Photos: New Year Celebrations From Around the World

The start of a new year is a time for reflection, hope, and joy, and this sentiment was beautifully captured in various New Year celebrations worldwide.

The first to greet 2024 were the inhabitants of the Line Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Residents of the islands of Tonga and Samoa in the southwest Pacific were also among the first to celebrate the New Year.

The wave of the New Year washed over the Pacific Ocean and continued westward, wrapping country after country in its festive embrace.

Take a look at Sputnik Africa's gallery of 2024 celebrations around the globe as the lights blaze, the skies light up with fireworks, and the atmosphere is charged with excitement.

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Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House (L) during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney on January 1, 2024.

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New Year celebration on Lenin Square in Novosibirsk, Russia.

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Fireworks light up the sky by the landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the world’s tallest building, in Dubai at midnight on new year's eve on January 1, 2024.

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Revelers ring in the new year after a countdown to 2024 in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.

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Girls pose with their painted faces on the occasion of New Year's Eve in Amritsar on December 31, 2023.

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People watch the traditional New Year's fireworks from the water at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 1, 2024.

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People strike a giant bell to celebrate the New Year at the Zojoji Buddhist temple, minutes after midnight Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan.

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Times Square Alliance volunteers throw confetti as the clock strikes midnight as seen from the New York Marriott Marquis during the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, early Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in New York.

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Youth and students take part in celebrations to welcome in the new year at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on December 31, 2023.

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A reveler climbs onto a pole during New Year's celebrations in Paris, France, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023.

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A couple release a lantern as people fire fireworks to mark the arrival of the New Year at a beach in Sihanoukville, the coastal capital of Preah Sihanouk province, on January 1, 2024.

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A couple shares a kiss as they celebrate New Year's Eve in central Istanbul's Taksim Square, in Istanbul, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.