Christmas traditions are celebrated around the world in December and early January, with most traditions centered around celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Traditions vary and include attending religious services, hanging decorations, giving gifts, performing folk dances and songs, hanging stockings and leaving food for mystical figures like Santa Claus. People in many countries also observe traditions like jumping into cold water to retrieve a cross, lighting bonfires, and participating in charity events.

1. Christmas traditions All over the World Presented by Nubia

3. Catholic nuns of the Sisters of Bethlehem, some who have taken a vow of silence, pray during the Christmas mass in the Beit Jamal Monastery near Jerusalem, late Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

4. Dominic Eggert wails while meeting Rick Mariarty dressed as Santa Claus during a Christmas party Tuesday , Dec. 23, 2008, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/The St. Cloud Times, Dave Schwarz) #

5. People walk near a Christmas tree outside the Bird's Nest, also known as the National Stadium, on Christmas Eve in Beijing, China on December 24, 2008. (REUTERS/Jason Lee) #

6. Men jump into the icy waters of a lake in an attempt to grab a wooden cross on Epiphany Day in Sofia, Bulgaria on January 6, 2009. (REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov) #

7. The sun rises above the Orthodox Church in the town of Novogrudok, 150 km west of the capital Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, as morning temperatures dropped to around -15 degrees Celsius. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) #

8. Men perform the traditional Bulgarian "Horo" dance in the icy winter waters of the river Tundzha in the town of Kalofer, Bulgaria some 200 km east of the capital Sofia, during the Epiphany Day celebrations on January 6, 2009. (BORYANA KATSAROVA/AFP/Getty Images) #

9. A Palestinian boy dressed as Santa Claus makes his way to the Latin Catholic Church in Gaza City as Palestinian Christians attend the last Sunday mass before Christmas on December 21, 2008. Some 2,000 Palestinian Christians live in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images) #

10. A man rides in his cart, pulled by ponies, before the annual horse race organized by Orthodox believers in the Romanian village of Pietrosani, 45km north of Bucharest, Romania on Epiphany Day January 6, 2009. (REUTERS/Mihai Barbu) #

11. Pope Benedict XVI blesses the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as he adresses the "Urbi et Orbi" message to the City and to the World at the Vatican on December 25, 2008. The Pontiff in his Christmas message warned that the world was headed toward ruin if selfishness prevails over solidarity during tough economic times for both rich and poor nations. Speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the day Christians commemorate Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, Benedict XVI declared that the "heart of the Christian message is meant for all men and women". (OSSERVATORE ROMANO/AFP/Getty Images) #

12. A catholic woman reads the Bible after a Christmas Eve mass at the temporary Bailu Township Church on December 24, 2008 in Pengzhou of Sichuan Province, China. The church, destroyed in the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, was rebuilt in a makeshift house. Many pilgrims have come to worship at the church today with commemoration for the victims, over seven months after the devastating earthquake. (China Photos/Getty Images) #

13. A Skydiver in a Santa Claus costume comes in for a wet landing in Sydney, Australia on December 17, 2008. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) #

14. A man dressed as a Krampus, traditionally the companion of St. Nicholas who might dole out punishment to bad children. One of Austria's unique Advent traditions, this man is seen as a part of a Krampus procession in the city of Unken, Austria on Friday, Dec. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson) #

15. A child attends a Christmas carol mass at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008. The church has become a camp for Zimbabweans fleeing their nation's economic and political crisis as the situation worsens in the neighboring state. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) #

16. Christian pilgrims from Nigeria are seen inside the Church of Nativity, believed by many to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008. Tourists from all over the world flocked to Jesus' traditional birthplace to celebrate Christmas Eve. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) #

17. Iraqi Christians attend Christmas Mass at the Virgin Mary church on December 25, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images) #

18. Chinese children dressed as angels attend mass held on Christmas eve at the Southern Cathedral, the oldest Catholic church in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) #

