In pictures: the tumultuous year that was 2016

2016 will be remembered as a year in which political shocks humbled pollsters and created the potential for a fundamental change in the world order as we head into 2017.

The war in Syria dragged on, bringing grisly scenes of civilian suffering and accusations that the wider world was turning a blind eye to the carnage.

It was also a year in which records tumbled at the Olympic games and we got closer to Jupiter than ever before.

Here’s a look back at 2016 in pictures.

Syria

2016 saw the fifth anniversary of the start of the civil war in Syria. Almost 5 million people have so far been displaced by the conflict. The vast majority have fled to Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. The defining battle of the war, for control of the city of Aleppo, saw thousands of trapped civilians caught up in a fight between heavily armed rebels, the Syrian army loyal to Bashar Al Assad and the Russian air force.

Read more: IKEA installed a replica of a Syrian refugee home in one of its flagship stores

Europe’s migrant crisis

Syrian refugees partly accounted for the escalating migrant crisis in Europe. According to the UNHCR, 3,740 refugees drowned trying to make the crossing to Europe. (Figures up to 25 October 2016). Others attempted the journey over land, leading to some of Europe’s borders being closed.

Read more: Europe's refugee and migrant crisis in 2016. In numbers

Terrorism

Terrorism continued to blight much of the world in 2016 with major attacks in Europe and the Middle East.

An attack on Bastille Day celebrations in the city of Nice in France killed 77 people. The attacker drove a truck into crowds of people celebrating France’s national day.

A few days earlier several bomb attacks in Baghdad, Iraq killed more than 300 people and wounded 225 more. It was the worst terror attack in Iraq since 2007.

On 22 March coordinated attacks on the airport and the metro system in Brussels, Belgium, killed 32 people and wounded 340.

Read more: A year of global terrorism, captured in one map

Brexit

On 23 June 2016, 52% of people who voted in Britain’s ‘Brexit’ referendum put their cross in the ‘leave’ box and started the process that will take their country out of the European Union.

The shock result forced Prime Minister David Cameron out of office and left the UK bitterly divided.

Incoming Prime Minister, Theresa May, declared “Brexit means Brexit,” though it remains unclear exactly how long Brexit will take, or what the terms of the deal will be.

Read more: Four global leaders on what Brexit really means.

Donald Trump

If Brexit was a political shock, the result of the US presidential election was an earthquake. Americans confounded the pollsters and the world by electing Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States. Mr Trump is due to begin work on 20 January, replacing Barack Obama in the White House.

Read more: Donald Trump's first 100 days: what's in the in-tray?

Paris Climate Deal

Under Barack Obama, the US had a hand in bringing the Paris Climate Agreement into force in 2016. It took years to hammer out the final wording of the deal.

Even after the wording was approved, the deal still needed to be ratified by enough countries before it could come into force. That happened in the summer of 2016, when China and America, two of the world’s largest contributors to CO2 emissions, ratified the agreement.

Read more: 5 charts that explain the Paris climate agreement

China

China’s ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement was the latest in a long line of initiatives by the country towards a greener and more sustainable future.

If Donald Trump carries through his election pledges on energy, China is poised to become the world leader in climate change initiatives.

Read more: China declared war on pollution. Is it winning?

Climate change

But despite the global efforts on climate change, 2016 ended up being the hottest year on record. Devastating weather continued to batter the globe, with droughts, flooding, and severe storms disrupting the lives of many.

Read more: Climate Change

An historic peace deal

In Colombia, a fifty-year civil war came to an end, when a peace deal was signed between the Colombian president and FARC rebels. Despite a faulty start, when the Colombian public refused to endorse the agreement, it was eventually ratified in December with around 50 changes. The efforts of Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia’s president, in securing the deal, won him the 2016 Nobel Peace prize: “'Ladies and gentlemen, there is one less war in the world and it is the war in Colombia'”, he said. However, many remain opposed to the deal and 2017 will be the year to see if peace will endure.

Read more: Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia president, wins Nobel Peace Prize. Here's why

Cuban visit

In March, Cuba played host to Barack Obama, the first sitting American president to visit in nearly a century. It was the culmination of a restoration of relations that began in 2014, following nearly 50 years of trade embargo. “Change is going to happen here, and Raul Castro understands that,” said Obama.

Read more: What does Obama's visit actually mean for US-Cuban relations?

Zika virus

There were other pressing matters in the Americas, as the WHO announced in January that it had found the strongest evidence to date of an association between Zika infection and microcephaly, a condition that limits brain development in children. As of November, Zika was no longer classified as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” but that long term strategies were needed to combat the virus.

Rio Olympics

The Zika virus was not the only conern for those organising the Olympic Games in Rio. Worries about infrastructure and water quality also came to the fore, but the games ended in a record number of world and Olympic records being broken. Usain Bolt again dominated on the track defending both his 100m and 200m Olympic records as well as taking gold in the men’s 4 x 100 relay. He ended his Olympic career with the words, ‘there you go, I’m the greatest.’

Technology

It was a year of technological breakthroughs including treatment for paraplegics and forays into space, as well as the world’s first drone deliveries.

In an astonishing medical breakthrough, Brazilian scientists were able to “brain train” paraplegics into walking again.

The world’s first drone delivery took place, ushering the possibility that in the future, we will be able to receive goods through the air.

And we got closer to one of our neighbouring planets than ever before. In July, NASA’s spacecraft Juno finally entered Jupiter’s orbit almost five years after launch. Scientists are hoping it will help our understanding of how planets were formed .