Millions welcomed the new year with street parties across the world as fireworks blazed through the sky.
New York City took the United States into 2025 with the traditional "ball drop" in Times Square as thick confetti, and rain, fell on hundreds of thousands in the crowd.
"What's better than starting the new year with strangers from all over the world?" said native New Yorker Norquan Tirick Goldson, one of tens of thousands of partygoers who braved freezing temperatures to cram into Times Square.
Couples kissed and strangers hugged as the Times Square ball descended and more than a ton of confetti fluttered from surrounding rooftops.
Huge crowds welcomed the new year with fireworks and music in the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro as the clock struck midnight. A traditional 12-minute fireworks display began at midnight, fired from 10 rafts in front of the world-famous Copacabana beach.
Earlier, Europe, Asia and parts of the Pacific entered 2025 with spectacular shows and outdoor gatherings.
In Türkiye's most populated city and popular tourist hub Istanbul, thousands flocked to major squares to mark the new year. Istiklal Street in Taksim hosted throngs of people, from tourists to locals. Similarly, crowds convened in Beşiktaş, Ortaköy, Nişantaşı and Kadıköy to count down to 2025 and watch the fireworks. Thunderous applause broke out as the crowds welcomed 2025, hugging each other and dancing. Concerts on the banks of the Bosporus provided a merry segue into the new year for crowds.
Some 60,000 revelers gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, as fireworks lit the sky with color.
In Paris, a large fireworks display at the Champs-Elysees drew an estimated crowd of about 1 million people to see out what resident Florence Coret described as "a rather complicated year."
Thousands also lined the banks of London's River Thames for a firework extravaganza, although bad weather washed out events elsewhere.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) welcomed the year with fireworks from the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
In Beijing, celebrations were held at a former steelworks on the city's western outskirts, while in Shanghai, crowds gathered to admire light displays along the world-renowned river promenade and other locations The Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong hosted a grand fireworks display over Victoria Harbour.
New Year's Eve is not as widely celebrated in China as elsewhere, with the Chinese New Year, based on the lunar calendar, seen as far more significant. In 2025, it will fall on Jan. 29. In Taiwan, a six-minute fireworks show was performed for thousands of spectators at the country's landmark Taipei 101 building, which is 509 meters (1,700 feet) tall. For the first time, the display also included a light show, organizers said.
In Bangkok, one of the best ways to take in the show was from a party boat on the Chao Phraya River. Thailand, which follows the Buddhist calendar, began the year 2568. In Singapore, crowds of onlookers gathered to watch the fireworks at Marina Bay, with a view of the skyline.
Pro-European Georgians rang in the new year by setting off fireworks at monthlong rallies against a ruling party they accuse of being under Russia's influence. And Serbian students marched in Belgrade and two other cities demanding accountability over the collapse of a train station roof in November that killed 15 people.
