21st century

Portal history | Portal Biographies | Current events | Annual calendar

◄ | 19th century | 20th century | 21st century | 22nd century
2000s | 2010s | 2020s | 2030s

The 21st century began on January 1, 2001 and ends on December 31, 2100. It is the current century.

Anticipated events

politics

According to estimates by the UN (2016), the world population will rise to 11.2 billion by 2100.
The two-degree target for climate policy could be missed, according to most forecasts towards 2050, and according to optimistic forecasts towards 2090.

science and technology

The Generation Y is the first generation, most of which in an environment of Internet and mobile communications grew up.
Other technological areas of the early 21st century include artificial intelligence , robotics , the Internet of Things , 3D printing and autonomous mobility.
The technological singularity could occur.
The PDP-11 , one developed in the 1970s computer, in nuclear power plants of General Electric still used. It should stay that way until 2050.
As a result, the technology assessment deals with the z. B. social opportunities and risks of technological progress.
With the nuclear power plants Isar 2 , Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland , to be the last German nuclear power plants by 31 December 2022 at the latest nuclear phase-out will be taken offline.

economy

The Afro is slated to be introduced across almost all of Africa in 2028 .

The precariousness of work (in developed countries) is likely to increase due to newer factors such as bogus self-employment , on-demand work and job sharing .

An automation (by robotics and AI) of the working world in a routine and knowledge-intensive work, humanity could cost more jobs, provides as change. According to a study by Oxford University, of 700 professions, 47% are highly likely to be computer replaceable.

According to the World Economic Forum , 65% of today's (2018) elementary school students will later pursue previously unknown jobs.

society

India is likely to replace China as the most populous country in the world.

60% of the world population will live in megacities or urban landscapes by 2030 . According to the UN , it will be 70% in 2050 .

By 2050, one in four people will live in Africa , provided that the current trend continues.

African countries like Angola , Niger and Tanzania could have quintupled their populations by the end of the century.

In some Eastern European countries ( Poland , Lithuania , Ukraine , ...) their population will drop by around 15% by 2050.

The global average life expectancy is expected to rise to 82.6 years by 2100 (currently at birth: 71.9 years).

According to the UN, the main countries of immigration for migration could be the USA , Germany , Canada , Great Britain , Australia and Russia by 2050 .

Due to demographic change , 25% of the world population will be 60 years old or older by 2100.

religion

The Islam is the 2075 world religion to be the most likely supporters.

fauna

Five of the seven species of great apes are expected to become extinct (both gorilla species and the three orangutan species). Chimpanzees and bonobos are less at risk .

The genetic diversity of farm animals is decreasing. Of 8,800 known breeds , 17% are threatened with extinction and 7% are extinct.

The scope and extent of the threats to pollinators are discussed ( bee deaths ).

Events / developments

politics

As of May 2020, the atomic war clock , the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists , is 100 seconds before midnight .

As the first country in the world, a law came into force in the Netherlands on April 1, 2001, which allows same-sex marriage . Other states are following suit, including a. Germany on October 1, 2017.

terror attacs at the 11th September 2001

On September 11, 2001, both towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are destroyed by a terrorist attack and the Pentagon in Washington, DC is badly damaged. In response, the US is calling for a global war on terrorism and calling for an international alliance against terrorism . Buzzwords such as “ Old Europe ”, “The axis of evil ”, “Whoever is not for us is against us” and “Preventive strike” accompany the policy of US President George W. Bush . In many Western countries, stricter security regulations are being issued as protection against terrorism. Privacy advocates and civil rights activists express concern about this.

The Taliban , once US-supported religious warriors in Afghanistan , become the United States' first target. The country is taken in a blitzkrieg and the new President Hamid Karzai takes office.

On September 28, 2001, the Committee to Combat Terrorism was established as a subsidiary body of the UN Security Committee.

East Timor was granted independence on May 20, 2002 after three years of UN administration.

The International Criminal Court takes his activities against on 1 July 2002 genocide , crimes against humanity and war crimes on.

