How the world welcomed 2013

People watch as fireworks explode over the coast of Vina del Mar, Chile as part of the New Year celebrations, January 1, 2013.

Fireworks light the sky over Victoria Harbour during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the New Year in Hong Kong January 1, 2013.

Fireworks explode near the Malaysia's landmark Petronas Twin Towers during New Year celebrations in Kuala Lumpur January 1, 2013.

Visitors look at a sand sculpture designed to celebrate the 2013 new year by sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik on the beach in Puri, about 65km (40 miles) from the eastern city Bhubaneswar in the Indian state of Odisha December 31, 2012.

Rita Ravenberg (L) and Elly Purperhart (2nd R) of the National Federation of African-Surinamese pours sacred water containing herbs and flowers on people from all origins during a New Year's Eve ritual at the Independence Square in Paramaribo, Suriname, December 31, 2012. The sacred water is prepared by a spiritual leader in a former sugar cane cooking pot used in the time of slavery to symbolize that bad experiences in the past can be turned ...

 

Fireworks explode over St. Basil Cathedral at Red Square during New Year's Day celebrations in Moscow January 1, 2013.

A reveller writes the number 2013 with sparklers ahead of New Year's Day at an air temperature of about -25 degrees Celsius (-13 F) in a forest outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk December 31, 2012. Picture taken with long exposure on December 31, 2012.

Fireworks explode over the temple of the Parthenon during New Year celebrations in Athens, Greece January 1, 2013.

Egyptians dance on a pleasure boat travelling on the River Nile during New Year's Eve celebrations near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt December 31, 2012.

Residents watch as fireworks explode over the Stone Bridge during New Year celebrations in Skopje January 1, 2013.

Fireworks explode across the skyline at the Wroclaw Market Square during New Year celebrations in Wroclaw January 1, 2013.

Fireworks explode around the London Eye during New Year celebrations in central London January 1, 2013.

Revelers stand in Times Square ahead of New Year celebrations in New York December 31, 2012.

Fireworks explode over the Funchal city bay during New Year celebrations in Madeira island January 1, 2013.

Fireworks explode above a floating mosque during New Year's Eve celebrations at Losari beach in Makassar, Indonesia's South Sulawesi province December 31, 2012.

Visitors take pictures and videos during a light show as part of a New Year countdown celebration at the financial square on the Bund in Shanghai December 31, 2012. Picture taken December 31, 2012.

Fireworks explode during New Year celebrations over the Brandenburger Tor gate in Berlin January 1, 2013.

 A woman celebrates the New Year as she watches fireworks exploding above Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro January 1, 2013. More than two million people gathered along Rio's most famous beach to witness the 20-minute display and celebrate the beginning of a new year.

Fireworks explode over the medieval Charles Bridge to mark the first day of the new year in Prague January 1, 2013.

Revellers launch a floating paper lantern into the sky as they celebrate New Year's Day in Antigua, 60 km (37 miles) from Guatemala City, January 1, 2013.

Well-wishers hang new year fortune blessing papers after offering New Year prayers at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo January 1, 2013. Millions of well-wishers visited temples and shrines to offer prayers on the first day of the New Year.

A worker walks past a dragon-shaped lantern for a lantern festival to celebrate the New Year in Happy Island Park, in Hefei, Anhui province January 1, 2013. The lantern festival will be held from January 1 to February 25, local media said. The Chinese characters on the board in front of the lantern read, "Diaoyu Islands", referring to the disputed islands called the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku by Japan.

 

 

Revellers kiss as they celebrate ahead of New Year's Day in Red Square in Moscow December 31, 2012.

Maestro Franz Welser-Moest conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during the traditional New Year's Concert in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein in Vienna January 1, 2013. The concert is broadcast by over 70 television networks and 300 radio stations worldwide.

People ride on a boat as they travel along Yangon river as New Year's sun rises in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) January 1, 2013.

North Koreans pay their respects in front of the statues of the North's founder Kim Il-sung and late leader Kim Jong-il on the first day of new year in Pyongyang January 1, 2013 in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency.

A reveler dressed as a demon reacts as he performs during the 29th Cochin Carnival at Fort Kochi, in the southern Indian city of Kochi January 1, 2013. The carnival is held annually to welcome the start of a new year.

Maurizio Palmulli of Italy dives into the Tiber River from the Cavour bridge, as part of traditional New Year celebrations January 1, 2013. Four men dived the muddy waters of the Tiber from the Cavour bridge, continuing an annual tradition which dates back to 1946.

 

People participate in a traditional New Year's Day swim in front of the famous cliff at Etretat, western France January 1, 2013.

A boy poses for a photo at a 3D painting exhibition during new year celebrations in Hanoi January 1, 2013.

Swimmers in fancy dress participate in the New Year's Day Looney Dook swim at South Queensferry in Scotland January 1, 2013.

Participants get ready for the annual Polar Bear Plunge at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin January 1, 2013. Participants braved the below freezing temperatures at the annual New Year's Day dip into Lake Michigan.

A man wearing a goat mask runs into the English Bay during the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver, British Columbia January 1, 2013.

Followers of La Santa Muerte (The Saint of Death), a cult figure often depicted as a skeletal grim reaper, pose for a photograph at the saint's altar in Tepito, Mexico City January 1, 2013. Followers gather at the altar at the start of a new year, and subsequently on the first of each month, to leave offerings of apples, flowers, cigarettes, coloured candles and tequila to thank her for granted favours or to ask for new ones

 

People enter the water while taking part in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim in New York's Coney Island January 1, 2013. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club is the oldest winter bathing organization in the U.S. and every New Years Day holds the winter plunge which attracts thousands of participants.