Kiribati Moves International Date Line

In 1995 the tiny Pacific Ocean country of Kiribati moved the International Date Line. The reason for the change was not geopolitical strategy but simply a desire on the part of Kiribati for the entire country to be simultaneously on the same day at the same time. Prior to 1995, the western part of Kiribati, where Tarawa, the capital lies, would be 22 hours ahead the eastern portion of the country because of a funny little line known as the International Date Line.

Kiribati was authorized to modify its time zones, since the line is simply established by international agreement and there are not treaties or formal agreements associated with the line, but that didn't necessarily meant that everyone would accept the change. While sites like WorldTimeZone.com embraced the change, MapQuest did not.

In 2001, MapQuest.com clarified their policy about the International Date Line and decided to keep the old International Date Line but, at the time, noted on their maps that "All islands east of 180° within the Republic of Kiribati observe the same date as the islands west of 180° even thought they are positioned on opposite sides of the International Date Line."

They succinctly noted, "To depict that Kiribati's date and time decisions are applicable to the vast oceanic reaches between its component islands, where it actually has no legal jurisdiction, is both inaccurate and misleading." These notations are no longer able to be located on MapQuest.com.

Thus, while Kiribati can place the entire country under one day, they apparently can't force everyone to move the International Date Line on maps.