SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: Sydney has rung in the New Year with its world-famous fireworks show above the harbour, watched by millions at home and abroad.
The Australian city's fireworks display began at midnight (1300 GMT) against the backdrop of the Harbour Bridge and the iconic Opera House.
This year's show used around 9 tons of pyrotechnics to light up the sky. Fireworks were ignited at 264 different points, significantly more than in previous years.
For the first time, fireworks were also launched to the west of the Harbour Bridge. Using innovative technology, patterns and shapes such as animals and the word "Sydney" cascaded down from the Harbour Bridge.
More than a million people were thought be attending the event, with many having already set up blankets and picnic chairs in nearby parks in the morning.
Fireworks also exploded over other major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide at midnight.
As the first major international centre to welcome in the New Year, the landmarks of New Zealand's largest city Auckland lit up at midnight (1100 GMT Tuesday), two hours before Sydney.
Seven songs made up a "midnight moment" soundtrack, synchronized with the lights, lasers and fireworks.The five-minute and 30-second-long Sky Tower fireworks and laser display started with a 10-second countdown projected onto the base of the tower.
Following this, 500 kilograms of pyrotechnics were launched from the tower, the highest in the Southern Hemisphere.On the Auckland Harbour Bridge, 90,000 colour-changing lights went dark before a pulsing effect counted down to the New Year from 10-seconds to midnight.
The country's capital Wellington also put on fireworks and music at an inner city lagoon.
Earlier, Kiritimati, a Pacific Ocean atoll home to about 5,000 people, welcomed the New Year, the first inhabited place to do so each year.
Attention will now shift to Asia, where many cities also have spectacular fireworks displays planned to ring in the New Year.
In Taiwan, a six-minute fireworks show will be performed at the country's landmark Taipei 101 building, which is 509 metres tall. For the first time, the display will also include a light show, according to the organizers.
In Bangkok, one of the best ways to take in the show is from a party boat on the Chao Phraya River. Thailand, which follows the Buddhist calendar, will start the year 2568.
In Singapore, crowds of onlookers are expected to gather to watch the fireworks at Marina Bay, with a view of the skyline. In Kuala Lumpur, the 452-metre-high Petronas Towers, once the tallest building in the world, will be the centre of an impressive light show.
Many hours later, American Samoa will be the last to ring in 2025.
