2016 in Asia

Last updated December 18, 2025

This is a list of events in Asia in 2016.

Incumbents

Afghanistan

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei

Cambodia

China

Cyprus

Georgia

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Lebanon

Malaysia

Maldives

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

North Korea

Oman

Pakistan

Palestine

Philippines

Qatar

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Syria

Taiwan

Tajikistan

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Turkey

Turkmenistan

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

Vietnam

Yemen

Events

January

January 1–2 killed in suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan.^[1]
January 6 - January 2016 North Korean nuclear test
January 16 - 2016 Taiwanese presidential election

February

February 6 - 2016 Taiwan earthquake ^[2]
February 17 - an attack in Ankara, Turkey caused at least 28 deaths.
February 26 - 2016 Iranian legislative election

March

March 4 - an attack in Aden caused at least 16 deaths.
March 13–37 killed in an attack in Ankara.
March 20
- 2016 Kazakhstani legislative election
- 2016 Laotian parliamentary election
March 31 - an attack in Diyarbakir kills seven police officers^[3]

April

April 13 - 2016 South Korean legislative election
April 14 and 16 - 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes
April 20 - Boungnang Vorachit is elected President of Laos; Thongloun Sisoulith appointed Prime Minister of Laos.

May

May 6 - opening of the seventh Congress of the party of labor of Korea.
May 9 - 2016 Philippine general election
May 22
- 2016 Tajikistani constitutional referendum
- 2016 Vietnamese legislative election
May 24 - Binali Yıldırım was appointed Prime Minister of Turkey.
May 26 and 27 - 42nd G7 summit

June

June 29 - 2016 Mongolian legislative election

July

July 10 - 2016 Japanese House of Councillors election
July 15 - 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt
July 26 - Sagamihara stabbings
July 31 - Yuriko Koike is the first woman elected Governor of Tokyo.

August

August 7 - 2016 Thai constitutional referendum
August 11 and 12 - bombings in Hua Hin, Surat Thani, Phuket and Trang.^[4]
August 20 - more than 50 killed in a bombing in Gaziantep.
August 26 - bombing to Cizre against the police.
August 29 - an attack in Aden caused at least 71 dead.

September

September 4 - 2016 Hong Kong legislative election
September 7 and 8 - the 28th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos.
September 9 - fifth nuclear test in North Korea.
September 20 - 2016 Jordanian general election

October

October 13 - death of Bhumibol Adulyadejas, King of Thailand, known as the reign of Rama IX.

November

November 26 - 2016 Kuwaiti general election

December

December 1 - prince Vajiralongkorn is proclaimed King under the name of Rama X.
December 4 - 2016 Uzbekistani presidential election
December 11 - 2016 Kyrgyzstani constitutional referendum
December 17 - a Kayseri attack caused at least 14 deaths.
December 19 - the Ambassador of Russia Andrei Karlov was assassinated in Ankara.
December 20 - the Eurasia under the Bosphorus tunnel is opened in Istanbul.

References

↑ « Un restaurant français de Kaboul visé par une attaque des talibans » Le Monde, 1er janvier 2016.
↑ « Le bilan s’alourdit après le séisme à Taïwan » Le Monde, 6 février 2016.
↑ « Turquie : sept policiers tués dans un attentat à la bombe en zone kurde », Le Monde, 31 mars 2016.
↑ Le Monde, 12 août 2016.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] « Un restaurant français de Kaboul visé par une attaque des talibans » Le Monde, 1er janvier 2016.

[2] « Le bilan s’alourdit après le séisme à Taïwan » Le Monde, 6 février 2016.

[3] « Turquie : sept policiers tués dans un attentat à la bombe en zone kurde », Le Monde, 31 mars 2016.

[4] Le Monde, 12 août 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e 2016 in Asia
Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia China Cyprus Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste (East Timor) Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Hong Kong Macau