The First Dawn and Breathtaking Fireworks: 2023 Has Arrived

12:48 GMT, 1 January 2023

New Year celebrations are always associated with hope for a new and better life. The world's eight billion people began ushering in 2023 and bidding farewell to a turbulent 12 months marked by conflict in Europe, stinging price rises, Lionel Messi's World Cup glory and the deaths of Queen Elizabeth, Pele and former Pope Benedict.

The march of time cannot be stopped, so 2023 - the year of the water rabbit - has come, bringing new hopes and expectations. See how people welcomed it in Sputnik's photo gallery.

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A reveler laughs as she waits for the countdown during the New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square, late Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, in New York.

© AP Photo / Andres Kudacki

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People dance during New Year's celebrations in downtown St. Petersburg, Russia, late Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022.

© AP Photo / Dmitri Lovetsky

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Fireworks explode over the Acropolis during New Year celebrations in Athens, early on January 1, 2023.

© AFP 2023 / Louisa Gouliamaki

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Women dancers pray before they perform during the culture parade to bid farewell to 2022 and welcome 2023 in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022.

© AP Photo / Firdia Lisnawati

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People watch a drone light display featuring Britain's former Queen Elizabeth II and the fireworks from Horse Guards Parade in central London to celebrate the New Year on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023

© AP Photo / David Cliff

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People celebrating New Year 2023 in Melitopol, Ukraine.

© Sputnik / Konstantin Mihalchevskiy

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New Year's Eve fireworks light the landmark Burj Khalifa tower at midnight in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on December 31, 2022.

© AFP 2023 / Ryan Lim

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People pose for pictures with a 2023 installation as they celebrate the New Year's Eve at Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem's Old City, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022.

© AP Photo / Mahmoud Illean

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Revelers gather before a countdown to the New Year at Shougang Park in Beijing on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022.

© AP Photo / Ng Han Guan

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Salut in celebratuion of New Year 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

© Sputnik / Murad Orujov

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People form the shape of a heart as they pose for a photo with the first sunrise on New Year's Day at a park in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023.

© AP Photo / Lee Jin-man

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People celebrate the start of the New Year, backdropped by fireworks exploding in the background over Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023.

© AP Photo / Bruna Prado

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People gather to listen to music and watch a firework display before the countdown to 2023 in Hanoi, Vietnam, on December 31, 2022.

© AFP 2023 / Nhac Nguyen

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The Times Square New Year's Eve Ball drops during New Year's celebration in Times Square on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023 in New York.

© AP Photo / Stefan Jeremiah

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New Year 2023 in Moscow.

© Sputnik / Grigory Sysoev

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This photograph taken on January 1, 2023, shows a fireworks show over Wat Arun Buddhist temple on the Chao Phraya River during New Year celebrations in Bangkok.

© AFP 2023 / Jack Taylor

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A couple kisses as fireworks are shot as part of celebrations for the New Year in downtown Rome, with the ancient Colosseum in the background, on January 1, 2023.

© AFP 2023 / Filippo Monteforte

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Salut in celebration of New Year 2023 on the bank of river Sava in Belgrade

© Sputnik / Alexandar Djorovich

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People gather at the sea promenade, lit up during sunset on New Year’s Eve in Mumbai on December 31, 2022.

© AFP 2023 / Punit Paranjpe

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Fireworks explode over Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate during a New Year's light and music show before midnight to welcome the year 2023, on December 31, 2022. -

© AFP 2023 / Tobias Schwarz

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In this photo taken late on December 31, 2022, participants take part in a dancing party to celebrate the new year on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang.

© AFP 2023 / Kim Won Jin

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People watch fireworks explode over the Cairo Tower and the Nile River as New Year celebrations begin in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023.

© AP Photo / Amr Nabil

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Revelers enjoy a sound and light show projected on the Arc de Triomphe as they celebrate the New Year on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, France, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022.

© AP Photo / Aurelien Morissard

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People wave to observe the first sunrise on New Year's Day from a pedestrian bridge Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, in Yokohama near Tokyo.

© AP Photo / Eugene Hoshiko

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