Santa Claus and his reindeer are rocketing around the globe, with billions of stops to make in less than 24 hours.
Father Christmas has already soared past locations around the world, from Nunavut, northern Canada, to southern Chile, with multiple trips through the Caribbean.
Every Christmas Eve, Norad – the North American Aerospace Defense Command – provides real-time tracking of Santa’s sleigh as it navigates the skies.
The cherished tradition dates back to 1955 when a misprint in a department store advert led a young child to call a Colorado military command center asking to speak to Santa Claus.
Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup, who picked up the call that night, played along and assured the child he was Santa. As more calls poured in, he assigned an officer to handle the queries, starting a festive custom that Norad continued after its creation in 1958.
For decades, Norad has swapped its usual airspace monitoring duties to answer children’s questions about Santa’s journey and his astonishing present-delivery operation. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the organisation to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online – in nine languages – as St Nick swoops along the earth’s meridians.
Stay tuned for updates as we follow Santa’s magical route across the world.
Key points
Watch Live: Norad tracks Santa’s annual journey delivering presents around the world
Santa Claus and his reindeer have officially taken off
How to track Santa’s journey
Why did Norad start tracking Santa?
What route does Santa take?
When will Santa arrive at my house?
Santa is back in the Caribbean
02:29 , Josh Marcus
After some passes through Greenland and Canada, Santa is back in warmer climes.
His sleigh just passed Puerto Rico.
He’s delivered 5,442,632,150 so far.
Personally, I’m hoping for some new pairs of socks. A cliché gift perhaps, but you can’t have too many.
Santa’s sleigh nears the North Pole
01:53 , Josh Marcus
Santa is passing above Greenland around the globe.
Perhaps St. Nick can settle the ongoing diplomatic tension caused by Donald Trump claiming he wants to take over the territory.
Trump wants to purchase Greenland. How would that actually work?
Santa soars above the Caribbean
01:35 , Josh Marcus
That Santa Claus sure moves fast.
The red rocket has been spotted above the island nation of Sint Maarten.
The Independent last covered Sint Maarten on news of this dramatic ocean rescue.
Warship rescues crew of sinking tug in the Caribbean
‘He’s one of the best aviators we’ve ever seen’
00:53 , Josh Marcus
U.S. military personnel may have access to high-tech jets and drones, but they’ve still got respect for the good ol’ sleigh.
“We know Santa has been doing this for over 2,000 years. He is one of the best aviators we have ever seen. … In his 2,000 years plus, he has never had an accident,” 2nd Lt. Tyler Turnmire, with the 601 Air Operations Center at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, told news station WSAW.
According to NORAD, Mr. Claus is currently above the Chile-Argentina border.
Santa nears the Faroe Islands
Tuesday 24 December 2024 23:55 , Josh Marcus
Maybe Santa is looking for some R&R on his round-the-world journey, because NORAD is showing Santa’s sleigh nearing the Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago nation within the Kingdom of Denmark.
The islands have become a haven for travelers in recent years, described as one of Europe’s best kept secrets.
Don’t rest too long, St. Nick, there are still so many presents to be delivered!
Shhh, I’m on vacation. Travelers are on a quest for the quiet
‘Exhilarating’ islands with stunning scenery are Europe’s best kept secret
Santa en route to Liberia
Tuesday 24 December 2024 23:25 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus is en route to Monrovia, Liberia, where he is set to deliver sackfuls of presents to the West African country’s 5.5million population.
Liberia was founded in 1822 as an outpost for freed American slaves returning to Africa from bondage in the Americas. It eventually became a commonwealth, and achieved independence in 1847.
The capital, Monrovia, is named after the fifth US president James Monroe, who supported the territory’s colonisation and helped fund its establishment.
Santa en route to Barcelona, Spain
Tuesday 24 December 2024 22:42 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus is now en route to Barcelona, Spain. The Catalan capital is home to just under two million people – a lot of chimneys for Father Christmas to climb down.
