These are some of the notable events relating topolitics in 2016.

• January 3 – Followingthe fallout caused by theexecution of Nimr al-Nimr,Iran ends itsdiplomatic relations withSaudi Arabia.^[1]
• January 16 –
  • TheInternational Atomic Energy Agency announces that Iran has adequately dismantledits nuclear weapons program, allowing theUnited Nations to lift sanctions immediately.^[2]
  • Taiwan electsTsai Ing-wen as the country's seventh president, and the nation's first female president.^[3][4]

• February 7 –North Korea launches a long-range rocket into space, violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.^[5]
• February 12 –Pope Francis andPatriarch Kirill meet inCuba, marking the first time the heads of theRoman Catholic andRussian Orthodox churches have met in almost 1,000 years.^[6]

• March 21 – The 44thPresident of the United States,Barack Obama, visitsCuba, marking the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since presidentCalvin Coolidge visited in 1928.^[7]

• April 3 –The Panama Papers were released by theGerman newspaper,Süddeutsche Zeitung, exposing a network of over 214,000tax havens that involved people and entities from at least 200 nations.^[8]
• April 17 –Brazil PresidentDilma Rousseff impeached after being charged with criminal administrative misconduct and disregard for the federal budget.^[9]

• May 27 –United States PresidentBarack Obama visitsHiroshima, becoming the first sitting US President to visit the city.^[10]

• June 23 – TheUnited Kingdom votesin a referendum to leave theEuropean Union.^[11]
• June 24 – Next day of referendum, thePrime Minister of United KingdomDavid Cameron announced his resignation.
• June 28 –ISIL is suspected to be responsible forattackingAtatürk Airport inIstanbul, killing 45 and injuring around 230.^[12]
• June 30 –Rodrigo Duterte becomes the 16th President of thePhilippines.^[13]

• July 12 – ThePhilippines wins thearbitration case they filed at thePermanent Court of Arbitration regarding the legality ofChina's "nine-dash line" claim over theSouth China Sea under theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.^[14][15]
• July 13 –Theresa May is declaredPrime Minister of the United Kingdom, succeedingDavid Cameron.

• August 31 – TheBrazilian Senate votes (61–20) toimpeach thePresident of BrazilDilma Rousseff. TheVice President of Brazil,Michel Temer, who had assumed the presidential powers and duties as Acting President ofBrazil during Rousseff's suspension, takes office for the remainder of her term.^[16]

• September 3 – The US and China, together responsible for 40% of the world'scarbon emissions, both formally joined theParis global climate agreement.^[17]
• September 9 – The government ofNorth Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggestnuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, withSouth Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".^[18]

• October 13 – TheMaldives announces its decision to withdraw from theCommonwealth of Nations.^[19]
• October 25 –Gambia announced it will withdraw from theInternational Criminal Court due to the court's alleged persecution and humiliation ofAfricans.^[20]

• November 8 –Donald Trump wins theUnited States presidential election.^[21]

• December 4 –Green Party candidateAlexander Van der Bellen winsAustria's second runoff election to become Austria's 11th president.^[22][23]
• December 7 –ItalianPrime MinisterMatteo Renzi officially resigned after hisconstitutional reform referendum was defeated.[1]
• December 9 –South Korean PresidentPark Geun-hye impeached for abuse of power and coercion.^[24]
• December 19 –Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, isassassinated inAnkara.^[25]
• December 23 – TheUnited Nations Security Council adoptsResolution 2334 condemning "Israeli settlements inPalestinian territories occupied since 1967".^[26]

• 2016 in politics
• Politics by year
• 21st century in politics
• 2010s in politics
• Political timelines of the 2010s by year

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