Human

== History ==
{{Main|Human history||}}
===Prehistory===
{{Main|Prehistory}}
[[File:Early migrations mercator.svg|thumb|350px|Overview map of the peopling of the world by [[Early human migrations|early human migration]] during the [[Upper Paleolithic]], following to the [[Southern Dispersal]] paradigm]]
Until about 12,000 years ago, all humans lived as [[hunter-gatherer]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Little |first1=Michael A. |chapter=Hunter-Gatherers |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128026526000232 |title=Basics in Human Evolution |pages=323–335 |year=2015 |editor-last=Muehlenbein |editor-first=Michael P. |place=Boston |publisher=Academic Press |language=en |isbn=978-0-12-802652-6 |last2=Blumler |first2=Mark A. |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703085714/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128026526000232 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Scarre |first=Chris |title=The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-500-29335-5 |editor-last=Scarre |editor-first=Chris |edition=4th |location=London |pages=174–197 |chapter=The world transformed: from foragers and farmers to states and empires |author-link=Chris Scarre}}</ref> The [[Neolithic Revolution]] (the invention of [[agriculture]]) first took place in [[Southwest Asia]] and spread through large parts of the [[Old World]] over the following millennia.<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Colledge S, Conolly J, Dobney K, Manning K, Shennan S|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/855969933|title=Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe.|date=2013|publisher=Left Coast Press|isbn=978-1-61132-324-5|location=Walnut Creek, CA|pages=13–17|oclc=855969933|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032846/https://www.worldcat.org/title/origins-and-spread-of-domestic-animals-in-southwest-asia-and-europe/oclc/855969933|url-status=live}}</ref> It also occurred independently in [[Mesoamerica]] (about 6,000 years ago),<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Scanes CG |date= January 2018 | chapter =The Neolithic Revolution, Animal Domestication, and Early Forms of Animal Agriculture | veditors = Scanes CG, Toukhsati SR |title = Animals and Human Society |pages=103–131 |publisher= Elsevier |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-805247-1.00006-X|isbn= 978-0-12-805247-1 }}</ref> China,<ref name="He2017">{{cite journal |vauthors=He K, Lu H, Zhang J, Wang C, Huan X |title=Prehistoric evolution of the dualistic structure mixed rice and millet farming in China |journal=The Holocene |date=7 June 2017 |volume=27 |issue=12 |pages=1885–1898 |doi=10.1177/0959683617708455 |bibcode=2017Holoc..27.1885H |s2cid=133660098 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317400332 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120221221/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317400332_Prehistoric_evolution_of_the_dualistic_structure_mixed_rice_and_millet_farming_in_China |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Lu">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lu H, Zhang J, Liu KB, Wu N, Li Y, Zhou K, Ye M, Zhang T, Zhang H, Yang X, Shen L, Xu D, Li Q | display-authors = 6 | title = Earliest domestication of common millet (Panicum miliaceum) in East Asia extended to 10,000 years ago | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 106 | issue = 18 | pages = 7367–7372 | date = May 2009 | pmid = 19383791 | pmc = 2678631 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0900158106 | bibcode = 2009PNAS..106.7367L | doi-access = free }}</ref> [[Papua New Guinea]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Denham TP, Haberle SG, Lentfer C, Fullagar R, Field J, Therin M, Porch N, Winsborough B | display-authors = 6 | title = Origins of agriculture at Kuk Swamp in the highlands of New Guinea | journal = Science | volume = 301 | issue = 5630 | pages = 189–193 | date = July 2003 | pmid = 12817084 | doi = 10.1126/science.1085255 | s2cid = 10644185 | doi-access = free }}</ref> and the [[Sahel]] and [[Sudanian savanna|West Savanna]] regions of Africa.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Scarcelli N, Cubry P, Akakpo R, Thuillet AC, Obidiegwu J, Baco MN, Otoo E, Sonké B, Dansi A, Djedatin G, Mariac C, Couderc M, Causse S, Alix K, Chaïr H, François O, Vigouroux Y | display-authors = 6 | title = Yam genomics supports West Africa as a major cradle of crop domestication | journal = Science Advances | volume = 5 | issue = 5 | pages = eaaw1947 | date = May 2019 | pmid = 31114806 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.aaw1947 | pmc = 6527260 | bibcode = 2019SciA....5.1947S | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Winchell F|date=October 2017|title=Evidence for Sorghum Domestication in Fourth Millennium BC Eastern Sudan: Spikelet Morphology from Ceramic Impressions of the Butana Group|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=58|issue=5|pages=673–683|doi=10.1086/693898|s2cid=149402650|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1574602/7/Fuller_693898.pdf|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623152728/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1574602/7/Fuller_693898.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Manning K |date=February 2011|title=4500-Year old domesticated pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) from the Tilemsi Valley, Mali: new insights into an alternative cereal domestication pathway |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=38|issue=2|pages=312–322|doi=10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.007 |bibcode=2011JArSc..38..312M }}</ref>

