In pictures: Dawn of the euro

The euro and the new year arrived simultaneously across Europe - and people stayed up to celebrate both.

There was exultation at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

Crowds flocked to the European Central Bank in Frankfurt for a firework display

Two French visitors kissed under the bank's euro monument

The Paris streets were full of euro-revellers...

... while in Brussels, there were queues to obtain the new currency

In Vienna, European Commission President Romano Prodi bought flowers for his wife, Flavia, with the euro

In his native Italy, a model of the departing lira was ceremonially burned

The first EU states to greet the New Year were Finland and Greece, where fireworks burst over the Parthenon

The euro has already travelled far and wide - even reaching the Bank of China in Beijing