The world officially entered 2025

The island nation of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean has entered the first day of 2025, becoming the first place in the world to welcome the new year.

The year 2025 has begun in many parts of the Pacific .

The Republic of Kiribati has 3 time zones, of which Kiritimati Island (also known as Christmas Island) is the place to welcome the new day and also the new year first with the time zone UTC+14. UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time, the global standard time measurement. Vietnam's time zone is UTC+7. Kiribati's capital Tarawa is in the time zone UTC+12, which is 2 hours behind Kiritimati. Kiribati has 33 atolls and stretches nearly 4,000 km from east to west and more than 2,000 km from north to south in the Pacific Ocean.

Most major New Zealand cities such as Auckland and Wellington enter the new year at 6pm Vietnam time, followed by Australian cities Canberra, Sydney or Melbourne at 8pm Vietnam time.

Fireworks display at Sky Tower in Auckland (New Zealand)

Auckland and most of New Zealand celebrates New Year's Eve at 6:00 p.m. on December 31, Vietnam time.

Northeast Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea celebrate New Year's Eve at 10 p.m. Vietnam time. China, the Philippines and Malaysia follow one hour later. Countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand are in the same time zone as Vietnam.

New Year's Parade in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) on December 31, 2024

People march in Phnom Penh on December 31, 2024

The unincorporated US territories of Baker Island and Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean will be the last to welcome the new year. Due to their geographic location and unique time zone, Baker Island will welcome the new year 26 hours later than Kiritimati.

Sydney fireworks early

Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. (local time) on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2024 in Sydney

In Sydney, family fireworks lit up the Opera House and Harbour Bridge three hours before midnight. According to The Guardian , hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the best vantage points around Sydney Harbour to watch the famous fireworks and light show on New Year's Eve each year.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that many people camped in the area for more than 20 hours to wait for the New Year's Eve fireworks display.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/the-gioi-chinh-thuc-buoc-sang-nam-2025-185241231182014727.htm