2000s

The 2000s is the decade that started on January 1, 2000 and ends on December 31, 2009. It is the current decade, and the decade in which the 21st century and 3rd millennium began.

By the end of the 1990s, the world had come closer to adapting to the globalised and unipolar world that emerged following the end of the Cold War. The September 11 attacks by al-Qaeda in 2001 ultimately led the United States under President George W. Bush to invade and occupy Afghanistan and Iraq, and implement various anti-terrorist measures at home and abroad in what was known as the War on Terror. The European Union saw further integration and expansion throughout much of Europe, while Russia's decade of economic depression and social decay in the 1990s changed after Vladimir Putin took charge and steered the country towards a more assertive foreign policy while rolling back human rights. The institutions, linkages and technologies that emerged or were redefined in that decade would subsequently benefit many countries in the 2000s. China, India and other developing countries experienced rapid economic growth, which while responsible for lifting millions out of poverty, nevertheless had environmental consequences, and raised demand for diminishing energy resources. The end of the decade witnessed the Global Financial Crisis, caused by a lack of regulatory mechanisms and an imbalance in global capital flows.

Names of the decade

Unlike previous decades such as "the 50s", "the 70s", and "the 90s", the 2000s never attained a universally accepted name in the English-speaking world.

On January 1, 2000, the BBC listed "The Noughties" (derived from "nought", a word used for zero in many English-speaking countries) as a potential moniker for the new decade. This word had some coinage in the popular media of Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Orthographically, the decade can be written as "2000s" or "'00s". Some people read "2000s" as "two-thousands" and thus simply refer to the decade as "the two-thousands". Some read it as the "00s" (pronouced "Ohs"), as the single years within the decade are usually refered to as starting with an "Oh", such as "Oh-Eight". Others advocate the term "The Aughts", which was widely used at the beginning of the last century, sometimes even combining it with "Naught" to put a linguistic twist on the time period, such as "The Naught Aughts", "The Naughts", "The Aughts", and even "The Naughty Aughties".

The United Nations General Assembly declared the decade from 2001 to 2010 the "Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World", which obviously is not as likely to catch on throughout the popular culture as something like "the 80s" or "the 90s."

Economics

Main article: 2000s in economics

The most significant evolution of the early-2000s in the economic landscape was the long-time predicted breakthrough of economic giants China and India, that had a double-digit growth during nearly the whole decade. The rapid catching-up of emerging economies with developed countries sparked some protectionist tensions during the period and was partly responsible for an increase in energy and food prices at the end of the decade. The economic developments in the latter third of the decade were dominated by a worldwide economic downturn, which started with the crisis in housing and credit in the United States in late 2007, and led to the bankruptcy of entities as large as Iceland. The outbreak of this global financial crisis sparked a global recession, beginning in the United States and affecting most of the industrialized world.

Globalization and its discontents

Economic developments in the first half of the 2000s focused on the explosion of Asia and South America's economic and political potential, and its impact on the world market. China experienced immense economic growth thanks to its highly competitive manufactured goods sold to rich countries, and has now been identified as an emerging superpower by academics and other experts. India’s economy became technologically integrated with those of the world’s more developed nations. Brazil also became a major economic power, and by the end of the decade, the term BRIC (to refer to Brazil, Rusia, India and China) was of common use in media. Emerging countries also gained influence in economics, trade and climate change negotiations, partly thanks to their huge currency reserves.

The international trade negotiations map

International trade continued to expand during the decade (except in 2008 and 2009) as emerging economies and developing countries, in particular China and South-Asian countries, benefited low wages costs and most often undervalued currencies. However, global negotiations to reduce tariffs did not make any progress, as member countries of the World Trade Organization did not succeed in finding agreements to stretch the extent of free trade. The Doha Round of negotiations, launched in 2001 by the WTO to promote development, did not come to an end, because of growing tensions between regional areas, and reunions like the Cancun Conference in 2003 failed to find a consensus on services trade and agricultural subsidies.

Poorest countries, in particular African countries, did not benefit globalization as much as emerging economies. They opposed the extension of free trade and asked for financial helps. Developed countries and big business personalities were committed to help these countries, and the World Economic Forum, annually standing at Davos, became a major annual event. Some results were achieved to help the poorest countries fight poverty and diseases, and to face free trade and climate change consequences.

