2006-08-31 15:42:38 · 6 answers · asked by sabrewilde666 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
New Zealand is one of the first major countries to see the new day.
But technically...
(part of) Russia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Figi and New Zealand all "hit tomorrow" at the same time... but before them are extra time zones in Kiribati and Tonga that will acknowlege the new day before anyone else.
Last are a few uninhabited islands claimed by the US, then some Military islands like Midway and the islands of Samoa and American Samoa.
So in short first is Kiribati, last (country) is Samoa.
2006-09-01 06:56:58 · answer #1 · answered by iMi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "international date line" generally reflects the plane directly opposite the 0 meridian (the one passing through Grennwich, England). However, by consent, it is wiggled around so that any given country does not have part of it's territory on both sides of the line.
This means there is a jog through the Bering Strait, keeping the Soviet territories on one side and the American territories on the other ... including the last to see a given calandar date, the westernmost Aleutian Islands. Thus the USA is the "last" country to see a calandar date.
The small island nation of Kiribata, on the other hand, has the dateline swung to its eastern limit (after acquiring territory in 1995) ... making it the "first" nation to see a given calendar date.
2006-09-01 13:35:32 · answer #2 · answered by CanTexan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kiribati
It is rather strange, but the International Date Line, which would naturally dissect the Archipelago nation of Kiribati, actually skirts around it for some 1,000 miles to the east, meaning that those islands of Kiribati in the Hawaiian time zone get the new day first. Hawaii, to the north and even a bit west, has to wait a full day later for the calendar to change over.
Go figure.
2006-09-01 00:01:11 · answer #3 · answered by SpisterMooner 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Chatham Islands are part of NZ, but they're on the other side of the 180 degree longitude line from NZ. The International Date Line wiggles around to include them on the same date as NZ to avoid confusion. But when you get off the plane there from NZ you have to set your watch forward 45 minutes. So they're 12 hours 45 minutes ahead of Greenwich. Tonga is 13 hours ahead of Greenwich, not 11 hours behind, even though Tonga is in the Western hemisphere. It's at the same longitude as Alaska.
2006-08-31 23:44:34 · answer #4 · answered by zee_prime 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tonga is the first country to see the new day. In fact they have their own timezone that is +13 GMT/UTC which deviates from the normal standard maximum of +/- 12 hours.
2006-09-01 20:03:37 · answer #5 · answered by someavgguy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think Guam might "hit" tomorrow first. As for last, I'm not sure.
2006-09-01 01:32:13 · answer #6 · answered by happywhereIam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