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New year fireworks on Sydney Harbor
Photo: Mark Baker / AP
In the first countries, New Year's Eve is already over.
First the new year began at 11 a.m. CET in the South Seas states of Samoa and Kiribati.
At 2 p.m. Central European Time (CET), people in Sydney, Australia started the new year.
The famous fireworks at the opera house were smaller than in previous years due to Corona.
Spectators in the immediate vicinity of the harbor were not allowed.
Anyone who wanted to overcome the barriers risked a fine of more than 620 euros.
Sydney looked like a ghost town the closer the New Year approached, observers said.
Usually the spectacle attracts more than a million people each year.
Small backdrop in New York
In many countries this year events have been canceled or will be held on a smaller scale.
In New York, the "Ball Drop" in Times Square, a falling, glowing crystal ball on a pole, is said to take place in front of a few people.
Otherwise thousands will come.
In Germany, the largest New Year's Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is canceled.
From there, the ZDF broadcasts a show without an audience.
There is also a curfew in Paris on New Year's Eve.
In Moscow, despite the Corona curfew, there should be a large fireworks display at the Kremlin from 9 p.m. CET.
The almost corona-free Taiwan traditionally plans pyrotechnics at the "Taipei 101" skyscraper in Taipei.
In the United Arab Emirates, a spectacular fireworks display, including a light and laser show, is planned for the tallest building in the world, the 828-meter-high Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
It takes a total of 26 hours for the whole world to enter the New Year in an east-west direction.
At the very end are the uninhabited islets of Baker Island and Howland Island in the Pacific.
When 2021 begins there, New Year's Day is already 13 hours old in Germany.
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sms / dpa