The age of turbulence

The decade was marked by two financial and economic crises. In 2000, the Dot-com bubble burst, causing turmoil in financial markets and a decline in economic activity in the developed economies, in particular in the United States. However, the impact of the crisis on the activity was limited thanks to the intervention of the central banks, notably the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Indeed, Alan Greenspan, leader of the Fed until 2006, cut the interest rates several times to avoid a severe recession, allowing an economic revival in the U.S.

The bank Lehman Brothers (here the headquarters in New York City) collapsed in September 2008 amid a global financial crisis

As the Fed maintained low interest rates to favor economic growth, a housing bubble began to appear in the United States. It also allowed banks to lend money to poor households. In 2007, the rise in interest rates and the collapse of the housing market caused a wave of loan payment failures in the U.S. The subsequent mortgage crisis caused a global financial crisis, because the subprime mortgages had been securitized and sold to international banks and investment funds. Despite the intervention of central banks to successfully avoid a complete collapse of the banking sector and to relieve the financial markets, the economic activity was severely affected everywhere in the world in 2008 and 2009, with disastrous consequences for carmakers.

Reactions of governments in all developed and developing countries against the economic slowdown were largely inspired from keynesian economics. The end of the decade was characterized by a Keynesian resurgence, while the influence and media popularity of left-wing economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize recipients in 2001 and 2008, respectively) did not stop growing during the decade. Several international summits were organized to find solutions against the economic crisis and to impose greater control of the financial markets. The G-20 became in 2008 and 2009 a major organization, as leaders of the member countries held two major summits in Washington in November 2008 and in London in April 2009 to regulate the banking and financial sectors., also succeeding in coordinating their economic action and in avoiding protectionist reactions.

Energy crisis

Main article: 2000s energy crisis

From the mid-1980s to September 2003, the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX was generally under $25/barrel. During 2003, the price rose above $30, reached $60 by August 11, 2005, and peaked at $147.30 in July 2008. Commentators attributed these price increases to many factors, including reports from the United States Department of Energy and others showing a decline in petroleum reserves, worries over peak oil, Middle East tension, and oil price speculation.

Increase in oil prices

For a time, geo-political events and natural disasters indirectly related to the global oil market had strong short-term effects on oil prices, such as North Korean missile tests, the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon, worries over Iranian nuclear plants in 2006 and Hurricane Katrina. By 2008, such pressures appeared to have an insignificant impact on oil prices given the onset of the global recession. The recession caused demand for energy to shrink in late 2008 and early 2009 and the price plunged as well. However, it surged back in May 2009, bringing it back to November 2008 levels.

Many fast-growing economies throughout the world, especially in Asia, have also been a major factor in the rapidly increasing demand for fossil fuels, which—along with fewer new petroleum finds, greater extraction costs, and political turmoil—forced two other trends: a soar in the price of petroleum products and a push by governments and businesses to promote the development of environmentally friendly technology (known informally as "green" technology). However, a side-effect of the push by some industrial nations to "go green" and utilize biofuels has been a decrease in the supply of food and a subsequent increase in the price of the same. It partially caused the 2007 food price crisis, which seriously affected the world's poorer nations with an even more severe shortage of food.

Science and technology

Main article: 2000s in science and technology

Technological advancements have been as revolutionary and diversified as previous decades. In the field of digital electronics, advancements have been considerable. Mobile phones, digital cameras, and digital audio players became household items over the course of a few years. Email and broadband Internet connections have become nearly ubiquitous in the industrialized world. The entertainment industry has struggled to find digital delivery systems for music, movies, and other media that reduce piracy and preserve profit. Internet commerce has become standard for reservations, stock trading, promotion of music, arts, literature, and film, shopping, and other activities. During this decade certain websites and search engines became prominent worldwide as transmitters of goods, services and information. Some of the most popular and successful online internet sites or search engines of the 00s include: Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Email has become the dominant form of interpersonal written communication with popular addresses available to the public on Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.

Electronics and communications

The iPhone. The 2000s saw a rise in PDAs and high speed internet.

• The digital audio player began a steady climb in popularity, due in most part to the iPod, which cemented itself as a cultural and technological icon of the 2000s.
• Touchscreen and flip-phone mobiles become extremely popular and useful, as well as mobiles as a whole which nears usage of 100% in Europe and America.
• High Definition TV becomes popular in the western world.
• Digital cameras become useful and well used in the developed world.
• Digital video recorders replaced VCRs as the preferred medium for TV recording.

