Where the new year comes first. Where does the New Year come first in the world?

When we are making feverish preparations for the New Year, in some places people already have time to sleep after the festive festivities, because there are places in the world where New Year meet eleven hours earlier than at .

We will tell you about those places where residents celebrate the New Year before us!

Traditionally, the people of Kiribati, a state located on islands and atolls in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, celebrate the New Year before everyone else. In 1994, in this country, which is located on 33 islands, the presidential candidate promised that if he won the elections, he would ensure that the people of Kiribati would celebrate the New Year before anyone else. Therefore, after the elections, the country was divided into three time zones, and now in the easternmost part the New Year is celebrated 11 hours earlier than in Belarus.

At the same time, residents of another Russian city, Magadan, a large port city on the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, will also celebrate the New Year.

Nowhere in the world is New Year celebrated as often as on the Indonesian island of Bali. The fact is that a year in Bali lasts only 210 days. The main attribute of the festival is multi-colored rice, from which long ribbons, often two meters long, are baked...

Muslims use lunar calendar, therefore, the date of the New Year for Muslims moves forward 11 days every year. In Iran, the New Year is celebrated on March 21. A few weeks before the New Year, people plant grains of wheat or barley in a small dish. By the New Year, the grains sprout, which symbolizes the beginning of spring and a new year of life.

Hindus celebrate New Year in different ways depending on where they live. It is not so easy for a resident of India to determine what year it is. India celebrates four eras: Salivaha, Vikramditya, Jaina and Buddha. In the south of India, New Year is celebrated in March, in the north of the country - in April, in the west - at the end of October, and in the state of Kerala - either in July or in August. Residents of northern India decorate themselves with flowers in shades of pink, red, purple, or white. In southern India, mothers place sweets, flowers, small gifts on a special tray. On New Year's morning, children must wait with their eyes closed until they are led to the tray. In central India, orange flags are hung on buildings. In western India, small lights are lit on the roofs of houses. On New Year's Day, Hindus think of the goddess of wealth Lakshmi.

The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. This is a holy time when people think about the sins they have committed and promise to atone for them next year. good deeds. Children are given new clothes. People bake bread and eat fruit.

Chinese New Year is celebrated between January 17 and February 19, during the new moon. Street processions are the most exciting part of the holiday. Thousands of lanterns are lit during processions to light the way into the New Year. The Chinese believe that the New Year is surrounded by evil spirits. Therefore, they scare them away with firecrackers and firecrackers. Sometimes the Chinese cover windows and doors with paper to keep out evil spirits.

In Japan, New Year is celebrated on January 1st. The custom of seeing off the Old Year is obligatory, including organizing receptions and visiting restaurants. As the New Year begins, the Japanese begin to laugh. They believe that laughter will bring them good luck in the coming year. First New Year's Eve It is customary to visit the temple. The temples ring a bell 108 times. With each blow, as the Japanese believe, everything bad goes away, which should not happen again in the New Year. To keep out evil spirits, the Japanese hang bundles of straw at the entrance to their houses, which they believe brings good luck. In houses, rice cakes are placed in a prominent place, on top of which tangerines are placed, symbolizing happiness, health and longevity. In Japan, the European Christmas tree is decorated with exotic plants growing on the islands.

In Korea, after celebrating the New Year, festivities begin on the village streets, during which girls always compete in high jumps.

In Vietnam, New Year is called Tet. He is met between January 21 and February 19. The exact date of the holiday changes from year to year. The Vietnamese believe that a god lives in every home, and on New Year's Day this god goes to heaven to tell how each family member spent the past year. The Vietnamese once believed that God swam on the back of a carp fish. Nowadays, on New Year's Day, the Vietnamese sometimes buy live carp and then release it into a river or pond. They also believe that the first person to enter their home in the New Year will bring good or bad luck for the coming year.

In Mongolia, the New Year is celebrated at the Christmas tree, although the Mongolian Santa Claus comes to the children dressed as a cattle breeder. On the New Year's holiday, sports competitions, games, and tests of dexterity and courage are held.

Burma celebrates the New Year in April, when the tropical rains end. As a sign of gratitude to nature, Burmese people pour water on each other and wish each other a Happy New Year.

In Haiti, New Year is the beginning of a new life and is therefore considered the most beloved holiday. For the New Year, Haitians try to thoroughly clean their homes, repair furniture or replace it with new ones, and also make peace with those with whom they have quarreled.

In Kenya, it is customary to celebrate the New Year on the water. On this day, Kenyans swim in rivers, lakes, and the Indian Ocean, ride boats, sing and have fun.

In Sudan, you need to celebrate the New Year on the banks of the Nile, then all your wishes will come true.

In Panama on New Year's Day there is an unimaginable noise, cars honking, people screaming... According to ancient belief, noise scares away evil spirits.

The Navajo Indians of North America have preserved the custom of celebrating the New Year around a huge bonfire in a forest clearing. They dance in white robes, their faces are painted white, in the hands of sticks with balls of feathers at the ends. The dancers try to be closer to the fire, and when the balls burst into flames, they rejoice. But then sixteen of the most strong men, they carry a bright red ball and, to the music, pull it with a rope to the top of a high pole. Everyone shouts: A new Sun has been born!

The USA celebrates the New Year pompously, colorfully and enthusiastically - in anticipation of gifts from “Santa Claus”. America breaks all records every year greeting cards and Christmas gifts.

In Cuba, the clock only strikes 11 times on New Year's Day. Since the 12th strike falls right on New Year's Day, the clock is allowed to rest and calmly celebrate the holiday with everyone. In Cuba, before the New Year, all the dishes in the house are filled with water, and after midnight they throw it out onto the street, wishing that the New Year would be as clear and clean as water.

