The first celebrations of 2026 are happening on Kiritimati, an atoll in the remote Pacific nation of Kiribati, marking the start of the new year at 10:00 GMT / 11:00 CET. Kiritimati is home to around 6,500 residents, and it's part of Kiribati's 33 atolls, which together stretch across more than 3.5 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. Kiribati made headlines in the 1990s when it adjusted its clocks across the international date line, so all islands would share the same date. That made Kiritimati the world's first island to welcome the new year, a title it still holds today.
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New Year LIVE: Follow the countdown to 2026 as it happens across the world.