21st century

===Knowledge and information===
The entire [[Writing|written works]] of humanity, from the beginning of [[recorded history]] to 2003, in all known [[language]]s, are estimated to amount to five [[exabyte]]s of data.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/07/quote-of-the-day-google-ceo-compares-data-across-millennia/344989/|title=Quote of the Day: Google CEO Compares Data Across Millennia|first=Benjamin|last=Carlson|date=3 July 2010|website=The Atlantic|access-date=10 February 2019|archive-date=19 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919150658/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/07/quote-of-the-day-google-ceo-compares-data-across-millennia/344989/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://social.techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/schmidt-data/|title=Eric Schmidt: Every 2 Days We Create As Much Information As We Did Up To 2003|date=4 August 2010 |access-date=24 February 2021|archive-date=10 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210233247/https://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/schmidt-data/|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 2003, with the beginning of [[social media]] and "[[user-generated content]]", the same amount of data is created every two days.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://i.imgur.com/gpXRWoq.png |title=Archived copy |access-date=10 February 2019 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210233245/https://i.imgur.com/gpXRWoq.png |url-status=live }}</ref> The growth of human knowledge and information continues at an [[Exponential growth|exponential rate]].{{explain|date=December 2023}}

[[Telecommunications]] in the early 21st century are much more advanced and universal than they were in the late 20th century. Only a few percent of the world's population were [[Internet]] users and [[cellular phone]] owners in the late 1990s; as of 2023, 64.4% of the world's population is online, and as of 2019, an estimated 67% own a cell phone.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/274774/forecast-of-mobile-phone-users-worldwide/|title=Number of mobile phone users worldwide 2015–2020|website=Statista|access-date=12 January 2019|archive-date=26 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226111553/https://www.statista.com/statistics/274774/forecast-of-mobile-phone-users-worldwide/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2010s, [[artificial intelligence]], mainly in the form of [[deep learning]] and [[machine learning]], became more prevalent and is prominently used in [[Gmail]] and [[Google]]'s search engine, in banking, with the military and other areas. In 2020, 9% of the world's population still lacked access to electricity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Database |url=https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/results?p=Access_to_Electricity&i=Electricity_access_rate,_Total_(%) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508135440/https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/results?p=Access_to_Electricity&i=Electricity_access_rate,_Total_%28%25%29%252A |archive-date=8 May 2023 |access-date=8 May 2023 |website=Trackingsdg7.esmap.org}}</ref>

[[File:Triptychon Maha Kumbh Mela.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|India's [[Prayag Kumbh Mela]] is regarded as the world's largest [[religious festival]].]]

In 2001, [[Dennis Tito]] became the first [[space tourist]], beginning the era of [[commercial spaceflight]]. Entrepreneurs [[Elon Musk]] and [[Richard Branson]] are working towards commercial space exploration, colonization and tourism, while [[China]] and [[India]] have made substantial strides in their space programs. On 3 January 2019, China landed a robotic spacecraft on the [[far side of the Moon]], the first to do so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/china-plans-historic-landing-on-dark-side-of-the-moon|title=China Makes Historic Landing on 'Dark Side' of the Moon|first=Sarah|last=Pruitt|website=HISTORY|date=3 January 2019 |access-date=12 January 2019|archive-date=24 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124065205/https://www.history.com/news/china-plans-historic-landing-on-dark-side-of-the-moon|url-status=live}}</ref>