After 12 months of chaos - how people around the world are bringing in the New Year

Amid the dismay brought on by a year of prolonged wars, political surprises and indiscriminate terror attacks, revellers across the globe are finding ways to bid farewell to 2016

The Brandenburg Gate in Germany is one of many cities around the world famous for its festive New Year's Eve party (SpreePIX Media/visitBerlin)

The year 2016 has been an eventful one for world affairs.

After 12 months of hearing about the ongoing killing innocent civilians, intensifying political divisions and terror attacks around the globe, many will probably be relieved to see the back of it.

But amid the dismay — made worse with the deaths of many legendary celebrities — New Year's Eve is a time for festivities, and revellers across the globe will be celebrating the turn of the year in a variety of ways.

Here’s how different countries will be seeing in 2017.

Australia

After a year that saw the deaths of a seemingly endless parade of entertainers, Sydney will honour some of the most beloved. The city's famed fireworks display over the harbour will pay homage to Prince and David Bowie, and will be set to a music medley inspired by the late singers.

“We are hoping to make it rain purple this year for the first time, not only off the barges, but also off the Sydney Harbour Bridge,” fireworks director Fortunato Forti said, referencing Prince's hit “Purple Rain.”

The seven tons of fireworks launched from barges on the harbour will also include a “Willy Wonka moment” in tribute to the late actor Gene Wilder's most famous role, fireworks co-producer Catherine Flanagan said.

There will also be a nod to the Bowie classic “Space Oddity,” with Saturn, moon and star-shaped fireworks. Bowie lived in Sydney for about 10 years during the 1980s and 1990s.

“This year, sadly, we saw the loss of many music and entertainment legends around the world,” Flanagan said.

“So celebrating their music as part of Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks displays is an opportunity to reflect on the year that has been and what the future may hold.”

Around 1.5 million revellers are expected to ring the harbour to join in the festivities. An extra 2,000 police will be on duty and buses will be used to block off certain pedestrian areas following the deadly truck-driving attacks in Berlin and Nice, France.

Officials urged residents to carry on celebrating as normal, despite the threats of extremist attacks across the globe and in Australia.

On Friday, a man was arrested after police say he posted threats on social media related to Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations. New South Wales police said he was acting in isolation and had no known links to extremist groups.

State Premier Mike Baird said: “Ultimately the best way that we can respond to the threats around the world is to fight for our freedoms, enjoy our freedoms, and part of that is ensuring that we go about and celebrate New Year's Eve.”

Las Vegas

More than 300,000 visitors are expected to descend on Las Vegas for an extravagant New Year's Eve celebration.

Nightclubs are pulling out all the stops with performances from DJ Calvin Harris, rappers T-Pain and Kendrick Lamar and artists Drake and Bruno Mars. The city's celebrity chefs have crafted elaborate prix fixe menus complete with caviar and champagne toasts.

An eight-minute fireworks show will kick off at the stroke of 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. FBI and Secret Service agents will work alongside local police departments that are putting all hands on deck for the big night.

Japan

Temple bells will echo at midnight as families gather around noodles and revellers flock to shrines for the biggest holiday in Japan.

“I feel this sense of duality,” said Kami Miyamoto, 21, an economics student at Meiji University in Tokyo, who travelled home in Hakusan, Ishikawa prefecture, for the holiday.

“The world is heading toward conservative insular policies,” she said of the U.S. election, Brexit and what she believes lies ahead for elections in Europe in 2017. “We learned about how valuable it is to get correct information.”

One of the most memorable experiences for Miyamoto in 2016 was a three-week study program in South Korea. She was surprised and moved by the friendship she formed with South Korean students, and she has decided to focus her studies on relations with South Korea.

“Studying about the U.S. and Europe seems to be about looking at the past, but East Asian studies are focusing on the future,” she said.

Miyamoto's mother is preparing soba noodles, a standard New Year's Eve dish in Japan, except in their home it will be filled with green onions and shrimp.

As the new year rolls in, the entire family, including her younger brother and sister, will drive to a nearby shrine, which, like temples all over Japan, will be filled with those praying for good fortune in the Year of the Rooster, according to the Chinese zodiac.

China

Residents in Beijing and Shanghai, China's two largest cities, will pass New Year's Eve in a relative state of security lock down, according to Chinese media reports citing police.

The Bund waterfront in Shanghai will not have any celebrations, authorities announced this week, while the sale, use and transportation of fireworks in central Shanghai will be prohibited altogether.

Large buildings that often display light shows will also stay dark. More than 30 people died two years ago in a deadly stampede on Shanghai's waterfront, where 300,000 people had gathered to watch a planned light show.

Beijing police also said countdowns, light shows, lotteries and other organised activities will not be held in popular shopping districts such as Sanlitun and Guomao. Beijing police advised citizens to avoid crowded areas, closely watch elderly relatives and children, and be aware of exit routes in venues.

South Korea

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans will usher in the new year with a massive protest demanding the resignation of disgraced President Park Geun-hye.

It will be the ninth straight weekend of protests that led to Ms Park's impeachment on 9 December over a corruption scandal.

The evening rally will overlap with Seoul's traditional bell-tolling ceremony at the Bosinkgak pavilion at midnight, which was also expected to be a political statement against Park.

The city's mayor, Park Won-soon, invited as guests a man whose teenage son was among more than 300 people who died during a 2014 ferry sinking, and a woman who was forced into sexual slavery by Japan's World War II military.

Ms Park came under heavy criticism over the way her government handled the ferry disaster.

Protester Lee Huymi said: “So many unbelievable things happened in 2016. It didn't feel real; if felt like a movie.

"So I hope 2017 brings a movie-like ending to the mess. Everything getting solved, quickly and all at once, leaving us all happy.”

India

For most people in India, New Year's Eve is a time for family.

In New Delhi and many other cities, newspapers are full of big advertisements for lavish parties at upscale hotels and restaurants.

The big draws at the hotel parties are song and dance performances from Bollywood and television stars.

Police with breath analysers check for drunk driving, and security is tightened in malls and restaurants.

The western city of Mumbai will host big street parties with thousands of people at the iconic Gateway of India, a colonial-era structure on the waterfront overlooking the Arabian Sea. There'll be music and dancing and occasional fireworks.