There are 24 hours in a day, during which the globe makes a revolution around its axis. The territory of our country is huge, so it was fortunate enough to accommodate more than a dozen time zones. It is interesting to know where the New Year is celebrated first, and where the last, as well as how many times you can celebrate the holiday if you have the opportunity to cross the country in a short period of time.
Which towns and cities will be the first to celebrate the New Year?
Before the rest, glasses of sparkling wine are raised by residents of the easternmost point of the country - the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The island of Ratmanov is considered the beginning, but there is no permanent population here, only the base of the Russian border guards. The infrastructure includes a polar station, a frontier post, and many buildings. But it is not at all necessary to go there to be the first to celebrate the New Year. The time zone also applies to other settlements in Chukotka and Kamchatka.
Of the inhabited settlements, a significant day, as well as the celebration, are the first to begin at Cape Uelen on the Chukchi Sea. The climate in the village is subarctic, even in summer the average temperature is +7 ° C. The main occupation of local residents is fishing, marine hunting. There is a boarding school, a kindergarten, a hospital, a telecommunication department, a post office, a House of Culture. Since 2011, a mobile communication has been carried out in the village.
The easternmost city, Anadyr, located in the permafrost zone, can provide more comfortable conditions, if one wishes to be the first to celebrate the New Year. It is the capital of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. More than 15,000 inhabitants live here, engaged mainly in gold and coal mining, reindeer husbandry, fishing, and hunting. The infrastructure and communications are quite well developed here.
How many times in the country can you celebrate the New Year?
The Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On the Calculation of Time" for 26.10.2014 established 11 time zones. In turn, they correspond to the international numbering of belts from 2nd to 12th. The boundaries of the zones coincide with the subjects of the Russian Federation. If it is possible to move from one point to another, then it will turn out to celebrate the New Year as many as 11 times.
The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) uses the time of three time zones at once - MSK + 6, +7, +8, which is explained by its large geographical length.
The sequence of celebrating the New Year on the territory of Russia:
- 15:00 - Kamchatka Territory, Chukotka Autonomous District;
- 16:00 - Middle Kolyma time - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Primorsky Territory, Magadan and Jewish Autonomous Regions;
- 17:00 - Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Ussuriisk;
- 18:00 - Yakut time - Chita, Blagoveshchensk, Transbaikalia, Amur region;
- 19:00 - Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Buryatia;
- 20:00 - Altai, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kemerovo, Tomsk and Novosibirsk Regions, Republic of Tyva;
- 21:00 - Omsk, Sverdlovsk regions;
- 22:00 - Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Republic of Bashkortostan, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District;
- 23:00 - Samara, Udmurtia, Astrakhan, Saratov;
- 24:00 - Moscow region, North Caucasus, central Russia;
- 01:00 - Kaliningrad region.
The Russian Federation is the only state in the world that celebrates this holiday so many times.
Who is the last one in the Russian Federation to celebrate the New Year?
Muscovites and those who live according to Moscow time will meet the coming year next to the last. The final point with the striking of the clock and champagne in glasses is the Kaliningrad region. The territory of the country is huge, and Kaliningrad is also geographically separated from it. The region borders with Lithuania, Poland, washed by the Baltic Sea and its bays. It is also the westernmost point of the Russian Federation.
Numerous travel agencies offer tours to the regional capital. You can come to the city on your own solely to celebrate the New Year, or additionally stay for a few days. In the latter case, it is recommended to visit the main attractions - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the museums of Kant, amber and the world's oceans, the House of Councils, the hunting castle, the zoo, the Botanical Garden, the Curonian Spit National Park.
Directly New Year can be celebrated on the central Victory Square. Locals usually gather near the cathedral, where a decorated city Christmas tree stands nearby. Anyone can come to the holiday, but alcohol is prohibited. The program is standard - music, dancing, entertaining performances, family contests, fireworks. Festivities in Kaliningrad continue until almost the middle of the month.
A table in a cafe or restaurant must be ordered in advance. In many establishments, New Year's programs in European traditions await guests.
When do other countries of the world celebrate the New Year?
