--- title: Where Is Santa Right Now? Check the Google Santa Tracker description: Where in the world is Santa Claus right now? Here's everything you need to know about finding his exact location by using a Santa tracker. canonical: https://time.com/5750865/santa-tracker-2019/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-23T06:02:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:55.661Z og:title: Is Santa Claus Close Yet? Here's Everything You Need to Know About How to Find Out With the Santa Tracker og:description: Keep an eye on Kris Kringle og:url: https://time.com/5750865/santa-tracker-2019/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4b9065064b6e363/698a0793011682b8a097eb2e/christmas-santa-tracker-2019.gif?branch=production&width=800&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 800 og:image:height: 450 og:image:alt: Where is Santa Claus right now? Find Out With the Santa Tracker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Is Santa Claus Close Yet? Here's Everything You Need to Know About How to Find Out With the Santa Tracker twitter:description: Keep an eye on Kris Kringle twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4b9065064b6e363/698a0793011682b8a097eb2e/christmas-santa-tracker-2019.gif?branch=production&width=800&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Where in the World Is Santa Claus Already? Find Out With the Santa Tracker > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: NORAD Tracks Santa 2019: Santa Is In Berlin [Watch (HLS stream): NORAD Tracks Santa 2019: Santa Is In Berlin](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MYZZ0rs1.m3u8) (0:31)  _Published 2019-12-16. NORAD Tracks Santa 2019: Santa Is In Berlin_ by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Dec 23, 2019 6:02 AM UTC  Google by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Dec 23, 2019 6:02 AM UTC As popular legend goes, in the wee hours of the night on every Dec. 25, a jolly bearded man flies via reindeer from the North Pole to deliver presents beneath [Christmas trees](https://time.com/5736523/history-of-christmas-trees/) worldwide. If he’s lucky, he’ll snag some chocolate chip cookies and milk. (If he’s unlucky, [the Grinch](https://time.com/5750643/baby-grinch-sweater/) could impede on his plans.) Thanks to technological innovations, you can “track” Santa’s whereabouts as he traverses the globe with Dasher, Dancer and Rudolph. Starting on Christmas Eve, [Google Santa Tracker 2019](https://time.com/5477091/santa-tracker-2018/) is back and better than ever in its 16th year. This year, the interface got a bit of an upgrade. The [Santa Tracker](https://time.com/5072619/santa-tracker-christmas-eve/)‘s new trimmings can be found on a [new website](https://santatracker.google.com/) with other Christmas-themed games and activities. In the week leading up to Christmas, Santa’s Village features an elf maker, an opportunity to take selfies with Santa, a game called “Gumball Tilt” and more. ([That one](https://santatracker.google.com/gumball.html) is actually pretty difficult.) You can also [use the Google Assistant](https://santatracker.google.com/familyguide.html#assistant) to ask questions about the North Pole, and use Google Earth to “[test your knowledge of holiday traditions](https://g.co/earth/holidayquiz) around the world, or take a [tour of the tasty treats](https://goo.gle/holidayfoods) people eat in various countries this time of year,” the company wrote [in a blog post](https://www.blog.google/technology/families/live-from-the-north-pole-its-santas-village/). ## **Where is Santa right now?** Starting at 2 a.m. P.T. (that’s 5 a.m. E.T.) on Christmas Eve, Google’s annual live tracker lets users keep an eye on Santa’s travels before Christmas morning. Before then, you can play games to get ready for the big day. “On December 24th Santa’s Village transforms into a tracking experience where you can follow Santa and his reindeer as they deliver presents to kids around the world,” Google’s Santa Tracker website says. Apparently, Santa’s long journey lasts a full 25 hours, making his first stop in eastern Russia. You can [use the Santa Tracker online](https://santatracker.google.com/), or [download the app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.santatracker&hl=en%5FUS) from Google Play. ## **What can the Norad Santa Tracker tell me this year?**  Operators for NORAD Tracks Santa in 2014. Courtesy of NORAD For another look into Santa’s journey across the world, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has its own version. Though the agency’s mission is to find “man-made objects in space,” it still makes time for holiday fun, like seeking out Kris Kringle himself. Now, in addition to its phone service, NORAD’s website also offers a clear visual depiction of Santa’s journey. You can start tracking Santa online on Dec. 24 at 2 a.m. M.T. (4 a.m. E.T.), or call the project’s volunteers at 1-877-HI-NORAD. The NORAD Santa tracker goes live on Dec. 1 every year, spending the weeks leading up to Christmas educating children about geography. A Dec. 10 video showed that Santa was flying above Berlin, and the video states that Santa was passing by Berlin monuments like the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Television Tower. ## What is the true story of the Norad Santa tracker? The agency’s educational [NORAD Tracks Santa program](https://www.noradsanta.org/) has actually been around since 1955, when its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), had its phone number misprinted in an advertisement for children to call Santa. Naturally, children began calling what they thought was a direct line to Saint Nick himself, but it turned out to be the hotline for CONAD’s commander-in-chief. Rather than angrily hang up, the director of operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, asked his staffers to “investigate Santa’s status.” “Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born,” NORAD explains on its website. “In addition to our day-to-day mission of defending North America, we are proud to carry on the tradition of tracking Santa as he travels along his yuletide flight path,” Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, [said in a press release](https://www.dvidshub.net/news/354011/norad-tracks-santa-program-kicks-off-2019). ## **What was the Google Santa Tracker in 2018?**  Google Last year’s Google Santa Tracker also featured Santa’s Village with special Christmas games and Google Assistant special features. Google first created the Santa Tracker in 2005, when Dennis Hwang, the former chief designer of [Google Doodles](https://time.com/5679093/first-google-doodle/), designed icons for Google Earth’s early version of the project. The [company has said](https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/tracking-santa-backstory.html) that more than one million people tracked Santa that first year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5750865/santa-tracker-2019/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5750865/santa-tracker-2019/"},"headline":"Where in the World Is Santa Claus Already? 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