The Pacific islands of Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati were the first to be seen in the new year – when it was 5 a.m. on the east coast of the United States and 11 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the global standard) on December 31. New Zealand was next, an hour later.
This is when the world has been and will be ringing in the new year, relative to the east coast time.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
5 p.m. ET Samoa, Tonga and Christmas Island / Kiribati
5:15 am Chatham Islands / New Zealand
6 hours New Zealand (with a few exceptions) and five more locations / islands
7 hours Small region of Russia and seven more locations
8 in the morning Much of Australia and seven others (including Melbourne and Sydney)
8:30 am Small region of Australia (including Adelaide)
9 o’clock Queensland / Australia and six more (including Brisbane)
9:30 am Northern Territory / Australia (including Alice Springs)
10 hours Japan, South Korea and four more
10:15 am Western Australia / Australia
11 hours China, Philippines and 10 more
Afternoon Much of Indonesia, Thailand and seven others
12.30 pm. Myanmar and Cocos Islands
1 o’clock in the afternoon Bangladesh and six more
1:15 PM Nepal
1.30 pm India and Sri Lanka
14.00 hours Pakistan, and eight more
2.30 pm Afghanistan
3 pm Azerbaijan and eight others
3.30 pm Iran
16.00 hours Moscow / Russia and 22 more
5:00 pm Greece and 31 others (including Egypt, South Africa and Romania)
6 pm Germany and 45 others (including Algeria, Italy, Belgium and France)
19:00 United Kingdom and 24 more (including Portugal and Iceland)
8 pm Cabo Verde and two more
9 o’clock in the evening Regions of Brazil and South Georgia / Sandwich Islands
10 pm Most of Brazil, Angetina and nine others
10.30 pm Newfoundland and Labrador / Canada
23 hours Some regions of Canada and 28 more
Wednesday January 1, 2020
Midnight USA (east coast) and Cuba
1 hour USA (Central), Mexico and nine more
2 o’clock US (Mountain) and two more
3 hours US (Pacific) and four more
4 hours USA (Alaska) and regions of French Polynesia
4.30 am Marquesas Islands / French Polynesia
5 hours. USA (Hawaii) and two more
6 hours American Samoa and two more
7 hours Much of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands (unincorporated U.S. Pacific Territories)