Latin America accompanies the New Year with street carnivals and theatrical performances of a mass nature.

In Australia, travel agencies for the New Year offer: shows with Polynesian dances and aborigines, representatives of the most ancient culture of Australia; a walk through a glass tunnel laid in the water column to view the inhabitants of the underwater world of Australia: sharks, stingrays, turtles, coral reef inhabitants and other marine animals.

Western Europe: celebrates the New Year with elements of choral singing, a lit, decorated Christmas tree and luxurious gifts.

In Scotland and Wales, at the last second of the old year, the doors are supposed to be opened wide to let out Old year and let in the New!

In Scotland, on New Year's Eve, they set fire to tar in a barrel and roll the barrel through the streets. The Scots consider this a symbol of the burning of the Old Year. After this, the road to the New Year is open. The first person to enter a house after the New Year is believed to bring good luck or bad luck. A dark-haired man with a gift is fortunate.

In Wales, when going on a visit to celebrate the New Year, you should grab a piece of coal and throw it into the fireplace lit on New Year's Eve. This indicates the friendly intentions of the guests who came.

In France, on New Year's Eve, a bean is baked in gingerbread. And the best New Year's gift for a fellow villager is a wheel.

In Sweden, on New Year's Eve, it is customary to break dishes at your neighbors' doors.

For Italians, every New Year requires paying off debts, and secondly, parting with unnecessary trash. On the night of January 1, it is customary to throw old furniture out of apartment windows, empty bottles etc., so it is unsafe to be on the streets at this time.

Residents of Greece, going to visit to celebrate the New Year, take with them a stone, which is thrown at the threshold of a hospitable home. If the stone is heavy, they say: “Let the owner’s wealth be as heavy as this stone.” And if the stone is small, then they wish: “Let the thorn in the owner’s eye be as small as this stone.”

In the houses of Bulgaria, as midnight approaches on December 31, the lights are turned off for three minutes and the time comes for New Year's kisses, the secret of which is preserved by darkness.

In Romania, it is customary to bake small surprises into New Year's pies - coins, porcelain figurines, rings, hot pepper pods. A ring found in a cake means that the New Year will bring much happiness. And a pod of pepper will cheer up everyone around you.

The peoples of the North are the most interesting, unexpected, and festive. New Year's Eve here turns into the personification of a feeling of immense joy and friendliness of the holiday. This is a fair and sale, this is a sports competition, this is folklore with the presence of a Christmas tree and Santa Claus, who is the keeper of secrets and surprises on this New Year's Eve

By the way, here's something else worth noting

Dividing the world into time zones has its own quirks. So, for example, when in other places on the calendar it is already January 2, on two islands of the Pacific Ocean the New Year is just beginning. These are the uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands. Due to the fact that they are in the UTC-12 time zone, the New Year starts later than everyone else.

But the first to celebrate New Year's Eve are the residents of Kiribati, Christmas and Line islands. Their time zone is UTC+14, so when the time on Howland and Baker reads 11 o'clock and the calendar reads December 31st, the clock on Christmas Island will strike the hour after midnight on January 2nd.

Despite the fact that there are no people on Howland and Baker and only the United States Coast Guard can visit them, we can tell a lot of interesting things about these islands. To begin with, it is worth noting that they belong to and are part of a wildlife rescue program.

Howland Island

Howland Island has a very interesting story. This piece of land in the middle of the ocean was discovered in 1822 by George Bradley Worth, who was the captain of the whaling ship Oeno. At that time, the captain named the island after himself, but 6 years later it was discovered again by another captain, Daniel Mackenzie, who gave the island the name of the owner of the ship, Minevra. Well, the third captain who discovered this land was Geo Emery Netcher. This happened in 1842, then the island received the name Howland - that was the name of the sailor who noticed unfamiliar shores.

The first documented settlement was formed on the island in 1857. At that time it was very valuable because of the ability to mine guano. After all, as the law said, if an island is not under the jurisdiction of anyone other than the island, has no owners or local population, but has guano deposits on it, then any American can own all the land. But in 1886, the British who arrived on the island declared that the right to the territory belonged to them. Then British settlers appeared on Howland and mined guano for 5 years.

The dispute over the land was finally resolved only in 1936 after the colonization of the island by America. With the dawn of long-range aviation, Howland was a Pacific strategic base. Therefore, in 1937 they began to build a runway here. It was intended for the now famous aviator Amelia Earhart, who wanted to complete her flight around the world. However, the journey ended tragically - Earhart went missing in the vicinity of Howland.

Then the Japanese bombed the island during World War II. When the war ended, all attempts to settle Howland failed. The main problem was the lack of fresh sources. It also failed to make the island attractive to tourists. Local attractions include Itascatown ruins, airplane wrecks, and the Amelia Earhart Lighthouse. Then they decided to recognize Howland as uninhabited and make it a nature reserve.

Baker Island

The island was also discovered three times by three different captains. It received its name in honor of the third captain - Michael Baker. Unlike his predecessors, Captain Baker decided to officially make the island his own. To this day, the grave of one of the sailors of his ship remains on the island.

In 1855, the island was purchased by a guano mining company. Then the same story as Howland's is repeated with Baker Island: after Great Britain claims it, America colonizes the land in 1935 and sends its volunteers, who start a settlement called Myerton. By the beginning of World War II, an airstrip was being built, but it, along with the settlement itself, gradually fell into disrepair. And in 1974, Baker became a National Wildlife Refuge.

Problems with freshwater sources drinking water here are the same as Howland's. Residents of the settlements had to collect rainwater.
On at the moment getting to Baker Island is not so easy; for this you need to obtain a special permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.