Santa arrived by water skis, snorkel or a boat. There were celebrations jubilant and somber. Christmas Day has arrived, and the world has been preparing for days and weeks.

In Ukraine, graves of soldiers killed in the country’s existential fight against Russia were decorated for the holiday. In Ecuador, fireworks punctuated a celebration as children danced in the streets.

Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus, and Christians around the globe have observed the day for centuries with lights, decorations and gifts. Santa made his rounds, too — in Benin, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. — and, perhaps, your home.

Christmas Eve at the Latin Monastery Church east of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip.

A costumed Christmas procession in Kyiv, Ukraine.

A ballet student leaped during a Christmas performance in the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.

A Christmas tree was decorated in Islamabad.

President Donald J. Trump and Melania Trump take part in a NORAD Santa Tracker call with children at Mar-a-Lago in, Florida.

Christmas Eve mass at the Church of Saint Peter, where the first religious gathering was held in the First century, at the dawn of Christianity, in Antakya, Turkey.

Graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers were decorated for the holidays at the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine.

Praying outside a Church in Guwahati, India.

A surfer dressed as Santa Claus rides a wave during the 17th annual “Surfing Santas” event in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Christmas Eve service at a stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.

St. Petersburg, Russia, on Christmas Eve.

A man dressed as Santa Claus distributed gifts by boat in the floating village of Ganvié, near Cotonou, Benin, ahead of holiday celebrations.

A child ran with a traditional vaca loca, or “crazy cow,” during Christmas celebrations in Quingeo, Ecuador.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, hugged a person dressed as Santa Claus during a Christmas Eve procession in the West Bank.

The annual Christmas Eve meat auction at a market in London.

A person dressed as Santa Claus waterskied during the annual Christmas Eve “Waterskiing Santa” performance along the Old Town Alexandria waterfront in Virginia.

Members of the security forces stood guard beneath Christmas decorations in Damascus, Syria.

A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume swam inside the “Penguins in the Sky” tank at Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan.

A polar bear mascot in a Beijing hotel on Christmas Eve.

Walking along the beach after the annual Christmas Eve swim at Helen’s Bay in Northern Ireland.