Accompanied by worldwide protests in various countries, the Iraq war began on March 20, 2003 . Saddam Hussein escapes, is not captured until December 13, 2003 and is hanged on December 30, 2006 after a long trial. Tensions arise within the EU due to the participation of some member states in this war. In the following years (as at the end of November 2006) the situation between Sunnis and Shiites increasingly destabilized into a situation similar to a civil war.

On March 11, 2004 , 191 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured as a result of terrorist attacks in the Spanish capital of Madrid ( Madrid train attacks ). The Islamic terrorists, who hid ten bombs in travel bags, targeted four trains in the suburbs of Madrid. During a later police operation, seven suspects blow themselves up in their apartment. The then Spanish government under José María Aznar hastily blames ETA .

NATO eastward expansion - On March 29, 2004 seven Eastern European countries join NATO .

At the 1. May 2004, carried eastward expansion of the European Union to include ten new members.

On July 7, 2005 , downtown London was shaken by four attacks . Three of the explosives were detonated in the subway and one in a double-decker bus in the UK capital .

In October and November 2005 violent riots broke out in France .

The Human Rights Council of the UN is founded on 15 March 2006 as the successor to the Human Rights Commission.

On June 3, 2006, Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia following a referendum .

2006 Lebanon War - On June 12, 2006 a new war breaks out in the Middle East . After the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militiamen, Israel responded with air strikes and later with the invasion of southern Lebanon . Thousands of Hezbollah rockets are fired into northern Israel.

The fourth eastward expansion of the European Union takes place on January 1, 2007 , with Bulgaria and Romania joining the EU.

On February 17, 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia .

Caucasus War 2008 - On August 7, 2008 the conflict between Georgia and Russia over the autonomous Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the Caucasus escalated . The two provinces are striving for independence from Georgia and integration into the Russian Federation, with the support of Russia.

Operation Cast Lead - Israel is launching air strikes in Gaza against Hamas , which previously fired rockets at Israel.

Barack Obama becomes the first African American President of the United States of America on January 20, 2009

NATO expansion - Am 1. April 2009 occurred Albania and Croatia to the NATO in, which now includes 28 member states.

In a plane crash near Smolensk on April 10, 2010, the Polish President Lech Kaczyński died with his wife and 94 other Polish politicians, military officials and dignitaries. The delegation was on its way to the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

In 2010, the People's Republic of China will be taking the largest census ever .

In the Arab world is in 2011 a political upheaval, the so-called Arab Spring , instead.

In 2014 there was a revolution in Ukraine , whereupon Russia annexed Crimea and supported a war in the east of the country. The annexation and the war create a tense situation between NATO and Russia .

In the People's Republic of China , the State Council decided on the social credit system on June 14, 2014 . Social behavior and civic role of the population z. B. are rewarded or punished with an online rating system via a points account.

In July 2014, the terrorist organization Islamic State took advantage of the political unrest of the Arab Spring, the Iraq war and the civil war in Syria and proclaimed a caliphate on parts of the territory of Iraq and Syria that it controls.

Due to various civil wars and other conflicts, a wave of refugees reached Europe in 2015

On November 13, 2015, 130 people were killed by terrorist attacks in Paris . It is the largest terrorist attack by IS in Europe.

The IS terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016 in Brussels killed 35 people. There were also 300 injured. The destinations were the Maalbeek metro station and Brussels-Zaventem Airport .

A referendum on June 23, 2016 decided that the United Kingdom would leave the EU .

On May 22, 2017, 23 people were killed and 116 people injured in the terrorist attack in Manchester at a concert by the singer Ariana Grande .

The Russian double agent Sergei Viktorovich Skripal was poisoned with his daughter by a neurotoxin of the Novitschok series on March 4, 2018 and found unconscious in the English city of Salisbury .

On April 27, 2018, Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in Panmunjeom within the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea . Both stepped across the other partner's national border and Kim Jong-un made a promise to denuclearize North Korea.

Right-wing populism and nationalism of various parties in Europe and the USA z. B. by u. a. increased media resonance in the public interest and were able to gain votes in elections, especially from protest voters .

