Based on New York City time, the New Year on the globe begins at 5:00 AM on December 31st, Samoa & Christmas Island, Kiribati. The entire globe has entered the New Year by 7:00 AM on January 1st, the last entrants being "Much of US Minor Outlying Islands - Baker Island, Howland Island". That is 26 hours, not 24!
This time zone map (courtesy Wiki) makes it clear why. Notice the funny shape of the international date line. Yes, Kiribati lies within the hammerhead, and is +14 hours ahead of UTC (GMT), while Howland Island and Baker Island are at the handle of the hammer and are 12 hours behind UTC.
This detail from another map from Wiki might help:
This time zone map (courtesy Wiki) makes it clear why. Notice the funny shape of the international date line. Yes, Kiribati lies within the hammerhead, and is +14 hours ahead of UTC (GMT), while Howland Island and Baker Island are at the handle of the hammer and are 12 hours behind UTC.
This detail from another map from Wiki might help:
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