Access to food surplus led to the formation of permanent [[human settlement]]s, the [[domestication]] of animals and the [[Chalcolithic|use of metal tools]] for the first time in history. Agriculture and sedentary lifestyle led to the emergence of early [[civilizations]].<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Noble TF, Strauss B, Osheim D, Neuschel K, Accamp E|url={{GBurl|id=Td4WAAAAQBAJ|q=western civilisation egypt|p=16}}|title=Cengage Advantage Books: Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries|date=2013| publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-66153-7|access-date=11 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Spielvogel J |url={{GBurl|id=LceiAgAAQBAJ|q=western civilisation egypt|pg=PT65}}|title=Western Civilization: Volume A: To 1500|date=1 January 2014|publisher=Cenpage Learning|isbn=978-1-285-98299-1|access-date=11 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Thornton B|url={{GBurl|id=fa6swJv64xkC|q=Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization}}|title=Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization|publisher=Encounter Books|year=2002|isbn=978-1-893554-57-3|location=San Francisco|pages=1–14|access-date=30 July 2022}}</ref>

===Ancient===
{{Main|Ancient history}}
[[File:All Gizah Pyramids.jpg|thumb|[[Giza pyramid complex|Great Pyramids of Giza]], [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]]]
An [[urban revolution]] took place in the [[4th millennium BC|4th millennium BCE]] with the development of [[city-state]]s, particularly [[Sumer]]ian cities located in [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Garfinkle | first= Steven J. | chapter= Ancient Near Eastern City-States | editor1= Peter Fibiger Bang | editor1-link= Peter Fibiger Bang | editor2= Walter Scheidel | editor2-link= Walter Scheidel | title= The Oxford Handbook of the State in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean | date= 2013 | publisher= Oxford Academic | doi= 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195188318.013.0004 |isbn=978-0-19-518831-8 | pages= 94–119 }}</ref> It was in these cities that the earliest known form of writing, [[cuneiform script]], appeared around 3000 BCE.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Woods C | chapter = The Emergence of Cuneiform Writing|date=28 February 2020 |title = A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Languages|pages=27–46| veditors = Hasselbach-Andee R |edition=1st |publisher=Wiley|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781119193814.ch2|isbn=978-1-119-19329-6 | s2cid = 216180781}}</ref> Other major civilizations to develop around this time were [[Ancient Egypt]] and the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Robinson A | title = Ancient civilization: Cracking the Indus script | journal = Nature | volume = 526 | issue = 7574 | pages = 499–501 | date = October 2015 | pmid = 26490603 | doi = 10.1038/526499a | bibcode = 2015Natur.526..499R | s2cid = 4458743 | doi-access = free }}</ref> They eventually traded with each other and invented technology such as wheels, plows and sails.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Crawford H |author-link=Harriet Crawford |title=The Sumerian World|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-136-21911-5 |pages=447–461|chapter=Trade in the Sumerian world}}</ref><ref name="Bodnár-2018">{{cite journal|vauthors=Bodnár M|date=2018|title=Prehistoric innovations: Wheels and wheeled vehicles|url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=714342|journal=Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|language=English|volume=69|issue=2|pages=271–298|doi=10.1556/072.2018.69.2.3|s2cid=115685157|issn=0001-5210|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623152751/https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=714342|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Pryor FL|date=1985|title=The Invention of the Plow|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/178600|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History|volume=27|issue=4|pages=727–743|doi=10.1017/S0010417500011749|jstor=178600|s2cid=144840498|issn=0010-4175|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409092618/https://www.jstor.org/stable/178600|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Carter">{{cite book|vauthors=Carter R |url=https://www.academia.edu/1576775|title=A companion to the archaeology of the ancient Near East|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2012|isbn=978-1-4051-8988-0|veditors=Potts DT |location=Chichester, West Sussex|pages=347–354|chapter=19. [[Watercraft]]|access-date=8 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428190743/https://www.academia.edu/1576775/Watercraft|archive-date=28 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Astronomy and mathematics were also developed and the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] was built.