Revelers around the world Saturday night bid adieu to a year filled with political surprises, prolonged conflicts, deadly attacks at gatherings and deaths of legendary celebrities.
President-elect Donald Trump tweeted: "Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!"
Trump later held his annual New Year's bash with his family at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla. Asked about his New Year's resolution, Trump grinned and said: "Make America great again, OK? You knew that one."
Among the hundreds of guests in the club's grand ballroom were action star Sylvester Stallone and romance novel model Fabio.
Elsewhere in the United States, officials estimated that as many as a million celebrants would descend upon New York's Times Square before the glittering crystal ball dropped.
Stefania Moran from Puebla, Mexico, and five friends traveled to New York to secure a coveted spot in one of 35 metal pens in Times Square where anyone who leaves is denied re-entry on New Year's Eve.
"I've always wanted to come to New York, and this is one of the must-dos before you die," she said.
Laura Ribera, of Bolivia, said people told her she was crazy for going to Times Square.
"But we wanted to be in New York," she said. "Even the people in our hotel were asking us why we would go out there. But I feel safe."
Dozens of 20-ton sanitation trucks and 15 tons of sand blocked off streets leading to the celebration zone. About 7,000 police officers, along with specially armed counterterrorism units and bomb-sniffing dogs, were on guard.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had the honor of pushing the Waterford crystal button that began a 60-second countdown to 2017. It was effectively his last act as U.N. secretary-general. Antonio Guterres takes over the title today.
More than 300,000 visitors were expected to descend on Las Vegas for performances from DJ Calvin Harris, rappers T-Pain and Kendrick Lamar, and artists Drake and Bruno Mars. A brief fireworks show kicked off at midnight, with rockets launching from the tops of half a dozen casinos.
Federal officials have ranked the celebration just below the Super Bowl and on par with the festivities in Times Square.
Around the world
In Australia, Sydney set up a dazzling tribute to 2016's fallen icons with a New Year's Eve fireworks display honoring the late singer David Bowie and late actor Gene Wilder. It was the first major city to bid adieu to 2016.
The glittering display over Sydney's harbor and bridge featured Saturn- and star-shaped fireworks set to the music "Space Oddity," the classic song by Bowie. Wilder was honored as the bridge lit up in a rainbow of colors while a song from his film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory played.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told his country in his New Year's message that the development of long-range missiles is in its "final stages," according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
In South Korea, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the nation's acting leader, sought to bolster his nation's troops in a time of political turmoil. South Korea's opposition-controlled parliament last month voted to strip the powers of President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal.
"Our people have firm faith in our troops as they maintain stern military readiness with strong willpower," Hwang said.
Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans ushered in the new year demanding Park's resignation. The evening rally was planned to overlap with Seoul's traditional bell-tolling ceremony at the Bosinkgak pavilion at midnight.
"So many unbelievable things happened in 2016. It didn't feel real. It felt like a movie," protester Lee Huymi said. "So I hope 2017 brings a movielike ending to the mess."
Russian President Vladimir Putin invoked a bit of seasonal enchantment in his New Year's Eve remarks to his nation.
"Each of us may become something of a magician on the night of the new year," Putin said in a short televised address broadcast in the closing minutes of 2016 in each of Russia's 11 time zones. "To do this we simply need to treat our parents with love and gratitude, take care of our children and families, respect our colleagues at work, nurture our friendships, defend truth and justice, be merciful and help those who are in need of support. This is the whole secret."
New Year's Eve is Russia's major gift-giving holiday, and big Russian cities were awash in festive lights and decorations. The Moscow subway offered a special holiday train, festooned with lights and artificial greenery.
In China, President Xi Jinping said his country will safeguard its interests in 2017.
"Chinese people will not agree to whoever that wants to make trouble on this," Xi said in his annual address, referring to the country's sovereignty rights and maritime interests. China's claims to territory in the South China Sea have been contested by other nations.
Xi also said China will work on policies to benefit more people in areas such as employment, education, health care and housing.
The Philippines' tradition of dangerous New Year's Eve celebrations persisted after President Rodrigo Duterte delayed to this year his ban on the use of powerful firecrackers, often worsened by celebratory gunfire that has maimed hundreds of people and killed some each year. Duterte said he issued the delay because he was concerned by the impact of an abrupt ban on poor Filipinos employed in the firecrackers industry.
The Philippines' Department of Health said Saturday that 139 people had been injured by firecracker blasts in recent days.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis strolled through St. Peter's Square during the last frigid hours of 2016, exchanging New Year's Eve greetings with the faithful.
Francis made his way through the crowd to pray in front of the life-size Nativity scene after the traditional vespers, also called evening prayer, inside St. Peter's Basilica. Along the way, he stopped to kiss children on their cheeks and shake hands with well-wishers, occasionally accepting small gifts that he handed off to his bodyguards. People in the crowd held up smartphones to snap pictures.
During the evening prayers, the pope called on the faithful to help young people find purpose in the world, noting the paradox of "a culture that idolizes youth" and yet has made no place for the young.
"We have condemned our young people to have no place in society because we have slowly pushed them to the margins of public life, forcing them to migrate or to beg for jobs that no longer exist or fail to promise them a future," Francis said.
More than responsibility, the pope said the world owed young people "a debt" because they have been deprived of "dignified and genuine work," instead condemning them "to knock on doors that for the most part remain closed."
In Brazil, more than 2 million people -- including an estimated 860,000 tourists -- welcomed 2017 at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach, which hosted 12 minutes of fireworks.
The event was more modest than 2015's New Year's Eve because of the city's recession. Still, tourists and Brazilians enjoyed a festival of sounds, including two sets of drums from popular samba schools.
Mexico City expected thousands to turn out for a New Year's Eve concert at the Monument to Independence, better known as The Angel. Streets were blocked off in the area, and 2,000 police officers were on hand for security.
In Romania, which considers New Year's the biggest party of the year, former Finance Minister Daniel Daianu said Western governments should pay closer attention to the public mood.
"People are frustrated, people are resentful and people react," he said. "Unless governments pay attention to fairness and fair play, we could see some very unpleasant surprises."
British Prime Minister Theresa May countered that opportunities for the United Kingdom are "greater than ever" and called for the country to unite in 2017 as she prepares to formally trigger two years of talks to withdraw Britain from the European Union, popularly called the Brexit.
In a New Year's message, the premier said she'll bear in mind the interests of the 52 percent of voters who backed the exit and the 48 percent who opposed it when she negotiates a deal with her 27 EU counterparts.
"The referendum laid bare some further divisions in our country -- between those who are prospering, and those who are not; those who can easily buy their own home, send their children to a great school, find a secure job, and those who cannot; in short, those for whom our country works well, and those for whom it does not," May said. "This is the year we need to pull down these barriers that hold people back, securing a better deal at home for ordinary, working people."
London celebrated the new year with a fireworks display over the River Thames shortly after the Big Ben tower chimed midnight.
In nearby France, revelers swarmed along Paris' illuminated Champs Elysees Avenue, admiring the laser display from the Arc de Triomphe and lines of trees sparkling with lights. Many were grateful for the chance to move on.
"It's been such a horrible year, with all these [celebrity] deaths, Syria, Brexit and Trump," said Karine Dublot from Lyon. "I say good riddance."
Information for this article was contributed by Jill Colvin and staff members of The Associated Press; and by Alex Morales, Dong Lyu, Douglas Huang and Niu Shuping of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 01/01/2017