128-540: The International Date Line ( IDL ) is the line extending between the South and North Poles that is the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean , roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and deviating to pass around some territories and island groups. Crossing the date line eastbound decreases the date by one day, while crossing the date line westbound increases
256-633: A Historic Site or Monument (HSM 1) following a proposal by Argentina to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting . In 1820, several expeditions claimed to have been the first to have sighted Antarctica, with the first being the Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev . The first landing was probably just over a year later when English-born American captain John Davis ,
384-414: A de facto date line did exist since the U.K., India, and the U.S. had the same calendar with different local times, and he should have noticed when he arrived in the U.S. that the local date was not the same as in his diary (his servant Jean Passepartout kept his watch set to London time, despite the clues from his surroundings). Ceremonies aboard ships to mark a sailor's or passenger's first crossing of
512-455: A change of date for its eastern half by removing Saturday, 31 December 1994 from its calendar. Because of this, Friday, 30 December 1994, was followed by Sunday, 1 January 1995. After the change, the IDL in effect moved eastwards to go around the entire country. Strictly legal, the 1917 nautical IDL convention is still valid. For example, when it is Monday on Kiribati's islands, it is still Sunday in
640-471: A few minutes earlier. In other words, the secular days are legally different but they are physically the same; that causes questions to arise under religious law. Because the IDL is an arbitrary imposition, the question can arise as to which Saturday on either side of the IDL (or, more fundamentally, on either side of 180 degrees longitude) is the "real" Saturday. This issue (which also arises in Judaism )
768-439: A full day to his clock, at the rhythm of an hour per fifteen degrees, or four minutes per degree, as Verne writes. At the time, the concept of a de jure International Date Line did not exist. If it did, he would have been made aware that it would be a day less than it used to be once he reached this line. Thus, the day he would add to his clock throughout his journey would be thoroughly removed upon crossing this imaginary line. But
896-615: A grave, in the midst of the white men's sugar fields". The Germans, in particular, began to show great commercial interest in the Samoan Islands , especially on the island of Upolu, where German firms monopolised copra and cocoa bean processing. The United States laid its own claim, based on commercial shipping interests in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and Pago Pago Bay in eastern Samoa, and forced alliances, most conspicuously on
1024-665: A larger force of Samoan rebels loyal to Mataʻafa Iosefo . Supporting Prince Tanu were landing parties from four British and American warships. After several days of fighting, the Samoan rebels were finally defeated. American and British warships shelled Apia on 15 March 1899, including the USS Philadelphia . Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States quickly resolved to end the hostilities and divided
1152-593: A larger-scale war seemed imminent. A massive storm on 15 March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict. The Second Samoan Civil War reached a head in 1898 when Germany , the United Kingdom , and the United States were locked in dispute over who should control the Samoan Islands. The Siege of Apia occurred in March 1899. Samoan forces loyal to Prince Tanu were besieged by
1280-657: A matter of practical convenience the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station keeps New Zealand Time (UTC+12/UTC+13). This is because the US flies its resupply missions (" Operation Deep Freeze ") out of McMurdo Station , which is supplied from Christchurch , New Zealand. Due to its exceptionally harsh climate, there are no native resident plants or animals at the South Pole. Off-course south polar skuas and snow petrels are occasionally seen there. In 2000 it
1408-548: A new day and a New Year are islands that use UTC+14:00. These include portions of the Republic of Kiribati , including Millennium Island in the Line Islands. The first major cities to experience a new day are Auckland and Wellington , New Zealand ( UTC+12:00 ; UTC+13:00 with daylight saving time). A 1994 realignment of the IDL made Caroline Island one of the first points of land on Earth to reach January 1, 2000, on
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#17327654511971536-490: A one day date change. The 14th century Arab geographer Abulfeda predicted that circumnavigators would accumulate a one-day offset to the local date. This phenomenon was confirmed in 1522 at the end of the Magellan–Elcano expedition , the first successful circumnavigation. After sailing westward around the world from Spain, the expedition called at Cape Verde for provisions on Wednesday, 9 July 1522 (ship's time). However,
1664-453: A population of some 38,000 Samoans and 1,500 Europeans. However, native Samoans greatly resented New Zealand's colonial rule, and blamed inflation and the catastrophic 1918 flu epidemic on its misrule. By the late 1920s the resistance movement against colonial rule had gathered widespread support. One of the Mau leaders was Olaf Frederick Nelson , a half Samoan and half Swedish merchant. Nelson
1792-466: A sealer, set foot on the ice. The basic geography of the Antarctic coastline was not understood until the mid-to-late 19th century. American naval officer Charles Wilkes claimed (correctly) that Antarctica was a new continent, basing the claim on his exploration in 1839–40, while James Clark Ross , in his expedition of 1839–1843, hoped that he might be able to sail all the way to the South Pole; He
1920-581: A time zone of their own choosing. The IDL on the map in this article and all other maps is based on the de facto line and is an artificial construct of cartographers, as the precise course of the line in international waters is arbitrary. The IDL does not extend into Antarctica on the world time zone maps by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the United Kingdom's His Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO). The IDL on modern CIA maps now reflects
2048-530: Is Apia . The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity . Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with 11 administrative divisions . It is a sovereign state and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations . Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. Because of
2176-462: Is Saturday, 21 December and that he has lost the wager by a margin of only five minutes. The next day, however, it is revealed that the day is Saturday, not Sunday, and Fogg arrives at his club just in time to win the bet. Verne explains: In journeying eastward he [Fogg] had gone towards the sun, and the days therefore diminished for him as many times four minutes as he crossed degrees in this direction. There are three hundred and sixty degrees on
