New Year celebrations in pictures

(Web Desk / AFP) - Millions of people around the world cheered the arrival of 2016 with bursts of light and color in a massive fireworks show.

Sydney, traditionally the first to host a major New Year s bash, kicked off the global festivities when it lit up the skies with pyrotechnics at the stroke of midnight.

After Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, the chimes of midnight finally moved across the America.

See how the world celebrated the arrival of 2016:

 Fireworks explode around the London Eye during New Year s celebrations (AFP PHOTO)

Fireworks explode over the castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Fireworks explode over a river during New Year celebrations in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (AFP PHOTO)

Egyptians celebrate in front of great pyramids during New Year s day celebrations on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Revellers watch as fireworks explode in front of Vienna s city hall as Austria s capital ushers in the New Year. (REUTERS PHOTO)

The fireworks displays at Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

People dance in the streets during the Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Fireworks light the sky over Kremlin during celebrations of New Year s Day in central Moscow, Russia. (REUTERS PHOTO)

A New Year Eve scene in Times Square on Broadway on Thursday in New York (AP PHOTO)

Dancers perform to celebrate the new year during a countdown event at Tai Miao, the imperial ancestral temple in the Forbidden City, in Beijing, China. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Fireworks light the sky over near the Eiffel Tower replica during the New Year‘s celebrations in Lahore, Pakistan. (AFP PHOTO)

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as Australia s largest city ushers in the New Year (REUTERS PHOTO)

People wait in a line to access Madrid‘s landmark Puerta del Sol square, after it was cleared to allow controlled access by New Year s revelers. (REUTERS PHOTO)

A woman takes photographs of balloons released by people in Seoul, South Korea. (REUTERS PHOTO)

A man gets a haircut depicting 2016 at a barbershop in Ahmedabad, India. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Pakistanis celebrate New Year‘s Day before midnight along a street in Lahore. (AFP PHOTO)

Pakistanis celebrate New Year‘s Day before midnight along a street in Lahore. (AFP PHOTO)