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Yauyos–Chincha Quechua

2023-07-15T13:04:41Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Short description|Quechua dialect cluster}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Yauyos–Chincha Quechua
| nativename = Huangáscar–Topará
| states = [[Perú]]
| speakers = {{sigfig|12500|2}}
| date = 2000–2003
| ref = e18
| familycolor = American
| fam1 = [[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
| fam2 =
| fam3 = Central
| lc1 = qux
| ld1 = Yauyos Quechua
| lc2 = qxc
| ld2 = Chincha Quechua
| glotto = yauy1235
| glottoname = Yauyos
| glottorefname = Huangascar–Topara-Yauyos Quechua
| glotto2 = chin1483
| glottoname2 = Chincha
| glottorefname2 = Chincha Quechua
}}

'''Yauyos–Chincha Quechua''' or '''Yauyos Quechua''' is a [[language cluster]] of [[Quechua languages|Quechua]], spoken in the [[Yauyos Province|Yauyos]] and [[Chincha Province|Chincha]] districts of [[Peru]]. There are numerous dialects: in Yauyos, ''San Pedro de Huacarpana, Apurí, Madean-Viñac (Madeán), Azángaro-Huangáscar-Chocos (Huangáscar), Cacra-Hongos, Tomás-Alis (Alis), Huancaya-Vitis, Laraos,'' with similar diversity in Chincha.

The Tana-Lincha (Lincha) dialect included by ''Ethnologue'' 16, however, is part of [[Cajamarca-Lambayeque Quechua]].<ref>Adelaar, 2004. ''The Languages of the Andes''.</ref>

[[File:YauyosQuechua.pdf|thumb|Yauyos Quechua and neighboring varieties]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |url=http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/83 |title=A Grammar of Yauyos Quechua |last=Shimelman |first=Aviva |date=2017 |publisher=Language Science Press |series=Studies in Diversity Linguistics 9 |isbn=978-3-946234-21-0 |location=Berlin |doi=10.5281/zenodo.376355 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Bertet |first=Denis |title=Éléments de description du parler quechua d'Hongos (Yauyos, Lima, Pérou) : morphologie nominale et verbale [with texts and a lexicon] |date=2013 |degree=MA |url=http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/25316}}

=== Online Dictionaries ===
* [http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/bitstream/handle/123456789/49426/SYQ_Lexicon%20Yauyos%20to%20English.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y Yauyos–English] (Aviva Shimelman)
* [http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/bitstream/handle/123456789/49426/SYQ_Lexicon%20Yauyos%20to%20Spanish.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y Yauyos–Castellano] (Aviva Shimelman)

== External links ==
{{incubator|qux|language=Yauyos Quechua}}
*Gerald Taylor: [http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/bolmuseo/1986/bol16/bob5.htm Two stories in Quechua of Laraos (Yauyos) with Spanish translation]
* {{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Gerald |date=1990 |title=Textes quechua de Laraos (Yauyos) |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1990_num_76_1_1361 |journal=Journal de la société des américanistes |volume=76 |issue=1 |pages=121–154 |doi=10.3406/jsa.1990.1361}}
*[http://corpus1.mpi.nl/ds/imdi_browser/?openpath=MPI1122721%23 Texts in Yauyos Quechua at IMDI / ISLE Metadata Initiative], collected by Aviva Shimelman (registration necessary)
*[https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla%3A124499 Yauyos Quechua Collection of Aviva Shimelman] on AILLA (registration necessary)
*Yauyos Quechua Linguistic Materials, SCL 2018–15, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7297/X2610XHN

{{Quechuan languages}}
{{Languages of Peru}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yauyos-Chincha Quechua}}
[[Category:Languages of Peru]]
[[Category:Quechuan languages]]

{{IndigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}

Yauyos–Chincha Quechua

2023-07-15T13:03:35Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Short description|Quechua dialect cluster}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Yauyos–Chincha Quechua
|nativename=Huangáscar–Topará
|states=[[Perú]]
|speakers={{sigfig|12500|2}}
|date=2000–2003
|ref=e18
|familycolor=American
|fam1=[[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
|fam2=[[Quechua I]] (Quechua I)
|fam3=Central
|lc1=qux|ld1=Yauyos Quechua
|lc2=qxc|ld2=Chincha Quechua
|glotto=yauy1235
|glottoname=Yauyos
|glottorefname=Huangascar–Topara-Yauyos Quechua
|glotto2=chin1483
|glottoname2=Chincha
|glottorefname2=Chincha Quechua
}}

'''Yauyos–Chincha Quechua''' or '''Yauyos Quechua''' is a [[language cluster]] of [[Quechua languages|Quechua]], spoken in the [[Yauyos Province|Yauyos]] and [[Chincha Province|Chincha]] districts of [[Peru]]. There are numerous dialects: in Yauyos, ''San Pedro de Huacarpana, Apurí, Madean-Viñac (Madeán), Azángaro-Huangáscar-Chocos (Huangáscar), Cacra-Hongos, Tomás-Alis (Alis), Huancaya-Vitis, Laraos,'' with similar diversity in Chincha.

The Tana-Lincha (Lincha) dialect included by ''Ethnologue'' 16, however, is part of [[Cajamarca-Lambayeque Quechua]].<ref>Adelaar, 2004. ''The Languages of the Andes''.</ref>

[[File:YauyosQuechua.pdf|thumb|Yauyos Quechua and neighboring varieties]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |url=http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/83 |title=A Grammar of Yauyos Quechua |last=Shimelman |first=Aviva |date=2017 |publisher=Language Science Press |series=Studies in Diversity Linguistics 9 |isbn=978-3-946234-21-0 |location=Berlin |doi=10.5281/zenodo.376355 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Bertet |first=Denis |title=Éléments de description du parler quechua d'Hongos (Yauyos, Lima, Pérou) : morphologie nominale et verbale [with texts and a lexicon] |date=2013 |degree=MA |url=http://cla.berkeley.edu/item/25316}}

=== Online Dictionaries ===
* [http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/bitstream/handle/123456789/49426/SYQ_Lexicon%20Yauyos%20to%20English.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y Yauyos–English] (Aviva Shimelman)
* [http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/bitstream/handle/123456789/49426/SYQ_Lexicon%20Yauyos%20to%20Spanish.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y Yauyos–Castellano] (Aviva Shimelman)

== External links ==
{{incubator|qux|language=Yauyos Quechua}}
*Gerald Taylor: [http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/publicacionesbanrep/bolmuseo/1986/bol16/bob5.htm Two stories in Quechua of Laraos (Yauyos) with Spanish translation]
* {{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Gerald |date=1990 |title=Textes quechua de Laraos (Yauyos) |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1990_num_76_1_1361 |journal=Journal de la société des américanistes |volume=76 |issue=1 |pages=121–154 |doi=10.3406/jsa.1990.1361}}
*[http://corpus1.mpi.nl/ds/imdi_browser/?openpath=MPI1122721%23 Texts in Yauyos Quechua at IMDI / ISLE Metadata Initiative], collected by Aviva Shimelman (registration necessary)
*[https://ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla%3A124499 Yauyos Quechua Collection of Aviva Shimelman] on AILLA (registration necessary)
*Yauyos Quechua Linguistic Materials, SCL 2018–15, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7297/X2610XHN

{{Quechuan languages}}
{{Languages of Peru}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yauyos-Chincha Quechua}}
[[Category:Languages of Peru]]
[[Category:Quechuan languages]]

{{IndigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}

Cyclone Yaku

2023-03-13T01:36:55Z

Huhsunqu: /* References */

{{Infobox storm
| name = Cyclone Yaku
| formed = {{start date|7 March 2023}}
| dissipated = Currently active
| fatalities = 61<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gestion.pe/peru/emergencia-en-el-norte-del-peru-en-vivo-ciclon-yaku-huaicos-desbordes-e-inundaciones-por-lluvias-intensas-hoy-10-de-marzo-fenomeno-el-nino-piura-lambayeque-tumbes-cajamarca-viviendas-afectadas-fallecidos-desaparecidos-bloqueo-de-carreteras-estado-de-emergencia-deslizamientos-indeci-coen-arequipa-cusco-ayacucho-lima-yauyos-noticia/|title = Emergencia en el norte: huaicos, inundaciones y desbordes hoy 10 de marzo|website=Gestión |publication-date=10 March 2023|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/en-espanol/noticias/story/2023-03-08/ecuador-crecidas-dejan-tres-muertos-y-miles-de-damnificados|title = Ecuador: crecidas dejan tres muertos y miles de damnificados |website= The San Diego Union-Tribune |publication-date=8 March 2023|language=es}}</ref>
| areas affected = [[Peru]], [[Ecuador]]
|season=[[2022–23 South Pacific cyclone season]]{{nobold|(Unofficially)}}
}}
'''Cyclone Yaku''' is an unusual [[low-pressure system]] in the [[South Pacific]] that impacted Ecuador and northern Peru in early March 2023. It has been described by the Peruvian National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (SENAMHI) as an "unorganised [[tropical cyclone]]" not seen since 1983 or 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=12 March 2023 |title=Ciclón Yaku: ¿Qué es, por qué se formó y hasta cuándo será su permanencia por la costa peruana? {{!}} PERU |url=https://elcomercio.pe/peru/lluvias-en-el-norte-que-significa-el-ciclon-yaku-y-como-puede-afectarnos-senamhi-fenomeno-el-nino-piura-tumbes-lambayeque-enfen-ciclon-yaku-noticia/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=El Comercio |language=es}}</ref>

==Meteorological history==
On 7 March, SENAMHI reported an "unorganized tropical cyclone".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ciclón Yaku se presenta frente al mar peruano |url=https://www.gob.pe/institucion/senamhi/noticias/721545-ciclon-yaku-se-presenta-frente-al-mar-peruano |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=www.gob.pe |language=es-pe}}</ref> SENAMHI researchers were able to identify the formation of the cyclone at the end of February, and also stated that the unusual phenomenon would remain in the Peruvian sea but would not affect any cities on the Peruvian and Ecuadorian coasts. They also reported that moderate to heavy rainfall would develop on the northern coast and highlands of Peru from 9 to 11 March<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sourtech |title=Yaku: ¿En qué regiones del Perú se está presentando este inusual ciclón? - Exitosa Noticias |url=https://www.exitosanoticias.pe/actualidad/yaku-en-regiones-peru-esta-presentando-inusual-ciclon-n94396 |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=www.exitosanoticias.pe |language=es-PE}}</ref> and that the cyclone would not become a hurricane.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ciclón Yaku no se convertirá en huracán: Expertos lo descartan, pero se mantienen alerta |url=https://www.infobae.com/peru/2023/03/10/ciclon-yaku-se-convertira-en-un-huracan-esto-es-lo-que-dicen-los-expertos/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=infobae |language=es-ES}}</ref> On 10 March, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (INHAMI) in Ecuador reported that Yaku was moving away from Ecuador and would no longer have a direct impact on the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 March 2023 |title=Ciclón Yaku dejará de tener incidencia directa en las costas del Ecuador, según Inamhi |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/ecuador/ciclon-yaku-dejara-de-tener-incidencia-directa-en-las-costas-del-ecuador-segun-inamhi-nota/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=El Universo |language=es}}</ref>
==Preparations==
{{expand section|date=March 2023}}The announcement of Yaku caused public concern in Peru.<ref>{{Cite web |title=El ciclón "Yaku" provoca lluvias intensas en la costa norte de Perú |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/per%C3%BA-lluvias_el-cicl%C3%B3n--yaku--provoca-lluvias-intensas-en-la-costa-norte-de-per%C3%BA/48344812 |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=swissinfo.ch |language=es}}</ref>
==Impact==
===Peru===
Cyclone Yaku increased extreme rainfall conditions in the departments of [[Department of Tumbes|Tumbes]], [[Department of Piura|Piura]], and [[Department of Lambayeque|Lambayeque]]. On 8 March, rainfall was reported in the departments of Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque, [[Department of La Libertad|La Libertad]], [[Department of Ancash|Ancash]], and [[Department of Lima|Lima]]. On 10 March, the La Leche river in Lambayeque overflowed its banks, affecting the district of [[Illimo District|Illimo]]. In the department of La Libertad, there was flooding in the provinces of [[Chepén]] and [[Pacasmayo]] after torrential rains.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=10 March 2023 |title=Lluvias en Perú {{!}} Ciclón Yaku {{!}} Lambayeque y La Libertad superaron récord histórico de lluvias desde El Niño de 1998 y El Niño costero del 2017 {{!}} Senamhi {{!}} PERU |url=https://gestion.pe/peru/lluvias-en-peru-ciclon-yaku-lambayeque-y-la-libertad-superaron-record-historico-de-lluvias-desde-el-nino-de-1998-y-el-nino-costero-del-2017-senamhi-noticia/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=Gestión |language=es}}</ref> SENAMHI reports indicated that the departments of Lambayeque and La Libertad exceeded the historical record of rainfall accumulation in 24 hours, reporting values not recorded since [[1997–98 El Niño event|1997–98]] and 2017 El Niño events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lambayeque en alerta: lluvias torrenciales, desbordes de ríos e inundaciones por el ciclón Yacu |url=https://www.infobae.com/peru/2023/03/10/lambayeque-en-alerta-lluvias-torrenciales-desbordes-de-rios-e-inundaciones-por-el-ciclon-yacu/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=infobae |language=es-ES}}</ref> CEPRENED estimates that 592 districts along Peru are at risk of landslides or mudslides due to heavy rains. Also, Indeci reported more than 45,000 people affected and 1312 houses collapsed, with [[Department of La Libertad|La Libertad]] being the most affected department.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=12 March 2023 |title=Ciclón Yaku Nueve muertos por lluvias solo esta semana: mayores daños se reportan en Trujillo, Piura, Tumbes y Lambayeque {{!}} PERU |url=https://elcomercio.pe/peru/ciclon-yaku-nueve-muertos-por-lluvias-solo-esta-semana-mayores-danos-se-reportan-en-trujillo-piura-tumbes-y-lambayeque-noticia/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=El Comercio |language=es}}</ref>

===Ecuador===
Heavy rainfall occurred across at least 37 [[Cantons of Ecuador|cantons]] in [[Ecuador]]. [[Milagro Canton|Milagro]], [[Yaguachi Canton|Yaguachi]], and [[El Triunfo, Ecuador|El Triunfo]] experienced flooding while the storm damaged residences in [[Quevedo, Ecuador|Quevedo]] and [[Los Ríos Province|Los Ríos]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Yaku moves away from Ecuador and rains persist until March 15 |url=https://dialoguemos.ec/2023/03/yaku-se-aleja-de-ecuador-y-lluvias-persisten-hasta-el-15-de-marzo/ |access-date=12 March 2023 |work=Dialoguemos |date=11 March 2023|language=es}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Weather}}
*[[Weather of 2023]]
*[[Climate of Peru]]
*[[Climate of Ecuador]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Deadliest meteorological events in 2023}}

[[Category:Tropical cyclones in 2023|Yaku]]
[[Category:2023 meteorology|Yaku]]
[[Category:2023 in Ecuador]]
[[Category:March 2023 events in Peru]]
[[Category:Cyclones in South America|Yaku]]

Paqarina

2022-12-16T01:59:01Z

Huhsunqu:

'''Paqarina''' is a [[quechuan languages|quechua]] term that ancient [[Andean civilizations|Andeans]] used to describe the place of origin, and final destination, of their ancestors.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tamara L. Bray|title=Archaeology of Wak'as: Explorations of the Sacred in the Pre-Columbian Andes|date=2014|publisher=University Press of Colorado|isbn=9781492012702|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4iKBgAAQBAJ&dq=Paqarina&pg=PT483|accessdate=27 September 2015}}</ref> ''Paqarinas'' were associated with physical landmarks such as holes in the ground or lakes. In [[Incan]] mythology the word also describes a type of "portal" through which the forces of life and death flow.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lajo|first1=Javier|title=Qhapaq ñan : la ruta inka de sabiduría|date=2006|publisher=Abya Yala [u.a.]|location=Quito|isbn=9789978225943|edition=2.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzK1X6_QaIAC&dq=Paqarina&pg=PA60|accessdate=27 September 2015|language=Spanish}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Inca mythology]]

{{Pre-columbian-stub}}

Paqarina

2022-12-16T01:58:25Z

Huhsunqu:

'''Paqarina''' is a [[quechuan languages|quechua]] term that ancient [[Andean]]s used to describe the place of origin, and final destination, of their ancestors.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tamara L. Bray|title=Archaeology of Wak'as: Explorations of the Sacred in the Pre-Columbian Andes|date=2014|publisher=University Press of Colorado|isbn=9781492012702|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4iKBgAAQBAJ&dq=Paqarina&pg=PT483|accessdate=27 September 2015}}</ref> ''Paqarinas'' were associated with physical landmarks such as holes in the ground or lakes. In [[Incan]] mythology the word also describes a type of "portal" through which the forces of life and death flow.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lajo|first1=Javier|title=Qhapaq ñan : la ruta inka de sabiduría|date=2006|publisher=Abya Yala [u.a.]|location=Quito|isbn=9789978225943|edition=2.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzK1X6_QaIAC&dq=Paqarina&pg=PA60|accessdate=27 September 2015|language=Spanish}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Inca mythology]]

{{Pre-columbian-stub}}

Aceramic

2022-03-26T12:03:53Z

Huhsunqu:

'''Aceramic''' is defined as "not producing pottery". In [[archaeology]], the term means "without [[pottery]]".

Aceramic societies usually used bark, basketry, gourds and leather for containers.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.archaeologywordsmith.com/lookup.php?terms=aceramic|title = Archaeology Wordsmith|website = www.archaeologywordsmith.com|access-date = 2016-03-07}}</ref> It is sometimes used to refer to a specific early [[Neolithic]] period before a culture develops [[Pottery|ceramics]], such as the Middle Eastern [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]], in which case it is a synonym of '''preceramic''' (or '''pre-pottery''').

It should be distinguished from the specific term '''Pre-Ceramic''', which is a period in many chronologies of the [[archaeology of the Americas]], typically showing some [[agriculture]] and developed [[textile]]s but no fired [[pottery]]. For example, in the [[Norte Chico civilization]] and other cultures of [[Peru]], the cultivation of [[cotton]] seems to have been very important in economic and power relations, from around 3200 BC. Here, [[Cotton Pre-Ceramic]] may be used as a period. The [[Andean preceramic|Pre-Ceramic]] may be followed by "Ceramic" periods or a [[formative stage]].<ref>Stone-Miller, Rebecca, ''Art of the Andes'', pp. 7, 18-23, 2002 (2nd edn), Thames & Hudson, World of Art series, {{ISBN|0500203636}}</ref>

"Aceramic" is also used to describe a culture at any time prior to its development of pottery as well as cultures that lack pottery altogether. A '''preceramic''' period is traditionally regarded as occurring in the early stage of the [[Neolithic]] period of a culture, but recent findings in Japan and China have pushed the origin of ceramic technology there well back into the [[Paleolithic]] era.

The Aceramic Neolithic period began roughly around 8500 BC and can be identified with over a half a dozen sites. The period was most prominent in Western Asia in an economy based on the cultivation of crops or the rearing of animals or both. Aceramic Neolithic groups are more rare outside Western Asia.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.archaeologywordsmith.com/lookup.php?terms=aceramic|title = Archaeology Wordsmith|website = www.archaeologywordsmith.com|access-date = 2016-03-07}}</ref> Aceramic Neolithic villages had many attributes of agricultural communities: large settlement size, substantial architecture, long settlement duration, intensive harvesting of seeds with sickles, equipment and facilities for storing and grinding seeds, and containers. Morphological evidence for domestication of plants comes only from Middle PPNB ([[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]]), and by Late PPNB some animals, notably goats, were domesticated or at least managed in most of the sites.<ref>{{Cite book|last = Banning|first = Edward|date = 2002-01-01|publisher = Springer US|isbn = 9781468471359|editor-last = Peregrine|editor-first = Peter N.|pages = 1–20|language = en|doi = 10.1007/978-1-4615-0023-0_1|editor-last2 = Ember|editor-first2 = Melvin|title = Encyclopedia of Prehistory|chapter = Aceramic Neolithic}}</ref>

== Sites ==
Some of the most famous Aceramic sites are located in the [[Republic of Cyprus]]. There was an Early Aceramic Neolithic phase beginning around 8200 BC. The phase can be best thought of as a "colony", or initial settlement of the island.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/nehinterns/cypriote/akrotiri-neolithic.html|title = Untitled Document|website = www.brynmawr.edu|access-date = 2016-03-07|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131020032818/http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/nehinterns/cypriote/akrotiri-neolithic.html|archive-date = 2013-10-20|url-status = dead}}</ref> Until the relatively recent discoveries of the Akrotiri and the Early Aceramic Neolithic phases, the Aceramic Neolithic culture known as the Khirokitia culture was thought to be the earliest human settlement on Cyprus, from 7000 to 5000 BC.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/nehinterns/cypriote/aceramicneolithic.html|title = Untitled Document|website = www.brynmawr.edu|access-date = 2016-03-07|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160405134242/http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/nehinterns/cypriote/aceramicneolithic.html|archive-date = 2016-04-05|url-status = dead}}</ref> There are a number of Late Aceramic Neolithic sites throughout the island. The two most important are called Khirokitia and Kalavasos-Tenta. Late Aceramic Cyprus did not have much external contact because of a lack of settlement in the west or northwest during the period. However, Late Aceramic Cyprus was a well-structured society.

==See also==
*[[Khirokitia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Neolithic]]
[[Category:Social sciences terminology]]

1st millennium

2022-03-25T23:29:56Z

Huhsunqu: /* Inventions, discoveries, introductions */

{{short description|Millennium spanning the years 0 to 1000}}
{{Millenniumbox|1}}
<imagemap>File:1st millennium montage.png|From left, clockwise: Depiction of [[Jesus]], the central figure in [[Christianity]]; The [[Colosseum]], a landmark of the once-mighty [[Roman Empire]]; [[Kaaba]], the [[Great Mosque of Mecca]], the holiest site of [[Islam]]; [[Chess]], a new board game, becomes popular around the globe; The [[Western Roman Empire]] falls, ushering in the [[Early Middle Ages]]; The skeletal remains of a young woman, known as the "ring lady", killed by the eruption of [[Mount Vesuvius]] in AD 79; [[Attila the Hun]], leader of the [[Hun Empire|Hunnic Empire]], which takes most of [[Eastern Europe]] (Background: Reproduction of ancient mural from [[Teotihuacan]], National Museum of Anthropology, [[Mexico City]])|400px|thumb
rect 9 6 182 173 [[Jesus Christ]]
rect 192 5 411 169 [[Roman Empire]]
rect 420 16 560 101 [[Great Mosque of Mecca]]
rect 416 112 561 212 [[Chess]]
rect 13 189 171 356 [[Attila the Hun]]
rect 184 177 308 346 [[Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD]]
rect 313 222 559 352 [[Early Middle Ages]]
rect 1 1 566 394 [[Teotihuacan]]
rect 1 1 566 394 [[Pilate's court]]
</imagemap>

[[File:World in 1 CE.png|thumb|400px|Map of the world in 1 AD, at the beginning of the new millennium.]]

The '''first millennium''' of the [[anno Domini]] or [[Common Era]] was a [[millennium]] spanning the years [[AD 1|1]] to [[AD 1000|1000]] ([[1st century|1st]] to [[10th century|10th]] centuries; in astronomy: [[Julian day|JD]] {{val|1721425.5|fmt=gaps}} – {{val|2086667.5|fmt=gaps}}<ref>[https://keisan.casio.com/exec/system/1227779487 Julian Day Number from Date Calculator (casio.com)]</ref>). The [[World population estimates|world population]] rose more slowly than during the [[1st millennium BC|preceding millennium]], from about 200 million in the year AD 1 to about 300 million in the year 1000.<ref name=HYDE2011>Klein Goldewijk, K. , A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011). The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years, Global Ecology and Biogeography20(1): 73-86. {{doi|10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00587.x}} ([http://themasites.pbl.nl/tridion/en/themasites/hyde/download/index-2.html pbl.nl]).
Goldewijk et al. (2011) estimate 188 million as of the year 1, citing a literature range of 170 million (low) to 300 million (high).
Out of the estimated 188 million, 116 million are estimated for Asia ([[East Asia]], [[South Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]], and [[Central Asia]], excluding [[Western Asia]]),
44 million for Europe and the [[Near East]], 15 million for Africa (including [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]] and [[Africa (Roman province)|Roman North Africa]]), 12 million for [[Mesoamerica]] and South America. North America and Oceania were at or below one million.
For 1000, they estimate the world population at 295 million .
[ftp://ftp.pbl.nl/hyde/hyde3.1/supplementary/population/][ftp://ftp.pbl.nl/hyde/hyde3.1/supplementary/population/figure_1a.jpg]
</ref>

In Western Eurasia ([[Europe]] and [[Near East]]), the first millennium was a time of great transition from [[Classical Antiquity]] to the [[Middle Ages]]. The 1st century saw the peak of the [[Roman Empire]], followed by its gradual decline during the period of [[Late Antiquity]], the rise of [[Christianity]] and the [[Migration Period|Great Migrations]]. The second half of the millennium is characterized as the [[Early Middle Ages]] in Europe, and marked by the [[Viking Age|Viking expansion]] in the west, the rise of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in the east.

In [[East Asia]], the first millennium was also a time of great cultural advances, notably the [[spread of Buddhism]] to East Asia. In [[History of China|China]], the [[Han dynasty]] is replaced by the [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]] and later the [[Tang dynasty]] until the 10th century sees renewed fragmentation in the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]]. In [[History of Japan|Japan]], a sharp increase in population followed when farmers' use of iron tools increased their productivity and crop yields. The [[Kofun period#Yamato court|Yamato court]] was established. The North [[Indian subcontinent]] was divided among [[Middle kingdoms of India|numerous kingdoms]] throughout the first millennium, until the formation of the [[Gupta Empire]]. [[Islam]] expanded rapidly from [[Arabia]] to western Asia, India, North Africa and the [[Iberian peninsula]], culminating in the [[Islamic Golden Age]] (700–1200).

In [[Mesoamerica]], the first millennium was a period of enormous growth known as the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Classic Era]] (200–900). [[Teotihuacan]] grew into a metropolis and its empire dominated Mesoamerica. In [[South America]], pre-Incan, [[Moche (culture)|coastal]] [[Nazca|cultures]] flourished, producing impressive metalwork and some of the finest pottery seen in the ancient world.
In [[North America]], the [[Mississippian culture]] rose at the end of the millennium in the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Ohio River|Ohio]] river valleys. Numerous cities were built; [[Cahokia]], the largest, was based in present-day [[Illinois]]. The construction of [[Monks Mound]] at Cahokia was begun in 900–950.

In [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], the [[Bantu expansion]] reaches [[Southern Africa]] by about the 5th century.
The [[trans Saharan slave trade]] spans the [[Sahara]] and the [[Swahili coast]] by the 9th century.

==Civilizations, kingdoms and dynasties==
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Kingdoms and civilizations of the 1st millennium AD'''
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Africa
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Asia / Oceania
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Europe
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Pre-Columbian Americas
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|
;North Africa
*[[Roman Empire|Roman]]/[[Byzantine Empire]] (31 BC–698)
*[[Vandal kingdom]] (435–534)
*[[Rashidun Caliphate]] (632–661)
*[[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750)
*[[Abbasid Caliphate]] (750–1258)
*[[Idrisid dynasty]] (788–974)
*[[Fatimid Caliphate]] (909–1171)

;East Africa
*[[Himyarite Kingdom]] (110 BC – 940)
*[[Kingdom of Aksum]] (c. 100–940)
*[[Christian Nubia]] (c. 350–1500)
*[[Savanna Pastoral Neolithic]] (before c. 700)
*[[Bantu expansion]]
*[[Iron metallurgy in Africa|Pastoral Iron Age]] (after c. 700)
* [[Sultanate of Ifat]] (940–1415)

;Sahara / West Africa
*[[Pastoral Neolithic]]
*[[Ghana Empire]] (790–1240)
*[[Kanem Empire]] (c. 700–)
*[[Kingdom of Nri]] (948–)

;Central / Southern Africa
*[[Bantu expansion]]
*[[Late Stone Age]] rock art:
**[[Bidzar]] (Cameroon)
**[[Matobo National Park]] rock art (Zimbabwe)
**[[Nyero rock paintings]] (Uganda)

|
;West Asia
*[[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] (331 BC – AD 428)
*[[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Iberia]] (302 BC – AD 580)
*[[Parthian Empire]] (247 BC – AD 224)
*[[Roman Empire|Roman]]/[[Byzantine Empire]] (27 BC – 1453)
*[[Sassanid Empire]] (226–651)
*[[Principality of Iberia]] (588–888)
*[[Rashidun Caliphate]] (632–661)
*[[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750)
*[[Abbasid Caliphate]] (750–1258)
*[[Principality of Tao-Klarjeti]] (813–1008)

;East Asia
*[[Han dynasty]] (206 BC – AD 220)
*[[Goguryeo]] (37 BC – AD 668)
*[[Buyeo kingdom|Buyeo]] (150 BC - AD 494)
*[[Baekje]] (18 BC - AD 660)
*[[Silla]] (57 BC - AD 935)
*[[Jin dynasty (266–420)]]
*[[Three Kingdoms]] (220–280)
*[[Sixteen Kingdoms]] (304–439)
*[[Northern and Southern dynasties]] (420–589)
*[[Sui dynasty]] (581–618)
*[[Tang dynasty]] (618–907)
*[[Balhae]] (698–926)
*[[Liao dynasty]] (907–1125)
*[[Song dynasty]] (960–1279)

;Central Asia
{{see|Cities along the Silk Road|Silk Road transmission of Buddhism}}
*[[Zhangzhung]] (–625)
*[[Xiongnu]] (1st century)
*[[Kushan Empire]] (30–375)
*[[Xianbei state]] ([[Mongols]]) (–234)
*[[Hephthalite Empire]] (440s–670)
*[[Rouran Khaganate]] (330–555)
*[[Yenisei Kyrgyz]] (539–1219)
*[[Göktürks]] (552–744)
*[[Tibetan Empire]] (618–842)
*[[Volga Bulgaria]] (660-1240)
*[[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]] (673–751)
*[[Uyghur Khaganate]] (744–840)
*[[Oghuz Yabgu State]] (766–1055)
*[[Kimek–Kipchak confederation]] (880–1200)

;South Asia
*[[Indo-Scythians]] (c. 150 BC – 400)
*[[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]] (12 BC – 130)
*[[Kushan Empire]] (30–375)
*[[Gupta Empire]] (280–590)
*[[Varman dynasty]] (350–655)
*[[Pushyabhuti dynasty]] (500–647)
*[[Maukhari dynasty]] (550–800)
*[[Kalachuri dynasty]] (550–625)
*[[Later Gupta dynasty|Later Guptas]] (590–700)
*[[Rashtrakuta dynasty]] (753–982)
*[[Chola dynasty]] (300–1279)
*[[Pala Empire]] (750–1162)

;Southeast Asia
{{see|Indianization of Southeast Asia}}
*[[Srivijaya]] (650–1377)
;Oceania
*[[Austronesian expansion]]
*[[Tuʻi Tonga Empire]] (950s–1865)

|
;Southeastern Europe
*[[Roman Empire|Roman]]/[[Byzantine Empire]] (27 BC – 1453) 
*[[ Slavic invasion of the Balkans|Slavic expansion]] (500–800)
*[[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] (682–1018)
;Italy
*[[Roman Empire]] (27 BC – 480)
*[[Byzantine Empire]] (584–1071) 
*[[Kingdom of the Lombards]] (568–774)
*[[Republic of Venice]] (697-)
*[[Carolingian Empire]] (751-843)
*[[Papal States]] (754–)
*[[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Holy Roman Empire]] (962–1806)

;Iberia
*[[Roman Empire]] (27 BC – 480)
*[[Kingdom of the Suebi]] (409–585)
*[[Visigothic Kingdom]] (418–720)
*[[Emirate of Córdoba]] (756–929)
*[[Kingdom of Asturias]] (720–910)
*[[Kingdom of León]] (910–1230)

;Western / Central Europe
*[[Migration Period|Germanic expansion]] (c. 100 BC – AD 400)
*[[Roman Empire]] (27 BC – 480)
*[[History of Ireland (400–800)|Early Christian Ireland]] (400–800)
*[[Sub-Roman Britain]] (410-597)
*[[Anglo-Saxon England]] (c. 500–1066)
*[[Merovingian dynasty|Francia]] (511–751)
*[[Duchy of Bavaria]] (555–)
*[[Samo's Empire]] (631–658)
*[[Carolingian Empire]] (751-843)
*[[Great Moravia]] (833-907)
*[[West Francia]] (843–987)
*[[East Francia]] (843–962)
*[[Duchy of Bohemia]] (870–1198)
*[[Principality of Hungary]] (895-1000)
*[[Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102)|Kingdom of Croatia]] (925–)
*[[Kingdom of England]] (927–)
*[[Holy Roman Empire]] (962–1806)
*[[Capetian France]] (987–)

;Eastern Europe
*[[Sarmatia]] (c. 467 BC – AD 370)
*[[Bosporan Kingdom]] (438 BC – AD 370)
*[[Roman Crimea]] (47 BC – AD 340)
*[[Goths]] (c. 200–370)
*[[Alans]] (c. 200–370)
*[[Hunnic Empire]] (370s–469)
*[[First Turkic Khaganate]] (6th century)
*[[Avar Khaganate]] (567 – after 822)
*[[Khazar Khaganate]] (650–969)
*[[Volga Bulgaria]] (660-1240)
*[[Kievan Rus']] (882–1240)

;Northern Europe
*[[Roman Iron Age]] (1–500)
*[[Vendel Period]] (550–790)
*[[Viking Age]] (790–1066)
*[[Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)|Kingdom of Norway]] (872–)

|
;Mesoamerica
*[[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]]
*[[Maya civilization]] (250–900)
*[[Teotihuacan]] (550–)
*[[Toltec]] (c. 900–1168)
*[[Teuchitlan tradition|Teuchitlan]]
*[[Calakmul|Kaan Kingdom]]

;South America
*[[Lima culture]] (c. 100–650)
*[[Moche culture]] (c. 100–700)
*[[Tiwanaku empire]] (c. 300–1150)
*[[Wari culture]] (c. 500–1000)
*[[Kingdom of Quito|Cara culture]] (c. 800 – ?)
*[[Tairona]] (c. 900 – ?)