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Pedersen O |title=Early physics and astronomy: A historical introduction.|publisher=CUP Archive|year=1993|isbn=978-0-521-40340-5|page=1|chapter=Science Before the Greeks}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Robson E |title=Mathematics in ancient Iraq: A social history.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2008|pages=xxi}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Edwards JF|date=2003|title=Building the Great Pyramid: Probable Construction Methods Employed at Giza|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25148110|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=44|issue=2|pages=340–354|doi=10.1353/tech.2003.0063|jstor=25148110|s2cid=109998651|issn=0040-165X|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306011135/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25148110|url-status=live}}</ref> There is evidence of a [[4.2-kiloyear event|severe drought]] lasting about a hundred years that may have caused the decline of these civilizations,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Voosen P | title = New geological age comes under fire | journal = Science | volume = 361 | issue = 6402 | pages = 537–538 | date = August 2018 | pmid = 30093579 | doi = 10.1126/science.361.6402.537 | bibcode = 2018Sci...361..537V | s2cid = 51954326 }}</ref> with new ones appearing in the aftermath. [[Babylonia]]ns came to dominate Mesopotamia while others,<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Saggs HW |title=Babylonians|publisher=Univ of California Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-520-20222-1|page=7}}</ref> such as the [[Poverty Point culture]], [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] and the [[Shang dynasty]], rose to prominence in new areas.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Sassaman KE |date=1 December 2005|title=Poverty Point as Structure, Event, Process |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=335–364|doi=10.1007/s10816-005-8460-4|s2cid=53393440|issn=1573-7764}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lazaridis I, Mittnik A, Patterson N, Mallick S, Rohland N, Pfrengle S, Furtwängler A, Peltzer A, Posth C, Vasilakis A, McGeorge PJ, Konsolaki-Yannopoulou E, Korres G, Martlew H, Michalodimitrakis M, Özsait M, Özsait N, Papathanasiou A, Richards M, Roodenberg SA, Tzedakis Y, Arnott R, Fernandes DM, Hughey JR, Lotakis DM, Navas PA, Maniatis Y, Stamatoyannopoulos JA, Stewardson K, Stockhammer P, Pinhasi R, Reich D, Krause J, Stamatoyannopoulos G | display-authors = 6 | title = Genetic origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans | journal = Nature | volume = 548 | issue = 7666 | pages = 214–218 | date = August 2017 | pmid = 28783727 | doi = 10.1038/nature23310 | pmc = 5565772 | bibcode = 2017Natur.548..214L }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Keightley DN |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-521-47030-8 | veditors = Loewe M, Shaughnessy EL |pages=232–291|chapter=The Shang: China's first historical dynasty}}</ref>

The [[Late Bronze Age collapse]] around 1200 BCE resulted in the disappearance of a number of civilizations and the beginning of the [[Greek Dark Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Kaniewski D, Guiot J, van Campo E |date=2015|title=Drought and societal collapse 3200 years ago in the Eastern Mediterranean: a review |journal=WIREs Climate Change |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=369–382 |doi=10.1002/wcc.345 |bibcode=2015WIRCC...6..369K |s2cid=128460316}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Drake BL |date=1 June 2012|title=The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=39|issue=6|pages=1862–1870 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2012.01.029 |bibcode=2012JArSc..39.1862D }}</ref> During this period iron started replacing bronze, leading to the [[Iron Age]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Wells PS | title =European Prehistory| chapter =The Iron Age|date=2011 |pages=405–460| veditors = Milisauskas S |series=Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology|place=New York, NY|publisher=Springer|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-6633-9_11|isbn=978-1-4419-6633-9 }}</ref>

In the 5th century BCE, history started being [[Historiography|recorded as a discipline]], which provided a much clearer picture of life at the time.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Hughes-Warrington M |title=History as Wonder: Beginning with Historiography.|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2018|isbn=978-0-429-76315-1 |location=United Kingdom|chapter=Sense and non-sense in Ancient Greek histories}}</ref> Between the 8th and 6th century BCE, Europe entered the [[classical antiquity]] age, a period when [[ancient Greece]] and [[ancient Rome]] flourished.