People around the world marked the new year in various ways, most of them with fireworks.
LONDON
London’s Big Ben chimed at midnight to ring in the New Year, while the London Eye became the focus of a firework display on the South Bank of the River Thames.
ATHENS
The Greek city of Athens celebrated new year with a colourful fireworks display that lit up the sky over the ancient monuments of the Acropolis.
Heavy rain and strong winds poured down on the capital, but many defied the weather and donned umbrellas to celebrate.
BERLIN
Thousands of people began 2019 with a massive street party in the German capital is Berlin.
The festivities were a visual feast, with illuminations projected into the sky above the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate.
INDIA
People across India rang in the New Year with fireworks, dance, and music as the clock struck midnight.
Tourists and local residents gathered in huge numbers in various parts of the country, to witness stage performances and danced the night away.
RUSSIA
Russia welcomed 2019 with fireworks display over Moscow’s Red Square.
The capital’s residents as well as tourists from all over Russia and abroad gathered to watch the fireworks in the Red Square and at the Moscow river embankments.
RIO
A dazzling fireworks spectacle lit up Rio de Janeiro ‘s Copacabana beach where more than two million revellers welcomed the New Year.
Some 16 tonnes of fireworks coloured the tourist city’s sky for over 10 minutes from midnight.
NEW YORK
New York’s Times Square erupted with fireworks and cheers at the stroke of midnight, as thousands of merrymakers braved pouring rain, and watched the glowing New Year’s Eve ball complete its midnight descent.
CHINA
Around 3,000 people, including overseas Chinese, attended an ancestor-worship ceremony just before new year, at the Mausoleum of Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor.
As the clock ticked to midnight, the representatives together struck a huge bell to greet 2019.
Fieworks were then set off and the night was filled with color, light and cheers.
TOKYO
Hundreds of people visited Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine to offer prayers for good luck in 2019 as Japan ushered the year of boar.
Visitors queued early in the morning to make offerings by tossing coins and saying prayers, as a way to express their gratitude to the gods.
NORTH KOREA
Thousands of North Koreans gathered on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang to celebrate the new year with musical performances and fireworks.
NORTH KOREA OFFICIAL
And North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid his respects to the country’s former leaders to mark the New Year.
Kim also gave a speech, where he said he was willing to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at any time to achieve denuclearisation.
