Thousands of people in Tokyo released balloons carrying hand-written wishes for the New year and in Hong Kong huge crowds turned out to witness the countdown which was illuminated by numbers on the side of a skyscraper.

Taiwan celebrated by lighting up the world’s second-tallest building, Taipei 101 with a display of fireworks.

The New Year’s Eve party on the island of Samoa started a whole day earlier than normal after the
South Pacific nation moved 24 hours into the future, making it the
first to see in the new year.

People began celebrating as soon as
the clocked ticked over from Thursday, December 29, skipping Friday and
moving straight onto Saturday, December 31 at 12.01am.

Dazzle and delight: A huge fireworks and water fountain display marks the New Year at Manila’s Rizal Park in the Philippines

A bang in Berlin: Fireworks explode before New Year celebrations over the ‘Golden Victoria’ on top of Berlin’s landmark victory column

Samao
and neighbouring Tokelau lie near the date line in the Pacific Ocean
and both islands decided to realign themselves from the Americas side to
the Asia side in order to be more in line with major trading partners.
It is hoped the move will help improve the economy.

Pools and beaches have been packed with Samoans and tourists who are keen to be the first to celebrate rather than the last.

Elsewhere
across globe millions of people are preparing to say goodbye to a year
that saw mass uprisings in several Arab countries, the deaths of Osama
Bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi and Kim Jong-Il.

It
was also a year of economic turmoil which saw an endless string of
natural disasters that devastated several countries across the world.

Colourful fireworks explode from Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper Taipei 101 and light up the night sky as the country celebrates the start of 2012

Time to Dream: Fireworks in Sydney, Australia, light up the skyline over Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. Colourful lights were illuminated onto the bridge to create a rainbow effect