The troubles and triumphs that shaped 2021

National Geographic photographers documented pivotal moments as they unfolded, from the storming of the U.S. Capitol to the return of the Taliban.

Police stand guard outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6. Supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered in the nation’s capital to protest President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 election.
Photograph by Adam Ferguson
Text byTucker C. Toole
December 8, 2021
13 min read

For many people, 2021 has been better than the previous year. Major advances in the battle against COVID-19 have allowed millions to emerge from lockdown and resume a semblance of normal life. Many adults returned to work, students went back to school, and family and friends reunited with cautious embraces and less fear of spreading infection.

The pandemic, of course, is far from over, and by other measures 2021 also has been filled with trauma. In the United States, the chaos began to unfold during the first week of the year. On January 6, thousands of insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. One police officer died from injuries inflicted by attackers, and some 140 others were seriously hurt during the melee, including stab wounds and cracked ribs.

Clouds of tear gas, pepper spray, and dust from fire extinguishers used as weapons against police envelop Trump supporters during the mayhem at the Capitol on January 6.
Photograph by Louie Palu
On January 19, police officers from across the U.S. assembled at the convention center in Washington to be sworn in for service during the next day's presidential inauguration. On inauguration day, thousands of law enforcement and military personnel were on site to ensure a smooth transition of power.
Photograph by Nina Berman

A string of natural disasters—many fueled by climate change—plagued countries around the world. Wildfires raged across portions of Europe, Siberia, Canada, and the western U.S. During a historic heat wave in August, wildfires on the Greek island of Evia burned homes and forced residents and tourists to flee. In the western U.S., wildfires in the Lake Tahoe basin charred a quarter million acres and destroyed more than 900 commercial and residential structures. Meanwhile, record-breaking rainfall in Germany caused extensive flooding across the region. And in Haiti, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake killed more than 2,200 people.

Picture of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity brothers from Howard University celebrating graduation
Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at Howard University in Washington, D.C., take part in a longtime graduation tradition: a jubilant, choreographed stroll down Sixth Street N.W. “It’s a rite of passage,” says Travis Xavier Brown (at far right), a 2021 theater graduate. The pandemic forced Howard to switch to online classes, but as COVID-19 cases fell, the school opted to hold a joint, in-person commencement for the classes of 2020 and 2021.
Photograph by Jared Soares
Students in Jakarta, Indonesia, returned to school in September wearing masks and obeying stringent health protocols. The move was motivated by a “decline in learning achievement” during the pandemic, said Nadiem Makarim, former Minister of Education. “Many children have dropped out of school, especially women.”
Photograph by Muhammad Fadli

On the geopolitical front, hopes for a democratic future for Afghanistan were suddenly dashed as Taliban fighters retook the country by storm. In Ethiopia, civil war and drought spawned a humanitarian crisis that still continues.

Hafiza, 70, gazes out the window of the small home near Faizabad where she took refuge after the Taliban seized her village in 2019. When one of her four sons joined the Taliban, Hafiza begged his commander to let him come home. “You’ve given two sons to the government and one to [anti-Taliban] militia,” she says he replied. “This one will be ours.”
Photograph by Kiana Hayeri, National Geographic

But amid the tragedy and darkness, there were rays of hope. Pope Francis, in an historic gesture of reconciliation, undertook the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, seeking “the consolation of hearts and the healing of wounds” in a country deeply scarred by years of conflict.

Black Americans celebrated three milestones in their fight for racial justice: In Minneapolis, a jury found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all the counts over the death of George Floyd. In Richmond, Virginia, a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee—to many a symbol of the city’s racist past—was taken down after months of protests and legal battles. And in Tulsa, Oklahoma, crowds gathered on May 31 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, an event largely erased from history for decades.

A crowd at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis celebrates after hearing the guilty verdict of former police officer Derek Chauvin on April 20. The verdict came nearly a year after Floyd’s death sparked an international outcry against police brutality.
Photograph by David Guttenfelder

Similarly, Native Americans made strides in their efforts to expose the brutal history of boarding schools set up to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children. After six years of lobbying, the skeletal remains of nine Lakota children who died in Pennsylvania more than a century ago were returned to South Dakota and laid to rest in their ancestral soil.

As these and other pivotal moments unfolded around the world, National Geographic photographers were on the scene to document the events that shaped our lives.