<ref>{{cite web|date=2 October 2015|vauthors=Beard M|title=Why ancient Rome matters to the modern world|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/02/mary-beard-why-ancient-rome-matters|access-date=17 April 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414130448/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/02/mary-beard-why-ancient-rome-matters|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Vidergar AB|date=11 June 2015|title=Stanford scholar debunks long-held beliefs about economic growth in ancient Greece|url=https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/greek-economy-growth-061115.html|access-date=17 April 2021|website=Stanford University|language=en|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418190351/https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/june/greek-economy-growth-061115.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Around this time other civilizations also came to prominence. The [[Maya civilization]] started to build cities and create [[Maya calendar|complex calendars]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Inomata T, Triadan D, Vázquez López VA, Fernandez-Diaz JC, Omori T, Méndez Bauer MB, García Hernández M, Beach T, Cagnato C, Aoyama K, Nasu H | display-authors = 6 | title = Monumental architecture at Aguada Fénix and the rise of Maya civilization | journal = Nature | volume = 582 | issue = 7813 | pages = 530–533 | date = June 2020 | pmid = 32494009 | doi = 10.1038/s41586-020-2343-4 | bibcode = 2020Natur.582..530I | s2cid = 219281856 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Milbrath S|date=March 2017|title=The Role of Solar Observations in Developing the Preclassic Maya Calendar|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1045663516000043/type/journal_article|journal=Latin American Antiquity|language=en|volume=28|issue=1|pages=88–104|doi=10.1017/laq.2016.4|s2cid=164417025|issn=1045-6635|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032849/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-antiquity/article/role-of-solar-observations-in-developing-the-preclassic-maya-calendar/CE9899861546A50ACE1819A6796D8694|url-status=live}}</ref> In Africa, the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] overtook the declining [[Kingdom of Kush]] and facilitated trade between India and the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Benoist A, Charbonnier J, Gajda I|date=2016|title=Investigating the eastern edge of the kingdom of Aksum: architecture and pottery from Wakarida|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45163415|journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies|volume=46|pages=25–40|jstor=45163415|issn=0308-8421|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=28 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428202622/https://www.jstor.org/stable/45163415|url-status=live}}</ref> In West Asia, the [[Achaemenid Empire]]'s system of centralized governance became the precursor to many later empires,<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Farazmand A |date=1 January 1998|title=Administration of the Persian achaemenid world-state empire: implications for modern public administration |journal=International Journal of Public Administration|volume=21|issue=1|pages=25–86|doi=10.1080/01900699808525297|issn=0190-0692}}</ref> while the [[Gupta Empire]] in India and the [[Han dynasty]] in China have been described as [[golden ages]] in their respective regions.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Ingalls DH|date=1976|title=Kālidāsa and the Attitudes of the Golden Age|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599886|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=96|issue=1|pages=15–26|doi=10.2307/599886|jstor=599886|issn=0003-0279|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409092718/https://www.jstor.org/stable/599886|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Xie J|date=2020|title=Pillars of Heaven: The Symbolic Function of Column and Bracket Sets in the Han Dynasty|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0066622X20000015/type/journal_article|journal=Architectural History|language=en|volume=63|pages=1–36|doi=10.1017/arh.2020.1|s2cid=229716130|issn=0066-622X|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032850/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/architectural-history/article/abs/pillars-of-heaven-the-symbolic-function-of-column-and-bracket-sets-in-the-han-dynasty/1B1C1C007216E36004F15A1B7D61C87F|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Medieval===
{{Main|Post-classical history}}
[[File:Cleric-Knight-Workman.jpg|Medieval French [[Illuminated manuscript|manuscript illustration]] of the three [[Social class|classes]] of medieval society from the 13th-century {{lang|fr|Li Livres dou Santé}}|thumb|right|upright]]
Following the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] in 476, Europe entered the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Marx W, Haunschild R, Bornmann L |date=2018|title=Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question|journal=Climate|language=en|volume=6|issue=4|page=90|doi=10.3390/cli6040090|bibcode=2018Clim....6...90M |doi-access=free}}</ref> During this period, [[Christianity]] and the [[Catholic Church|Church]] would provide centralized authority and education.<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book|veditors=Brooke JH, Numbers RL|title=Science and Religion Around the World|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-532819-6|page=72|url={{GBurl|id=W6HPW1TodZwC|p=71}}|access-date=30 July 2022}}</ref> In the Middle East, [[Islam]] became the prominent religion and expanded into North Africa. It led to an [[Islamic Golden Age]], inspiring achievements in [[architecture]], the revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life.