19. A man dressed as Santa Claus holds a mock goose as runners take a break after the "Gaensebratenvernichtungslauf", or roast goose fat reduction run, at Berlin's Grunewald forest in Germany on December 26, 2008. Several hundred people took part in the annual run during the Christmas holidays. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch) #

20. A Catholic woman lights a candle at the St. Esprit Church during the Christmas mass at midnight, in Harbiye, downtown Istanbul, Turkey on December 24, 2008. (MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images) #

21. Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal (center) carries a statue of baby Jesus following the Christmas midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem early December 25, 2008. (REUTERS/Musa Al-Shaer/Pool) #

22. Christian Pakistani girls celebrate after a Christmas mass in Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) #

23. Pope Benedict XVI prays at the nativity scene in St Peter's Square, shortly after presiding over Vespers and Te Deum prayer in St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, on December 31, 2008. (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images) #

24. A Bosnian Roman Catholic woman prays during a Christmas mass in Sarajevo's main cathedral, Thursday, Dec .25,2008. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic) #

25. Runners, dressed as Santa Claus, one of them carrying a cross on his shoulders to resemble Jesus Christ, take part of the "Christmas Corrida Race" in the streets of Issy Les Moulineaux, west outskirts of Paris, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008. (AP Photo / Francois Mori) #

26. A man dressed as a Father Frost stands by the road in centre of Kiev, Ukraine on December 26, 2008. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images) #

27. Ukrainian Orthodox believers attend the Christmas Eve religious service in the Carpathian settlement of Ilintsy, some 700 km west of Kiev, January 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov) #

28. A Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim makes the sign of the cross as he attends Christmas mass in the golden-domed Alexander Nevsky cathedral, in central Sofia on December 25, 2008. Bulgaria unlike some other fellow Orthodox countries, celebrates Christmas on December 25. (BORYANA KATSAROVA/AFP/Getty Images) #

29. Swimmer, Joshoua Samios holds the cross after retrieving it from the water, during a traditional ceremony to bless the water in Greece's Perama port near Athens, on Tuesday. Jan. 6, 2009. Similar ceremonies to mark Epiphany day were held across Greece on river banks, seafronts and lakes, where an Orthodox priest throws a cross into the water and swimmers race to be the first to retrieve it. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) #

30. A diver in Santa Claus costume rides a bicycle inside a shark tank at the Sea World in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 19,2008. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim) #

31. Around 1,000 bonfires are lit up on the hills surrounding the southern village of Pottenstein on January 6, 2009. The annual festivity is celebrated traditionally on Epiphany to commemorate the Eternal Adoration. (TIMM SCHAMBERGER/AFP/Getty Images) #

32. Mya Cooper of Winton Hills holds the hand of Santa Claus as she lays in her bed at Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008. Santa was making his early rounds passing out toys to patients at the Shriners Burns Hospital. (AP Photo/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Ernest Coleman) #

33. An Indonesian Christian holds a candle during a Christmas Mass at the Bethany Church in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia on December 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Sigit Pamungkas)

34. People light candles during a Christmas Eve mass in Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria on December 24, 2009. Bulgaria, unlike some other Orthodox countries, celebrates Christmas on December 25. (REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov)

35. Henry Adamucci, 9 months, meets Santa Claus for the first time on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Mike Adamucci)

36. Workers install a Christmas tree in downtown Santiago, Chile on December 4, 2009. (REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado )

37. Parliament Hill is lit up with snowflakes and festive colors in celebration of the holiday season in Ottawa, Ontario on Tuesday Dec. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick

38. A choir member from the protestant Nanjing Christian Church reads her hymnal during a Christmas function in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China on December 19, 2009. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

39. A worker paints a New Year glass bauble at a factory in the village of Klavdiyevo, Ukraine December 16, 2009 . (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

40. The 2009 Christmas Tree displayed on St. Peter's square in front of St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican and adorned with white and gold ornaments, is lit for the first time on December 18, 2009. The 90 year-old, 30-meter high tree weighing some 14 tons was offered by the Belgian region of Wallonie. A life-size nativity scene, displayed near the tree, was be unveiled on Christmas eve. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)

