New Year's Eve 2011 around the world

Much of the US will be tuning into the Times Square ball drop in New York City, but there are celebrations to rival that one around the world. Below are some of the world's biggest New Year's Eve celebrations.

Australia

Rob Griffith/AP
The sky above Sydney Harbour lights up with the 9 p.m. fireworks display on the new year's eve in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. Enthusiastic Australians camped out at parks alongside the Sydney Harbour Bridge to win the best view of Friday's spectacular New Year's Eve fireworks kicking off celebrations around the world.

By the time you read this, you may have already seen the fireworks in Sydney. One of the first major cities to cross into the new year, Sydney’s celebration is often broadcast around the world. It’s also one of the world’s largest New Year’s Eve celebrations – the Guardian reports that at least 1.5 million people were expected to gather around Sydney Harbor (roughly 500,000 more than the number of folks expected in New York's Times Square) to watch the fireworks display.

So many people wanted to gather around the harbor that police said they had to cut off entrance to the area around the harbor at 3 p.m. Some people camped out the night before to make sure they could snag a spot, AOL News reported.

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