Robotics

There were extraordinary robotic advancements made throughout the decade:

• The U.S. Army used increasingly effective unmanned robotic aircraft missions in war zones such as Afghanistan.
• Space exploration robotics have become highly advanced, the best known of this decade is Spirit and Opportunity send to explore Mars by NASA.
• Deep sea exploration robotics have also become highly advanced, helping to locate shipwrecks and new life-forms under the oceans. Ocean explorer Robert Ballard and other scientists and oceanographers have made important technological breakthroughs in explorations of the deep with the assistance of robot technology.
• Robots increasingly came into use in the home, with iRobot selling millions of units of their popular Roomba

Software

File:Windows Aero.png

Microsoft Windows Vista, released in 2006.

• Microsoft Windows ME, XP, Vista and 7 are released.
• Mac OS X is released.
• Computer Generated Imagery software is widely used to create films, such as Transformers and Avatar.
• Open Source software such as the Linux operating system and the Mozilla Firefox web browser begin to gain ground.

Science

• The Human Genome Project was completed in 2000.
• The National Geographic Society and IBM establish the Genographic Project, which aims to trace the ancestry of every living human down to a single male ancestor.
• Astrophysicists studying the universe confirm its age at 13.7 billion years. Astronomers also identify the average colour of the universe as a pale beige, which they term "cosmic latte".

Artist Concept of a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on Mars

• On February 1, 2003, during an attempted reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas, killing all seven STS-107 crew members
• The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission successfully reached the surface of Mars in 2004, and sent detailed data and images of the landscape there back to Earth.
• On June 21, 2004, Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne completed the first privately funded human spaceflight in history, later in the year winning the US$10 million Ansari X Prize. Later, British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson announced Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company aiming to launch private tourists on sub-orbital spaceflights within the next few years.
• In August 2006 Pluto is demoted to a "dwarf planet" after being considered a planet for 76 years.
• CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the largest particle accelerator ever, was completed

• First imagery of an erupting submarine volcano - West Mata - is released.

Media, music and celebrity

Main articles: 2000s in television, 2000s in film, and 2000s in music

See also: Timeline of musical events

Britney Spears was a focal point of 2000s celebrity culture, topping Yahoo search for four years, from 2005 to 2008.

Building on developments in the 1990s, computers are used to create effects that would have previously been more expensive. Mainstream, modern music declined in sales in the decade, along with music in general, with classic rock groups outselling current acts both in concert and in album sales. Pop legend Michael Jackson died in June of 2009, reviving long-waning interest in his music, and creating the largest public mourning since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales 12 years earlier in 1997.

Film

• Usage of computer generated images CGI became more widespread in films during the 2000s.
• Documentary and mockumentary films, such as March of the Penguins and Super Size Me, were popular in the 2000s.
• Online films become popular.
• More and more films started filming in a new form of three dimensional technology such as Avatar.

Television

• Flat-screen TVs become popular
• TV becomes available on the net of some mobile phones.
• HD TV becomes very popular towards the last quarter of the decade.
• Reality TV becomes popular in the first half of the decade, but loses viewership towards the second half.

Music

Eminem was the best-selling artist of the decade. Hip hop music was popular throughout the entire 2000s.

Fall Out Boy in 2006, one of the decade's most popular emo groups. Emo music gained mainstream popularity during the decade.

The decade was marked by the dominance of both hip hop music (especially crunk, electro-hop, and gangsta rap) and alternative rock (especially emo and post-grunge). Few revolutions were made during this decade in music, and styles of the 1990s and early 2000s were still popular up to 2009, including Britpop.

The late 2000s were also the beginning of the Synthpop revival. Artists such as Lady GaGa and Florence and the Machine redefined electro-pop.

The best-selling artists of the decade were the rapper Eminem and the rock band the Beatles. The most popular male artist of the 2000s was Eminem. Beyoncé was the most popular female artist of the 2000s according to Billboard.
The Rolling Stones Band had the highest grossing tour ever and Madonna had the highest grossing tour ever by a solo artist.

Dance Music

The 2000s decade featured a craze in dance music, and dance songs such as the "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em are now influential music. Artists such as Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Fergie, Ne-Yo, Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado, Beyoncé Knowles, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Mary J. Blige have led the decade with chart-topping singles.

