The world in the 21st century
In the 21st century (2001 to 2025 CE), the timeline shows 229 states, empires and colonies and 72 peoples across 12 regions. The most significant include United States, United Kingdom, Haiti, Commonwealth of Australia and Indonesia.
Events
- US-led invasion of Iraq, Middle East. American and British forces overthrow Saddam Hussein in three weeks. Occupation, insurgency and sectarian war follow.
- Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asia. A tsunami from a Sumatran earthquake kills over 35,000 people in Sri Lanka and more than 10,000 in India on 26 December.
- Indian Ocean tsunami, Southeast Asia. An earthquake off Sumatra sends tsunamis across the Indian Ocean, killing about 230,000 people, over 160,000 of them in Aceh.
- Arab Spring, North and West Africa. Protests that began in Tunisia in December 2010 topple Ben Ali, then Mubarak in Egypt, and set off the war in Libya that ends Gaddafi's rule.
- Arab Spring reaches Syria, Middle East. Protests against Bashar al-Assad are met with gunfire and turn into a civil war that kills over 500,000 people and displaces half the population.
- Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, East Asia. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami kill about 18,000 people in northeast Japan and cause meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
- Taliban retake Kabul, South Asia. As US forces withdraw, the Afghan republic collapses within weeks and the Taliban enter Kabul on 15 August.
- Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe. Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, the largest war in Europe since 1945.
- Fall of the Assad regime, Middle East. A rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham takes Aleppo and then Damascus in December, ending 53 years of Assad family rule.
Central and Southern Africa
- South Africa
- Central African forest foragers
- San hunter-gatherers
- Madagascar
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Rwanda
- Kenya
- Angola
- Mozambique
- Zimbabwe
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- East African hunter-gatherers
- Maasai pastoralists
- Republic of the Congo
- Gabon
- Central African Republic
- Zambia
- Malawi
- Burundi
- Lesotho
- Botswana
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eswatini
- Mauritius
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Comoros
- Seychelles
- Namibia
North and West Africa
- Egypt
- Morocco
- Ghana
- Nigeria
- Algeria
- Ethiopia
- Amazigh (Berber) tribes
- Cushitic-speaking pastoralists
- Medjay, Blemmyes and Beja nomads
- Sahelian cereal farmers
- West African yam and oil palm farmers
- Chadic-speaking farmers
- Coptic Christians
- Saharan camel nomads (Sanhaja and Tuareg)
- Arab tribes of Sudan
- Oromo Gadaa confederations
- Liberia
- Tunisia
- Sudan
- Guinea
- Somalia
- Mauritania
- Mali
- Niger
- Burkina Faso
- Chad
- Senegal
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Benin
- Togo
- Sierra Leone
- The Gambia
- Guinea-Bissau
- Cape Verde
- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Djibouti
- Libya under Gaddafi
- Somaliland
- Eritrea
- Libya
- South Sudan
Europe
- United Kingdom
- Kingdom of Sweden
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Italian Republic
- French Fifth Republic
- Kingdom of Spain
- Poland
- Germany
- Russian Federation
- Ukraine
- Sami people
- Basques (Vascones)
- San Marino
- Andorra
- Monaco
- British Gibraltar
- Liechtenstein
- Switzerland
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Luxembourg
- Belgium
- Kingdom of Norway
- Albania
- Republic of Finland
- Iceland
- Vatican City
- Ireland
- Austria
- Cyprus
- Malta
- Portugal
- Greece
- Hungary
- Romania
- Lithuania
- Bulgaria
- Estonia
- Latvia
- Belarus
- Moldova
- Croatia
- Slovenia
- North Macedonia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Czech Republic
- Slovakia
- Serbia
- Montenegro
- Kosovo
- Serbia and Montenegro
Middle East
- Republic of Turkey
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- Israel
