The residents of Kiribati and Samoa, island states in the South Pacific, were the first to say goodbye to 2020 and be welcomed in 2021.
These tropical archipelagos, with a combined population of just over 300,000, hailed the New Year at 10:00 a.m. GMT, thus entering on January 1.
The next to receive 2021 will be the residents of the New Zealand island of Chatham, approximately 680 kilometers southeast of that country’s main islands.
The rest of the people of New Zealand and the people of Fiji and Tonga debut years later.
New Zealand, one of the countries better managing the coronavirus pandemic, is maintaining its traditional fireworks display in the city of Auckland to ring in the New Year.
Australia, which welcomes the New Year in much of the country at 1:00 p.m. GMT, is maintaining the famous Sydney fireworks, one of the shows that traditionally open the planet’s celebration to welcome the New Year, but without the presence of public. hugely over the restrictions imposed by a covid-19 outbreak.
After Japan and South Korea, the Southeast Asian countries have the last minutes of 2020 with restrictions due to the pandemic, including the cancellation of crowds and fireworks in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Although Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam receive their New Years on different dates, they also celebrate New Years Eve according to the Gregorian calendar, especially in large cities.