Christmas Eve is finally here, and children around the world are eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival at their homes with lots of toys and goodies for them to unwrap on Christmas Morning. Those who are curious about learning where in the world he might be, and just how close he could be to their own house (so they can make sure to be asleep in their beds), can luckily add to their excitement throughout the day by tracking his location in real-time online.
Thanks to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Santa’s location around the world can be known to anyone who checks out their online Santa Tracker. The Santa Tracker has been an ongoing tradition for 67 years. According to the Air Force, though it started due to a child dialing a wrong phone number in the pursuit of Santa Claus, it has now become one of the most popular things to do on Christmas Eve, with the website receiving several million unique visitors each year from more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
That tradition will continue in 2022. As of 11:00 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve, Santa had been last seen in Hanoi, Vietnam and was headed for Chiang Mai, Thailand. In the time he has traveled thus far, he has also delivered more than 1.5 million gifts.
Of course, NORAD isn’t the only tracker for those eager to see how close his arrival may be to their home. Google also has a tracker which estimates his real-time location.
Google’s tracker has Santa in the Bangkok area as of 11:00 a.m. but estimates more than 2 million gifts have already been delivered. Their tracker also estimates how long until Santa is estimated to arrive in a visitor’s own area, with Santa expected to hit New York by 12:00 a.m. EST Sunday.
Getty Images/Jonathan Nackstrand
