As 2011 nears its end, let us take a look at the events which took place in the previous 12 months.

A picture is worth a thousand words, it is truly said, and photographers around the world have done a great job of capturing all the breaking news as well as personal stories that defined the year 2011.

Starting with Arab uprisings to the devastating earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear disaster in Japan, the volcano eruption in Iceland to the Occupy Wall Street protest in the U.S., there was no lack of news this year.

Every year there are special moments that make us laugh, cry or even be terrified.

Here is a picture gallery which presents the photos featuring significant occurrences around the world in the year.

Top Best Photos of 2011
It was a sunny day and I went down to the end of my garden to the pond. I lay down and tried not to scare the frogs. I waited for about 20 minutes and there were about 10 frogs poking their heads in and out of the water. I then saw the perfect picture of a frog and its frogspawn and I took the picture of it. Painswick, Gloucestershire, BW
Top Best Photos of 2011
An aerial photo shows a residential area being hit by a tsunami in Natori, Miyagi prefecture on March 11, 2011. Picture taken March 11, 2011. (Wave picture) Reuters
Top Best Photos of 2011
A photograph of the India-Pakistan border released by the NASA. Earth Observatory, NASA
Top Best Photos of 2011
A baby gestures minutes after he was born inside the pediatric unit at hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa Oct. 21, 2011. According to Honduras' health authorities, about 220,000 babies are born in Honduras each year and the cost of having a baby delivered at the public hospital is $10. The world's population will reach seven billion on Oct. 31, according to projections by the United Nations. Picture taken Oct. 21, 2011. Reuters
Top Best Photos of 2011
Soccer players from Haiti's Zaryen team (in blue) and the national amputee team fight for the ball during a friendly match at the national stadium in Port-au-Prince, Jan. 10, 2011. Sprinting on their crutches at breakneck speed, the young soccer players, who lost their legs in Haiti's earthquake last year, project a symbol of hope and resilience in a land where so much is broken. Reuters
Top Best Photos of 2011
Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Tommy Robredo of Spain during their match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan. 23, 2011. Reuters
Top Best Photos of 2011
A boy cries after breathing in tear gas thrown by national policemen in a provisional camp for earthquake victims during clashes with demonstrators in downtown Port-au-Prince, Feb. 7, 2011. Around 200 protesters demanding that Haiti's outgoing President Rene Preval leave office immediately, set up burning barricades on Monday and threw stones at the police and U.N. peacekeepers in the capital Port-au-Prince, witnesses said. Reuters
Earthquake Japan Iceland Tsunami