2304-414: Is a matai and a long-serving senior member of cabinet, who was elected Prime Minister in 2021. Other women in politics include Samoan scholar and eminent professor Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa , orator-chief Matatumua Maimoana and Safuneituʻuga Paʻaga Neri (former Minister of Communication and Technology). The judicial system incorporates English common law and local customs. The Supreme Court of Samoa
2432-459: Is a particular problem for Seventh Day Adventists, Seventh Day Baptists , and similar churches located in countries near the IDL. In Tonga , Seventh Day Adventists (who usually observe Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath ) observe Sunday because Tonga lies east of the 180° meridian. Sunday as observed in Tonga (west of the IDL, as with Kiribati, Samoa, and parts of Fiji and Tuvalu) is considered by
2560-476: Is always low in the sky, reaching a maximum of approximately 23.5° around the December solstice because of the approximately 23.5° tilt of the earth's axis. Much of the sunlight that does reach the surface is reflected by the white snow. This lack of warmth from the sun, combined with the high altitude (about 2,800 metres (9,200 ft)), means that the South Pole has one of the coldest climates on Earth (though it
2688-424: Is appointed by the head of state to form a government. The prime minister's choices for the 12 cabinet positions are appointed by the head of state, subject to the continuing confidence of the legislative assembly. Prominent women in Samoan politics include the late Laʻulu Fetauimalemau Mataʻafa (1928–2007) from Lotofaga constituency, the wife of Samoa's first prime minister. Their daughter Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
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#17327654511972816-626: Is distinct from the South Magnetic Pole , the position of which is defined based on Earth's magnetic field . The South Pole is the center of the Southern Hemisphere . 90°S 0°E / 90°S 0°E / -90; 0 For most purposes, the Geographic South Pole is defined as the southern point of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface (the other being
2944-559: Is first mentioned by 12th-century decisors. But it was not until the introduction of improved transportation and communications systems in the 20th century that the question of an International Date Line truly became a question of practical Jewish law. As a practical matter, the conventional International Date Line—or another line in the Pacific Ocean close to it—serves as a de facto date line for purposes of Jewish law, at least in existing Jewish communities. For example, residents of
3072-496: Is immediately east of the IDL. A problem with the general rule above arises in certain Christian churches that solemnly observe a Sabbath day as a particular day of the week, when those churches are located in countries near the IDL. Notwithstanding the difference in dates, the same sunrise happened over American Samoa as happens over Samoa a few minutes later, and the same sunset happens over Samoa as happened over American Samoa
3200-455: Is known as O le Ao o le Malo in Samoan, and since its establishment only paramount chiefs have held the office. The current head of state is Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II , who was elected by the legislature in 2017 and again in 2022. The Legislative Assembly or Fono is the unicameral legislature, consisting of 51 members serving five year terms. Forty-nine are matai title-holders elected from territorial districts by Samoans;
3328-499: Is located about 1,300 km (810 mi) from the nearest open sea at the Bay of Whales . The ice is estimated to be about 2,700 m (8,900 ft) thick at the Pole, so the land surface under the ice sheet is actually near sea level. The polar ice sheet is moving at a rate of roughly 10 m (33 ft) per year in a direction between 37° and 40° west of grid north, down towards
3456-597: Is not quite the coldest; that record goes to the region in the vicinity of the Vostok Station , also in Antarctica, which lies at a higher elevation). The South Pole is at an altitude of 9,200 feet (2,800 m) but feels like 11,000 feet (3,400 m). Centripetal force from the spin of the planet throws the atmosphere toward the equator. The South Pole is colder than the North Pole primarily because of
3584-525: Is the court of highest jurisdiction. The Chief Justice of Samoa is appointed by the head of state upon the recommendation of the prime minister. Samoa comprises eleven itūmālō (political districts). These are the traditional eleven districts which predate European arrival. Each district has its own constitutional foundation ( faʻavae ) based on the traditional order of title precedence found in each district's faalupega (traditional salutations). The capital village of each district administers and coordinates
3712-626: The Jumu'ah prayer appears to be local Friday everywhere in the world. The IDL is not a factor in the start and end of Islamic lunar months. These depend solely on sighting the new crescent moon . As an example, the fasts of the month of Ramadan begin the morning after the crescent is sighted. That this day may vary in different parts of the world is well known in Islam. (See Ramadan § Beginning .) The concept of an International Date Line in Jewish law
3840-716: The 180° meridian except where it is interrupted by territorial waters adjacent to land, forming gaps—it is a pole-to-pole dashed line. The 15° gore that is offset from UTC by 12 hours is bisected by the nautical date line into two 7.5° gores that differ from UTC by ±12 hours. In theory, ships are supposed to adopt the standard time of a country if they are within its territorial waters within 12 nautical miles (14 mi; 22 km) of land, then revert to international time zones (15° wide pole-to-pole gores ) as soon as they leave. In practice, ships use these time zones only for radio communication and similar purposes. For internal (within-ship) purposes, such as work and meal hours, ships use
3968-510: The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition . There have been many subsequent expeditions to arrive at the South Pole by surface transportation, including those by Havola, Crary , and Fiennes . The first group of women to reach the pole were Pam Young, Jean Pearson, Lois Jones , Eileen McSaveney , Kay Lindsay, and Terry Tickhill in 1969. In 1978–79, Michele Eileen Raney became the first woman to winter at
International Date Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
4096-469: The Cook Islands , Niue , and French Polynesia are east of the IDL and one day behind. The IDL then bends southwest to return to 180°. It follows that meridian until reaching Antarctica , which has multiple time zones . Conventionally, the IDL is not drawn into Antarctica on most maps. (See § Cartographic practice and convention below.) According to the clock, the first areas to experience
4224-544: The Dutch East Indies and adjacent areas, so the Philippines decided to join its Asian neighbours on the west side of the IDL. To advance the calendar by one day, on 16 August 1844 the then governor-general Narciso Claveria , ordered that Tuesday, 31 December 1844 should be removed from the calendar. Monday, 30 December 1844 was followed immediately by Wednesday, 1 January 1845 . The change also applied to
