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Norway -

In Norway and Denmark, they prepare a Nordic dessert called kransekage: a tall, layered cake made with marzipan and decorated with flags and other New Year's Eve party paraphernalia. Camilla Parker Bowles once joined Queen Sonja of Norway to take part in the Norwegian New Years' celebration. 

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Bahamas - In the Bahamas, they celebrate on the streets by joining the annual New Year's Day Junkanoo parade.

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Austria - A gift of marzipan or chocolate pigs is seen as lucky in Austria. Besides candy, Austrians will also feast on suckling pig to bring in the new year.

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Iceland - According to Icelandic folklore, New Year's Eve is a time when the dead rise from their graves.

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Italy - Italians believe that wearing red underwear on the night of New Year's Eve guarantees love, prosperity, and good fortune.

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Philippines - Anything in circles is considered sacred in the Philippines, and that includes polka dot dresses—outfits that feature prominently at New Year's Eve parties.

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China - Around the new year, Chinese householders paint their front doors red as a symbol of contentment and goodwill.

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Peru -

If you're in Peru, try and catch the Takanakuy Festival, held near Cusco in Chumbivilcas Province. Local inhabitants gather to see out the year with fist fights to settle old scores. They can then greet the new year on a clean slate!

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Brazil - Brazilians celebrate their new year by throwing white flowers into the ocean as an offering to Yemanja, the Goddess of the Sea.

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Spain - To secure a happy new year, inhabitants of this southern European nation celebrate by eating 12 grapes in time with the dozen chimes of the clock at midnight. In fact, the tradition is widespread in Latin America too.

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Denmark - Besides eating kransekage, the Danes insist that smashing plates on their neighbor's doorstep is lucky. In fact, the more broken crockery at your door on January 1st, the better your luck for the coming year!

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Turkey - On the midnight hour, it's traditional to open your front door and sprinkle salt on the doorstep. Turks believe this simple gesture affords them peace and prosperity at home and at work.

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Colombia - On New Year's Eve, people carry their suitcases around with them all day in hopes of having a travel-filled year.

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Russia -

In Siberia, they plunge through a hole in a frozen lake while clutching a tree trunk, which is ceremoniously placed underneath the ice. The origin of this ritual has its roots in the idea of growth and renewal.

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Ecuador -

Across Ecuador at the stroke of midnight, effigies of politicians, pop culture figures, and other public icons are torched in the street in a symbolic ritual to cleanse the bad from the previous 12 months.

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Singapore - Singapore is renowned for its wishing spheres—spherical balls containing people's hopes for the coming year. The New Year countdown takes place at the annual Marina Bay party.

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Mexico - The Mexican way of bringing in the new year is to decorate your home in different colors, each representative of your hopes and desires for the coming year. For example, red represents love, while yellow is for work. Green is, unsurprisingly, for money.

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Romania - Farmers in Romania believe that by successfully communicating with their livestock on New Year's Eve, it brings them good luck for the 12 months ahead.

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Netherlands -

Christmas trees are ceremoniously burnt as a farewell bonfire to the previous year.

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Bolivia - Coins are baked into sweets and cakes, and whoever finds the currency has good luck for the next year.

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Finland - The Finns have a bit of an odd way of marking the new year. They'll melt down old tin before pouring it into a bucket of cold water and then interpreting the resulting shape.

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Germany - At new year in Germany, it's traditional to eat berliner, a doughnut filled with jam or liquor.

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Japan - Across Japan, Buddhist temples chime in the new year by ringing their bells 108 times—one for each of the human sins in Buddhist belief.

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Hungary - Budapest's famous Time Wheel, or hourglass, always runs out of sand on New Year's Eve. It is then turned 180 degrees so the flow of the sand can resume for the next year.

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South Africa - In some parts of South Africa, revelers celebrate the new year by throwing furniture and old appliances out of the window in a real-time demonstration of "out with the old, in with the new."

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Czech Republic -

The Czechs believe that by cutting an apple in half and looking at the shape of its core, it's possible to predict what the coming year has in store.

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Armenia - The special bread known as gata is baked on New Year's Eve after having been prepared by women who knead "luck and good fortune" into the dough beforehand.

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Greece -

Hanging onions from the front door of a house on New Year's Eve is a symbol of rebirth for the coming year, according to many Greek households.

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Switzerland -

A dollop of cream on a Swiss floor on New Year's Eve signifies luck and prosperity rather than a messy eater.

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