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2000s

 

 

 

 

 

2000s


 
 


The 2000s is the current decadeDecade

A decade is the time for ten orbits around the Sun by the Earth; in other words, it is a period of ten years....
, spanning from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009. The decade has been dominated by several wide-ranging topics, including international tradeInternational trade

International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries or territories....
 and a growing concern over energy suppliesEnergy crisis

An energy crisis is any great shortfall in the supply of energy resources to an economy....
, the explosion in telecommunications, concerns with international terrorismTerrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use, or threatened use, of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect ...
 and warWar

War is a conflict involving the organized use of weapons and physical force by states or other large-scale groups....
, an escalation of the social issues of the 1990s, and the debate over global warmingGlobal warming

Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans in recent decades....
.

Economic developments in the 2000s have focused on the explosion of AsiaAsia

Asia is the largest and most populous continent or region, depending on the definition....
's economic and political potential, and its impact on the world market. India’s economy has become technologically integrated with those of the world’s more developed nations. China has experienced immense economic growthEconomic growth

Economic growth is the increase in value of the goods and services produced by an economy....
, and has obtained the status of a world power. The growing Chinese economy has been a major factor in the rapidly increasing demand for fossil fuels, which—along with fewer new petroleumPetroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a black, dark brown or greenish liquid found in porous rock formations in the earth....
 finds, greater extraction costs, and political turmoil—forced two other trends: a soar in the price of petroleum products and a subsequent push by governments and businesses to promote the development of "green" technologyEnvironmental technology

Environmental technology or "green technology" is the application of the environmental sciences to conserve the natura...
. A side-effect to the push by some industrial nations to "go green" and utilize biofuels has been a decrease in the supply of food, and thus an increase in the price of food, which in turn is threatening the world's poorer nations with a shortage of food.

Technological advancements have been as revolutionary and diversified as previous decades. In the field of digitalDigital

A digital system is one that uses discrete numbers, especially binary numbers, or non-numeric symbols such as letters or ico...
 electronics, advancements have been considerable. Computers continue to advance rapidly, in western countries the spread of broadband Internet approaches ubiquity, and email has become for many a necessity rather than a luxury. Mobile phones, digital cameraDigital camera

A digital camera is an electronic device used to capture and store photographs electronically instead of using photographic ...
s, digital dataData

In general, data consists of propositions that reflect reality....
 storage, and digital music  became widespread during the 2000s.. The development of social networking websites have also given people the opportunity to easily keep in touch with others from anywhere around the globe. Use of internet commerceElectronic commerce

E-commerce, EC, , e-commerce or ecommerce consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketi...
 has also become widely popular, with travel reservations, stock trading, and retail shopping not only taking place online, but also taking place without an intermediary agent; online commerce has become the era of self-service.

Many major political developments in the 2000s have revolved around the War on TerrorismWar on Terrorism

The War on Terrorism or War on Terror is the name used by the United States, enlisting the support of NATO members and...
, which was triggered by the September 11, 2001 attacks and led directly to the war in Afghanistan. The Iraq WarIraq War

The Iraq War, also known alternatively as the Second or Third Gulf War, is a military engagement encompassing th...
, ostensibly part of the United States' War on Terror, has generated extreme controversy around the world. Questions regarding the justification for this war have led to a loss of sympathy for the United States that was generated by the original 9/11 attacks. Tensions in the Middle EastMiddle East

The Middle East is a subcontinent for the historical and cultural subregion of Africa-Eurasia traditionally held to be count...
 have also escalated because of the 2006 Lebanon War. Conflict has also arisen over the nuclear programs in North KoreaNorth Korea and weapons of mass destruction

North Korea claims to possess nuclear weapons, and it is widely believed to have a substantial arsenal of chemical weapons....
 and IranNuclear program of Iran

Originally started under the Shah of Iran in the 1950s, with the help of the United States, the Iranian nuclear programme is...
.

