Celebrating New Year’s 2012

Revelers around the world usher in 2012.

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Jan. 1, 2012

A man dives into the Tiber River from the Cavour Bridge in Rome as part of traditional New Year's celebrations there. Five men jumped into the muddy waters of the Tiber, continuing an annual tradition that dates to 1946.

Tony Gentile / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea in Scheveningen, Netherlands. A record 10,000 people took the plunge in this year's traditional New Year's dip. The high turnout was attributed to the mild weather.

Jasper Juinen / Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Family members raise their hands to receive the first sun rays of 2012 in Cancun, Mexico.

Israel Leal / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

A riflemen corps fires gun salutes to welcome the new year in Villingen-Schwenningen in the Black Forest of southern Germany. The tradition began in 1633.

Patrick Seeger / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

A worshiper burns joss sticks, a type of incense, as she pays her first visit of the year to Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai.

Eugene Hoshiko / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Pigs race through an obstacle course in Klosters, Switzerland. The race takes place every New Year's.

Arno Balzarini / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks explode to welcome the new year at a beach esplanade on Germany's North Sea island of Borkum. Extravagant firework displays lighted up the skies from Sydney to New York in a global New Year's party.

Reinhold Grigoleit / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight. Thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames to see in the new year.

Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks explode beside Vienna's Giant Ferris Wheel, or Wiener Riesenrad, at Prater park in the Austrian capital.

Lisi Niesner / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben in London.

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks light up the London Eye ferris wheel just after midnight.

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Workers begin cleaning up the aftermath of Time Square's New Years Eve celebrations,

John Minchillo / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Confetti is dropped on revellers at midnight during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York.

Gary Hershorn / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Ryan Keegan of New York,and his girlfriend, Lauren Chicoine of Bennington, N.H., share a moment as they celebrate the new year at New York's Times Square.

Tina Fineberg / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Lady Gaga performs during the New Year's Eve celebration at Times Square in New York.

Julio Cortez / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Singer Justin Bieber performs with Carlos Santana in New York's Times Square.

Gary Hershorn / Reuters

Dec. 31, 2011

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg kisses Lady Gaga during New Year's Eve celebrations at Times Square.

Charles Sykes / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Revelers cheer behind police barricades in Times Square in New York.

John Minchillo / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Pitbull performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York.

Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

Dec. 31, 2011

Female impersonator Gary Marion, as "Sushi," dangles high above New Year's Eve revelers in a giant reproduction of a woman's high heel at the Bourbon Street Pub complex in Key West, Fla. The Red Shoe Drop is a Key West tradition.

Andy Newman / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Filipinos watch a fireworks display as they welcome the New Year at Manila's Rizal Park, Philippines.

Aaron Favila / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

A capacity crowd fills the Cathederal Church of St. John the Divine with lit candles during New Year's Eve "Concert for Peace" in New York.

Ray Stubbleline / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

New Year's Eve fireworks display illuminates the sky over the Dom Tower in Utrecht, Netherlands. The Dom tower is with 112.5 metres high the tallest church tower of the Netherlands.

Jasper Juinen / Getty Images

Dec. 31, 2011

The fireworks display at the New Year's Eve celebration in Annapolis.

Mark Gail / The Washington Post

Dec. 31, 2011

Children gather around a large Peep after it was dropped during a New Year's Eve celebration at Levitt Pavillion on the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus in Bethlehem, Pa.

Matt Smith / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Celebrating in Madrid's Puerta del Sol.

Dominique Faget / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks light the sky above the Quadriga at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Michael Sohn / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

In Macedonia's capital, Skopje, fireworks explode near a bronze sculpture of Alexander the Great on his horse Bucephalus.

Ognen Teofilovski / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks explode above the Acropolis in Athens.

Petros Giannakouris / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Lebanese celebrate in downtown Beirut.

Bilal Hussein / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

A couple embraces as fireworks explode in the sky over Bucharest, Romania.

Vadim Ghirda / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks burst over Monaco.

Sebastien Nogier / AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 31, 2011

In Annapolis, Wade Russell, right, gets a birthday kiss from Sam Giordano while John Burkhalter joins the combined New Year's Eve-birthday celebration.

Mark Gail / The Washington Post

Dec. 31, 2011

Revelers fill New York's Times Square.

Gary Hershorn / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House during a pyrotechnic show to celebrate the new year.

Daniel Munoz / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Visitors are showered by confetti during a light show at the Temple of Heaven during the New Year Countdown Ceremony in Beijing.

