In Pictures: How 2020 was welcomed worldwide

The new year which also marks the beginning of a new decade was ushered in with fireworks display in many parts of the world, including Lagos Nigeria, where there was a countdown at the Eko Atlantic City.

It was a double event at the venue as rapper Naira Marley also had a concert going on simultaneously.

Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-OLu was at the countdown and the government shared a video of the event:

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu attends grand finale of Greater Lagos Extravaganza 2020 at Eko Atlantic, says Lagos would witness unprecedented development in the New Year #LASG #ForAGreaterLagos @JokeSanwoolu @jidesanwoolu @drobafemihamzat @shulesBolu pic.twitter.com/22bw9HTGsY

— The Lagos State Govt (@followlasg) January 1, 2020

In Sydney, Australia not even the forest fires ravaging the country mellowed the celebrations. The smoke-choked city ushered in the New Year with a huge fireworks display. More than 100,000 fireworks lit up the skyline for the hundreds of thousands of spectators thronging the city centre.

But the displays were cancelled in Canberra, the capital and the suburbs of Sydney.

It was a different reception for the year in Hong kong, where months long protest continued on Wednesday morning, with police firing tear gas at protesters, marking the year with rallies. A massive march is planned for today.

Protesters at the harbourfront counted down chanting “Ten! Nine! Liberate Hong Kong, revolution now!” as they lit up their phones in a sea of lights.

Smaller crowds of protesters in the Mong Kok district set fire to barricades — and riot police unleashed 2020’s first volleys of tear gas in response.

As the clock struck midnight in North Korea, a large crowd gathered for a concert in the centre of Pyongyang cheered as the clock struck midnight, with fireworks bursting in the sky above a neon-lit stage hosting a tightly-choreographed dance performance.

Across the border, South Koreans flocked to bell-ringing ceremonies — a traditional ritual marking the start of the new year — with thousands watching in central Seoul alongside performances by Korean pop stars.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual New Year address, 20 years after he was elevated to the presidency by Boris Yeltsin’s shock resignation in his 1999 end-of-year speech.

Russia celebrated the new decade over several time zones, with Muscovites flocking to the centre of the capital for fireworks over the Kremlin.

New York dropped its traditional crystal-encrusted ball to ring in 2020 in a packed Times Square.

Artists including feminist rocker Alanis Morissette took the stage ahead of a highly anticipated performance by K-pop sensation BTS.

Chile saw thousands of demonstrators gather at Santiago’s Plaza Italia — the epicenter of protests against President Sebastian Pinera’s right-wing government since October — to celebrate a “New Year with Dignity.”

In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, fireworks lit up the sky over the General de Gaulle bridge and the Ebrie lagoon during New Year’s celebrations.

One of the world’s biggest New Year festivals took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with an estimated three million revellers.

Most of them wore white as they listened to concerts and watched a traditional fireworks show at Copacabana Beach.

In the French capital, tens of thousands gathered on the Champs-Elysees, despite a grueling transport strike that has spelled weeks of misery for commuters.

They came on foot, by bike, taxi — and a few by Metro — to ring in the new decade as a dazzling light show lit up the Arc de Triomphe.

In the British capital, thousands of revellers lined the Thames to watch fireworks fired from the London Eye for the last new year before Brexit.

Big Ben rang out 12 times after the bell had fallen mostly silent in 2019 because of renovation work.

As US-Iran tensions rose again in the Middle East, fireworks exploded in Dubai around the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.