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THE TIME of celebrations to welcome the new year 2026 in each region and country can vary depending on the time zone, with some being earlier or later than the arrival of the new year in Indonesia.
Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, in the Republic of Kiribati, will be the first region to welcome the new year 2026, according to the time and weather information website Timeanddate, as quoted on Wednesday (12/31), 2025. Kiritimati, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, is located in a time zone called Line Islands Time (LINT).
Because LINT is seven hours ahead of Western Indonesian Time (WIB), residents on the island will welcome the new year 2026 on Wednesday at 5:00 PM WIB. Following this, it will be the turn of residents of the Chatham Islands in New Zealand to welcome the new year at 12:00 AM Chatham Island Daylight Time (CHADT), which corresponds to 5:15 PM WIB.
Other cities in New Zealand, such as Wellington and Auckland, will ring in the new year 2026 at 6:00 PM WIB (Western Indonesian Time). In most parts of Australia, the new year 2026 will arrive between 8:00 PM WIB and 8:30 PM WIB.
East Asian countries such as South Korea, Japan, and North Korea will welcome the new year 2026 at 10:00 PM WIB, coinciding with the islands within the Eastern Indonesian Time (WIT) zone.
Meanwhile, the time for the transition from 2025 to 2026 in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines will coincide with areas such as Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara, which are within the Central Indonesian Time (WITA) zone.
Countries within the same time zone as areas within the Western Indonesian Time (WIT) zone include Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Western Indonesian Time (WIT) covers areas on the islands of Sumatra and Java, as well as Central and West Kalimantan.
After Indonesia, most countries in Europe and the Americas will welcome the arrival of 2026. The time difference between Indonesia and European countries is between six and seven hours, while the time in the Americas can be up to 12 hours behind Indonesia.
Baker Island and Howland Island, territories of the United States in the Pacific Ocean, will be the last to welcome the new year 2026. The two islands will enter 2026 on Thursday (January 1) at 7:00 p.m. Western Indonesian Time. [antaranews/photo special]
