Usain Bolt of Jamaica competes in the Men's 100 meter semifinal on Day 9 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 14, 2016.Cameron Spencer—Getty Images
TIME’s photo editors present an unranked selection of the best 100 images of the year.
Tens of thousands of South Sudanese people line up for the first food distribution administered by the International Committee of the Red Cross since the fighting stopped in Leer and a tentative peace is holding in Unity State, South Sudan, on March 17, 2016. When fighting raged throughout Leer in 2014 and 2015, most of the population fled, leaving civilians unable to harvest crops and many struggling to find food. The city of Leer, once a bustling city and headquarters of opposition leader Riek Marchar, is now a ghost town reduced to rubble and the carcasses of buildings.Lynsey Addario—Getty Images Reportage for TIMERefugees wearing rain gear stand on a food distribution line at a refugee camp in Greece, near the border with Macedonia, on March 12, 2016. Under the terms of the Brussels agreement signed on March 20, all asylum seekers who reach the Greek islands will be sent back to Turkey. Nations to the north of Greece will keep their borders closed to asylum seekers, guarding them with a system of checkpoints and razor-wire fences.James Nachtwey for TIMEA Britain First protester walks through the streets of Dewsbury in opposition to building more mosques in Great Britain, on Jan. 30, 2016. Britain First is a far right British nationalist political party and movement founded in 2011. Dewsbury was chosen for Britain First's "day of action" because it is home to one of the largest mosques in the U.K.Alex Majoli—Magnum PhotosGerry Hann holds up the front cover of a newspaper in Liverpool Street train station in London the day after Britain voted to leave the EU, on June 24, 2016. "I think we're doomed and the country is only going to go backwards," Hann said.Carolyn Drake—Magnum PhotosGuests attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in London, England, on May 24, 2016.Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesMillions of bison, sacred to Native Americans, once blanketed the Great Plains. But by the start of the 20th century, the animals had been hunted to near extinction and were thought to be a lost cause. A dedicated public and private conservation effort has nurtured a revival, and today hundreds of thousands of bison range across parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Montana, like this herd at Ted Turner's Flying D Ranch, on June 14, 2016. Andrew Moore for TIMEAttendees listen as Hillary Clinton speaks during an organizing event in Baldwin, Iowa, on Aug. 26, 2015Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesOutgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks beside his daughters (L-R) Nancy Gwen, Florence Rose Endellion, his wife Samantha Cameron and son Arthur Elwen outside 10 Downing Street in central London before going to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, on July 13, 2016. Cameron urged his successor Theresa May to maintain close ties with the EU even while negotiating to leave it.Oli Scarff—AFP/Getty ImagesIn this official White House photograph, Prince George meets President Obama during a trip to London, on April 22, 2016.Pete Souza—The White HouseBritain's Queen Elizabeth arrives at a service for her 90th birthday at St Paul's Cathedral in London, Britain, on June 10, 2016.Toby Melville—ReutersBernie Sanders supporters at a campaign rally at Waterfront Park in Vallejo, Calif., on May 18, 2016.Carolyn Drake—Magnum PhotosAn ecstatic Hillary Clinton celebrates at the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention where she accepted the nomination in Philadelphia, on July 28, 2016.Benjamin Lowy for TIMEDonald Trump's family cheers for him during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 19, 2016.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEStaff listens as President Barack Obama speaks about the election results in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 9, 2016.Susan Walsh—APBernie Sanders speaks during a rally at Santa Monica High School Football Field, on May 23, 2016.Nate Gowdy for TIMEAir Force One, carrying U.S. President Barack Obama and his family, flies over a neighborhood in Havana, Cuba as it approaches the runway to land at Havana's international airport, on March 20, 2016.Alberto Reyes—ReutersU.S. President Barack Obama dances tango during a state dinner hosted by Argentina's President Mauricio Macri at the Centro Cultural Kirchner as part of President Obama's two-day visit to Argentina, in Buenos Aires, on March 23, 2016.Carlos Barria—ReutersA demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, La., on July 9, 2016.Jonathan Bachman—ReutersAn employee conducts fumigation to prevent the