According to a report on the BBC World News revellers around the world are celebrating the beginning of 2012. As the clock struck midnight at the end of 29 December, the first places to celebrate were the two South Pacific island nations, Samoa and Tokelau, where they were fast-forwarded to 31 December, missing out on 30 December entirely after they jumped across the international dateline.
An estimated million-strong crowd watched the multi-million dollar firework display, some of which resembled waterfalls, rainbows and clouds, around Sydney Harbour Bridge, which were accompanied by a medley of wild animal sounds and pop music around midnight (13:00 GMT).
Due to bad weather some New Zealand planners cancelled their outdoor events, but a low-key fireworks display went ahead at Auckland's Sky Tower.
In front of the Tokyo Tower, people released helium balloons at midnight with notes attached of their many wishes for 2012, one of which is for a better year after the earthquake and tsunami that brought devastation to the north-east of Japan in 2011.
While the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said 2012 would be more difficult than 2011, but hoped Europe's debt crisis would bring its member states closer, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said he hoped the New Year would continue the move towards democracy that protesters had started during the so-called Arab Spring in 2011.
Paris and other European cities will celebrate the end of a year that has seen the continent entangled in economic woes.
Some festivities for the New Year in the UK include the Queen's diamond jubilee and the London Olympics.
The BBC World News report said that Brazilian revellers will enjoy a fireworks display on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
And hundreds of thousands will flock into New York's Times Square later for the ceremonial ball-dropping at midnight.
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