From New Zealand to New York City, crowds have gathered to ring in the new year and the start of a new decade.
The big picture: The Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati were the first in the world to mark the arrival of 2020, when it was still 5 a.m. on New Year's Eve on the U.S. East Coast. Here's how events have been unfolding around the U.S. and the world, in photos.
LIVE: New York City welcomes the new year with the annual ball drop in Times Square #NYE2020 https://t.co/l2GT30Sfrg
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) January 1, 2020
The 2020 NHL Winter Classic New Year's Eve Bash in Dallas, Texas. Photo: Minas Panagiotakis/NHLI via Getty Images
Fireworks and strobe lights illuminating the Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park in Florida. Photo: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images
Confetti fills the air over top of revelers in New York City's Times Square. Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Daniel Ramalho/AFP via Getty Images
General de Gaulle bridge at Ebrie in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast. Photo: Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
Celebrations at the London Eye in central London. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images
Pro-democracy protesters gather at the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui district as they take part in a rally and celebrate New Year's Eve in Hong Kong. Photo: Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images
The Champs Elysees in Paris. Photo: Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images
The Quadriga statue on the Brandenburg Gate during the fireworks in Berlin. Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
People in light-costumes welcome the new year in Coin, near Malaga, Spain. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images
New Year's celebrations in Amsterdam. Photo: Paco Nunez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Heroes Square in Budapest. Photo: Arpad Kurucz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Revelers gather at Kizilay Square in Ankara. Photo: Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A boy spins burning steel wool with a sling during celebrations in Rajpura town, India. Photo: Saqib Majeed/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Singapore ushers in the new year at Marina Bay. Photo: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
People cheer the new year in Manila. Photo: Maria Tan/AFP via Getty Images
Fireworks illuminate the night sky over Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Photo: Fariq Faraj Mahmood/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Above, Burj Khalifa fireworks in Dubai. Photo: WIN-Initiative/Getty Images. Below, fireworks in Auckland, New Zealand.
— Rebecca Thomson (@rj_thomson) January 1, 2020
Samoa was the first country to welcome 2020 and it did not disappoint with the fantastic bursts of colour and music.
Posted by Samoa Observer on Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Editor's note: This article has been updated with more images and details of New Year's events around the world.
