A huge display of fireworks lit up Hong Kong on Thursday as the Chinese city rang in 2015, launching the party for millions across Asia.
From New Delhi to Dubai, Johannesburg, New York and Rio, millions around the world will celebrate when the clock ticks past midnight, ringing in 2015 with fireworks displays, concerts and light shows.
In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people crowded the city's promenades to watch the eight-minute pyrotechnic display after a year which had seen busy thoroughfares paralysed by pro-democracy protests in the final months of 2014.
In China, Beijing's bid to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics was to be the theme of celebrations, while the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo brought out stocks of lucky charms and set up large offertory boxes as it prepared to welcome a huge wave of worshippers overnight.
In Malaysia however, a sombre mood prevailed after the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people in Indonesia and flooding in the country's northeast which has displaced almost 250,000 people.
Year-end countdown celebrations have been cancelled, with many companies instead launching fundraising campaigns for flood victims.
In Indonesia, Surabaya was holding a candlelight vigil in the hours leading up till midnight to remember the people on the plane which departed that city on Sunday.
Across to Europe, the end of an era will be remembered in Berlin with "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff joining a huge open air concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where he famously sang for freedom after the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago.
London stages New Year's Eve fireworks along the Thames and Edinburgh will be holding its traditional Hogmanay street party.
Marking 2015 on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, more than two million people are expected to attend a huge fireworks show that will open celebrations marking 450 years since the founding of the city.
And in New York about one million revellers are expected to descend on Times Square to watch the New Year's Eve Ball Drop.
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