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This year has seen an unprecedented number of migrants arriving in Europe, with the International Organization for Migration saying the figure rose above one million. Most have come from Syria, where four years of civil war has claimed more than 200,000 lives.
Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari became the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Nigeria. Some supporters of Buhari and his All Progressive Congress were accidently hit by another supporter on a motorbike during celebrations in Kano, Nigeria.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in April killing more than 8,000 people, and leaving many thousands more injured and homeless. Some victims of the quake were cremated at Pashupatinah Temple in Kathmandu.
The Calbuco volcano in southern Chile erupted three times in eight days, leading the government to order the evacuation of 2,500 people in the area. The Calbuco had been dormant for decades but on 22 April a huge column of lava and ash was sent several kilometres into the air.
Queen Elizabeth II thanked wellwishers at home and overseas for their “touching messages of kindness” as she became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. At 17:30 BST on 9 September she had reigned for 23,226 days, 16 hours and approximately 30 minutes – surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. She is pictured here on board a train on the new Scottish Borders railway line where she spent the day at official engagements.
Pope Francis told worshippers in a mosque in the Central African Republic that “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters”. He was speaking to Muslims who had sought shelter in the capital Bangui after nearly three years of violence between Christians and Muslims. He is seen here on a visit to the Koudoukou school after leaving the Central Mosque.
A deal aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine was agreed, following long talks in Belarus. The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France announced that the ceasefire would begin on 15 February. By the end of the year there were still occasional artillery exchanges in some parts of the front line.
People held their mobile phones aloft at a flag-raising ceremony amid heavy smog in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. For the first time, China’s capital declared a smog “red alert” for three days in December.
A salvage tug lights the hull of the stricken Hoegh Osaka cargo ship after it ran aground on a sandbank in January in the Solent, Cowes, England. The 51,000-tonne vessel was eventually righted and towed back to Southampton. All crew members were rescued and the vehicles on board, worth £60m, removed.
Millions of people gathered in Paris to take part in a rally after 17 people were killed during three days of terror in the French capital which included an attack by gunmen on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The city suffered again later in the year when 130 people were killed in further attacks on bars and restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France.
The Dutch Safety Board confirmed that the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, shot down more than a year ago over Ukraine, was due to a Russian made Buk missile. Calculations show that the missile was launched somewhere in an area of 320 sq km in eastern Ukraine, although additional investigations – which fall outside the Dutch Safety Board’s remit – are needed to confirm the launch location.
People around the world observed a rare celestial event, as a lunar eclipse coincided with a so-called “supermoon”. The eclipse – which made the Moon appear red – was visible in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe. The phenomenon was last observed in 1982 and will not be occur again before 2033.
Greek voters decisively rejected the terms of an international bailout. The final result in the referendum, published by the interior ministry, was 61.3% “No”, against 38.7% who voted “Yes”. Greece’s governing Syriza party had campaigned for a “No”, saying the bailout terms were humiliating.
Actor Jon Hamm won his first-ever award for playing Mad Men’s advertising executive Don Draper. He opted to avoid the stairs and clamber awkwardly on stage – much to the amusement of Tiny Fey, who was handing out the Emmy award.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won his fifth term with a landslide 83.5% of the vote. His nearest rival polled 4.4% with the turnout at 86.75%. But observers from the OSCE security body said it fell far short of the country’s democratic commitments.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter resigned from his post in June, just days after being re-elected for a fifth term. Football’s world governing body has been embroiled in a corruption scandal that included several high-profile arrests and allegations of bribery.
More than 440 people died when the Chinese cruise ship The Eastern Star capsized in the Yangtze River after being caught in a storm.
Firefighters worked to contain twenty-one wildfires that devoured a drought-parched northern California, USA. The largest blaze, named the Rocky Fire spread at an unprecedented speed and burned for nearly a week during August.
Shia Muslims gathered at the Imam Hussein shrine during ceremonies marking Arbain in the holy city of Karbala, southern Iraq.
In June the picturesque Schloss Elmau hotel in the Bavarian Alps was the setting for a meeting of the G7 nations. Here German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seen with US President Barack Obama.
Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in what is seen as the first openly contested poll in the country – also known as Burma – in 25 years. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party has more than the two-thirds it needs to choose the president, ending decades of military-backed rule, though she cannot become president herself.
The parents of 43 Mexican students who went missing led a march in Mexico City to call for a full investigation. Prosecutors said the students were arrested by corrupt police officers after a demonstration in the town of Iguala on 26 September 2014 and were handed over to a local criminal gang, who killed them.
Thousands of people in the Armenian capital Yerevan took part in renewed protests against rising electricity prices. Protesters opposed a decision to increase prices for households by 17-22% from 1 August.
Tanzanian riot police stood guard as people celebrated after the opposition coalition’s Civic United Front (CUF) candidate Maulid Mtulia was declared winner of the Kinondoni constituency in Dar es Salaam. The nationwide general election in Tanzania has been the most tightly contested since independence in 1961.
BBC