The best photos of 2011 from around the globe. Warning: All images in this entry are shown in full, not screened out for graphic content. Some images contain dead bodies, graphic content and tragic events. We consider these images an important part of human history.
- 87th Infantry Regiment
- Abottabad
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Ahmed Farhan
- Ajdabiyah
- Al Faisaliyah Center
- Alex Wong
- Ali Salem el-Faizani
- Alpine FIS
- Andrea Bruce/The New York Times
- Andy Murray
- animal feeds producers
- Antonio Cromartie
- Argentina
- Army
- Ashley Gilbertson/The New York Times
- Assam
- Australia
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barack Obama
- Beatrice
- Ben Jawat
- Benghazi
- Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis
- Brazil
- Brega
- Britain
- Bryan Denton/The New York Times
- Cairo
- Calama
- California
- Cambridge
- Canterbury
- Captured
- Cathedral Church of St. John
- Catholic Church
- cement plants
- Chicago
- child miners
- Chile
- Chris Hondros
- Chris Hondros
- Christchurch
- Cleveland State University in Cleveland
- Clive Rose
- coal mining towns
- Colorado
- Congress
- Dan Kitwood
- Dan Vardamis
- Daniel Berehulak
- David Ferrer
- David Guttenfelder
- David McNew
- Dean Mouhtaropoulos
- Domain Tennis Centre
- Doug Mills/The New York Times
- Ed Ou/The New York Times
- Edinburgh
- Egypt
- Elstorf
- Equine Centre
- Europe
- fatty proteins
- Festival of colors
- Flavia Pennetta
- Frank
- Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Gea/The New York Times
- Germany
- Getty Images
- Getty Images
- Ghana
- Glasgow
- Great Britain
- Gregory Shamus
- Guastavino Company
- Hanah Yaa Appiah
- Harles
- Heads of state
- Hizb ut-Tahrir
- Hobart
- Hosni Mubarak
- Hosni Mubarak
- Impulse
- India
- Isaac Brekken
- Italy
- Jaintia Hills
- Jaintia Hills
- Jaintia Hills
- Japan
- Jeff J Mitchell
- Jentsch
- Jinan Hussein Jweil
- Joao Pina/The New York Times
- John Moore
- Juan Pedrero Garcia
- Jujuy
- Julian Finney
- Justin Sullivan
- Kabul
- Kandahar
- Katie Orlinsky
- Kelly James
- Kofi Sylvester Dwemoh
- Kunduz Province
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lance Sergeant Matthew Else
- Las Vegas
- Latyrke
- Lee Mason
- Libya
- Libya
- Libyan government
- Lindsay Lohan
- London
- Los Angeles
- Loveland
- Majid Saeedi
- Manama
- Mansoura
- Marc Piscotty
- Mario Tama
- Mark Baker
- Marry Me
- Matthew Lloyd
- Meghalaya
- Melbourne
- Mewelde Moore
- Michael Appleton/The New York Times
- Michael Katsidis
- Middle East
- Misrata
- Misrata April
- Misurata
- Mitsubishi
- Miyagi
- Miyagi
- Muammar al-Gaddafi
- Muammar Gaddafi
- Muammar Gaddafi April
- Natacha Pisarenko
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- natural gas facility burns
- Nederland
- Neena Sasaki
- Nepal
- New York
- New York
- New York City
- New York Jets
- New Zealand
- Newmarket
- Newmarket Equine Hospital
- Nicky Perry
- Nigeria
- Ohio
- Osama bin Laden
- Pakistan
- Paul Wright
- Paula Bronstein
- Pennsylvania
- Perton
- Peter Fill
- Peter Macdiarmid
- Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Politics
- primitive tools
- Ras Lanuf
- river Thames
- Riyadh
- Robert Guerrero
- RPG
- safety equipment
- Samantha Stosur
- San Francisco
- Saudi Arabia
- Scotland
- Scott Barbour
- Sendai
- Shyam Rai
- Sitra
- Spain
- Spring Festival
- Staten Island
- Stock photography
- Taliban
- Tennessee
- the New York Times
- the 2011 Australian Open
- The Human Condition
- Tunis
- Tunisia
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Valentine's Day
- Valentine's Day
- Venice
- Vrindavan
- Warrick Page/The New York Times
- Washington
- Washington, DC
- Watertown
- White House
- William
- Willie Kennedy
- Windsor
- Wolverhampton
- Youssef Haddad