4352-532: The Geographic North Pole ). However, Earth's axis of rotation is actually subject to very small "wobbles" ( polar motion ), so this definition is not adequate for very precise work. The geographic coordinates of the South Pole are usually given simply as 90°S, since its longitude is geometrically undefined and irrelevant. When a longitude is desired, it may be given as 0°. At the South Pole, all directions face north. For this reason, directions at
4480-1020: The Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa ( Samoan : Sāmoa i Sisifo ), is an island country in Polynesia , consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu ); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima ); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands ( Nuʻutele , Nuʻulua , Fanuatapu and Namua ). Samoa is located 64 km (40 mi) west of American Samoa , 889 km (552 mi) northeast of Tonga , 1,152 km (716 mi) northeast of Fiji , 483 km (300 mi) east of Wallis and Futuna , 1,151 km (715 mi) southeast of Tuvalu , 519 km (322 mi) south of Tokelau , 4,190 km (2,600 mi) southwest of Hawaii , and 610 km (380 mi) northwest of Niue . The capital and largest city
4608-621: The League of Nations , then through the United Nations. Between 1919 and 1962, Samoa was administered by the Department of External Affairs , a government department which had been specially created to oversee New Zealand's Island Territories and Samoa. In 1943, this department was renamed the Department of Island Territories after a separate Department of External Affairs was created to conduct New Zealand's foreign affairs. During
4736-855: The London Missionary Society arrived on Tahiti from England. They had first tried to pass Cape Horn , but failing that, went along Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean instead. As such, they introduced the date of the eastern hemisphere on the island. It was not until the ending of the Franco-Tahitian War and the restoration of the French Protectorate over the Tahitian Kingdom (which Tahitian nationalists had tried to fight off for two years of intense war with more than 1000 deaths) that
4864-490: The Weddell Sea . Therefore, the position of the station and other artificial features relative to the geographic pole gradually shift over time. The Geographic South Pole is marked by a stake in the ice alongside a small sign; these are repositioned each year in a ceremony on New Year's Day to compensate for the movement of the ice. The sign records the respective dates that Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott reached
4992-625: The election , ending the rule of long-term Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), although the constitutional crisis complicated and delayed this. On 24 May 2021, she was sworn in as the new prime minister, though it was not until July that the Supreme Court ruled that her swearing-in was legal, thus ending the constitutional crisis and bringing an end to Tuilaʻepa's 22-year premiership. The FAST party's success in
5120-405: The 180° meridian until passing the equator . Two U.S.-owned uninhabited atolls, Howland Island and Baker Island , just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean (and ships at sea between 172.5°W and 180°), have the earliest time on Earth ( UTC−12:00 hours). The IDL circumscribes Kiribati by swinging far to the east, almost reaching the 150°W meridian . Kiribati's easternmost islands,
5248-505: The 2021 election and subsequent court rulings also ended nearly four decades of HRPP rule. The 1960 constitution , which formally came into force with independence from New Zealand in 1962, builds on the British pattern of parliamentary democracy , modified to take account of Samoan customs. The national modern Government of Samoa is referred to as the Malo . The head of state of Samoa
International Date Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-556: The Americans or the British. The second major incident arose out of an initially peaceful protest by the Mau (which literally translates as "strongly held opinion"), a non-violent popular pro-independence movement which had its beginnings in the early 1900s on Savai'i, led by Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe , an orator chief deposed by Solf. In 1909, Lauaki was exiled to Saipan and died en route back to Samoa in 1915. By 1918, Western Samoa had
5504-457: The Antarctic coast to the South Pole and back. The two expeditions started from Hercules Inlet a day apart, with Gamme starting first, but completing according to plan the last few kilometers together. As Gamme traveled alone he thus simultaneously became the first to complete the task solo. On 28 December 2018, Captain Lou Rudd became the first Briton to cross the Antarctic unassisted via
5632-641: The British Antarctic Expedition ( Nimrod Expedition ) in a bid to reach the Pole. On 9 January 1909, with three companions, he reached 88°23' S – 112 miles (180 km) from the Pole ;– before being forced to turn back. The first men to reach the Geographic South Pole were the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his party on 14 December 1911. Amundsen named his camp Polheim and the entire plateau surrounding
5760-555: The Day Before (1994), in which the protagonist finds himself on a becalmed ship, with an island close at hand on the other side of the IDL. Unable to swim, the protagonist indulges in increasingly imaginative speculation regarding the physical, metaphysical and religious importance of the IDL. The concept behind the IDL (though not the IDL itself, which did not yet exist) appears as a plot device in Jules Verne 's book Around
5888-605: The Equator, as well as crossing the International Date Line, have been long-held traditions in navies and in other maritime services around the world. 0°N 180°W / 0°N 180°W / 0; -180 South Pole The South Pole , also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole , is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipodally on
6016-731: The French commissioner Armand Joseph Bruat and the regent of the Tahitian Kingdom Paraita ordered that Tahiti had to follow the western hemisphere on 29 December 1846. Alaska was on the western side of the International Date Line, since Russian settlers reached Alaska from Siberia . In addition, the Russian Empire was still using the Julian calendar , which had fallen 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar . In 1867,
6144-586: The Hawaiian date, so was effectively east of the International Date Line (unlike the rest of the Marshalls). Kwajalein returned to the west side of the IDL by removing Saturday, 21 August 1993 from its calendar. Moreover, Kwajalein's work week was changed to Tuesday through Saturday to match the Hawaiian work week of Monday through Friday on the other side of the IDL. As a British colony, the Kiribati colony
6272-564: The IDL. Christmas for example, is celebrated on 25 December (according to either the Gregorian or the Julian calendar , depending upon which of the two is used by the particular church) as that date falls in countries located on either side of the IDL. Thus, whether it is Western Christmas or Orthodox Christmas, Christians in Samoa, immediately west of the IDL, will celebrate the holiday a day before Christians in American Samoa, which