Andy Wong / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Russians celebrate the new year on Red Square in Moscow, with the Kremlin in the background to the right and St. Basil's cathedral in background to the left. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the square to celebrate the new year and view the fireworks as the clock on the Kremlin's Spassky Tower, right, struck midnight.

Mikhail Metzel / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

A Sri Lankan traditional dancer performs in Colombo. The ceremony was conducted to ward off bad spirits in 2012.

Ishara S.Kodikara / AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 31, 2011

Young Sri Lankan boys play with firecrackers in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Eranga Jayawardena / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

South Koreans in traditional costumes perform to celebrate the new year at Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, near the border village of Panmunjom, which separates North Korea and South Korea.

Ahn Young-joon / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Fireworks explode during celebrations in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia.

Bay Ismoyo / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Revelers cheer as confetti falls at Times Square in Hong Kong.

Tyrone Siu / Reuters

Dec. 31, 2011

Jessica Ong from Singapore starts her new year celebrations early on New Year's Eve at the Hogmanay street party on Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland.

David Cheskin / AP

Jan. 1, 2012

Russians celebrate in Red Square in Moscow, with the Kremlin in the background at right and St. Basil's Cathedral in the background at left.

Mikhail Metzel / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

A band takes part in the annual Cape Town Minstrels Carnival in Cape Town, South Africa. The event, which is deeply rooted in Cape Malay culture, includes more than 60 groups of musicians, dancers and troupe members in brightly colored outfits and painted faces.

Rodger Bosch / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Residents watch fireworks explode in front of the National Monument, or Monas, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Supri / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks explode over Marina Bay in Singapore.

Tim Chong / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Fireworks illuminate the Hong Kong skyline above Victoria Harbour. An estimated 400,000 people were at the display marking the new year.

Dale de la Rey / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 1, 2012

Confetti drops as a Filipino man blows his paper horn as he celebrates at Manila's Rizal Park. More than 200 people have been injured by illegal firecrackers and celebratory gunfire in the Philippines despite a government scare campaign against reckless revelries, officials recently said.

Aaron Favila / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

Revelers from France pose for photographers at the Hogmanay street party celebration in Edinburgh, Scotland.

David Moir / Reuters

Jan. 1, 2012

Filipinos watch a display of water and fireworks at Manila's Rizal Park.

Aaron Favila / AP

Dec. 31, 2011

The number 2012 is written with sparklers in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. The photo was taken using a slow shutter speed.

Lisi Niesner / Reuters

Dec. 29, 2011

Brazilians push a boat filled with flowers into the waters of Copacabana Beach as an offering for Yemanja, goddess of the sea, in Rio de Janeiro. On New Year's Eve, Brazilian worshipers of Yemanja celebrate the deity, offerings flowers and launching boats, large and small, into the ocean in exchange for blessings in the new year. The belief in the goddess comes from the African Yoruban religion brought to America by West African slaves.

Victor R. Caivano / AP

Dec. 30, 2011

Members of Sao Paulo's Commerce Association release balloons ahead of New Year’s celebrations in Sao Paulo.

Andre Penner / AP

Dec. 29, 2011

A shaman spits flowered water on a poster of Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a ritual for good luck in 2012 in Lima, Peru.

Karel Navarro / AP

Dec. 28, 2011

Divers light their torches as they prepare to take part in a traditional pre-New Year's swim at Lake Constance in southern Germany.

Patrick Seeger / AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 28, 2011

Workers from Florida company Mr. Neon put the Big Orange New Year's ball together as they prepare to place it onto the side of the Hotel InterContinental in Miami. The 35-foot ball rises 400 feet to the top of the building and is lowered at midnight on the 31st to mark the beginning of the new year in Miami.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Dec. 30, 2011

The Times Square New Year's Eve ball is tested in New York City. The 11,875-pound Waterford crystal ball will descend a 130-foot-tall flagpole to mark the beginning of 2012.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

Dec. 29, 2011

Wishes for 2012 written on confetti that will be released in New York's Times Square during the New Year’s celebration are on display at the visitor center.

Mary Altaffer / AP

Dec. 29, 2011

A lighting test is conducted for the New Year's gala at the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing.

ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images

Dec. 30, 2011

Amulets known in the Andean world as "Ekekos" and used to bring luck are displayed at the Market of Wishes in Lima, Peru.

Karel Navarro / AP

Dec. 29, 2011

A child walks amid snowmen built in a park in central Moscow. New Year's is the biggest holiday of the year in Russia and is followed by the Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7.

Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP/Getty Images

Dec. 29, 2011

A man has his beard trimmed to the shape of "2012" at a barbershop in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

Amit Dave / Reuters

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