Vast crowds in Sydney welcomed the new year in in a blaze of fireworks described as the city's best party since the 2000 Olympics.
Celebrations kicked off with aerial displays by vintage aircraft and a parade of 50 illuminated boats, while spectators set up fold-out chairs, picnic blankets and inflatable beds, culminating in a 13-minute fireworks extravaganza accompanied by a synchronised soundtrack.
At the Sydney Opera bar, people paid $A500 (£330) for the view and a Baywatch-themed cocktail party where guests were served drinks by waiters in swimming costumes.
An estimated 1.5 million people lined the harbour, some arriving as early as 6am for the celebrations that took 15 months to prepare at a cost of $A5m.
One English family turned down the chance to see the England cricket team clinch the Ashes in favour of the Sydney celebrations. Mary Richards, a 49-year-old teacher from Bournemouth, said she had refused tickets to the Melbourne test after her son, Craig, 16, told her he would rather party in Sydney.
''We had been offered tickets for Melbourne but didn't bother going because we wanted to drive up to Sydney in time,'' she told the Australian Associated Press. ''It's not often you get to watch England win the Ashes in Australia but we felt it was even rarer that we would get to see these fireworks."
There will be less festive cheer in north-eastern Australia, however, where some 200,000 people have been affected by floods covering an area larger than France and Germany combined.
In Christchurch, New Zealand, two minor earthquakes failed to dampen enthusiasm for all-night celebrations. Thousands of partiers shrugged off a 3.3 magnitude quake that struck just before 10pm to celebrate in Cathedral Square.
This year marks the first time the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, officially celebrates the new year with a countdown party, complete with a light show and foreign DJs in front of the city's elegant French colonial-style opera house. The move reflects growing western influence in the country which has paid little attention to the changing of the calendar in the past, instead devoting their attention to celebrations during Tet, the lunar new year that begins on 3 February.
In South Korea, up to 100,000 people were expected to attend a bell-ringing ceremony in central Seoul, with officials and citizens striking the large bronze bell in the Bosingak bell pavilion 33 times at midnight.
At midnight in Taipei, Taiwan, fireworks would form a spiralling dragon climbing up the city's tallest skyscraper. Some 50 dancers would beat drums in the freezing cold river in a dance to underscore how people should live with nature in harmony.
In Japan, New Year's Eve is generally spent at home with family but those who venture out go to temples to pray for good luck in the new year. At Zojoji, a 600-year-old Buddhist temple in central Tokyo, thousands were expected to release balloons at midnight carrying notes with their hopes for 2011.
In New York, which has been blanketed by a snowstorm, nearly a million revellers were expected to cram into the streets around Times square to watch the traditional midnight ball drop.
In Europe, many people would be partying against a background of economic woes, with Greece and Ireland needing financial bailouts and others, such as Spain and Portugal, as the next potential dominoes.
If not at home or at private parties, Spaniards traditionally gather in their main town squares to eat 12 grapes one by one as the bell in the square marks the countdown to 2011. In the Irish capital of Dublin, people were due to flock to the Christchurch cathedral to listen as the bells chimed in the new year.
In London, thousands would witness a musical and firework display at the 135-metre-high London Eye, on the river Thames. The giant ferris wheel, which is marking its 10th anniversary, lies almost opposite Big Ben, which will chime in 2011. In Paris, tens of thousands were expected to pack the Champs Elysées and the area around the Eiffel Tower for dazzling light and firework displays.
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2011 New Year Countdown at Zojoji Temple (Japan)by njmshashin3,375 views
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blUdz18 1 year ago
The Sky Tower fireworks looked amazing on TV.
OMGlikeWHOAx 1 year ago
ummmm this is Auckland new zealand not Sydney australia
possession1963 1 year ago
@cmcrecordslabel ur going to every new ly uploaded newyear vid :P
happy new year from the netherlands
TheBanned0ne 1 year ago
happy new year.......5 h in hamburg/germany
cmcrecordslabel 1 year ago