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The New Year is the day that marks the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. In many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner.

The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, today in worldwide use, falls on January 1, continuing the practice of the Roman calendar. There are numerous calendars that remain in regional use that calculate the New Year individually.

Gregorian New Year:

In countries which use the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is usually celebrated on January 1.

The order of months in the Roman calendar has been January to December since King Numa Pompilius in about 700 BC, according to Plutarch and Macrobius. According to the Christian tradition, January 1 is the day of the circumcision of Christ (eight days after birth), when the name of Jesus was given to him (Luke 2: 21). Since then, January 1 has been the first day of the year, except during the Middle Ages when several other days were the first (March 1, March 25, Easter, September 1, December 25).

With the expansion of Western culture to the rest of the world during the twentieth century, the January 1 date became global, even in countries with their own New Year celebrations on other days (e.g., China and India).

At present, the celebration of the New Year is a major event worldwide. Many large-scale events are held in major cities around the world, with many large fireworks events on New Year's Eve (December 31).

Sydney launched over 80,000 fireworks at midnight, and had more than one and a half million attendees; it was also the most-watched event on television worldwide in 2009. In Valparaiso upwards of two million visitors witnessed the largest fireworks display in a natural setting; a total of more than 21 kilometers of fireworks on the bay, from the commercial port city of Valparaiso to Concon, Chile, all in 25 minutes of entertainment. London's New Year celebrations centre around the London Eye, with an impressive fireworks display while Big Ben strikes midnight. In New York, the celebration is focused around a large crystal ball that descends in a one minute countdown in Times Square. Edinburgh plays host to one of the world's largest Hogmanay  events. The celebrations last for four days and attract visitors from around the globe to take part in street parties and attend concerts. In Rio de Janeiro every year around two million people get together in the sands of the famous Copacabana Beach to watch a fifteen-minute fireworks display.

In the culture of Latin America there are a variety of traditions and superstitions surrounding these dates as omens for the coming year. January remains a symbol of the New Year's celebration.

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