Social problems of a society are anonymity , loneliness (especially among the elderly; generally increased) and the increasing inequality between low- income sections of the population and those with high incomes . The excessive use of social networks can depression cause and damage the self-esteem or promote self-promotion.

On January 31, 2020 : the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

economy

Introduction of a single European currency ( euro ), in 1999 as book money and 2002 as cash in initially 13 European countries. Other states join in the following years.

The People's Republic of China is rising to become a global economic power with high growth rates at the beginning of the 21st century. Economists speak of the "Asian century".

Since the beginning of 2008 there has been a real estate and financial crisis worldwide .

The national debt crisis in Greece from 2010 onwards will burden the European and global economy. After Greece, Ireland , Portugal , Italy and Spain ( euro crisis ) could no longer service their national debts .

Africa is still considered the poorest continent on earth.

The demographic changes affecting more and more countries in the world, including an increasing number of developing countries.

Expansion of renewable energies with wind energy and solar energy .

Planned and implemented phase-out of nuclear energy in some European countries and Japan.

Means of transport such as car sharing or car sharing have an impact. Since the turn of the millennium, long-distance bus use has made a large contribution to long-distance traffic (2017: 13.8% of German long-distance traffic).

The bicycle traffic increases with cost rental systems short-term or long-term use, impact on the attractiveness of the wheel for transportation. The e-bike market is increasing in awareness, the share of cycling in the choice of means of transport was 11% in 2017 and has thus increased by two percentage points since 2002 (9%). Investments in high-speed cycle lanes and long-distance cycle path networks (D routes) promote the further layout of traffic on bicycles .
The information and communication technologies are one of the world's fastest growing industries .

Research and Technology

In 2003 the human genome project was completed. The world's largest collaboration on a biological project to date.
The entrepreneur Michael Melvill is the first person to reach space with a privately financed spacecraft. He was a test pilot of the SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004.
The largest passenger aircraft in the world of its time , the Airbus A380 , made its maiden flight on April 27, 2005.
The Three Gorges Dam is being built in China . The construction work for the construction of the dam will officially be completed on May 20, 2006 .
The LHC particle accelerator will be commissioned by CERN on September 10, 2008 in Geneva . It is the most powerful high-energy accelerator in the world.

The Voyager 1 space probe entered interstellar space in August 2012 as the first human-made object .

In August 2013 Elon Musk presented a white paper for the idea of the hyperloop , a concept of high-speed transport.

In 2016, 89.1% of the world's population were affected by light pollution .

The advancing digital revolution reinforces the struggle with the unconditional basic income as an alternative to financial support for a population regardless of the economic situation of the individual citizen.

The Philae lander, which was launched on November 12, 2014 by the Rosetta probe on comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerassimenko , was the first spacecraft to land on a comet.

The market for hybrid and electric vehicles suitable for everyday use has been growing rapidly since the 2010s . In the same decade, the first test drives with self-driving cars begin .

The development of the mobile communications generations UMTS (3G), LTE (4G, 4G +) and 5G have recently made it possible to implement autonomous driving , the use of on-demand streaming services and real-time transmission on television, e.g. B. using a cellular device.

At 48%, the global share of Internet users is almost half of humanity. Since 2000, the number has increased ninefold. Here 57.8% of the world's households have internet access. In 2013, 80% of humanity had a mobile phone and in 2010 33% had a personal computer. This is in proportion to the fact that around 2012 20% of the world's population did not have a reliable power supply.

Inventions and discoveries

Application of genetic engineering
Application of nanotechnology
Dissemination of bionics

religion

Pope John Paul II dies on April 2, 2005 at the age of 84 after the third longest pontificate in the history of the Roman Catholic Church - at almost 27 years of age. His death triggers mass public mourning. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2005 . elected.

On February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced resigned from office due to his advanced age. He is thus the first resigned Pope after Celestine V , who resigned on his own initiative in 1294.

Pope Francis , bourgeois Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is elected the 266th Pope on March 13, 2013. He is the first pontiff from Latin America.

For the Reformation anniversary in 2017 , Reformation Day will be a national public holiday.

The Hagia Sophia has been used as a mosque again since July 24, 2020 .

