The New Years’ Eve is probably the only time of the year when the entire world is excited at once! There are so many good vibes with which we look forward to ring in the New Year. Some prefer relaxing at home with close family and friends while others have planned trips abroad. With New Year 2018 coming, it is a time to bring in cheer, hope for all joys and make resolutions for yourself in the year ahead. So, there is a definite excitement level on every 31st December in every country of this world.

Geography taught us how the world goes through different time-zones. Depending upon when which part of the Earth enters the daylight, the time zone differs in each part of the world, dividing it into a total of 39 time zones. According to the 24-hour clock timing, for a New Years' Eve to enter all time zones it takes up to 26 hours. The first country to witness the New Years’ Eve is the Samoa and Christmas Islands (Kiritimati) in the Pacific Ocean. According to Indian Standard Time (IST), when it is 3.30 PM on December 31, Samoa and Christmas Islands begin with 2018. So, the first new year of the world is celebrated here.

The second one to celebrate the New Year is the Chatham Islands in the Pacific Ocean, about 800 kilometres away from South Island of New Zealand. The time difference between Samoa and Chatham is just 15 minutes. Following the Chatham Islands is some parts of New Zealand. Then comes Russia and about an hour later (approximately 6.30 PM IST) Australia witnesses 2018.

Over the years, we see Australia’s Sydney Harbour ringing in the New Years’ Eve with a lot of firecrackers, like the first ones to celebrate the oncoming of a New year. But it is the Samoa Islands, which has the earlier privilege according to the time zones. If we go to rank the regions based on time zones, Australia is the fifth region.

India and Sri Lanka, rank 17th among the list to witness the oncoming of a new calendar year. The last time zone to celebrate 2018 is American Samoa and Baker islands in the US. When it is 5.30, 1st January 2018 (IST) these islands are still celebrating their New Years’ Eve.

Isn’t it interesting, how all the world is excited about the phenomenon and how different regions ring in the celebrations at different times? Probably when someone in India is just dealing with the hangover of the celebrations, people in Baker Island are cheering over welcoming 2018.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 30, 2017 03:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).