;North America
*[[Woodland period]]
**[[Hopewell tradition]]
**[[Baytown culture]]
**[[Plum Bayou culture]]
**[[Troyville culture]]
*[[Mississippian culture]] (c. 800–1600)
*[[Dorset culture]]
*[[Thule people|Thule tradition]]
*[[Eastern Settlement|Norse Greendland]] (985 – 15th century)

|}

==Events==
''The events in this section are organized according to the [[United Nations geoscheme]]''
{| class="wikitable"
|+Events and trends of the 1st millennium AD
! style="width:10%;text-align:center;"| 
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Africa
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Americas
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Asia
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Europe
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Oceania
|- style="text-align:left;"
! [[1st century]]
|'''[[AD 70]]''' [[Amanikhatashan|Kandake Amanikhatashan]] sends Kushite cavalry to aid Roman Emperor in Jerusalem revolt<ref>Jr Ph D Grant Bishop Williams(2009). Abraham's Other Sons. AuthorHouse: pp. 50,51. {{ISBN|9781438997094}}</ref> '''[[AD 100]]''' rise of the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] '''[[AD 100]]''' Khoekhoe reach southern coast of Africa<ref>Ehret, Christopher (2002). The Civilizations of Africa. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, p. 177, {{ISBN|0-8139-2085-X}}.</ref>
|'''[[AD 1]]''' [[Cahuachi]] established<ref name=Americas200>{{cite web |title=World Timeline of the Americas 200 BC - AD 600 |publisher=The British Museum |year=2005 |url=http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/200BC-AD600 |access-date=2009-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227042137/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/200BC-AD600 |archive-date=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''[[AD 50]]''' [[Pyramid of the Sun]] began<ref name = Americas200/>
| '''[[AD 25]]''' [[Han Dynasty]] reestablished under [[Emperor Guangwu of Han|Guangwu]] '''[[AD 33]]''' [[early Christianity|Christianity begins]] '''[[AD 70]]''' [[Jewish diaspora]] 
|'''[[AD 9]]''' Rhine established as boundary between Rome and Germany<ref name=europe200>{{cite web |title=World Timeline of Europe 200 BC-AD 400 Roman |publisher=The British Museum |year=2005 |url=http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/europe/200BC-AD400 |access-date=2009-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313034346/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/europe/200BC-AD400 |archive-date=2009-03-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''[[AD 47]]''' [[Roman London|London]] founded '''[[AD 58]]''' Alpes Cottiae becomes a Roman province<ref name = europe200/> '''[[AD 79]]''' [[Pompeii|Pompeii destroyed]]
|'''[[AD 1]]''' [[Caroline Islands|Caroline Islands colonized]]<ref name=oceania1500>{{cite web |title=World Timeline of the Oceania 1500 BC-AD 1 |publisher=The British Museum |year=2005 |url=http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/oceania/1500BC-AD1 |access-date=2009-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121015652/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/oceania/1500BC-AD1 |archive-date=2008-11-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[2nd century]] 
|'''[[AD 150|150]]''' Rhapta, hint of pre-[[Swahili people|Swahili]], [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]] '''[[200]]''' [[Bantu expansion|Bantu reach east Africa]]<ref name=africa332>{{cite web |title=World Timeline of Africa 332 BC-AD 400 |publisher=The British Museum |year=2005 |url=http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/africa/332BC-AD400 |access-date=2009-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224122826/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/africa/332BC-AD400 |archive-date=2009-02-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''[[200]]''' [[Nok culture]] ends
|'''[[AD 150|150]]''' [[Cahuachi]] becomes dominant ceremonial site in southern Peru<ref name = Americas200/>
|'''[[184]]''' [[Yellow Turban Rebellion]]
|'''[[AD 106|106]]''' Dacia becomes a Roman province<ref name = europe200/> '''[[166]]''' Siege of Aquileia<ref name = europe200/> '''[[180]]''' End of the Macromannic Wars<ref name = europe200/>
| 
|- style="text-align:left;"
! style="width:10%;text-align:center;"| 
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Africa
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Americas
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Asia
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Europe
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Oceania
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[3rd century]] 
| '''[[212]]''' Egyptians granted Roman citizenship<ref name = africa332/> '''[[230]]''' [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] wars with [[Himyar]] and [[Sabaean|Saba]] alliance '''[[300]]''' [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] prints own coins
|'''[[250]]''' Rise of [[Laguna de los Cerros]] '''[[292]]''' [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar|Stela 29 inscribed]]<ref name = Americas200 /> '''[[300]]''' Tikàl conquers El Mirador<ref name = Americas200/>
|'''[[208]]''' [[Battle of Red Cliffs]] during the [[end of the Han Dynasty|decline of the Han Dynasty]] '''[[280]]''' [[Conquest of Wu by Jin|Jin reunifies China]]
|'''[[212]]''' Roman citizenship extended to all free people in the empire<ref name = europe200/> '''[[214]]''' Hispania divided into Gallaecia, Tarraconensis, Baetica and Lusitania<ref name = europe200/> '''[[286]]''' Diocletian divides the empire East and West<ref name = europe200/>
|'''[[300]]''' [[Tahiti|Eastern Polynesian culture develops]]<ref name = oceania1>{{cite web | title = World Timeline of Oceania AD 1-1100 | publisher = The British Museum | year = 2005 | url = http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/oceania/AD1-1100 | access-date = 2009-04-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090529171108/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/oceania/AD1-1100 | archive-date = 2009-05-29 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[4th century]] 
|'''[[333]]''' [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] converts to Christianity '''[[350]]''' [[Meroe|Meroe comes to an end ]]<ref name = africa332/> '''[[350]]''' King of Anwar, Kaja Maja
|'''[[378]]''' [[Teotihuacan]] conquers [[El Perú (Maya site)|Waka]], [[Tikal]], and [[Uaxactun]], the beginning of its conquest of the [[Maya civilization|Maya]]<ref name="ngm.nationalgeographic.com">{{Cite web|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2007/08/maya-rise-fall/gugliotta-text|title = National Geographic Magazine}}</ref>
|'''[[319]]''' Rise of [[Gupta Empire]] in South Asia '''[[AD 383|383]]''' [[Battle of Fei River]] '''[[393]]''' Last [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]
|
'''[[313]]''' [[Edict of Milan]]<ref name = europe200/> '''[[370]]''' Huns invade Eastern Europe<ref name = europe200/> '''[[396]]''' Alaric and the Visigoths invade Greece<ref name = europe200/>
| 
|- style="text-align:left;"
! style="width:10%;text-align:center;"| 
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Africa
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Americas
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Asia
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Europe
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Oceania
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[5th century]] 
|'''[[401]]''' c. camel main transport for trans-Sahara '''[[429]]''' [[Vandals#Kingdom in North Africa|Vandal invasion]]<ref name = africa332/> '''[[AD 500|500]]''' [[Nubia]] split into [[Nobadia]], [[Makuria]], [[Alodia]]
| 
|'''[[AD 420|420]]''' [[Southern and Northern Dynasties]] period begins
|'''[[407]]''' Vandals enter Iberia<ref name=europe400>{{cite web|title=World Timeline of Europe AD 400-800 Early medieval |publisher=The British Museum |year=2005 |url=http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/europe/AD400-800 |access-date=2009-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227014820/http://worldtimelines.org.uk/world/europe/AD400-800 |archive-date=27 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''[[421]]''' Romans defeat Persians<ref name = europe400/> '''[[476]]''' [[Decline of the Roman Empire|Fall of Roman Empire]]<ref name = europe400/>
|'''[[AD 500|500]]''' Settlement of [[Hawaii#First human settlement — Ancient Hawaiʻi (800–1778)|Hawaii]], [[Easter Island#History|Easter Island]], [[Society Islands]], [[History of Tuamotu|Tuamotus]] and [[Mangareva]]<ref name = oceania1/>
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[6th century]] 
| '''[[520]]''' [[Kaleb of Axum|Kaleb]] attacks [[Yemen]] '''[[533]]''' [[Belisarius|Belisarius invades Africa]]<ref name = africa332/> '''[[540]]''' Nubia converts to [[monophysite]] Christianity
|'''[[600]]''' [[Wari']] conquer Peru<ref name = Americas600>{{cite web | title = World Timeline of the Americas AD 600-1000 | publisher = The British Museum | year = 2005 | url = http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/AD600-1000 | access-date = 2009-04-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090227034310/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/AD600-1000 | archive-date = 27 February 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> '''[[600]]''' [[Palenque|Construction of Palenque]]<ref name = Americas200/>
|'''[[538]]''' [[Buddhism]] introduced in Japan. '''[[570]]''' Birth of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]]
|'''[[507]]''' Battle of Vouillé<ref name = europe400/> '''[[535]]''' Byzantine army invades Italy<ref name = europe400/> '''[[585]]''' Visigoths conquer Suevi kingdom<ref name = europe400/>
| 
|- style="text-align:left;"
! style="width:10%;text-align:center;"| 
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Africa
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Americas
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Asia
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Europe
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Oceania
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[7th century]] 
|'''[[641]]''' [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Muslims invade Africa]]<ref name=africa600>{{cite web| title= World Timeline of Africa AD 600-1500| publisher= The British Museum| year= 2005| url= http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/africa/AD600-1500| access-date= 2009-04-02| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090313185620/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/africa/AD600-1500| archive-date= 2009-03-13| url-status= dead}}</ref> '''[[690]]''' [[Songhai Empire|Za Dynasty founded]] '''[[697]]''' [[Carthage#Islamic conquests|Carthage destroyed]]<ref name = africa600/>
| '''[[650]]''' Settlement of [[Xochitecatl]] and [[Cacaxtla]]<ref name = Americas600/> '''[[700]]''' [[Teotihuacan]] destroyed<ref name= Americas600/>
|'''[[618]]''' [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] Dynasty [[Transition from Sui to Tang|established]] '''[[632]]''' Rise of [[Islam]] '''[[651]]''' [[Islamic conquest of Persia]]
|c.'''[[680]]''' [[Bulgarian Empire]] is founded
|'''[[700]]''' [[History of the Cook Islands|Settlement of the Cook Islands]]<ref name = oceania1/>
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[8th century]] 
|'''[[702]]''' [[Kingdom of Aksum#Foreign relations, trade, and economy|Aksum attacks Arabia]]<ref name = africa600/> '''[[706]]''' [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Arabic in Egypt]]<ref name = africa600/> '''[[789]]''' [[Idrisid dynasty|Independent Morocco]]<ref name= africa600/>
|'''[[738]]''' [[Quiriguá]] becomes independent of [[Copan]]
'''[[750]]''' [[Sacred Cenote]] built at [[Chichén Itzá]]<ref name= Americas600 /> '''[[780]]''' Murals at [[Bonampak]] abandoned<ref name = Americas600 />
|'''[[738]]''' [[Caliphate campaigns in India]] and invasion of India by [[Umayyad Caliphate]] is averted '''[[755]]''' [[An Lushan Rebellion|An Shi Rebellion]]
|'''[[717]]''' [[Siege of Constantinople]] '''[[718]]''' [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Islamic conquest of Spain]]
| 
|- style="text-align:left;"
! style="width:10%;text-align:center;"| 
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Africa
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Americas
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Asia
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Europe
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Oceania
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[9th century]]  
|'''[[801]]''' c. [[Kanem Empire]] founded '''[[801]]'''c. Aksum declines, capital moved to interior '''[[900]]'''c. Igbo-Ukwu founded<ref>Coquery-Vidrovitch, Catherine. The History of African Cities South of the Sahara. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2005, p. 45, {{ISBN|1-55876-303-1}}</ref>
| 
|'''[[835]]''' [[Ganlu Incident]]
|'''[[872]]''' [[Battle of Hafrsfjord|Norway unites]] c.'''[[874]]''' [[Settlement of Iceland]] '''[[896]]''' [[History of Hungary#Middle Ages (895–1526)|Hungarians invade Carpathia]]
|'''[[900]]''' Settlement of New Zealand<ref name = oceania1/>
|- style="text-align:left;"
![[10th century]] 
|'''[[905]]''' [[Tulunids|Tulunids ejected]]<ref name = africa600/> '''[[909]]''' [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid established]]<ref name = africa600/> '''[[969]]''' [[Fustat|Fustat captured]]<ref name = africa600/>
|'''[[950]]''' [[Great Serpent Mound]] constructed<ref name = Americas600/> '''[[990]]''' Toltecs conquer [[Chichén Itzá]]
|'''[[907]]''' Political upheaval of the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|Five Dynasties]] begins '''[[960]]''' [[Song dynasty]] established
|'''[[958]]''' [[Jelling stones|Denmark unites]] '''[[985]]''' Erik the Red founds colony in Greenland
|'''1000''' Polynesians build stone temples<ref name = oceania1/>
|}

==Inventions, discoveries, introductions==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Inventions, discoveries and introductions
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Communication
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Math and Science
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Agriculture
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Transportation
! style="width:18%;text-align:center;"|Warfare
|- style= style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left;"
|
# [[Woodblock printing]]
# [[Paper]]<ref name=who>{{cite web|title=Who Built it First |work=Ancient Discoveries |publisher=A&E Television Networks |year=2008 |url=http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&display_order=5&content_type_id=60600&mini_id=52979 |access-date=2009-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429202316/http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&display_order=5&content_type_id=60600&mini_id=52979 |archive-date=2009-04-29 |url-status=live }}</ref>
#[[Quipu]]
|
# [[Algebra]]
# [[Ptolemaic system]]
# [[Wootz steel|Steel]]
|
# [[Coffee]]
# [[Hops]]
|
# [[Horseshoe]]
# [[Stirrup]]
# [[Compass|Magnetic compass]]
|
# [[Greek fire]] 
# [[Gunpowder]]<ref name = who/>
|}

==Centuries and decades==
{| cellpadding="3" border="0"
|- style="text-align:right;"
|| '''[[1st century]]'''
|| [[0s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[10s]]
|| [[20s]]
|| [[30s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[40s]]
|| [[50s]]
|| [[60s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[70s]]
|| [[80s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[90s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[2nd century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[100s (decade)|100s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[110s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[120s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[130s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[140s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[150s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[160s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[170s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[180s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[190s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[3rd century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[200s (decade)|200s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[210s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[220s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[230s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[240s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[250s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[260s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[270s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[280s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[290s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[4th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[300s (decade)|300s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[310s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[320s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[330s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[340s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[350s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[360s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[370s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[380s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[390s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[5th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[400s (decade)|400s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[410s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[420s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[430s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[440s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[450s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[460s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[470s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[480s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[490s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[6th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[500s (decade)|500s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[510s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[520s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[530s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[540s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[550s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[560s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[570s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[580s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[590s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[7th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[600s (decade)|600s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[610s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[620s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[630s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[640s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[650s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[660s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[670s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[680s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[690s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[8th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[700s (decade)|700s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[710s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[720s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[730s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[740s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[750s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[760s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[770s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[780s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[790s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[9th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[800s (decade)|800s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[810s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[820s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[830s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[840s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[850s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[860s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[870s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[880s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[890s]]
|-
| style="text-align:right;"| '''[[10th century]]'''
| style="text-align:right;"| [[900s (decade)|900s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[910s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[920s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[930s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[940s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[950s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[960s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[970s]]
| style="text-align:right;"| [[980s]] || style="text-align:right;"| [[990s]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Millennia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1st Millennium}}
[[Category:1st millennium| ]]
[[Category:Millennia]]

Human history

2022-03-24T11:12:35Z

Huhsunqu:

{{about|the history of humanity|the entire history of Earth|History of Earth|the field of historical study|World history|humanity's evolutionary history|Human evolution}}
{{redirect|History of the world}}
{{pp-protected|reason=Persistent vandalism; virtually all edits in the past few weeks have been reversions|small=yes}}
{{short description|Historical development of human civilisation}}

{{Human history}}
[[File:World population growth (lin-log scale).png|thumb|[[World population]], 10,000 BCE – 2,000 CE (vertical population scale is logarithmic)<ref name="USCB_World population estimates" />]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=November 2019}}
'''Human history''' (or '''world history''') is the narrative of [[Human|humanity]]'s past. It is understood through [[archaeology]], [[anthropology]], [[genetics]], [[linguistics]], and (since the [[History of writing|advent of writing]]) [[primary source|primary]] and [[secondary source]] documents.

Humanity's written history was preceded by its [[prehistory]], beginning with the [[Palaeolithic]] ("Old Stone Age") era. This was followed by the [[Neolithic]] ("New Stone Age") era, which saw the [[Neolithic Revolution|Agricultural Revolution]] begin in the [[Near East]]'s [[Fertile Crescent]] between 10,000 and 5,000 [[Common Era|BCE]]. During this period, humans began the systematic [[Agriculture|husbandry]] of plants and animals.{{sfn|Tudge|1998|pp=30–31}} As agriculture advanced, most humans transitioned from a [[nomad]]ic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in [[civilization|permanent settlements]]. The relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in [[history of transport|transportation]].

Whether in prehistoric or historic times, people always needed to be near reliable sources of [[drinking water]]. Settlements developed as early as 4,000 BCE in [[Jiroft culture|Iran]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Muscarella|first=Oscar White|chapter=Jiroft and 'Jiroft-Aratta': A Review Article of Yousef Madjidzadeh, Jiroft: The Earliest Oriental Civilization|date=2013-01-01|title=Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East|pages=485–522|publisher=BRILL|doi=10.1163/9789004236691_016|isbn=978-90-04-23669-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Muscarella, Oscar White.|title=Archaeology, artifacts and antiquities of the ancient Near East : sites, cultures, and proveniences|date=2013|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-23669-1|oclc=848917597}}</ref><ref>Maǧīdzāda, Y. (2003). Jiroft: The earliest oriental civilization. Tehran: Organization of the Ministry of Culture ans Islamic Guidance.</ref><ref name="people.cn">[http://en.people.cn/90001/90782/90874/6236885.html People, "New evidence: modern civilization began in Iran", 10 Aug 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224223600/http://en.people.cn/90001/90782/90874/6236885.html |date=24 February 2021 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref><ref name="xinhuaciv">[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/10/content_6508609.htm Xinhua, "New evidence: modern civilization began in Iran"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123142419/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/10/content_6508609.htm |date=23 November 2016 }}, xinhuanet.com, 10 August 2007</ref> [[Mesopotamia]],{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=13–15}} the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus River valley]] on the Indian subcontinent,{{sfn|Chakrabarti|2004|p=11}} as well as on the banks of [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]'s [[Nile River]]{{sfn|Baines|Malek|2000|p=8}}{{sfn|Bard|2000|pp=64–65}}, along [[List of rivers of China|China's rivers]]{{sfn|Lee|2002|pp=15–42}}{{sfn|Teeple|2006|pp=14–20}} and the short rivers that flow from the [[Andean civilization|Andes]] in the central coast of [[Peru]]. As farming developed, [[Cereal|grain agriculture]] became more sophisticated and prompted a [[division of labour]] to store food between growing seasons. Labour divisions led to the rise of a leisured [[upper class]] and the development of [[cities]], which provided [[Cradle of civilization|the foundation]] for [[civilization]]. The growing complexity of human societies necessitated systems of [[accounting]] and writing. [[Hinduism]] developed in the late [[Bronze Age]] on the Indian subcontinent. The [[Axial Age]] witnessed the introduction of religions such as [[Buddhism]], [[Taoism]], [[Confucianism]], and [[Jainism]].

With civilizations flourishing, [[ancient history]] ("[[Late antiquity|Antiquity]]," including the [[Classical Age]] and [[Golden Age of India]],{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=161}} up to about 500 CE){{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=12}} saw the rise and fall of empires. [[Post-classical history]] (the "[[Middle Ages]]," {{Circa}} 500–1500 CE){{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=14}} witnessed the rise of [[Christianity]], the [[Islamic Golden Age]] (c. 750 CE – c. 1258 CE), and the [[Timurid Renaissance|Timurid]] and [[Renaissance|European]] renaissances (from around 1300 CE). The mid-15th-century introduction of [[movable-type printing]] in Europe{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=63}} revolutionized communication and facilitated ever wider dissemination of information, hastening the end of the Middle Ages and ushering in the [[Scientific Revolution]].{{sfn|Grant|2006|p=53}} The [[early modern period]], sometimes referred to as the "European Age and [[Gunpowder empires|Age of the Islamic Gunpowders]]",{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=535}} from about 1500 to 1800,{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2008|p=595}} included the [[Age of Discovery]] and the [[Age of Enlightenment]]. By the 18th century, the accumulation of knowledge and technology had reached a [[Critical mass (sociodynamics)|critical mass]] that brought about the [[Industrial Revolution]]{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=712–714}} and began the [[late modern period]], which started around 1800 and continues through the present.{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=14}}

This scheme of historical [[periodization]] (dividing history into Antiquity, Post-Classical, Early Modern, and Late Modern periods) was developed for, and applies best to, the history of the [[Old World]], particularly Europe and the Mediterranean. Outside this region, including [[History of China|Chinese]] and [[History of India|Indian]] civilizations, historical timelines unfolded differently up to the 18th century. By this time, due to extensive [[International trade|world trade]] and [[colonization]], the histories of most civilizations had become substantially intertwined. In the last quarter-millennium, the rates of growth [[Population growth|of population]], knowledge, technology, communications, commerce, weapon destructiveness, and environmental degradation have greatly accelerated, creating unprecedented opportunities and perils that now confront humanity.{{sfn|Baten|2016|pp=1–13}}

{{TOC limit|3}}

==Prehistory ({{circa}} 3.3 million years ago to {{circa}} 5000 years ago)==
{{Main|Prehistory|Human evolution|Timeline of prehistory}}

===Early humans===

[[Molecular clock|Genetic]] measurements indicate that the ape lineage which would lead to ''Homo sapiens'' diverged from the lineage that would lead to [[chimpanzee]]s and [[bonobo]]s, the closest living relatives of modern humans, around 4.6 to 6.2 million years ago.{{sfn|Chen|Li|2001|pp=444–456}} [[Early modern human|Anatomically modern human]]s arose in Africa about 300,000 years ago,<ref name="Smithsonian Institution" /> and achieved [[behavioral modernity]] about 50,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Klein|first=Richard G.|date=June 1995|title=Anatomy, Behavior, and Modern Human Origins|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|volume=9|issue=2|pages=167–98|doi=10.1007/BF02221838|s2cid=10402296|issn=0892-7537}}</ref>

[[File:Lascaux2.jpg|thumb|left|Cave painting, [[Lascaux|Lascaux, France]], c. 15,000 BCE]]

The [[Paleolithic]] period began with the advent of [[Hominidae|hominid]] tool use.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Christian|first1= David|title= Big History: Between Nothing and Everything|date= 2014|publisher= McGraw Hill Education|location= New York|page= 93}}</ref> Hominids, such as ''[[Homo erectus]]'' had used simple wood and stone tools for [[Millennium|millennia]], but as time progressed, tools became far more refined and complex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnston |first1=William |date=March 1922 |title=The Evolution of Tools and Implements |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2993010 |journal=[[The American Midland Naturalist]] |volume=8 |issue= 2|pages=49–60 |doi= 10.2307/2993010|jstor=2993010 |access-date=}}</ref> Perhaps as early as 1.8 million years ago, but certainly by 500,000 years ago, humans [[Control of fire by early humans|began to use fire]] for heat and cooking.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=17}} The Paleolithic also saw humans [[Origin of language|develop language]],{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=20–21}} as well as a conceptual repertoire that included both the systematic burial of the dead and adornment of the living. Signs of early artistic expression can be found in the form of [[cave painting]]s and [[sculpture]]s made from ivory, stone, and bone, implying a form of spirituality; generally interpreted as either [[animism]] or [[shamanism]].{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=32–33}} Paleolithic humans lived as [[hunter-gatherer]]s, and were generally [[nomad]]ic.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=30–31}} Archaeological and genetic data suggest that source populations of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers lived in sparsely wooded areas and dispersed through areas of high [[primary production]] while avoiding dense forest cover.<ref name="Gavashelishvili23" />

[[Anatomically modern humans]] first appeared in Africa approximately 300,000 years ago and [[Recent African origin of modern humans|spread]] rapidly from Africa into the frost-free zones of Europe and Asia around 60,000 years ago.<ref name=Stringer2012>{{Cite journal |last1=Stringer |first1=C. |year=2012 |title=Evolution: What Makes a Modern Human |journal=Nature |volume=485 |issue=7396 |pages=33–35 |doi=10.1038/485033a |pmid=22552077|bibcode=2012Natur.485...33S |s2cid=4420496 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The rapid expansion of humankind to North America and Oceania took place at the climax of the [[Last Glacial Period|most recent ice age]] approximately 25,000 years ago. At the time, temperate regions of today were extremely inhospitable. Yet, by the end of the Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago, humans had colonized nearly all ice-free parts of the globe.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=24–29}}

===Rise of civilization===

Beginning around 10,000 BCE, the [[Neolithic Revolution]] marked the development of [[agriculture]], which fundamentally changed the human lifestyle. [[Cereal|Cereal crop]] cultivation and [[animal domestication]] had occurred in the [[Mesopotamia|Middle East]] by at least 8500 BCE in the form of [[wheat]], [[barley]], [[sheep]], and [[goat]]s.{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=11}} In the [[Indus River Valley|Indus Valley]], crops were cultivated and [[cattle]] were domesticated by 6000 BCE. The [[Yellow River]] valley in China cultivated [[millet]] and other cereal crops by about 7000 BCE; the [[Yangtze]] valley domesticated [[rice]] earlier, by at least 8000 BCE. In the Americas, [[Helianthus|sunflower]]s were cultivated by about 4000 BCE, and [[maize]] and [[bean]]s were domesticated in Central America by 3500 BCE. [[Potato]]es were first cultivated in the Andes Mountains of South America, where the [[llama]] was also domesticated.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=36–37}} [[Metalworking]] was first used in the creation of [[copper]] tools and ornaments around 6000 BCE. [[Gold]] soon followed, primarily for use in ornaments. The need for metal ores stimulated trade, as many areas of early human settlement lacked the necessary ores. The first signs of [[bronze]], an alloy of copper and [[tin]], date to around 2500 BCE, but the alloy did not become widely used until much later.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=42–43}}

Agriculture created food surpluses that could support people not directly engaged in food production,{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=34–35}} permitting far denser populations and the creation of the first [[cities]] and [[State (polity)|states]]. Cities were centres of [[trade]], [[manufacturing]] and [[Power (social and political)|political power]].{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=15}} Cities established a [[symbiosis]] with their surrounding [[Rural area|countrysides]], absorbing agricultural products and providing, in return, manufactured goods and varying degrees of military control and protection. Early [[proto-city|proto-cities]] appeared at [[Jericho]] and [[Çatalhöyük]] around 6000 BCE.{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=13}}

[[File:Sumerian 26th c Adab.jpg|thumb|left|Monumental [[Cuneiform]] [[Epigraphy|inscription]], [[Sumer]], [[Mesopotamia]], 26th century BCE]]
The development of cities was synonymous with the rise of [[civilization]].{{efn|The very word "[[civilization]]" comes from the [[Latin]] ''civilis'', meaning "civil," related to ''civis'' ("citizen") and ''civitas'' ("city" or "city-state").{{sfn|Sullivan|2009|p=73}} }} Early civilizations arose first in Lower [[Mesopotamia]] (3000 BCE),{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=21}}{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=54–55}}{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=53}} followed by [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian civilization]] along the [[Nile|Nile River]] (3000 BCE),{{sfn|Bard|2000|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013}} the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Harappan civilization]] in the Indus River Valley (in present-day India and Pakistan; 2500 BCE),{{sfn|Chakrabarti|2004|pp=10–13}}{{sfn|Allchin|Allchin|1997|pp=153–168}} and [[Ancient China|Chinese civilization]] along the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers (2200 BCE).{{sfn|Lee|2002|pp=15–42}}{{sfn|Teeple|2006|pp=14–20}}

These societies developed a number of unifying characteristics, including a central government, a complex economy and social structure, sophisticated language and writing systems, and distinct cultures and religions. These cultures variously invented the [[wheel]],{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=44}} [[mathematics]],{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=59}} bronze-working, [[sailing]] boats, the [[potter's wheel]], woven cloth, construction of monumental buildings,{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=16}} and [[writing]].{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=18}} Writing facilitated the administration of cities, the expression of ideas, and the preservation of information.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=43–46}} Scholars now recognize that writing may have independently developed in at least four ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia (between 3400 and 3100 BCE), Egypt (around 3250 BCE),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Regulski|first=Ilona|date=2016-05-02|title=The Origins and Early Development of Writing in Egypt|work=Oxford Handbooks Online|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-61|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.013.61|isbn=978-0-19-993541-3|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031145327/https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-61|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Wengrow, David]]. "The Invention of Writing in Egypt", in ''Before the Pyramids: Origin of Egyptian Civilization'', Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, 2011, pp. 99–103.</ref> China (2000 BCE),<ref>James Legge, D.D., translator, "The Shoo King, or the Book of Historical Documents, Volume III, Part I, page 12]. Early Chinese Writing", in ''The World's Writing Systems'', ed. Bright and Daniels, p.191</ref> and lowland [[Mesoamerica]] (by 650 BCE).<ref name="FaganBeck1996">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ystMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA762|title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-19-507618-9|editor=Brian M. Fagan, Charlotte Beck|page=762|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803081325/https://books.google.com/books?id=ystMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA762|url-status=live}}</ref>

Typical of the Neolithic was a tendency to worship [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] [[Deity|deities]]. Entities such as the Sun, Moon, Earth, sky, and sea were often deified.{{sfn|Mercer|1949|p=259}} [[Shrine]]s developed, which evolved into [[temple]] establishments, complete with a complex hierarchy of [[Priest|priests and priestesses]] and other functionaries. Among the earliest surviving written religious scriptures are the Egyptian ''[[Pyramid Texts]]'', the oldest of which date to between 2400 and 2300 BCE.{{sfn|Allen|2007|p=1}}

==Ancient history (3000 BCE to 500 CE)==
{{Main|Ancient history|Timeline of ancient history}}

===Cradles of civilization===
{{Main|Cradle of civilization|Bronze Age|Iron Age}}
[[File:All Gizah Pyramids.jpg|thumb|left|[[Giza pyramid complex|Great Pyramids of Giza]], [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]]]
The Bronze Age is part of the [[three-age system]] ([[Neolithic|Stone Age]], [[Bronze Age]], [[Iron Age]]), a system which effectively describes the early history of [[civilization]] for some parts of the world. The Bronze Age saw the development of [[city-state]]s as well as the emergence of [[Cradle of civilization|first civilizations]]. These settlements were concentrated in fertile river valleys: the [[Tigris–Euphrates river system|Tigris and Euphrates]] in [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Nile]] in [[Egypt]],{{sfn|Buchanan|1979|p=23}} the [[Indus River|Indus]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]],{{sfn|Chakrabarti|2004|pp=10–13}} and the [[Yangtze]] and [[Yellow River]]s in China.

[[Sumer]], located in [[Mesopotamia]], is the first known complex civilization, having developed the first [[city-state]]s in the 4th millennium BCE.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=54–55}} It was in these cities that the earliest known form of writing, [[Cuneiform|cuneiform script]], appeared around 3000 BCE.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=62–63}}{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=53–54}} Cuneiform writing began as a system of [[Pictogram|pictographs]], whose pictorial representations eventually became simplified and more abstract.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=53–54}} Cuneiform texts were written by using a blunt [[Phragmites|reed]] as a [[stylus]] to draw [[symbol]]s upon [[clay tablet]]s.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=62–63}} Writing made the administration of a large state far easier.

Transport was facilitated by waterways—by rivers and seas. The [[Mediterranean Sea]], at the juncture of three continents, fostered the projection of military power and the exchange of goods, ideas, and inventions. This era also saw new land technologies, such as horse-based cavalry and chariots, that allowed armies to move faster.

These developments led to the rise of territorial states and [[empire]]s. In Mesopotamia there prevailed a pattern of independent warring city-states and of a loose hegemony shifting from one city to another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/mesopotamianhistory/index.html |title=Mesopotamian history: the basics |last= |first= |date= |website=oracc.museum.upenn.edu |publisher= |access-date=16 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> In Egypt, by contrast, first there was a dual division into [[Upper and Lower Egypt]] which was shortly followed by unification of all the valley around 3100 BCE, followed by permanent pacification.{{sfn|Bard|2000|pp=57–64}} In Crete the [[Minoan civilization]] had entered the Bronze Age by 2700 BCE and is regarded as the first civilization in Europe.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=76–77}} Over the next millennia, other river valleys saw monarchical empires rise to power.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/a/introduction-what-is-civilization |title=Early civilizations |last1=Elshaikh |first1=Eman |last2=Schroeder |first2=Steven |date= |website=khanacademy.com |publisher=[[Khan Academy]] |access-date=16 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> In the 25th – 21st centuries BCE, the empires of [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]] and [[Neo-Sumerian Empire|Sumer]] arose in [[Mesopotamia]].{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=36–37}}

Over the following millennia, civilizations developed across the world. [[Trade]] increasingly became a source of power as states with access to important resources or controlling important trade routes rose to dominance.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/4823-ancient-trade-changed-world.html |title=How Ancient Trade Changed the World |last=Whipps |first=Heather |date=18 February 2008 |website=livescience.com |publisher=[[Live Science]] |access-date=16 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> By 1600 BCE, [[Mycenaean Greece]] began to develop,{{sfn|Price|Thonemann|2010|p=22}} and ended with the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]] that started to affect many Mediterranean civilizations between 1200 and 1150 BCE. In India, this era was the [[Vedic period]] (1750-600 BCE), which laid the foundations of [[Hinduism]] and other cultural aspects of early Indian society, and ended in the 6th century BCE.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=116–122}} From around 550 BCE, many independent kingdoms and republics known as the [[Mahajanapadas]] were established across the subcontinent.{{sfn|Singh|2008|pp=260–264}}

As complex civilizations arose in the Eastern Hemisphere, the indigenous societies in the [[Americas]] remained relatively simple and fragmented into diverse regional cultures. During the [[formative stage]] in Mesoamerica (about 1500 BCE to 500 CE), more complex and centralized civilizations began to develop, mostly in what is now Mexico, Central America, and Peru. They included civilizations such as the [[Olmecs]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotecs]], [[Moche culture|Moche]], and [[Nazca culture|Nazca]]. They developed agriculture, growing [[maize]], [[chili pepper]]s, [[Cocoa bean|cocoa]], [[tomato]]es, and [[potato]]es, crops unique to the Americas, and creating distinct cultures and religions. These ancient indigenous societies would be greatly affected, for good and ill, by European contact during the early modern period.

===Axial Age===
{{Main|Axial Age|History of philosophy|Timeline of religion|History of religion}}

[[File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]]]

Beginning in the 8th century BCE, the "Axial Age" saw the development of a set of transformative philosophical and religious ideas, mostly independently, in many different places.<ref>{{cite journal |title=What changed during the axial age: Cognitive styles or reward systems? |last1=Baumard |first1=Nicolas |last2=Hyafil |first2=Alexandre |last3=Boyer |first3=Pascal |journal=Communicative & Integrative Biology |date=25 September 2015 |volume=8 |issue=5 |pages=e1046657 |publisher=[[United States National Library of Medicine]] |doi=10.1080/19420889.2015.1046657 |pmid=27066164 |pmc=4802742 |quote=}}</ref> Chinese [[Confucianism]], Indian [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], and [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[monotheism]] are all claimed by some scholars to have developed in the 6th century BCE. ([[Karl Jaspers]]' Axial-Age theory also includes [[Iran|Persia]]n [[Zoroastrianism]], but other scholars dispute his timeline for Zoroastrianism.) In the 5th century BCE, [[Socrates]] and [[Plato]] made substantial advances in the development of [[ancient Greek philosophy]].

In the East, three schools of thought would dominate Chinese thinking well into the 20th century. These were [[Taoism]], [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]], and [[Confucianism]]. The Confucian tradition, which would become particularly dominant, looked for [[Politics|political]] [[morality]] not to the force of law but to the power and example of [[tradition]]. Confucianism would later spread to [[Korea]] and toward [[Japan]].

In the West, the [[ancient Greece|Greek]] philosophical tradition, represented by [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and other philosophers,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=63}} along with accumulated science, technology, and culture, diffused throughout [[Europe]], Egypt, the [[Middle East]], and Northwest India, starting in the 4th century BCE after the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]] of [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedon]].{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=70–71}}

===Regional empires===
{{Main|Civilization|Empire}}
The millennium from 500 BCE to 500 CE saw a series of empires of unprecedented size develop. Well-trained professional armies, unifying ideologies, and advanced bureaucracies created the possibility for emperors to rule over large domains whose populations could attain numbers upwards of tens of millions of subjects.
The great [[empire]]s depended on [[military]] [[annexation]] of territory and on the formation of defended settlements to become agricultural centres. The relative peace that the empires brought encouraged [[international trade]], most notably the massive trade routes in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], the maritime trade web in the Indian Ocean, and the [[Silk Road]]. In southern Europe, the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] (and later the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]), in an era known as "[[classical antiquity]]," established cultures whose practices, laws, and customs are considered the foundation of contemporary [[Western culture]].

[[File:Persepolis The Persian Soldiers.jpg|thumb|[[Persepolis]], [[Achaemenid Empire]], 6th century BCE]]
[[File:Ashoka pillar at Vaishali, Bihar, India.jpg|thumb|[[Pillars of Ashoka|Pillar]] erected by India's Maurya Emperor [[Ashoka]]]]
[[File:Stela aksum.jpg|thumb|[[Obelisk of Axum]], [[Ethiopia]]]]

There were a number of regional empires during this period. The kingdom of the [[Medes]] helped to destroy the [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]] in tandem with the nomadic [[Scythians]] and the [[Babylonia|Babylonians]]. [[Nineveh]], the capital of Assyria, was sacked by the Medes in 612 BCE.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=110}} The [[Medes|Median Empire]] gave way to successive [[History of Iran|Iranian]] empires, including the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (550–330 BCE), the [[Parthian Empire]] (247 BCE–224 CE), and the [[Sasanian Empire]] (224–651 CE).

Several empires began in modern-day Greece. First was the [[Delian League]] (from 477 BCE){{sfn|Martin|2000|pp=106–107}} and the succeeding [[Delian League#The Athenian Empire (454–404 BC)|Athenian Empire]] (454–404 BCE), centered in present-day [[Greece]]. Later, [[Alexander the Great]] (356–323 BCE), of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]], founded an empire of conquest, extending from present-day Greece to present-day India.{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=25}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml|title=Alexander the Great|website=Historic Figures|publisher=BBC|access-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120544/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml|archive-date=19 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The empire divided shortly after his death, but the influence of his [[Hellenization|Hellenistic]] successors made for an extended [[Hellenistic period]] (323–31 BCE)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm|title=Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition|last1=Hemingway|first1=Collette|last2=Hemingway|first2=Seán|date=April 2007|website=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004102824/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm|archive-date=4 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> throughout the region.

In Asia, the [[Maurya Empire]] (322–185 BCE) existed in present-day [[History of India|India]];<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of India |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |publisher=Routledge |year=2004| isbn=978-0-415-32920-0 |edition=4th}}</ref> in the 3rd century BCE, most of [[South Asia]] was united to the Maurya Empire by [[Chandragupta Maurya]] and flourished under [[Ashoka|Ashoka the Great]]. From the 3rd century CE, the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta dynasty]] oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's Golden Age. From the 4th to 6th centuries, northern India was ruled by the [[Gupta Empire]]. In southern India, three prominent [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] kingdoms emerged: the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cera-dynasty |title=Cera Dynasty |last=Pletcher |first=Kenneth |date=8 November 2016 |website=britannica.com |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of South India|last=Nilakanta Sastri |first=K. A. |page=157}}</ref> and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]]. The ensuing stability contributed to heralding in the golden age of [[Hindus|Hindu]] culture in the 4th and 5th centuries.

In Europe, the [[History of the Roman Empire|Roman Empire]], centered in present-day [[Italy]], began in the 7th century BCE.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=106–107}} In the 3rd century BCE the [[Roman Republic]] began expanding its territory through conquest and alliances.{{sfn|Kelly|2007|pp=4–6}} By the time of [[Augustus]] (63 BCE – 14 CE), the first Roman Emperor, Rome had already established dominion over most of the Mediterranean. The empire would continue to grow, controlling much of the land from [[England]] to [[Mesopotamia]], reaching its greatest extent under the emperor [[Trajan]] (died 117 CE). In the 3rd century CE, the empire split into western and eastern regions, with (usually) separate emperors. The Western empire would [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall]], in 476 CE, to German influence under [[Odoacer]]. The eastern empire, now known as the [[Byzantine Empire]], with its capital at [[Constantinople]], would continue for another thousand years, until Constantinople was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453. During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe.<ref>{{Harvnb|Laiou|Morisson|2007|pp=130–131}}; {{Harvnb|Pounds|1979|p=124}}.</ref> And [[Constantinople]] is generally considered to be the center of "[[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox civilization]]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Christianity: Religions of the World|first=Ken |last=Parry|year= 2009| isbn=9781438106397| page =139|publisher=Infobase Publishing|quote= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity|first=Ken|last=Parry|year= 2010| isbn=9781444333619| page =368|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|quote= }}</ref>

In China, the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BCE), the first imperial dynasty of China, was followed by the [[Han dynasty|Han Empire]] (206 BCE – 220 CE). The Han dynasty was comparable in power and influence to the Roman Empire that lay at the other end of the [[Silk Road]]. Han China developed advanced cartography, shipbuilding, and navigation. The Chinese invented [[blast furnace]]s, and created finely tuned copper instruments. As with other empires during the Classical Period, Han China advanced significantly in the areas of government, education, mathematics, astronomy, technology, and many others.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Remaking China's Public Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century |last=Zhou |first=Jinghao |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-275-97882-2 |location=Westport }}</ref>

[[File:Chichén Itzá Mayan observatory.jpg|thumb|[[Maya civilization|Maya]] [[observatory]], [[Chichen Itza]], [[Mexico]]]]

In Africa, the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], centred in present-day Ethiopia, established itself by the 1st century CE as a major trading empire, dominating its neighbours in South [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]] and controlling the [[Red Sea]] trade. It minted its own currency and carved enormous monolithic [[stele]]s such as the [[Obelisk of Axum]] to mark their emperors' graves.

Successful regional empires were also established in the Americas, arising from cultures established as early as 2500 BCE.{{sfn|Fagan|2005|pp=390, 396}} In [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]], vast pre-Columbian societies were built, the most notable being the [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec Empire]] (700 BCE – 1521 CE),<ref>Zapotec civilization has its beginnings in 700 BCE: see {{Cite book|title=Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley|last1=Flannery|first1=Kent V.|last2=Marcus|first2=Joyce|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=1996|isbn=978-0-500-05078-1|location=New York|page=146}} Zapotec civilization ended in 1521 according to the five archaeological stages presented in {{Cite book|title=The Zapotecs: Princes, Priests, and Peasants|last=Whitecotton|first=Joseph W.|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1977|location=Norman|page= 26, LI.1–3|no-pp=y}}</ref> and the [[Maya civilization]], which reached its highest state of development during the Mesoamerican Classic period (c. 250–900 CE),{{sfn|Coe|2011|p=91}} but continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century CE. Maya civilization arose as the [[Olmecs|Olmec]] [[mother culture]] gradually declined. The great Mayan [[city-state]]s slowly rose in number and prominence, and Maya culture spread throughout the [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] and surrounding areas. The later empire of the [[Aztecs]] was built on neighbouring cultures and was influenced by conquered peoples such as the [[Toltec]]s.

Some areas experienced slow but steady technological advances, with important developments such as the [[stirrup]] and [[moldboard plough]] arriving every few centuries. There were, however, in some regions, periods of rapid technological progress. Most important, perhaps, was the [[Hellenistic period]] in the region of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], during which hundreds of technologies were invented.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Camp|first1=John McK.|last2=Dinsmoor|first2=William B.|title=Ancient Athenian building methods|date=1984|publisher=American School of Classical Studies at Athens|series=Excavations of the Athenian Agora|volume=21|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0-87661-626-0|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientathenianb00camp}}</ref> Such periods were followed by periods of technological decay, as during the [[Roman Empire]]'s decline and [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall]] and the ensuing [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] period.