The late 2000s featured a series of fanatic, upbeat rhymatic songs such as "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyoncé, which spawned one of the few dance crazes of the decade and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga.

Hip hop music has spun sub-genres that feature vibrant dance songs including snap music, crunk, and the resurgence of rap-rock through Lil Wayne.

Video games

It was just crazy

• The number-one-selling game console as of 2009, the PlayStation 2, was released in 2000 and remained popular up to the end of the decade, even after PlayStation 3 was released.
• The Wii was the best-selling video game platform despite being released late (2006) in the decade.
• Popular video games include Gran Turismo, FIFA, the Pokemon series, The Sims, the Halo series, Wii Sports, Nintendogs, Grand Theft Auto, the Call of Duty series and World of Warcraft.
• Online gaming became very popular, especially seen in games such as World of Warcraft, released in 2004 and with many expansion packs in the years following.

Toys

• Zhu Zhu Pets were motorized hamsters that became the latest craze in 2009. Some stores stopped carrying them due to a potential dangerous chemical that they were made with but they were later found to be safe.
• Bratz Dolls became popular with young girls.
• VideoNow players became an easy way for children to watch their favorite cartoons.
• With the release of Transformers in 2007, Transformers robotic action figures became popular once again.

Print media

• The decade has seen the steady decline of books, magazines and newspapers as the main conveyors of information and advertisements.
• Online internet news blogs have grown in readership and popularity; cable news and other online media outlets became competitive in attracting advertising revenues and capable journalists and writers are joining online organizations. Books became available online, and electronic devices such as Amazon Kindle threatened the popularity of printed books.
• According to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the decade has shown a continuous increase in reading, although circulation of newspapers has declined in conjunction with the Economic Recession.

Politics and wars

The World Trade Center in New York City as seen on September 11th 2001.

The "War on Terrorism" and War in Afghanistan began after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The International Criminal Court was formed a year later. A United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, and the Iraq war led to the end of Saddam Hussein's term as Iraqi President. Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist militant groups performed terrorist acts throughout the decade. These acts included the Madrid Train Bombings in 2004, 7/7 London Bombings in 2005, and the Mumbai attacks related to Al-Qaeda in 2008. The EU expanded, incorporating some former communist nations. North Korea and Iran were seen as strong nuclear threats, following two North Korea nuclear tests, as well as some Iranian threats.

The War on Terrorism generated extreme controversy around the world, with questions regarding the justification for U.S. actions leading to a loss of support for the American government, both in and outside the United States. Additional armed conflict occurred in the Middle East, including between Israel and Hezbollah, then with Israel and the Hamas. The greatest loss of life due to natural disaster came from the 2004 tsunami killing around a quarter-million people and displacing well over a million others. Cooperative international rescue missions by many countries from around the world including the United States helped in efforts by the most affected nations to rebuild and recover from the devastation. An enormous loss of life and property value came in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina flooded nearly the entire city of New Orleans. The resulting political fallout was severely damaging to the Bush administration because of its perceived failure to act promptly and effectively. A key political event occurred in 2008 with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, as he would become the first African-American U.S. President.

Major political changes

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair and President of the United States George W. Bush played important roles in shaping political events during the 2000s

• George W. Bush was elected in 2000 after a statewide election deadlock in Florida and a controversial 5 to 4 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States, succeeding Bill Clinton as the 43rd President of the United States in his first inauguration.
• Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero replaced José María Aznar as President of the Goverment of Spain.
• Dmitry Medvedev took over as Russian President from the current Prime Minister of Russia Vladmir Putin, who was himself appointed President on 31 December 1999.
• Premier Wen Jibao and President Hu Jintao, replaced former Peoples Republic of China Premier Zhu Rongji and former Peoples Republic of China President Jiang Zemin.
• Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005.
• Paul Martin replaces Jean Chretien as Prime Minister of Canada in 2003 by becoming the new leader of the Liberal Party. Stephen Harper was elected Prime Minister in 2006 following the defeat of Paul Martin's government in a motion of no confidence.
• Nicolas Sarkozy is elected President of the French Republic in 2007, twelve years after Jacques Chirac came to power.
• Kevin Rudd replaces John Howard in 2007 as Prime Minister of Australia.
• Barack Obama is elected as the 44th U.S. President in 2008. In 2009, he succeeded George W. Bush, becoming the first African-American president when he was inaugurated in January.
• Manmohan Singh was elected and reelected Prime Minister in India.
• Fidel Castro resigns in 2008 on health reasons, having ruled Cuba for almost 50 years.