Not everyone is looking forward to January 1 as a holiday, for many states it is an ordinary day. Nevertheless, people celebrating the New Year may need information on where else to celebrate it, depending on the time zone, starting from January 31st:
- 13:00 - Line Islands of the State of Kiribati;
- 1:15 pm - Chatham Archipelago in New Zealand;
- 14:00 - Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand;
- 15:00 - Wake Island in the USA, Wallis and Futuna in France;
- 15:30 - Norfolk Island in Australia;
- 16:00 - Solomon Islands, Vanuatu;
- 18:00 - Japan;
- 21:00 - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan;
- 22:00 - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan;
- 23:00 - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan;
- 00:00 - South Ossetia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar;
- 01:00 - Finland, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece, Israel, Cyprus;
- 02:00 - Western European countries of Europe;
- 03:00 - England, Portugal, West Africa;
- 05:00 - Uruguay, Brazil;
- 06:00 - Argentina;
- 07:00 - Canada;
- 07:30 - Venezuela;
- 08:00 - Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru;
- 12:00 - Alaska;
- 13:00 - Hawaii, West Samoa;
- 14:00 - American Samoa.
Among other peoples, in different religions, the celebration of the New Year is not always associated with the beginning of the calendar. Moreover, some nationalities lead their own chronology, which has nothing to do with the generally accepted one. The lunar cycle and the astrological calendar serve as a reference point there.
When and how the New Year is celebrated in other countries:
- France. They celebrate December 31 - Saint Sylvester's Day, and January 1 - the First day of the new year. Unlike Catholic Christmas, Christmas is celebrated among friends, not with family. Money is most often presented as a gif.webpt. The New Year's meal is called revayon, it assumes the presence of foie gras on the table, as well as champagne. An old tradition on holidays is the kiss under the mistletoe. Even on this night, it is customary to take on New Year's obligations - to set goals, plan long-awaited changes in the coming year.
- Great Britain. Also celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar on the night of December 31 to January 1. It is considered a less significant event than Christmas, therefore it is not customary to present gif.webpts. The exception is Scotland, where the opposite is true. Traditional dishes for the New Year are fried duck, steaks, apple pie, oat cakes, pudding, cheese. The main national drink is punch. At the end of December, a festive parade procession takes place in London's streets.
- Italy. On the night of January 1, in the central parts of cities, crowds of people walk along avenues, the movement of vehicles is temporarily suspended. One of the old Italian traditions for the New Year is to throw old and broken household items and things out of the windows into the street.
- USA. Also celebrated on the night of January 1st. Catholic Christmas is preferred and celebrated with family. But recently, attention has been paid to the New Year, which is of a public nature.The main meeting place for the upcoming event in America is Times Square in New York. Here, the crowd awaits the descent of a shiny ball - a symbol of the New Year.
- China. After 1911, this event in the Celestial Empire is called the Spring Festival. The date is tied to the winter new moon at the end of the full lunar cycle, which has passed after the winter solstice, or in other words - the 2nd new moon after December 21. The dates fall between January 21 and February 21. The Chinese New Year is named because of this tie to the phases of the night star as Lunar. The first day is opened by launching fireworks and lighting incense.
- India. This country holds the record for the number of New Years celebrations due to the intersection of many cultures and religions. Adherents of Christianity celebrate January 1, Muslims - on the first day of the month of Muharram, some locals - on Diwali, Lori holiday in North India - January 13-14, the traditional Indian New Year falls on the first day of the month of Chaitra - March 21-22. Each region of the country has its own dates and customs of the celebration. Each time, the event is held in a big way and with fun.
- Thailand. Western traditions have not bypassed the Thais, so the habit of celebrating the holiday on January 1 is gradually emerging. But the traditional Thai New Year falls on April 13-15 and is called Songkran. This is a family holiday of Buddhists, when it is customary to present delicious colorful dishes to the priests of the temples. Homemade Buddha figurine is washed by water with rose petals and jasmine blossoms. Thai youth, according to ancient customs, pour clean water over each other. Songkran symbolizes the change of the year according to the ancient Indian astrological calendar, takes place at the junction of two seasons - hot and rainy.
- Israel. The Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah is celebrated for 2 days during the moon birth phase of the Tishri month. The date is constantly changing, falls in autumn - September, October. On the evening of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to congratulate people with the wish to be recorded in the Book of Life. It is customary to dip the bakery product in the honey prepared by the ritual of fumigating with incense, so that the next year will be just as rich and sweet. It is also common to serve apples with honey on the festive table.
New Year is celebrated in almost all countries of the world. In most cases, the holiday falls on January 1st. In the Russian Federation, it is possible to meet as many as 11 times due to the large extent of the territory and the change of time zones. The residents of Kamchatka are the first to celebrate the coming of next year, and the last to celebrate the Kaliningrad region.