===Declines, falls, and resurgence===
The ancient empires faced common problems associated with maintaining huge armies and supporting a central bureaucracy. These costs fell most heavily on the [[peasant]]ry, while land-owning [[magnate]]s increasingly evaded centralized control and its costs. [[Barbarian]] pressure on the frontiers hastened internal dissolution. [[China]]'s [[Han dynasty]] fell into civil war in 220 CE, beginning the [[Three Kingdoms]] period, while its [[Roman Empire|Roman]] counterpart became increasingly decentralized and divided about the same time in what is known as the [[Crisis of the Third Century]]. The great empires of Eurasia were all located on temperate and subtropical coastal plains. From the [[Central Asia]]n steppes, horse-based nomads, mainly Mongols and Turks, dominated a large part of the continent. The development of the stirrup and the breeding of horses strong enough to carry a fully armed archer made the nomads a constant threat to the more settled civilizations.
[[File:Pantheon Rome 04 2016 6460.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in Rome, Italy, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church]]
The gradual break-up of the [[Roman Empire]], spanning several centuries after the 2nd century CE, coincided with the spread of [[Christianity]] outward from the Middle East.{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=95, 99}} The Western Roman Empire fell under the domination of [[List of ancient Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] in the 5th century,{{sfn|Collins|1999|pp=80–99}} and these [[Polity|polities]] gradually developed into a number of warring states, all associated in one way or another with the [[Catholic Church]].{{sfn|Collins|1999|pp=100–115}} The remaining part of the Roman Empire, in the eastern Mediterranean, continued as what came to be called the Byzantine Empire.{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=97, 103}} Centuries later, a limited unity would be restored to western Europe through the establishment in 962 of a revived "Roman Empire",{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=404}} later called the [[Holy Roman Empire]],{{sfn|Loyn|1991|pp=122–123}} comprising a number of states in what is now Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, and parts of France.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire|last=Whaley|first=Joachim|year=2012 |volume=1 |pages=17–20 }}</ref>{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p=23}}

In China, [[Dynasty|dynasties]] would rise and fall, but, by sharp contrast to the Mediterranean-European world, dynastic unity would be restored. After the fall of the [[Eastern Han dynasty]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html |title=Dynasties of Early Imperial China: Han Dynasty|publisher=Minnesota State University |access-date=18 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710041505/http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html |archive-date=10 July 2009 }}</ref> and the demise of the Three Kingdoms, [[nomad]]ic tribes from the north began to invade in the 4th century, eventually conquering areas of northern China and setting up many small kingdoms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ia601601.us.archive.org/25/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.535974/2015.535974.early-empires.pdf |title=The Early Empires of Central Asia |last=Montgomery McGovern |first=William |date=1884 |website=ia601601.us.archive.org |publisher=[[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The [[Sui dynasty]] successfully reunified the whole of China{{sfn|Gascoigne|2003|pp=90–92}} in 581,{{sfn|Gernet|1996|pp=237–238}} and laid the foundations for a Chinese golden age under the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907).

==Post-classical history (500 CE to 1500 CE)==
{{Main|Post-classical history}}
[[File:Sankore Moske Timboektoe.JPG|thumb|[[University of Timbuktu]], Mali]]
The term "post-classical era", though derived from the Eurocentric name of the era of "[[classical antiquity]]", takes in a broader geographic sweep. The era is commonly dated from the 5th-century [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], which fragmented into many separate kingdoms, some of which would later be confederated under the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The Byzantine Empire survived until late in the post-classical or medieval period.

The post-classical period also encompasses the [[Early Muslim conquests]], the subsequent [[Islamic Golden Age]], and the commencement and expansion of the [[Arab slave trade]], followed by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol invasions]] of the [[Middle East]], [[Central Asia]], and [[Eastern Europe]] and the founding around 1280 of the [[Ottoman Empire]].{{sfn|Shaw|1976|p=13}} [[South Asia]] saw a series of [[middle kingdoms of India]], followed by the establishment of [[Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent|Islamic empires in India]].

In western Africa, the [[Mali Empire]] and the [[Songhai Empire]] developed. On the southeast coast of Africa, Arabic ports were established where [[gold]], [[Spice trade|spices]], and other commodities were traded. This allowed Africa to join the [[Southeast Asia]] trading system, bringing it contact with Asia; this, along with Muslim culture, resulted in the [[Swahili culture]].

[[China]] experienced the successive [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], [[Song dynasty|Song]], [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]], and early [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] dynasties. Middle Eastern trade routes along the Indian Ocean, and the [[Silk Road]] through the Gobi Desert, provided limited economic and cultural contact between Asian and European civilizations.

During the same period, civilizations in the Americas, such as the [[Mississippian culture]], [[Ancestral Puebloans]], [[Wari Empire|Wari]] and [[Inca Empire|Inca]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], and [[Aztecs]], reached their zenith. All would be compromised by, then conquered after, contact with [[European colonization of the Americas|European colonists]] at the beginning of the [[#Modern history|modern period]].

===Greater Middle East===
{{Main|History of the Middle East|History of North Africa|History of Central Asia|History of the Caucasus|Islamic Golden Age}}
Prior to the advent of [[Islam]] in the 7th century, the [[Middle East]] was dominated by the Byzantine Empire and the [[Sasanian Empire]] that frequently fought each other for control of several disputed regions. This was also a cultural battle, with the [[Byzantine culture|Byzantine]] [[Christian culture]] competing against Persian [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] traditions. The birth of the [[History of Islam|Islam]] created a new contender that quickly surpassed both of these empires. The new religion greatly affected the [[political history|political]], [[economic history|economic]], and [[military history]] of the [[Old World]], especially the Middle East.

[[File:Grande Mosquée de Kairouan, vue d'ensemble.jpg|thumb|left|[[Great Mosque of Kairouan]], Tunisia, founded 670 CE]]

From their centre on the [[Arabian Peninsula]], Muslims began their expansion during the early Postclassical Era. By 750 CE, they came to conquer most of the Near East, North Africa, and parts of Europe, ushering in an era of learning, science, and invention known as the [[Islamic Golden Age]]. The knowledge and skills of the ancient Near East, Greece, and Persia were preserved in the Postclassical Era by Muslims, who also added new and important innovations from outside, such as the manufacture of paper from China and decimal positional numbering from India.

Much of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of [[Mecca]] had served as a centre of trade in Arabia, and the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] himself was a merchant. With the new Islamic tradition of the ''[[Hajj]]'', the pilgrimage to Mecca, the city became even more a centre for exchanging goods and ideas. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to the Europeans, Indians, and Chinese, who based their societies on an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their Islamic faith to [[Islam in China|China]], [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]], [[Islam in Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]], and the kingdoms of western [[Islam in Africa|Africa]], and returned with new discoveries and inventions.
[[File:Crac des chevaliers syria.jpeg|thumb|[[Crusading movement|Crusader]] ''[[Krak des Chevaliers]]'', [[Syria]]]]

The [[Crusading movement]] initially developed religious motivations and European expansionism to roll back Muslim territory and regain control of the [[Holy Land]]. It was ultimately unsuccessful and served more to weaken the Byzantine Empire, especially with the 1204 [[Sack of Constantinople]]. The Byzantine Empire began to lose increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Turks. Arab domination of the region ended in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region but were eventually eclipsed by the Turks and the founding of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in modern-day [[Turkey]] around 1280.{{sfn|Shaw|1976|p=13}}

[[North Africa]] saw the rise of polities formed by the [[Berbers]], such as the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid dynasty]] in [[Morocco]], the [[Zayyanid dynasty]] in [[Algeria]], and the [[Hafsid dynasty]] in [[Tunisia]]. The coastal region was known as the [[Barbary Coast]]. Pirates based in North African ports conducted operations that included capturing merchant ships and raiding coastal settlements. Many European captives were sold in North African markets as part of the [[Barbary slave trade]].

Starting with the [[Sui dynasty]] (581–618), the Chinese began expanding into eastern [[Central Asia]], and confronted [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] nomads, who were becoming the most dominant ethnic group in Central Asia.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=113}}{{sfn|Xue|1992|pp=149–152, 257–264}} Originally the relationship was largely cooperative, but in 630 the [[Tang dynasty]] began an offensive against the Turks,{{sfn|Xue|1992|pp=226–227}} capturing areas of the Mongolian Ordos Desert. In the 8th century, Islam began to penetrate the region and soon became the sole faith of most of the population, though Buddhism remained strong in the east.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/buddhism-and-islam-in-asia-a-long-and-complicated-history/ |title=Buddhism and Islam in Asia: A Long and Complicated History |last=Pillalamarri |first=Akhilesh |date=29 October 2017 |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=[[The Diplomat]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The desert nomads of [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] could militarily match the nomads of the steppe, and the early [[Caliphate|Arab Empire]] gained control over parts of Central Asia.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=113}} The [[Hephthalites]] were the most powerful of the nomad groups in the 6th and 7th centuries, and controlled much of the region. In the 9th through 13th centuries the region was divided among several powerful states, including the [[Samanid Empire]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379005 |title=The Islamization of Central Asia in the Sāmānid Era and the Reshaping of the Muslim World |last=Tor |first=Deborah |date=2009 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=279–299 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/S0041977X09000524 |jstor=40379005 |s2cid=153554938 |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk Empire]],{{sfn|Ṭabīb|Faḍlallāh|Nishapuri|Nīšāpūrī|2001|p=9}} and the [[Anushtegin dynasty|Khwarezmid Empire]]. The largest empire to rise out of Central Asia developed when [[Genghis Khan]] united the tribes of Mongolia. The Mongol Empire spread to comprise all of Central Asia and China as well as large parts of Russia and the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-mongol-empire/ |title=The Mongol Empire - Boundless World History |last= |first= |date= |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |publisher= |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref>} After Genghis Khan died in 1227,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=153}} most of Central Asia continued to be dominated by a successor state, [[Chagatai Khanate]]. In 1369, [[Timur]], a Turkic leader in the Mongol military tradition, conquered most of the region and founded the [[Timurid Empire]]. Timur's large empire collapsed soon after his death, however. The region then became divided into smaller khanates that were established by the [[Uzbeks]], including the [[Khanate of Bukhara]] and the [[Khanate of Khiva]].

In the aftermath of the [[Byzantine–Sasanian wars]], the [[Caucasus]] saw [[Armenia]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] flourish as independent realms free from foreign suzerainty. As the Byzantines and Sasanians became exhausted of continuous wars, the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] used the opportunity to expand to the Caucasus during the [[early Muslim conquests]]. By the 13th century, the arrival of the Mongols saw the region invaded once again.

===Europe===
{{main|History of Europe|Christendom|Middle Ages|Timeline of the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Saint Peter's Basilica facade, Rome, Italy.jpg|thumb|[[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]].]]
Since at least the 4th century, [[Christianity]], primarily the [[Roman Catholic Church]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/507284/Roman-Catholicism Roman Catholicism], "Roman Catholicism, Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization". [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Spielvogel |first=Jackson J. |title=Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1715 |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-305-63347-6 |edition=Cengage Learning |page=156}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Neill |first=Thomas Patrick |title=Readings in the History of Western Civilization, Volume 2 |year=1957 |edition=Newman Press |page=224}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Gerald O'Collins|last1=O'Collins|first1=Gerald|title=Catholicism: The Story of Catholic Christianity |year=2003|isbn=978-0-19-925995-3|publisher=Oxford University Press |last2=Farrugia|first2=Maria |page=v (preface)}}</ref> and later [[Protestantism]],<ref>{{cite book |last=McNeill |first=William H. |title=History of Western Civilization: A Handbook |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-226-56162-2 |edition=University of Chicago Press |page=204}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Faltin |first=Lucia |title=The Religious Roots of Contemporary European Identity |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousrootsco00falt |url-access=limited |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8264-9482-5 |edition=A&C Black |author2=Melanie J. Wright |page=[https://archive.org/details/religiousrootsco00falt/page/n99 83]}}</ref> has played a [[Role of Christianity in civilization|prominent role]] in the [[History of Western civilization|shaping of Western civilization]].<ref name="Caltron J.H Hayas">Caltron J.H Hayas, ''Christianity and Western Civilization'' (1953), Stanford University Press, p. 2: That certain distinctive features of our Western civilization—the civilization of western Europe and of America—have been shaped chiefly by Judaeo–Christianity, Catholic and Protestant.</ref><ref name="Orlandis">Jose Orlandis, 1993, "A Short History of the Catholic Church," 2nd edn. (Michael Adams, Trans.), Dublin:Four Courts Press, {{ISBN|1851821252}}, preface, see [https://books.google.com/books?id=KYdbpwAACAAJ], accessed 8 December 2014. p. (preface)</ref><ref name="How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization">[[Thomas E. Woods]] and Antonio Canizares, 2012, "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization," Reprint edn., Washington, D.C.: Regnery History, {{ISBN|1596983280}}, see [https://books.google.com/books?id=jYvmAgAAQBAJ, accessed 8 December 2014. p. 1: "Western civilization owes far more to Catholic Church than most people—Catholic included—often realize. The Church in fact built Western civilization."]</ref><ref name="Perry2012">{{cite book |author=Marvin Perry |title=Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1789 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2pnv0Aoh2EC&pg=PA33 |date=1 January 2012 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-111-83720-4 |pages=33–}}</ref> [[Europe]] during the [[Early Middle Ages]] was characterized by depopulation, deurbanization, and [[barbarian]] invasion, all of which had begun in [[late antiquity]]. The barbarian invaders formed their own new kingdoms in the remains of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East, once part of the Eastern Roman Empire, became part of the [[Caliphate]] after conquest by [[Muhammad]]'s successors. Although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, most of the new kingdoms incorporated as many of the existing Roman institutions as they could. Christianity expanded in western Europe, and monasteries were founded. In the 7th and 8th centuries the [[Franks]], under the [[Carolingian dynasty]], established an empire covering much of western Europe;<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780429061530-18/carolingian-conquests-margaret-deanesly |title=The Carolingian Conquests |last=Deanesly |first=Margaret |website=taylorfrancis.com |year=2019 |pages=339–355 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |doi=10.4324/9780429061530-18 |isbn=9780429061530 |s2cid=198789183 |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> it lasted until the 9th century, when it succumbed to pressure from new invaders—the [[Vikings]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Vikings|last=Roesdahl|first=Else|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1998|isbn=978-0-14-025282-8|url=https://archive.org/details/vikingsreviseded00else}}</ref> [[Hungarians#Entering the Carpathian Basin (c. 895)|Magyars]], and [[Saracen]]s.

During the [[High Middle Ages]], which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as technological and agricultural innovations allowed trade to flourish and crop yields to increase. [[Manorialism]], the organization of peasants into villages that owed rents and labour service to nobles, and [[feudalism]], a political structure whereby [[knight]]s and lower-status nobles owed military service to their overlords in return for the right to rents from lands and [[Manorialism|manor]]s, were two of the ways of organizing medieval society that developed during the High Middle Ages. Kingdoms became more centralized after the decentralizing effects of the break-up of the [[Carolingian Empire]]. In 1054 AD the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]] between the Roman Catholic Church and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] led to the prominent cultural differences between [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Eastern Europe]].<ref name="BideleuxJeffries48">{{cite book | title=A history of eastern Europe: crisis and change |last1=Bideleux | first1=Robert | last2=Jeffries | first2=Ian | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-0-415-16112-1 | page=48 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U39AYJm1L94C|year=1998 }}</ref> The [[Crusading movement]] attempted to gain [[Roman Catholic]] control of the [[Holy Land]] from the [[Muslims]] and succeeded for long enough to establish some Christian states in the Near East. Italian merchants imported slaves to work in households or in [[sugar]] processing.<ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=William |author-link= |date=20 December 2017 |title=Critical Readings on Global Slavery |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004346611/BP000028.xml |location= |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |page=665–698 |isbn=9789004346611}}</ref> Intellectual life was marked by [[scholasticism]] and the founding of universities, while the building of [[Gothic cathedrals and churches]] was one of the outstanding artistic achievements of the age.
[[File:Notredame Paris.JPG|thumb|[[Notre-Dame de Paris]] in [[Paris]], [[France]]: is among the most recognizable symbols of the [[Role of Christianity in civilization|civilization]] of [[Christendom]].]]
The [[Late Middle Ages]] were marked by difficulties and calamities. Famine, plague, and war devastated the population of western Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/from-the-brink-of-the-apocalypse-confronting-famine-war-plague-and-death-in-the-later-middle-ages |title=From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages |last=Aberth |first=John |date=1 January 2001 |website=hamilton.edu |publisher= |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The [[Black Death]] alone killed approximately 75 to 200 million people between 1347 and 1350.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/29/2149185.htm|title=Black death 'discriminated' between victims|last=Dunham|first=Will|date=29 January 2008|work=ABC Science|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220120404/http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/29/2149185.htm|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1576875.stm|title=De-coding the Black Death|date=3 October 2001|work=BBC|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707042715/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1576875.stm|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. Starting in Asia, the disease reached Mediterranean and western Europe during the late 1340s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article.html|title=Plague: The Black Death|publisher=National Geographic|access-date=3 November 2008|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6HfrvlPBO?url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article.html|archive-date=26 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and killed tens of millions of Europeans in six years; between a third and a half of the population perished.

The Middle Ages witnessed the first sustained [[urbanization]] of northern and western Europe and it lasted until the beginning of the [[early modern period]] in the 16th century,{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2008|p=595}} marked by the rise of [[nation state]]s,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=280}} the division of Western Christianity in the [[Reformation]],{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=319–323}} the rise of [[humanism]] in the [[Italian Renaissance]],{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=267–268}} and the beginnings of European overseas expansion which allowed for the [[Columbian exchange]].

In [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]], in 1386, the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] (the latter including territories of modern [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]), facing depredations by the [[Teutonic Order]] and later also threats from [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]], the [[Crimean Tatars]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]], formed a [[personal union]] through the marriage of Poland's Queen [[Jadwiga of Poland|Jadwiga]] to [[List of rulers of Lithuania|Lithuanian Grand Duke]] Jogaila, who became King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]] of Poland. For the next four centuries, until the 18th-century [[Partitions of Poland|partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] by [[Prussia]], [[Russia]], and [[Austria]], the two polities conducted a federated [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]], long Europe's largest state, which welcomed diverse ethnicities and religions, including most of the world's [[Jews]], furthered scientific thought (e.g. [[Nicolaus Copernicus]]'s [[Heliocentrism|heliocentric theory]]).

===Sub-Saharan Africa===
{{main|History of Africa}}
[[File:Head of an Oba MET DP231468.jpg|thumb|A [[brass]] "[[Benin Bronzes|Benin Bronze]]" from [[Nigeria]]]]
Medieval [[sub-Saharan Africa]] was home to many different civilizations. The [[Kingdom of Aksum]] declined in the 7th century as Islam cut it off from its Christian allies and its people moved further into the [[Ethiopian Highlands]] for protection. They eventually gave way to the [[Zagwe dynasty]] who are famed for their rock cut architecture at [[Lalibela]]. The Zagwe would then fall to the [[Solomonic dynasty]] who claimed descent from the Aksumite emperors<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heldman |first1=Marylin |last2=Haile |first2=Getatchew |author-link= |date=1987 |title=WHO IS WHO IN ETHIOPIA'S PAST, PART III: Founders of Ethiopia's Solomonic Dynasty |journal=Northeast African Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43661131 |publisher=[[Michigan State University Press]] |jstor=43661131 }}</ref> and would rule the country well into the 20th century. In the West African [[Sahel]] region, many Islamic empires rose, such as the [[Ghana Empire]], the [[Mali Empire]], the [[Songhai Empire]], and the [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]]. They controlled the [[trans-Saharan trade]] in gold, ivory, salt and slaves.

South of the Sahel, civilizations rose in the coastal forests. These include the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] city of [[Ifẹ]], noted for its art,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blier |first=Suzanne Preston |year=2012 |title=Art in Ancient Ife, Birthplace of the Yoruba |url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/blier/files/blier.pdf |journal=African Arts |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=70–85 |doi=10.1162/afar_a_00029 |s2cid=18837520 |access-date=24 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329114114/http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/blier/files/blier.pdf |archive-date=29 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Oyo Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Benin]] of the [[Edo people]] centred in [[Benin City]], the [[Igbo people|Igbo]] [[Kingdom of Nri]] which produced advanced bronze art at [[Igbo-Ukwu]], and the [[Akan people|Akan]] who are noted for their intricate architecture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.valpo.edu/brauer-museum-of-art/african-artifacts/maxwell-price-collection-part-two/igbo-ukwu-bronze-statuette/ |title=Igbo-Ukwu Bronze Statuette |last= |first= |date= |website=valpo.edu |publisher=[[Valparaiso University]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tota.world/article/68/ |title=Architecture of Akan Societies |last= |first= |date= |website=tota.world |publisher= |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

[[Central Africa]] saw the formation of several states, including the [[Kingdom of Kongo]]. In what is now modern [[Southern Africa]], native Africans created various kingdoms such as the [[Kingdom of Mutapa]]. They flourished through trade with the [[Swahili people]] on the East African coast. They built large defensive stone structures without mortar such as [[Great Zimbabwe]], capital of the [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]], [[Khami]], capital of [[Kingdom of Butua]], and [[Danangombe]] (Dhlo-Dhlo), capital of the [[Rozvi Empire]]. The Swahili people themselves were the inhabitants of the East African coast from Kenya to Mozambique who traded extensively with Asians and Arabs, who introduced them to Islam. They built many port cities such as [[Mombasa]], [[Zanzibar]] and [[Kilwa Kisiwani|Kilwa]], which were known to Chinese sailors under [[Zheng He]] and Islamic geographers.

===South Asia===
{{main|History of India}}
[[File:Hoysala emblem.JPG|thumb|[[Chennakeshava Temple, Belur|Chennakesava Temple]], [[Belur, Karnataka|Belur]], [[India]]]]
In northern [[History of India|India]], after the fall (550 CE) of the [[Gupta Empire]], the region was divided into a complex and fluid network of smaller kingly states.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/decline-of-the-gupta-empire/ |title=Decline of the Gupta Empire - World Civilization |last= |first= |date= |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |publisher=Lumean Learning |access-date=2 October 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Early Muslim incursions began in the west in 712 CE, when the Arab [[Umayyad Caliphate]] annexed much of present-day [[Pakistan]]. Arab military advance was largely halted at that point, but Islam still spread in India, largely due to the influence of Arab merchants along the western coast.

The ninth century saw a [[Tripartite Struggle]] for control of northern India, among the [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Pratihara Empire]], the [[Pala Empire]], and the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty|Rashtrakuta Empire]]. Some of the important states that emerged in India at this time included the [[Bahmani Sultanate]] and the [[Vijayanagara Empire]].

Post-classical dynasties in South India included those of the [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukyas]], the [[Hoysala Empire|Hoysalas]], the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], and the [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysores]]. Science, engineering, art, literature, astronomy, and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India/Southern-India |title=India - Southern India |last= |first= |date= |website=britannica.com |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

===Northeast Asia===
{{main|History of East Asia|History of Siberia}}
After a period of relative disunity, [[History of China|China]] was reunified by the [[Sui dynasty]] in 589<ref>{{cite web |url=https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/sui/essay.html |title=The Sui dynasty |last= |first= |date= |website=depts.washington.edu |publisher=[[University of Washington]] |access-date=2 October 2021 |quote=}}</ref> and under the succeeding [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907) China entered a [[Golden ages of China|Golden Age]].{{sfn|Lewis|2009|p=1}} The Tang Empire competed with the [[Tibetan Empire]] (618–842) for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=193}} The Tang dynasty eventually splintered, however, and after [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|half a century of turmoil]] the [[Northern Song Dynasty|Song dynasty]] reunified China,{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} when it was, according to [[William H. McNeill (historian)|William McNeill]], the "richest, most skilled, and most populous country on earth".{{sfn|McNeill|1982|p=50}} Pressure from nomadic empires to the north became increasingly urgent. By 1142, North China had been lost to the [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]] in the [[Jin–Song Wars]], and the Mongol Empire<ref>{{cite book|last1=Buell|first1=Paul D.|title=Historical dictionary of the Mongol world empire|date=2003|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham (Maryland)|isbn=978-0-8108-4571-8}}</ref> [[Mongol conquest of China|conquered all of China]] in 1279, along with almost half of Eurasia's landmass. After about a century of Mongol [[Yuan dynasty]] rule, the ethnic Chinese reasserted control with the founding of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368).

[[File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba.jpg|thumb|300px|Battle during [[Mongol invasions of Japan#Second invasion (1281)|1281 Mongol invasion of Japan]]]]

In [[History of Japan|Japan]], the imperial lineage had been established by this time, and during the [[Asuka period]] (538–710) the [[Yamato Province]] developed into a clearly centralized state.<ref name="HOJ">{{cite book|title=A History of Japan|last2=Caiger|first2=J.G.|date=2011|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-0097-8|edition=Revised|location=New York|last1=Mason|first1=R.H.P.}}</ref> [[Buddhism]] was introduced, and there was an emphasis on the adoption of elements of Chinese culture and [[Confucianism]]. The [[Nara period]] of the 8th century<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan: A Country Study|publisher=Library of Congress, Federal Research Division|year=1994|editor-last=Dolan|editor-first=Ronald E.|chapter=Nara and Heian Periods, A.D. 710–1185|editor-last2=Worden|editor-first2=Robert L.}}</ref> marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state and is often portrayed as a golden age.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} During this period, the imperial government undertook great public works, including government offices, temples, roads, and irrigation systems.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} The [[Heian period]] (794 to 1185) saw the peak of imperial power, followed by the rise of militarized clans, and the beginning of [[Feudal Japan|Japanese feudalism]]. The feudal period of Japanese history, dominated by powerful regional lords ([[daimyo]]s) and the military rule of warlords ([[shogun]]s) such as the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] and [[Tokugawa shogunate]], stretched from 1185 to 1868. The emperor remained, but mostly as a figurehead, and the power of merchants was weak.

Postclassical [[History of Korea|Korea]] saw the end of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Three Kingdoms]] era, the three kingdoms being [[Goguryeo]], [[Baekje]] and [[Silla]]. Silla conquered Baekje in 660, and Goguryeo in 668,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Three Kingdoms, Korea|editor1-last=Ackerman|editor1-first=Marsha E.|editor2-last=Schroeder|editor2-first=Michael J.|editor3-last=Terry|editor3-first=Janice J.|editor4-last=Upshur|editor4-first=Jiu-Hwa Lo|editor5-last=Whitters|editor5-first=Mark F.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of world history|date=2008|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6386-4|page=464|display-editors=1}}</ref> marking the beginning of the [[Northern and Southern States period]] (남북국시대), with [[Later Silla|Unified Silla]] in the south and [[Balhae]], a successor state to Goguryeo, in the north.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1075074&cid=40942&categoryId=33373|title=남북국시대 (North-South States Period)|website=Encyclopedia|publisher=Naver|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140110225333/http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1075074&cid=40942&categoryId=33373|archive-date=10 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In 892 CE, this arrangement reverted to the [[Later Three Kingdoms]], with Goguryeo (then called [[Taebong]] and eventually named [[Goryeo]]) emerging as dominant, unifying the entire peninsula by 936.<ref name="kta p113">{{cite book|author=The Association of Korean History Teachers|title=Korea through the ages; Volume One: Ancient|date=2005|publisher=The Center for Information on Korean Culture, The Academy of Korean Studies|location=Seongnam-si|isbn=978-89-7105-545-8|page=113}}</ref> The founding Goryeo dynasty ruled until 1392, succeeded by the [[Joseon]] dynasty, which ruled for approximately 500 years.

===Southeast Asia===
[[File:Angkor wat temple.jpg|thumb|[[Angkor Wat]] temple, [[Cambodia]], early 12th century]]
{{main| History of Southeast Asia}}
The beginning of the Middle Ages in [[Southeast Asia]] saw the fall (550 CE) of the [[Funan|Kingdom of Funan]] to the [[Chenla|Chenla Empire]], which was then replaced by the [[Khmer Empire]] (802 CE). The [[Khmer people]]'s capital city, [[Angkor]], was the largest city in the world prior to the industrial age and contained over a thousand temples, the most famous being [[Angkor Wat]].

The [[Sukhothai Kingdom|Sukhothai]] (1238 CE) and [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]] (1351 CE) kingdoms were major powers of the [[Thai people]], who were influenced by the Khmer.

Starting in the 9th century, the [[Pagan Kingdom]] rose to prominence in modern [[Myanmar]]. Its collapse brought about political fragmention that ended with the rise of the [[First Toungoo Empire|Toungoo Empire]] in the 16th century.

Other notable kingdoms of the period include the [[Srivijaya|Srivijayan Empire]] and the [[Lavo Kingdom]] (both coming into prominence in the 7th century), the [[Champa]] and the [[Hariphunchai]] (both about 750), the [[Đại Việt]] (968), [[Lan Na]] (13th century), [[Majapahit]] (1293), [[Lan Xang]] (1354), and the [[Kingdom of Ava]] (1364).

This period saw the spread of Islam to present-day Indonesia (beginning in the 13th century) and the emergence of the [[Peninsular Malaysia|Malay states]], including the [[Malacca Sultanate]] and the [[Bruneian Empire]].

In the [[History of the Philippines|Philippines]], several polities were formed such as the [[Maynila (historical polity)|Rajahnate of Maynila]], the [[Cebu (historical polity)|Rajahnate of Cebu]], and the [[Butuan (historical polity)|Rajahnate of Butuan]].

===Oceania===
[[File:Ahu Tongariki, 15 moais.JPG|thumb|[[Moai]], [[Rapa Nui]] (Easter Island)]]
{{main| History of Oceania}}
In [[Oceania]], the [[Tuʻi Tonga Empire]] was founded in the 10th century CE and expanded between 1200 and 1500. Tongan culture, language, and hegemony spread widely throughout Eastern [[Melanesia]], [[Micronesia]], and Central [[Polynesia]] during this period,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kirch|first1=Patrick Vinton|last2=Green|first2=Roger C.|title=Hawaiki, ancestral Polynesia: an essay in historical anthropology|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University press|isbn=978-0-521-78879-3|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&pg=PA87|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331092119/https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref> influencing East 'Uvea, Rotuma, Futuna, Samoa, and Niue, as well as specific islands and parts of Micronesia (Kiribati, Pohnpei, and miscellaneous outliers), Vanuatu, and New Caledonia (specifically, the [[Loyalty Islands Province|Loyalty Islands]], with the main island being predominantly populated by the Melanesian [[Kanak people]] and their cultures).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Geraghty|first1=Paul|chapter=Linguistic evidence for the Tongan empire|editor1-last=Dutton|editor1-first=Tom|title=Language contact and change in the Austronesian world|date=1994|publisher=Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-11-012786-7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&pg=PA233|series=Trends in linguistics: Studies and monographs|volume=77|pages=236–39|access-date=6 June 2016|archive-date=3 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103031951/https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&pg=PA233|url-status=live}}</ref>

In northern [[Australia]], there is evidence that some [[Aboriginal Australians|aboriginal groups]] regularly [[Makassan contact with Australia|traded]] with [[Makassar people|Makassarese]] fishermen from Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Macassans and the Aboriginal past|last=MacKnight|first=C. C.|journal=Archaeology in Oceania|year=1986|volume=21|pages=69–75|doi = 10.1002/j.1834-4453.1986.tb00126.x}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Dark Emu; Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident|last=Pascoe|first=Bruce|year=2015|publisher=Magaballa Books|isbn=978-191134478-0}}</ref>

At around the same time, a powerful [[thalassocracy]] appeared in Eastern Polynesia, centered around the [[Society Islands]], specifically on the sacred [[Taputapuatea marae]], which drew in Eastern Polynesian colonists from places as far away as Hawaii, New Zealand (''[[Aotearoa]]''), and the Tuamotu Islands for political, spiritual and economic reasons, until the unexplained collapse of regular long-distance voyaging in the Eastern Pacific a few centuries before Europeans began exploring the area.

Indigenous written records from this period are virtually nonexistent, as it seems that all Pacific Islanders, with the possible exception of the enigmatic [[Rapa Nui people|Rapa Nui]] and their currently undecipherable [[Rongorongo]] script, had no writing systems of any kind until after their introduction by European colonists. However, some indigenous prehistories can be estimated and academically reconstructed through careful, judicious analysis of native oral traditions, colonial ethnography, archeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics research.

===Americas===
[[File:Machu Picchu, Perú, 2015-07-30, DD 47.JPG|thumbnail|[[Machu Picchu]], [[Inca Empire]], [[Peru]]]]
{{main|History of the Americas|History of North America|History of Central America|History of the Caribbean|History of South America}}
In [[North America]], this period saw the rise of the [[Mississippian culture]] in the modern-day [[United States]] c. 800 CE, marked by the extensive 12th-century urban complex at [[Cahokia]]. The [[Ancestral Puebloans]] and their predecessors (9th – 13th centuries) built extensive permanent settlements, including stone structures that would remain the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.{{sfn|Fagan|2005|p=35}}

In [[Mesoamerica]], the [[Teotihuacan]] civilization fell and the [[Classic Maya collapse]] occurred. The [[Aztec Empire]] came to dominate much of Mesoamerica in the 14th and 15th centuries.

In [[South America]], the 14th and 15th centuries saw the rise of the Inca. The [[Inca Empire]] of Tawantinsuyu, with its capital at [[Cusco]], spanned the entire [[Andes]], making it the most extensive [[pre-Columbian]] civilization. The Inca were prosperous and advanced, known for an excellent [[Inca road system|road system]] and unrivaled [[masonry]].

==Modern history (1500 to the present)==
{{redirect|Modern Age|the periodical|Modern Age (periodical)}}
{{redirect|Modern Era|the geological and paleontological sense|Holocene}}
{{see also|Timelines of modern history}}
[[File:Gutenburg bible.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gutenberg Bible]], ca. 1450, produced using [[movable type]]]]

In the linear, global, [[Historiography|historiographical]] approach, '''modern history''' (the "modern period," the "modern era," "modern times") is the history of the period following [[post-classical history]] (in Europe known as the "[[Middle Ages]]"), spanning from about 1500 to the present. "[[Contemporary history]]" includes events from around 1945 to the present. (The definitions of both terms, "modern history" and "contemporary history", have changed over time, as more history has occurred, and so have their start dates.)<ref>Intrinsic to the [[English language]], "modern" denotes (in reference to history) a period that is opposed to either ancient or medieval; modern history is the history of the world since the end of the Middle Ages.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaNDmZBcNGQC&pg=PA3814|title=The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia|year=1906|access-date=15 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212164000/https://books.google.com/books?id=LaNDmZBcNGQC&pg=PA3814|archive-date=12 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Modern history can be further broken down into periods:
* The [[early modern period]] began around 1500 and ended around 1815. Notable historical milestones included the continued European [[Renaissance]] (whose start is dated variously between 1200 and 1401), the [[Age of Discovery]], the [[Gunpowder empires|Islamic gunpowder empires]], the [[Protestant Reformation]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Larousse Encyclopedia of Modern History, From 1500 to the Present Day|last=Dunan|first=Marcel|publisher=Harper & Row|year=1964|location=New York|oclc=395134}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=modern|encyclopedia=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=2000|url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/28/M0362800.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622132303/http://www.bartleby.com/61/28/M0362800.html|archive-date=22 June 2008|edition=4th|access-date=29 November 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[American Revolution]]. With the [[Scientific Revolution]], new information about the world was discovered via [[empirical research]]<ref>Baird, F.E., & Kaufmann, W.A. (2008). ''Philosophic classics: From Plato to Derrida''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.</ref> and the [[scientific method]], by contrast with the earlier emphasis on [[reason]] and "[[innatism|innate knowledge]]". The Scientific Revolution received impetus from [[Johannes Gutenberg]]'s introduction to Europe of [[printing]], using [[movable type]], and from the invention of the [[telescope]] and [[microscope]]. [[Globalization]] was fuelled by international trade and [[colonization]].
* The [[late modern period]] began sometime around 1750–1815, as Europe experienced the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the military-political turbulence of the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]], which were followed by the ''[[Pax Britannica]]''. The late modern period continues either to the end of [[World War II]], in 1945, or to the present. Other notable historical milestones included the [[Great Divergence]] and the [[Russian Revolution]].
* [[Contemporary history]] (a period also dubbed ''[[Pax Americana]]'' in geopolitics) includes historic events from approximately 1945 that are closely relevant to the present time. Major developments include the [[Cold War]], continual [[war|hot wars]] and [[proxy war]]s, the [[Jet Age]], the [[DNA]] revolution, the [[Green Revolution]],{{efn|However, the [[Green Revolution]] has brought unintended consequences: "[[India]] originally possessed some 110,000 [[landrace]]s of [[rice]] with diverse and valuable properties. These include enrichment in vital nutrients and the ability to withstand flood, drought, salinity or pest infestations. The Green Revolution covered fields with a few high-yielding varieties, so that roughly 90 percent of the landraces vanished from farmers' collections. High-yielding varieties require expensive inputs. They perform abysmally on marginal farms or in adverse environmental conditions, forcing poor farmers into debt."<ref>Debal Deb, "Restoring Rice Biodiversity", ''[[Scientific American]]'', vol. 321, no. 4 (October 2019), pp. 54–61. (p. 54.)</ref>}} [[Satellite|artificial satellites]] and the [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS), development of the supranational [[European Union]], the [[Information Age]], rapid economic development in [[India]] and [[China]], increasing [[terrorism]], and a daunting array of [[Global catastrophic risk|global ecological crises]] headed by the imminent existential threat of runaway [[climate change|global warming]].

The defining features of the modern era developed predominantly in Europe, and so different periodizations are sometimes applied to other parts of the world. When the European periods are used globally, this is often in the context of contact with European culture in the Age of Discovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_14.html|title=Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts: Late Medieval and Early Modern Medicine|date=15 December 2011|website=U.S. National Library of Medicine|publisher=National Institutes of Health|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009021615/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_14.html|archive-date=9 October 2019|access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref>

In the humanities and social sciences, the norms, attitudes, and practices arising during the modern period are known as [[modernity]]. The corresponding terms for post-World War II culture are [[postmodernity]] or [[late modernity]].

