Dec. 30, 2011

Samoa is going back to the future this weekend, as it fast-forwards from Thursday, December 29, to Saturday, December 31, without pausing for Friday, December 30. The country’s time traveling comes 119 years after it rewound the calendar by celebrating July 4, 1892, twice. Samoa, one of a number of independent nations of the Pacific Islands, will now be the first country to ring in the new year, instead of the last.

Until midnight on Dec. 29, 2011, Samoa was located on the eastern side of the international date line. This imaginary line, which generally follows the 180th meridian, marks the spot on Earth’s surface where each new calendar day begins. The date just to the west of the international date line is one day later than the date just to the east of the line. The line veers from the 180th meridian in some places to keep countries, such as Kiribati, or islands, such as Fiji, in the same time zone. No international body is responsible for determining a country’s time zone, so Samoa was free to switch.

The international date line runs down the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It follows the 180th meridian most of the way, but zigzags in several places to avoid having two different calendar dates on the same day in a country. Samoa is located just to the northeast of Fiji. World Book map

Samoan officials said the move was made chiefly to link the island nation more closely to Australia, New Zealand, and other major trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region. Commerce was the chief reason Samoa switched time zones in 1892, moving from west to east of the international date line so it would be on the same side as the United States. Samoa made that change on July 4, marking America’s Independence Day twice in honor of the United States. Modern Samoan officials also cited family life as a reason for the latest move. Many native Samoans live in Australia and New Zealand.

Additional World Book articles

• American Samoa
• Fleming, Sir Sandford
• Greenwich meridian
• Longitude
• Samoa Islands