Santa visits Sarajevo
Tuesday 24 December 2024 21:41 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus just dropped off sackfuls of presents to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, in time for Christmas Day morning.
Sarajevo has a population of just under 300,000 and is surrounded by the majestic Dinaric Alps once used by the Bosnian Serbs to besiege the city during the break up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Next stop Angola
Tuesday 24 December 2024 20:50 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus is now en route to Luanda, the capital of Angola. It is a port city on the west coast of Southern Africa, home to around 9million people.
Father Christmas brings presents to South Africa
Tuesday 24 December 2024 20:42 , Alexander Butler
Father Christmas has made it all the way to South Africa to deliver his presents after setting off from the North Pole earlier today.
He arrived on his sleigh in Johannesburg just now, a vibrant city of just six million. He is now en route to Cape Town to drop off more presents made by his crafty hard-working elves.
Santa lands in Bethlehem
Tuesday 24 December 2024 20:14 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus has landed in Bethlehem. The Palestinian town in the West Bank is the birthplace of Jesus Christ and where the Christian Church of the Nativity is.
Why did Norad start tracking Santa?
Tuesday 24 December 2024 20:00 , Alexander Butler
The tradition began in 1955, when a child mistakenly rang a Colorado military command asking to speak to Father Christmas – after a local newspaper ran an advert by a department store containing a misprinted phone number.
As more calls came in that night, Commander Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering the phone, birthing a tradition that passed over to Norad when it was formed in 1958.
Every year since, the agency — which defends and monitors the skies over North America — has fielded children’s questions about the red-and-white-clad chimney intruder and his unrivaled delivery schedule.
What route does Santa take?
Tuesday 24 December 2024 19:30 , Alexander Butler
Santa usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west.
So, historically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia. After that, he shoots up to Japan, over to Asia, across to Africa, then onto Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central and South America.
“Keep in mind, Santa’s route can be affected by weather, so it’s really unpredictable,” Norad states on its website.
When will Santa arrive at my house?
Tuesday 24 December 2024 19:00 , Alexander Butler
“NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows his route,” the military organization’s website states, “which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house. We do, however, know from history that it appears he arrives only when children are asleep! In most countries, it seems Santa arrives between 9:00 p.m. and midnight on December 24th. If children are still awake when Santa arrives, he moves on to other houses. He returns later, but only when the children are asleep!”
Next stop International Space Station
Tuesday 24 December 2024 18:41 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus is now bound for the International Space Station (ISS) – in orbit around 250 miles above earth’s atmosphere.
There are seven crew members currently at the ISS awaiting Santa’s sleigh: Alexey Ovchinin, Suni Williams,Butch Wilmore, Ivan Vagner, Don Pettit, Aleksandr Gorbunov, and Nick Hague.
First stop in Africa!
Tuesday 24 December 2024 18:17 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus and his nine reindeers have made their first stop in Africa. They touched down, bearing gifts, in Mogadishu, Somalia, just now.
Mogadishu has a population of around 2.5million. It is the capital of the East African country and has served as an important trading city for millennia – something Santa well understands.
Next stop Tehran
Tuesday 24 December 2024 17:51 , Alexander Butler
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph, and Santa Claus, are now heading to Tehran.
The Iranian capital is home to around 10million people. Iranians who have converted to Christianity from Islam can only practise their faith in secret.
Santa reaches Pakistan
Tuesday 24 December 2024 17:17 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus has now reached Karachi, Pakistan. It is the largest city in Pakistan and 12th largest in the world, with a population of over 20million.
This is about 13million short of New Delhi, where Santa visited earlier, but still a huge amount of people to deliver presents for.
To the Maldives!
Tuesday 24 December 2024 17:02 , Alexander Butler
Santa Claus is now heading further south to the Maldive Islands, and archipelago with a population of around 500,000 people.
It is made up of an impressive 1,192 islands but is still the smallest country on the entire Asian continent, with a land area of 298 square kilometres.
Full speed to Sri Lanka
Tuesday 24 December 2024 16:57 , ...
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