===Early modern period (1500 to 1800)===
{{Main|Early modern period}}
The "[[early Modern period]]"{{efn|"Early Modern," historically speaking, refers to Western European history from 1501 (after the widely accepted end of the [[Late Middle Ages]]; the transition period was the 15th century) to either 1750 or c. 1790–1800, by whichever [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]] is favoured by a school of scholars defining the period—which, in many cases of [[periodization]], differs as well within a discipline such as art, philosophy or history.}} was the period between the Middle Ages and the [[Industrial Revolution]]—roughly 1500 to 1800.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2008|p=595}} The early Modern period was characterized by the rise of science, and by increasingly rapid [[History of technology|technological progress]], [[Secularization|secularized]] civic [[politics]], and the [[nation state]]. [[Capitalism|Capitalist economies]] began their rise, initially in northern Italian [[republic]]s such as [[Genoa]]. The Early Modern period saw the rise and dominance of [[mercantilism|mercantilist]] economic theory, and the decline and eventual disappearance, in much of the European sphere, of [[feudalism]], serfdom, and the power of the [[Catholic Church]]. The period included the [[Reformation]], the disastrous [[Thirty Years' War]], the Age of Discovery, European [[Colonialism|colonial expansion]], the peak of European [[witch-hunt]]ing, the Scientific Revolution, and the [[Age of Enlightenment]].{{efn|The Age of Enlightenment has also been referred to as the [[Age of Enlightenment|Age of Reason]]. Historians also include the late 17th century, which is typically known as the Age of Reason or [[Age of Rationalism]], as part of the Enlightenment; however, contemporary historians have considered the Age of Reason distinct to the ideas developed in the Enlightenment. The use of the term here includes both Ages under a single all-inclusive time-frame.}} During the Early modern period, [[Protestantism]] eventually became the majority faith throughout [[northwestern Europe]] and in [[England]] and [[Anglo-America|English-speaking America]],<ref name="Clarke, Beyer">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBgn3xB75ZcC&pg=PA510|title=The World's Religions: Continuities and Transformations|first1=Peter B.|last1=Clarke|first2=Peter|last2=Beyer|date=2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|via=Google Books|isbn=9781135211004}}</ref> and have developed [[Protestant culture|their own culture]], with major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts and many other fields.<ref name="Karl Heussi 1956 pp. 317–319">Heussi, Karl (1956). ''Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte'', 11., Tübingen (Germany), pp. 317–319, 325–326</ref>

====Renaissance====
[[File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' (c. 1490), [[Renaissance]] [[Italy]]]]
{{main|Renaissance}}
Europe's Renaissance – the "rebirth" of classical culture, beginning in the 14th century and extending into the 16th – comprised the rediscovery of the [[classical world]]'s cultural, scientific, and technological achievements, and the [[Economy|economic]] and social rise of Europe.

The Renaissance engendered a culture of [[curiosity|inquisitiveness]] which ultimately led to [[Humanism]]{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=250–253}} and the Scientific Revolution.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=683–685}}

This period, which saw social and political upheavals, and revolutions in many [[intellectual]] pursuits, is also celebrated for its [[art]]istic developments and the attainments of such [[polymath]]s as [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Michelangelo]], who inspired the term "[[Polymath|Renaissance man]]."

====European expansion====
{{Further|Age of Discovery|Colonialism|16th century|17th century}}
During this period, European powers came to dominate most of the world. Although the most developed regions of European classical civilization were more urbanized than any other region of the world, European civilization had undergone a lengthy period of gradual decline and collapse. During the early modern period, Europe was able to regain its dominance; historians still debate the causes.

Europe's success in this period stands in contrast to other regions. For example, one of the most advanced civilizations of the Middle Ages was China. It had developed an advanced [[Monetary economics|monetary economy]] by 1000 CE. China had a free [[peasant]]ry who were no longer subsistence farmers, and could sell their produce and actively participate in the market. According to [[Adam Smith]], writing in the 18th century, China had long been one of the richest, most fertile, best cultivated, most industrious, most urbanized, and most prosperous countries in the world. It enjoyed a technological advantage and had a monopoly in [[cast iron]] production, piston bellows, [[suspension bridge]] construction, [[printing]], and the [[compass]]. However, it seemed to have long since stopped progressing. [[Marco Polo]], who visited China in the 13th century, describes its cultivation, industry, and populousness almost in the same terms as travellers would in the 18th century.

One theory of Europe's rise holds that Europe's [[geography]] played an important role in its success. The Middle East, India and China are all ringed by mountains and oceans but, once past these outer barriers, are nearly flat. By contrast, the [[Pyrenees]], [[Alps]], [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]] and other mountain ranges run through Europe, and the continent is also divided by several seas. This gave Europe some degree of protection from the peril of Central Asian invaders. Before the era of firearms, these nomads were militarily superior to the agricultural states on the periphery of the Eurasian continent and, as they broke out into the plains of northern India or the valleys of China, were all but unstoppable. These invasions were often devastating. The [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]] was ended by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol]] [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|sack of Baghdad]] in 1258. India and China were subject to periodic [[invasion]]s, and Russia spent a couple of centuries under the [[List of conflicts in Europe during Turco-Mongol rule|Mongol-Tatar]] yoke. Central and western Europe, logistically more distant from the Central Asian heartland, proved less vulnerable to these threats{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}.

Geography contributed to important [[Geopolitics|geopolitical]] differences. For most of their histories, China, India, and the Middle East were each unified under a single dominant power that expanded until it reached the surrounding mountains and deserts.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} In 1600 the [[Ottoman Empire]] controlled almost all the Middle East,{{sfn|Imber|2002|p=66}} the [[Ming dynasty]] ruled China,{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006}}{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=376–377}} and the [[Mughal Empire]] held sway over India. By contrast, Europe was almost always divided into a number of warring states. Pan-European empires, with the notable exception of the Roman Empire, tended to collapse soon after they arose. Another doubtless important geographic factor in the rise of Europe was the Mediterranean Sea, which, for millennia, had functioned as a maritime superhighway fostering the exchange of goods, people, ideas and inventions.

Nearly all the agricultural civilizations have been heavily constrained by their [[Natural environment|environments]]. Productivity remained low, and [[Climate|climatic]] changes easily instigated [[Business cycle|boom-and-bust cycles]] that brought about civilizations' rise and fall. By about 1500, however, there was a qualitative change in world history. Technological advance and the [[wealth]] generated by [[trade]] gradually brought about a widening of possibilities.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Miller|editor1-first=Edward|editor2-last=Postan|editor2-first=Cynthia|editor3-last=Postan|editor3-first=Michael Moissey|title=The Cambridge economic history of Europe: Volume 2, Trade and Industry in the Middle Ages|date=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-08709-4|edition=2nd}}</ref>
[[File:OrteliusWorldMap.jpeg|thumb|[[Abraham Ortelius#Map publisher|1570 world map]], showing Europeans' discoveries]]
Many have also argued that Europe's institutions allowed it to expand, that [[Right to property|property rights]] and [[free market]] economics were stronger than elsewhere due to an ideal of [[Political freedom|freedom]] peculiar to Europe. In recent years, however, scholars such as [[Kenneth Pomeranz]] have challenged this view. Europe's maritime expansion unsurprisingly—given the continent's geography—was largely the work of its Atlantic states: Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands. Initially the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish Empire]]s were the predominant conquerors and sources of influence, and their union resulted in the [[Iberian Union]], the first global empire on which the "[[The empire on which the sun never sets|sun never set]]". Soon the more northern English, French and Dutch began to dominate the Atlantic. In a series of wars fought in the 17th and 18th centuries, culminating with the [[Napoleonic Wars]], [[British Empire|Britain]] emerged as the new world power.

===Regional developments===

====Greater Middle East====
[[File:Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) - the epitome of Byzantine architecture - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Hagia Sophia]], [[Istanbul]] (formerly [[Constantinople]]), [[Turkey]]]]
The Ottoman Empire, after [[Fall of Constantinople|conquering Constantinople]] in 1453, quickly became the most powerful state in the [[Middle East]]. [[Iran|Persia]] came under the rule of the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid Empire]] in 1501, succeeded by the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid Empire]] in 1736, the [[Zand dynasty|Zand Empire]] in 1751, and the [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar Empire]] in 1794. In [[North Africa]], the [[Wattasid dynasty|Wattasid Sultanate]], [[Zayyanid dynasty|Zayyanid Sultanate]], and [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid Sultanate]] remained as independent [[Berbers|Berber]] states until the 16th century. Areas to the north and east in [[Central Asia]] were held by the [[Uzbeks]] and [[Pashtuns]]. By the start of the 19th century, the [[Russian Empire]] began its [[Russian conquest of the Caucasus|conquest]] of the [[Caucasus]].

====Europe====
In [[History of Russia|Russia]], [[Ivan the Terrible]] was crowned in 1547 as the first [[Tsar]] of Russia, and by annexing the Turkic khanates in the east, transformed Russia into a regional power. The countries of western Europe, while expanding prodigiously through technological advancement and colonial conquest, competed with each other economically and militarily in a state of almost constant [[List of wars: 1500–1799|war]]. Often the wars had a [[European wars of religion|religious dimension]], either Catholic versus Protestant, or (primarily in eastern Europe) Christian versus Muslim. Wars of particular note include the [[Thirty Years' War]], the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the [[Seven Years' War]], and the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. [[Napoleon]] [[Coup of 18 Brumaire|came to power]] in France in 1799, an event foreshadowing the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.

====Sub-Saharan Africa====
In [[History of Africa|Africa]], this period saw a decline in many civilizations and an advancement in others. The [[Swahili coast]] declined after coming under the [[Portuguese Empire]] and later the [[Omani Empire]]. In [[West Africa]], the [[Songhai Empire]] fell to the Moroccans in 1591 when they invaded with guns. The [[Bono state|Bono State]] which gave birth to numerous [[Akan people|Akan]] states in search of gold such as [[Akwamu]], [[Akyem]], [[Fante people|Fante]], [[Adansi]] etc.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meyerowitz|first=Eva L. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3lyAAAAMAAJ|title=The Early History of the Akan States of Ghana|date=1975|publisher=Red Candle Press|isbn=978-0-608-39035-2|language=en}}</ref> The South African [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]] gave way to smaller kingdoms such as [[Kingdom of Mutapa|Mutapa]], [[Kingdom of Butua|Butua]], and [[Rozvi Empire|Rozvi]]. [[Ethiopia]] suffered from the 1531 invasion from neighbouring Muslim [[Adal Sultanate]], and in 1769 entered the [[Zemene Mesafint]] (Age of Princes) during which the Emperor became a figurehead and the country was ruled by warlords, though the royal line later would recover under Emperor [[Tewodros II]]. The [[Ajuran Sultanate]], in the [[Horn of Africa]], began to decline in the 17th century, succeeded by the [[Sultanate of the Geledi|Geledi Sultanate]]. Other civilizations in Africa advanced during this period. The [[Oyo Empire]] experienced its golden age, as did the [[Kingdom of Benin]]. The [[Ashanti Empire]] rose to power in what is modern day [[Ghana]] in 1670. The [[Kingdom of Kongo]] also thrived during this period.

====South Asia====
[[File:Taj Mahal in March 2004.jpg|thumb|left|[[Taj Mahal]], [[Mughal Empire]], [[India]]]]
On the [[Indian subcontinent]], the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and the [[Deccan sultanates]] would give way, beginning in the 16th century, to the [[Mughal Empire]].{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Starting in the northwest, the Mughal Empire would by the late 17th century come to rule the entire subcontinent,<ref>{{cite web |last1=La l |first1=Vinay |url=https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html |title=The Mughal Empire |work=Manas: India and its Neighbors |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |date=2001 |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430003224/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html |archive-date=30 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> except for the southernmost Indian provinces, which would remain independent. Against the Muslim Mughal Empire, the Hindu [[Maratha Empire]] was founded on the west coast in 1674, gradually gaining territory—a majority of present-day India—from the Mughals over several decades, particularly in the [[Mughal–Maratha Wars]] (1681–1701). The Maratha Empire would in 1818 fall under the control of the British [[East India Company]], with all former Maratha and Mughal authority devolving in 1858 to the [[British Raj]].

====Northeast Asia====
[[File:Chemin de ronde muraille long.JPG|thumb|[[Ming dynasty]] section, [[Great Wall of China]]]]
In China, the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] gave way in 1644 to the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], the last Chinese imperial dynasty, which would rule until 1912. [[History of Japan|Japan]] experienced its [[Azuchi–Momoyama period]] (1568–1603), followed by the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868). The [[History of Korea|Korean]] [[Joseon|Joseon dynasty]] (1392–1910) ruled throughout this period, successfully repelling 16th and 17th century invasions from Japan and China. Expanded maritime trade with Europe significantly affected China and Japan during this period, particularly by the Portuguese who had a presence in [[Macau]] and [[Nagasaki]]. However, China and Japan would later pursue isolationist policies designed to eliminate foreign influences.

====Southeast Asia====
In 1511 the Portuguese overthrew the [[Malacca Sultanate]] in present-day Malaysia and Indonesian [[Sumatra]]. The Portuguese held this important trading territory (and the valuable associated navigational strait) until overthrown by the Dutch in 1641. The [[Johor Sultanate]], centred on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, became the dominant trading power in the region. [[Western imperialism in Asia|European colonization]] expanded with the Dutch in [[Dutch East Indies|Indonesia]], the Portuguese in [[Portuguese Timor|East Timor]], and the Spanish in the [[Spanish East Indies|Philippines]]. Into the 19th century, European expansion would affect the whole of Southeast Asia, with the British in [[British rule in Burma|Myanmar]] and [[British Malaya|Malaysia]], and the French in [[French Indochina|Indochina]]. Only [[History of Thailand|Thailand]] would successfully resist colonization.

====Oceania====
The Pacific islands of [[History of Oceania|Oceania]] would also be affected by European contact, starting with the circumnavigational voyage of [[Ferdinand Magellan]], who landed on the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]] and other islands in 1521. Also notable were the voyages (1642–44) of [[Abel Tasman]] to present-day [[History of Australia|Australia]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and nearby islands, and the voyages (1768–1779) of Captain [[James Cook]], who made the first recorded European contact with [[History of Hawaii|Hawaii]]. Britain would found its [[Colony of New South Wales|first colony]] on Australia in 1788.

====Americas====
In the Americas, the [[European colonization of the Americas|western European powers]] vigorously colonized the newly discovered continents, largely displacing the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous populations]], and destroying the advanced civilizations of the [[Aztec Empire|Aztecs]] and the [[Inca Empire|Incas]]. Spain, Portugal, Britain, and France all made extensive territorial claims, and undertook large-scale settlement, including the importation of large numbers of African [[History of slavery#Americas|slaves]]. Portugal claimed [[Colonial Brazil|Brazil]]. Spain claimed the rest of [[History of South America|South America]], [[Mesoamerica]], and southern [[History of North America|North America]]. Britain colonized the east coast of North America, and France colonized the central region of North America. Russia made incursions onto the northwest coast of North America, with a first colony in present-day [[History of Alaska|Alaska]] in 1784, and the outpost of [[Fort Ross, California|Fort Ross]] in present-day [[History of California|California]] in 1812.<ref>{{cite ohp|5|Fort Ross|2018-02-15}}</ref> In 1762, in the midst of the [[Seven Years' War]], France secretly ceded most of its North American claims to Spain in the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]]. Thirteen of the British colonies declared independence as the [[History of the United States|United States of America]] in 1776, ratified by the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1783, ending the [[American Revolutionary War]]. [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] won France's claims back from Spain in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1800, but sold them to the United States in 1803 as the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

===Late modern period (1800 to the present)===
====19th century====
{{Main|Late modern period}}
{{further|18th century|19th century|Long nineteenth century|Age of Imperialism|Age of Revolution|Diplomatic Revolution|Industrial Revolution}}
[[File:Maquina vapor Watt ETSIIM.jpg|thumb|left|[[James Watt|Watt]]'s [[steam engine]] powered the [[Industrial Revolution]].]]
The Scientific Revolution changed humanity's understanding of the world and led to the [[Industrial Revolution]], a major transformation of the world's economies. The Scientific Revolution in the 17th century had had little immediate effect on industrial technology; only in the second half of the 18th century did scientific advances begin to be applied substantially to practical [[invention]]. The Industrial Revolution began in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] and used new modes of production—the [[factory]], [[mass production]], and [[mechanization]]—to manufacture a wide array of goods faster and using less labour than previously required. The [[Age of Enlightenment]] also led to the beginnings of modern [[democracy]] in the late-18th century American and [[French Revolution|French]] revolutions. Democracy and [[republicanism]] would grow to have a profound effect on world events and on [[quality of life]].
[[File:World 1898 empires colonies territory.png|thumb|400px|[[Empire]]s of the world in 1898]]
[[File:Wright First Flight 1903Dec17 (full restore 115).jpg|thumb|The first airplane, the ''[[Wright Flyer]]'', flew, 1903.]]
After Europeans had achieved influence and control over the Americas, [[Imperialism|imperial]] activities turned to the lands of Asia and Oceania. In the 19th century the European states had social and technological advantage over Eastern lands.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Britain gained control of the Indian subcontinent, Egypt and the [[Peninsular Malaysia|Malay Peninsula]]; the [[Cochinchina campaign|French took Indochina]]; while the Dutch cemented their control over the [[Dutch East Indies]]. The British also colonized Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with large numbers of British colonists emigrating to these colonies. Russia colonized large pre-agricultural areas of Siberia. In the late 19th century, the European powers [[Scramble for Africa|divided the remaining areas of Africa]]. Within Europe, economic and military challenges created a system of [[nation state]]s, and ethno-linguistic groupings began to identify themselves as distinctive nations with aspirations for cultural and political autonomy. This [[nationalism]] would become important to peoples across the world in the 20th century.

During the [[Second Industrial Revolution]], the world economy became reliant on [[coal]] as a fuel, as new methods of [[transport]], such as [[Rail transport|railways]] and [[steamship]]s, effectively shrank the world. Meanwhile, industrial [[pollution]] and [[Natural environment|environmental]] damage, present since the discovery of fire and the beginning of civilization, accelerated drastically.

The advantages that Europe had developed by the mid-18th century were two: an [[Entrepreneurship|entrepreneurial]] culture,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wood|first1=Neal|title=John Locke and agrarian capitalism|date=1984|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-05046-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2KIpqQ9QHBkC}}</ref> and the wealth generated by the Atlantic trade (including the [[Slavery in Africa|African slave trade]]). By the late 16th century, [[silver]] from the Americas accounted for the Spanish empire's wealth.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} The profits of the slave trade and of [[West Indies|West Indian]] plantations amounted to 5% of the [[Economic history of the United Kingdom|British economy]] at the time of the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mintz |first1=S. |last2=McNeil |first2=S. |title=Was slavery the engine of economic growth? |url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/topic_display.cfm?tcid=104 |website=Digital History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226181840/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/con_economic.cfm |archive-date=26 February 2009}}</ref> While some historians conclude that, in 1750, [[Workforce productivity|labour productivity]] in the most developed regions of China was still on a par with that of Europe's Atlantic economy,<ref>see the NBER Publications by Carol H. Shiue and Wolfgang Keller at [http://www.nber.org/cgi-bin/author_papers.pl?author=carol_shiue nber.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528213159/http://www.nber.org/cgi-bin/author_papers.pl?author=carol_shiue |date=28 May 2006 }}</ref> other historians such as [[Angus Maddison]] hold that the per-capita productivity of western Europe had by the late [[Middle Ages]] surpassed that of all other regions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/ |title=Homepage of Angus Maddison |publisher=Ggdc.net |access-date=18 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728181613/http://www.ggdc.net/Maddison/ |archive-date=28 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====20th century====
{{Main|20th century}}
{{further|Interwar period|Roaring Twenties|Great Depression|Cold War|Green Revolution|Space exploration|Digital Revolution}}
[[File:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|thumb|left|[[World War I]] [[trench warfare]]]]
The 20th century opened with Europe at an apex of wealth and power, and with much of the world under its direct [[Colonialism|colonial]] control or its indirect domination. Much of the rest of the world was influenced by heavily Europeanized nations: the United States and Japan.

As the century unfolded, however, the global system dominated by rival powers was subjected to severe strains, and ultimately yielded to a more fluid structure of independent nations organized on Western models.

This transformation was catalyzed by wars of unparalleled scope and devastation. [[World War I]] led to the collapse of four empires – [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[German Empire]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], and the [[Russian Empire]] – and weakened the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]]. The [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]], [[Seyfo|Syriac]] and [[Greek genocide]] were the systematic destruction, mass murder and expulsion of the [[Armenian people|Armenians]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] and [[Greek people|Greeks]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]] during World War I, spearheaded by the ruling [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP).{{sfn|Suny|2015|pp=245, 330}}{{sfn|Bozarslan ''et al.''|2015|p=187}}

In the war's aftermath, powerful ideologies rose to prominence. The [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917 created the first [[communism|communist]] state, while the 1920s and 1930s saw [[militarism|militaristic]] [[fascism|fascist]] dictatorships gain control in [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italy]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], [[Francoist Spain|Spain]], and elsewhere. From 1918 to 1920, the [[Spanish flu]] caused the deaths of 17 to 100 million people.

[[File:Nagasakibomb.jpg|thumb|right|[[Atomic bombings]]: [[Hiroshima]], [[Nagasaki]], 1945]]
Ongoing national rivalries, exacerbated by the economic turmoil of the [[Great Depression]], helped precipitate World War II. The [[Militarism|militaristic]] [[dictatorship]]s of Europe and Japan pursued an ultimately doomed course of [[Imperialism|imperialist]] [[expansionism]], in the course of which [[Nazi Germany]], under [[Adolf Hitler]], orchestrated the [[genocide]] of six million Jews in [[the Holocaust]], while [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]] [[Japanese war crimes|murdered]] millions of [[Chinese people|Chinese]].

The World War II defeat of the [[Axis powers]] by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied powers]] opened the way for the advance of [[communism]] into [[East Germany]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], [[China]], [[North Korea]], and [[North Vietnam]].

[[File:My Lai massacre woman and children.jpg|thumb|Civilians (here, [[Mỹ Lai massacre|Mỹ Lai]], [[Vietnam]], 1968) suffered greatly in 20th-century wars.]]
When World War II ended in 1945, the [[United Nations]] was founded in the hope of preventing future wars,<ref name=Fasulo1>{{harvnb|Fasulo|2015|pp=1–3}}</ref> as the [[League of Nations]] had been formed following World War I.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/League-of-Nations|title=League of Nations {{!}} Definition & Purpose|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=6 September 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708104629/https://www.britannica.com/topic/League-of-Nations|archive-date=8 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The war had left two countries, the United States and the [[Soviet Union]], with principal power to influence [[International relations|international affairs]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zinn|first=Howard|title=A People's History of the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/peopleshistoryof00zinn_2|url-access=registration|date=2003|edition=5th|place=New York|publisher=HarperPerennial Modern Classics [2005 reprint]|isbn=978-0-06-083865-2}}</ref> Each was suspicious of the other and feared a global spread of the other's, respectively [[Capitalism|capitalist]] and [[Communism|communist]], political-economic model. This led to the [[Cold War]], a 45-year stand-off and [[arms race]] between the United States and its allies, on one hand, and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other.{{sfn|Allison|2018|p=126}}

With the development of [[nuclear weapon]]s during World War II, and with their subsequent [[Nuclear proliferation|proliferation]], all of humanity were put at risk of [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] between the two superpowers, as demonstrated by [[List of nuclear close calls|many incidents]], most prominently the October 1962 [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Such war [[Nuclear holocaust|being viewed as impractical]], the superpowers instead waged [[proxy war]]s in non-nuclear-armed [[Third World]] countries{{sfn|Allison|2018|pp=127–128}}<ref>Tom Stevenson, "In the Grey Zone" (review of Eli Berman and David A. Lake, ''Proxy Wars: Suppressing Violence through Local Agents'', Cornell, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-5017-3306-2}}; Tyrone L. Groh, ''Proxy War: The Least Bad Option'', Stanford, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-5036-0818-4}}; Andreas Krieg and Jean–Marc Rickli, ''Surrogate Warfare: The Transformation of War in the 21st Century'', Georgetown, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-62616-678-3}}), ''[[London Review of Books]]'', vol. 42, no. 20 (22 October 2020), pp. 41–43.</ref>

In China, [[Mao Zedong]] implemented [[Industrialisation|industrialization]] and [[Collective farming|collectivization]] reforms as part of the [[Great Leap Forward]] (1958–1962), leading to the [[Great Chinese Famine|starvation deaths]] (1959–1961) of tens of millions of people.

Between 1969 and 1972, as part of the Cold War [[Space Race]], twelve [[Astronaut|astronauts]] [[Apollo program|landed]] on the Moon and safely returned to Earth.{{efn|[[James Gleick]] writes in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'': "'If we can put a man on the moon, why can's we...?' became a [[cliché]] even before [[Apollo program|Apollo]] succeeded.... Now... the missing predicate is the urgent one: why can't we stop [[Climate change|destroying the climate]] of our own planet?... I say leave it [the moon] alone for a while."<ref>[[James Gleick]], "Moon Fever" [review of [[Oliver Morton (science writer)|Oliver Morton]], ''The Moon: A History of the Future''; ''Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography'', an exhibition at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City]], 3 July – 22 September 2019; [[Douglas Brinkley]],''American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race; [[Brandon R. Brown]], ''The Apollo Chronicles: Engineering America's First Moon Missions''; [[Roger D. Launius]], ''Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race; ''Apollo 11'', a documentary film directed by [[Todd Douglas Miller]]; and [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]], ''Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys (50th Anniversary Edition)''], ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 13 (15 August 2019), pp. 54–58. (pp. 57–58.)</ref>}}

The Cold War ended peacefully in 1991 after the [[Pan-European Picnic]], the subsequent fall of the [[Iron Curtain]] and the [[Berlin Wall]], and the collapse of the [[Eastern Bloc]] and the [[Warsaw Pact]]. The [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union collapsed]], partly due to its inability to compete economically with the United States and Western Europe. The United States likewise began to show signs of slippage in its geopolitical influence,{{sfn|McCormick|1995|p=155}}{{efn|"In the aftermath of the disintegration of the Soviet Union..." writes [[Graham Allison]], "Americans were... caught up in a surge of triumphalism." [[Francis Fukuyama]], in a 1992 best-selling book, proclaimed ''[[The End of History and the Last Man|The End of History]]'', the victory of [[free-market economics]], and the permanent ascendancy of Western [[liberal democracy]]. But it soon became evident, writes Allison, that "the end of the [[Cold War]] [had] produced a unipolar moment, not a unipolar era. [T]he U.S. economy, which [had] accounted for half of the world's [[GDP]] after World War II, had fallen to less than a quarter of global GDP by the end of the Cold War and stands at just one-seventh today. For a nation whose core strategy has been to overwhelm challenges with resources, this decline calls into question the terms of U.S. leadership.{{sfn|Allison|2018|p=129–131}} }} even as its [[private sector]], now less inhibited by the claims of the [[public sector]], increasingly sought private advantage to the prejudice of the public [[Well-being|weal]].{{efn|"In the advanced economies of the West, from 1945 to around 1975," writes Robin Varghese in ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', "voters showed how [[politics]] could tame [[Market economy|markets]], putting officials in power who pursued a range of [[social democratic]] policies without damaging the economy. This period... saw a historically unique combination of high growth, increasing productivity, rising real wages, technological innovation, and expanding systems of [[social insurance]] in [[Western Europe]], [[North America]], and [[Japan]].... Since the 1970s, businesses across the developed world have been cutting their [[wage]] bills not only through labor-saving [[Technological change|technological innovations]] but also by pushing for regulatory changes and developing new forms of employment. These include just-in-time contracts, which shift risks to workers; [[noncompete clause]]s, which reduce bargaining power; and [[freelance]] arrangements, which exempt businesses from providing employees with benefits such as [[health insurance]]. The result has been that since the beginning of the twenty-first century, labor's share of [[GDP]] has fallen steadily in many developed economies.... The challenge today is to identify... a [[mixed economy]] that can successfully deliver what the [1945–75] golden age did, this time with greater [[gender equality|gender]] and [[racial equality]] to boot."{{sfn|Varghese|2018|pp=36–42}} }}{{efn|Historian [[Christopher R. Browning]] writes: "In the first three postwar decades, workers and management effectively shared the increased wealth produced by the growth in [[productivity]]. Since the 1970s that [[social contract]] has collapsed, [[trade union|union]] membership and influence have declined, wage growth has stagnated, and inequality in wealth has grown sharply."{{sfn|Browning|2018|p=16}} }}{{efn|[[Nobel Prize in Economics|Economics Nobel laureate]] [[Joseph E. Stiglitz]] writes in ''[[Scientific American]]'', in part: "[T]he U.S. has the highest level of [[economic inequality]] among developed countries.... Since the mid-1970s the rules of the economic game have been rewritten... globally and nationally [to] advantage the rich... in a [[political system]] that is itself rigged through [[gerrymandering]], [[voter suppression]] and the influence of money.... [Enforcement of] [[antitrust laws]], first enacted [in 1890] in the U.S. to prevent the agglomeration of [[market power]], has weakened... [[Technological change]]s have concentrated market power in the hands of a few global players... part[ly] because of "[[network effects]]"... [E]stablished firms with deep [[war chest]]s have enormous power to crush competitors and ultimately raise prices.... A concerted attack on [[labor union|unions]] has almost halved the fraction of unionized workers in the [U.S.], to about 11 percent.... U.S. investment treaties such as [[NAFTA]] protect investors against a tightening of [[environmental regulations|environmental]] and health regulations abroad. [Such] provisions... enhance the credibility of a company's threat to move abroad if workers do not temper their demands.... [I]t is hard to imagine meaningful change without a concerted effort to take [[money]] out of [[politics]]..."<ref>[[Joseph E. Stiglitz]], "A Rigged Economy: And what we can do about it" (The Science of Inequality), ''[[Scientific American]]'', vol. 319, no. 5 (November 2018), pp. 57–61.</ref>}}

In the early postwar decades, the colonies in Asia and Africa of the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, and other west European empires won their formal independence.{{sfn|Abernethy|2000|p=133}} However, these newly independent countries often faced challenges in the form of [[neocolonialism]], sociopolitical disarray, poverty, illiteracy, and [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] [[tropical disease]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stern|first1=Nicholas|last2=Rogers|first2=F. Halsey|last3=Dethier|first3=Jean-Jacques|title=Growth and Empowerment: Making Development Happen|date=2006|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Mass|series=Munich lectures in economics|isbn=978-0-262-26474-7}}</ref>{{efn|The president of the [[World Bank]], [[Jim Yong Kim]], urges the governments of both [[developed country|developed]] and [[developing country|developing countries]] to [[Investment (macroeconomics)|invest]] more in [[human capital]], "which is the sum total of a population's [[health]], skills, knowledge, experience, and habits." Increased levels of quality [[education]] increase a person's income. "Socioemotional skills, such as [[Grit (personality trait)|grit]] and [[conscientiousness]], often have equally large economic returns.... [[Health]] also matters. [I]n [[Kenya]], [administration of inexpensive] [[deworming|deworming drugs]] in childhood [has] reduced school absences and raised wages in adulthood by... 20 percent... Proper [[nutrition]] and stimulation ''[[Uterus|in utero]]'' and during early childhood improve physical and mental [[well-being]] later in life. [F]ocusing on human capital during the first 1,000 days of a child's life is one of the most cost-effective [[investment]]s governments can make.... [[Human capital]] doesn't materialize on its own; it must be nurtured by the state."{{sfn|Kim|2018|pp=92–96}} }}{{efn|[[William Hardy McNeill]], in his 1963 book ''[[The Rise of the West]]'', appears to have interpreted the decline of the European empires as paradoxically being due to [[Westernization]] itself, writing that "Although European empires have decayed since 1945, and the separate nation-states of Europe have been eclipsed as centers of political power by the melding of peoples and nations occurring under the aegis of both the American and Russian governments, it remains true that, since the end of World War II, the scramble to imitate and appropriate science, technology, and other aspects of Western culture has accelerated enormously all round the world. Thus the dethronement of western Europe from its brief mastery of the globe coincided with (and was caused by) an unprecedented, rapid Westernization of all the peoples of the earth."<ref name="McNeill">{{cite book|title=The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community|last=McNeill|first=William H.|year=1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>{{rp|566}} McNeill further writes that "The rise of the West, as intended by the title and meaning of this book, is only accelerated when one or another Asian or African people throws off European administration by making Western techniques, attitudes, and ideas sufficiently their own to permit them to do so".<ref name="McNeill" />{{rp|807}}}}

Most Western European and Central European countries gradually formed a political and economic community, the [[European Union]], which expanded eastward to include former [[Soviet satellite states]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dinan|first1=Desmond|title=Europe recast: a history of European Union|date=2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-0-333-98734-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Peterson|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Shackleton|editor2-first=Michael|title=The institutions of the European Union|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-957498-8|edition=3rd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rifkin|first1=Jeremy|title=The European dream: how Europe's vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American dream|url=https://archive.org/details/europeandreamhow00rifk|url-access=registration|date=2004|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher|location=New York|isbn=978-1-58542-345-3}}</ref> The European Union's effectiveness was handicapped by the immaturity of its common economic and political institutions,{{efn|James McAuley writes in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', 15 August 2019, pp. 47–48: "There was never a single moment that marked the definitive establishment of the [[European Union]], which... has continued to define itself since [[World War II]]. [T]he major turning points have all been quiet steps on the way to further [[economic integration]] while preserving [[national sovereignty]]. Today there is only an incomplete [[monetary union]] without a real political contract to manage it... [Nevertheless, the Union's] various peoples have grown remarkably closer... The European Union now has open borders, a single market from Portugal to the Baltics, and more or less monthly meetings of member state leaders [the [[European Council]]]. What's more, those member states are now closer to each other than they are to the [[United States]]... [T]his transformation has occurred informally and organically... [R]obust supranational politics are taking root in Europe... [[Luuk van Middelaar]] writes: '[W]hat unites us as Europeans on this continent is bigger and stronger than anything that divides us.'"<ref>James McAuley, "A More Perfect Union?" (review of [[Luuk van Middelaar]], ''Alarums and Excursions: Improving Politics on the European Stage'', translated from the Dutch by Liz Waters, Agenda, 2019, 301 pp.; and Stéphanie Hennette, [[Thomas Piketty]], Guillaume Sacriste, and Antoine Vauchez, ''How to Democratize Europe'', translated from the French by Paul Dermine, Marc LePain, and Patrick Camiller, Harvard University Press, 2019, 209 pp.), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 13 (15 August 2019), pp. 46–48.</ref>}} somewhat comparable to the inadequacy of United States institutions under the [[Articles of Confederation]] prior to the adoption of the [[Constitution of the United States]] that came into force in 1789. Asian, African, and South American countries followed suit and began taking tentative steps toward forming their own respective [[Continental union|continental associations]].
[[File:Apollo 17 Cernan on moon.jpg|thumb|Last Moon landing: [[Apollo 17]] (1972)]]
Cold War preparations to deter or to fight a third world war accelerated advances in [[Technology|technologies]] that, though conceptualized before World War II, had been implemented for that war's exigencies, such as [[jet aircraft]], [[rocket]]ry, and [[computer]]s. In the decades after World War II, these advances led to jet travel, artificial satellites with innumerable applications including GPS and the [[Internet]]. These inventions have revolutionized the movement of people, ideas, and information.

However, not all scientific and technological advances in the second half of the 20th century required an initial military impetus. That period also saw ground-breaking developments such as the discovery of the structure of [[DNA]]{{sfn|Pääbo|2003|p=95}} and [[DNA sequencing]], the consequent sequencing of the [[human genome]] ([[Human Genome Project|The Human Genome Project]]), the worldwide [[eradication of smallpox]], the discovery of [[Stem cell|stem cells]], the introduction of the portable [[Mobile phone|cellular phone]], the discovery of [[plate tectonics]], crewed and uncrewed [[Space exploration|exploration of space]] and of previously inaccessible parts of Earth, and foundational discoveries in [[physics]] phenomena ranging from the smallest entities ([[particle physics]]) to the greatest entity ([[physical cosmology]]).

=====21st century=====
{{Main|21st century}}

[[File:Pudong Shanghai November 2017 panorama.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[China]] [[Urbanization|urbanized]] rapidly in the 21st century ([[Shanghai]] pictured).]]The 21st century has been marked by growing [[economic globalization]] and integration, with consequent increased risk to interlinked economies, as exemplified by the [[Great Recession]] of the late 2000s and early 2010s.<ref>Bob Davis, "What's a Global Recession?", ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', 22 April 2009. [https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/04/22/whats-a-global-recession/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228002745/https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/04/22/whats-a-global-recession/ |date=28 February 2019 }} Retrieved 2 January 2019.</ref> This period has also seen the expansion of communications with [[mobile phone]]s and the [[Internet]], which have caused fundamental societal changes in business, politics, and individuals' personal lives.

Worldwide competition for [[natural resource]]s has risen due to growing populations and industrialization, especially in India, China, and Brazil. The increased demands are contributing to increased [[environmental degradation]] and to [[climate change]].

