How can a country skip a day of the week? The days are well established, with one following another at a regular pace. Children learn the days of the week almost as soon as they can talk, and they learn that the order of the days never changes. Friday always follows Thursday, just as Monday always follows Thursday. At the end of December 2011, however, that was not the case in the Pacific islands of Samoa and Tolekau when the two areas moved west of the International Date Line, losing a day in the process.
Changing to the Other Side of the International Date Line
The change happened at midnight on Thursday, December 29th, 2011, when the small islands moved time zones to be in line with countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Eventually, maps and official government documents will also reflect this change, with the new International Date Line at 171 degrees west of Greenwich.
This is not the first time Samoa has changed from one side of the International Date Line to the other. The recent change came 119 years after Samoa moved to the other side of the Date Line to be in the same time zone as the United States, a major trading partner at the time. By now, however, Australia and New Zealand are important trading partners with Samoa, and many Samoans go to live and work in the larger islands. Located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, Samoa is at an ideal location for maintaining ties with New Zealand and Australia, while nearby Tokelau is administered by New Zealand and has many ties with that country.
History of Samoa
Although Samoa has been an independent country since 1962, it also has a long history with New Zealand. It was a German colony from 1899 to 1914, when it officially came under New Zealand's control. Under the League of Nations, Samoa was a mandate of New Zealand and later the United Nations, it became a trusteeship. In 1959, the first local government was elected, and on January 1, 1962, the country became fully independent. Australia and New Zealand are its biggest trading partners, with Australia receiving more than half of its exports and New Zealand receiving a large number, as well. Being on the same side of the International Date Line as these countries will help people carry out their business much more easily than before.
The residents of Samoa and Tolekau missed December 30th, 2011 when they switched to the other side of the International Date Line, and they will never be able to experience that day. However, the social and economic benefits of the change will likely help to make up for what they missed.
Sources:
BBC.co.uk. "Samoa and Tokelau Skip a Day for Dateine Change."
Samoa Tourism Authority. "Samoa International Date Line Change."
"Samoa (formerly Western Samoa)." World Almanac and Book of Facts 2004. New York: World Almanac Books, 2004: 833.
Susan Huebert - My name is Susan Huebert, and I'm a writer and editor from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I've always enjoyed words, and I graduated with a Bachelor ...