Religious affiliation is falling and in 2010 1.1 billion people worldwide do not belong to any religion.

health

Overweight and obesity are a growing health problem in all WHO member states .

AIDS and tuberculosis remain on the rise, with polio elimination expected in the next few years.

Every year 12.6 million people die from environmental health risks such as air pollution , unclean water and chemical hazardous substances.

In 2002, the infectious disease SARS was discovered in the Chinese province of Guandong, which is transmitted by the SARS coronavirus .

Since 2008, Madagascar has had an above-average number of cases of plague worldwide . In 2017, a pneumonic plague epidemic reached 2,348 infected people and 202 fatalities.

The 2009/10 swine flu pandemic, triggered by the H1N1 influenza virus, reported infections in 214 states. 18,449 people fell victim to the flu.

Online gambling addiction has been seen by the WHO as an independent disease since June 2018.

In December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan , which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic with far-reaching consequences .

Nature and natural disasters

More than 300,000 people in South Asia did not survive the aftermath of an earthquake in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. Most of them will be killed by the tsunami triggered by the quake . Others died of their injuries and an outbreak of disease. Many tourists from western nations were among the victims. The Indonesian province of Aceh is hardest hit . In addition, the countries Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Singapore, the Maldives, Kenya, the Seychelles and Somalia as well as some dependent areas in Africa and Asia are affected.

As a result of Hurricane Katrina , large parts of the city of New Orleans and the US Gulf Coast are flooded in September 2005 . Relief measures started a few days later and the entire city was evacuated. Around 1,800 people were killed and the financial damage was estimated at over $ 125 billion.

An increase in natural phenomena triggers the discussion about climate change . Storms like Katrina, Nargis or Kyrill cause considerable damage all over the world. Other natural phenomena such as the “ flood of the century 2002 ” on the Elbe or the “ summer of the century 2003 ” in Europe confirm climate change, which is becoming an important topic in politics and occupying people.

On January 12, 2010 , Haiti will be hit by the worst earthquake in the history of North and South America and the most devastating of the century to date. 212,000 people die and millions become homeless. ( Haiti earthquake 2010 )

On February 27, 2010 , the fifth strongest earthquake since seismic records began in 1900 was measured in Chile , north-northeast of the city of Concepción . The quake had a magnitude of 8.8 M _w on the moment magnitude scale and produced a tsunami that devastated large stretches of coast of the VII and VIII regions of Chile (Maule and Bío-Bío). ( Earthquake in Chile 2010 )

On March 11, 2011, the extremely strong Tōhoku earthquake in eastern Japan with an epicenter about 130 km east of Sendai, followed by tsunami waves up to 23 meters high, which reached the coast in less than half an hour, completely devastated many Coastal locations as well as the failure of the cooling systems of several Japanese nuclear power plants and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima .

The rate of global warming will be around 100 times faster by the end of the 21st century than with previous natural climate changes.

With the term Anthropocene , people began to consider humans as a geological factor for the biosphere in 2000 . Properties are u. a. Acidification of the atmosphere and the world's oceans , decline in biodiversity , extinction of species e.g. B. dusting, overfishing , forest fire (clearing), self-made or man-made climate change , use of artificial fertilizers and unilateral agriculture with a growing world population . After extensive, always detailed environmental studies and future scenarios , all of the parameters mentioned have so far been increasing.

Other events

In 2007, for the first time, more people lived in cities than in rural areas.

On October 31, 2011, the world population formally exceeded seven billion people for the first time.

With the Briton Florence Green dies on 4. February 2012 , the last known veteran of the First World War .

On April 15, 2017 , Emma Morano, the last living person born before 1900, dies .

With 103 victims, the nurse Niels Högel is responsible for one of the largest series of murders since the end of post-war Germany.

With 239 presumed victims, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is considered to be the largest case of a missing commercial aircraft in history. The case has not yet been resolved.

The iceberg A-68 , which broke off the Larsen-C ice shelf ( Antarctica ) in 2017, is 5800 km² and weighs more than 1100 gigatons, making it the largest iceberg ever observed and one of the largest ever moving ice masses.