6400-602: The Jewish communities of Japan, New Zealand, Hawaii , and French Polynesia all observe Shabbat on local Saturday. However, there is not unanimity as to how Jewish law reaches that conclusion. For this reason, some authorities rule that certain aspects of Sabbath observance are required on Sunday (in Japan and New Zealand) or Friday (in Hawaii and French Polynesia) in addition to Saturday. Additionally, there are differences of opinion as to which day or days individual Jews traveling in
6528-506: The Mau as a legitimate political organisation, and Olaf Nelson was allowed to return from exile. In September 1936, Samoans exercised for the first time the right to elect the members of the advisory Fono of Faipule , with representatives of the Mau movement winning 31 of the 39 seats. After repeated efforts by the Samoan independence movement, the New Zealand Western Samoa Act of 24 November 1961 terminated
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#17327654511976656-562: The New Zealand authorities banned the organisation. As many as 1500 Mau men took to the bush, pursued by an armed force of 150 marines and seamen from the light cruiser HMS Dunedin , and 50 military police. They were supported by a seaplane flown by Flight Lieutenant Sidney Wallingford of the New Zealand Permanent Air Force . Villages were raided, often at night and with fixed bayonets. In March, through
6784-454: The Pacific as to which day is really the seventh-day Sabbath. The Samoan Independent Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is not affiliated to the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, has decided to continue worshiping on Saturday, after a six-day week at the end of 2011. The Islamic calendar and Muslim communities recognize the convention of the IDL. In particular, the day for holding
6912-459: The Pacific region away from established Jewish communities should observe Shabbat. For individuals crossing the IDL, the change of calendar date influences some aspects of practice under Jewish law. Yet other aspects depend on an individual's experience of sunsets and sunrises to count days, notwithstanding the calendar date. The IDL is a central factor in Umberto Eco 's book The Island of
7040-866: The Philippines for Spain on Saturday, 16 March 1521 , having sailed westwards from Seville across the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean . As part of New Spain , the Philippines had its most important communication with Acapulco in Mexico , so it was on the eastern side of the IDL despite being on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean . As a result, the Philippines was one day behind its Asian neighbours for 323 years, 9 months and 14 days from Saturday, 16 March 1521 (Julian Calendar) until Monday, 30 December 1844 (Gregorian Calendar) . After Mexico gained its independence from Spain on 27 September 1821, Philippine trade interests turned to Imperial China ,
7168-654: The Pole King Haakon VII Vidde in honour of King Haakon VII of Norway . Robert Falcon Scott returned to Antarctica with his second expedition, the Terra Nova Expedition , initially unaware of Amundsen's secretive expedition. Scott and four other men reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, thirty-four days after Amundsen. On the return trip, Scott and his four companions all died of starvation and extreme cold. In 1914 Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set out with
7296-515: The Pole are given relative to "grid north", which points northward along the prime meridian . Along tight latitude circles, clockwise is east, and counterclockwise is west, opposite to the North Pole . The Geographic South Pole is presently located on the continent of Antarctica , although this has not been the case for all of Earth's history because of continental drift . It sits atop a featureless, barren, windswept and icy plateau at an altitude of 2,835 m (9,301 ft) above sea level, and
7424-477: The Pole, followed by a short quotation from each man, and gives the elevation as "9,301 FT. ". A new marker stake is designed and fabricated each year by staff at the site. The Ceremonial South Pole is an area set aside for photo opportunities at the South Pole Station . It is located some meters from the Geographic South Pole, and consists of a metallic sphere on a short barber pole, surrounded by
7552-616: The Samoans' seafaring skills, pre-20th-century European explorers referred to the entire island group , including American Samoa, as the "Navigator Islands". The country was a colony of the German Empire from 1899 to 1915, then came under a joint British and New Zealand colonial administration until 1 January 1962, when it became independent. The islands of Samoa were formed during the Miocene period around 7 million years ago. For
7680-432: The Seventh-day Adventist Church to be the same day as Saturday observed east of the IDL. Most Seventh Day Adventists in Samoa planned to observe Sabbath on Sunday after Samoa's crossing the IDL in December 2011, but SDA groups in Samatau village and other places (approximately 300 members) decided to accept the IDL adjustment and observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Debate continues within the Seventh-day Adventist community in
7808-487: The Solomon Islands south of Bougainville, and (3) territorial alignments in West Africa. The German Empire governed the western part of the Samoan archipelago from 1900 to 1914. Wilhelm Solf was appointed the colony's first governor. In 1908, when the non-violent Mau a Pule resistance movement arose, Solf did not hesitate to banish the Mau leader Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe to Saipan in the German Northern Mariana Islands . The German colonial administration governed on
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#17327654511977936-565: The South Pole, when a party led by Admiral George J. Dufek of the US Navy landed there in an R4D-5L Skytrain ( C-47 Skytrain ) aircraft. The US Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was established by air over 1956–1957 for the International Geophysical Year and has been continuously staffed since then by research and support personnel. After Amundsen and Scott, the next people to reach the South Pole overland (albeit with some air support) were Edmund Hillary (4 January 1958) and Vivian Fuchs (19 January 1958) and their respective parties, during
8064-437: The South Pole. Subsequent to the establishment, in 1987, of the logistic support base at Patriot Hills Base Camp , the South Pole became more accessible to non-government expeditions. On 30 December 1989, Arved Fuchs and Reinhold Messner were the first to traverse Antarctica via the South Pole without animal or motorized help, using only skis and the help of wind. Two women, Victoria E. Murden and Shirley Metz, reached
8192-479: The Trusteeship Agreement and granted the country independence as the Independent State of Western Samoa , effective 1 January 1962. Western Samoa, the first small-island country in the Pacific to become independent, signed a Treaty of Friendship with New Zealand later in 1962. Western Samoa joined the Commonwealth of Nations on 28 August 1970. While independence was achieved at the beginning of January, Samoa annually celebrates 1 June as its independence day. At
