Christmas around the world in pictures
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Surfing Santas, crazy cows and traditional carols, see how people across the globe celebrate Christmas in 2025.
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People dressed as Santa fall into the ocean during the annual Surfing Santas event on Christmas Eve at Cocoa Beach in Florida, USA.Credit:Dalton Smith/@NPI Productions/Florida Space Coast via AP
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Children play with bubbles during a Christmas dinner organised by labor activists for people in need outside Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Credit:AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd
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Donald Trump, speaks accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, during a NORAD, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Tracks Santa Operation call at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.Credit:AP Photo/Alex Brandon
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Acting Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads a Christmas Midnight Mass at Saint Catherine’s Church in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Credit:Mussa Qawasma/Pool Photo via AP
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People drive up to the top of the Feldberg mountain near Frankfurt, Germany, to join the traditional Christmas Eve meeting of tractor and motorbike drivers.Credit:AP Photo/Michael Probst
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For the past century, the historic Smithfield Market traditionally holds a meat sale on Christmas Eve, where traders sell off their surplus meats in London.Credit:Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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A woman poses amid Christmas lights in Istanbul.Credit:AP Photo/Emrah Gurel
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Christian Jennert holds his dog, Spatz, while looking at his phone in front of the Union Square Great Christmas Tree in San Francisco.Credit:AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
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Pope Leo XIV holds the statue of Baby Jesus during the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican.Credit:AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
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A child runs with a traditional vaca loca, or crazy cow, during Christmas celebrations in Quingeo, Ecuador.Credit:AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa
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A woman takes a photo next to an illuminated Christmas tree as she arrives to attend a Christmas Eve service at the Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica in Kochi, India.Credit:Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images
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People look at a Nativity scene near Kazansky Cathedral prior to Christmas celebrations in St. Petersburg, Russia.Credit:AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky
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People pose for photos near a Christmas tree in a hotel lobby on the eve of Christmas in Beijing.Credit:AP Photo/Ng Han Guan
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People wearing traditional Ukrainian clothes sign carols on the Christmas Eve at a subway station in central Kyiv, Ukraine.Credit:AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk
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Emma Coke, left, and Stephanie Finnegan walk along the beach with their dogs after a swim at Helen’s Bay, Northern Ireland for the annual Christmas Eve swim in the cold waters in Belfast Lough.Credit:AP Photo/Peter Morrison
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Priests and clergy walk in a procession to attend the Christmas celebration midnight Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania.Credit:AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis
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Lyne Jerrika, a United States Postal Service mail carrier, delivers a package while dressed as an elf in Austin, Texas on Christmas Eve.Credit:Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP
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Christians attend a prayer on Christmas Eve Wednesday at St. Mary Cathedral in Yangon, Myanmar. Credit:AP Photo/Thein Zaw
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Christians decorate an area with holiday light and Santa Claus poster for Christmas celebrations at a Christian neighbourhood in Islamabad, Pakistan.Credit:AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
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People hold electric candles during a Christmas Eve service at Indonesia Arena stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.Credit:AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana
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People prepare to reenact a Nativity scene during the Christmas Eve mass at the Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Istanbul, Turkey.Credit:Burak Kara/Getty Images
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Children celebrate Christmas Eve in the southern Lebanese border village of Alma al-Shaab.Credit:AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari
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A young boy, wearing a Santa Claus hat, walks with his mother in Lalitpur, Nepal.Credit:AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha
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Lifeguards walk by a snowman created with sand and wearing a Santa hat at the Gold Coast.Credit:Audrey Richardson/Getty Images
