From Melbourne to Moscow to Machu Picchu, we are all counting down the hours on an eventful 2013. News was made across the globe: deadly attacks at the Boston marathon and a Nairobi mall, national farewells in Venezuela and South Africa, revelations from Edward Snowden and Pope Francis, natural disasters, gay marriage debates and horsemeat scandals

One can reflect on a year in many different ways — we decided to classify the most notable stories, by country (26 to be precise) that we've covered across our roving Mondo map.

Cover photo: Chris expand=1] Hadfield/Worldcrunch