Where is the last country to ring in the New Year?

Can you guess the last country to ring in the New Year?

As people say goodbye to one year and hello to another, do you know there the last country to ring in the New Year is located? More importantly, could you be the first and last person to ring in the New Year?

Often there is focus on the first places to welcome a New Year. While most people think of Sydney and its fireworks over Sydney Harbor as the first big celebration to mark a new calendar year, it isn’t the first country to start the year anew.

The first country to ring in the New Year is Tonga. Located in the Pacific Ocean, the tiny island nation holds this distinction. Although there is no guarantee that the infamous Tonga skier from the Olympics is part of the celebration, the Tonga people definitely mark the occasion.

While Tonga might be the first, can you guess the last country to ring in the New Year?

Focusing on locales where there are people to celebrate the holiday (not those deserted islands,) the United States holds that New Year’s Day distinction. But, it is far away from the U.S. mainland.

The last country to ring in the New Year is American Samoa. While geographically close to Tonga, it celebrates the New Year 25 hours after the other island country. But, it poses an interesting question, could you celebrate the New Year twice?

While some people have hired planes to travel the world to ring in the New Year in various locales, the Tonga to American Samoa trip is a possibility. With the two islands being less than 600 miles apart, a person could welcome one year in Tonga and travel back in time to American Samoa and do it all again. It could be the old school version of time travel.

What is your New Year’s tradition? Do you believe in some of the holiday’s superstitions?