31.12.2024 15:00
New Zealand welcomed the year 2025 with spectacular fireworks displays. Christmas Island, officially known as Kiritimati, is located in the world's most advanced time zone and was the first place to enter 2025. The cities of Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand were the first major cities to enter the new year at 11:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time.
As the world prepares for the new year, New Zealand welcomed 2025 with magnificent fireworks displays.
The island officially known as Kiritimati, located in the world's most advanced time zone, became the first place to enter 2025 with a population of over 7,000. Following the island, Tonga, Samoa, and New Zealand's Chatham Islands entered the new year in succession.
The first major cities to welcome 2025 were New Zealand's Auckland and Wellington, which entered the new year at 11:00 GMT. Fireworks launched from Auckland's iconic Sky Tower lit up the sky 13 hours before Big Ben in London announced the new year and 18 hours before the celebrations in Times Square, New York.
Crowds gathered in New Zealand and Australia to choose the best spots to watch the fireworks displays and raise their champagne glasses.
As 2024 comes to an end, the world bids farewell to a year marked by Olympic successes, Donald Trump's dramatic comeback, and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine. It is almost certain that 2024, with climate-related disasters affecting areas from the European plains to the Kathmandu Valley, will be recorded as the hottest year.
As the New Year celebrations in Sydney Harbour begin, many revelers are experiencing the relief of leaving the past 12 months behind. Stuart Edwards, a 32-year-old insurance worker, told AFP, "There are many wars and turmoil in the world. It would be nice if everything got better."
In Sydney, which declares itself the "New Year capital of the world," nine tons of fireworks will be launched from the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge at midnight. As every year, "family fireworks" lit up the Opera House and Sydney Bridge at 21:00 local time. More than a million spectators are expected to flock to the city's waterfront to watch this event, which takes place three hours before the main show.