Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

2006 was designated as:

• International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
• International Asperger's Year.
• Year of Mozart, marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

January

• January 1 - Sydney, Australia, has its warmest day on record, when the city reaches 45°C (113°F).
• January 1 - Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.
• January 2 - The Bad Reichenhall ice rink roof in Germany collapses after heavy snowfall in the Bavarian Alps, killing 15.
• January 3 - Twelve dead coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, West Virginia, U.S.
• January 4 - Powers are transferred from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his deputy, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Sharon suffers a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
• January 5 - A hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia collapses, killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform hajj.
• January 6 - The record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially draws to a close as Tropical Storm Zeta dissipates.
• January 7 - Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announces he will not seek to reassume his former post.
• January 7 - UK Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy resigns after revelations that he has a drinking problem.
• January 8 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake centered off the coast of the Greek island of Kythera shakes much of Greece and is felt throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin.
• January 9 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 (11,011.90) for the first time since June 7, 2001.
• January 11 - The Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986.
• January 12 - A stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 pilgrims.
• January 14 - A natural gas explosion in a coal mine kills eight in Romania.
• January 15 - NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet.
• January 19 - A suicide bomber in Tel Aviv, Israel injures 20, one of them seriously.
• January 23 - Stephen Harper wins the federal election in Canada, forming a minority government.
• January 25 - Hamas wins the majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections.
• January 25 - Deus Caritas Est, the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, is promulgated.
• January 27 - Celebrations are held in Salzburg and around the world for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• January 28 - A trade hall roof collapses in Katowice, Poland, killing 65 people.
• January 31 - Samuel Alito is sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.