Russia Celebrating New Year 2011

New Year celebrations are in full swing in Russia. Moscow is greeting 2011 with loud outdoor festivities. Thousands of people are celebrating in the streets, welcoming the New Year with a clinking of glasses filled with champagne. A traditional fireworks display marks the coming of 2011 after the President's speech. Chukotka, near the border with Alaska, has become the first Russian region to welcome New Year. Russia has nine time zones and this means that it greets 2011 nine times, as opposed to 11 times in previous years, due to a reduction in time zones which was signed into law by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March. Almost all of the European part of the country greets 2011 at the same time as the capital. One hour after Moscow, New Year will come to the country's western-most point -- the city of Kaliningrad.

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