(VOVWORLD) -The Pacific Islands of Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati are the first countries in the world to welcome the New Year 2024 with brilliant fireworks displays and countdown sound effects.
Kiritimati Island in the Republic of Kiribati, also known as Christmas Island, is the first place to ring in the new year as it is located in the furthest time zone in the world, 19 hours faster than New York City in the US. The island welcomed the new year at 10:00 a.m. on December 31 according to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), equivalent to 5:00 p.m. on December 31 in Vietnam.
Tonga and Samoa (Western Samoa) rang in the new year at the same time as Kiritimati Island.
Only 15 minutes later, New Zealand's Chatham Islands heralded the arrival of a new year with typical bombastic flair.
More than an hour afterwards, the Australian city of Sydney set off giant fireworks displays with 8 tons of fireworks lighting up the city sky on New Year's Eve. More than 1 million people gathered to enjoy the brilliant fireworks displays that lasted about 20 minutes and the harbor shows with artificial intelligence.