Zika virus in the Carabayllo District, Lima Province, Peru, on Jan. 29, 2016. The Health Ministry of Peru held fumigation campaigns to prevent the spreading Zika virus, according to local press.Andina Xinhua—Eyevine/ReduxKenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta set fire to the world's biggest ivory bonfire at Nairobi National Park, after demanding a total ban on trade in tusks and horns to end "murderous" trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild, on April 30, 2016Carl De Souza—AFP/Getty ImagesA group trying to rescue animals from Fort McMurray wait at a roadblock on Highway 63 as smoke rises from a forest fire nearby in Alberta, on May 6, 2016.Cole Burston—AFP/Getty ImagesDemonstrators throw back tear gas canisters to French riot police officers during clashes in a makeshift migrant camp known as "The Jungle" near Calais, northern France, on Oct. 22, 2016.Emilio Morenatti—APA young man is attended to as he lies on the sidewalk after being shot in front of the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 22, 2016. The day after Keith Scott's death at the hands of police triggered a night of violent clashes, Charlotte's leaders urged calm and contested accounts that Scott was unarmed and holding only a book when he was killed.Logan R. Cyrus—The New York Times/ReduxNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the New York Police Department 2016 graduation class at Madison Square Garden, on July 1, 2016.Timonthy A. Clary—AFP/Getty ImagesAssistant Chief of Police Gary Tittle comforts a young man in front of the police station where a memorial was erected for people to come and grieve in Dallas, Texas.Radcliffe Roye for TIMEIn this official White House photograph, President Barack Obama greets a young guest during a reception celebrating African American history month in the east room of the White House, on Feb. 18, 2016.Pete Souza—The White HousePeople connecting with their loved ones through the border fence in Tijuana on the U.S.-Mexico border by the last border monument under the U.S. surveillance cameras. Nov. 2016.Karoliina Paatos Lakota riders Alex Romero-Frederick (left) and Greg Grey Cloud (right) confront a line of North Dakota State Police the day that construction crews began work on the Dakota Access Pipeline just outside of the Standing Rock Reservation, on Aug. 15, 2016. While the riders did push the police line back after a tense standoff, the display was part of a ceremonial horse introduction meant to be peaceful. For the Standing Rock Lakota, the pipeline represents a major environmental and cultural threat, as well as a violation of treaty land.Daniella ZalcmanThe flash of an exploding stunt grenade is seen while a student from University of Witwatersrand jumps on a falling policeman while another policeman shoots his rubber bullets during a demonstration in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Oct. 4, 2016. Authorities tried to re-open the prestigious Wits University after weeks of demonstrations over tuition fees.Marco Longari—AFP/Getty ImagesA man helps a boy while other migrants and refugees lay on the ground after Macedonian police fired tear gas at hundreds of people who tried to break through the border fence in Idomeni, Greece, on Feb. 29, 2016.Louisa Gouliamaki—AFP/Getty ImagesSoldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 16, 2016.Gokhan Tan—Getty ImagesTurkish supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrate in Taksim Square after the coup attempt in Istanbul, Turkey on July 16, 2016.Giacomo Liverani—CesuraA woman wipes the eyes of a friend affected by tear gas during clashes with police as they gather against a mine project in northern Turkish city of Artvin, on Feb. 17, 2016. Security forces began closing off an area for the mine construction, and locals reacted by blocking the road with their vehicles and bodies. Trucks later arrived in an attempt to tow what amounted to a total of almost 300 cars. Reports stated that between 2,000-3,000 protesters participated in the demonstration.Yasin Akgul—AFP/Getty ImagesA salt lake, which is separated by a road, shows parts of it in different colors due to algae, in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China, on Sept. 25, 2016.Wei Liang—ReutersIranians lay beside Urmia Lake with their bodies covered in salt near Urmia, North-western Iran, on Aug. 8, 2016. Hopes for survival of Urmia salt lake have been revived after more rains boosted a government program aimed at preserving the almost dried up water body.Ebrahim Noroozi—APAthletes compete in the swim portion of the 2016 IRONMAN World Championship triathlon in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, on Oct. 8, 2016.Tom Pennington—Getty ImagesParamilitary policemen take part in a drill in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on Sept. 18, 