In 2020, the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] substantially disrupted global trading and caused recessions in the global economy.<ref>Asare, Prince, and Richard Barfi. "The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Global Economy: Emphasis on Poverty Alleviation and Economic Growth." ''Economics'' 8.1 (2021): 32–43 [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Prince_Vitenu-Sackey/publication/348162269_The_Impact_of_Covid-19_Pandemic_on_the_Global_Economy_Emphasis_on_Poverty_Alleviation_and_Economic_Growth/links/5ff1611c45851553a0151517/The-Impact-of-Covid-19-Pandemic-on-the-Global-Economy-Emphasis-on-Poverty-Alleviation-and-Economic-Growth.pdf online]. </ref> As of 2022, more than [[COVID-19 pandemic deaths|six million people]] have died from [[COVID-19]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ritchie|first=Hannah|last2=Mathieu|first2=Edouard|last3=Rodés-Guirao|first3=Lucas|last4=Appel|first4=Cameron|last5=Giattino|first5=Charlie|last6=Ortiz-Ospina|first6=Esteban|last7=Hasell|first7=Joe|last8=Macdonald|first8=Bobbie|last9=Beltekian|first9=Diana|last10=Roser|first10=Max|date=2020-03-05|title=Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)|url=https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus|journal=[[Our World in Data]]}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* ''[[Andrew Marr's History of the World]]'' (2012 BBC series)
* [[Cultural history]]
* [[Economic history of the world]]
* [[Historic recurrence]]
* [[Historiography]]
* [[History of science]]
* [[History of technology]]
* [[List of archaeological periods]]
* [[List of decades, centuries, and millennia]]
* [[List of time periods]]
* [[Political history of the world]]
* [[Timeline of geopolitical changes (1900−present)]]
* [[Timeline of national independence]]
{{div col end}}'''''{{portal-inline|Modern history}}''''' '''''{{portal-inline|World}}'''''

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Gavashelishvili23">{{cite journal|last1=Gavashelishvili|first1=Alexander|last2=Tarkhnishvili|first2=David|year=2016|title=Biomes and human distribution during the last ice age|journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography|volume=25|issue=5|pages=563–574|doi=10.1111/geb.12437}}</ref>
<ref name="USCB_World population estimates">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_history.php |title=International Programs - Historical Estimates of World Population - U.S. Census Bureau |date=August 2016 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=15 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709092946/https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_history.php |archive-date=9 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Smithsonian Institution">{{cite web |url=http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens |title=Homo sapiens |work=The Smithsonian Institutions's Human Origins Program |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |access-date=21 May 2017 |date=8 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126182839/http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens |archive-date=26 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

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* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Lonnie R. |title=Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-19-510071-6 |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195100716 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Christopher |title=The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn= 978-0-19-280391-7 |location=Oxford, UK }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Kim|first=Jim Yong|author-link=Jim Yong Kim|title=The Human Capital Gap: Getting Governments to Invest in People|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=92–101}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Yun Kuen |title=Building the Chronology of Early Chinese History |journal=Asian Perspectives |date=2002 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=15–42 |issn=1535-8283 |doi=10.1353/asi.2002.0006 |hdl=10125/17161 |s2cid=67818363 |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17161/1/AP-v41n1-15-42.pdf |access-date=5 September 2019 |archive-date=9 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309134626/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/17161/1/AP-v41n1-15-42.pdf |url-status=live |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Mark Edward|title=China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-03306-1 |location=Cambridge, MA }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Loyn |first=H. R. |author-link=H. R. Loyn |title=Empire, Holy Roman |editor=Loyn, H. R. |editor-link=H. R. Loyn |encyclopedia=The Middle Ages: A Concise Encyclopedia |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/middleagesconcis00loyn_0/page/122 122–123] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-500-27645-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/middleagesconcis00loyn_0/page/122 }}
* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=Thomas |title=Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenic Times |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2000 |edition=Revised |orig-year=1996 |isbn=978-0-300-08493-1 |location=New Haven, CT |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreecefro00mart_1 }}
* {{cite book |last1=McCormick |first1=Thomas J. |title=America's Half-Century: United States Foreign policy in the Cold War and After |date=1995 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, MD |isbn=978-0-8018-5010-3 }}
* {{cite book | last = McNeill | first = William H. | author-link = William H. McNeill (historian) | title = A World History | orig-year = 1967 | edition = 4th | date = 1999 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-19-511616-8 }}
* {{cite book |last=McNeill |first=William H. |author-link=William H. McNeill (historian) |title=The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society Since A.D. 1000 |url=https://archive.org/details/pursuitofpowerte00mcne |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-226-56157-8 |location=Chicago, IL }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHIPAQAAMAAJ |title=The religion of ancient Egypt |last=Mercer |first=Samuel Alfred Browne |date=1949 |publisher=Luzac |page=259 |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=31 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331092331/https://books.google.com/books?id=HHIPAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Price |first1=Simon |last2=Thonemann |first2=Peter |title=The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |year=2010 }}
* {{cite book|last=Pääbo|first=Svante|chapter=The mosaic that is our genome|editor1-last=Clayton|editor1-first=Julie|editor2-last=Dennis|editor2-first=Carina|title=50 years of DNA|date=2003|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4039-1479-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/50yearsofdna00clay/page/95 95–97]|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/50yearsofdna00clay/page/95}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=J. M. |last2=Westad |first2=Odd Arne |title=The Penguin History of the World |edition=Sixth |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-84614-443-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shaw |first=Stanford |title=History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume I: Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-521-29163-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofottoman00stan }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Sherman|first=Wendy R.|author-link=Wendy R. Sherman|title=How We Got the Iran Deal: And Why We'll Miss It|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=186–197}}
* {{cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |location=Delhi }}
* {{cite book | editor-last1 = Stearns | editor-first1 = Peter N. | editor-link1 = Peter Stearns | editor-first2=William L. | editor-last2= Langer |edition=Sixth | title = The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company |location=Boston | date = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-395-65237-4 | title-link = Encyclopedia of World History }}
* [[Joseph E. Stiglitz|Stiglitz, Joseph E.]], "A Rigged Economy: And what we can do about it" (The Science of Inequality), ''[[Scientific American]]'', vol. 319, no. 5 (November 2018), pp. 57–61.
* {{Cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Larry E.|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3041K2Zv76AC&pg=PT73|title=The SAGE glossary of the social and behavioral sciences|publisher=Editions SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-5143-2|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230003359/https://books.google.com/books?id=3041K2Zv76AC&pg=PT73|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |title=The History of the Seljuq Turks from the Jāmiʻ Al-tawārīkh: An Ilkhanid Adaptation of the Saljūq-nāma of Ẓahīr Al-Dīn Nīshāpūrī |last1=Ṭabīb |first1=Rashīd al-Dīn |last2=Faḍlallāh |first2=Rašīd-ad-Dīn |last3=Nishapuri |first3=Zahir al-Din |last4=Nīšāpūrī |first4=Ẓahīr-ad-Dīn |date=2001 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7007-1342-4 |editor-last=Bosworth |editor-first=Clifford Edmund |page=9 |translator-last=Luther |translator-first=Kenneth Allin |quote=[T]he Turks were illiterate and uncultivated when they arrived in Khurasan and depended on Iranian scribes, poets, jurists, and theologians to man the institution of the Empire. }}
* {{cite book |last=Teeple |first=John B. |title=Timelines of World History |publisher=DK Publishing |location=New York |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7566-1703-5 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Laiou |first1=Angeliki E. |title=The Byzantine Economy |last2=Morisson |first2=Cécile |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-84978-4 |location=Cambridge, England}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pounds |first=Norman John Greville |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalgeogra0000poun |title=An Historical Geography of Europe, 1500–1840 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1979 |isbn=978-0-521-22379-9 |location=Cambridge, England}}
* {{cite book | last = Tudge | first = Colin | author-link = Colin Tudge | title = Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Began | date = 1998 | publisher = Yale University Press | location = New Haven, CT | isbn = 978-0-300-08024-7 | title-link = Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Varghese|first=Robin|title=Marxist World: What Did You Expect From Capitalism?|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=34–42}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitfield|first=Susan|date=2004|title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War, and Faith|url=https://archive.org/details/aurelsteinonsilk0000whit|url-access=registration|publisher=Serendia Publications, Inc|isbn=978-1-932476-13-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Xue |first=Zongzheng |date=1992 |title=A History of Turks |location=Beijing |publisher=Chinese Social Sciences Press}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bozarslan |first1=Hamit |last2=Duclert |first2=Vincent |last3=Kévorkian |first3=Raymond H. |author1-link=:fr:Hamit Bozarslan |author2-link=:fr:Vincent Duclert |title=Comprendre le génocide des arméniens—1915 à nos jours |date=2015 |publisher={{ill|Tallandier|fr|Éditions Tallandier}} |isbn=979-10-210-0681-2 |language=fr |trans-title=Understanding the Armenian genocide: 1915 to the present day|ref={{sfnref|Bozarslan et al.|2015}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Suny |first1=Ronald Grigor|author-link=Ronald Grigor Suny |title="They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else": A History of the Armenian Genocide|title-link=They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6558-1}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|History_of_the_world.ogg|date=2005-04-19}}
{{Sister project links|commons=Category:History}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Baten |editor-first=Joerg |year=2016 |title=A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to present |isbn= 978-1-107-50718-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Ben-Ami|first=Shlomo|author-link=Shlomo Ben-Ami|title=Gobalization's Discontents|magazine=[[The Nation]]|volume=307|number=2|date=16–23 July 2018|page=27}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Busby|first=Joshua|title=Warming World: Why Climate Change Matters More Than Anything Else|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=49–55}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Cockburn|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Cockburn|title=How to Start a Nuclear War: The increasingly direct road to ruin|magazine=[[Harper's]]|volume=337|number=2019|date=August 2018|pages=51–58}}
* {{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared | title=Guns, Germs, and Steel | date=1997| publisher=W. W. Norton | location=New York | author-link=Jared Diamond |title-link=Guns, Germs, and Steel|postscript=, updated eds., 2003, 2007.}}
* {{cite magazine|last1=Flournoy|first1=Michèle|author-link1=Michèle Flournoy|last2=Sulmeyer|first2=Michael|author-link2=Michael Sulmeyer|title=Battlefield Internet: A Plan for Securing Cyberspace|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=40–46}}
* {{cite book |author=Fournet, Louis-Henri |year=1986 |title= Diagrammatic Chart of World History |publisher= Editions Sides |isbn= 978-2-86861-096-6}}
* {{cite book |author=Frankopan, Peter |author-link=Peter Frankopan |year=2015 |title=The Silk Roads: A New History of the World |publisher=Knopf |isbn= 978-1-101-94632-9 |title-link=The Silk Roads: A New History of the World }}
* {{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Thomas L. |year=2007 |title=The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century |edition=Further Updated and Expanded |publisher=Picador |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-42507-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldisflat00thom }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Gribbin|first=John|author-link=John Gribbin|title=Alone in the Milky Way: Why we are probably the only intelligent life in the galaxy|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|volume=319|number=3 |date=September 2018|pages=94–99}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Kornbluh|first=Karen|author-link=Karen Kornbluh|title=The Internet's Lost Promise and How America Can Restore It|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=33–38}}
* {{cite book |last=Landes| first=David |author-link=David Landes |date=1999 |title=The Wealth and Poverty of Nations |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |isbn= 978-0-393-31888-3 |title-link=The Wealth and Poverty of Nations }}
* {{cite journal |last=Landes |first=David |author-link=David Landes |title=Why Europe and the West? Why Not China? |journal= [[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume= 20 |issue=2 |pages=3–22 |date=Spring 2006 |doi=10.1257/jep.20.2.3|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite magazine|last1=Malley|first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert Malley|last2=Finer|first2=Jon|author-link2=Jon Finer|title=The Long Shadow of 9/11: How Counterterrorism Warps U.S. Foreign Policy|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=58–69}}
* {{cite magazine|last=McKibben|first=Bill|author-link=Bill McKibben|title=Catastrophic Climate Change|magazine=[[The Nation]]|volume=307|number=2|date=16–23 July 2018|pages=18–20}}
* [[Bill McKibben|McKibben, Bill]], "A Very Grim Forecast" (partly a review of ''Global Warming of 1.5 [degree] C: an [[IPCC]] Special Report by the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]]. Available at www.ipcc.ch''), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXV, no. 18 (22 November 2018), pp. 4, 6, 8.
* {{cite magazine|last=McKibben|first=Bill|author-link=Bill McKibben|title=Life on a Shrinking Planet: With wildfires, heat waves, and rising sea levels, large tracts of the earth are at risk of becoming uninhabitable|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=26 November 2018|pages=46–55}}
* {{cite book |last=McNeill |first=William H. |author-link=William H. McNeill (historian) |year=1963 |title=The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community |url=https://archive.org/details/riseofwest00will |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=9780226561424 }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Nilekani|first=Nandan|author-link=Nandan Nilekani|title=Data to the People: India's Inclusive Internet|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=19–26}}
* {{cite book |last=Pomeranz |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Pomeranz |title=The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy |location= Princeton |year=2000 }}

{{Social sciences}}
{{short description|Recorded history of humanity}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The World}}
[[Category:World history| ]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]

Peru

2022-02-05T21:11:33Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Short description|Country in South America}}
{{About|the country in South America}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Coord|10|S|76|W|region:PE|display=title}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Peru
| native_name = {{nobold|{{native name|es|República del Perú}}}}
| common_name = Peru
| name = {{collapsible list |titlestyle = background:transparent;line-height:normal;text-align:center;font-size:84%; |title = {{resize|1.0 em|Co-official names}}{{efn|name=a|In Peru, [[Languages of Peru|other languages]] have been officially recognized as legitimate [[Indigenous language|autochthonous languages]]. In each of these, Peru's official name ({{lang-es|República del Perú|links=no}}, pronounced: {{IPA-es|reˈpuβlika ðel peˈɾu|}}) is as follows:
* {{lang-qu|Piruw Ripuwlika}}
* {{lang-ay|Piruw Suyu}}}}
|{{Infobox
|subbox=yes
|bodystyle=font-size:80%;font-weight:normal;
|rowclass1 = mergedrow
|label1=[[Quechuan languages|Quechua]]:
|data1={{lang|qu|Piruw Ripuwlika}}
|rowclass2 = mergedrow
|label2=[[Aymara language|Aymara]]:
|data2={{lang|ay|Piruw Suyu}}
}}
}}
| image_flag = Flag_of_Peru.svg
| image_coat = Escudo_nacional_del_Perú.svg
| other_symbol = <div style="padding:0.3em;">[[File:Gran Sello de la República del Perú.svg|100px|link=Great Seal of the State]]</div>{{native phrase|es|[[Coat of arms of Peru#Variants|Gran Sello del Estado]]|nolink=on}} Great Seal of the State
| other_symbol_type = [[Seal (emblem)|National seal]]
| national_motto = {{native name|es|{{noitalic|"}}[[Firme y feliz por la unión]]{{noitalic|"}}|nolink=on}} "Firm and Happy for the Union"
| national_anthem = {{native name|es|{{noitalic|"}}[[National Anthem of Peru|Himno Nacional del Perú]]{{noitalic|"}}|nolink=on}} "National Anthem of Peru" <div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">{{center|[[File:United States Navy Band - Marcha Nacional del Perú.ogg]]}}</div>
| march = {{native name|es|{{noitalic|"}}[[Marcha de Banderas]]{{noitalic|"}}|nolink=on}} "March of Flags" <div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">{{center|[[File:Marcha_de_banderas_(José_Sabas_Libornio_Ibarra,_1895).ogg]]}}</div>
| image_map = PER_orthographic.svg
| map_caption =
| image_map2 =
| capital = [[Lima]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|12|2.6|S|77|1.7|W|region:PE-LIM_type:city(9,500,000)}}
| largest_city = capital
| languages_type = [[Official language]]
| languages = {{unbulleted list
| [[Peruvian Spanish|Spanish]] 
'''Co-Official'''{{efn|name=a}}
| [[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
| [[Aymara language|Aymara]]
| [[Languages of Peru|Other Indigenous languages]]
}}
| languages2_type = Other languages
| languages2 =
| ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list
|60.20% [[Mestizo]] (mixed [[Peruvians of European descent|White]] and [[Indigenous peoples of Peru|Indigenous]])
|25.80% [[Indigenous peoples of Peru|Indigenous]]
|5.89% [[Peruvians of European descent|White]]
|3.57% [[Afro-Peruvian|Black]]
|0.16% [[Japanese Peruvians|Nikkei (Japanese)]] or [[Chinese Peruvians|Tusán (Chinese)]]
|1.04% Other
|3.32% No answer
}}
| ethnic_groups_year = 2017{{efn|name=b|The [[2017 Peru Census|2017 National Census]] included, for the first time, a question of [[Ethnic identity|ethnic self-identification]] that was addressed to people aged 12 and over considering elements such as their ancestry, their customs and their family origin to visualize and better understand the cultural reality of the country.}}
| demonym = Peruvian
| government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]]<ref name="Draft">{{cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |date=September 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns |url=http://dss.ucsd.edu/~mshugart/semi-presidentialism.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819200307/http://dss.ucsd.edu/~mshugart/semi-presidentialism.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2008 |access-date=31 August 2017 }}</ref><ref name="Dual">{{cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |author-link=Matthew Søberg Shugart |date=December 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns |journal=French Politics |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=323–351 |issn=1476-3427 |oclc=6895745903 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087 |doi-access=free |quote=Only in Latin America have all new democracies retained a pure presidential form, except for Peru (president-parliamentary) and Bolivia (assembly-independent). }}</ref>
| leader_title1 = [[President of Peru|President]]
| leader_name1 = [[Pedro Castillo]]
| leader_title2 = [[Vice President of Peru|First Vice President]]
| leader_name2 = [[Dina Boluarte]]
| leader_title3 = [[Prime Minister of Peru|Prime Minister]]
| leader_name3 = [[Héctor Valer]]
| leader_title4 = [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|President of Congress]]
| leader_name4 = [[Maricarmen Alva]]
| legislature = [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of the Republic]]
| sovereignty_type = [[Peruvian War of Independence|Independence]]
| sovereignty_note = from [[History of Spain (1814-1873)|Spain]]
| established_event1 = [[Peruvian War of Independence|Declared]]
| established_date1 = 28 July 1821
| established_event2 = [[Battle of Ayacucho|Consolidated]]
| established_date2 = 9 December 1824
| established_event3 = Recognized
| established_date3 = 14 August 1879
| area_km2 = 1,285,216
| area_rank = 19th
| area_sq_mi = 496,225 
| percent_water = 0.41 
| population_estimate = {{IncreaseNeutral}} 34,294,231<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/principales_indicadores/libro_1.pdf|title=Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población Total, por Años Calendario y Edades Simples, 1950–2050|trans-title=Peru: Estimates and Projections of Total Population, by Calendar Years and Simple Ages, 1950–2050|publisher=National Institute of Statistics and Informatics|date=September 2009|language=es|access-date=18 September 2018|archive-date=18 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918125613/https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/principales_indicadores/libro_1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
| population_census = 31,237,385
| population_estimate_year = 2021
| population_estimate_rank = 44th
| population_census_year = 2017
| population_density_km2 = 23 
| population_density_sq_mi = 57 
| population_density_rank = 198th
| GDP_PPP = {{decrease}} $385.719 billion<ref name="imf2">{{cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=31&pr.y=8&sy=2017&ey=2024&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=293&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=|title=Peru|publisher=International Monetary Fund|access-date=18 January 2020|archive-date=17 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117125604/https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=31&pr.y=8&sy=2017&ey=2024&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=293&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=|url-status=live}}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year = 2020
| GDP_PPP_rank = 47th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = {{decrease}} $11,516<ref name="imf2" />
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 103rd
| GDP_nominal = {{decrease}} $195.761 billion<ref name="imf2" />
| GDP_nominal_year = 2020
| GDP_nominal_rank = 49th
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{decrease}} $5,845<ref name="imf2" />
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 86th
| Gini = 41.5 
| Gini_year = 2019
| Gini_change = decrease 
| Gini_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=PE |title=Gini Index |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=7 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507153612/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=PE |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Gini_rank =
| HDI = 0.777 
| HDI_year = 2019 
| HDI_change = increase 
| HDI_ref = <ref>{{cite book|title=Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene|date=15 December 2020|publisher=United Nations Development Programme|isbn=978-92-1-126442-5|pages=343–346|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2020.pdf|access-date=16 December 2020|archive-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215063955/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2020.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
| HDI_rank = 79th
| currency = [[Peruvian sol|Sol]]
| currency_code = PEN
| time_zone = [[Time in Peru|PET]]
| utc_offset = −5
| date_format = dd/mm/yyyy ([[Common Era|CE]])
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = [[+51]]
| iso3166code = PE
| cctld = [[.pe]]
| religion = {{unbulleted list
|94.51% [[Religion in Peru#Christianity|Christianity]]|—76.03% [[Catholic Church in Peru|Catholicism]]|—18.48% Other [[List of Christian denominations|Christian]]|5.09% [[Irreligion in Latin America|No religion]]|0.40% Other}}
| religion_ref = <ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page=231 |website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática |access-date=27 September 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211135110/https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
| religion_year = 2017{{efn|name=c| The question about religion included in the [[2017 Peru Census|2017 National Census]] was addressed to people aged 12 and over.}}
| today =
}}

'''Peru''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Peru.ogg|p|ə|ˈ|r|uː}}; {{lang-es|link=no|Perú}} {{IPA-es|peˈɾu|}}; {{lang-qu|Piruw}} {{IPA-qu|pɪɾʊw|}};<ref>Quechua name used by government of Peru is ''Perú'' (see Quechua-language version of Peru Parliament [http://www.congreso.gob.pe/_quechua/index.htm website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730230845/http://www.congreso.gob.pe/_quechua/index.htm |date=30 July 2010}} and Quechua-language version of Peru Constitution [https://www.webcitation.org/5t0I85Zv3?url=http://www.congreso.gob.pe/_quechua/Constitucion.pdf but common Quechua name is ''Piruw'']</ref> {{lang-ay|Piruw}} {{IPA-all|pɪɾʊw|}}), officially the '''Republic of Peru''' ({{Audio-es|República del Perú|ES-pe - República del Perú.ogg}}), is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by [[Ecuador]] and [[Colombia]], in the east by [[Brazil]], in the southeast by [[Bolivia]], in the south by [[Chile]], and in the south and west by the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Peru is a [[megadiverse country]] with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the [[Andes mountains]] extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical [[Amazon Basin]] rainforest in the east with the [[Amazon river]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/archivos/imagenes/vida/Peru-%20Pais%20Megadiverso.pdf |title=Perú: País megadiverso |trans-title=Peru: Megadiverse country |publisher=Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622152015/http://www.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/archivos/imagenes/vida/Peru-%20Pais%20Megadiverso.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2014}}</ref> Peru has a [[Demographics of Peru|population]] of 34 million, and its capital and largest city is [[Lima]]. At 1.28 million km2 (0.5 million mi2), Peru is the [[List of countries and dependencies by area|19th largest country in the world]], and the [[List of South American countries by area|third largest in South America]].

[[Pre-Columbian Peru|Peruvian territory]] was home to several [[Ancient Peru|ancient cultures]]. Ranging from the [[Norte Chico civilization]] starting in 3500 BCE, the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the five [[cradles of civilization]], to the [[Inca Empire]], the largest state in the [[pre-Columbian]] Americas, the territory now including Peru has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th millennium BCE.

The [[Spanish Empire]] conquered the region in the 16th century and [[Viceroyalty of Peru|established a viceroyalty]] that encompassed most of its South American territories, with its capital in [[Lima]]. Higher education started in the Americas with the official establishment of the [[National University of San Marcos]] in Lima in 1551. Peru formally proclaimed independence in 1821, and following the foreign military campaigns of [[José de San Martín]] and [[Simón Bolívar]], and the decisive [[battle of Ayacucho]], Peru [[Peruvian War of Independence|completed its independence in 1824]]. In the ensuing years, the country first suffered of political instability until until a period of relative [[Guano Era|economic and political stability]] begun due to the explotaiton of guano. Later, the [[War of the Pacific]] (1879–1884) with Chile brought Peru to a state of crisis from wich the olygarchy seize power through the [[Civilista Party]]. In the 20th century, the country endured coups, social unrest, and [[Internal conflict in Peru|internal conflicts]], as well as periods of stability and economic upswing. In the 1990s, the country implemented a [[neoliberalism|neoliberal economic model]] which is still in use to this day. As the [[2000s commodities boom]] took place, Peru experienced a period of constant economic growth and a decrease in [[poverty]].

The [[sovereign state]] of Peru is a [[Representative democracy|representative democratic]] republic divided into [[Administrative divisions of Peru|25 regions]]. Peru has a high level of [[Human development index|human development]]<ref name="UNDP" /> with an upper middle income level<ref name="WBdata" /> ranking 82nd on the [[Human Development Index]].<ref>{{cite web |title=World Economic and Financial Surveys, World Economic Outlook October 2015 |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/02/pdf/text.pdf |website=www.imf.org |access-date=15 February 2018 |archive-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113211842/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/02/pdf/text.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It is one of the region's most prosperous economies with an average growth rate of 5.9%<ref name="WBoverview">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/peru/overview |title=Peru Overview |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=17 April 2017 |archive-date=5 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505064825/http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/peru/overview |url-status=live }}</ref> and it has one of the world's fastest industrial growth rates at an average of 9.6%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2089.html#pe |title=Peru |work=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=8 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707010810/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2089.html#pe |archive-date=7 July 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing; along with other growing sectors such as telecommunications and [[biotechnology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://biocanperu.minam.gob.pe/ciisbPeru/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2-MD-AQP-Biotecnologia-moderna-y-bioseg.pdf |title=Módulo de capacitación en recursos genéticos y bioseguridad |trans-title=Training module on genetic resources and biosafety |publisher=[[Ministry of Environment (Peru)|Ministerio de Ambiente de la República de Perú]] |author=David E. Castro Garro |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424072625/http://biocanperu.minam.gob.pe/ciisbPeru/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2-MD-AQP-Biotecnologia-moderna-y-bioseg.pdf |archive-date=24 April 2018}}</ref> The country forms part of [[The Pacific Pumas]], a political and economic grouping of countries along Latin America's Pacific coast that share common trends of positive growth, stable macroeconomic foundations, improved governance and an openness to global integration. Peru ranks high in [[Freedom in the world|social freedom]];<ref>[https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FH_FIW_2017_Report_Final.pdf "Freedom in the World 2017 – Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727054703/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FH_FIW_2017_Report_Final.pdf |date=27 July 2017 }} by [[Freedom House]], 31 January 2017</ref> it is an active member of the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]], the [[Pacific Alliance]], the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]] and the [[World Trade Organization]]; and is considered as a [[middle power]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=McKercher|first1=B. J. C.|title=Routledge Handbook of Diplomacy and Statecraft|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136664366|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtCoAgAAQBAJ|language=en|quote=a Middle Power like Peru lack the diplomatic and other resources...|access-date=30 May 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417043716/https://books.google.com/books?id=EtCoAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Peru has a population that includes [[Mestizo]]s, [[Indigenous Peoples in Peru|Amerindians]], [[White Latin American|Europeans]], [[African Latin American|Africans]] and [[Asian Latin American|Asians]]. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak [[Quechua languages]], [[Aymara language|Aymara]], or other [[Languages of Peru|Indigenous languages]]. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

{{TOC limit|3}}

== Etymology ==
The name of the country may be derived from ''Birú'', the name of a local ruler who lived near the [[Bay of San Miguel]], Panama City, in the early 16th century.<ref>Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. ''El nombre del Perú''. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968, p. 83.</ref> Spanish [[conquistador]]s, who arrived in 1522, believed this was the southernmost part of the [[New World]].<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 84.</ref> When [[Francisco Pizarro]] invaded the regions farther south, they came to be designated ''Birú'' or ''Perú''.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 86.</ref>

An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]], son of an Inca princess and a [[conquistador]]. He said the name ''Birú'' was that of a common Amerindian who was happened upon by the crew of a ship on an exploratory mission for governor [[Pedro Arias de Ávila]] and went on to relate more instances of misunderstandings due to the lack of a common language.<ref>Vega, Garcilasco, ''Commentarios Reales de los Incas'', Editorial Mantaro, Lima, ed. 1998. pp. 14–15. First published in Lisbon in 1609.</ref>

The [[Spanish Empire|Spanish Crown]] gave the name legal status with the 1529 ''[[Francisco Pizarro#Capitulación de Toledo|Capitulación de Toledo]]'', which designated the newly encountered [[Inca Empire]] as the province of Peru.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 87.</ref> Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination ''[[Viceroyalty of Peru]]'', which became the ''Peruvian Republic'' after its [[Peruvian War of Independence|independence]] until [[Constitution of Peru#1979 Constitution|1979]], adopting its current name of ''Republic of Peru''.<ref>{{Cite constitution|article=I|polity=Peru|date=1979}}</ref>

== History ==
{{main|History of Peru}}
{{see also|Periodization of pre-Columbian Peru|Agricultural history of Peru|Economic history of Peru }}

===Prehistory and Pre-Columbian Peru===
{{main|Pre-Columbian Peru|Andean civilizations}}
[[File:Caral-25.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Remains of a [[Norte Chico civilization|Caral/Norte Chico]] pyramid in the arid Supe Valley]]
The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 12,500 [[Common Era|BCE]] in the [[Huaca Prieta]] settlement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dillehay |first=Tom D. |date=August 2017 |title=Where the Land Meets the Sea |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Where_the_Land_Meets_the_Sea/GIIlDwAAQBAJ |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=4 |isbn=9781477311493 |access-date=30 December 2019 |archive-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317022348/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Where_the_Land_Meets_the_Sea/GIIlDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as [[irrigation]] and [[Terrace (earthworks)|terracing]]; [[camelid]] husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on [[Reciprocity (cultural anthropology)|reciprocity]] and [[Redistribution (cultural anthropology)|redistribution]] because these societies had no notion of market or money.<ref name="Mayer" /> The oldest known complex society in Peru, the [[Norte Chico civilization|Caral/Norte Chico civilization]], flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BCE.<ref name="Haas" /> These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal and Andean regions throughout Peru. The [[Cupisnique]] culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BCE<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/971715|jstor=971715|title=Archaism or Tradition?: The Decapitation Theme in Cupisnique and Moche Iconography|last=Cordy-Collins |first=Alana |volume =3|issue =3|date= 1992|pages= 206–220|journal=Latin American Antiquity}}</ref> along what is now Peru's [[Pacific Coast]] was an example of early pre-Inca culture.
[[File:Moche earrings.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Moche culture|Moche]] earrings depicting warriors, made of turquoise and gold (1–800 CE)]]
The [[Chavín culture]] that developed from 1500 to 300 BCE was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, with their religious center in [[Chavín de Huantar]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=UNESCO |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330 |title=Chavin (Archaeological Site) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508102511/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |access-date=27 July 2014}}</ref> After the decline of the Chavin culture around the beginning of the 1st century CE, a series of localized and specialized cultures rose and fell, both on the coast and in the highlands, during the next thousand years. On the coast, these included the civilizations of the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]], [[Nazca culture|Nazca]], [[Wari culture|Wari]], and the more outstanding [[Chimú culture|Chimu]] and [[Moche culture|Moche]].

The Moche, who reached their apogee in the first millennium CE, were renowned for their irrigation system which fertilized their arid terrain, their sophisticated ceramic pottery, their lofty buildings, and clever metalwork.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beck|first1=Roger B.|url=https://archive.org/details/mcdougallittellw00beck|title=World History: Patterns of Interaction|last2=Black |first2=Linda|last3=Krieger |first3=Larry S.|last4=Naylor |first4=Phillip C.|last5=Shabaka |first5=Dahia Ibo|publisher=McDougal Littell|year=1999|isbn=0-395-87274-X|location=Evanston, IL|url-access=registration}}</ref> The Chimu were the great city builders of pre-Inca civilization; as a loose confederation of walled cities scattered along the coast of northern Peru, the Chimu flourished from about 1140 to 1450.<ref name="Keatinge2">{{cite journal |last1=Keatinge |first1=Richard W. |first2=Geoffrey W. |last2=Conrad |date=1983 |title=Imperialist expansion in Peruvian prehistory: Chimu administration of a conquered territory |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |volume=10 |number=3 |pages=255–83}}</ref> Their capital was at [[Chan Chan]] outside of modern-day [[Trujillo, Peru|Trujillo]].<ref name="Keatinge2" /> In the highlands, both the [[Tiwanaku Empire|Tiahuanaco]] culture, near [[Lake Titicaca]] in both Peru and Bolivia,<ref name="Blom, Deborah E 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Blom |first1=Deborah E. |first2=John W. |last2=Janusek |title=Making Place: Humans as Dedications in Tiwanaku |journal=World Archaeology |date=2004 |volume=36 |pages=123–41|doi=10.1080/0043824042000192623 |s2cid=154741300 }}</ref> and the Wari culture, near the present-day city of [[Ayacucho]], developed large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 CE.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/peru/2.htm Pre-Inca Cultures] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012150/http://countrystudies.us/peru/2.htm |date=3 November 2016}}. countrystudies.us.</ref>[[File:Machu Picchu, Peru.jpg|thumb|The citadel of [[Machu Picchu]], an iconic symbol of pre-Columbian Peru|alt=|left]]In the 15th century, the [[Inca Empire|Incas]] emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the [[Inca Empire|largest empire]] in the [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian Americas]] with their capital in [[Cusco]].<ref name="Altroy" /> The Incas of Cusco originally represented one of the small and relatively minor ethnic groups, the [[Quechua people|Quechuas]]. Gradually, as early as the thirteenth century, they began to expand and incorporate their neighbors. Inca expansion was slow until about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the pace of conquest began to accelerate, particularly under the rule of the emperor [[Pachacuti]].<ref name="isbn0-521-31896-3">{{Cite book|last1=Demarest|first1=Arthur Andrew|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=IqecX148zLsC|page=57}}|title=Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism|last2=Conrad|first2=Geoffrey W.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1984|isbn=0-521-31896-3|location=Cambridge|pages=57–59}}</ref> Under his rule and that of his son, [[Topa Inca Yupanqui]], the Incas came to control most of the Andean region, with a population of 9 to 16 million inhabitants under their rule. Pachacuti also promulgated a comprehensive code of laws to govern his far-flung empire, while consolidating his absolute temporal and spiritual authority as the God of the Sun who ruled from a magnificently rebuilt Cusco.<ref>Peru [http://countrystudies.us/peru/3.htm The Incas] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012145/http://countrystudies.us/peru/3.htm |date=3 November 2016}}</ref> From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the [[Andes|Andean]] mountain ranges, from southern Colombia to northern Chile, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east. The official language of the empire was [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]],<ref>Torero Fernández de Córdoba, Alfredo. (1970) "Lingüística e historia de la Sociedad Andina", Anales Científicos de la Universidad Agraria, VIII, 3–4, págs. 249–251. Lima: UNALM.</ref> although hundreds of local languages and dialects were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as ''Tawantinsuyu'' which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces." Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred ''[[Huaca]]s'', but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of [[Inti]], the sun god and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of [[Pachamama]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=inca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120164828/http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=inca|title=The Inca – All Empires|archive-date=20 January 2012|website=www.allempires.com}}</ref> The Incas considered their King, the [[Sapa Inca]], to be the "[[Solar deity|child of the sun]]."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091110041802/http://www.nflc.org/Reach/7ca/enCAInca.htm "The Inca"] at the [[Wayback Machine]] (archived 10 November 2009) ''The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland.'' 29 May 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2014.</ref>

===Conquest and colonial period===
{{main|Spanish conquest of Peru|Viceroyalty of Peru}}Atahualpa (also Atahuallpa), the last [[Sapa Inca]], became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother [[Huáscar]] in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac. In December 1532, a party of ''[[conquistador]]s'' (supported by the [[Chanka]]s, [[Huanca people|Huancas]], [[Cañari]]s and [[Chachapoya culture|Chachapoyas]] as [[Indian auxiliaries]]) led by [[Francisco Pizarro]] defeated and captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa in the [[Battle of Cajamarca]]. The Spanish conquest of Peru was one of the most important campaigns in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]]. After years of preliminary exploration and military conflicts, it was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory and colonization of the region known as the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] with its capital at [[Lima]], which was then known as "La Ciudad de los Reyes" (The City of Kings). The conquest of Peru led to spin-off campaigns throughout the viceroyalty as well as expeditions towards the Amazon Basin as in the case of Spanish efforts to quell Amerindian resistance. The last Inca resistance was suppressed when the Spaniards annihilated the [[Neo-Inca State]] in [[Vilcabamba, Peru|Vilcabamba]] in 1572.
[[File:Cusco Peru Night City Plaza.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Cusco]], capital of the Inca Empire]]
The Indigenous population dramatically collapsed overwhelmingly due to epidemic diseases introduced by the Spanish as well as exploitation and socio-economic change.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01968.x|jstor=2563354|last=Lovell |first=W. George |year=1992 |title='Heavy Shadows and Black Night': Disease and Depopulation in Colonial Spanish America |journal= Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=426–443}}</ref> Viceroy [[Francisco de Toledo]] reorganized the country in the 1570s with gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian [[Mit'a|forced labor]] as its primary workforce.<ref name="Bakewell" /> With the discovery of the great silver and gold lodes at [[Potosí]] (present-day Bolivia) and [[Huancavelica]], the viceroyalty flourished as an important provider of mineral resources. Peruvian [[bullion]] provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the Philippines.<ref name="Suarez" /> The commercial and population exchanges between Latin America and Asia undergone via the [[Manila Galleon]]s transiting through Acapulco, had [[Callao]] at Peru as the furthest endpoint of the trade route in the Americas.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/44625493 |title=Connecting China with the Pacific World? |first=Angela |last=Schottenhammer |journal=Orientierungen. Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens |year=2019 |page=144 |issn=0936-4099 |quote=The wreck excavation could prove that European style jewelry was being made in the Philippines. Some 56 intact storage jars were discovered. Investigations revealed that they had come from kilns in South China, Cochin China (Vietnam), and Siam (Thailand), and one was of Spanish design. The archaeology of the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, consequently, also provides us with intriguing new insights into the trans-Pacific trade connection and the commodities involved. Each time a galleon arrived at Acapulco, a market, la feria, was organized. This attracted all kinds of people such as Indian peddlers, Mexican and Peruvian merchants, soldiers, the king’s officials, and friars, as well as a few Chinese and some Filipinos. From Acapulco, the goods were transported into the hinterlands, into Mexico City, and various other places, including Peru. The Peruvian port at that time was Callao and the Ciudad de los Reyes, that is Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Generally speaking, much of what was not sold (rezagos) directly in Acapulco was redirected towards Peru. Peruvian ships, mainly loaded with silver, mercury, cacao from Guayaquil, and Peruvian wines, sailed to ports along the Mexican and Guatemalan coasts, returning with Asian goods and leftover cargo from the galleon ships. Besides Callao and Guayaquil, Paita was also frequently a port of call. |access-date=27 May 2021 |archive-date=27 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527045556/https://www.academia.edu/44625493/Connecting_China_with_the_Pacific_World |url-status=live }}</ref> In relation to this, Don [[Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera]], governor of Panama was also responsible for settling [[Zamboanga City]] in the Philippines, which now speak a [[Chavacano|Spanish Creole]] by employing Peruvian soldiers and colonists.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.zamboanga.com/html/history_1634_moro_attacks.htm |title=Second book of the second part of the Conquests of the Filipinas Islands, and chronicle of the religious of our Father, St. Augustine |website=Zamboanga City History |quote=He (Governor Don Sebastían Hurtado de Corcuera) brought a great reenforcement of soldiers, many of them from Perú, as he made his voyage to Acapulco from that kingdom. |access-date=18 February 2021 |archive-date=28 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228083013/https://www.zamboanga.com/html/history_1634_moro_attacks.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of lack of available workforce, [[History of slavery#America|African slaves]] were added to the labor population. The expansion of a colonial administrative apparatus and bureaucracy paralleled the economic reorganization. With the conquest started the spread of Christianity in South America; most people were forcefully converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], with Spanish clerics believing like Puritan divines of English colonies later that the Native Peoples "had been corrupted by the Devil, who was working "through them to frustrate" their foundations.<ref>Russell Bourne, ''Gods of War, Gods of Peace'' (New York: Harcourt Books, 2002), 7–9.</ref> It only took a generation to convert the population. They built churches in every city and replaced some of the Inca temples with churches, such as the [[Coricancha]] in the city of Cusco. The church employed the [[Inquisition]], making use of torture to ensure that newly converted Catholics did not stray to other religions or beliefs, and monastery schools, educating girls, especially of the Inca nobility and upper class, "until they were old enough either to profess [to become a nun] or to leave the monastery and assume the role ('estado') in the Christian society that their fathers planned to erect" in Peru.<ref>Kathryn Burns, ''Colonial Habits'' (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1999), 15–40.</ref> Peruvian Catholicism follows the [[syncretism]] found in many Latin American countries, in which religious native rituals have been integrated with Christian celebrations.<ref name="discover-peru.org">Conquest and Colony of Peru.{{cite web|url=http://www.discover-peru.org/conquest-and-colony-of-peru/ |title=Conquest and Colony of Peru |website=discover-peru.org |access-date=28 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818164503/http://www.discover-peru.org/conquest-and-colony-of-peru/ |archive-date=18 August 2016}}</ref> In this endeavor, the church came to play an important role in the [[acculturation]] of the Natives, drawing them into the cultural orbit of the Spanish settlers.[[File:Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de Lima.jpg|thumb|Main façade of the [[Cathedral Basilica of Lima]] and the [[Archbishop's Palace of Lima|Archbishop's palace]]|alt=|left]]
By the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income.<ref name="Andrien" /> In response, the Crown enacted the [[Bourbon Reforms]], a series of [[edict]]s that increased taxes and partitioned the [[Viceroyalty]].<ref name="Burkholder" /> The new laws provoked [[Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II|Túpac Amaru II's rebellion]] and other revolts, all of which were suppressed.<ref name="Phelan" /> As a result of these and other changes, the Spaniards and their [[Creole peoples|creole]] successors came to monopolize control over the land, seizing many of the best lands abandoned by the massive native depopulation. However, the Spanish did not resist the [[Portuguese colonization of the Americas|Portuguese expansion of Brazil]] across the meridian. The [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] was rendered meaningless between 1580 and 1640 while [[Iberian Union|Spain controlled Portugal]]. The need to ease communication and trade with Spain led to the split of the viceroyalty and the creation of new viceroyalties of [[Viceroyalty of New Granada|New Granada]] and [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata|Rio de la Plata]] at the expense of the territories that formed the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]]; this reduced the power, prominence and importance of Lima as the viceroyal capital and shifted the lucrative [[Andes|Andean]] trade to [[Buenos Aires]] and [[Bogotá]], while the fall of the mining and textile production accelerated the progressive decay of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Eventually, the viceroyalty would dissolve, as with much of the Spanish empire, when challenged by national independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century. These movements led to the formation of the majority of modern-day countries of South America in the territories that at one point or another had constituted the Viceroyalty of Peru.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/peru/ |title=Peru |website=countrystudies.us |access-date=27 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103011538/http://countrystudies.us/peru/ |archive-date=3 November 2016}}</ref> The conquest and colony brought a mix of cultures and ethnicities that did not exist before the Spanish conquered the Peruvian territory. Even though many of the Inca traditions were lost or diluted, new customs, traditions and knowledge were added, creating a rich mixed Peruvian culture.<ref name="discover-peru.org" /> Two of the most important Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish were that of [[Juan Santos Atahualpa]] in 1742, and Rebellion of [[Túpac Amaru II]] in 1780 around the highlands near Cuzco.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Túpac Amaru II |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-date=3 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603132731/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Independence===
{{main|Peruvian War of Independence}}
[[File:Batalla de Ayacucho by Martín Tovar y Tovar (1827 - 1902).jpg|alt=|thumb|220x220px|The [[Battle of Ayacucho]] was decisive in ensuring Peruvian independence.]]
In the early 19th century, while most South American nations were swept by [[Decolonization of the Americas|wars of independence]], Peru remained a [[Royalist (Spanish American Revolution)|royalist]] stronghold. As the elite vacillated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy, [[independence of Peru|independence]] was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of [[José de San Martín]] and [[Simón Bolívar]].

