2022
(MMXXII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2022nd year of the Common Era (CE) and
Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 22nd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2020s decade.
2022 saw the removal of nearly all COVID-19 restrictions and the reopening of international borders in most countries,
and the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continued. The global economic recovery from the pandemic continued, though many
countries experienced an ongoing inflation surge; in response, many central banks raised their interest rates to landmark levels.
The world population also reached eight billion people in 2022. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the largest armed conflict in
Europe since World War II, caused the displacement of 15.7 million Ukrainians (8 million internally displaced persons and 7.7
million refugees), and led to international condemnations and sanctions and nuclear threats, the withdrawal of hundreds of
companies from Russia, and the exclusion of Russia from major sporting events. Many prominent figures died in 2022, including
world leaders Shinzo Abe, Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth II, Jiang Zemin, and Pope Benedict XVI; entertainers Sidney Poitier,
Olivia Newton-John, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jean-Luc Godard, and Angela Lansbury; and footballer Pelé.
