Samoa and Tokelau to Skip December 30

December 29, 2011

The South Pacific Nations of Samoa and Tokelau are about to cross the International Date Line. Tonight at midnight, the islands will jump from December 29 to December 31. The decision was made in order to standardize trading with their partners in the region. Our thoughts go out to all those with a December 30 birthday on the islands. Hopefully your families will not use this as an excuse to skip out on gifts. More information about the switch is here and here.

Samoa Flag

While we are on the topic, here is a story of Kiribati, which had to shift the International Date Line so it would not cut straight through the middle of their country. Before the shift, half of Kiribati was 22 hours ahead of the other half.