Political evolutions

• Left-wing governments emerge in South American countries. These governments include those of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela since 1999, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and Evo Morales in Bolivia since 2006. With the creation of the ALBA, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez wanted to oppose the allegedly imperialist policy of the United States. Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba since 1959, transferred his duties to his brother Raúl in 2006.

• European integration makes progress with the definitive circulation of a unique currency in fifteen countries in 2002 and the widening of European Union to 27 countries in 2004. A European Constitution bill is rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, but a similar text, the Treaty of Lisbon, is drafted in 2007 and finally adopted by the 27 members countries.

Internal conflicts

• The Somali Civil War, which began in 1991, went through the 2000s without a result.
• 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt.
• The War in Darfur lasted from 2003 to 2009.
• 2006 Thai coup d'état.
• 2007 Zimbabwean political crisis.
• 2007 political crisis in Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf retired after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto
• The 2009 Iranian presidential election sparked massive protest demonstrations in Iran and around the world. Several demonstrators in Iran were killed or imprisoned.
• The Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009) came to an end after the government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
• The 2009 Honduran coup d'état was the first successful coup attempt in Latin America since the 1980s. Overthrown president Manuel Zelaya is currently being hosted by the Brazilian Embassy.

Wars

The Iraq War

• The September 11 attacks led to the War in Afghanistan, and War in Iraq under the larger heading The War on Terrorism.
• War in Iraq (2003-present), led to the fall of Saddam Hussein. This war was originally presented as part of the War on Terror, which proved to be based on a false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction at its disposal.
• Israel waged a war against Hezbollah in south Lebanon in 2006.
• 2008 South Ossetia War between Russia and Georgia.
• Increased tension between Israel and Palestine led to the 2008-2009 Gaza Conflict.
• The War in Somalia spawned pirates who invade ships off the coast of Somalia.

Terrorist attacks

• September 11 attacks in Washington, D.C., New York City and Pennsylvania (nearly 3,000 killed)
• 2002 Bali Bombings in Bali, Indonesia (202 killed)
• 2004 Madrid train bombings (nearly 200 killed)
• 7 July 2005 London bombings (56 killed)
• November 9 2005 Amman bombings (59 killed)
• 2008 Mumbai attacks (nearly 300 killed)

Nuclear threats

File:Doomsday clock.svg

The Doomsday Clock moved 4 minutes closer to midnight during the 2000s, mainly due to nuclear proliferation.

• In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, over concerns leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction including chemical and biological weapons. The Iraq Inquiry (still ongoing) may explain more on this situation, but in the meantime, the U.S. ended the regime of Suddam Hussein and did not find any nuclear bombs in Iraq.
• On October 9, 2006, North Korea successfully performed its first Nuclear Test
• On November 30th 2009, The Iranian Government announced plans to build 10 more uranium nuclear plants.
• The Doomsday Clock, the symbolic representation of the threat of nuclear annihilation, moved four minutes closer to midnight: Two minutes in 2002 and two minutes in 2007 to 5 minutes to midnight.

Environment

The decade witnessed an increase in the number of natural disasters and and visible signs of global warming. Climate change became a growing preoccupation for populations and considered as a global issue by governments, and environmental governance made significant progress.

Climate change

Climate change and global warming became household words in the 2000s. Predictions tools made significant progress during the decade, independent organisms such as the IPCC gained influence, and studies such as the Stern report almost established a consensus in public opinion. The unanimous necessity to fight against climate change also began to organize itself, in spite of political and economic rivalries.

The global temperature kept growing during the decade. On December 8, 2009, the Associated Press reported that the World Meteorological Organization had predicted that the 00s would be the warmest decade since records began in 1850, with four of the five warmest years since 1850 having occurred in the 00s. Some of the data used in the prediction was released by the Met Office, the United Kingdom's national weather service, and involved temperature recordings from over 1,500 stations worldwide, which the Press Association described as "the latest efforts to debunk claims by sceptics that global warming data was manipulated by scientists".

Scientific studies on climate helped establish a consensus.