8320-431: The U.S. Aleutian Islands ( Attu Island being the westernmost) and the Commander Islands , which belong to Russia. It then bends southeast again to return to 180°. Thus, all of Russia is to the west of the IDL, and all of the United States is to the east except for the insular areas of Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , and Wake Island , reaching the hypothetical, but not used UTC–13:00 time zone. The IDL remains on
8448-466: The UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons . In June 2017, Parliament amended Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution to make Christianity the state religion. In September 2019, a measles outbreak resulted in the deaths of 83 people. Following the outbreak, the government imposed a curfew in December later during the same year. In May 2021, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa became Samoa's first female prime minister. Mataʻafa's FAST party narrowly won
8576-414: The United States purchased Russian America and moved the territory to the east side of the International Date Line. The transfer ceremony took place at 3:30 p.m. local mean time (00:31 GMT) in the capital of New Archangel ( Sitka ), on Saturday, 7 October 1867 (Julian), which was Saturday, 19 October 1867 (Gregorian) in Europe. Since Alaska moved to the eastern side of the International Date Line,
8704-446: The Universal Day, midnight-to-midnight Greenwich Mean Time (now redefined and updated as Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC ), which it did agree to, "shall not interfere with the use of local or standard time where desirable". From this comes the utility and importance of UTC or "Z" ("Zulu") time: it permits a single universal reference for time that is valid for all points on the globe at the same moment. Ferdinand Magellan claimed
8832-413: The World in Eighty Days (1873). The main protagonist, Phileas Fogg , travels eastward around the world. He had bet with his friends that he could do it in 80 days. To win the wager, Fogg must return by 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, 21 December 1872. However, the journey suffers a series of delays and when Fogg reaches London, it is 8:50 p.m. on Friday, 20 December, although he believes it
8960-430: The accumulation of snow amounts to about 7 cm (2.8 in) per year. The former dome seen in pictures of the Amundsen–Scott station is partially buried due to snow storms, and the entrance to the dome had to be regularly bulldozed to uncover it. More recent buildings are raised on stilts so that the snow does not build up against their sides. In most places on Earth, local time is determined by longitude , such that
9088-404: The activities of the great powers battling for influence in Samoa – the United States, Germany and Britain – and the political machinations of the various Samoan factions within their indigenous political system. Even as they descended into ever greater interclan warfare, what most alarmed Stevenson was the Samoans' economic innocence. In 1894, just months before his death, he addressed
9216-469: The archaeological record supports oral tradition and native genealogies that indicate interisland voyaging and intermarriage among precolonial Samoans, Fijians , and Tongans . Notable figures in Samoan history included the Tui Manu'a line, Queen Salamasina , King Fonoti and the four tama a ʻāiga : Malietoa , Tupua Tamasese , Mataʻafa , and Tuimalealiʻifano . Nafanua was a famous woman warrior who
9344-551: The arrival of the SS Talune from Auckland on 7 November 1918. The NZ administration allowed the ship to berth in breach of quarantine; within seven days of this ship's arrival, influenza became epidemic in Upolu and then spread rapidly throughout the rest of the territory. Samoa suffered the most of all Pacific islands, with 90% of the population infected; 30% of adult men, 22% of adult women and 10% of children died. The cause of
9472-467: The average temperature remains steady at around −60 °C (−76 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was −12.3 °C (9.9 °F) on Christmas Day, 2011, and the lowest was −82.8 °C (−117.0 °F) on 23 June 1982 (for comparison, the lowest temperature directly recorded anywhere on earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at Vostok Station on 21 July 1983, though −93.2 °C (−135.8 °F)
9600-529: The calendar (UTC+14:00). As a result, this atoll was renamed Millennium Island . The areas that are the first to see the daylight of a new day vary by the season. Around the June solstice , the first area would be any place within the Kamchatka Time Zone (UTC+12:00) that is far enough north to experience midnight sun on the given date. At the equinoxes , the first place to see daylight would be
9728-536: The circumference of the earth; and these three hundred and sixty degrees, multiplied by four minutes, gives precisely twenty-four hours — that is, the day unconsciously gained. In other words, while Phileas Fogg, going eastward, saw the sun pass the meridian eighty times, his friends in London only saw it pass the meridian seventy-nine times. Fogg had thought it was one day later than it actually was, because he had not accounted for this fact. During his journey, he had added
9856-516: The date and time also moved back to 3:30 p.m. local time Friday, 18 October 1867 (00:31 GMT Saturday), now known as Alaska Day . The Samoan Islands , now divided into Samoa and American Samoa , were on the west side of the IDL until 1892. In that year, King Mālietoa Laupepa was persuaded by American traders to adopt the American date (three hours behind California) to replace the former Asian date (four hours ahead of Japan). The change
9984-450: The date. The line is a cartographic convention, and is not defined by international law. This has made it difficult for cartographers to agree on its precise course, and has allowed countries through whose waters it passes to move it at times for their convenience. People traveling westward around the world must set their clocks: People traveling eastward must set their clocks: Moving forward or back 24 hours generally also implies
10112-584: The demonstration. When he resisted, a struggle developed between the police and the Mau. The officers began to fire randomly into the crowd and used a Lewis machine gun , mounted in preparation for the demonstration, to disperse the demonstrators. Mau leader and paramount chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III was shot from behind and killed while trying to bring calm and order to the Mau demonstrators. Ten others died that day and approximately 50 were injured by gunshot wounds and police batons. That day would come to be known in Samoa as Black Saturday. On 13 January 1930,
10240-699: The early economic development of Samoa. The Salem brig Roscoe (Captain Benjamin Vanderford), in October 1821, was the first American trading vessel known to have called, and the Maro (Captain Richard Macy) of Nantucket , in 1824, was the first recorded United States whaler at Samoa. The whalers came for fresh drinking water, firewood, provisions and, later, for recruiting local men to serve as crewmen on their ships. The last recorded whaler visitor
