Eager readers are devouring the new book

Bookstores in Paris, Brussels and Bucharest were among those that put the book on sale as the clock struck midnight in Britain (2300GMT), although the book is currently being published only in English.

Australians laid on a Hogwarts Express steam train, while New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark joined a planned 27-hour reading of the book aiming to set a new record for reading aloud.

In the US, the president of the New York Public Library donned white gloves to accept a signed first edition delivered by armoured car.

"We put the white gloves on only for the most special books," the library head, Paul LeClerc, told the Associated Press news agency.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix qualifies.

JK Rowling's previous four novels about the boy wizard and his nemesis Lord Voldemort have sold almost 200 million copies in 55 languages.

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The latest, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, reveals which character dies - a much-guarded secret - and will keep readers occupied for quite some time with its 766 pages.

The new book went on sale on Saturday in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and in English in many other countries around the world.

US bookstores handed out Harry Potter-style round glasses and chocolate frogs.

In New York, a group of Harry Potter look-a-likes carried the first batches of books to the tills at Toys R Us in Times Square.

Many booksellers recreated locations from the books, such as wizards' shopping street Diagon Alley and Kings Cross platform nine-and-three-quarters, from which the train to wizard school Hogwarts leaves.

In Copenhagen, bookstores stayed open late, while in Hong Kong, they opened early.

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One shop in the Danish capital told AFP it had never before seen such demand for an English book.

The largest English-language bookstore in Paris stocked 3,000 copies of the book and had organised an evening of wizardry and readings before putting the novel on sale at 0100 local time.

Even the official French translator, Jean-Francois Menard, did not have a glimpse of the book before Saturday.

Working at a rate of about 10 pages a day, he is expected to finish sometime in October, the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says.

Record-breaker

The French translation is due to be published on 3 December.

Online retailer Amazon said it had received 1.3 million advance orders worldwide. Some 760,000 of them were placed on the main Amazon.com site.

The novel also became the best-selling book in the history of the company's French website, and notched up a record number of pre-release orders on its Japanese site for any book - Japanese or English.

In the UK, the novel has become the fastest-selling book ever, according to one chain, while another shop described the levels of demand as "barmy bookselling".

Ms Rowling attended the launch of her book in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she said she enjoyed "meeting the children who are reading the books".