This article is about the year 2011. For the number 2011, see 2011 (number). Millennium: 3rd millennium Centuries: 20th century – 21st century – 22nd century Decades: 1980s  1990s  2000s  – 2010s –  2020s  2030s  2040s Years: 2008 2009 2010 – 2011 – 2012 2013 2014 2011 by topic: News by month Jan – Feb – Mar – Apr – May – Jun Jul – Aug – Sep – Oct – Nov – Dec Arts Architecture – Art – Comics – Film – Home video – Literature (Poetry) – Music (Country, Metal, UK) – Radio – Television Politics Elections – Int'l leaders – Politics – State leaders – Sovereign states Science and technology Archaeology – Aviation – Birding/Ornithology – Meteorology – Palaeontology – Rail transport – Science – Spaceflight Sports Sport – Athletics (Track and Field) – Australian Football League – Baseball – Football (soccer) – Cricket – Ice Hockey – Motorsport – Tennis – Rugby league By place Algeria – Argentina – Australia – Canada – People's Republic of China – Denmark – El Salvador – Egypt – European Union – France – Germany – India – Iraq – Iran – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Japan – Kenya – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Malaysia – Mexico – New Zealand – Norway – Pakistan – Palestinian territories – Philippines – Singapore – South Africa – South Korea – Spain – Sri Lanka – United Arab Emirates – United Kingdom – United States – Zimbabwe Other topics Awards – Games – Law – Religious leaders – Video gaming Birth and death categories Births – Deaths Establishments and disestablishments categories Establishments – Disestablishments Works and introductions categories Works – Introductions v · d · e v · d · e 2011 in other calendars Gregorian calendar 2011 MMXI Ab urbe condita 2764 Armenian calendar 1460 ԹՎ ՌՆԿ Bahá'í calendar 167 – 168 Bengali calendar 1418 Berber calendar 2961 Buddhist calendar 2555 Burmese calendar 1373 Byzantine calendar 7519 – 7520 Chinese calendar 庚寅年十一月廿七日 (4647/4707-11-27) — to — 辛卯年十二月初七日 (4648/4708-12-7) Coptic calendar 1727 – 1728 Ethiopian calendar 2003 – 2004 Hebrew calendar 5771 – 5772 Hindu calendars  - Bikram Samwat 2067 – 2068  - Shaka Samvat 1933 – 1934  - Kali Yuga 5112 – 5113 Holocene calendar 12011 Iranian calendar 1389 – 1390 Islamic calendar 1432 – 1433 Japanese calendar Heisei 23 (平成23年) Korean calendar 4344 Thai solar calendar 2554 Unix time 1293840000 – 1325375999 v · d · e

2011 (MMXI) is the current year in the Gregorian calendar; it is a common year that started on a Saturday. It is the 2011th year of the Common Era or the Anno Domini designation; the 11th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 2nd of the 2010s decade. The United Nations has designated 2011 the International Year of Forests and International Year of Chemistry.1 Events January January 1 Start of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union. Estonia joins the Eurozone. Lithuania received chairmanship of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. January 9 – Southern Sudan holds a referendum on independence. January 11 – Flooding and mudslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro kill more than 800.2 January 14 – The Tunisian government falls as a result of the spreading 2010–2011 Arab world protests. January 24 – At least 35 people are killed and more than 100 others wounded in a bombing at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia.3 February Predicted and scheduled events March March 18 NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is scheduled to arrive in orbit around Mercury. NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons will cross the orbit of Uranus, after a five-year journey. This will be faster than Voyager 2, which took eight years. April Pakistan will launch its first space satellite. The Universal House of Justice will announce the new Five Year Plan. May Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Mars all visible within a roughly 6° area of sky. June June 15 – Total lunar eclipse, mainly visible in Africa, India, and the Middle East. July July 1 – Start of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. July 9 – South Sudan declared an independent nation July 12 – Neptune completes its first full orbit since its discovery in 1846.45 The Dawn spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the minor planet 4 Vesta during July. The exact date remains uncertain. August August 15 – The comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková will pass within 0.0601 astronomical units (about 5,589,300 miles (8,995,100 km)) of Earth.6 August 15–21 – XIII World Youth Day will be held in Madrid, Spain. December December 10 – Total lunar eclipse, visible mainly in Asia, Australia and Alaska. December 31 – All United States troops are scheduled to leave Iraq Unknown dates California will open the world's largest solar power plant.7 The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will