After spending the past year rehearsing virtually, members of the Sharyland High School varsity mariachi band in Mission, Texas, perform in-person for the first time on September 16—Mexican Independence Day. The daylong marathon of performances at multiple schools was exhausting, but members were elated to finally play together for real-life audiences.
Photograph by Christopher Lee
Children hold their fistsChildren in Tulsa raise their fists during a march commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. During the two-day rampage in 1921, white rioters killed as many as 300 Black residents and destroyed an affluent business community known as Black Wall Street.
Photograph by Bethany Mollenkof
On the campus of Oklahoma State University, a mural commemorating the Tulsa race massacre stands as a visible reminder of a history that was smothered and contested for much of the past century.
Photograph by Bethany Mollenkof
Six Indigenous children disinterred from graves at a former boarding school in Pennsylvania are laid to rest at the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota as an honor guard watches over the ceremony on July 17. The remains of three other children were returned to family members for private burials.
Photograph by Daniella Zalcman
judges examine outfits of competitors at a rodeo
A judge inspects the colorful, floral outfits of female equestrians known as escaramuzas at a Mexican rodeo, or charreada, in Snelling, California. Teams of riders complete complex synchronized choreography on horseback while riding sidesaddle in ornate outfits meant to mimic the garb of women who fought in the Mexican Revolution. Their dresses are judged as carefully as their horsemanship, and any departure from strict standards can result in point deductions.
Photograph by Natalie Keyssar
The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti on August 14 caused widespread devastation and killed more than 2,200 people. This child was airlifted from the Haitian city of Jeremie by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to a hospital in Port-au-Prince, the capital.
Photograph by Andrea Bruce
In the city of Jeremie, many colonial buildings collapsed during the earthquake. The Caribbean nation, with a long history of political turmoil and instability, has suffered successive natural disasters, including a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people and nearly wiped out Port-au-Prince.
Photograph by Andrea Bruce
In the Ethiopian town of Agula-e, women wait for food to be distributed. A political conflict between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has exploded into war and a grave humanitarian crisis. As many as two million people have been displaced and thousands have been killed. “We don’t have any food, we don’t have any medication, all our property was looted,” says Salam Abraha (middle). “Every day, people are dying here.”
Photograph by Lynsey Addario
Pope Francis is welcomed at the presidential palace in Baghdad shortly after the pontiff’s arrival in Iraq on March 5. Francis is the first pope to visit Iraq. “I am coming as a pilgrim, as a penitent pilgrim, to implore from the Lord forgiveness and reconciliation after years of war and terrorism, to beg from God the consolation of hearts and the healing of wounds,” Francis said in a greeting to the people of Iraq before his visit.
Photograph by Moises Saman
Iraqi Christians gather for prayer on the outskirts of Qaraqosh in preparation for the pope's arrival. The pontiff urged them to forgive ISIS extremists who destroyed their churches and much of the traditionally Christian town.
Photograph by Moises Saman
a church service in Alabama
New Shiloh Missionary Baptist ChurchThe New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, held its first in-person service since the pandemic began on Easter Sunday. Pastor Clinton Johnson began and ended the service by encouraging his congregation to get vaccinated. “The virus will kill you; the vaccine won’t,” he said.
Photograph by Natalie Keyssar
Phoenician seafarers once ruled ancient Sidon, now the third largest city in Lebanon. The small Mediterranean country was an economic success story in the 1990s but now faces one of the worst financial crises in centuries, according to the World Bank.
Photograph by Rena Effendi
More than a year after Beirut's horrific port explosion, Lebanese families continue to mourn the loss of loved ones. Hamze Eskandar, 25, was a soldier stationed at the port when tons of stored ammonium nitrate exploded on August 4, 2020, killing him and more than 200 others. His three sisters display his portrait and wear medallions around their necks bearing his image.
Photograph by Rena Effendi
A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is removed from its pedestal in Richmond, Virginia, on September 8. The 12-ton statue towered over Monument Avenue since 1890. Its removal, following a state Supreme Court ruling, spurred jubilation among those gathered to witness the momentous event.
Photograph by Amr Alfiky
The fishing community of Leeville, Louisiana, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ida, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm on August 29.
Photograph by Ben Depp
An elderly resident of Evia, Greece’s second largest island, laments as a wildfire approaches her home on August 8. Fires swept so much of the island that thousands of residents had to be evacuated by boat.
Photograph by Konstantinos Tsakalidis, Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Caldor fire started August 14; by October 19, it was 98 percent contained. Climate change has created increasingly dry conditions and drought across California, leading to a rise in the intensity and length of time fires rage across the state. Fire season now runs as long as 10 months—up from three months a decade ago.
Photograph by Lynsey Addario
Revelers dance beneath smoke and lights at an open air electronic music party in Berlin.
Revelers dance beneath smoke and lights at an open-air electronic music party in Berlin, Germany, in August. Prior to September, a same-day negative COVID-19 test was required to enter music venues and other public gathering spaces. The city offered free testing to all citizens, and mobile testing sites were set up outside spaces requiring them for entry. With a spike in COVID cases, restrictions are once again in the works, including lower capacity rules for nightclubs and proof of negative test results to gain entry.
Photograph by Ruben Salgado Escudero