For the second time in a dozen years, Samoa has a change in when it celebrates New Years, and this time the change loses it the shared distinction of being the first country in the world to hit midnight, a distinction it shared with Kiribati.
The shift may come as a surprise to some of the many Samoans who head home for New Year from Australia and New Zealand, although it will still be slightly ahead of New Zealand. The change results from Samoa, which had been closed to visitor during the pandemic, abandoning daylight savings time a year ago.
The previous shift, eleven years ago, moved Samoa from one of the last to one of the first to hit the new year simply by moving to the other side of the International Date Line to line up with its major trade partners, Australia and New Zealand.
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