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 Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. *January 6 -

January 2016 North Korean nuclear test North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear detonation on 6 January 2016 at 10:00:01 UTC+08:30. At the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, approximately northwest of Kilju City in Kilju County, an underground nuclear test was carried out. The United ...

*January 16 -

2016 Taiwanese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 16 January 2016. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Ing-wen with her independent running mate Chen Chien-jen won over Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT) and James Soong of the People Fir ...

February

*February 6 - 2016 Taiwan earthquake *February 17 - an attack in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

caused at least 28 deaths. *February 26 -

2016 Iranian legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 26 February 2016 to elect members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for all seats in the 10th parliament in the Islamic Republic era and the 34th since the Persian Constitutional Revolution. A seco ...

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

April

*April 13 - 2016 South Korean legislative election *April 14 and 16 - 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes *April 20 - Boungnang Vorachit is elected

President of Laos The president of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is the head of state of Laos. The current president is Thongloun Sisoulith, since 22 March 2021. He was previously elected as the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, ...

;

Thongloun Sisoulith Thongloun Sisoulith (born 10 November 1945) is a Laotian politician and historian who serves as the general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the seventh president of Laos since 2021. Thongloun was born and educated in Houa ...

appointed

Prime Minister of Laos The prime minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, formerly the chairman of the Council of Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is the head of government of Laos. The prime minister is accountable to the president, the ...

May

*May 6 - opening of the seventh Congress of the party of labor of Korea. *May 9 -

2016 Philippine general election A general election in the Philippines took place on May 9, 2016, for executive and legislative branches for all levels of government – national, provincial, and local, except for the barangay officials. At the top of the ballot was the elec ...

*May 22 ** 2016 Tajikistani constitutional referendum ** 2016 Vietnamese legislative election *May 24 - Binali Yıldırım was appointed

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of Turkey, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (), was the head of government of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Tu ...

. *May 26 and 27 - 42nd G7 summit

June

*June 29 - 2016 Mongolian legislative election

July

*July 10 -

2016 Japanese House of Councillors election House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on Sunday 10 July 2016 to elect 121 of the 242 members of the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years. As a result of the election, the Liberal Democratic Party– Komeito coali ...

*July 15 -

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt In the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted ...

*July 26 - Sagamihara stabbings *July 31 -

Yuriko Koike Yuriko Koike (小池百合子, Koike Yuriko; born 15 July 1952) is a Japanese politician who has served as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. Previously, she was also served as a member of the House of Councillors from 1992 to 1993, a member o ...

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.''Le Monde''
12 août 2016. *August 20 - more than 50 killed in a bombing in

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

. *August 26 - bombing to

Cizre Cizre () is a city in the Cizre District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located on the river Tigris by the Syria–Turkey border and close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Cizre is in the historical region of Upper Mesopotamia and the cultura ...

against the police. *August 29 - an attack in Aden caused at least 71 dead.

September

*September 4 -

2016 Hong Kong legislative election The 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was held on 4 September 2016 for the 6th Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo). A total of 70 members, 35 from geographical constituency, geographical constituencies (GCs) and 35 from functional ...

*September 7 and 8 - the 28th ASEAN Summit in

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

, 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 Vajiralongkorn (born 28 July 1952) is King of Thailand. He is the tenth Thai monarch of the Chakri dynasty since ascending the throne in 2016 with the regnal name Rama X. The only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirik ...

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 Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov (; 4 February 1954 – 19 December 2016) was a Russian diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of Russia to Turkey, Russian ambassador to Turkey and earlier as the Russian Russian Ambassador to North Korea, amb ...

was assassinated in Ankara. *December 20 - the Eurasia under the Bosphorus tunnel is opened in Istanbul.

References

{{Year in Asia, 2016 Years of the 21st century in Asia 2010s in Asia