21st century

====2013====
* [[January 11]] – [[France]] [[Operation Serval|intervenes with its army]] in the [[Northern Mali conflict]], defeating the Islamists who had taken control of the country.
* [[February 28]] – [[Pope Benedict XVI]] resigns, becoming the first pope to do so since 1415. Benedict takes the title [[pope emeritus]]. At the subsequent [[Papal conclave, 2013|papal conclave]], Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope on [[March 13]], becoming the first Latin American pope. Bergoglio takes the name of [[Pope Francis]].
* [[March 5]] – President of Venezuela [[Hugo Chávez]] dies due to prostate cancer and is succeeded by [[Nicolás Maduro]].
* [[March 21]] – Convicted Kurdish leader [[Abdullah Ocalan]] puts an end to the armed revolt against [[Turkey]].
* [[April 8]] – [[United Kingdom|British]] politician and first female [[Prime Minister of the UK]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] [[Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher|dies]] at the age of 87, from a stroke.
* [[July 1]] – [[Croatia]] becomes the [[2013 enlargement of the European Union|28th]] [[Member state of the European Union|member]] of the [[European Union]].
* [[September 14]] – [[Syria]] avoids an American intervention on its soil during the [[Syrian Civil War]], accepting to [[Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons|destroy]] all [[Syria and weapons of mass destruction|chemical weapons stocks owned]].
* [[November]] – [[China]] declares an "[[Air Defense Identification Zone (East China Sea)|Air Defense Identification Zone]]" in the [[East China Sea]], including over the [[Senkaku Islands]], a group of islands [[Senkaku Islands dispute|held by Japan, but claimed by both Japan and China]], and the [[Socotra Rock]], claimed by both China and South Korea.
* [[December 5]] – [[South Africa]]n political and civil leader [[Nelson Mandela]] dies at the age of 95, from natural causes.
* [[December 15]] – The [[South Sudanese Civil War]] breaks out.
* [[Iran]] allows international inspections on its nuclear policy in exchange of the removal of the sanctions and the right to produce a small amount of low-grade enriched uranium, thus marking an apparent new policy towards the [[United Nations]] under [[Hassan Rohani]]'s presidency.
* 2013–2014 – A [[2013–2014 Thai political crisis|political crisis in Thailand]] breaks out and the government declares [[martial law]].