Social issues which became more pronounced included issues pertaining to gay rights, in particular the issue of homosexual unions. Same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is the union of two people who are of the same biological sex, or gender....
 was legalized by some major developed nations, and in others, varying degrees of civil recognition were granted to gay relationships. However, such unions continued to meet resistance in many countries and in most U.S. statesSame-sex marriage legislation in the United States by state

This article summarizes the legal and political actions taken by the individual states of the United States regarding same-sex mar...
. Other social issues of concern during the 2000s have been gender equalityGender equality

Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders or the sexes, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad ...
, human rightsHuman rights

Human rights refers to the concept of human beings as having universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction o...
, and—in the United StatesUnited States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is...
health careHealth care

Health care or healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and p...
.

Global warmingGlobal warming

Global warming is the observed increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans in recent decades....
, while originally seen as an environmentalEnvironmentalism

, and prevention of a [[global warming|...
 matter, has evolved into a major economicEconomics of global warming

The economics of global warming relates to the size and distribution of the economic costs and benefits of global warming an...
 and political issuePolitics of global warming

The politics of global warming looks at the current political issues relating to global warming, as well as the historical r...
. While scientists evaluate the originsScientific opinion on climate change

Statements by organizationsVarious prominent bodies have commented on global warming, most notably the Intergovernmental Panel on...
 and severity and climate change, politicians and economists debate the cost and efficacy of public policies to address it.

Names of the decade

In contrast to the decades from 1920 to 1999, which are called "the Twenties", "the Sixties", and the like, the 2000s have no universally-accepted name. Some refer to the decade as the "twenty hundreds" while others may refer to it as the "two thousands". In written form this could appear as "the '00s" or "the 2000s". But writing "the 2000s" or simply saying "the two-thousands" can cause confusion, since this could refer to the entire 21st century or even the entire millennium.

Determining a name for the decade has been problematic, especially in the United States. In 1999, anticipating the upcoming awkwardness, a US group calling itself "Project Naughtie" ran a viral campaign in an attempt to popularize "the Naughties" as the decade's name. The term involves a clear play on words, stemming both from the idea that "naught" means "nothing" or "zero" as well as the fact that "naughties" sounds both like "nineties" and "naughty". A limited number of the media have made some use of the term as well, including the BBC (although adopting a more traditional spelling based upon "nought"). Both spellings have gained some currency among the legitimate press in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast...
, IrelandIreland

Ireland is the third largest island in Europe....
 and AustraliaAustralia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland o...
, but there still remains nothing remotely close to a consensus on what term to use. Even the decades' trend tracking VH-1 has opted to not take any sides, calling their new show on the decade, "I Love the New Millennium"

Other proposed names include:
  • aughts, aughties, and double-aughts, from 'aught', which, like "naught" means "zero" (aughts was one of the more popular terms in the early 20th century)
  • nils and nillies, from "nil", meaning "nothing"
  • 2Ks, from the Greek term khilioi, meaning "thousand"
  • ozies, and the Twenty-Os, from the practice of calling the number zero 'O'
  • zeroes, double zeroes, oh-zeroes, ohs, double ohs, oh-ohs, and twenty ohs.


The United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General Assembly Summary

The United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations....
 has declared the decade of 2000–2009 the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World."

See also

  • 2000s in fashion2000s in fashion

    The 2000s in fashion is categorized mainly by punk-styled clothing, continuing from the 1990s....
  • 2000s in musicMusic in the 2000s

    Over the course of the decade, the way in which people listened to music changed significantly....
  • 2000s in books2000s in books

    The 2000s saw a steep increase in the acceptability of literature of all types, inspired by the Harry Potter novels and by the com...
  • 2000s in film2000s in film

    Building on developments in the 1990s, computers are used to create effects that would have previously been more expensive, from t...
  • 2000s in economicsFacts About 2000s in economics

    * Globalization: Transnational companies become more pervasive, and anti-globalization protests occur frequently during meetings o...
  • 2000s in television
  • 2000s in sports2000s in sports

    Sorry, no overview for this topic
  • 2000s in technology & science
  • 2000s in video games