10368-554: The elevation difference and for being in the middle of a continent. The North Pole is a few feet from sea level in the middle of an ocean. In midsummer, as the sun reaches its maximum elevation of about 23.5 degrees, high temperatures at the South Pole in January average at −25.9 °C (−15 °F). As the six-month "day" wears on and the sun gets lower, temperatures drop as well: they reach −55 °C (−67 °F) around sunset (late March) and sunrise (late September). In midwinter,
10496-578: The epidemic was confirmed in 1919 by a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Epidemic concluded that there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the Talune from Auckland on 7 November 1918. The pandemic undermined Samoan confidence in New Zealand's administrative capacity and competence. Some Samoans asked that the rule of the islands be transferred to
10624-731: The first deviation of the IDL from 180° is to pass to the east of Wrangel Island and the Chukchi Peninsula , the easternmost part of Russian Siberia . (Wrangel Island lies directly on the meridian at 71°32′N 180°0′E, also noted as 71°32′N 180°0′W.) It then passes through the Bering Strait between the Diomede Islands at a distance of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from each island at 168°58′37″ W. It then bends considerably west of 180°, passing west of St. Lawrence Island and St. Matthew Island . The IDL crosses between
10752-552: The first known non-Polynesian to sight the Samoan islands in 1722. This visit was followed by French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville , who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. Contact was limited before the 1830s, which is when British missionaries of the London Missionary Society, whalers, and traders began arriving. Visits by American trading and whaling vessels were important in
10880-553: The first month of World War I , on 29 August 1914, troops of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force landed unopposed on Upolu and seized control from the German authorities, following a request by Great Britain for New Zealand to perform this "great and urgent imperial service." From the end of World War I until 1962, New Zealand controlled Western Samoa as a Class C Mandate under trusteeship through
11008-475: The flags of the original Antarctic Treaty signatory states . The tent was erected by the Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen on its arrival on 14 December 1911. It is currently buried beneath the snow and ice in the vicinity of the Pole. It has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 80), following a proposal by Norway to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting . The precise location of
11136-401: The four highest titles of Samoa – the elder titles of Malietoa and Tupua Tamasese of antiquity and the newer Mataʻafa and Tuimalealiʻifano titles, which rose to prominence in 19th-century wars that preceded the colonial period. These four titles form the apex of the Samoan matai system as it stands today. Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century. Jacob Roggeveen , a Dutchman, was
11264-461: The goal of crossing Antarctica via the South Pole, but his ship, the Endurance , was frozen in pack ice and sank 11 months later. The overland journey was never made. US Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd , with the assistance of his first pilot Bernt Balchen , became the first person to fly over the South Pole on 29 November 1929. It was not until 31 October 1956 that humans once again set foot at
11392-475: The government changed the rule of the road from right to left , in common with most other Commonwealth countries - most notably countries in the region such as Australia and New Zealand, home to large numbers of Samoans. This made Samoa the first country in the 21st century to switch to driving on the left. At the end of December 2011, Samoa changed its time zone offset from UTC−11 to UTC+13, effectively jumping forward by one day, omitting Friday, 30 December from
11520-699: The island chain at the Tripartite Convention of 1899 , signed at Washington on 2 December 1899 with ratifications exchanged on 16 February 1900. The eastern island-group became a territory of the United States (the Tutuila Islands in 1900 and officially Manu'a in 1904) and was known as American Samoa. The western islands, by far the greater landmass, became German Samoa . The United Kingdom had vacated all claims in Samoa and in return received (1) termination of German rights in Tonga , (2) all of
11648-560: The island chiefs: There is but one way to defend Samoa. Hear it before it is too late. It is to make roads, and gardens, and care for your trees, and sell their produce wisely, and, in one word, to occupy and use your country ... if you do not occupy and use your country, others will. It will not continue to be yours or your children's, if you occupy it for nothing. You and your children will in that case be cast out into outer darkness. He had "seen these judgments of God" in Hawaii , where abandoned native churches stood like tombstones "over
11776-481: The islands of Tutuila and Manu'a , which became American Samoa . Britain also sent troops to protect British business enterprise, harbour rights, and consulate office. This was followed by an eight-year civil war , during which each of the three powers supplied arms, training and in some cases combat troops to the warring Samoan parties. The Samoan crisis came to a critical juncture in March 1889 when all three colonial contenders sent warships into Apia harbour, and
11904-509: The islands of eastern Kiribati are actually "islands" of Asian date (west side of IDL) in a sea of American date (east side of IDL). Similarly, the western Aleutian Islands are islands of American date in a sea of Asian date. No international organization, nor any treaty between nations, has fixed the IDL drawn by cartographers: the 1884 International Meridian Conference explicitly refused to propose or agree to any time zones, stating that they were outside its purview. The conference resolved that
12032-679: The local calendar. This also had the effect of changing the shape of the International Date Line , moving it to the east of the territory. This change aimed to help the nation boost its economy in doing business with Australia and New Zealand. Before this change, Samoa was 21 hours behind Sydney , but the change means it is now three hours ahead. The previous time zone, implemented on 4 July 1892, operated in line with American traders based in California . In October 2021, Samoa ceased daylight saving time . In 2017, Samoa signed
12160-485: The locals told them that it was actually Thursday, 10 July 1522. The crew was surprised, as they had recorded each day of the three-year journey without omission. Cardinal Gasparo Contarini , the Venetian ambassador to Spain, was the first European to give a correct explanation of the discrepancy. The IDL is roughly based on the meridian of 180° longitude, roughly down the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and halfway around