Major natural disasters became more frequent and helped change public opinion. One of the deadliest heat waves in human history happened during the 00s, mostly in Europe, e.g. the 2003 European heat wave killing 37,451 people over the summer months. In February 2009, a series of highly destructive bushfires started in Victoria, Australia, lasting into the next month. While the fires are believed to have been caused by arson, they were widely reported as having been fueled by an excessive heatwave that was due in part to climate change.

International actions

Climate change became a major issue for governments, populations and scientists. Debates on global warming and its causes made significant progress, as climate change denials were refuted by most scientific studies. Decisive reports such as the Stern Review and the 2007 IPCC Report almost established a Climate change consensus. NGOs' actions and the commitment of political personalities (such as former U.S. Vice President Al Gore) also urged to international reactions against climate change. Documentary films An Inconvenient Truth and Home may have had a decisive impact.

The UN Convention on Climate Change helped coordinate the efforts of the international community to fight potentially disastrous effects of human activity on the planet and launched negotiations to set an ambitious program of carbon emission reduction that began in 2007 with the Bali Road Map. However, the representatives of the 192 member countries gathered in December 2009 for the Copenhagen Conference failed to reach a binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions because of divisions between regional areas.

However, as environmental technologies were to make up a potential market, some countries made huge investments in renewable energies, energy conservation and sustainable transport. Many governments launched national plans to promote sustainable energy. Notably, the European Union members launched a European package on climate in 2007 to reduce further their carbon emission and improve their energy-efficiency, and in 2009 the United States democrat administration set up the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to create millions of jobs in sectors related to greenery.

Natural disasters

File:Sumatra devastation1.jpg

In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake a town near the coast of Sumatra lies in ruin on January 2, 2005. This picture was taken by a United States military helicopter crew from the USS Abraham Lincoln that was conducting humanitarian operations.

See also: Category:2000 natural disasters and Economic effects of Hurricane Katrina

The 2000s have seen some of the worst and most destructive natural disasters in history. 2003 produced one of the worst heatwaves in recorded human history, as Europe was hit by a 40 degrees celsius heatwave. The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake which caused a massive tsunami, was the most destructive tsunami, and the second most destructive earthquake and fifth most destructive natural disaster of all time. Several other earthquakes were hugely destructive including the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and the 2003 Bam earthquake.

Several typhoons and hurricanes resulted in extreme destruction in this decade, with Hurricane Katrina nearly destroying New Orleans, followed by Hurricane Rita, which wreaked destruction along the U.S. Gulf Coast. In 2008 the massive Hurricane Ike became the third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States. The 2009 H1N1 (swine flu) flu pandemic is also considered a natural disaster, and is the worst epidemic/pandemic of the decade with nearly 10,000 deaths so far.

Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar. The cyclone made landfall in the country on May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 146,000 fatalities, leaving thousands more people still missing.

Society

Some of the social issues of worldwide concern during the 2000s have been gender equality and human rights. In the United States, health care, civil liberties, and abortion have also been prominent issues.

Population

Population continued to grow in most countries, in particular in developing countries. According to United Nations estimates, world population reached six billion in late 1999, while it was nearly of 6.8 billions in late 2009. The United States population outpaced 300 millions inhabitants in 2007. Most developed countries imposed greater control over immigration flows, notably the United States and European Union members.

AIDS continued to expand during the decade. New diseases of animal origin appeared for a short time, the mad cow disease in 2003 and the bird flu in 2007, but they appeared not to be dangerous for man. On the contrary, the swine flu was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2009.

Sports

Roger Federer at Wimbledon. He became the greatest tennis player of all time during the 2000s.

Main article: 2000s in sports

Major events of the decades included three summers Olympic Games. The Sydney Games, held in 2000, marked the hundredth anniversary of the Olympic Games. The Athens Games, in 2004, were also a strong symbol, for modern Olympic Games were inspired by the competitions organized in Ancient Greece. Finally, the Beijing Games saw the emergence of China as a major sports power, with the highest number of titles for the first time. The 2002 Salt Lake City and the 2006 Turin Olympic Games were also major events, though less popular.

Football went on gaining popularity in the world, as the two World Cups organized in South Korea and Germany were major worldwide events, while regional events Copa América and Euro Cup were also popular. Rugby increased in size and audience, as the Rugby World Cup became the third most watched sporting event in the world with the 2007 Rugby World Cup organized in France.

