As the big moment approaches for England, let’s take a look at other nations celebrating already!

Around the world, from the as far East as Niue and West as Kiribati, people of all size, shape and character come together to celebrate the coming of a new year. It might seem a peculiar occasion for those who don’t follow it, but the same can be said for anything, like Easter, Christmas or Hallowe’en!

Australia, situated in the Indian & Pacific oceans, is between 8 and 11 hours ahead of Greenwich Meridian Time. Therefore, it is at least 1:30am in Perth (the westernmost city), at the time of writing. Sydney, the largest city in Australia (also often thought of as the capital, which in fact is Canberra) held “unmissable“ and “awe-inspring“ firework displays, the main lasting over 15 minutes! It was estimated that a million people came to watch the spectacle, filled with pyrotechnics and music resembling wildlife. In neighbouring New Zealand, plans were cancelled due to adverse weather, but smaller shows still took place.

Samoa and Tokelau were the first nations to welcome 2012, as they skipped forward 24 hours so to align their time with trading partners Australia & New Zealand. As the clocks hit midnight of the 29th of December, they completely passed over the 30th, heading straight to the 31st. Niue will be the last, however, currently 11 hours behind GMT (6:30am at the time of writing). Many -stan countries (such as Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan) will be celebrating shortly, and we wish them luck that all goes well! European countries have big plans for their celebrations, such as France and the UK. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was realistic in her New Year’s speech, saying that “2012 will be harder than 2011, but the economic crisis will bring European nations together.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon hopes that “the new year will continue the move towards democracy that protesters had started during the so-called Arab Spring in 2011.”
For the UK, the beginning of 2012 is the beginning of an eventful year internationally, hosting the London Summer Olympics and Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.
Brazil will be celebrating with an official firework show on the beautiful beaches of Rio de Janeiro.
And last but certainly not least, in New York, the Times Square Ball is ready for use. Hundreds of thousands of spectators will turn up live to watch the illuminated ball drop 77 feet from its pedestal in Times Square.

“But what about Habbox?!” we hear you scream. Even our managers have some resolutions for 2012:

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