- Republic of Iraq
- Islamic Republic of Iran
- Arab Bedouin tribes
- Kurdish tribes and emirates
- Lebanon
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Bahrain
- Qatar
- United Arab Emirates
- Republic of Yemen
- Georgia
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Kurdistan Region
- Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh)
- State of Palestine
- Islamic State
South Asia
- Republic of India
- Kingdom of Nepal
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
- Bangladesh
- Munda-speaking peoples
- Tibeto-Burman hill peoples
- Vedda people
- Pashtun tribes
- Kingdom of Bhutan
- Rajasthan
- Tamil Nadu
- Andhra Pradesh
- Karnataka
- Gujarat
- Maharashtra
- Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
- Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
- Islamic State of Afghanistan
- Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (first)
- Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Central and North Asia
- Russian Federation
- Kazakhstan
- Uzbekistan
- Mongolia
- Yukaghir peoples
- Chukchi, Koryak and Itelmen peoples
- Evenki and Even reindeer herders
- Khanty, Mansi and Samoyedic peoples
- Buryats
- Sakha (Yakuts)
- Yakut ASSR and Sakha Republic
- Xinjiang under the People's Republic
- Kyrgyzstan
- Turkmenistan
- Tajikistan
East Asia
- People's Republic of China
- Japan (postwar)
- North Korea
- South Korea
- Republic of China on Taiwan
- Formosan Austronesian peoples
- Qiang peoples
- Ainu
- Han settlers of the Northeast
- Tibet under the People's Republic
Southeast Asia
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- Philippine Negrito foragers
- Orang Asli (Semang and Senoi)
- Dayak peoples of Borneo
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Brunei
- Kingdom of Cambodia
- Timor-Leste
North America
- United States
- Pacific Northwest peoples
- Pueblo peoples (Hopi, Zuni, Rio Grande)
- Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee)
- Navajo (Diné)
- Inuit peoples
- Lakota (Teton Sioux)
- Canada
- Unangan (Aleut) peoples
- Dene (Northern Athabaskan) peoples
- Chumash
- California peoples (Ohlone, Miwok, Pomo, Tongva)
- Cree peoples
- Numic peoples (Shoshone, Paiute, Ute)
- Apache peoples
- Wichita peoples (Quivira)
- O'odham peoples
- Blackfoot Confederacy
- Greenland
Mesoamerica and Caribbean
- Haiti
- Mexico
- Cuba
- Yaqui, Mayo and Raramuri peoples
- Island Caribs (Kalinago)
- Zapotec, Mixtec and Mixe peoples
- Maya peoples (colonial and modern)
- Dutch Caribbean
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Guatemala
- El Salvador
- Dominican Republic
- Puerto Rico (US territory)
- Panama
- Guadeloupe and Martinique (French departments)
- Jamaica
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Barbados
- Bahamas
- Grenada
- Dominica
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Belize
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
South America
- Tupi-Guarani peoples
- Mapuche
- Peru
- Colombia
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Fuegian canoe peoples (Yaghan, Kawésqar)
- Jê peoples
- Patagonian peoples (Tehuelche, Selk'nam)
- Arawakan peoples of the Amazon
- Carib peoples of the Guianas
- Guaraní
- Quechua and Aymara peoples
- French Guiana
- Paraguay
- Chile
- Bolivia
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Ecuador
- Falkland Islands
- Guyana
- Suriname
Oceania
- Aboriginal Australian peoples
- Māori iwi
- Commonwealth of Australia
- Papuan farmers and foragers
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
- Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples
- Torres Strait Islanders
- Island Melanesian societies
- Eastern Micronesian islanders
- French Polynesia
- Kingdom of Tonga
- French New Caledonia
- Kīngitanga (Māori King Movement)
- Chilean Rapa Nui
- Guam (US territory)
- American Samoa
- Samoa
- Western New Guinea (Indonesia)
- Nauru
- Fiji
- Solomon Islands
- Tuvalu
- Kiribati
- Vanuatu
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Marshall Islands
- Palau