The world in…

One year, every continent. Each snapshot describes what was happening across the world at a single moment, with links to the articles that go deeper.

1. 2500 BC The world in 2500 BC

   Khafre built at Giza, Sumerian cities fought in cuneiform, Mohenjo-daro drained its streets, Stonehenge's sarsens rose and Caral's mounds grew.

2. 500 BC The world in 500 BC

   Persia under Darius I ruled from the Nile to the Indus, Athens was a new democracy, Confucius was alive in Lu and Monte Albán rose in Oaxaca: 500 BC.

3. AD 1 The world in AD 1

   Rome, Parthia, the Kushans, the Xiongnu and Han China stood in a row across Eurasia in AD 1; Teotihuacan was filling up and East Polynesia lay empty.

4. 1000 The world in AD 1000

   Song China ruled from Kaifeng, Fatimids from Cairo, Basil II from Constantinople; Ghana sold gold, Turkish generals split Persia, Norse ships sailed west.

5. 1250 The world in AD 1250

   In 1250 the Mongols ruled from China to the Russian steppe, Mamluks seized Egypt, Louis IX was a prisoner, Mali was a new empire and Cahokia was emptying.