<ref name="Renima-2016">{{cite book | vauthors = Renima A, Tiliouine H, Estes RJ | title = The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies| chapter = The Islamic Golden Age: A Story of the Triumph of the Islamic Civilization|date=2016 |pages=25–52| veditors = Tiliouine H, Estes RJ |series=International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-24774-8_2|isbn=978-3-319-24774-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History| vauthors = Vidal-Nanquet P |publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=76}}</ref> The [[Christendom|Christian]] and [[Islamic world]]s would eventually clash, with the [[Kingdom of England]], the [[Kingdom of France]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] declaring a series of [[crusades|holy wars]] to regain control of the [[Holy Land]] from [[Muslim]]s.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Asbridge T |title=The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2012|isbn=978-1-84983-770-5|chapter=Introduction: The world of the crusades}}</ref>

In the Americas, complex [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian societies]] would arise starting around 800 CE,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url= https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-707|author= Adam King|title= Mississippian Period: Overview|encyclopedia= New Georgia Encyclopedia|date= 2002|access-date= 15 November 2009|archive-date= 19 August 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090819042104/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-707|url-status= dead}}</ref> while further south, the [[Aztecs]] and [[Incas]] would become the dominant powers.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Conrad G, Demarest AA |title=Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1984|isbn=0-521-31896-3|page=2}}</ref> The [[Mongol Empire]] would conquer much of [[Eurasia]] in the 13th and 14th centuries.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = May T |title=The Mongol Conquests in World History| publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2013|isbn=978-1-86189-971-2 |page=7}}</ref> Over this same time period, the [[Mali Empire]] in Africa grew to be the largest empire on the continent, stretching from [[Senegambia]] to [[Ivory Coast]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|vauthors=Canós-Donnay S|title=The Empire of Mali|date=25 February 2019|url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-266|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.266|isbn=978-0-19-027773-4|access-date=7 May 2021|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020034919/https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-266|url-status=live}}</ref> Oceania would see the rise of the [[Tuʻi Tonga Empire]] which expanded across many islands in the South Pacific.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Canela SA, Graves MW |title=The Tongan Maritime Expansion: A Case in the Evolutionary Ecology of Social Complexity|journal=Asian Perspectives|volume=37|issue=2|pages=135–164|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46734826}}</ref>

===Modern===
{{Main|Early modern period|Late modern period}}
[[File:Maquina vapor Watt ETSIIM.jpg|thumb|[[James Watt]]'s steam engine]]
The [[early modern period]] in Europe and the Near East ({{Circa|1450}}–1800) began with the [[Fall of Constantinople|final defeat of the Byzantine Empire]], and the [[Ottoman Empire|rise of the Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Ottomans and Europe|date=1 January 1994|chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004391659/BP000019.xml|title=Handbook of European History 1400–1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation|pages=589–635|veditors=Brady T, Oberman T, Tracy JD|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/9789004391659_019|isbn=978-90-04-39165-9|access-date=17 April 2021|archive-date=2 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502073325/https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004391659/BP000019.xml|url-status=live|last1=Kafadar |first1=Cemal }}</ref> Meanwhile, Japan entered the [[Edo period]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|vauthors=Goree R|title=The Culture of Travel in Edo-Period Japan|date=19 November 2020|url=https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-72|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.72|isbn=978-0-19-027772-7|access-date=7 May 2021|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812150712/https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-72|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Qing dynasty]] rose in China<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Mosca MW|date=2010|title=CHINA'S LAST EMPIRE: The Great Qing|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/a516602ac28aba8955507e46ab41483e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=25135|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=83|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306014457/https://www.proquest.com/openview/a516602ac28aba8955507e46ab41483e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=25135|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Mughal Empire]] ruled much of India.