2011 (MMXI) will be a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. According to the North Korean Juche calendar, this will be Juche year 100. This year will also be the 100th of the Republic of China Era year (??100?).

Pronunciation

See also: Year pronunciation

There is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century, including 2011, should be pronounced in English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand (and) X" for any specific year post?1999, it is often suggested that the continuation of this type of pronunciation for the entire 21st century would be inappropriate or unnatural, given the alternative "twenty X" option.

Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Y2K hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Experts also suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".^[1]

Many people, ranging from linguistic and academic experts to Internet bloggers, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a time frame as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many,^[2][3] while 2011^[1] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest time frame for change is usually placed at 2020^[1] or 2100.

According to a recent press release, David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change will occur in 2011, to "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven".^[1] Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013. The UK Times has suggested 2020 as a final time frame for the change, saying "If people can have ?twenty-twenty? vision, then surely they should also live in the year ?twenty twenty?."^[1]

It is noted that, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, taking place in Vancouver, Canada, are being officially referred to as "the twenty-ten Olympics",the 2011 Rugby World Cup officially as "the New Zealand twenty-eleven Rugby World Cup". The London olympics, taking place in 2012, are also being officially referred to by London 2012 as "the twenty-twelve Olympics". Chicago 2016, which operates the official Chicago bid for the 2016 games, refers to the "twenty-sixteen games".

Predicted and scheduled events

January

• January - The US extradition treaty with El Salvador enters into effect.
• January - Southern Sudan will hold a referendum on independence.
• January 1 - The estate tax in the United States, after its gradual repeal through 2010, returns in full force.^[4]
• January 1 - Start of the Hungarian presidency of the European Union.
• January 1 - Estonia is set to adopt the euro.
• January 2 ? Conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus, Jupiter 34' south. Third conjunction of triple conjunction Jupiter/Uranus.
• January 3 ? The 112th session of the United States Congress will convene on or around this date.
• January 4 ? Partial solar eclipse
• January 30 ? The 2011 Asian Winter Games will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan until February 6.

February

• February ? Alpine World Ski Championships 2011 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
• February ? 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey.
• February 6 ? Super Bowl XLV will be played in Arlington, Texas.

March

• March 18 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is scheduled to arrive in orbit around Mercury.
• March 18 ? NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons will cross the orbit of Uranus, after a 5 year journey. This will be faster than Voyager 2, which took 8 years.
• March 20 ? Parliamentary election to be held in Finland.
• The remaining sections of Kyushu Shinkansen and T?hoku Shinkansen, both Japanese high speed rail lines are scheduled to start services. When these tracks are completed, Aomori, (the northernmost part of Honsh?), and Kagoshima, (the southernmost part of Kyushu Island), will both be linked by Shinkansen service through Tokyo.

April

• April 8?21 ? Cricket World Cup to be held in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
• April 24 ? Easter will not have fallen this late since 1943.

May

• May - The 56th edition of Eurovision Song Contest would be held.
• May ? Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Mars all visible within a roughly 6° area of sky.
• May 5 ? Elections for the Scottish Parliament and for the Welsh Assembly.
• May 6 ? Singapore holds 11th general election.
• May 17 ? Canadian 2011 census.
• May 21 ? Rapture as prophesised by Harold Camping

July

• July 1 ? Start of the Polish presidency of the European Union.
• July 15-July 26 ? Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China
• July 24 ? Analog television broadcasts will cease in Japan.
• July ? The International Olympic Committee will decide the location of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
• July ? The 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship will be held in a TBA location.

August

• August 15 ? The comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdu?áková will approach Earth and pass with significantly close proximity.
• August 31 - Canada will switch off its analogue television signals and send television signals digitally.

October

• October 6 - Ontario general election.
• October - Guadalajara will host the XVI Pan American Games.
• October - 2011 Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand.

November

• November 7 - Saskatchewan general election.
• November 25 ? Partial solar eclipse.

Unknown dates

• The F-35 Lightning II will begin replacing the USAF's F-16 Fighting Falcon and A-10 Thunderbolt fleets (to be complete by 2025 and 2028 respectively).
• Redevelopment of the Perth Foreshore will begin. This project may change Perth's skyline for a long time
• Predicted Solar maximum (also predicted by other research groups for 2012).^[5]
• The Isle of Man will host the IV Commonwealth Youth Games.
• An Irish presidential election will be held.
• Egyptian Presidential Elections will be held.
• The United Kingdom will continue 5-year process to cease analog television broadcasts region-by-region, with Central Television, Yorkshire Television and Anglia Television http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/en/when.html.
• Dublin Institute of Technology will complete its move to Grangegorman.
• The DSM-V will be published.
• Completion of Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, the largest infrastructure project in eastern Germany.
• Start of manned test flights of both the Crew Exploration Vehicle and Ares I rocket.
• Elections to be held in Nigeria.
• California will open the world's largest solar power plant.^[6]
• Park Place shopping centre in Croydon, will be unveiled by Minerva plc, and will put Croydon in the top 5 retail destinations.
• The 43rd edition of the Copa América, South America's main soccer tournament between countries, will take place.
• The UK census will take place.
• Sweden will host the 22nd World Scout Jamboree.
• The Bow in Calgary will be complete. It will be the tallest building west of Toronto in Canada.
• Canada will end its role in Afghanistan.
• New Zealand Census to take place
• A new tower in Cincinnati Name Unknown will be the tallest building in downtown Cincinnati.
• World Youth Day 2011 will be held in Madrid, Spain.

Major religious holidays

• February 2 ? Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day
• March 17 - Saint Patrick's Day.
• March 20 ? Spring Equinox, also known as Ostara
• April 24 ? Easter
• May 11 ? Beltane, a Cross-quarter day.
• June 21 ? Summer solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha
• August 1 ? Lammas, a Cross-quarter day
• September 23 ? Fall Equinox, also known as Mabon
• November 1 ? Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year
• November 6 - Eid al-Adha, a religious holiday in Islam
• December 25 ? Christmas

In fiction

• In the Aeon Flux television series and film, 99% of the world's population is wiped out by a mysterious virus in the year 2011.
• In K. A. Applegate's Remnants book series, 2011 is the year life on Earth becomes extinct after a 73-mile wide asteroid nicknamed "The Rock" impacts Portugal. Eighty other humans are placed in a shuttle named the Mayflower mere hours before impact and put into artificial hibernation, while a handful of humans inexplicitly survive the impact on Earth; the reason how and the means these few survived amongst the ruins of Earth is not stated.
• The Sarah Connor Chronicles Judgement Day is predicted to take place on April 21.

References

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