be completed. Blue Waters, a petascale supercomputer being designed and built as a joint effort between the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and IBM is expected to be completed in this year. The IPv4 unallocated address pool is projected to be exhausted.8 Predicted solar maximum (also predicted by other research groups for 2012).9 A new definition of the kilogram, based on universal constants, is likely to be announced at the 24th General Conference on Weights and Measures.10 Deaths Main article: Deaths in 2011 January January 2 Anne Francis, American actress (born 1930) Pete Postlethwaite, British actor (born 1946) Richard Winters, American Paratrooper (born 1918) January 4 Ali-Reza Pahlavi, Prince of Iran (born 1966) Gerry Rafferty, Scottish musician (born 1947) January 15 Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (born 1925) Susannah York, British actress (born 1939) January 18 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and diplomat (born 1915) January 21 – Dennis Oppenheim, American artist (born 1938) January 24 – Bernd Eichinger, German film producer and director (born 1949) January 30 – John Barry, English film score composer (born 1933) Major holidays January 1 – New Year's Day. January 7 (6 in Armenia) – Orthodox Christmas. February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day. February 3 – Chinese New Year. March 8 – Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras, end of Mardi Gras / Carnival season. March 9 – Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent). March 20 – Holi. March 21 – (Northern hemisphere) Vernal equinox, also known as Ostara & Persian New Year. April 18 – Passover begins at sundown. April 24 – Easter (Western and Orthodox). May 1 – Beltane, a Cross-quarter day. June 7 – Shavuot begins. August 1 Ramadhan Begins — Islam. Lammas, a Cross-quarter day. August 31 – Eid al-Fitr. September 23 – (Northern hemisphere) Autumnal equinox, also known as Mabon. September 28 – Rosh Hashana begins at sundown. October 7 – Yom Kippur begins at sundown. October 26 – Diwali, a religious holiday in Hinduism. November 6 – Eid al-Adha. November 26 – Islamic New Year. December 20 – Chanukah. December 25 – Christmas. In fiction Film Killer Tattoo (2001) Millennium Mambo (2001) In the 2005 Aeon Flux film, 99% of the world's population is wiped out by a mysterious virus in the year 2011. Television In the television series FlashForward episode "Future Shock", the date March 14, 2011 is seen on a note during a blackout. The Heroes television series visits 2011 in several different potential futures. In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles television series "Judgment Day" is predicted to take place on April 21. Computer and video games Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) Persona 4 (2008) Heavy Rain (2010) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010) Literature Other In 2011 Tallinn and Turku are designated as European capitals of culture by the European Union. References ^ "United Nations Observances". United Nations. http://www.un.org/observances/years.shtml. Retrieved 30 November 2010.  ^ "Equipe aeropolicial improvisa e arrisca para resgatar vítimas das chuvas no RJ" (in Portuguese). UOL (Folha). 20 January 2011. http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/863364-equipe-aeropolicial-improvisa-e-arrisca-para-resgatar-vitimas-das-chuvas-no-rj.shtml. Retrieved 20 January 2011.  ^ Amie Ferris-Rotman (24 January 2011). "Suicide bomber kills 31 at Russia's biggest airport". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70N2TQ20110124. Retrieved 24 January 2011.  ^ Munsell, K.; Smith, H.; Harvey, S. (November 13, 2007). "Neptune: Facts & Figures". NASA. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Neptune&Display=Facts. Retrieved August 14, 2007.  ^ Anonymous (February 9, 2007). "Horizons Output for Neptune 2010–2011". http://home.comcast.net/~kpheider/nept2011.txt. Retrieved February 25, 2008.  — Many Numbers generated using the Solar System Dynamics Group, Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. ^ "45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova". Kazuo Kinoshita. 9 November 2008. http://jcometobs.web.fc2.com/pcmtn/0045p.htm. Retrieved 26 November 2010.  ^dead link"CNN article relating to Californians plan to have largest Solar Plant". June 9, 2006. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/07/09/solar.california.reut/index.html?iref=newssearch. Retrieved July 14, 2007. dead link ^ IPv4 Address Report ^ "NASA article relating to Solar Maximum". March 12, 2006. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm. Retrieved July 14, 2007.  ^ Lublinski, Jan (28 March 2010). "Das Ende des Urkilos: Warum das Maß aller Massen ausgedient hat". Deutschlandfunk. http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/wib/1147745/  (German).