12288-459: The location of the International Date Line are determined, one on land and adjacent territorial waters , and the other on open seas. All nations unilaterally determine their standard time zones , applicable only on land and adjacent territorial waters. This date line can be called de facto since it is not based on international law, but on national laws. These national zones do not extend into international waters. The nautical date line , not
12416-531: The mediation of local Europeans and missionaries, Mau leaders met New Zealand's Minister of Defence and agreed to disperse. Supporters of the Mau continued to be arrested, so women came to the fore rallying supporters and staging demonstrations. The political stalemate was broken following the victory of the Labour Party in New Zealand's 1935 general election. A 'goodwill mission' to Apia in June 1936 recognised
12544-497: The most recent shifts in the IDL (see § Historic alterations below). The current HMNAO map does not draw the IDL in conformity with recent shifts in the IDL; it draws a line virtually identical to that adopted by the UK's Hydrographic Office about 1900. Instead, HMNAO labels island groups with their time zones, which do reflect the most recent IDL shifts. This approach is consistent with the principle of national and nautical time zones:
12672-545: The name it had been called by in the United Nations since it joined. American Samoa protested against the name change, asserting that it diminished its own identity. In 2002, New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark formally apologised for New Zealand's role in the Spanish influenza outbreak in 1918 that killed over a quarter of Samoa's population and for the Black Saturday killings in 1929. On 7 September 2009,
12800-512: The opposite side of Earth from the North Pole , at a distance of 20,004 km (12,430 miles) in all directions. It is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. Situated on the continent of Antarctica , it is the site of the United States Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station , which was established in 1956 and has been permanently staffed since that year. The Geographic South Pole
12928-597: The other remaining Spanish colonies in the Pacific: the Caroline Islands , Guam , Mariana Islands , Marshall Islands and Palau as part of the Captaincy General of the Philippines . European publications were generally unaware of this change until the early 1890s, so they erroneously gave the International Date Line a large western bulge for the next half century. On 5 March 1797, missionaries of
13056-454: The other two are chosen by non-Samoans with no chiefly affiliation on separate electoral rolls. At least ten per cent of the MPs must be women. Universal suffrage was adopted in 1990, but only chiefs ( matai ) may stand for election to the Samoan seats. There are more than 25,000 matais in the country, about five per cent of whom are women. The prime minister , chosen by a majority in the assembly,
13184-461: The past 2 million years, the Samoan archipelago has experienced records of volcanic hotspots . Samoa was discovered and settled by the Lapita people (Austronesian people who spoke Oceanic languages ), who travelled from Island Melanesia . The earliest human remains found in Samoa are dated to between roughly 2,900 and 3,500 years ago. The remains were discovered at a Lapita site at Mulifanua , and
13312-492: The period of New Zealand control, their administrators were responsible for two major incidents. In the first incident, approximately one fifth of the Samoan population died in the influenza epidemic of 1918–1919 . In 1918, during the final stages of World War I , the Spanish flu had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. On Samoa, there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before
13440-454: The pole by land on 17 January 1989. The fastest unsupported journey to the Geographic South Pole from the ocean is 24 days and one hour from Hercules Inlet and was set in 2011 by Norwegian adventurer Christian Eide, who beat the previous solo record set in 2009 by American Todd Carmichael of 39 days and seven hours, and the previous group record also set in 2009 of 33 days and 23 hours. The fastest solo, unsupported and unassisted trek to
13568-419: The principle that "there was only one government in the islands." Thus, there was no Samoan Tupu (king), nor an alii sili (similar to a governor), but two Fautua (advisors) were appointed by the colonial government. Tumua and Pule (traditional governments of Upolu and Savai'i) were for a time silent; all decisions on matters affecting lands and titles were under the control of the colonial Governor. In
13696-659: The rest of the Marshall Islands , passed from Spanish to German to Japanese control during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During that period it was west of the IDL. Although Kwajalein formally became part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands with the rest of the Marshalls after World War II, the United States established a military installation there. Because of that, Kwajalein used
13824-460: The same as the IDL, is a de jure construction determined by international agreement. It is the result of the 1917 Anglo-French Conference on Time-keeping at Sea , which recommended that all ships, both military and civilian, adopt hourly standard time zones on the high seas. The United States adopted its recommendation for U.S. military and merchant marine ships in 1920. This date line is implied but not explicitly drawn on time zone maps. It follows
13952-623: The scientists' findings were published in 1974. The Samoans' origins have been studied in modern times through scientific research on Polynesian genetics , linguistics , and anthropology . Although this research is ongoing, a number of theories have been proposed. One theory is that the original Samoans were Austronesians who arrived during a final period of eastward expansion of the Lapita peoples out of Southeast Asia and Melanesia between 2,500 and 1,500 BCE. Intimate sociocultural and genetic ties were maintained between Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga, and
14080-453: The south pole by a female was performed by Hannah McKeand from the UK in 2006. She made the journey in 39 days 9 hours 33 minutes. She started on 19 November 2006 and finished on 28 December 2006. In the 2011–12 summer, separate expeditions by Norwegian Aleksander Gamme and Australians James Castrission and Justin Jones jointly claimed the first unsupported trek without dogs or kites from
14208-434: The south pole, and the second person to make the journey in 56 days. On 10 January 2020, Mollie Hughes became the youngest person to ski to the pole, aged 29. During winter (May through August), the South Pole receives no sunlight at all, and is completely dark apart from moonlight. In summer (November through February), the sun is continuously above the horizon and appears to move in a counter-clockwise circle. However, it
14336-417: The southern Line Islands south of Hawaii , have the latest time on Earth, UTC+14:00 hours. South of Kiribati, the IDL returns westwards but remains east of 180°, passing between Samoa and American Samoa . Accordingly, Samoa, Tokelau , Wallis and Futuna , Fiji , Tonga , Tuvalu , and New Zealand's Kermadec Islands and Chatham Islands are all west of the IDL and have the same date. American Samoa,
