The island nation of Kiribati is the first to greet a new day, because it is
positioned just east of the International Date Line. So by the time
we are discussing Saturday's Kiribati holiday, let's say at noontime
in the U.S., it is already Sunday morning on Kiribati!
So
we are already out of date. Sigh. It's a big world, with 39 time
zones.
(I
would have thought that there would be 24 time zones, with 24 hours
in the day, but some nations have adopted offsets from Greenwich Time
that are not even-hour offsets. For example, I live in the time zone
called Pacific Standard Time, which is 8 hours behind Greenwich Time,
which is an even-hour offset. India and Nepal have chosen not to have
even-hour offsets; India is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich
Time, and Nepal is 5 hours and 45 minutes ahead.)
Kiribati
is a small nation, as many island nations are. The 33 islands combine
to be quite a bit smaller than the city of San Diego, California (a
city near me). Yet, despite the nation's small size, it spreads out
over three time zones! It's incredible that the much larger nation of
India has chosen to have only one time zone. In comparison, the U.S.,
including Alaska and Hawaii, spreads out over six time zones!
Hey,
you know what?
Remember,
at the beginning of this piece, I was complaining that my info on
today's holiday is coming to you when it is already yesterday on
Kiribati? Well, guess what? Today on Kiribati (which is tomorrow
where I live in California) is Uniwaine (Elderly
Man) Day.
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