In plazas and parks and bars and homes across the globe, people gathered to commemorate the end of 2024 and welcome the New Year. Bold swimmers plunged into a frigid lake in Switzerland, joggers in Poland took one last whimsical run of the year and fireworks crackled in cities large and small.

The celebrations heralded the end of a tumultuous year during which more than half of the world’s population went to the polls, shaping the future of democracies in more than 30 countries.

In Syria, a revolution overthrew a brutal, decades-long dictatorship, as wars widened in the Middle East and ground on in Ukraine and Sudan. The year was almost certainly the hottest on record, beating the high set in 2023.

There was triumph, failure and shimmering pageantry at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. And on April 8, millions looked skyward, gazing in awe as a total solar eclipse bathed parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada in darkness.

Here’s how celebrations looked around the world:

A child having her face painted in Damascus, Syria.

People counted down to midnight in Auckland, New Zealand, one of the first major cities to welcome 2025.

People in old-fashioned swimming clothes rushed to the water at the beach in Cabourg, France, to take part in the traditional last swim of the year.

Fireworks lit up the sky above Prambanan Temple, a 9th-century Hindu temple complex, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Revelers gathered for the New Year celebration in Taipei, Taiwan.

Performers at a New Year’s Eve countdown event in Beijing.

Crowds had started gathering at Times Square before the New Year countdown in New York City.

Balloons shaped like hearts were released into the air to mark the New Year in Wuhan, China.

Fireworks rose in the sky and were reflected in the water at the New Year’s Eve celebration at Ancol Beach in Jakarta, Indonesia.

A gathering in Vladivostok, a port city in eastern Russia.

Fireworks lighting up the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan.

An illuminated sea promenade in Mumbai, India.

People bundled up to participate in a New Year’s Eve race around a Christmas tree in Siberia, Russia, where temperatures plunged below minus 52 degrees Fahrenheit.

A group in Damascus, Syria, got more use out of some Santa Claus costumes on New Year’s Eve.

Tourist boats before the New Year fireworks at Chao Phraya river in Bangkok.

Revelers pulled out their cellphones to capture fireworks over Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong during the New Year.

Revelers gathered around Sydney Harbour to watch a fireworks display.

A monk carrying out a bell-ringing ritual called “Joya no Kane” at the Senso-ji Temple in Toyko at midnight.

Swimmers in Moosseedorf, Switzerland, braved the cold waters of Lake Moossee in a traditional New Year’s Eve dip.