As Kiribati's Kiritimati Island became the first country to celebrate the New Year, jubilant crowds gathered to bid farewell to the hottest year on record, after a chaotic year.
Also known as Christmas Island, the Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands was quicky followed by parts of Asia are now ringing in the new year - with China, Japan and North and South Korea among the other ‘firsts’ countries to reach midnight. Tonga and Samoa rang in New Year 2024 at 11am GMT.
In Australia, Sydney's display was launched from the iconic Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and thrilled a crowd for 12 minutes, whilst New Zealand started their celebrations at 11am GMT with a firework display in Auckland the first major city to greet 2024, where fireworks were let off from its tallest building, the Sky Tower. Hong Kong celebrated with a huge firework display over Victoria Harbour in front of hundreds of thousands of people, whilst in the United Arab Emirates, in Dubai, they too rang in the New Year with a firework show off the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
With of Africa also seeing in 2024, in Scotland, Edinburgh saw the 30th anniversary of its Hogmanay celebrations, with the city seeing a four-day takeover of events, including the return of the torchlight procession for the first time since 2019. Thousands of people watched the display in London, whilst across Europe, hundreds of thousands more gathered at iconic landmarks to usher in the new year.
It was then for the Caribbean and the Americas to play their parts in saying to the world to say; “HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
