I think usually it would be written as GMT+ or UTC+ -- because you want the country that is most ahead in time ( I think).
Nations in UTC-12 (if that is what you meant, the country most behind on the calendar) are: some US territories in the Pacific, Baker and Howard Island. UTC-11 includes more US territories, and the independent island nations of Samoa and Niue.
There are a number of island nations in time zone UTC+12 (12 hours ahead of the UK): Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Tuvalu, Wake Island, Wallis and Fortuna, Nauru, Kosrae, and even the most eastern parts of Russia.
Both Kiribati, a Pacific Island nation spread out over thousands of miles near the Equator, and the Chatham Islands (part of New Zealand) claim the honour of getting the first sunrise on inhabited land. Kiribatii partly achieves this by pushing the international date line (on the map) out so that it's whole country can all be in the same calendar date; in the past, Half of Kiribati was GMT+12 and half was GMT-11 or GMT-10. Literally half the country was a day behind the other half.
But the sunrise is earlier in the northern hemisphere, which is why the Chatham Islands (UTC+12:45) may well get the first sunrise in an inhabited place in the Southern Hemisphere summer.
The centre of Antarctica technically never stops having sunshine during 31-December - 1 January every year, BUT Antarctica isn't a country or claimed by any, either. It's a territory managed by many nations. The Bellamy islands, off of Antarctica may be the first place to get a proper sunrise on 1 January each year, but no country claims sovereignty over them.
Nations in UTC-12 (if that is what you meant, the country most behind on the calendar) are: some US territories in the Pacific, Baker and Howard Island. UTC-11 includes more US territories, and the independent island nations of Samoa and Niue.
There are a number of island nations in time zone UTC+12 (12 hours ahead of the UK): Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Tuvalu, Wake Island, Wallis and Fortuna, Nauru, Kosrae, and even the most eastern parts of Russia.
Both Kiribati, a Pacific Island nation spread out over thousands of miles near the Equator, and the Chatham Islands (part of New Zealand) claim the honour of getting the first sunrise on inhabited land. Kiribatii partly achieves this by pushing the international date line (on the map) out so that it's whole country can all be in the same calendar date; in the past, Half of Kiribati was GMT+12 and half was GMT-11 or GMT-10. Literally half the country was a day behind the other half.
But the sunrise is earlier in the northern hemisphere, which is why the Chatham Islands (UTC+12:45) may well get the first sunrise in an inhabited place in the Southern Hemisphere summer.
The centre of Antarctica technically never stops having sunshine during 31-December - 1 January every year, BUT Antarctica isn't a country or claimed by any, either. It's a territory managed by many nations. The Bellamy islands, off of Antarctica may be the first place to get a proper sunrise on 1 January each year, but no country claims sovereignty over them.