Most popular individual sports were dominated by champions. Michael Schumacher, the most titled F1 driver, won five F1 World Championships during the decade and finally retired in 2006 yet came back to F1 in 2009 . Lance Armstrong won all the Tour de France between 1999 and 2005, also an all-time record. Swiss tennis player Roger Federer won 15 Grand Slam titles to become the most titled player. Tiger Woods made significant achievements in golf tournaments.

Timeline

2000

• March 10, 2000 - NASDAQ peaks at 5134, before beginning a downwards descent as the dot-com bubble collapses.
• March 26, 2000 - Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.
• September 8, 2000 - Millennium Declaration is made in New York
• September 15, 2000 - Games of the XXVII Olympiad open in Sydney.
• November 7, 2000 - George W. Bush is elected the 43rd President of the United States.

2001

• April 1, 2001 - Hainan Island incident: A Chinese fighter jet bumps into a U.S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft, which is forced to make an emergency landing in Hainan, China. The U.S. crew is detained for 10 days and the F-8 Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, goes missing and is presumed dead.
• September 11, 2001 - Islamist hijackers associated with al-Qaeda seized and crashed four aircraft. Two of them hit the World Trade Center, one hit The Pentagon, and another missed its target (crashing in Shanksville, Pennsylvania), most likely The Capitol Building. In all, nearly 3,000 people died.
• November 12, 2001 - In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, headed to the Dominican Republic, crashes in Queens minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board.

2002

The euro became the currency of members of the Eurozone.

• January 1, 2002 - The Euro replaces the currencies of 12 of the EU's 15 members.
• October 12, 2002 - 2002 Bali bombings - Islamist terrorists bomb nightclubs in Bali, killing 202 people

2003

• March 15, 2003 - Hu Jintao becomes President of the People's Republic of China, replacing Jiang Zemin.
• April 9, 2003 - U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein, during the Iraq War

2004

• January 4, 2004 - Spirit Rover lands on Mars.
• March 11, 2004 - 191 people are killed in the Madrid Train Bombings.
• March 14, 2004 - Russian presidential election, 2004: Vladimir Putin wins a second term.
• May 1, 2004 - The largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.
• August 13, 2004 - Games of the XXVIII Olympiad opens in Athens.
• 2004 - The Kivu Conflict begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• December 26, 2004 - Boxing Day Tsunami - Around 230,000 persons were killed when a tsunami hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other states in the Indian Ocean.

2005

NASA's space view of hurricane Katrina as it strikes the U.S. Coast.

• 2 April 2005 - Pope John Paul II dies. Pope Benedict XVI is elected Pope.
• July 7, 2005 - 7/7 - suicide Bombers attack London's public transit system, killing 56 people.
• August 29, 2005 - At least 1,836 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama.

2006

• October 9, 2006 - North Korea performs its first successful nuclear test.

2007

2008

• May 2, 2008 - Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar causing catastrophic destruction and at least 146,000 fatalities, leaving thousands more people missing.
• May 7, 2008 - Dmitry Medvedev takes office as President of Russia, replacing Vladimir Putin.
• May 12, 2008 - Over 69,000 are killed in central south-west China by the Wenchuan earthquake, an earthquake.
• June 12, 2008 - Ireland votes to reject the Treaty of Lisbon, in the only referendum to be held by a European Union member state on the treaty.
• August 7 - August 16, 2008 - 2008 South Ossetia War takes place as Georgia attempts to oust Russian troops from South Ossetia leading to Russia's invasion of Georgia, followed by de-facto independence of South Ossetia.
• August 8, 2008 - Games of the XXIX Olympiad opens in Beijing.
• September 14, 2008 - Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, laying the catalyst for the Global financial crisis
• November 4, 2008 - United States presidential election, 2008: Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States.
• November 26 - November 29, 2008 - Gunmen attack Mumbai, killing up to 175 people.

2009

• February 7, 2009 - Black Saturday bushfires, the deadliest bush fires in Australian history begin; ultimately killing 173.
• April, 2009 - the 2009 flu pandemic began spreading in Mexico.
• November 3, 2009 - The Prime Minister of Belgium, Herman Van Rompuy, is designated the first permanent President of the European Council, a position he assumed on 1 December 2009.

See also

• 2000s in music
• 2000s in music industry
• 2000s in film
• 2000s in television
• 2000s in books
• 2000s in fashion
• 2000s in economics
• 2000s in sports
• 2000s in science and technology
• 2000s in video gaming