The economic crises, the loss of power of Spain in Europe, the [[American Revolutionary War|war of independence in North America]], and Native uprisings all contributed to a favorable climate to the development of emancipation ideas among the [[Criollo people|C''riollo'']] population in South America. However, the Criollo oligarchy in Peru enjoyed privileges and remained loyal to the Spanish Crown. The liberation movement started in Argentina where autonomous juntas were created as a result of the loss of authority of the Spanish government over its colonies.

After fighting for the independence of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, [[José de San Martín]] created the [[Army of the Andes]] and [[Crossing of the Andes|crossed the Andes in 21 days]]. Once in Chile, he joined forces with Chilean army General [[Bernardo O'Higgins]] and liberated the country in the battles of [[Battle of Chacabuco|Chacabuco]] and [[Battle of Maipú|Maipú]] in 1818.<ref>Scheina, 2003, ''Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899'', p. 58.</ref> On 7 September 1820, a fleet of eight warships arrived in the port of [[Paracas (municipality)|Paracas]] under the command of General José de San Martin and [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]], who was serving in the Chilean Navy. Immediately on 26 October, they took control of the town of [[Pisco, Peru|Pisco]]. San Martin settled in [[Huacho]] on 12 November, where he established his headquarters while Cochrane sailed north and blockaded the port of [[Callao]] in Lima. At the same time in the north, [[Guayaquil]] was occupied by rebel forces under the command of Gregorio Escobedo. Because Peru was the stronghold of the Spanish government in South America, San Martin's strategy to liberate Peru was to use diplomacy. He sent representatives to Lima urging the [[Viceroy]] that Peru be granted independence, however, all negotiations proved unsuccessful.

[[File:La Independencia del Perú.jpg|thumb|San Martín proclaiming the independence of Peru. Painting by [[Juan Lepiani]].|alt=|220x220px|left]]The Viceroy of Peru, [[Joaquín de la Pezuela, 1st Marquess of Viluma|Joaquín de la Pazuela]] named [[José de la Serna, 1st Count of the Andes|José de la Serna]] commander-in-chief of the loyalist army to protect Lima from the threatened invasion by San Martin. On 29 January, de la Serna organized a [[Coup d'état|coup]] against de la Pazuela, which was recognized by Spain and he was named Viceroy of Peru. This internal power struggle contributed to the success of the liberating army. To avoid a military confrontation, San Martin met the newly appointed viceroy, José de la Serna, and proposed to create a [[constitutional monarchy]], a proposal that was turned down. De la Serna abandoned the city, and on 12 July 1821, San Martin occupied Lima and declared Peruvian independence on 28 July 1821. He created the first Peruvian flag. [[Upper Peru]] (Bolivia) remained as a Spanish stronghold until the army of [[Simón Bolívar]] liberated it three years later. José de San Martin was declared Protector of Peru. Peruvian national identity was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a [[Congress of Panama|Latin American Confederation]] floundered and a [[Peru–Bolivian Confederation|union with Bolivia]] proved ephemeral.<ref>Gootenberg (1991) p. 12.</ref>

Simon Bolivar launched his campaign from the north, liberating the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] in the Battles of [[Battle of Carabobo|Carabobo]] in 1821 and [[Battle of Pichincha|Pichincha]] a year later. In July 1822, Bolivar and San Martin gathered in the [[Guayaquil Conference]]. Bolivar was left in charge of fully liberating Peru while San Martin retired from politics after the first parliament was assembled. The newly founded [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Peruvian Congress]] named Bolivar dictator of Peru, giving him the power to organize the military.

With the help of [[Antonio José de Sucre]], they defeated the larger Spanish army in the [[Battle of Junín]] on 6 August 1824 and the decisive [[Battle of Ayacucho]] on 9 December of the same year, consolidating the independence of Peru and Alto Peru. Alto Peru was later established as Bolivia. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability.<ref>Discover Peru (Peru cultural society). [http://www.discover-peru.org/peru-history-independence/ War of Independence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021143330/http://www.discover-peru.org/peru-history-independence/ |date=21 October 2016}}. Retrieved 28 July 2014</ref>

===19th century===
[[File:Angamos2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Battle of Angamos]], during the [[War of the Pacific]].|alt=]]

From the 1840s to the 1860s, Peru enjoyed [[Guano Era|a period of stability]] under the presidency of [[Ramón Castilla]], through increased state revenues from [[guano]] exports.<ref>Gootenberg (1993) pp. 5–6.</ref> However, by the 1870s, these resources had been depleted, the country was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise.<ref>Gootenberg (1993) p. 9.</ref> Peru embarked on a railroad-building program that helped but also bankrupted the country.

In 1879, Peru entered the [[War of the Pacific]] which lasted until 1884. Bolivia invoked its alliance with Peru against Chile. The [[Politics of Peru|Peruvian Government]] tried to mediate the dispute by sending a diplomatic team to negotiate with the Chilean government, but the committee concluded that war was inevitable. Chile declared war on 5 April 1879. Almost five years of war ended with the loss of the [[Tarapacá Department (Peru)|department of Tarapacá]] and the provinces of [[Tacna Province|Tacna]] and [[Arica Province (Peru)|Arica]], in the Atacama region. Two outstanding military leaders throughout the war were [[Francisco Bolognesi]] and [[Miguel Grau Seminario|Miguel Grau]]. Originally Chile committed to a referendum for the cities of Arica and Tacna to be held years later, to self determine their national affiliation. However, Chile refused to apply the Treaty, and neither of the countries could determine the statutory framework. After the War of the Pacific, an extraordinary effort of rebuilding began. The government started to initiate a number of social and economic reforms to recover from the damage of the war. Political stability was achieved only in the early 1900s.

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Protocolo de Río.jpg|thumb|The signing of the [[Rio Protocol]] in January 1942.|alt=|left|217x217px]]
Internal struggles after the war were followed by a period of stability under the [[Civilista Party]], which lasted until the onset of the authoritarian regime of [[Augusto B. Leguía]]. The [[Great Depression]] caused the downfall of Leguía, renewed political turmoil, and the emergence of the [[American Popular Revolutionary Alliance]] (APRA).<ref>Klarén, Peter (2000). ''Peru: society and nationhood in the Andes''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 262–276, {{ISBN|0195069285}}.</ref> The rivalry between this organization and a coalition of the elite and the military defined Peruvian politics for the following three decades. A final peace treaty in 1929, signed between Peru and Chile called the [[Treaty of Lima]], returned [[Tacna]] to Peru. Between 1932 and 1933, Peru was engulfed in a [[Leticia Incident|year-long war with Colombia]] over a territorial dispute involving the [[Amazonas Department]] and its capital [[Leticia, Amazonas|Leticia]].

Later, in 1941, Peru and Ecuador fought the [[Ecuadorian–Peruvian War]], after which the [[Rio Protocol]] sought to formalize the boundary between those two countries. In a military coup on 29 October 1948, General [[Manuel A. Odría]] became president. Odría's presidency was known as the ''Ochenio''. He came down hard on APRA, momentarily pleasing the oligarchy and all others on the right, but followed a [[Populism|populist]] course that won him great favor with the poor and lower classes. A thriving economy allowed him to indulge in expensive but crowd-pleasing social policies. At the same time, however, [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] were severely restricted and corruption was rampant throughout his regime. Odría was succeeded by [[Manuel Prado Ugarteche]]. However, widespread allegations of fraud prompted the Peruvian military to depose Prado and install a military junta, led by [[Ricardo Pérez Godoy]]. Godoy ran a short transitional government and held new elections in 1963, which were won by [[Fernando Belaúnde Terry]] who assumed presidency until 1968. Belaúnde was recognized for his commitment to the democratic process. In 1968, the Armed Forces, led by General [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]], staged a coup against Belaúnde. Alvarado's regime undertook radical reforms aimed at fostering development, but failed to gain widespread support. In 1975, General [[Francisco Morales-Bermúdez]] forcefully replaced Velasco, paralyzed reforms, and oversaw the reestablishment of democracy.

[[File:Zonas donde se ha registrado actividad de Sendero Luminoso.png|thumb|Areas where the [[Shining Path]] was active in Peru.|alt=]]

Under the military government of [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]], Peru's debt increased greatly due to excessive borrowing and the [[1970s energy crisis]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brands|first=Hal|date=15 September 2010|title=The United States and the Peruvian Challenge, 1968–1975|journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=21|issue=3|pages=471–490|doi=10.1080/09592296.2010.508418|s2cid=154119414}}</ref> Peru engaged in a two week long conflict with Ecuador during the [[Paquisha War]] in early 1981 as a result of territorial dispute between the two countries. The economic policy [[President of Peru|President]] [[Alan García]] distanced Peru from international markets further, resulting in lower foreign investment in the country.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|date=2 June 2010|title=Welcome, Mr. Peruvian President: Why Alan García is no hero to his people|url=http://www.coha.org/welcome-mr-peruvian-president-why-alan-garcia-is-no-hero-to-his-people/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418150551/http://www.coha.org/welcome-mr-peruvian-president-why-alan-garcia-is-no-hero-to-his-people/|archive-date=18 April 2019|access-date=2019-04-18|website=[[Council on Hemispheric Affairs]]|language=en-US|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After the country experienced [[chronic inflation]], the Peruvian currency, the [[Peruvian sol (1863–1985)|sol]], was replaced by the ''[[Peruvian inti|Inti]]'' in mid-1985, which itself was later replaced by the [[Peruvian sol|nuevo sol]] in July 1991, at which time the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion old soles. The per capita annual income of Peruvians fell to $720 (below the level of 1960) and Peru's GDP dropped 20% at which national reserves were a negative $900 million. The economic turbulence of the time acerbated social tensions in Peru and partly contributed to the rise of violent rebel rural insurgent movements, like [[Shining Path|Sendero Luminoso]] (Shining Path) and [[Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement|MRTA]], which caused [[Internal conflict in Peru|great havoc]] throughout the country.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

The Peruvian armed forces grew frustrated with the inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises and drafted [[Plan Verde]] – which involved the [[genocide]] of impoverished and indigenous Peruvians, the control or [[censorship]] of the [[media in Peru]] and the establishment of a [[neoliberal]] economy controlled by a [[military junta]] in Peru – as an effort to overthrow his government.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book|last=Rospigliosi|first=Fernando|title=Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista|publisher=Instituto de Estudios Peruanos|year=1996|location=Lima, Peru|pages=46–47}}</ref><ref name="CANbio">{{cite journal|last1=Gaussens|first1=Pierre|date=2020|title=The forced serilization of indigenous population in Mexico in the 1990s|journal=[[Canadian Journal of Bioethics]]|volume=3|issue=3|pages=180+|doi=10.7202/1073797ar|quote=a government plan, developed by the Peruvian army between 1989 and 1990s to deal with the Shining Path insurrection, later known as the 'Green Plan', whose (unpublished) text expresses in explicit terms a genocidal intention|s2cid=234586692}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite journal|last=Burt|first=Jo-Marie|date=September–October 1998|title=Unsettled accounts: militarization and memory in postwar Peru|journal=[[NACLA|NACLA Report on the Americas]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=32|issue=2|pages=35–41|doi=10.1080/10714839.1998.11725657|quote=the military's growing frustration over the limitations placed upon its counterinsurgency operations by democratic institutions, coupled with the growing inability of civilian politicians to deal with the spiraling economic crisis and the expansion of the Shining Path, prompted a group of military officers to devise a coup plan in the late 1980s. The plan called for the dissolution of Peru's civilian government, military control over the state, and total elimination of armed opposition groups. The plan, developed in a series of documents known as the "Plan Verde," outlined a strategy for carrying out a military coup in which the armed forces would govern for 15 to 20 years and radically restructure state-society relations along neoliberal lines.}}</ref><ref name="Alfredo">{{cite book|author=Alfredo Schulte-Bockholt|title=The politics of organized crime and the organized crime of politics: a study in criminal power|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7391-1358-5|pages=114–118|chapter=Chapter 5: Elites, Cocaine, and Power in Colombia and Peru|quote=important members of the officer corps, particularly within the army, had been contemplating a military coup and the establishment of an authoritarian regime, or a so-called directed democracy. The project was known as 'Plan Verde', the Green Plan. ... Fujimori essentially adopted the 'Plan Verde,' and the military became a partner in the regime. ... The autogolpe, or self-coup, of April 5, 1992, dissolved the Congress and the country's constitution and allowed for the implementation of the most important components of the 'Plan Verde.'}}</ref> [[Alberto Fujimori]] assumed the presidency in 1990 and acording to Rospigliosi, the head of the [[National Intelligence Service (Peru)|National Intelligence Service (SIN)]] General Edwin “Cucharita” Díaz and [[Vladimiro Montesinos]] played a key role with making President Fujimori abide by the military's demands wihile "an understanding was established between Fujimori, Montesinos and some of the military officers" involved in Plan Verde prior to Fujimori's inauguration.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book|last=Rospigliosi|first=Fernando|title=Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista|publisher=Instituto de Estudios Peruanos|year=1996|location=Lima, Peru|pages=28–40}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last=Avilés|first=William|date=Spring 2009|title=Despite Insurgency: Reducing Military Prerogatives in Colombia and Peru|journal=[[Latin American Politics and Society]]|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|volume=51|issue=1|pages=57–85|doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2009.00040.x|s2cid=154153310}}</ref> Fujimori would go on to adopt many of the policies outlined in Plan Verde.<ref name="Alfredo2">{{cite book|author=Alfredo Schulte-Bockholt|title=The politics of organized crime and the organized crime of politics: a study in criminal power|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7391-1358-5|pages=114–118|chapter=Chapter 5: Elites, Cocaine, and Power in Colombia and Peru|quote=important members of the officer corps, particularly within the army, had been contemplating a military coup and the establishment of an authoritarian regime, or a so-called directed democracy. The project was known as 'Plan Verde', the Green Plan. ... Fujimori essentially adopted the 'Plan Verde,' and the military became a partner in the regime. ... The autogolpe, or self-coup, of April 5, 1992, dissolved the Congress and the country's constitution and allowed for the implementation of the most important components of the 'Plan Verde.'}}</ref><ref name=":102">{{Cite journal|last=Avilés|first=William|date=Spring 2009|title=Despite Insurgency: Reducing Military Prerogatives in Colombia and Peru|journal=[[Latin American Politics and Society]]|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|volume=51|issue=1|pages=57–85|doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2009.00040.x|s2cid=154153310}}</ref> Fujimori's policies, prescribed by [[Hernando de Soto (economist)|Hernando de Soto]], led to the immediate suffering of poor Peruvians who saw unregulated prices increase rapidly, with those living in poverty seeing prices increase so much that they could no longer afford food.<ref name=":213">{{Cite book|last=Pee|first=Robert|title=The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and the Transition to Democracy Promotion|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|year=2018|isbn=978-3319963815|pages=178–180}}</ref> De Soto advocated for the collapse of Peru's society, with the economist saying that a civil crisis was necessary to support the policies of Fujimori.<ref name="NYTfeb">{{cite news|last1=Nash|first1=Nathaniel C.|date=24 February 1991|title=The World; Fujimori In the Time Of Cholera|page=Section 4, Page 2|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/weekinreview/the-world-fujimori-in-the-time-of-cholera.html|access-date=5 August 2021}}</ref> These drastic measures caused inflation to drop from 7,650% in 1990 to 139% in 1991 and 57% in 1992.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Leonard|first=Thomas M.|title=Encyclopedia of the Developing World|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=9781135205157|pages=685|quote=The inflation rate in 1990 was 7,650%....President Fujimori immediately implemented a program of severe austerity and privatization programs. The economic shock therapy hit the poor the hardest, but brought inflation down to 139% in 1991 and 57% in 1992.}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|first=|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Economic_Survey_of_Latin_America_and_the/RTMDEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0|title=Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 1992|publisher=ECLAC|pages=31}}</ref>

Due to his controversial governance, Fujimori faced opposition to his reform efforts and utilized coup proposals from Plan Verde, dissolving Congress, suspending the judiciary, arresting several opposition leaders and assuming full powers in the ''[[Self-coup|auto-golpe]]'' ("self-coup") of 5 April 1992.<ref name="LAgolpe1">{{cite journal|last1=Cameron|first1=Maxwell A.|date=June 1998|title=Latin American Autogolpes: Dangerous Undertows in the Third Wave of Democratisation|journal=[[Third World Quarterly]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|volume=19|issue=2|page=228|doi=10.1080/01436599814433|quote=the outlines for Peru's presidential coup were first developed within the armed forces before the 1990 election. This Plan Verde was shown to President Fujimorti after the 1990 election before his inauguration. Thus, the president was able to prepare for an eventual self-coup during the first two years of his administration}}</ref><ref name="Alfredo3">{{cite book|author=Alfredo Schulte-Bockholt|title=The politics of organized crime and the organized crime of politics: a study in criminal power|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7391-1358-5|pages=114–118|chapter=Chapter 5: Elites, Cocaine, and Power in Colombia and Peru|quote=important members of the officer corps, particularly within the army, had been contemplating a military coup and the establishment of an authoritarian regime, or a so-called directed democracy. The project was known as 'Plan Verde', the Green Plan. ... Fujimori essentially adopted the 'Plan Verde,' and the military became a partner in the regime. ... The autogolpe, or self-coup, of April 5, 1992, dissolved the Congress and the country's constitution and allowed for the implementation of the most important components of the 'Plan Verde.'}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|date=12 July 1993|title=El "Plan Verde" Historia de una traición|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/310286817/El-Plan-Verde|journal=Oiga|volume=647}}</ref> He then revised the constitution; called new congressional elections; and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy. Fujimori's administration was dogged by [[Insurgency|insurgent]] groups, most notably the Sendero Luminoso (also called the Shining Path), who carried out terrorist campaigns across the country throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Fujimori cracked down on the insurgents and was successful in largely quelling them by the late 1990s, but the fight was marred by atrocities committed by both the Peruvian security forces and the insurgents: the [[Barrios Altos massacre]] and [[La Cantuta massacre]] by Government paramilitary groups, and the bombings of [[Tarata bombing|Tarata]] and [[Latina Televisión|Frecuencia Latina]] by Sendero Luminoso. Those incidents subsequently came to symbolize the [[Human rights in Peru|human rights]] violations committed in the last years of violence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Black|first=Jan|url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Latin_America/JRdWDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT355&printsec=frontcover|title=Latin America Its Problems and Its Promise: A Multidisciplinary Introduction|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=9780429974694|pages=355|quote=In September 1992, a small, elite squad within Peru's antiterrorist police (established under Garcia) captured the Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzman. Within the next few weeks, using information in Guzman's hideout, police arrested more than 1,000 suspected guerillas. During the next few years, the Shining Path was decimated.}}</ref> His [[Programa Nacional de Población]] – an implementation of one of Plan Verde's proposals for the "total extermination" of impoverished Peruvians that would possibly be sympathetic to insurgent groups – also resulted with the [[forced sterilization]] of at least 300,000 poor and indigenous women.<ref name=":162">{{Cite book|last=Rospigliosi|first=Fernando|title=Las Fuerzas Armadas y el 5 de abril: la percepción de la amenaza subversiva como una motivación golpista|publisher=Instituto de Estudios Peruanos|year=1996|location=Lima, Peru|pages=28–40}}</ref><ref name="CANbio2">{{cite journal|last1=Gaussens|first1=Pierre|date=2020|title=The forced serilization of indigenous population in Mexico in the 1990s|journal=[[Canadian Journal of Bioethics]]|volume=3|issue=3|pages=180+|quote=a government plan, developed by the Peruvian army between 1989 and 1990s to deal with the Shining Path insurrection, later known as the 'Green Plan', whose (unpublished) text expresses in explicit terms a genocidal intention}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Back|first=Michele|url=https://repositoriodigital.bnp.gob.pe/bnp/recursos/2/html/Racismo-y-lenguaje/286/|title=Racialization and Language: Interdisciplinary Perspectives From Perú|last2=Zavala|first2=Virginia|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2018|pages=286–291|quote=At the end of the 1980s, a group of military elites secretly developed an analysis of Peruvian society called ''El cuaderno verde''. This analysis established the policies that the following government would have to carry out in order to defeat Shining Path and rescue the Peruvian economy from the deep crisis in which it found itself. ''El cuaderno verde'' was passed onto the national press in 1993, after some of these policies were enacted by President Fujimori. ... It was a program that resulted in the forced sterilization of Quechua-speaking women belonging to rural Andean communities. This is an example of 'ethnic cleansing' justified by the state, which claimed that a properly controlled birth rate would improve the distribution of national resources and thus reduce poverty levels. ... The Peruvian state decided to control the bodies of 'culturally backward' women, since they were considered a source of poverty and the seeds of subversive groups|access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref>

In early 1995, once again Peru and Ecuador clashed in the [[Cenepa War]], but in 1998 the governments of both nations signed a peace treaty that clearly demarcated the international boundary between them. In November 2000, Fujimori resigned from office and went into a self-imposed exile, initially avoiding prosecution for human rights violations and corruption charges by the new Peruvian authorities.<ref name=":0" />

=== 21st century===
{{Main|Operation Car Wash|2017–2021 Peruvian political crisis|2019–2020 Peruvian constitutional crisis}}
Since the end of the Fujimori regime, Peru has tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.economist.com/research/backgrounders/displaybackgrounder.cfm?bg=709221 |url-status=dead |work=The Economist |date=17 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410185845/http://www.economist.com/research/backgrounders/displaybackgrounder.cfm?bg=709221 |archive-date=10 April 2008 |title=Peru}}</ref> In spite of human rights progress since the time of insurgency, many problems are still visible and show the continued marginalization of those who suffered through the violence of the Peruvian conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=White |first=Gavin David |date=2009 |title=Displacement, decentralisation and reparation in post-conflict Peru |url=http://www.fmreview.org/protracted/white.html |journal=Forced Migration Review |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015013756/http://www.fmreview.org/protracted/white.html |archive-date=15 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A caretaker government presided over by [[Valentín Paniagua]] took on the responsibility of conducting new presidential and congressional elections. Afterwards [[Alejandro Toledo]] became president in 2001 to 2006.

On 28 July 2006, former president [[Alan García]] became President of Peru after winning the [[2006 Peruvian general election|2006 elections]]. In May 2008, Peru became a member of the [[Union of South American Nations]]. In April 2009, former president [[Alberto Fujimori]] was convicted of human rights violations and [[Alberto Fujimori's arrest and trial|sentenced]] to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the [[Grupo Colina]] [[death squad]] during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Peru's Fujimori sentenced to 25 years prison|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0746237820090407|work=[[Reuters]]|date=7 April 2009|access-date=10 July 2018|archive-date=12 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412001459/https://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0746237820090407|url-status=live}}</ref> On 5 June 2011, [[Ollanta Humala]] was elected president. During his presidency, Prime Minister [[Ana Jara]] and her cabinet were [[Motion of no confidence|successfully censured]], which was the first time in 50 years that a cabinet had been forced to resign from the Peruvian legislature.<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer |date=31 March 2015 |title=Peru's Prime Minister Ana Jara deposed over spy row |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32129407 |work=BBC |agency=BBC News |access-date=19 August 2017 |archive-date=20 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820050009/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32129407 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2016, [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] was elected, though his government was short-lived as he [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski#Resignation|resigned]] in 2018 amid various controversies surrounding his administration. Vice president [[Martín Vizcarra]] then assumed office in March 2018 with generally favorable approval ratings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-04-15/perus-vizcarra-begins-presidency-with-57-pct-approval-rating|title=Peru's Vizcarra Begins Presidency With 57 Pct Approval Rating|date=15 April 2018|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416073907/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-04-15/perus-vizcarra-begins-presidency-with-57-pct-approval-rating|url-status=live}}</ref> Alan García was involved in the [[Operation Car Wash]] scandal and as police tried to arrest him, he committed suicide on 17 April 2019. Later that year, in July, police arrested Alejandro Toledo in California. Amid the crisis, on 30 September 2019, President Vizcarra dissolved the congress, and [[2020 Peruvian parliamentary election|elections were held]] on 26 January 2020. The first case of [[COVID-19]] was confirmed on 6 March 2020. During the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Peru]], most Peruvians were under a [[stay-at-home order]] by president [[Martin Vizcarra]]. However, an economic crisis triggered by the pandemic led to [[Removal of Martín Vizcarra|his removal from the presidency]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54872826 |title=Peruvian Congress votes to impeach President Martín Vizcarra |work=BBC News |date=10 November 2020 |access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> seen by many as a coup by [[Congress of Peru|congress]], and the far-right government of [[Manuel Merino]], the new president, received a lot of backlash. [[2020 Peruvian protests|Protests]] sprang across the country, and after five days, Merino resigned.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54953546 |title=Peru's President Merino resigns after deadly crackdown on protesters |work=BBC News |date=16 November 2020 |access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was replaced by [[Francisco Sagasti]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54967831 |title=Francisco Sagasti sworn in as interim Peruvian leader |work=BBC News |date=18 November 2020 |access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sagasti led a provisional, centrist government, and enforced many of Vizcarra's former policies. [[2021 Peruvian general election|Elections]] were held on 11 April 2021, and [[Pedro Castillo]] of the [[Free Peru]] party won the first round, followed closely by [[Keiko Fujimori]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57897402 |title=Pedro Castillo declared president-elect of Peru |work=BBC News |date=20 July 2021 |access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 28 July 2021, Pedro Castillo was sworn in as the new [[President of Peru]] after a narrow win in a tightly contested run-off election.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/peru-pedro-castillo-sworn-in-as-president/a-58672989 |title=Peru: Pedro Castillo sworn in as president |work=DW.com |date=28 July 2021 |access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The new Peruvian president Castillo appointed [[Guido Bellido]], a member of Free Peru Party, as prime minister.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/perus-new-president-castillo-names-leftist-pm/a-58698370 |title=Peru's new President Castillo names leftist PM |work=DW.com |date=29 July 2021 |access-date=17 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> That same time, Peru celebrated the [[Bicentennial of the Independence of Peru|bicentenary of independence]] on its 200th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Post |first1=The Jakarta |title=The bicentennial of Peru’s independence: A historic opportunity |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2021/07/27/the-bicentennial-of-perus-independence-a-historic-opportunity.html |website=The Jakarta Post |language=en}}</ref>

==Government and politics==
{{main|Government of Peru|Politics of Peru}}
Peru is a [[Unitary state|unitary]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]] with a [[multi-party system]].<ref name="Draft" /><ref name="Dual" /> The country has maintained a [[Liberal democracy|liberal democratic]] system under its [[1993 Peruvian constitutional referendum|1993 Constitution]], which replaced a [[Constitution of Peru|constitution]] that leaned the government to a federation to authorize more power to the President.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/peru/government|title=Peru: Government|website=globaledge.msu.edu|language=en-us|access-date=11 March 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715053213/https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/peru/government|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Andrade|first=Guilherme Trivellato|date=21 April 2017|title=From Promise to Delivery: Organizing the Government of Peru to Improve Public Health Outcomes|url=https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/38811936|language=en|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=17 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717030051/https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/38811936|url-status=live}}</ref> It is also a [[Unitary state|unitary republic]], in which the central government holds the most power and can create [[administrative division]]s. The Peruvian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the United States (a [[Constitution|written constitution]], an autonomous [[Supreme court]], and a [[presidential system]]) and the [[Government of China|People's Republic of China]] (a [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] congress, a [[premier]] and [[Minister (government)|ministry system]]).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fernandini|first1=Patrick Wieland|last2=Sousa|first2=Ronnie Farfan|date=2015|title=Overview of the different levels of government|journal=The Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities Affecting Forests, Land Use, and Redd+ Across Levels and Sectors in Peru|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02240.5|pages=1–12|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726205333/https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02240.5|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Peruvian government is [[Separation of powers|separated]] into three branches:

* Legislature: the unicameral [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of Peru]], consisting of 130 members of Congress (on a basis of population), the [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|President of Congress]], and the Permanent Commission;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Serra|first=Diego|date=30 August 2019|title=Defending bicameralism and equalising powers: The case of Peru|url=https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788978637/9781788978637.00016.xml|journal=Constitutional Reform of National Legislatures|pages=142–162|doi=10.4337/9781788978644.00016|isbn=9781788978644|s2cid=203215051|language=en-US|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715053427/https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788978637/9781788978637.00016.xml|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Executive: the [[President of Peru|President]], the [[Cabinet of Peru|Council of Ministers]], which in practice controls [[Legislation|domestic legislation]] and serve as a Cabinet to the President, consisting of the [[President of the Council of Ministers of Peru|Prime Minister]] and 18 ministers of the state;
* Judiciary: the [[Supreme Court of Peru]], also known as the [[Real Audiencia of Lima|Royal Audencia of Lima]], composed of 18 [[Judge|justices]] including a Supreme Justice, along with 28 [[Superior Courts of Justice of Peru|superior courts]], 195 [[trial court]]s, and 1,838 [[district court]]s.
[[File:Lima, Palacio de Gobierno - panoramio.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Government Palace (Peru)|Palacio de Gobierno]], in [[Lima]]]]
Under its constitution, the President is both [[head of state]] and [[head of government|government]] and is elected to a five-year term without immediate reelection.<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 112.</ref> The President appoints [[Council of Ministers of Peru|ministers]] who oversee the 18 [[Cabinet of Peru|ministries of the state]], including the [[Prime Minister of Peru|Prime Minister]], into the [[Cabinet of Peru|Cabinet]].<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 122.</ref> The constitution designates minimal authority to the Prime Minister, who presides over [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet meetings]] in which ministers advise the President and acts as a spokesperson on behalf of the [[Executive (government)|executive branch]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hildebrancht|first=Martha|title=El Habla Culta (o lo que debiera serlo)|year=2003|location=Lima, Peru|pages=37}}</ref> The President is also able to pose [[Motion of confidence|questions of confidence]] to the Congress of Peru, and consequently order the [[Dissolution of parliament|dissolution of congress]], done in [[1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis|1992]] by [[Alberto Fujimori]] and in [[2019–20 Peruvian constitutional crisis|2019]] by [[Martín Vizcarra]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/perus-president-dissolved-congress-then-congress-suspended-the-president/2019/10/01/7b404cd6-e451-11e9-b0a6-3d03721b85ef_story.html|title=Peru's president dissolved Congress. Then Congress suspended the president.|last=Tegel|first=Simeon|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=21 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221011812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/perus-president-dissolved-congress-then-congress-suspended-the-president/2019/10/01/7b404cd6-e451-11e9-b0a6-3d03721b85ef_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the Congress of Peru, there are 130 Members of Congress from 25 [[administrative division]]s, determined by respective population, elected to five-year terms.<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 90.</ref> Bills are proposed by the executive and [[Legislature|legislative]] powers and become law through a [[Plurality voting|plurality]] vote in Congress.<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Articles No. 107–108.</ref> The judiciary is nominally independent,<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 146.</ref> though political intervention into judicial matters has been common throughout history.<ref>Clark, Jeffrey. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813232240/http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/pubs/descriptions/perubuilding.htm ''Building on quicksand'']. Retrieved 24 July 2007.</ref> The Congress of Peru can also pass a [[motion of no confidence]], [[censure]] ministers, as well as initiate [[impeachment]]s and [[convict]] executives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/RelatAgenda/reglamento.nsf/033ee8fa0e1a44f40525729300229e8b/b362ef2a104cc2780525672b007856e1?OpenDocument|title=Reglamento del Congreso de la Republica|website=www2.congreso.gob.pe|access-date=11 March 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715051433/http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/RelatAgenda/reglamento.nsf/033ee8fa0e1a44f40525729300229e8b/b362ef2a104cc2780525672b007856e1?OpenDocument|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Sang Hoon|last2=Magallanes|first2=José Manuel|last3=Porter|first3=Mason A.|date=1 March 2017|title=Time-dependent community structure in legislation cosponsorship networks in the Congress of the Republic of Peru|url=https://academic.oup.com/comnet/article/5/1/127/2909061|journal=Journal of Complex Networks|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|pages=127–144|doi=10.1093/comnet/cnw004|arxiv=1510.01002|s2cid=15837465|issn=2051-1310|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224155028/https://academic.oup.com/comnet/article/5/1/127/2909061|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to broadly interpreted [[impeachment]] wording in the [[Constitution of Peru|1993 Constitution of Peru]], the legislative branch can impeach the president without cause, effectively making the executive branch subject to Congress.<ref name="PROFE92">{{cite book|last1=Asensio|first1=Raúl|url=https://fondoeditorial.iep.org.pe/producto/el-profe-como-pedro-castillo-se-convirtio-en-presidente-del-peru-y-que-pasara-a-continuacion-2/|title=El Profe: Cómo Pedro Castillo se convirtió en presidente del Perú y qué pasará a continuación|last2=Camacho|first2=Gabriela|last3=González|first3=Natalia|last4=Grompone|first4=Romeo|last5=Pajuelo Teves|first5=Ramón|last6=Peña Jimenez|first6=Omayra|last7=Moscoso|first7=Macarena|last8=Vásquez|first8=Yerel|last9=Sosa Villagarcia|first9=Paolo|date=August 2021|publisher=[[Institute of Peruvian Studies]]|isbn=978-612-326-084-2|edition=1|location=[[Lima, Peru]]|pages=92|language=es|access-date=17 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Taj|first=Mitra|date=2021-12-07|title=‘Too many mistakes’: Peru’s president threatened with impeachment after shaky start|work=[[Financial Times]]|url=https://www.ft.com/content/685a5a7d-4531-4242-9074-badd59254349|access-date=2021-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=|date=2021-11-19|title=Peru's Keiko Fujimori backs long-shot effort to impeach President Castillo|language=en|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/perus-keiko-fujimori-backs-long-shot-effort-impeach-president-castillo-2021-11-19/|access-date=2021-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Tegel|first=Simeon|date=15 October 2021|title=Can Pedro Castillo Save His Presidency?|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/10/15/peru-president-pedro-castillo-left-extremism-impeachment/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-13|website=[[Foreign Policy]]|language=en-US}}</ref> In recent times, the legislative body has passed semi-successful impeachment and one successful impeachment; [[Alberto Fujimori]] resigned prior to removal in 2000, [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] [[Resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski|resigned]] in 2018 and [[Martín Vizcarra]] was [[Removal of Martín Vizcarra|removed from office]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-43492421|title=Under fire Peru president resigns|date=22 March 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=11 March 2020|language=en-GB|archive-date=4 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304170729/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-43492421|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:Lima Peru - City of kings - Congress.jpg|thumb|228x228px|The [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of Peru]], in [[Lima]]|alt=]]
Peru's [[electoral system]] uses [[compulsory voting]] for citizens from the age of 18 to 70, including [[Multiple citizenship|dual-citizens]] and [[Peruvians]] abroad.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Brennan|first1=Jason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRpvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116|title=Compulsory Voting: For and Against|last2=Hill|first2=Lisa|date=12 June 2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-04151-6|language=en|access-date=30 May 2020|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809202530/https://books.google.com/books?id=MRpvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116|url-status=live}}</ref> Members of Congress are [[directly elected]] by [[Constituent state|constituents]] in respective districts through [[Proportional representation|proportional voting]]. The [[President of Peru|President]] is elected in a general election, along with the [[Vice President of Peru|Vice President]], through a majority in a [[two-round system]].<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 31.</ref> Elections are observed and organized by the [[National Jury of Elections]], [[National Office of Electoral Processes]], and the [[National Registry of Identification and Civil Status]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/ElecSys/Peru/peru.html|title=Peru: Sistemas Electorales / Electoral Systems|website=pdba.georgetown.edu|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=9 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109100950/http://pdba.georgetown.edu/ElecSys/Peru/peru.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Peru uses a [[multi-party system]] for [[congress]]ional and general elections. Major groups that have formed governments, both on a federal and legislative level, are parties that have historically adopted [[economic liberalism]], [[progressivism]], [[right-wing populism]] (specifically [[Fujimorism]]), [[nationalism]], and [[reformism]].<ref>{{in lang|es}} Congreso de la República del Perú, [http://www.congreso.gob.pe/organizacion/grupos.asp ''Grupos Parlamentarios''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229061528/http://www.congreso.gob.pe/organizacion/grupos.asp |date=29 December 2007}}. Retrieved 27 August 2011.</ref>

The [[2021 Peruvian general election|most recent general election]] was held on 11 April 2021 and resulted in [[Free Peru]] winning the most seats in Congress, although it fell well short of a majority.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.fitchratings.com/research/sovereigns/elections-show-fissures-in-perus-political-institutions-14-04-2021|title=Elections Show Fissures in Peru's Political Institutions|date=14 April 2021|work=Finch Ratings|url-status=live}}</ref> A presidential runoff between [[Pedro Castillo]] and [[Keiko Fujimori]] took place on 5 June 2021 and resulted in the victory of Castillo.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Aquino|first=Marco|date=2021-07-20|title=Peru socialist Castillo confirmed president after lengthy battle over results|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/perus-fujimori-admits-defeat-presidential-election-lashes-out-socialist-rival-2021-07-19/|access-date=2021-11-03}}</ref>

=== Allegations of corruption in politics ===

Exceptionally many [[President of Peru|Presidents of Peru]] have been ousted from office or imprisoned on allegations of corruption over the past three decades. Alberto Fujimori is serving a 25-year sentence in prison for commanding [[death squad]]s that killed civilians in a counterinsurgency campaign during his tenure (1990-2000). He was later also found guilty of corruption. Former president Alan García (1985-1990 and 2006–2011) committed suicide in April 2019 when Peruvian police arrived to arrest him over allegations he participated in [[Odebrecht Case|Odebrecht bribery]] scheme. Former president Alejandro Toledo is accused of allegedly receiving bribe from Brazilian construction firm [[Odebrecht]] during his government (2001-2006). Former president Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) is also under investigation for allegedly receiving bribe from Odebrecht during his presidential election campaign. Humala's successor Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016-2018) remains under house arrest while prosecutors investigate him for favoring contracts with Odebrecht. Former president Martín Vizcarra (2018-2020) was ousted by Congress after media reports alleged he had received bribes while he was a regional governor years earlier.<ref>{{cite news |title=The curious case of Peru’s persistent president-to-prison politics |url=https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2020/11/17/the-curious-case-of-perus-persistent-president-to-prison-politics.html |work=The Week |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Peru's presidential lineup: graft probes, suicide and impeachment |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-politics-presidents-factbox-idUSKBN27V0M1 |work=Reuters |date=15 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Regions and territories ===
{{main|Administrative divisions of Peru}}
[[File:Peru - Regions and departments (labeled).svg|thumb|346x346px|A map of Peru's region and departments]]
Peru is divided into 26 units: [[Regions of Peru#History|24 departments]], the [[Constitutional Province of Callao]] and the [[Lima Province|Province of Lima]] (LIM) — which is independent of any region and serves as the [[Capital city|country's capital]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pozo Díaz|first=Hildebrando Castro|date=August 2008|title=Existen regiones en nuestro pais|url=http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/cendocbib/con_uibd.nsf/9F70BD4F97DA0D27052574B800766BBB/$FILE/EXISTENREGIONES.pdf|journal=Congreso de la Republica de Peru|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324180534/http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/cendocbib/con_uibd.nsf/9F70BD4F97DA0D27052574B800766BBB/$FILE/EXISTENREGIONES.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Under the constitution, the 24 departments plus Callao Province have an elected "regional"{{efn|name=d|The government in each department is referred to as "regional" governments despite being departments.}} government composed of the regional governor and the [[Regions of Peru|regional council]].<ref>''Ley N° 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'', Article No. 11.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gob.pe/estado/gobiernos-regionales|title=Gobierno del Perú|website=www.gob.pe|language=es|access-date=12 March 2020|archive-date=19 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619102427/https://www.gob.pe/estado/gobiernos-regionales|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Governor constitutes the [[Executive (government)|executive body]], proposes [[budget]]s, and creates Decrees, resolutions, and regional programs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dickovick|first=J. Tyler|date=1 January 2007|title=Municipalization as Central Government Strategy: Central-Regional–Local Politics in Peru, Brazil, and South Africa|url=https://academic.oup.com/publius/article/37/1/1/1940139|journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism|language=en|volume=37|issue=1|pages=1–25|doi=10.1093/publius/pjl012|issn=0048-5950|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417061905/https://academic.oup.com/publius/article/37/1/1/1940139|url-status=live}}</ref> The Regional Council, the region's [[Legislature|legislative body]], debates and votes on budgets, supervises regional officials, and can vote to remove the governor, deputy governor, or any member of the council from office. The Regional Governor and the Regional Council serve a term of four years, without immediate reelection. These governments plan regional development, execute public investment projects, promote economic activities, and manage public property.<ref>''Ley N° 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'', Article No. 10.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schönwälder|first=Gerd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40GaCgAAQBAJ&q=peru+government&pg=PP1|title=Linking Civil Society and the State: Urban Popular Movements, the Left, and Local Government in Peru, 1980–1992|date=1 May 2002|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-02379-3|language=en|access-date=18 November 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417061233/https://books.google.com/books?id=40GaCgAAQBAJ&q=peru+government&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref>

Provinces, such as the province of [[Lima]], are administered by a [[municipal council]], headed by a mayor.<ref>''Ley N° 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'', Article No. 66.</ref> The goal of devolving power to regional and municipal governments was among others to improve popular participation. NGOs played an important role in the [[decentralization]] process and still influence local politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/perus-ngos-want-government-decentralisation-serve-social-goals-and-public-participation|title=Mixed Feelings|author1=Monika Huber|author2=Wolfgang Kaiser|date=February 2013|publisher=dandc.eu|access-date=8 May 2013|archive-date=7 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707042639/https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/perus-ngos-want-government-decentralisation-serve-social-goals-and-public-participation|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pique|first=Ricardo|date=1 May 2019|title=Higher pay, worse outcomes? The impact of mayoral wages on local government quality in Peru|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272719300064|journal=Journal of Public Economics|language=en|volume=173|pages=1–20|doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2019.01.005|s2cid=14763370|issn=0047-2727|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=16 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716090526/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272719300064|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some areas of Peru are defined as [[List of metropolitan areas of Peru|metropolitan areas]] which overlap district areas. The largest of them, the [[Lima metropolitan area]], is the seventh-[[List of metropolitan areas in the Americas|largest metropolis in the Americas]].

