[Leica] Kiribati

[Frank Filippone]

Kiribati, an archipelagic nation on the equator, consists <https://www.britannica.com/place/Kiribati> of 33 islands spanning over 1,800 miles across 
the central Pacific Ocean. Even with this vast breadth, Kiribati’s total land area measures only 313 square miles. Kiribati’s eastern territory 
includes eight of the Line Islands, an archipelago through which the International Date Line runs. Thanks to this, the island of Kiritimati is the 
first region <https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/which-country-celebrates-new-year-first> anywhere in the world to ring in the New Year.

While parts of Kiribati are located in the Western Hemisphere, Kiritimati is actually located in the Eastern Hemisphere, meaning the country is the 
only nation in the world with land in all four hemispheres. Despite this, the entirety of Kiribati lies within the world’s earliest time zones due to 
a quirk with the International Date Line, which circumvents the Line Islands and swings around to the east. This places Kiritimati within the UTC +14 
<https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/kiribati> time zone. After Kiribati celebrates, Tonga, Samoa, and parts of New Zealand ring in the New Year one 
hour later <https://en.as.com/latest_news/which-country-celebrates-new-years-first-n/>.

Frank Filippone
BMWRed735i at Gmail.com