1st into 2005
Out of context: Reply #2
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- 5timuli0
Anyone from here:
In 1995 Kiribati moved the International Date Line so that the entire country is on the western side of it. As a result, the line is as far East as 150°, farther east than Honolulu. Because of this eastern bulge in the International Date line, Kiribati has put forth the claim that Caroline Island at 10° 0' S 150° 15' W will be the first point of land where the Sun will rise. However, the Sun does not rise here until 15:43 (12/31) UT (5:43 AM local time), 32 minutes after it rises in the first place in the Antarctic on January 1, 2000 and 29 minutes later on January 1, 2001. Although it is in tropical seas, Caroline Island is not more accessible than Antarctica. Caroline Island is actually an atoll of 22 small islets stretched over 11 km protected by a very shallow reef, so you can only get there by shallow draft boat or seaplane.
Similarly, the Sun rises at South East Point on Christmas Island, the most south-easterly of the inhabited islands in Kiribati, at 16:31 (12/31) UT, 6:31 AM local time. The sunrise at Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand occurs 27 minutes earlier.