The first New Year celebrations began on Wednesday in Australia and other Pacific countries, which said goodbye to a turbulent 2025 marked by conflicts such as Gaza and the return of Donald Trump to the White House. The year that ends was also one of the warmest ever recorded, with stifling temperatures that fueled forest fires in Europe and caused droughts in Africa and devastating rains in Southeast Asia. Pacific nations such as Kiribati and Samoa were the first to toast 2026, followed by New Zealand, whose capital Wellington was illuminated with fireworks.
WATCH LIVE THE CELEBRATIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR 2026:
In Sydneythe self-proclaimed “New Year capital of the world”, the preparations for New Year’s Eve have, however, had a bitter taste.
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Just two weeks ago, two men burst into a Jewish party on the popular Bondi beach and killed 15 people, the most serious massacre in the country in three decades.
An hour before midnight, parties paused for a minute’s silence as the Sydney Harbor Bridge was illuminated white as a symbol of peace.
“The joy we usually feel at the beginning of a new year is tempered by the sadness of the old,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a video message.
Even so, hundreds of thousands of spectators packed Sydney Harbor to watch the nine tons of pyrotechnics that were launched starting at midnight.
“Fireworks have always been on my bucket list and I am very happy to be here,” said Susana Suisuikli, an English tourist.
Celebrations are also eagerly awaited in dazzling New York or on the cold streets of Scotland with the Hogmanay festival.
But it will be the Brazilian beach of Copacabana that will see the largest New Year’s party on the planet with the expected arrival of 2.5 million people.
The event will feature concerts on three stages, led by the legendary Gilberto Gil, and a show with 1,200 drones, in addition to the traditional pyrotechnics show.
The countries and territories that receive the New Year 2026 first
The countries of the South Pacific are the first to say goodbye to the year 2025. The clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million inhabitants, 18 hours before the famous ball of the year falls in Times Square, New York.
The first place in the world to welcome the New Year 2026 is the Kiritimati Island (Christmas Island) in the Republic of Kiribatilocated in the UTC+14 time zone.
Here is the list of the first countries and territories to welcome 2026, in chronological order:
1. Time Zone UTC+14 (05:00 AM CDMX time, December 31)
- Kiribati: Specifically the Line Islands (includes Kiritimati and Banana).
2. Time Zone UTC+13:45 (05:15 AM CDMX time, December 31)
- New Zealand: Chatham Islands.
3. Time Zone UTC+13 (06:00 AM CDMX time, December 31)
- Samoa: He was one of the first to change his time zone to be “one day ahead.”
- Tonga: Known as “the land where time begins.”
- Fiji.
- New Zealand: Auckland and Wellington.
- Kiribati: Phoenix Islands.
4. Time Zone UTC+12 (07:00 AM CDMX time, December 31)
- Russia: Far Eastern regions such as Anadyr and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
- Tuvalu, Nauru and the Marshall Islands.
- Kiribati: Gilbert Islands.
5. Time Zone UTC+11 (08:00 AM CDMX time, December 31)
- Australia: Major cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
- Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
The last to receive the New Year 2026
The last places in the world to welcome the new year 2026 are in the central Pacificnear the International Date Line, but on the east side.
Here is the list of the latest countries and territories to welcome 2026:
1. Last places (Uninhabited) – UTC-12
Global celebrations officially end on these uninhabited US atolls, 26 hours after they began in Kiribati:
- Baker Island (USA).
- Howland Island (USA).
2. Last inhabited places – UTC-11
These are the populated points where 2026 reaches the end of the global day (05:00 AM on January 1 in CDMX):
- American Samoa: US territory considered the last inhabited place to receive the year.
- Niue: Commonwealth with New Zealand.
- Midway Islands: US territory with temporary population of scientists and staff.
- Jarvis Island, Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef: Mostly uninhabited US territories.
3. Penultimate group – UTC-10
- USA: Hawaii (Honolulu).
- French Polynesia: Society Islands (Tahiti and Bora Bora) and Tuamotu Archipelago.
- Cook Islands: (Rarotonga).
4. Second to last group – UTC-9:30 and UTC-9
- Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia) – UTC-9:30.
- Gambier Islands (French Polynesia) – UTC-9.
- USA: Alaska (Anchorage and Fairbanks) – UTC-9.
Labubus and spectacular robberies
2025 also witnessed the global fashion of Labubu dolls, the spectacular theft of jewelry at the Louvre in Paris or the long-awaited return of the K-pop group BTS.
Among the personalities whose deaths impacted various parts of the world were the British zoologist Jane Goodall, the Argentine Pope Francis (replaced by Leo
The return to power of US President Donald Trump in January has set the international agenda, starting with a tariff offensive that plunged world markets into chaos.
After two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, American pressure helped bring about a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine, triggered by the Russian invasion in 2022, is moving toward its fourth anniversary in February despite efforts in recent weeks to reach a truce.
On the other hand, Washington has increased its military presence in the Caribbean, has carried out numerous attacks against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the area and has requested the blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, in an unprecedented escalation with Caracas.
World and space missions
Latin America is also preparing to say goodbye to the year.
Mexico City organizes the traditional popular festival, attended every year by hundreds of thousands of people to dance and listen to electronic music, amid concern about the economic situation.
“The hope I have is that people will come to invest, there will be sources of work, so that the health services and the services to which we pensioners have access can also be in adequate conditions,” said Enrique Flores, 61 years old.
In Argentina there is also concern about the economy but without forgetting the 2026 Soccer World Cup, which will be held simultaneously in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
«I have a lot of faith and a lot of hope that Argentina will repeat that great feat. We come from being world champions [en Catar en 2022]”So I think yes, it can happen,” said Celeste Meza, 40, a cleaning employee in private homes.
In addition to sport, the next 12 months will be marked by space travel: more than 50 years after the last Apollo lunar mission, 2026 is shaping up to be the year in which humanity will once again set its sights on the Moon.
Without forgetting NASA’s Artemis II mission, backed by Elon Musk, which plans to launch a manned spacecraft that will orbit the Moon during a ten-day test flight.
