Discover New Year Celebrations Across the Globe

America, it's time to shift your thinking away from the East Coast. The start of the New Year doesn't revolve around your clock. The Pacific Island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati were the first to ring in the New Year, long before it was even 5 a.m. on December 31 on the East Coast of the United States or 11 a.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). New Zealand followed suit, an hour later.

Samoa is consistently the first country to welcome the New Year, leaving its neighbor American Samoa, just 101 miles away, to watch with envy and wait a full day.

With 39 different local times in use, including two that are over 12 hours ahead of UTC, it takes 26 hours for the entire world to enter the New Year.

If you are a fan of humming "Auld Lang Syne," the following list will help you get into the spirit of the New Year celebrations around the world, based on East Coast time.

Saturday, December 31, 2022

5 a.m. ET Samoa, Tonga and Christmas Island/Kiribati

5:15 a.m. Chatham Islands/New Zealand

6 a.m. New Zealand (with a few exceptions) and five more locations/islands

Fireworks explode over Sky Tower in central Auckland as New Year celebrations begin in New Zealand, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023.

Dean Purcel/NZ Herald/AP

7 a.m. Small region of Russia and seven more locations

8 a.m. Much of Australia and seven more (including Melbourne and Sydney)

People watch fireworkson December 31, 2022, in Sydney, Australia.

Roni Bintang/Getty Images

8:30 a.m. Small region of Australia (including Adelaide)

9 a.m. Queensland/Australia and six more (including Brisbane)

9:30 a.m. Northern Territory/Australia (including Alice Springs)

10 a.m. Japan, South Korea and four more

10:15 a.m. Western Australia/Australia

11 a.m. China, Philippines and 10 more

A New Year's Eve fireworks and light show attracts thousands of visitors to the West Tour Park in Huai 'an, East China's Jiangsu province, on December 31, 2022.

CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Noon Much of Indonesia, Thailand and seven more

12:30 p.m. Myanmar and Cocos Islands

1 p.m. Bangladesh and six more

1:15 p.m. Nepal

1:30 p.m. India and Sri Lanka

2 p.m. Pakistan and eight more

2:30 p.m. Afghanistan

3 p.m. Azerbaijan and eight more

Fireworks explode from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, during New Year's Eve celebrations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on January 1, 2023.

Satish Kumar/Reuters

3:30 p.m. Iran

4 p.m. Moscow/Russia and 22 more

5 p.m. Greece and 31 more (including Egypt, South Africa and Romania)

6 p.m. Germany and 45 more (including Algeria, Italy, Belgium and France)

7 p.m. United Kingdom and 24 more (including Portugal and Iceland)

8 p.m. Cabo Verde and two more

9 p.m. Regions of Brazil and South Georgia/Sandwich Islands

10 p.m. Most of Brazil, Angetina and nine more

10:30 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador/Canada

11 p.m. Some regions of Canada and 28 more

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Midnight US (East Coast) and Cuba

1 a.m. US (Central), Mexico and nine more

2 a.m. US (Mountain) and two more

3 a.m. US (Pacific) and four more

4 a.m. US (Alaska) and regions of French Polynesia

4:30 a.m. Marquesas Islands/French Polynesia

5 a.m. US (Hawaii) and two more

6 a.m. American Samoa and two more

7 a.m. Much of US minor outlying islands (unincorporated US territories in the Pacific)