2011 was a year of global tumult, marked by widespread social and political uprisings, economic crises, and a great deal more. We saw the fall of multiple dictators, welcomed a new country (South Sudan), witnessed our planet's population grow to 7 billion, and watched in horror as Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear disaster. From the Arab Spring to Los Indignados to Occupy Wall Street, citizens around the world took to the streets in massive numbers, protesting against governments and financial institutions, risking arrest, injury, and in some cases their lives. Collected here is Part 1 of a three-part photo summary of the last year, covering 2011's first several months. Be sure to also see Part 2, and Part 3 of the series - totaling 120 images in all. [40 photos + 1 more]
A wave approaches Miyako City from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the area March 11, 2011. The earthquake, the most powerful ever known to have hit Japan, combined with the massive tsunami, claimed more than 15,800 lives, devastated many eastern coastline communities, and triggered a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. (Reuters/Mainichi Shimbun)
- Abbottabad
- Ajdabiya
- Ali Abdullah Saleh
- Allison Shelley
- Alvin Drew
- Amr Abdallah Dalsh
- Andy Page
- Angela Lewis
- AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Argentina
- Arica
- Arous Burn and Trauma Center in Tunis
- Asahi Shimbun
- Asahi Shimbun
- Asia Pacific
- Athens
- Barack Obama
- Ben Curtis
- Black Mountain
- Britain
- Cairo
- California
- Cambridge
- Catherine
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Chattanooga
- Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Chile
- Chris Hondros
- Christchurch
- David Wethey
- Davis Mountains
- Dimitri Messinis
- Dominique Faget
- Dylan Martinez
- Dylan McCord
- Earthquake engineering
- Egypt
- Eric Boe
- Florida
- Frank Cianciolo
- Georgia
- Getty Images
- Goran Tomasevic
- Grace van Cutsem
- Greece
- Hazard prevention
- Heads of state
- Heigawa estuary
- Hillary Clinton
- Hosni Mubarak
- Hosni Mubarak
- India
- Indranil Mukherjee
- Iquique
- Iwate
- Iwate Prefecture
- Japan
- Japan Coast Guard
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Joe Biden
- John Moore
- Juan Pedrero Garcia
- Katie Orlinsky
- Kim Shiflett
- Kyodo News
- Libya
- London
- Lowe's
- Madrid
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni
- Mainichi Shimbun
- Manila
- Manuel Balce Ceneta
- Margarita Armstrong-Jones
- Mark Baker
- Michael Barratt
- Michael Gonzales
- Misrata
- Miyagi
- Miyagi Prefecture
- Miyako City
- Mohamed Bouazizi
- Mohammad Zubair
- Mohammed Abou Zaid
- Muammar Qaddafi
- Muhammed Muheisen
- Mumbai
- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- NASA's Kennedy Space Center
- Natacha Pisarenko
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Natori City
- Nature
- New Year's Day
- New Year's eve
- New Zealand
- Nicole Stott
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- North Carolina
- Osama bin Laden
- Pacific Ocean
- Pakistan
- Pasadena
- Pedro Armestre
- pet carrier
- Pete Souza
- Philippines
- Physical oceanography
- Port-au-Prince
- Prevention
- Prince
- propaganda tool
- real car still balancing
- Reuters
- Reuters/Kamaishi Port Office
- Reynaldo Dagsa
- Robert Gates
- Rosemond Altidon
- RPG
- Ryo Taira
- Sanaa
- Sanford
- Sendai
- Sendai
- Sidi Bouzid
- Spain
- Specialists Tim Kopra
- Sri Lanka
- Steve Lindsey
- Sudan
- Tennessee
- Texas Forest Service
- the Cricket World Cup 2011
- The News & Observer
- the World Cup
- Thomas Babb
- Tim Kopra
- Tom Pettifer
- Toru Hanai
- Toshiyuki Tsunenari
- toy car
- Toya Chiba
- Trenton
- Tsunami
- Tunisia
- United States
- United States Navy
- Washington
- White House
- William
- Yemen
- Yuvraj Singh
- Zine El Abidine Ben Ali