Celebrate Your Birthday Twice in Samoa as it Steps Forward in Time

Samoa has for over one hundred years been one of the last places in the world where you can see the sun set on any given day, with it being closest to the eastern side of the International Date Line, but that is about to change at the end of this year.

The current time zone was set in 1892, when the local time in Samoa was moved back an hour to set the remote Pacific nation to the same day as the USA to the east, which made it easier for the developing trade with the American West Coast.

Times have changed however, and these days there are almost as many Samoans living in Australia and New Zealand as there are back home in the islands, however Samoa lies a day behind because of the time zone that it lies in.

With the current situation being that there is far more trade between Samoa and Australia and New Zealand, the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, has made the decision that at midnight on 29^th December 2011 the clocks will be moved forward one hour.

Because Samoa is just east of the International Date Line, moving the clocks forward one hour effectively takes it just west of the International Date Line, therefore in just 2 minutes the local time will go from 11:59pm on 29^th December to 00:01am on 31^st December.

As a result the Samoans will not get to see 30^th December 2011 at all, which is rather disappointing if that happens to be your birthday for example.

Neighboring American Samoa however, which is only 90 miles away, is not going to be changing it's time, which provides a rather unique opportunity for people who want to celebrate a special occasion to do it twice, once in Western Samoa and then again in American Samoa.

With family in Australia and New Zealand myself, it's often been interesting to talk with them and to remember that if it is close to my bed time (in the UK), they are already up and eating breakfast the following morning over there.

Two years ago the Samoan government made another radical decision, and on 8^th September 2009 they switched from driving on the right hand side of the road (like the USA) to the left hand side of the road (like Australia and New Zealand).

Again this was to help bring things in line with these two major trading countries, but with American Samoa still driving on the right, and presumably even now most cars still being left hand drive, there has to be some confusion.

These changes do make the thought of visiting Samoa more interesting don't they. Hands up all those who fancy a trip to Western Samoa..


Sources:

The Daily Telegraph
Australian Broadcasting Corporation


You can read more stories like this on News From A Weird World which is the archive for this series of Offbeat News Stories.

As always, your comments on any of these news stories are appreciated, and if you enjoyed this Offbeat News story, please share it with your friends.