In pictures: Muslims around the world celebrating first day of Ramadan

Pakistani Muslims pray before eating in the evening on the first day of Ramadan in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 29, 2014. Bilawal Arbab/EPA

Muslims pray around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque on the first day of Ramadan in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Mohamed Alhwaity/Reuters

Men pray before breaking their fast on the first day of the holiest month in the Islamic calendar at a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 29, 2014. Fayaz Aziz/Reuters

Girls recite the Quran at the Grand Mosque in Sanaa on the first day of the fasting month. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

Students at an Islamic boarding school perform prayers at a mosque on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Medan, North Sumatra June 29, 2014. YT Haryono/Reuters

A Malaysian student reads the Quran at a school in Hulu Langat, near Kuala Lumpur on June 30, 2014. Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo

Libyan men shop for olives and pickles from a vendor in downtown Tripoli before breaking their fast during Islam’s holy fasting month of Ramadan on June 29, 2014. Mahmud Turkia/AFP Photo

Pakistani Muslims perform a special “Taraweeh” evening prayer on the first day of the Muslim fasting month at the grand Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo

A girl recites the Quran during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, at the Grand Mosque in Sanaa, Yemen on June 29, 2014. Khaled Abdullah /Reuters

A Malaysian Muslim reads the Quran during a lunch break on the 2nd day of the holy month of Ramadan inside a mosque in Kuala Lumpur on June 30, 2014. Samsul Said/Reuters

A Malaysian religious student holds the Quran at school during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Hulu Langat, near Kuala Lumpur. Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo

Rob Gurdebeke

Across a wide belt that stretches halfway around the globe, the world’s estimated 1.6 billion Muslims marked the beginning of Ramadan – the holiest month in the Islamic calendar where Muslims abstain from food, drink and other pleasures from sunrise to sunset.

Updated: June 30, 2014, 12:00 AM