LIVE The world welcomes the New Year. Images from the countries that have already entered 2026: Total show with lights and fireworks in Dubai, on the tallest building in the world / VIDEO
In just a few hours, Romania will cross the threshold of 2026. The first country in the world to step into the new year was Kiribati, an island country located in the Pacific Ocean, 12 hours earlier than when Romania will start the countdown. Almost half of the Planet has already entered 2026.
It is 2026 in Iran and over half of Russia
More than half of Russia – which spans no less than 11 time zones – has already said goodbye to 2025. The capital Moscow is set to usher in the new year in less than half an hour.
Fireworks show in Dubai
The year 2026 has now arrived in Dubai, the luxurious city of the United Arab Emirates celebrating, as every year, with a spectacular play of lights.
The main attraction was, of course, the fireworks display from the tallest building in the world – the Burj Khalifa.
HAPPY NEW YEAR Dubai 🎆🎇 pic.twitter.com/E6cwGO81ZR
— Earth (@earthcurated) December 31, 2025
Happy New Year 2026 Dubai pic.twitter.com/jcFGytpUtd
— VIEW (@viewsoff_) December 31, 2025
In addition to the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Mauritius and Seychelles also passed the 2026 threshold.
Europe is getting ready to welcome the New Year
It's only a few hours until midnight strikes across Europe, ushering in the new year, but the festivities have already begun.
Much of Asia is already in 2026
Half an hour after India and Sri Lanka, the New Year also arrives in Pakistan. And soon it will be 2026 in the neighboring country of Afghanistan.
Much of Asia has already stepped into the new year. Asian countries celebrated the New Year with festivities, fireworks and spectacular drone demonstrations.
India has crossed into the new year
India, the country with the largest population in the world, of almost 1.5 billion inhabitants, also stepped forward in 2026, along with neighboring Sri Lanka.
At the same time, Nepal and Bangladesh celebrated the transition to the new year.
Fireworks are a common sight around the world as countries welcome the new year. In Hanoi, Vietnam, this colorful show did not disappoint.
New Year now welcomed in Thailand
Other countries in Asia have already stepped into the new year: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and western Indonesia.
In the capital Bangkok, Thais celebrated the entry into 2026:
Happy New Year Thailand! 🎉
Watch as fireworks fill the sky in Bangkok to welcome in 2026.
Follow live 👉 https://t.co/DP0mlQ1r19
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/njXc1VEIvM
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 31, 2025
It's 2026 and in China, Philippines, Indonesia
China and its 1.4 billion people have just entered the new year, along with the Philippines, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia.
They were joined by many other countries in this part of the world: Mongolia, Taiwan, Brunei, the Irkutsk region of Russia, the city of Perth in Western Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and some regions of Antarctica.
However, for many people in China, but also in other parts of Asia, the Chinese New Year (traditionally celebrated based on the lunar calendar) is the main holiday.
Japan and South Korea passed in 2026
The New Year was welcomed, at 17:00 Romanian time, also in Japan, South Korea and North Korea.
New Year, or Shogatsu, is also considered the most important holiday in Japan, with festivities lasting from December 31st to January 3rd.
During this time, families are reunited, businesses close down, and homes are decorated with bamboo and pine ornaments, the BBC reports.
The first countries to enter in 2026
The tiny atoll of Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, has officially welcomed the year 2026, becoming the first place in the world to do so, the BBC reports. Residents of the atoll that is part of the island country of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean celebrated the New Year at 12:00, Romanian time.
Kiribati is made up of several atolls – ring-shaped coral reefs – and stretches nearly 4,000 km from east to west. The archipelago has a population of approximately 116,000, with most of its islands being inhabited. Although it is almost directly south of Hawaii, Kiribati celebrates the New Year a full day earlier.
The 600 or so people who live on New Zealand's Chatham Islands were the next to welcome 2026, 15 minutes later. Around 100 residents spent their last moments in 2025 at the Chatham Hotel bar, the only one here.
The islands, with a population of just over 700, are located approximately 800 kilometers east of New Zealand and have their own time zone.
“What unites us all is the love we have for this place. That's what we'll always have in common,” Toni Croon, the hotel's owner, told the BBC.
“It is something special to welcome the year 2026 in such a remote and isolated place,” she emphasized.
Fireworks in New Zealand
At 1:00 p.m. Romanian time, champagne bottles were opened in New Zealand and the island nations of Samoa and Tonga.
Auckland saw elaborate light and firework displays in iconic areas of the city, notably the 328-metre Sky Tower, the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere.
Light shows and music also marked the New Year in the capital city of Wellington.
Spectacular fireworks in Australia
At 3:00 p.m., it was Sydney's turn. In the Australian metropolis, 9 tons of fireworks were launched into the sky around the iconic Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.
However, following the deadly terrorist attack on Bondi Beach two weeks ago, the celebrations on the famous beach have been cancelled.
The last place to welcome the New Year
After eastern Oceania, the list of places to enter first in 2026 continues with other countries and regions in the Pacific, including Fiji and parts of eastern Russia, as well as numerous islands in the South Pacific.
As night falls local time in East Asia, major metropolises such as Tokyo, Seoul or Beijing enter 2026.
Continuing west, New Year's Eve will be celebrated in Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and finally in North and South America.
American Samoa, located just 220 kilometers east of Samoa on the other side of the International Date Line, will be the last inhabited place on Earth to welcome the New Year.