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Suyanta S, Ikhlas S|date=19 July 2016|title=Islamic Education at Mughal Kingdom in India (1526–1857)|url=https://journal.tarbiyahiainib.ac.id/index.php/attalim/article/view/228|journal=Al-Ta Lim Journal|volume=23|issue=2|pages=128–138|doi=10.15548/jt.v23i2.228|issn=2355-7893|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407082504/http://journal.tarbiyahiainib.ac.id/index.php/attalim/article/view/228|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> Europe underwent the [[Renaissance]], starting in the 15th century,<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Kirkpatrick R|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/893909816|title=The European Renaissance, 1400–1600|date=2002|isbn=978-1-317-88646-4|page=1|publisher=Routledge |oclc=893909816|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032848/https://www.worldcat.org/title/european-renaissance-1400-1600/oclc/893909816|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Age of Discovery]] began with the exploring and [[Colonialism|colonizing]] of new regions.<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Arnold D|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859536800|title=The Age of Discovery, 1400–1600|date=2002|isbn=978-1-136-47968-7|edition=Second|pages=xi|publisher=Routledge |oclc=859536800|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032848/https://www.worldcat.org/title/age-of-discovery-1400-1600/oclc/859536800|url-status=live}}</ref> This includes the [[British Empire]] expanding to become the [[List of largest empires|world's largest empire]]<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Palan R|date=14 January 2010|title=International Financial Centers: The British-Empire, City-States and Commercially Oriented Politics|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1565-3404.1239/html|journal=Theoretical Inquiries in Law|volume=11|issue=1|doi=10.2202/1565-3404.1239|s2cid=56216309|issn=1565-3404|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=26 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826211616/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1565-3404.1239/html|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[European colonization of the Americas|the colonization of the Americas]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Dixon EJ |date= January 2001 |title=Human colonization of the Americas: timing, technology and process |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|language=en|volume=20|issue=1–3 |pages=277–299|doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00116-5|bibcode= 2001QSRv...20..277J }}</ref> This expansion led to the [[Atlantic slave trade]]<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Lovejoy PE |date=1989 |title=The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/182914 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=365–394 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700024439 |jstor=182914 |s2cid=161321949 |issn=0021-8537 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306011109/https://www.jstor.org/stable/182914 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Genocide of Native Americans|genocide of Native American peoples]].<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Cave AA | chapter = Genocide in the Americas|date=2008 | title = The Historiography of Genocide|pages=273–295 | veditors = Stone D |place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1057/9780230297784_11|isbn=978-0-230-29778-4}}</ref> This period also marked the [[Scientific Revolution]], with great advances in [[mathematics]], [[mechanics]], [[astronomy]] and [[physiology]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Delisle RG | title = Can a revolution hide another one? Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution | journal = Endeavour | volume = 38 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 157–158 | date = September 2014 | pmid = 25457642 | doi = 10.1016/j.endeavour.2014.10.001 }}</ref>

The [[late modern period]] (1800–present) saw the [[Technological Revolution|Technological]] and [[Industrial Revolution]] bring such discoveries as [[imaging technology]], major innovations in transport and [[energy development]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century|url=https://www.greatachievements.org/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406160644/https://greatachievements.org/|archive-date=6 April 2015|access-date=7 April 2015| work = National Academy of Engineering }}</ref> The [[United States|United States of America]] underwent great change, going from a [[Thirteen Colonies|small group of colonies]] to one of the [[global superpower]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Herring GC|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/299054528|title=From colony to superpower : U.S. foreign relations since 1776|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972343-0|location=New York|page=1|oclc=299054528|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032849/https://www.worldcat.org/title/from-colony-to-superpower-us-foreign-relations-since-1776/oclc/299054528|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Napoleonic