===Foreign relations===
{{main|Foreign relations of Peru}} 
[[File:Perú asume Presidencia Pro Témpore de la Comunidad Andina.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|250x250px|The headquarters of the [[Andean Community]] is located in Lima]]
Over recent decades, [[Foreign relations of Peru|Peru's foreign relations]] has historically been dominated by close ties with the United States and Asia,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Costa|first=Eduardo Ferrero|date=1987|title=Peruvian Foreign Policy: Current Trends, Constraints and Opportunities|journal=Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs|volume=29|issue=2|pages=55–78|doi=10.2307/166073|jstor=166073|issn=0022-1937}}</ref> particularly through the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] (APEC), the [[World Trade Organization]], the [[Pacific Alliance]], [[Mercosur]], and the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS).<ref name="John" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lincoln|first1=Jennie K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAiiDwAAQBAJ&q=peru++%22foreign+policy%22&pg=PT150|title=The Dynamics Of Latin American Foreign Policies: Challenges For The 1980s|last2=Ferris|first2=Elizabeth G.|date=11 July 2019|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-31605-6|language=en|access-date=18 November 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417061236/https://books.google.com/books?id=rAiiDwAAQBAJ&q=peru++%22foreign+policy%22&pg=PT150|url-status=live}}</ref>
Peru is an active member of several [[Trade bloc|regional trade blocs]] and is one of the founding members of the [[Andean Community of Nations]]. It is also a member of international organizations such as the [[Organization of American States|OAS]] and the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Blanco-Jiménez, M., Parra-Irineo, G., González-González, N. and Tavizon-Salazar, A.|date=30 May 2019|title=Pacific Alliance: Political, Economic, and Commercial Implications|journal=Regional Integration in Latin America|volume=1|pages=1–12|doi=10.1108/978-1-78973-159-020191001|isbn=978-1-78973-160-6|s2cid=181395804}}</ref> [[Javier Pérez de Cuéllar]], a celebrated Peruvian diplomat, served as [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|United Nations Secretary General]] from 1981 to 1991.

Peru has planned to be fully integrated into the [[OECD|Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) by 2021, attributing its economic success and efforts to strengthen institutions as meeting factors to be a part of the OECD.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2018/01/25/productivity-provides-the-key-to-perus-bid-for-oecd-membership/|title=Productivity provides the key to Peru's bid for OECD membership|last=says|first=Christian|date=25 January 2018|website=LSE Latin America and Caribbean|access-date=29 March 2020|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329020937/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2018/01/25/productivity-provides-the-key-to-perus-bid-for-oecd-membership/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://andina.pe/ingles/noticia-perus-oecd-member-status-bid-likely-to-succeed-512879.aspx|title=Peru's OECD member status bid likely to succeed|last=PERÚ|first=Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. EDITORA|website=andina.pe|language=es|access-date=29 March 2020|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329020940/https://andina.pe/ingles/noticia-perus-oecd-member-status-bid-likely-to-succeed-512879.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Peru is a member of the [[World Trade Organization]], and has pursued multiple major free trade agreements, most recently the [[United States - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement|Peru—United States Free Trade Agreement]], the [[China–Peru Free Trade Agreement|China—Peru Free Trade Agreement]], the [[European Union free trade agreements|European Union Free Trade Agreement]], free trade agreements with Japan, and many others.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2019|title=The treaties of free trade (FTA) and exports of aggro-industrial products in Peru|url=http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:soct&volume=7&issue=1and2&article=004|journal=Socrates|volume=7|issue=1 and 2|issn=2347-2146|access-date=2 April 2020|archive-date=18 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218030837/https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:soct&volume=7&issue=1and2&article=004|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shaffer|first1=Gregory|last2=Winters|first2=L. Alan|date=April 2017|title=FTA Law in WTO Dispute Settlement: Peru–Additional Duty and the Fragmentation of Trade Law|journal=World Trade Review|language=en|volume=16|issue=2|pages=303–326|doi=10.1017/S1474745616000550|issn=1474-7456|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Peru maintains an integrated relationship with other South American nations, and is a member of various South American intergovernmental agreements, more recently the [[Organization of American States]], [[Mercosur]], the [[Andean Community]] of Nations, the [[Pacific Alliance]], and the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]]. Peru has historically experienced [[Chile–Peru relations|stressed relations with Chile]], including the [[Peru v Chile]] international court resolution and the [[Chilean–Peruvian maritime dispute|Chilean-Peruvian maritime dispute]], but the two countries have agreed to work in improving relations.<ref>BBC News (4 November 2005), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4405402.stm ''Peru–Chile border row escalates''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115142819/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4405402.stm |date=15 January 2009}}. Retrieved 16 May 2007.</ref>

Additionally, Peru has participated in taking a leading role in addressing the [[crisis in Venezuela]] through the establishment of the [[Lima Group]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/latin_america-amerique_latine/2020-01-05-lima_group-groupe_lima.aspx?lang=eng|title=Lima Group statement|last=Canada|first=Global Affairs Canada-Affaires mondiales|date=29 August 2019|website=GAC|access-date=29 March 2020|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329060108/https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/latin_america-amerique_latine/2020-01-05-lima_group-groupe_lima.aspx?lang=eng|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Military and law enforcement===
{{main|Peruvian Armed Forces}}
[[File:Peruvian_Marines_2019.jpg|alt=|thumb|284x284px|[[Peruvian Naval Infantry|Peruvian marines]] in the [[Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro|VRAEM]] in 2019]]
Peru has the fourth largest military in Latin America. Peru's armed forces—the [[Peruvian Armed Forces|Armed Forces of Peru]]—comprise the [[Peruvian Navy]] (MGP), the [[Peruvian Army]] (EP), and the [[Peruvian Air Force]] (FAP), in total numbering 392,660 personnel (including 120,660 regulars and 272,000 reservists) as of 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rpp.pe/mundo/latinoamerica/ranking-ubica-al-peru-como-la-cuarta-fuerza-armada-mas-poderosa-de-latinoamerica-noticia-1061135|title=Ránking ubica al Perú como la cuarta Fuerza Armada más poderosa de Latinoamérica|website=RPP|date=29 July 2017|language=es|access-date=31 March 2020|archive-date=17 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717012037/https://rpp.pe/mundo/latinoamerica/ranking-ubica-al-peru-como-la-cuarta-fuerza-armada-mas-poderosa-de-latinoamerica-noticia-1061135|url-status=live}}</ref> Their primary mission is to safeguard the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.<ref name="Williams 1972 43–60">{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=James L.|title=Revolution from Within: Changing Military Perspectives in Peru|date=1972|journal=Naval War College Review|volume=25|issue=2|pages=43–60|jstor=44639763|issn=0028-1484}}</ref>

Their functions are separated by branch:

* The [[Peruvian Army]] is made up of the Chief of Staff, two Control Bodies, two Support Bodies, five Military Regions and six Command Rooms.
* The [[Peruvian Air Force]] was officially created on 20 May 1929, with the name of Peruvian Aviation Corps. Its main function is to serve as the country's [[air defense]]. It also participates in [[Peace movement|social support campaigns]] for hard-to-reach populations, organizes air bridges during disasters, and participates in [[Peacekeeping|international peace missions]]. Its four major [[air base]]s are located in the cities of [[Piura]], [[Callao]], [[Arequipa]] and [[Iquitos]].
*The [[Peruvian Navy]] is in charge of the country's maritime, river, and lake defense. It is made up of 26,000 sailors. Personnel are divided into three levels: superior personnel, junior personnel and seafarers.

The military is governed by both the [[President of Peru|commander in chief]], [[Ministry of Defense (Peru)|Ministry of Defense]], and [[Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Peru|Joint Command of the Armed Forces]] (CCFFAA). The CCFFAA has subordinates to the Operational Commands and Special Commands, with which it carries out the military operations that are required for the defense and the fulfillment of the tasks that the executive power provides.<ref>Ministerio de Defensa, ''Libro Blanco de la Defensa Nacional''. Ministerio de Defensa, 2005, 90.</ref> [[Conscription]] was abolished in 1999 and replaced by [[voluntary military service]].<ref>''Ley N° 27178, Ley del Servicio Militar'', Articles No. 29, 42 and 45.</ref> The [[National Police of Peru]] is often classified as a part of the armed forces. Although in fact it has a different organization and a wholly civil mission, its training and activities over more than two decades as an [[anti-terrorist]] force have produced markedly military characteristics, giving it the appearance of a virtual fourth military service with significant land, sea and air capabilities and approximately 140,000 personnel. The Peruvian armed forces report through the Ministry of Defense, while the National Police of Peru reports through the Ministry of Interior.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vásquez|first=George L.|title=The Peruvian Army in War and Peace: 1980–1992|date=1994|journal=Journal of Third World Studies|volume=11|issue=2|pages=100–116|jstor=45197485|issn=8755-3449}}</ref><ref name="Williams 1972 43–60"/>

Since the end of the [[Internal conflict in Peru|crisis in Peru]] in 2000, the federal government has significantly reduced annual spending in defense.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weber|first=Cynthia|date=1990|title=Representing Debt: Peruvian Presidents Belaunde's and Garcia's Reading/Writing of Peruvian Debt|journal=International Studies Quarterly|volume=34|issue=3|pages=353–365|doi=10.2307/2600575|jstor=2600575|issn=0020-8833}}</ref> In the 2016—2017 budget, defense spending has constituted 1.1% of GDP ($2.3 billion), the second lowest spending relative to GDP in South America following Argentina.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=PE|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP) – Peru {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=31 March 2020|archive-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715175900/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=PE|url-status=live}}</ref> More recently, the Armed Forces of Peru have been used in [[civil defense]]. In 2020, Peru used its military personnel and even reservists to enforce the strict [[quarantine]] measures placed during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-peru-army-idUSKBN21J69A|title=Peru calls up 10,000 army reserves to enforce quarantine|date=1 April 2020|work=Reuters|access-date=2 April 2020|language=en|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406070507/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-peru-army-idUSKBN21J69A|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Geography ==
{{main|Geography of Peru}}
{{Multiple image
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| caption3 = [[Manú National Park]] in the [[Peruvian Amazon|Amazon]], the mountain peak [[Alpamayo]] and [[Paracas National Reserve]].
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Peru is located on the central western coast of South America facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies wholly in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or about {{convert|3.3|km}} south of the [[equator]], covers {{convert|1285216|km²|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} of western South America. It borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the southeast, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The [[Andes]] mountains run parallel to the Pacific Ocean; they define the three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically.

The ''costa'' (coast), to the west, is a narrow, largely arid plain except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The ''sierra'' (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the ''[[Altiplano]]'' plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the {{convert|6768|m|ft|0|abbr=on|adj=on}} [[Huascarán]].<ref>Andes Handbook, [http://www.andeshandbook.cl/eng/default.asp?main=cerro.asp?codigo=54 ''Huascarán''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008051103/http://www.andeshandbook.cl/eng/default.asp?main=cerro.asp%3Fcodigo%3D54 |date=8 October 2016}}. 2 June 2002.</ref> The third region is the ''selva'' (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the [[Amazon rainforest]] that extends east. Almost 60 percent of the country's area is located within this region.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', p. 16.</ref> The country has fifty-four hydrographic basins, fifty-two of which are small coastal basins that discharge their waters into the Pacific Ocean. The final two are the [[Endorheic basin|endorheic]] basin of [[Lake Titicaca]], and the Amazon basin, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Both are delimited by the Andes mountain range. The Amazon basin is particularly noteworthy as it is the source of the Amazon River, which at 6872 km, is the longest river in the world, and covers 75% of Peruvian territory. Peru contains 4% of the planet's freshwater.

Most Peruvian rivers originate in the peaks of the Andes and drain into one of three [[drainage basin|basins]]. Those that drain toward the Pacific Ocean are steep and short, flowing only intermittently. Tributaries of the [[Amazon River]] have a much larger flow, and are longer and less steep once they exit the ''sierra''. Rivers that drain into Lake Titicaca are generally short and have a large flow.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', p. 31.</ref> Peru's longest rivers are the [[Ucayali]], the [[Marañón River (Peru)|Marañón]], the [[Içá|Putumayo]], the [[Yavarí River|Yavarí]], the [[Huallaga River|Huallaga]], the [[Urubamba River|Urubamba]], the [[Mantaro River|Mantaro]], and the Amazon.<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005'', p. 21.</ref>

The largest [[List of lakes of Peru|lake in Peru]], Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia high in the Andes, is also the largest of South America.<ref>{{cite journal|year= 2003|title= Application of Strontium Isotopes to Understanding the Hydrology and Paleohydrology of the Altiplano, Bolivia-Peru|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume= 194|pages=281–297|doi=10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00282-7|last1= Grove|first1= Matthew J|last2= Baker|first2= Paul A|last3= Cross|first3= Scott L|last4= Rigsby|first4= Catherine A|last5= Seltzer|first5= Geoffrey O|issue= 1–3|bibcode= 2003PPP...194..281G}}</ref>
The largest [[Water resources management in Peru|reservoirs]], all in the coastal region of Peru, are the [[Poechos Reservoir|Poechos]], Tinajones, San Lorenzo, and El Fraile reservoirs.<ref>{{cite web|author=Oficina nacional de evaluación de recursos naturales (previous INRENA) |title=Inventario nacional de lagunas y represamientos |website=INRENA |url=http://www.inrena.gob.pe/irh/inv_nac_lagunas_represas/inv_nac_lag_rep.pdf |access-date=3 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625070846/http://www.inrena.gob.pe/irh/inv_nac_lagunas_represas/inv_nac_lag_rep.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2007}}</ref>

=== Climate ===
{{main|Climate of Peru}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map PER present.svg|thumb|Map of [[Köppen climate classification]] zones in Peru]]

The combination of tropical latitude, mountain ranges, topography variations, and two ocean currents ([[Humboldt Current|Humboldt]] and [[El Niño Southern Oscillation|El Niño]]) gives Peru a large diversity of climates. The coastal region has moderate temperatures, low precipitation, and high humidity, except for its warmer, wetter northern reaches.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', pp. 24–25.</ref> In the mountain region, rain is frequent in summer, and temperature and humidity diminish with altitude up to the frozen peaks of the Andes.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', pp. 25–26.</ref> The [[Peruvian Amazon]] is characterized by heavy rainfall and high temperatures, except for its southernmost part, which has cold winters and seasonal rainfall.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', pp. 26–27.</ref>

===Wildlife===
{{main|Wildlife of Peru}}
[[File:Rupicola peruvianus Gallito de roca andino Andean-Cock-of-the-Rock (male) (13995875991).jpg|left|thumb|200x200px|[[Andean cock-of-the-rock]], Peru's national bird]]
Because of its varied geography and climate, Peru has a high biodiversity with 21,462 species of plants and animals reported as of 2003, 5,855 of them [[endemism|endemic]],<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005'', p. 50.</ref> and is one of the [[megadiverse]] countries.

Peru has over 1,800 [[species]] of birds (120 [[Endemism|endemic]]), over 500 species of [[mammal]]s, over 300 species of reptiles, and over 1,000 species of freshwater [[fishes]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.peruwildlife.info/|title=Peru Wildlife: Portal for information about wildlife and ecotourism in Peru|website=www.peruwildlife.info|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=17 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517123112/http://www.peruwildlife.info/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Ortega, H., Hidalgo, M., Correa, E., Espino, J., Chocano, L., Trevejo, G., ... & Quispe, R. (2012). Lista anotada de los peces de aguas continentales del Peru. Estado actual del conocimiento, distribución, usos y aspectos de conservación. Lima, Perú: Ministerio del Ambiente</ref> The hundreds of mammals include rare species like the [[Puma (genus)|puma]], [[jaguar]] and [[spectacled bear]]. The Birds of Peru produce large amounts of [[guano]], an economically important export. The Pacific holds large quantities of [[bass (fish)|sea bass]], [[flounder]], [[anchovies]], [[tuna]], [[crustacean]]s, and [[shellfish]], and is home to many sharks, [[sperm whale]]s, and whales.<ref name="selectlatam">{{cite web | url=http://www.selectlatinamerica.co.uk/destinations/peru/wildlife | title=Peru: Wildlife | publisher=Select Latin America | access-date=16 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226200532/http://www.selectlatinamerica.co.uk/destinations/peru/wildlife | archive-date=26 February 2010}}</ref>

Peru also has an equally diverse [[Flora of Peru|flora]]. The coastal deserts produce little more than [[cacti]], apart from hilly [[lomas|fog oases]] and river valleys that contain unique plant life.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dillon|first1=Michael O.|title=The solanaceae of the lomas formations of coastal Peru and Chile|url=http://www.sacha.org/solanaceae/lomas_solanaceae.pdf|website=sacha.org|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=13 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713202506/http://www.sacha.org/Solanaceae/Lomas_Solanaceae.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Highlands above the tree-line known as [[Puna grassland|puna]] is home to bushes, [[cactus]], drought-resistant plants such as [[Jarava ichu|ichu]], and the largest species of [[bromeliad]] – the spectacular [[Puya raimondii]].

The cloud-forest slopes of the Andes sustain [[moss]], [[orchid]]s, and bromeliads, and the [[Amazon rainforest]] is known for its variety of trees and canopy plants.<ref name="selectlatam" /> Peru had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 8.86/10, ranking it 14th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|display-authors=1|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|doi-access=free}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Peru}}
[[File:Peru Product Exports (2019).svg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|A proportional representation of Peru exports, 2019]]

The economy of Peru is the 48th largest in the world (ranked by [[Purchasing power parity]]),<ref name="cia">[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/peru/ Peru] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123014649/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/peru/ |date=23 January 2021 }} . CIA, The World Factbook</ref> and the income level is classified as ''upper middle'' by the World Bank.<ref name="WBdata">The World Bank, [http://data.worldbank.org/country/peru ''Data by country: Peru''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108042430/http://data.worldbank.org/country/peru |date=8 November 2016}}. Retrieved on 1 October 2011.</ref> Peru is, {{As of|2011|lc=y}}, one of the world's fastest-growing economies owing to an economic boom experienced during the 2000s.<ref>BBC (31 July 2012), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1224656.stm ''Peru country profile''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105050541/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1224656.stm |date=5 November 2016}}.</ref> It has an above-average [[Human Development Index]] of 0.77 which has seen steady improvement over {{clarify span|the last 25 years.|reason=Which 25 years? The precise time period must be specified, because readers don't know when this statement was added to the article.|date=July 2019}}<ref name="UNDP">{{cite web|title=Human Development Reports, Peru|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PER|website=hdr.undp.org|publisher=United Nations|language=en|date=2016|access-date=7 January 2018|archive-date=28 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228165331/http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PER|url-status=live}}</ref> Historically, the country's economic performance has been tied to exports, which provide [[hard currency]] to finance imports and external debt payments.<ref>Thorp, p. 4.</ref> Although they have provided substantial revenue, self-sustained growth and a more egalitarian [[distribution of income]] have proven elusive.<ref>Thorp, p. 321.</ref> According to 2015 data, 19.3% of its total population is poor, including 9% that lives in extreme poverty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/peru/overview|title=Overview|access-date=2 January 2018|archive-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229034557/http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/peru/overview|url-status=live}}</ref> Inflation in 2012 was the lowest in Latin America at only 1.8%, but increased in 2013 as oil and commodity prices rose; {{As of|2014|lc=y}} it stands at 2.5%.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.imf.org/external/country/PER/index.htm?pn=2 | title=Peru and the IMF | publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] | access-date=27 July 2014 | archive-date=3 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703022454/http://www.imf.org/external/country/PER/index.htm?pn=2 | url-status=live }}</ref> The unemployment rate has fallen steadily {{clarify span|in recent years,|must specify exactly which years are meant, since readers don't know when this statement was added to the article|date=July 2019}} and {{As of|2012|lc=y}} stands at 3.6%.

Peruvian economic policy has varied widely over {{clarify span|the past decades.|must specify exactly which decades are meant, since readers don't know when this statement was added to the article|date=July 2019}} The 1968–1975 government of [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] introduced radical reforms, which included [[agrarian reform]], the expropriation of foreign companies, the introduction of an [[economic interventionism|economic planning system]], and the creation of a large state-owned sector. These measures failed to achieve their objectives of [[income redistribution]] and the end of [[dependency theory|economic dependence on developed nations]].<ref>Thorp, pp. 318–319.</ref>

Despite these results, most reforms were not reversed until the 1990s, when the [[liberalization|liberalizing]] government of [[Alberto Fujimori]] ended [[price controls]], [[protectionism]], restrictions on [[foreign direct investment]], and most state ownership of companies.<ref name="Sheahan" />

{{As of|2010}} [[Tertiary sector of industry|Services]] account for 53% of Peruvian gross domestic product, followed by manufacturing (22.3%), extractive industries (15%), and taxes (9.7%).<ref>2006 figures. {{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html ''Memoria 2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909090819/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html |date=9 September 2016}}, p. 204. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Recent economic growth had been fueled by [[Macroeconomics|macroeconomic]] stability, improved [[terms of trade]], and rising investment and consumption.<ref>{{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html ''Memoria 2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909090819/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html |date=9 September 2016}}, pp. 15, 203. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Trade was expected to increase further after the implementation of a [[United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement|free trade agreement with the United States]] signed on 12 April 2006.<ref>Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501000640/http://ustraderep.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2006/April/United_States_Peru_Sign_Trade_Promotion_Agreement.html ''United States and Peru Sign Trade Promotion Agreement''], 12 April 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Peru's main exports were copper, gold, zinc, textiles, and fish meal; its major trade partners were the United States, China, Brazil, and Chile.<ref>2006 figures. {{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html ''Memoria 2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909090819/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html |date=9 September 2016}}, pp. 60–61. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Peru was ranked 76th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2020, down from 69th in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Release of the Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation?|url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2020/index.html|access-date=2 September 2021|website=www.wipo.int|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Global Innovation Index 2019|url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2019/index.html|access-date=2 September 2021|website=www.wipo.int|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=RTD – Item|url=https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/rtd/items/691898|access-date=2 September 2021|website=ec.europa.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=28 October 2013|title=Global Innovation Index|url=https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930|access-date=2 September 2021|website=INSEAD Knowledge|language=en}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{main|Demographics of Peru|Peruvian people}}

===Largest cities and towns===
{{Largest cities
| country = Peru
| stat_ref = Estimated 2014
| list_by_pop = List of metropolitan areas of Peru
| div_name = Region

|city_1 = Lima
|div_1 = Lima Region{{!}}Lima
|pop_1 = 9,735,587 ([[Lima metropolitan area|Metro pop.]]) <ref name=estimatedpop>{{cite web |url=http://es.scribd.com/doc/189489690/Peru-Estimaciones-y-Proyecciones-de-Poblacion-Total-por-Sexo-de-las-Principales-Ciudades-2000-2015|title=PERÚ: ESTIMACIONES Y PROYECCIONES DE POBLACIÓN TOTAL POR SEXO DE LAS PRINCIPALES CIUDADES |author= INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTADISTICA E INFORMATICA|language=es}}</ref>
|img_1 = City of Lima, Peru.jpg

|city_2 = Arequipa
|div_2 = Arequipa Region{{!}}Arequipa
|pop_2 = 1,008,029 ([[Arequipa metropolitan area|Metro pop.]])
|img_2 = Misti (37083759940).jpg

|city_3 = Trujillo, Peru{{!}}Trujillo
|div_3 = La Libertad Region{{!}}La Libertad
|pop_3 = 935,147 ([[Trujillo metropolitan area (Peru)|Metro pop.]])
|img_3 = Plaza de armas ciudad deTrujillo.jpg

|city_4 = Chiclayo
|div_4 = Lambayeque Region{{!}}Lambayeque
|pop_4 = 801,580 ([[Chiclayo metropolitan area|Metro pop.]])
|img_4 = Hotel Royal de Chiclayo - Hoy Ripley.jpg

|city_5 = Huancayo
|div_5 = Junín Region{{!}}Junín
|pop_5 = 501.384

|city_6 = Iquitos
|div_6 = Loreto Region{{!}}Loreto
|pop_6 = 432,476

|city_7 = Piura
|div_7 = Piura Region{{!}}Piura
|pop_7 = 430,319

|city_8 = Cusco
|div_8 = Cusco Region{{!}}Cusco
|pop_8 = 420,137

|city_9 = Chimbote
|div_9 = Ancash Region{{!}}Ancash
|pop_9 = 367,850

|city_10 = Tacna
|div_10 = Tacna Region{{!}}Tacna
|pop_10 = 288,698

|city_11 = Juliaca
|div_11 = Puno Region{{!}}Puno
|pop_11 = 267,174

|city_12 = Ica, Peru{{!}}Ica
|div_12 = Ica Region{{!}}Ica
|pop_12 = 241,903

|city_13 = Cajamarca
|div_13 = Cajamarca Region{{!}}Cajamarca
|pop_13 = 218,775

|city_14 = Pucallpa
|div_14 = Ucayali Region{{!}}Ucayali
|pop_14 = 211,631

|city_15 = Sullana
|div_15 = Piura Region{{!}}Piura
|pop_15 = 199,606

|city_16 = Ayacucho
|div_16 = Ayacucho Region{{!}}Ayacucho
|pop_16 = 177,420

|city_17 = Chincha Alta
|div_17 = Ica Region{{!}}Ica
|pop_17 = 174,575

|city_18 = Huánuco
|div_18 = Huánuco Region{{!}}Huánuco
|pop_18 = 172,924

|city_19 =Tarapoto
|div_19 = San Martin Region{{!}}San Martín
|pop_19 = 141,053

|city_20 = Puno
|div_20 = Puno Region{{!}}Puno
|pop_20 = 138,723
}}

===Ethnic groups===
{{bar box
|title=Ethnic Groups in Peru (2017 Census)<ref name="q32pL">{{cite web |url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page=214 |website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática |access-date=27 September 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211135110/https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Ethnic Groups
|right1=percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|Mestizo|darkgreen|60.2}}
{{bar percent|Quechua|purple|22.3}}
{{bar percent|White|red|5.9}}
{{bar percent|Afro-Peruvian|black|3.6}}
{{bar percent|Aymara|orange|2.4}}
{{bar percent|Other|darkblue|2.3}}{{bar percent|Not Stated|white|3.3}}
}}
Peru is a [[multiethnic society|multiethnic nation]] formed by successive waves of different peoples over five centuries. [[Indigenous Peoples in Peru|Amerindians]] inhabited Peruvian territory for several millennia before the [[Spanish conquest of Peru|Spanish conquest]] in the 16th century; according to historian Noble David Cook, their population decreased from nearly 5–9 million in the 1520s to around 600,000 in 1620 mainly because of [[infectious disease]]s.<ref>Cook, Noble David (1982) ''Demographic collapse: Indian Peru, 1520–1620''. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. {{ISBN|0521239958}}.</ref>

The 2017 census for the first time included a question on ethnic self-identification. According to the results, 60.2% of the people identified themselves as [[mestizo]], 22.3% identified themselves as [[Quechua people|Quechua]], 5.9% identified themselves as [[White Peruvians|white]], 3.6% identified themselves as [[Afro-Peruvians|black]], 2.4% identified themselves as [[Aymara people|Aymara]], 2.3% identified themselves as other ethnic groups, and 3.3% didn't declare their ethnicity.<ref name="q32pL" />

Spaniards and Africans arrived in large numbers under colonial rule, mixing widely with each other and with Indigenous peoples. After independence, there was gradual immigration from England, France, Germany, and Italy.<ref>Vázquez, Mario (1970) "Immigration and mestizaje in nineteenth-century Peru", pp. 79–81 in ''Race and class in Latin America''. Columbia Univ. Press. {{ISBN|0-231-03295-1}}</ref> Peru freed its black slaves in 1854.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8384853.stm Peru apologises for abuse of African-origin citizens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719114642/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8384853.stm |date=19 July 2018 }}". BBC News. 29 November 2009</ref> Chinese and Japanese arrived in the 1850s as laborers following the end of slavery, and have since become a major influence in Peruvian society.<ref>Mörner, Magnus (1967), ''Race mixture in the history of Latin America'', p. 131.</ref>

===Population===
With about 31.2 million inhabitants in 2017, Peru is the [[List of South American countries by population|fourth most populous country in South America]].<ref name="INEI est">{{cite web|title=El Perú tiene una población de 31 millones 488 mil 625 habitantes|trans-title=Peru has a population of 31 million 488 thousand 625 inhabitants|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/el-peru-tiene-una-poblacion-de-31-millones-488-mil-625-habitantes-9196/|website=www.inei.gob.pe|publisher=INEI|language=es|date=11 July 2016|access-date=7 January 2018|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202214123/https://www.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/el-peru-tiene-una-poblacion-de-31-millones-488-mil-625-habitantes-9196/|url-status=live}}</ref> The demographic growth rate of Peru declined from 2.6% to 1.6% between 1950 and 2000; with the population being expected to reach approximately 42 million in 2050.<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población, 1950–2050'', pp. 37–38, 40.</ref> According to the 1940 Peruvian census, Peru had a population at the time of seven million residents.<ref>{{cite news |title=First results of the Peruvian population census conducted last year |url=https://www.perutelegraph.com/news/peru-living-lifestyle/first-results-of-the-peruvian-population-census-conducted-last-year |work=The Peru Telegraph |date=26 June 2018 |access-date=10 July 2018 |archive-date=10 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710194519/https://www.perutelegraph.com/news/peru-living-lifestyle/first-results-of-the-peruvian-population-census-conducted-last-year |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{As of|2017}}, 79.3% lived in urban areas and 20.7% in rural areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page=16 |website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática |access-date=27 September 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211135110/https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Major cities include the [[Lima metropolitan area]] (home to over 9.8 million people), [[Arequipa]], [[Trujillo, Peru|Trujillo]], [[Chiclayo]], [[Piura]], [[Iquitos]], [[Cusco]], [[Chimbote]], and [[Huancayo]]; all reported more than 250,000 inhabitants in the [[2007 Peru Census|2007 census]].<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú'', p. 24.</ref> There are 15 [[Uncontacted peoples|uncontacted]] Amerindian tribes in Peru.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305101828/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-01-31/isolated-peru-tribe/52903966/1 Isolated Peru tribe threatened by outsiders]. USATODAY.com. 31 January 2012</ref>

===Language===
{{main|Languages of Peru}}
[[File:Last look arounjd Lima (8444763943).jpg|alt=|thumb|300x300px|[[Casa de Osambela]], headquarters of the [[Academia Peruana de la Lengua]] (APL) in [[Lima]]]]
According to the Peruvian Constitution of 1993, Peru's official languages are Spanish and, in areas where they predominate, [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]] and other Indigenous languages. Spanish is spoken natively by 82.6% of the population, Quechua by 13.9%, and Aymara by 1.7%, while other languages are spoken by the remaining 1.8%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page=198 |website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática |access-date=27 September 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211135110/https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Spanish language is used by the government and is the mainstream language of the country, which is used by the media and in educational systems and commerce. Amerindians who live in the Andean highlands speak Quechua and Aymara and are ethnically distinct from the diverse Indigenous groups who live on the eastern side of the Andes and in the tropical lowlands adjacent to the [[Amazon basin]].<ref name=":1" />

Peru's distinct geographical regions are mirrored in a language divide between the coast where Spanish is more predominant over the Amerindian languages, and the more diverse traditional Andean cultures of the mountains and highlands. The Indigenous populations east of the Andes speak various languages and dialects. Some of these groups still adhere to traditional Indigenous languages, while others have been almost completely assimilated into the Spanish language. There has been an increasing and organized effort to teach Quechua in public schools in the areas where Quechua is spoken. In the Peruvian Amazon, numerous Indigenous languages are spoken, including [[Asháninka language|Asháninka]], [[Bora language|Bora]], and [[Aguaruna language|Aguaruna]].<ref name=":1">{{in lang|es}} [http://www.resonancias.org/content/read/355/ Resonancias.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007040234/http://www.resonancias.org/content/read/355/ |date=7 October 2016}} – Aboriginal languages of Peru</ref>

===Religion===
{{main|Religion in Peru}}
[[File:Coricancha, Cusco, Perú, 2015-07-31, DD 68.JPG|thumb|[[Coricancha|Quri Kancha]] and the Convent of Santo Domingo, [[Cusco]]|alt=]]
Roman Catholicism has been the predominant faith in Peru for centuries, albeit religious practices have a high degree of [[syncretism]] with Indigenous traditions. As of the 2017 census, 76% of the population over 12 years old described themselves as [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], 14.1% as [[Evangelical Protestant|Evangelical]], 4.8% as Protestant, Jewish, [[Latter-day Saints]], and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], and 5.1% as nonreligious.<ref name="auto"/>

Amerindian religious traditions continue to play a major role in the beliefs of Peruvians. Catholic festivities like [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]], [[Holy Week]] and Christmas sometimes blend with Amerindian traditions. Amerindian festivities from pre-Columbian remain widespread; [[Inti Raymi]], an ancient Inca festival, is still celebrated, especially in rural communities.

The majority of towns, cities, and villages have their own official church or cathedral and [[patron saint]].

