Niue: the New Zealand island that asks to travel to the future to overcome the 23-hour time difference with its metropolis

It has a Free State status associated with New Zealand.

It has its own government but its citizens have New Zealand nationality;

in fact, most of its population lives and works in

.

And yet, when they return home, things get complicated: between the small island of

and New Zealand passes the line that marks the passage from one day to the next.

Niue lives 23 hours behind its metropolis and is willing to travel back in time to be on the same calendar page.

Also known as

, Niue is one of the smallest states in the world, with an area that would place it

, and it has less than 1,500 inhabitants.

A brief glance at its tourism page on Facebook reveals how paradisiacal this time-forgotten corner ... almost literally.

The meridian that marks the passage between today and yesterday passes right next to the island of Niue.GOOGLE MAPS

If there is a fight that grips the Niues, that is the one of the hour.

Or that of the day, rather.

Jump west, to the next time slot, which would advance 23 hours.

"Right now I do not see any disadvantage ... I am open to change", confirms

, Prime Minister of Niue, in an interview with

that the British newspaper dates to the time on Wednesday and Thursday, of course.

The main promoter of the initiative is the French parliamentarian

, whose proposal was rejected in the island's parliament.

But he does not give up his efforts, which, he says, would be beneficial in attracting tourists:

.

That simple, that complicated.

Local merchants support him and the government is in conversation with the airlines.

For public servants the thing also has its crumb: "When we have to negotiate with our New Zealand and Australian colleagues, they are on the weekend when we are on working Friday, and they start work on Monday when we are all in church" .

The

is the one that forms 180º with that of

.

On its way between the poles, it makes a turn to divide

from

and then continues straight to the

, where it heads east again to leave today, say, the

islands

, but then returns to its line straight, just west of Niue.

The date change line is not set in stone: it was already moved in 2011 to include the

archipelago

in the same time zone.

Niueans look to their northern neighbors with hope: they want to stop living in yesterday.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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