are 39 different local times in use — including two which are more than 12 hours ahead of UTC — 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.
Here’s when the world has been and will be ringing in the New Year, relative to East Coast time.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
5 a.m. ET Samoa, Tonga and Christmas Island/Kiribati
5:15 a.m. Chatham Islands/New Zealand
6 a.m. New Zealand (with a few exceptions) and five more locations/islands
7 a.m. Small region of Russia and seven more locations
8 a.m. Much of Australia and seven more (including Melbourne and Sydney)
8:30 a.m. Small region of Australia (including Adelaide)
9 a.m. Queensland/Australia and six more (including Brisbane)
9:30 a.m. Northern Territory/Australia (including Alice Springs)
10 a.m. Japan, South Korea and four more
10:15 a.m. Western Australia/Australia
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 (including Egypt, South Africa and Romania)
6 p.m. Germany and 45 more (including Algeria, Italy, Belgium and France)
7 p.m. United Kingdom and 24 more (including Portugal and Iceland)
8 p.m. Cabo Verde and two more
9 p.m. Regions of Brazil and South Georgia/Sandwich Islands
10 p.m. Most of Brazil, Angetina and nine more
10:30 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador/Canada
11 p.m. Some regions of Canada and 28 more
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Midnight US (East Coast) and Cuba
1 a.m. US (Central), Mexico and nine 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)