2016.China Daily—ReutersA girl and a woman sit inside a car as fireworks explode celebrating the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year of Monkey in Beijing, on Feb. 7, 2016.Damir Sagolj—ReutersEmbers from a wildfire smolder along Lytle Creek Road near Keenbrook, Calif., on Aug. 17, 2016. Firefighters had at least established a foothold of control of the blaze the day after it broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate 15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five years of drought have turned the state's wild lands into a tinderbox.Noah Berger—APHot lava and volcanic ashes rises from Mount Sinabung during an eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on Feb. 29, 2016.Gatha Ginting—Xinhua News AgencySecurity backstage on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 28, 2016.Natalie Keyssar for TIMEDonald Trump and Mike Pence on stage at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 20, 2016.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEHillary Clinton and her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton eat breakfast at the Chez Vachon restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Feb. 8, 2016.Brian Snyder—ReutersSecret Service agents await the arrival of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the golf course at his Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, on June 25, 2016.Carlo Allegri—ReutersHillary Clinton campaigns at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, N.H. on Feb. 3, 2016.James Nachtwey for TIMEDonald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Loveland, Colorado, on Oct. 3, 2016.Mike Segar—ReutersDonald Trump's supporters at a rally on the eve of the election in Manchester, NH.
Nov. 7, 2016.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMESupporters of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton embrace at the Javits Center in New York, on Nov. 8, 2016.Landon Nordeman for TIMEChelsea Clinton and her father, former President Bill Clinton look on as U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally at the Clark County Government Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 19, 2016.David Becker—ReutersRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to an overflow crowd during a campaign rally in Greenville, N.C., on Sept. 6, 2016.Evan Vucci—APHillary Clinton poses for selfies at an Orlando, Fla., event, on Sept, 21, 2016.Barbara Kinney—Hillary for AmericaRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds Kellen Campbell of Denver, right, and Evelyn Keane, of Castle Rock, Colo., during a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, on July 29, 2016. Evan Vucci—APFirst lady Michelle Obama, center, hugs former President George W. Bush, as President Barack Obama and former first lady Laura Bush walk on stage at the dedication ceremony of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture at the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 24, 2016. Pablo Martinez Monsivais—APKosovo police officers wearing gas masks inspect the parliament, after tear gas was launched by opposition lawmakers, disrupting the first parliamentary session of the year in Pristina, on Feb. 19, 2016. Angry over a government deal with Serbia and demanding snap elections, the united opposition has effectively blocked parliamentary proceedings since October with their tear gas protests.Armend Nimani—AFP/Getty ImagesA photo shot and released on social media from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Katherine Clark in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2016.U.S. Rep. Katherine ClarkThe bench of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is seen draped with black wool crepe in memoriam inside the Supreme Court in Washington, on Feb. 16, 2016. Scalia died on Feb. 13, 2016 at the age of 79.Carlos Barria—ReutersVioletta Kolobova of Russia, left, vies with Simona Pop of Romania in the women's epee team fencing semifinal at the Carioca Arena 3 during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, on Aug. 11, 2016Mauricio Lima—The New York Times/ReduxGold Medal favorite Simone Biles poses for a portrait at World Champions Centre in Spring, Tex., on July 14, 2016.Thomas Prior for TIMEUsain Bolt of Jamaica competes in the Men's 100 meter semifinal on Day 9 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 14, 2016.Cameron Spencer—Getty ImagesA street artist performs his show on Urdaneta Ave., in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 6, 2016.Alvaro Ybarra Zavala—Getty Images for TIMEJose Villarroel waits for hours in an emergency operating room at Luis Razetti Hospital in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, on April 15, 2016. The economic crisis in this country has exploded into a public health emergency; part of a