Maps of the world at the beginning of the century

human and environment

The distribution of agglomeration on earth: urban agglomerations and their extended surrounding areas
Population density on earth 2005
The top 10 most polluted places on earth
Land Use and Anthromes on Earth
Ecumenism (geography) , subecumens and anecumens
Global warming : temperatures 2000–2009 compared to 1970–1979
Shift of the climate zones according to the worst-case scenario (A1FI) of the IPCC (animated)

Social

economy

Ecology, biology, nature conservation

Web links

Commons : 21st Century - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Christin Löchel: Der neue Fischer Weltalmanach 2019 . Ed .: Fischer Taschenbuch. Original edition edition. tape 60 . S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-596-72019-4 , pp. 736 .
↑ Stephane Kasriel, Upwork CEO: The future of work won't be about degrees, it will be about skills. October 31, 2018, accessed December 14, 2018 .
^ World Urbanization Prospects. (PDF) Retrieved December 14, 2018 .
↑ FOCUS Online: Study: By 2075, Islam will overtake Christianity as the largest world religion - video. Retrieved December 10, 2018 .
^ Renate Ell (editor): The new Fischer world almanac . Ed .: Fischer Taschenbuch. Original edition. No. 60 . S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-596-72019-4 , pp. 736 .
↑ This text represents basic information. No guarantee for the correctness and completeness of the information can be given. Due to different update rates, statistics may have more up-to-date data: Topic: Internet usage worldwide. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .
↑ TeChi - The latest tech news from around the Web. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .
↑ It's a PC world . In: The Economist . December 29, 2009, ISSN 0013-0613 ( economist.com [accessed December 14, 2018]).
↑ Statoil Contributor: How Microgrids Could Bring Electricity To 1.5 Billion People. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .
↑ 1615 L. St NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA202-419-4300 | Main202-419-4349 | Fax202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries: The Global Religious Landscape | Pew Research Center. December 18, 2012, accessed December 14, 2018 (American English).
↑ Chapter 1: Overview. December 8, 2018, accessed December 8, 2018 .
↑ Hartmut Graßl : Climate Change. The most important answers . Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, p. 63f
↑ Hubert Gude, Veronika Hackenbroch, Julia Jüttner: Niels Högel nurse: The murderer of the century . In: Der Spiegel . April 13, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 10, 2018]).

[1] Christin Löchel: Der neue Fischer Weltalmanach 2019 . Ed .: Fischer Taschenbuch. Original edition edition. tape 60 . S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-596-72019-4 , pp. 736 .

[2] Stephane Kasriel, Upwork CEO: The future of work won't be about degrees, it will be about skills. October 31, 2018, accessed December 14, 2018 .

[3] World Urbanization Prospects. (PDF) Retrieved December 14, 2018 .

[4] FOCUS Online: Study: By 2075, Islam will overtake Christianity as the largest world religion - video. Retrieved December 10, 2018 .

[5] Renate Ell (editor): The new Fischer world almanac . Ed .: Fischer Taschenbuch. Original edition. No. 60 . S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-596-72019-4 , pp. 736 .

[6] This text represents basic information. No guarantee for the correctness and completeness of the information can be given. Due to different update rates, statistics may have more up-to-date data: Topic: Internet usage worldwide. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .

[7] TeChi - The latest tech news from around the Web. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .

[8] It's a PC world . In: The Economist . December 29, 2009, ISSN 0013-0613 ( economist.com [accessed December 14, 2018]).

[9] Statoil Contributor: How Microgrids Could Bring Electricity To 1.5 Billion People. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .

[10] 1615 L. St NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA202-419-4300 | Main202-419-4349 | Fax202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries: The Global Religious Landscape | Pew Research Center. December 18, 2012, accessed December 14, 2018 (American English).

[11] Chapter 1: Overview. December 8, 2018, accessed December 8, 2018 .

[12] Hartmut Graßl : Climate Change. The most important answers . Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, p. 63f

[13] Hubert Gude, Veronika Hackenbroch, Julia Jüttner: Niels Högel nurse: The murderer of the century . In: Der Spiegel . April 13, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 10, 2018]).