Editing Line Islands (section)

==Time zone realignment==
{{Further|Time in Kiribati}}
[[File:DateLine-with-Caroline-Island.PNG|thumb|300px|Following a 1995 time zone realignment, Millennium Island, then Caroline Island, (''red dot at far east of map'') became the easternmost land west of the International Date Line.]]

On 23 December 1994, the Republic of Kiribati announced a change of [[time zone]] for the Line Islands, to take effect from 31 December 1994. This adjustment effectively moved the [[International Date Line]] more than {{cvt|1000|km|mi}} to the east within Kiribati, which placed all of Kiribati on the Asian or western side of the date line, despite the fact that Millennium Island's longitude of 150 degrees west corresponds to [[UTC−10:00]] rather than to its official time zone of [[UTC+14:00]]. Millennium Island is now at the same time as the Hawaiian Islands ([[Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone]]), but one day ahead.<ref name="Harris">{{cite magazine |first=Aimee |last=Harris |url=http://www.trussel.com/kir/dateline.htm |title=Date Line Politics |magazine=Honolulu Magazine |page=20 |date=August 1999 |access-date=10 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628045504/http://trussel.com/kir/dateline.htm |archive-date = 28 June 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This move made Millennium Island (then Caroline Island) the easternmost land in the earliest time zone (by some definitions, the [[extremes on Earth|easternmost point on Earth]]), and one of the first points of land which saw sunrise on 1 January 2000 – at 5:43 am, as measured by local time.

<!-- Controversy over realignment -->
The move was the fulfilment of a campaign promise by Kiribati President [[Teburoro Tito]]. Previously, the country straddled the Date Line, thus being constantly in two different days. Kiribati officials later capitalised on the nation's new status as owners of the first land to see sunrise in 2000.<ref name="Kristof">{{cite news |first=Nicholas D. |last=Kristof |url=http://www.trussel.com/kir/kirnews1.htm |title=Tiny Island's Date-Line Jog in Race for Millennium |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 March 1997 |access-date=10 June 2006 |archive-date=13 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713051745/http://www.trussel.com/kir/kirnews1.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Other Pacific nations, including [[Tonga]] and New Zealand's [[Chatham Islands]], protested the move, objecting that it interfered with their own claims to be the first land to see dawn in the year 2000.<ref name="Letts">{{cite news |first=Quentin |last=Letts |url=http://www.trussel.com/kir/kirnews2.htm |title=Pacific braces for millennium storm over matter of degrees |newspaper=The Times |date=25 January 1996 |access-date=10 June 2006 |archive-date=28 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628045554/http://trussel.com/kir/kirnews2.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

<!-- Renaming and celebration -->
In 1999, to further capitalise upon the massive public interest in celebrations marking [[Millennium celebrations|the arrival of the year 2000]], Caroline Island was officially renamed Millennium Island. Although the island is uninhabited, a special celebration was held there to mark the occasion. It featured performances by native Kiribati entertainers and was attended by Kiribati's President Tito.<ref name="AP">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=2000 greeted with song, dance |date=1 January 2000 |newspaper=The Japan Times |url=http://www.trussel.com/kir/millen.htm |access-date=27 January 2017 |archive-date=13 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713052518/http://www.trussel.com/kir/millen.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Over 70 Kiribati singers and dancers travelled to Millennium Island from the capital, [[South Tarawa]],<ref name="warmly">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.climateark.org/articles/1999/milislgr.htm |title=Millennium Island greets Y2K warmly |publisher=ClimateArk.org |date=30 December 1999 |access-date=11 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050213142246/http://climateark.org/articles/1999/milislgr.htm |archive-date=13 February 2005}}</ref> accompanied by approximately 25 journalists. The celebration, which was broadcast worldwide by satellite, had an estimated audience size of as many as one billion viewers.<ref name="AP"/>