larger unraveling that has become so widespread it has prompted President Nicolas Maduro to impose a state of emergency, raising fears of a government collapse.Meridith Kohut—The New York Times/ReduxA family stands in the remains of their destroyed home in Roche-a-Bateau, southwestern Haiti, on Oct. 8, 2016. Roche-a-Bateau suffered widespread destruction with many homes destroyed as Hurricane Matthew ripped through the Caribbean devastating large parts of the island, on Oct. 4, 2016.Andrew McConnell—PanosA boy washes his clothes in a river near Maboussou village, in Central African Republic.William Daniels—PanosInmates sleep on the ground of an open basketball court inside the Quezon City jail at night in Manila, Philippines, on July 19, 2016. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800 people.Noel Celis—AFP/Getty ImagesThe body of a man killed by unknown gunmen is lit by lights from TV cameras in Manila, Philippines, on Oct. 24, 2016.Damir Sagolj—ReutersVillagers rebuild houses and pathways in the Himalayan village of Barpak, in Gorkha district, Nepal, at the epicenter of the April and May 2015 earthquakes which killed 9,000 people, on April 6, 2016.James Nachtwey for TIMEPolice search inside the exclusion zone for residents who are still considered missing from the tsunami in Namie, Japan, on March 11, 2016. More than 2,500 people remain missing, according to government statistics.Dominic NahrRohingya people work outside their informal settlement where they live in Shamlipur, Bangladesh, on Jan. 10, 2016. The Rohingya are systematically marginalized, and forced into formal and makeshift camps across Bangladesh and Myanmar. They often occupy hard labor jobs, like riding cycle rickshaws, working in the ice factories, fishing, and manual labor jobs they pick up daily.Lynsey Addario—Annenberg Space for PhotographyRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels and supporters help push a vehicle stuck in mud at their camp following the 10th Guerrilla Conference in the remote Yari plains in El Diamante, Colombia, on Sept. 25, 2016. The peace agreement attempts to end the 52-year-old guerrilla war between the FARC and the state, the longest-running armed conflict in the Americas that has left 220,000 dead.Mario Tama—Getty ImagesWomen refugees and migrants queue in the prison yard as they are loaded onto buses to be transferred to another detention center. They were sold by a militia group ruling the Surman detention camp, Libya.Narciso Conteras for Fondation CarmignacMigrants, mostly from Eritrea, jumped into the water from a crowded wooden boat as they were rescued off the coast of Libya, on Aug. 29, 2016. Thousands of migrants and refugees were rescued from more than 20 boats by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO before transferring them to the Italian cost guards and other NGO vessels operating at the zone.Emilio Morenatti—APMigrants wait to be rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on October 4, 2016. At least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast, the Italian coastguard announced, adding that similar operations were underway around 15 other overloaded vessels.Aris Messinis—AFP/Getty ImagesThree bodies are seen washed up on a beach in Canakkale, Turkey after at least 37 migrants and refugees were killed when their boat sank in the Aegean while trying to cross to Greece on Jan. 30, 2016.Ozan Kose—AFP/Getty ImagesA migrant baby sits behind a plastic tent as a boy waves in a makeshift camp at the northern Greek border post of Idomeni, Greece, on March 15, 2016.Vadim Ghirda—APCommunity members search for spilled grain on the site of a World Food Program airdrop in Ganyiel, South Sudan, on March 10, 2016. Ganyiel is a small community that has become a safe haven and a center for relief distribution for over 90,000 people in the conflict-torn nation of South Sudan.Matt Black—Magnum PhotosA girl running in the IDP's Al Kadasie apartment complex in Tikrit, Iraq, on July 20, 2016Paolo Pellegrin—Magnum PhotosFirst-responders attempt to stop Abu Soubhi from entering his home following an airstrike in the rebel-held area of Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, on Sept. 11, 2016.Mohammed Badra—EPAA Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo, on April 27, 2016.Karam Al-Masri—AFP/Getty ImagesOuagadougou center in Sirte, Libya, on Sep. 3, 2016.Lorenzo Meloni—Magnum PhotosLibyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fire weapons during a battle with Islamic State fighters in Sirte, Libya, on July 15, 2016.Goran Tomasevic—ReutersThe Iraqis Special Operations Forces search houses in Cogjali, an eastern district of Mosul, looking for Daesh members, equipment and evidence, on Nov. 2, 2016.Laurent Van Der Stockt—Getty ImagesIraqi Army commanders survey the front line in the village of Kharbardan, south