41. A girl decorates a Christmas tree at her house in Baghdad, Iraq on December 22, 2009. (REUTERS/Saad Shalash )

42. A Palestinian craftsman puts olive wood figurines into nativity scenes at a factory in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Olive wood carving came to Bethlehem in the 4th century with the building of the Church of the Nativity, which is built around the grotto where tradition holds Jesus was born. Monks taught the locals the trade, and now many of the residents of Bethlehem and its surrounding areas either carve olive wood or sell wood carvings. (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill )

43. Nigerian pilgrims pray in the Grotto, where Christians believe the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Ammar Awad

44. A boy sits on the ground holding a Santa Claus balloon at the Church of the Nativity, as Christians gather for Christmas celebrations on December 24, 2009 in Bethlehem, West Bank. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

45. Children dressed in Santa Claus outfits line up before a Christmas celebration at a kindergarten in Hanoi, Vietnam on December 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Kham

46. Homes in suburban Sydney, Australia are decorated with Christmas lights and illuminations in Matraville on December 21, 2009. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

47. A pair of penguins investigate Christmas gifts at the zoo in the northern German city of Hanover on December 23, 2009. The zoo-keepers had wrapped the animal's food inside. (STEFAN SIMONSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

48. Choristers from the Salisbury Cathedral Choir practice ahead of the services that will be held tomorrow in the Cathedral marking Christmas Eve on December 23, 2009 in Salisbury, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

49. A man dressed as Santa Claus donates blood at an American Red Cross center Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Mike Simons)

50. A Catholic worshiper from Zhujiajiao Catholic Church prays during a Christmas eve mass on the outskirts of Shanghai, China on December 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

51. South Koreans wearing Santa Claus outfits pack and wrap Christmas gifts at the "Santa factory" on December 23, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. The Santa Factory is a charity that prepares and delivers gifts to poor people. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

52. Francisco Amador, a 58-year-old dentist, dressed as Santa Claus visits with a sick child at Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on December 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Edgard Garrido)

53. A girl dressed as an angel smiles during the Christmas Eve mass inside a church in Valparaiso City, Chile on December 25, 2009. (REUTERS/Eliseo Fernandez)

54. Faithful from Zhujiajiao Catholic Church pray during a Christmas eve mass on the outskirts of Shanghai, China on December 24, 2009. (REUTERS/Aly Song)

55. A man dressed as Santa Claus plays with school children during Christmas celebrations at a school in Ahmadabad, India on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

56. At the Pine Street Inn in Boston, Massachusetts, Cardinal Sean O'Malley serves a Christmas Eve luncheon to homeless men and women. (Boston Globe/John Tlumacki)

57. Indonesian men in Santa Claus costumed pause together during a Christmas celebration in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

58. Churchgoers attend a Christmas Eve mass at Berlin's Cathedral in Germany on December 24, 2009. (MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK/AFP/Getty Images)

59. Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 22 crew members wearing festive holiday hats are pictured while speaking with officials from Russia, Japan and the United States from the Zvezda Service Module on Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009. In the front row, are NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams (r), commander; and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, flight engineer. Pictured on the back row (l-r) are Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, all flight engineers. (AP photo/NASA)

60. The center of the Dutch city of Gouda is lit by many candles during the 54th edition of Candlenight on December 15, 2009. Every year, Kaarsjesavond (night of candles) is celebrated on the second Tuesday of December at the Gouda marketplace and around the City Hall. (VALERIE KUYPERS/AFP/Getty Images

61. Romuald Madrakiewicz, 76, dressed as Santa Claus, plays with a curious child at a primary school in Kostowiec, Poland on December 15, 2009. (JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

62. A tree decorated with festive lights glows at dusk, near Arosa, Switzerland on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro Della Bella

64. Nubia_group wishes you a Wonderful Christmas