Each year, while much of the planet is still asleep on the night of Dec. 24, a small island nation in the Pacific is already celebrating the arrival of Christmas. This is Kiribati, a country little known to many, but with a unique distinction: It is the first country in the world to officially welcome Dec. 25.
Its geographical position and the way the International Date Line was drawn have turned it into the starting point of the global calendar, a detail that gives it a special place in the history of time.
Kiribati stands out not only for this chronological curiosity but also for its culture, its coral atoll landscapes, and for facing some of the world’s greatest climate change challenges. At Christmas, this combination of tradition, geography, and resilience takes on a special meaning.
Kiribati, a country ahead of the rest of the world at Christmas
Kiribati is located in the central Pacific Ocean and is made up of 33 islands and atolls, spread across such a vast maritime area that it spans both hemispheres. In 1995, the government made a historic decision: To move the International Date Line eastward, so that all the country’s islands would share the same calendar day. This measure allowed Kiribati to officially become the first country to welcome the New Year and, by extension, Christmas.
Thanks to this change, Kiribati operates in the UTC+13 and UTC+14 time zones, the most advanced on the planet. While in Latin America it is still the night of Dec. 24, in Kiribati Christmas Day is already dawning, with celebrations beginning much earlier than anywhere else in the world.
The second country to welcome Christmas is Samoa, which is also located in the Pacific and shares similarly advanced time zones. Together, these countries symbolically mark the start of global Christmas celebrations, followed by other Oceanian nations such as Tonga and New Zealand.
@geoglobetales First & Last Places to Celebrate New Year 😱🌎 International Date Line #LearnOnTikTokContest #EducatorAward #geography #newyear ♬ original sound – GeoGlobeTales
Kiritimati Island, the first Christmas sunrise
@chloejadetravels Did you know this existed? Christmas Island (Kiritimati) Kiribati, is a very interesting place. Not only are the cities named after a few random people who came from, London, Paris, Poland, but there is also a city named Banana (from WW2 times) Christmas island is a coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean that is four hours south of Hawaii and four hours east of Fiji. There’s not much to do here aside from fishing and relaxing and exploring nature and talking to people in the island, but it was an amazing experience ##kiribati##pacificislands##travelvlogger##christmasday ♬ original sound – chloe jade travels
Within Kiribati, there is one place that draws special attention every December: Kiritimati Island, also known as Christmas Island. Despite its European-origin name, Kiritimati is one of the country’s most representative islands and the largest coral island in the world by land area.
Kiritimati is famous for being one of the first inhabited territories to witness the sunrise on Dec. 25, making it a symbolic reference point for Christmas worldwide. Although it does not always receive the very first ray of sunlight on the planet — a title that can vary depending on the time of year — it is still one of the first places where the calendar officially marks Christmas.
On the island, Christmas celebrations blend Christianity, introduced during the colonial era, with local traditions. Communities gather for church services, choral singing, and shared meals in an atmosphere defined by simplicity and a strong sense of community. There are no extravagant lights or large shopping centers, but there is a deep connection between the people and their environment.
Christmas between tradition and climate challenges
Celebrating Christmas in Kiribati also means living with a complex reality. The country is one of the most vulnerable to rising sea levels, a phenomenon that directly threatens the existence of several of its islands. In this context, Christmas is not only a religious or cultural celebration, but also a moment for reflection about the future.
Despite these difficulties, Kiribati keeps its traditions and identity alive. Being the first country to welcome Christmas is, for many of its inhabitants, a source of national pride and an opportunity to remind the world that even from the most remote corners of the planet, the celebration of these dates continues to unite cultures and time zones.
Thus, while the rest of the world prepares to raise its first Christmas toast, in Kiribati — and especially on Kiritimati Island — Christmas has already begun, marking the start of a global celebration that, over the course of 24 hours, will travel across the entire planet.