of Mosul, on May 18, 2016. The Iraqi military seized the village from ISIS in March, as a part of a grinding march toward the city of Mosul, a major city that has been under ISIS control since June 2014.Yuri Kozyrev—Noor for TIMEKurdish pesh merga troops fire at Islamic State positions as they move toward the Iraqi town of Badana Pichwk, on Oct. 17, 2016. Kurdish forces began advancing on a string of villages east of Mosul, the start of a long-awaited campaign to reclaim Iraq's second-largest city from the Islamic State, which seized it more than two years ago, officials said.Bryan Denton—The New York Times/ReduxIraqi ordnance disposal specialists clear a section of the Erbil-Mosul highway on the western edge of Bartella, Iraq, on Oct. 20, 2016. Bryan Denton, a photographer for The New York Times, was with the Iraqi counterterrorism forces as they began pushing toward Mosul last week. During a long day in a convoy near Mosul, the Islamic State sent four car bombs toward the convoy. In the last one, Denton received minor injuries to his wrist.Bryan Denton—The New York Times/ReduxDisplaced Iraqis arrive at a refugee camp in the town of Qayyarah, south of Mosul, as an operation to recapture the city of Mosul from the Islamic State, on Oct. 22, 2016.Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty ImagesPeople wait near Nemrud village to cross the Tigris River by small boats, escaping the fight between the Iraqi army and Islamic State militants near Tuebe village, in southeast Mosul, Iraq, on Nov. 2016Emin Ozmen—LeJournalA Palestinian girl dressed in a traditional outfit walks in a field near her house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, on Feb. 7, 2016.Mohammed Abed—AFP/Getty ImagesPope Francis, seen on the other side of the framed glass that usually holds the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, holds a flower bouquet as he prays to her inside a private room at the Basilica built in her honor, during Mass in Mexico City, on Feb. 13, 2016.Gregorio Borgia—APSiblings Julie, Antonio, and India Abram collect their daily allowance of bottled water from Fire Station #3. Located on Martin Luther King Avenue, it is one of five firehouses that have become water resource sites in Flint, Michigan.Wayne LawrenceSnow falls on a mattress outside a shuttered K-Mart in Flint, Michigan, on April 10, 2016.Matt Black—Magnum PhotosA person braves a snowstorm at Prospect Park in New York, on Jan. 23, 2016.Bryan Thomas—The New York Times/ReduxIce is viewed near the coast of West Antarctica from a window of a NASA Operation IceBridge airplane, on Oct. 27, 2016. NASA's Operation IceBridge has been studying how polar ice has evolved over the past eight years and is currently flying a set of 12-hour research flights over West Antarctica at the start of the melt season. Researchers have used the IceBridge data to observe that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be in a state of irreversible decline directly contributing to rising sea levels. NASA and University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers have recently detected the speediest ongoing Western Antarctica glacial retreat rates ever observed.Mario Tama—Getty ImagesThe massive snowstorm that blanketed the East Coast from Washington, D.C., to New York City is seen from the International Space Station, on Jan. 23, 2016.Scott Kelly—NASAPolar bear "Pizza" at an aquarium in Grandview shopping mall in Guangzhou, China, on July 27, 2016.China Stringer Network—ReutersThe Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, rides a horse as he parades with his entourage and musicians on the streets of Kano, northern Nigeria during the Durbar Festival celebrating the end of Eid al-Fitr- the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan, on July 6, 2016.Stefan Heunis—AFP/Getty ImagesChildren cry as a caravan carrying Fidel Castro's ashes passes through Santa Clara, Cuba, on Dec. 1, 2016. Tomas Munita—The New York Times/ReduxA businessman stands at a pond in the Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Garden on a warm and sunny day in Tokyo, Japan, on March 18, 2016.Thomas Peter—ReutersAn eagle from Guard From Above, a security company training eagles to intercept drones, tackles a drone in the air, in Katwijk, Netherlands, on May 31, 2016. The birds of prey learn to intercept small, off-the-shelf drones of the type that can pose risks to aircraft, drop contraband into jails, conduct surveillance or fly dangerously over public events.Andrew Testa—The New York Times/ReduxA syrian refugee, Tayma, holds her newborn baby in a refugee camp in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept. 26, 2016Lynsey Addario—Verbatim for TIMEPeople on a fair ride are silhouetted against the moon a day before the "supermoon" spectacle in London, on Nov. 13, 2016.Neil Hall—Reuters