Wars]] raged through Europe in the early 1800s,<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=O'Rourke KH|date=March 2006|title=The worldwide economic impact of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793–1815|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1740022806000076/type/journal_article|journal=Journal of Global History|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|pages=123–149|doi=10.1017/S1740022806000076|issn=1740-0228|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032852/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-global-history/article/abs/worldwide-economic-impact-of-the-french-revolutionary-and-napoleonic-wars-17931815/B5D21C47E53307E78358803D4695FCE8|url-status=live}}</ref> Spain lost most of its colonies in the [[New World]],<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Zimmerman AF|date=November 1931|title=Spain and Its Colonies, 1808–1820|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2506251|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=11|issue=4|pages=439–463|doi=10.2307/2506251|jstor=2506251|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=6 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306014948/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2506251|url-status=live}}</ref> while Europeans continued [[Scramble for Africa|expansion into Africa]]{{snd}}where European control went from 10% to almost 90% in less than 50 years<ref>{{cite web |date=2011 |title=British History in depth: Slavery and the 'Scramble for Africa' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324121231/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml |archive-date=24 March 2022 |access-date=5 May 2021 |website=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB |vauthors=David S}}</ref>{{snd}}and Oceania.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Raudzens G |date=2004 |title=The Australian Frontier Wars, 1788–1838 (review) |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jmh.2004.0138 |journal=The Journal of Military History |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=957–959 |doi=10.1353/jmh.2004.0138 |issn=1543-7795 |s2cid=162259092}}</ref>

A tenuous [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] among European nations collapsed in 1914 with the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], one of the deadliest conflicts in history.<ref>{{Cite book|vauthors=Clark CM|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794136314|title=The sleepwalkers : how Europe went to war in 1914|date=2012|publisher=Allen Lane|isbn=978-0-7139-9942-6|location=London|chapter=Polarization of Europe, 1887–1907|oclc=794136314|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730032849/https://www.worldcat.org/title/sleepwalkers-how-europe-went-to-war-in-1914/oclc/794136314|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1930s, [[Great Depression|a worldwide economic crisis]] led to the rise of [[authoritarian]] regimes and a [[World War II|Second World War]], involving [[World War II by country|almost all of the world's countries]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Robert Dahl |title=Democracy and Its Critics |url=https://archive.org/details/democracyitscrit00dahl_0 |url-access=registration |year=1989 |publisher=Yale UP |pages=[https://archive.org/details/democracyitscrit00dahl_0/page/239 239–240] |isbn=0-300-15355-4}}</ref> The war's destruction led to the collapse of most global empires, leading to widespread decolonization.

===Contemporary===
{{Main|Contemporary history}}
Following the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945, the [[Cold War]] between the [[USSR]] and the United States saw a struggle for global influence, including a [[nuclear arms race]] and a [[Space Race|space race]], ending in the collapse of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = McDougall WA |date=May 1985|title=Sputnik, the space race, and the Cold War|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00963402.1985.11455962|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|language=en|volume=41|issue=5|pages=20–25|doi=10.1080/00963402.1985.11455962|bibcode=1985BuAtS..41e..20M|issn=0096-3402}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Plous S|date=May 1993|title=The Nuclear Arms Race: Prisoner's Dilemma or Perceptual Dilemma?|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022343393030002004|journal=Journal of Peace Research|language=en|volume=30|issue=2|pages=163–179|doi=10.1177/0022343393030002004|s2cid=5482851|issn=0022-3433|access-date=30 July 2022|archive-date=21 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221155825/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022343393030002004|url-status=live}}</ref> The current [[Information Age]], spurred by the development of the [[Internet]] and [[Artificial intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] systems, sees the world becoming increasingly [[Globalization|globalized]] and interconnected.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Sachs JD|date=April 2017|title=Globalization{{snd}}In the Name of Which Freedom?|journal=Humanistic Management Journal|language=en|volume=1|issue=2|pages=237–252|doi=10.1007/s41463-017-0019-5|s2cid=133030709|issn=2366-603X|doi-access=free}}</ref>