14464-546: The surrounding ocean, though maps are usually not drawn this way. As a consequence of the 1994 change, Kiribati's easternmost territory, the Line Islands , including the inhabited island of Kiritimati (Christmas Island) , started the year 2000 before any other country, a feature upon which the Kiribati government capitalized as a potential tourist draw. Generally, the Christian calendar and Christian churches recognize
14592-590: The tent is unknown, but based on calculations of the rate of movement of the ice and the accumulation of snow, it is believed, as of 2010, to lie between 1.8 and 2.5 km (1.1 and 1.5 miles) from the Pole at a depth of 17 m (56 ft) below the present surface. A flagpole erected at the South Geographical Pole in December 1965 by the First Argentine Overland Polar Expedition has been designated
14720-490: The time of day is more-or-less synchronised to the perceived position of the Sun in the sky (for example, at midday the Sun is roughly perceived to be at its highest). This line of reasoning fails at the South Pole, where the Sun is seen to rise and set only once per year with solar elevation varying only with day of the year, not time of day. There is no a priori reason for placing the South Pole in any particular time zone, but as
14848-488: The time of independence, Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II , one of the four highest-ranking paramount chiefs in the country, became Samoa's first prime minister . Another paramount chief, Tuiaana Tuimalealiʻifano Suatipatipa II , was admitted to the Council of Deputies ; the remaining two – Tupua Tamasese Meaʻole and Malietoa Tanumafili II – became joint heads of state for life. On 15 December 1976, Western Samoa
14976-479: The uninhabited Millennium Island in Kiribati, which is the easternmost land located west of the IDL. Near the December solstice , the first places would be Antarctic research stations using New Zealand Time (UTC+13:00) during summer that experience midnight sun. These include Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station , McMurdo Station , Scott Base and Zucchelli Station . There are two ways time zones and thereby
15104-600: The week were shared workdays . The IDL now passes between Samoa and American Samoa, which remains on the east (American) side of the line. Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand north of Samoa whose principal transportation and communications links with the rest of the world pass through Samoa . For that reason, Tokelau crossed the IDL along with Samoa in 2011, albeit strictly speaking 1 hour later, as they did not do Summer Time (Daylight Saving Time in American English), which Samoa did then. Kwajalein atoll, like
15232-595: The world from the IERS Reference Meridian , the successor to the historic Greenwich prime meridian running through the Royal Greenwich Observatory . In many places, the IDL follows the 180° meridian exactly. In other places, however, the IDL deviates east or west away from that meridian. These various deviations generally accommodate the political and/or economic affiliations of the affected areas. Proceeding from north to south,
15360-402: Was admitted to the United Nations as the 147th member state . It asked to be referred to in the United Nations as the Independent State of Samoa . Travel writer Paul Theroux noted marked differences between the societies in Western Samoa and American Samoa in 1992. On 4 July 1997 the government amended the constitution to change the name of the country from Western Samoa to Samoa ,
15488-597: Was centered in the Gilbert Islands , just west of the IDL of the time. Upon independence in 1979, it acquired the claim to the Phoenix and Line Islands , east of the IDL, from the United States. As a result, the country straddled the IDL. Government and commercial concerns on opposite sides of the line could only conduct routine business by radio or telephone on the four days of the week which were weekdays on both sides. To eliminate this anomaly, Kiribati introduced
15616-596: Was deified in ancient Samoan religion and whose patronage was highly sought after by successive Samoan rulers. Today, all of Samoa is united under its two principal royal families: the Sā Malietoa of the ancient Malietoa lineage that defeated the Tongans in the 13th century; and the Sā Tupua, Queen Salamasina's descendants and heirs who ruled Samoa in the centuries that followed her reign. Within these two principal lineages are
15744-412: Was eventually exiled during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but he continued to assist the organisation financially and politically. In accordance with the Mau's non-violent philosophy, the newly elected leader, High Chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, led his fellow uniformed Mau in a peaceful demonstration in downtown Apia on 28 December 1929. The New Zealand police attempted to arrest one of the leaders in
15872-541: Was made by repeating Monday, 4 July 1892 , American Independence Day . In 2011, Samoa shifted back to the west side of the IDL by removing Friday, 30 December 2011 from its calendar. This changed the time zone from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 ( UTC-10 to UTC+14 Dst ). Samoa made the change because Australia and New Zealand have become its biggest trading partners, and also have large communities of expatriates. Being 21 hours behind made business difficult because having weekends on backward days meant only four days of
16000-529: Was measured indirectly by satellite in East Antarctica between Dome A and Dome F in August 2010 ). Mean annual temperature at the South Pole is –49.5 °C (–57.1 °F). The South Pole has an ice cap climate ( Köppen climate classification EF ). It resembles a desert, receiving very little precipitation. Air humidity is near zero. However, high winds can cause the blowing of snowfall, and
16128-523: Was reported that microbes had been detected living in the South Pole ice. Scientists published in the journal Gondwana Research that evidence had been found of dinosaurs with feathers to protect the animals from the extreme cold. The fossils had been found over 100 years ago in Koonwarra , Australia, but in sediment which had accumulated under a lake which had been near to the South Pole millions of years ago. Samoa Samoa , officially
16256-638: Was the Governor Morton in 1870. Christian missionary work in Samoa began in 1830 when John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived in Sapapali'i from the Cook Islands and Tahiti . According to Barbara A. West, "The Samoans were also known to engage in 'headhunting', a ritual of war in which a warrior took the head of his slain opponent to give to his leader, thus proving his bravery." In A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1892), Robert Louis Stevenson details
16384-484: Was unsuccessful. British explorer Robert Falcon Scott on the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 was the first to attempt to find a route from the Antarctic coastline to the South Pole. Scott, accompanied by Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson , set out with the aim of travelling as far south as possible, and on 31 December 1902, reached 82°16′ S. Shackleton later returned to Antarctica as leader of
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