According to Article 50 of the Peruvian Constitution, [[Roman Catholicism]] is the [[official religion]], and Roman Catholicism is mandatory in all state schools.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Political Constitution of Peru|url=http://www.congreso.gob.pe/Docs/files/CONSTITUTION_27_11_2012_ENG.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221174731/http://www.congreso.gob.pe/Docs/files/CONSTITUTION_27_11_2012_ENG.pdf|archive-date=21 December 2019|access-date=|website=[[Political Constitution of Peru]]}}</ref>

===Education===
{{main|Education in Peru}}
[[File:CCSM-UNMSM Casona de San Marcos y Parque Univesitario.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[National University of San Marcos]], Lima]]
Peru's literacy rate is estimated at 92.9% as of 2007; this rate is lower in rural areas (80.3%) than in urban areas (96.3%).<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú'', p. 93.</ref> Primary and secondary education are [[compulsory education|compulsory]] and free in public schools.<ref name="cia" /><ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 17.</ref>

Peru is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The [[National University of San Marcos]], founded on 12 May 1551, during the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]], is the first officially established and the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

=== Health ===
Peru has a [[life expectancy]] of 75.0 years (72.4 for males and 77.7 for females) according to the latest data for the year 2016 from the [[World Bank]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=PE&year_high_desc=true|title=Life expectancy at birth, total (years) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|language=en-us|access-date=25 August 2018|archive-date=26 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826005113/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=PE&year_high_desc=true|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Toponyms ===
Many of the Peruvian [[toponym]]s have [[Indigenous language|Indigenous]] sources. In the Andes communities of [[Áncash Region|Ancash]], [[Cusco Region|Cusco]] and [[Puno Region|Puno]], Quechua or Aymara names are overwhelmingly predominant. Their Spanish-based orthography, however, is in conflict with the normalized alphabets of these languages. According to Article 20 of ''Decreto Supremo No 004-2016-MC'' (Supreme Decree) which approves the Regulations to Law 29735, published in the official newspaper El Peruano on 22 July 2016, adequate spellings of the [[toponym]]s in the normalized alphabets of the Indigenous languages must progressively be proposed with the aim of standardizing the naming used by the National Geographic Institute ''(Instituto Geográfico Nacional, IGN)''. The National Geographic Institute realizes the necessary changes in the official maps of Peru.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://busquedas.elperuano.com.pe/normaslegales/decreto-supremo-que-aprueba-el-reglamento-de-la-ley-n-29735-decreto-supremo-n-004-2016-mc-1407753-5/|title=Decreto Supremo que aprueba el Reglamento de la Ley N° 29735, Ley que regula el uso, preservación, desarrollo, recuperación, fomento y difusión de las lenguas originarias del Perú, Decreto Supremo N° 004-2016-MC|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-date=29 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029100122/http://busquedas.elperuano.com.pe/normaslegales/decreto-supremo-que-aprueba-el-reglamento-de-la-ley-n-29735-decreto-supremo-n-004-2016-mc-1407753-5/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Culture ==

{{main|Culture of Peru}}

Peruvian culture is primarily rooted in Amerindian and European traditions,<ref name="Belaunde" /> though it has also been influenced by various Asian and African ethnic groups. [[Peruvian arts|Peruvian artistic traditions]] date back to the elaborate pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture of [[Pre-Inca cultures]]. The Incas maintained these crafts and made [[Architecture of Peru|architectural]] achievements including the construction of [[Machu Picchu]]. [[Baroque]] dominated colonial art, though modified by Native traditions.<ref>Bailey, pp. 72–74.</ref>

During this period, most art focused on religious subjects; the numerous churches of the era and the paintings of the [[Cusco School]] are representative.<ref>Bailey, p. 263.</ref> Arts stagnated after independence until the emergence of ''[[Indigenismo]]'' in the early 20th century.<ref name="Lucie" /> Since the 1950s, Peruvian art has been [[Eclecticism in art|eclectic]] and shaped by both foreign and local art currents.

===Visual Arts===
{{Main|Peruvian art}}
Peruvian art has its origin in the [[Peruvian Ancient Cultures|Andean civilizations]]. These civilizations arose in the territory of modern Peru before the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|arrival of the Spanish]]. Peruvian art incorporated European elements after the Spanish conquest and continued to evolve throughout the centuries up to the modern day.

==== Pre-Columbian art ====

[[File:Nariguera Moche2.JPG|thumb|Moche ''Nariguera'' depicting the Decapitator, gold with turquoise and [[chrysocolla]] inlays. Museo Oro del Peru, Lima]]

Peru's earliest artwork came from the [[Cupisnique]] culture, which was concentrated on the Pacific coast, and the Chavín culture, which was largely north of [[Lima]] between the Andean mountain ranges of the [[Cordillera Negra]] and the [[Cordillera Blanca]]. Decorative work from this era, approximately the 9th century BCE, was symbolic and religious in nature. The artists worked with gold, silver, and [[Ceramics (art)|ceramics]] to create a variety of sculptures and relief carvings. These civilizations were also known for their architecture and wood sculptures.

Between the 9th century BCE and the 2nd century CE, the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]] Cavernas and Paracas [[Necropolis]] cultures developed on the south coast of Peru. Paracas Cavernas produced complex polychrome and monochrome ceramics with religious representations. Burials from the Paracas Necropolis also yielded complex textiles, many produced with sophisticated geometric patterns.

The 3rd century BCE saw the flowering of the urban culture, [[Moche (culture)|Moche]], in the [[Lambayeque (Department of Peru)|Lambayeque]] region. The Moche culture produced impressive architectural works, such as the [[Huaca del Sol|Huacas del Sol y de la Luna]] and the [[Huaca Rajada]] of [[Sipán]]. They were experts at [[Terrace (agriculture)|cultivation in terraces]] and [[hydraulic engineering]] and produced original ceramics, textiles, pictorial and sculptural works.

Another urban culture, the [[Huari Culture|Wari civilization]], flourished between the 8th and 12th centuries in [[Ayacucho (Department of Peru)|Ayacucho]]. Their centralized town planning was extended to other areas, such as [[Pachacamac]], [[Cajamarquilla]] and [[Wari Willka]].

[[File:Inca Quipu.jpg|thumb|left|250px|'Quipus' were recording devices fashioned from [[String (structure)|strings]] historically used by a number of cultures in the region of [[Andes|Andean]] South America.<ref>{{cite news |last=Neuman |first=William |title=Untangling an Accounting Tool and an Ancient Inca Mystery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/americas/untangling-an-accounting-tool-and-an-ancient-incan-mystery.html |date=2 January 2016 |work=[[New York Times]] |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-date=8 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108052137/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/americas/untangling-an-accounting-tool-and-an-ancient-incan-mystery.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

Between the 9th and 13th centuries CE, the military urban [[Tiwanaku]] empire rose by the borders of [[Lake Titicaca]]. Centered around a city of the same name in modern-day Bolivia, the Tiwanaku introduced stone architecture and sculpture of a monumental type. These works of architecture and art were made possible by the Tiwanaku's developing [[bronze]], which enabled them to make the necessary tools.

Urban architecture reached a new height between the 14th and 15th centuries in the [[Chimú Culture]]. The Chimú built the city of [[Chan Chan]] in the valley of the [[Moche River]], in [[La Libertad (Department of Peru)|La Libertad]]. The Chimú were skilled [[goldsmith]]s and created remarkable works of [[hydraulic engineering]].

The [[Inca Empire|Inca Civilization]], which united Peru under its hegemony in the centuries immediately preceding the Spanish conquest, incorporated into their own works a great part of the cultural legacy of the civilizations which preceded it. Important relics of their artwork and architecture can be seen in cities like [[Cusco (Department of Peru)|Cusco]], architectural remains like [[Sacsayhuamán|Sacsahuamán]] and [[Machu Picchu]] and stone pavements that united Cusco with the rest of the Inca Empire.

==== Colonial art ====
{{Main|Peruvian colonial architecture|Cusco School}}
[[File:Saint Joseph and the Christ Child - Google Art Project.jpg|alt=|thumb|''Saint Joseph and the Christ Child'', Anonymous [[Cusco School|Colonial Cusco School]] painting, 17th–18th century]]
Peruvian sculpture and painting began to define themselves from the [[Studio|ateliers]] founded by monks, who were strongly influenced by the Sevillian Baroque School. In this context, the stalls of the [[Lima Cathedral|Cathedral]] choir, the fountain of the Main Square of Lima both by [[Pedro de Noguera]], and a great part of the colonial production were registered. The first center of art established by the Spanish was the [[Cuzco School]] that taught [[Quechua languages|Quechua]] artists European painting styles. [[Diego Quispe Tito]] (1611–1681) was one of the first members of the Cuzco school and [[Marcos Zapata]] (1710–1773) was one of the last.<ref name="Bayon" />

Painting of this time reflected a synthesis of European and Indigenous influences, as is evident in the portrait of prisoner Atahualpa, by D. de Mora or in the canvases of the Italians [[Mateo Pérez de Alesio]] and Angelino Medoro, the Spaniards Francisco Bejarano and J. de Illescas and the Creole J. Rodriguez.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the [[Baroque]] Style also dominated the field of [[plastic arts]].

=== Literature ===
{{main|Peruvian literature}}
The term Peruvian literature not only refers to literature produced in the independent Republic of Peru, but also to literature produced in the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] during the country's colonial period, and to [[Oral tradition|oral]] artistic forms created by diverse ethnic groups that existed in the area during the [[Prehispanic#South America|pre-Columbian period]], such as the [[Quechua people|Quechua]], the [[Aymara people|Aymara]] and the [[Chanka]] people.

Peruvian literature is rooted in the oral traditions of [[pre-Columbian]] civilizations. Spaniards introduced writing in the 16th century; colonial literary expression included [[chronicle]]s and [[Christian literature|religious literature]]. After independence, [[Costumbrism]] and [[Romanticism]] became the most common literary genres, as exemplified in the works of [[Ricardo Palma]].<ref>Martin, "Literature, music and the visual arts, c. 1820–1870", pp. 37–39.</ref> The early 20th century's ''Indigenismo'' movement was led by such writers as [[Ciro Alegría]]<ref>Martin, "Narrative since c. 1920", pp. 151–152.</ref> and [[José María Arguedas]].<ref>Martin, "Narrative since c. 1920", pp. 178–179.</ref> [[César Vallejo]] wrote modernist and often politically engaged verse. Modern Peruvian literature is recognized thanks to authors such as [[List of Nobel laureates in Literature|Nobel laureate]] [[Mario Vargas Llosa]], a leading member of the [[Latin American Boom]].<ref>Martin, "Narrative since c. 1920", pp. 186–188.</ref>[[File:Ceviche de caballa.JPG|alt=|thumb|''[[Ceviche]]'' is a popular lime-marinated seafood dish which originated in Peru.]]

=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Peruvian cuisine}}
Due to the Spanish expedition and discovery of the Americas, the explorers started the [[Columbian exchange]] which included food unheard of in the Old World, including potato, tomato, and maize. Modern Indigenous Peruvian food often includes corn, potatoes, and [[Chili pepper|chilies]]. There are now more than 3,000 kinds of potatoes grown on Peruvian terrain, according to Peru's Instituto Peruano de la Papa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://guide.michelin.com/sg/features/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-peruvian-cuisine/news|title=7 Things You Need to Know about Peruvian Cuisine|website=MICHELIN Guide|access-date=4 February 2019|archive-date=4 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204122212/https://guide.michelin.com/sg/features/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-peruvian-cuisine/news|url-status=live}}</ref>
Modern [[Peruvian cuisine]] blends [[Native American cuisine#Native American cuisine of South America|Amerindian]] and [[Spanish food]] with strong influences from Chinese, African, Arab, Italian, and Japanese cooking.<ref>Custer, pp. 17–22.</ref> Common dishes include ''[[anticuchos]]'', ''[[ceviche]]'', and ''[[pachamanca]]''. Peru's varied climate allows the growth of diverse plants and animals good for cooking.<ref>Custer, pp. 25–38.</ref>

Peruvian cuisine reflects local practices and ingredients—including influences from the Indigenous population including the [[Quechua people|Inca]] and cuisines brought in with colonizers and immigrants. Without the familiar ingredients from their home countries, immigrants modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available in Peru. The four traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine are [[Maize|corn]], potatoes and other [[tuber]]s, [[Amaranthaceae]]s ([[quinoa]], [[kañiwa]] and [[kiwicha]]) and [[legume]]s ([[beans]] and [[lupins]]). Staples brought by the Spanish include rice, wheat, and meats (beef, pork, and chicken). Many traditional foods—such as [[quinoa]], [[kiwicha]], [[chili pepper]]s, and several roots and [[tuber]]s have increased in popularity in recent decades, reflecting a revival of interest in Native Peruvian foods and culinary techniques. It is also common to see traditional cuisines being served with a modern flair in towns like [[Cusco]], where tourists come to visit. Chef [[Gaston Acurio]] has become well known for raising awareness of local ingredients.

=== Music ===
{{main|Peruvian music}}
[[File:Marinera Norteña.jpg|thumb|[[Marinera]] Norteña]]
Peruvian music has [[Andean music|Andean]], [[Music of Spain|Spanish]], and [[African Music|African]] roots.<ref>Romero, Raúl (1999). "Andean Peru". In: John Schechter (ed.), ''Music in Latin American culture: regional tradition''. New York: Schirmer Books, pp. 385–386.</ref> In pre-Columbian times, musical expressions varied widely in each region; the ''[[quena]]'' and the ''[[tinya]]'' were two common instruments.<ref name="Olsen" /> Spaniards introduced new instruments, such as the guitar and the harp, which led to the development of crossbred instruments like the ''[[charango]]''.<ref name="Turino" /> African contributions to Peruvian music include its rhythms and the ''[[Cajon|cajón]]'', a percussion instrument. [[Peruvian folk dances]] include [[marinera]], [[tondero]], [[zamacueca]], [[diablada]] and [[huayno]].<ref>Romero, Raúl (1985). "La música tradicional y popular". In: Patronato Popular y Porvenir, ''La música en el Perú''. Lima: Industrial Gráfica, pp. pp. 243–245, 261–265.</ref>

Peruvian music is dominated by the national [[Musical instrument|instrument]], the [[charango]]. The charango is a member of the [[lute]] family of instruments and was invented during [[Viceroyalty of Peru|colonial times]] by musicians imitating the Spanish [[vihuela]]. In the Canas and [[Titicaca]] regions, the charango is used in courtship rituals, symbolically invoking mermaids with the instrument to lure the woman to the male performers. Until the 1960s, the charango was denigrated as an instrument of the rural poor. After the revolution in 1959, which built upon the [[Indigenismo]] movement (1910–1940), the charango was popularized among other performers. Variants include the [[walaycho]], [[chillador]], [[chinlili]], and the larger and lower-tuned [[charangon]].

While the Spanish guitar is widely played, so too is the Spanish-in-origin [[bandurria]]. Unlike the guitar, it has been transformed by Peruvian players over the years, changing from a 12-string, 6-course instrument to one having 12 to 16 strings in a mere four courses. Violins and [[harps]], also of European origin, are also played.

=== Cinema ===
While the Peruvian film industry has not been nearly as prolific as that of some other Latin American countries, some Peruvian movies produced enjoyed regional success. Historically, the cinema of Peru [[Cinema of Iquitos|began in Iquitos]] in 1932 by Antonio Wong Rengifo (with a momentous, initial [[Movie theater|film billboard]] from 1900) because of the [[rubber boom]] and the intense arrival of foreigners with technology to the city, and thus continued an extensive, unique filmography, with a different style than the films made in the capital, Lima.

Peru also produced the first animated 3-D film in Latin America, ''[[Piratas en el Callao]]''. This film is set in the historical port city of [[Callao]], which during colonial times had to defend itself against attacks by Dutch and British privateers seeking to undercut Spain's trade with its colonies. The film was produced by the [[Peruvians|Peruvian]] company Alpamayo Entertainment, which made a second 3-D film one year later: ''Dragones: Destino de Fuego''.

In February 2006, the film ''[[Madeinusa]]'', produced as a joint venture between Peru and Spain and directed by [[Claudia Llosa]], was set in an imaginary Andean village and describes the stagnating life of Madeinusa performed by [[Magaly Solier]] and the traumas of post-civil war Peru.

Llosa, who shared elements of [[Gabriel García Márquez]]'s [[magic realism]], won an award at the [[Rotterdam Film Festival]]. Llosa's second feature, [[The Milk of Sorrow]] ("La Teta Asustada"), was nominated for the [[82nd Academy Awards]] for Best Foreign Language Picture, the first Peruvian film in the academy's history to be nominated. [[The Milk of Sorrow]] ("La Teta Asustada"), won the Golden Bear award at the 2009 Berlinale.

==See also==
{{Portal|Peru}}
*[[Outline of Peru]]

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Altroy">D'Altroy, Terence (2002). ''The Incas''. Malden: Blackwell, {{ISBN|1405116765}}, pp. 2–3.</ref>
<ref name="Andrien">Andrien, Kenneth (1985). ''Crisis and decline: the Viceroyalty of Peru in the seventeenth century''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, {{ISBN|1597403237}}, pp. 200–202.</ref>
<ref name="Bakewell">Bakewell, Peter (1984). ''Miners of the Red Mountain: Indian labor in Potosi 1545–1650''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, {{ISBN|0826307698}}, p. 181.</ref>
<ref name="Bayon">Bayón, Damián (1998). "Art, c. 1920–c. 1980". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, {{ISBN|0521626269}}, pp. 425–428.</ref>
<ref name="Belaunde">Belaunde, Víctor Andrés (1983). ''Peruanidad''. Lima: BCR, p. 472.</ref>
<ref name="Burkholder">Burkholder, Mark (1977). ''From impotence to authority: the Spanish Crown and the American audiencias, 1687–1808''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, {{ISBN|0826202195}}, pp. 83–87.</ref>
<ref name="John">St John, Ronald Bruce (1992). ''The foreign policy of Peru''. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, {{ISBN|1555873049}}, pp. 223–224.</ref>
<ref name="Haas">{{cite journal|last1=Haas |first1=Jonathan |last2=Creamer |first2=Winifred |last3=Ruiz |first3=Alvaro|title=Dating the Late Archaic occupation of the Norte Chico region in Peru|pmid=15616561|doi=10.1038/nature03146|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/93993434/HAAS-Et-Al-2004-Dating-the-Late-Archaic-Occupation-of-the-Norte-Chico-Region-in-Peru|journal=Nature|volume=432|issue=7020|pages=1020–1023|year=2004|bibcode=2004Natur.432.1020H|s2cid=4426545|access-date=10 September 2017|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306150703/https://www.scribd.com/doc/93993434/HAAS-Et-Al-2004-Dating-the-Late-Archaic-Occupation-of-the-Norte-Chico-Region-in-Peru|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="Lucie">Lucie-Smith, Edward (1993). [https://archive.org/details/latinamericanart00luci ''Latin American art of the 20th century''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820094958/https://archive.org/details/latinamericanart00luci |date=20 August 2016}}. London: Thames and Hudson, {{ISBN|0500203563}}, pp. 76–77, 145–146.</ref>
<ref name="Mayer">Mayer, Enrique (2002). ''The articulated peasant: household economies in the Andes''. Boulder: Westview, {{ISBN|081333716X}}, pp. 47–68</ref>
<ref name="Olsen">Olsen, Dale (2002). ''Music of El Dorado: the ethnomusicology of ancient South American cultures''. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, {{ISBN|0813029201}}, pp. 17–22.</ref>
<ref name="Phelan">O'Phelan, Scarlett (1985). ''Rebellions and revolts in eighteenth century Peru and Upper Peru''. Cologne: Böhlau, {{ISBN|3412010855}}, 9783412010850, p. 276.</ref>
<ref name="Sheahan">{{cite book |last=Sheahan |first=John |title=Searching for a better society: the Peruvian economy from 1950 |location=University Park, Pennsylvania |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |date=1999 |isbn=0271018720 |page=157}}</ref>
<ref name="Suarez">{{cite book |last=Suárez |first=Margarita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzWGAAAAIAAJ |title=Desafíos transatlánticos |language=Spanish |location=Lima |publisher=FCE/IFEA/PUCP |date=2001 |pages=252–253|isbn=9789972832079 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510035907/http://books.google.com/books/about/Desaf%C3%ADos_transatl%C3%A1nticos.html?id=gzWGAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=10 May 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name="Turino">[[Thomas Turino|Turino, Thomas]] (1993). "Charango". In: Stanley Sadie (ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments''. New York: MacMillan Press Limited, vol. I, {{ISBN|0333378784}}, p. 340.</ref>
}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* Bailey, Gauvin Alexander. ''Art of colonial Latin America''. London: Phaidon, 2005, {{ISBN|0714841579}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070324043856/http://www.tc.gob.pe/legconperu/constitucion.html ''Constitución Política del Perú'']. 29 December 1993.
* Custer, Tony. ''The Art of Peruvian Cuisine''. Lima: Ediciones Ganesha, 2003, {{ISBN|9972920305}}.
* [[Gonzalo Garland|Garland, Gonzalo]]. "Perú Siglo XXI", series of 11 working papers describing sectorial long-term forecasts, Grade, Lima, Peru, 1986–1987.
* Garland, Gonzalo. Peru in the 21st Century: Challenges and Possibilities in ''Futures: the Journal of Forecasting, Planning, and Policy'', Volume 22, No. 4, Butterworth-Heinemann, London, England, May 1990.
* Gootenberg, Paul. (1991) ''Between silver and guano: commercial policy and the state in postindependence Peru''. Princeton: Princeton University Press {{ISBN|0691023425}}.
* Gootenberg, Paul. (1993) ''Imagining development: economic ideas in Peru's "fictitious prosperity" of Guano, 1840–1880''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993, 0520082907.
* Higgins, James (editor). ''The Emancipation of Peru: British Eyewitness Accounts'', 2014. Online at [https://sites.google.com/site/jhemanperu jhemanperu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421153751/https://sites.google.com/site/jhemanperu |date=21 April 2020 }}
* Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú. ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico''. Lima: Auge, 1996.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. {{cite web |url= http://www.inei.gob.pe/biblioineipub/bancopub/Est/Lib0638/Libro.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070307225725/http://www.inei.gob.pe/biblioineipub/bancopub/Est/Lib0638/Libro.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 7 March 2007 |title= ''Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005'' }} {{small|(8.31 MB)}}. Lima: INEI, 2005.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú''. Lima: INEI, 2008.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población, 1950–2050''. Lima: INEI, 2001.
* {{DOClink|[https://web.archive.org/web/20070614010900/http://www.ccffaa.mil.pe/INFORMACION/Ley27178_Ley__ServicioMilitar.doc ''Ley N° 27178, Ley del Servicio Militar'']}}. 28 September 1999.
* Ley N° 27867, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070702195833/http://www.pmde.gob.pe/taller/Compilacion%20normativa/DESCENTRALIZACI%C3%93N/LEY%20N%C2%BA%2027867_LEY%20ORG%C3%81NICA%20DE%20GOBIERNOS%20LOCALES.pdf ''Ley Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'']. 16 November 2002.
* Martin, Gerald. "Literature, music and the visual arts, c. 1820–1870". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 3–45.
* Martin, Gerald. "Narrative since c. 1920". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 133–225.
* Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. ''El nombre del Perú''. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968.
* {{citation
| title = Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899
| first = Robert
| last = Scheina
| publisher = Brassey's
| year = 2003
| isbn = 978-1-57488-450-0 }}
* Thorp, Rosemary, and Geoffrey Bertram. ''Peru 1890–1977: growth and policy in an open economy''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978, {{ISBN|0231034334}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
;Economy
* {{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva. [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/estadisticas/cuadros-anuales-historicos.html ''Cuadros Anuales Históricos''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501045724/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/estadisticas/cuadros-anuales-historicos.html |date=1 May 2011 }}.
* {{in lang|es}} Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perú: Perfil de la pobreza por departamentos, 2004–2008''. Lima: INEI, 2009.
* Concha, Jaime. "Poetry, c. 1920–1950". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 227–260.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links}}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1224656.stm Country Profile] from [[BBC News]]
* [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/peru/ Peru]. ''[[The World Factbook]]''. [[Central Intelligence Agency]].
*
* [https://www.google.com/search/peru Google search]
* [http://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/Country/PER/Year/2012/Summary World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Peru]
* [http://www.perulinks.com/pages/english/ PeruLinks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015034906/http://www.perulinks.com/pages/english/ |date=15 October 2008 }} web directory
* {{Wikiatlas|Peru}}
* {{Wikivoyage-inline|Peru}}
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.peru.gob.pe/ Web portal] of the Peruvian Government
* {{OSM relation|288247|bullet=no}}






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Papa a la huancaína

2022-02-05T17:17:29Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Short description|Peruvian appetizer of boiled yellow potatoes in a spicy, creamy sauce}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Papa a la Huancaína
| image = Papa a la huancaina.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption =
| alternate_name =
| country = [[Peru]]
| region =
| creator =
| course = [[Hors d'oeuvre]]
| type =
| served = Cold
| main_ingredient = Yellow [[potato]]es, Huancaína sauce ([[Queso fresco]], [[vegetable oil]], [[aji pepper|ají amarillo]], [[evaporated milk]], [[salt]])
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}

'''Papa a la huancaína''' (literally, [[Huancayo]] style potatoes) is a [[Peru]]vian appetizer of boiled potatoes in a spicy, creamy sauce made of [[queso fresco]] (fresh white cheese) and sautéed or grilled [[aji pepper|ají amarillo]] (yellow Peruvian pepper), [[red onion]] and garlic, all grounded traditionally in a [[Batan (stone)|batán]]. Although the dish's name is derived from Huancayo, a city in the central Peruvian highlands, this dish is from [[Lima]]. It has become a staple of everyday and holiday cuisine throughout the country.<ref name="Castro2011">{{cite book|author=Lourdes Castro|title=Latin Grilling: Recipes to Share, from Argentine Asado to Yucatecan Barbecue and More|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjIT1hCRaj4C&pg=PT324|access-date=31 August 2011|date=26 April 2011|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-1-60774-004-9|page=324}}</ref><ref name="Webb1995">{{cite book|author=Lois Sinaiko Webb|title=Holidays of the world cookbook for students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0zynzuff3OMC&pg=PA232|access-date=31 August 2011|date=December 1995|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-89774-884-1|page=232}}</ref>

It is typically served cold as a starter over [[lettuce]] leaves and garnished with [[black olive]]s, [[sweet corn|white corn]] kernels and [[hard-boiled egg]] quarters.

In the south of Peru ([[Cuzco]], [[Puno]], [[Arequipa]]), it is served with [[ocopa]] rather than Huancaína sauce, made from freshly toasted peanuts, fried onions and tomatoes, ají amarillo, cream or condensed milk, crushed crackers or dried bread, salt, and [[huacatay]] (''[[Tagetes minuta]]'').

Because it is served cold, papa a la huancaína is a favorite food of Peruvians to take on picnics and trips.

== Origin ==
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2020}}
The origin of Papa a la huancaína is controversial. On one side, stories exist that point to the area of Lima:

* The most well-known story explains that it emerged during the construction of [[Ferrocarril Central Andino|Peru's Central Railroad]], stretching from Lima to Huancayo. Food for the workers was prepared by Huancan women who boiled potatoes and served them with a cheese, pepper and milk sauce, which would become Papas a la Huancaina.

* A more modern story explains that the plate was served at the railway stations between Lima and Huancayo, sold to passengers as a light food consisting of potatoes bathed in a delicious cheese and pepper sauce. From that came the name “potatoes that you eat in route to Hauncayo” which would later be changed to Papa a la Huancaina.

While the cheese and the potato are produced along the Peruvian sierra, they are also produced along the coast. In fact, the cultivating of the yellow pepper takes place only in coastal zones (4,000-year-old yellow pepper remnants have been found in the [[Archaeological site|archaeological sites]] of Huaca Prieta and Ancon). In addition, the olives that accompany the preparation, also originate from the coast, and not the city of Huancayo. It should also be mentioned that it does not match the preparation style of typical Huancan food, which often consists of hot foods made with red meat. Additionally, it is uncommon to serve [[Hors d'oeuvre|appetizers]] in the cities along the Peruvian sierra.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{wikibooks-inline|Cookbook:Papas a la Huancaína}}
{{Portal bar|Peru|Food}}
{{Potato dishes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papa a la Huancaina}}
[[Category:Appetizers]]
[[Category:Peruvian cuisine]]
[[Category:Potato dishes]]
[[Category:Cheese dishes]]

Human history

2021-12-28T12:39:27Z

Huhsunqu: /* Post-classical history (500 CE to 1500 CE) */

{{about|the history of humanity|the entire history of Earth|History of Earth|the field of historical study|World history|humanity's evolutionary history|Human evolution}}
{{redirect|History of the world}}
{{pp-protected|reason=Persistent vandalism; virtually all edits in the past few weeks have been reversions|small=yes}}
{{short description|Historical development of human civilisation}}

{{Human history}}
[[File:World population growth (lin-log scale).png|thumb|[[World population]], 10,000 BCE – 2,000 CE (vertical population scale is logarithmic)<ref name="USCB_World population estimates" />]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=November 2019}}
'''Human history''', or '''world history''', is the narrative of [[Human|humanity]]'s past. It is understood through [[archaeology]], [[anthropology]], [[genetics]], and [[linguistics]], and since the [[History of writing|advent of writing]], from [[primary source|primary]] and [[secondary source]]s.

Humanity's written history was preceded by its [[prehistory]], beginning with the [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic Era]] ("Old Stone Age"), followed by the [[Neolithic|Neolithic Era]] ("New Stone Age"). The Neolithic saw the [[Neolithic Revolution|Agricultural Revolution]] begin, between 10,000 and 5000 [[Common Era|BCE]], in the [[Near East]]'s [[Fertile Crescent]]. During this period, humans began the systematic [[Agriculture|husbandry]] of plants and animals.{{sfn|Tudge|1998|pp=30–31}} As agriculture advanced, most humans transitioned from a [[nomad]]ic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in [[civilization|permanent settlements]]. The relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in [[history of transport|transportation]].

Whether in prehistoric or historic times, people always needed to be near reliable sources of [[drinking water]]. Settlements developed as early as 4,000 BCE in [[Jiroft culture|Iran]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Muscarella|first=Oscar White|chapter=Jiroft and 'Jiroft-Aratta': A Review Article of Yousef Madjidzadeh, Jiroft: The Earliest Oriental Civilization|date=2013-01-01|title=Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East|pages=485–522|publisher=BRILL|doi=10.1163/9789004236691_016|isbn=978-90-04-23669-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Muscarella, Oscar White.|title=Archaeology, artifacts and antiquities of the ancient Near East : sites, cultures, and proveniences|date=2013|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-23669-1|oclc=848917597}}</ref><ref>Maǧīdzāda, Y. (2003). Jiroft: The earliest oriental civilization. Tehran: Organization of the Ministry of Culture ans Islamic Guidance.</ref><ref name="people.cn">[http://en.people.cn/90001/90782/90874/6236885.html People, "New evidence: modern civilization began in Iran", 10 Aug 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224223600/http://en.people.cn/90001/90782/90874/6236885.html |date=24 February 2021 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref><ref name="xinhuaciv">[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/10/content_6508609.htm Xinhua, "New evidence: modern civilization began in Iran"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123142419/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/10/content_6508609.htm |date=23 November 2016 }}, xinhuanet.com, 10 August 2007</ref> in [[Mesopotamia]],{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=13–15}} in the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus River valley]] on the Indian subcontinent,{{sfn|Chakrabarti|2004|p=11}} on the banks of [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]'s [[Nile|Nile River]],{{sfn|Baines|Malek|2000|p=8}}{{sfn|Bard|2000|pp=64–65}} and along [[List of rivers of China|China's rivers]].{{sfn|Lee|2002|pp=15–42}}{{sfn|Teeple|2006|pp=14–20}} As farming developed, [[Cereal|grain agriculture]] became more sophisticated and prompted a [[division of labour]] to store food between growing seasons. Labour divisions led to the rise of a leisured [[upper class]] and the development of [[City|cities]], which provided the [[Cradle of civilization|foundation]] for [[civilization]]. The growing complexity of human societies necessitated systems of [[accounting]] and [[writing]]. [[Hinduism]] developed in the late [[Bronze Age]] on the [[Indian subcontinent]]. The [[Axial Age]] witnessed the introduction of religions such as [[Buddhism]], [[Taoism]], [[Confucianism]], and [[Jainism]].

With civilizations flourishing, [[ancient history]] ("[[Late antiquity|Antiquity]]," including the [[Classical Age]] and [[Golden Age of India]],{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=161}} up to about 500 CE{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=12}}) saw the rise and fall of empires. [[Post-classical history]] (the "[[Middle Ages]]," c. 500–1500 CE,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=14}}) witnessed the rise of [[Christianity]], the [[Islamic Golden Age]] (c. 750 CE – c. 1258 CE), and the [[Timurid Renaissance|Timurid]] and Italian [[Renaissance]]s (from around 1300 CE). The mid-15th-century introduction of [[movable type|movable-type]] [[printing]] in Europe{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=63}} revolutionized [[communication]] and facilitated ever wider dissemination of [[information]], hastening the end of the Middle Ages and ushering in the [[Scientific Revolution]].{{sfn|Grant|2006|p=53}} The [[early modern period]], sometimes referred to as the "European Age and [[Gunpowder empires|Age of the Islamic Gunpowders]]",{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=535}} from about 1500 to 1800,{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2008|p=595}} included the [[Age of Discovery]] and the [[Age of Enlightenment]]. By the 18th century, the accumulation of [[knowledge]] and [[technology]] had reached a [[Critical mass (sociodynamics)|critical mass]] that brought about the [[Industrial Revolution]]{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=712–714}} and began the [[late modern period]], which started around 1800 and has continued through the present.{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=14}}

This scheme of historical [[periodization]] (dividing history into Antiquity, Post-Classical, Early Modern, and Late Modern periods) was developed for, and applies best to, the history of the [[Old World]], particularly Europe and the Mediterranean. Outside this region, including [[ancient China]] and [[History of India|ancient India]], historical timelines unfolded differently. However, by the 18th century, due to extensive [[International trade|world trade]] and [[colonization]], the histories of most civilizations had become substantially intertwined, a process known as [[globalization]]. In the last quarter-millennium, the rates of growth of [[Population growth|population]], knowledge, technology, communications, commerce, weapon destructiveness, and environmental degradation have greatly accelerated, creating unprecedented opportunities and perils that now confront the planet's human communities.{{sfn|Baten|2016|pp=1–13}}

{{TOC limit|3}}

==Prehistory ({{circa}} 3.3 million years ago to {{circa}} 5000 years ago)==
{{Main|Prehistory|Human evolution|Timeline of prehistory}}

===Early humans===

[[Molecular clock|Genetic]] measurements indicate that the ape lineage which would lead to ''Homo sapiens'' diverged from the lineage that would lead to [[chimpanzee]]s and [[bonobo]]s, the closest living relatives of modern humans, around 4.6 to 6.2 million years ago.{{sfn|Chen|Li|2001|pp=444–456}} [[Early modern human|Anatomically modern human]]s arose in Africa about 300,000 years ago,<ref name="Smithsonian Institution" /> and achieved [[behavioral modernity]] about 50,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Klein|first=Richard G.|date=June 1995|title=Anatomy, Behavior, and Modern Human Origins|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|volume=9|issue=2|pages=167–98|doi=10.1007/BF02221838|s2cid=10402296|issn=0892-7537}}</ref>

[[File:Lascaux2.jpg|thumb|left|Cave painting, [[Lascaux|Lascaux, France]], c. 15,000 BCE]]
[[File:Venus von Willendorf 01.jpg|thumb|upright 0.5|"[[Venus of Willendorf]]", Austria, c. 26,500 BCE]]

The [[Paleolithic]] period began with the advent of [[Hominidae|hominid]] tool use.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Christian|first1= David|title= Big History: Between Nothing and Everything|date= 2014|publisher= McGraw Hill Education|location= New York|page= 93}}</ref> Hominids, such as ''[[Homo erectus]]'' had used simple wood and stone tools for [[Millennium|millennia]], but as time progressed, tools became far more refined and complex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnston |first1=William |date=March 1922 |title=The Evolution of Tools and Implements |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2993010 |journal=[[The American Midland Naturalist]] |volume=8 |issue= 2|pages=49–60 |doi= 10.2307/2993010|jstor=2993010 |access-date=}}</ref> Perhaps as early as 1.8 million years ago, but certainly by 500,000 years ago, humans [[Control of fire by early humans|began to use fire]] for heat and cooking.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=17}} The Paleolithic also saw humans [[Origin of language|develop language]],{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=20–21}} as well as a conceptual repertoire that included both the systematic burial of the dead and adornment of the living. Signs of early artistic expression can be found in the form of [[cave painting]]s and [[sculpture]]s made from ivory, stone, and bone, implying a form of spirituality; generally interpreted as either [[animism]] or [[shamanism]].{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=32–33}} Paleolithic humans lived as [[hunter-gatherer]]s, and were generally [[nomad]]ic.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=30–31}} Archaeological and genetic data suggest that source populations of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers lived in sparsely wooded areas and dispersed through areas of high [[primary production]] while avoiding dense forest cover.<ref name="Gavashelishvili23" />

Modern humans [[Recent African origin of modern humans|spread]] rapidly from Africa into the frost-free zones of Europe and Asia around 60,000 years ago.<ref name=Stringer2012>{{Cite journal |last1=Stringer |first1=C. |year=2012 |title=Evolution: What Makes a Modern Human |journal=Nature |volume=485 |issue=7396 |pages=33–35 |doi=10.1038/485033a |pmid=22552077|bibcode=2012Natur.485...33S |s2cid=4420496 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The rapid expansion of humankind to North America and Oceania took place at the climax of the [[Last Glacial Period|most recent]] [[ice age]]. At the time, temperate regions of today were extremely inhospitable. Yet, by the end of the Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago, humans had colonized nearly all ice-free parts of the globe.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=24–29}}

===Rise of civilization===

Beginning around 10,000 BCE, the [[Neolithic Revolution]] marked the development of [[agriculture]], which fundamentally changed the human lifestyle. [[Cereal|Cereal crop]] cultivation and [[animal domestication]] had occurred in the [[Mesopotamia|Middle East]] by at least 8500 BCE in the form of [[wheat]], [[barley]], [[sheep]], and [[goat]]s.{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=11}} In the [[Indus River Valley|Indus Valley]], crops were cultivated and [[cattle]] were domesticated by 6000 BCE. The [[Yellow River]] valley in China cultivated [[millet]] and other cereal crops by about 7000 BCE; the [[Yangtze]] valley domesticated [[rice]] earlier, by at least 8000 BCE. In the Americas, [[Helianthus|sunflower]]s were cultivated by about 4000 BCE, and [[maize]] and [[bean]]s were domesticated in Central America by 3500 BCE. [[Potato]]es were first cultivated in the Andes Mountains of South America, where the [[llama]] was also domesticated.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=36–37}} [[Metalworking]], was first used in the creation of [[copper]] tools and ornaments around 6000 BCE. [[Gold]] soon followed, primarily for use in ornaments. The need for metal ores stimulated trade, as many areas of early human settlement lacked the necessary ores. The first signs of [[bronze]], an alloy of copper and [[tin]], date to around 2500 BCE, but the alloy did not become widely used until much later.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=42–43}}

Agriculture created food surpluses that could support people not directly engaged in food production,{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=34–35}} permitting far denser populations and the creation of the first [[city|cities]] and [[State (polity)|states]]. Cities were centres of [[trade]], [[manufacturing]] and [[Power (social and political)|political power]].{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=15}} Cities established a [[symbiosis]] with their surrounding [[Rural area|countrysides]], absorbing agricultural products and providing, in return, manufactured goods and varying degrees of military control and protection. Early [[proto-city|proto-cities]] appeared at [[Jericho]] and [[Çatalhöyük]] around 6000 BCE.{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=13}}

[[File:Sumerian 26th c Adab.jpg|thumb|left|Monumental [[Cuneiform]] [[Epigraphy|inscription]], [[Sumer]], [[Mesopotamia]], 26th century BCE]]
The development of cities was synonymous with the rise of [[civilization]].{{efn|The very word "[[civilization]]" comes from the [[Latin]] ''civilis'', meaning "civil," related to ''civis'' ("citizen") and ''civitas'' ("city" or "city-state").{{sfn|Sullivan|2009|p=73}} }} Early civilizations arose first in Lower [[Mesopotamia]] (3000 BCE),{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=21}}{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=54–55}}{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=53}} followed by [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian civilization]] along the [[Nile|Nile River]] (3000 BCE),{{sfn|Bard|2000|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013}} the [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Harappan civilization]] in the Indus River Valley (in present-day India and Pakistan; 2500 BCE),{{sfn|Chakrabarti|2004|pp=10–13}}{{sfn|Allchin|Allchin|1997|pp=153–168}} and [[Ancient China|Chinese civilization]] along the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers (2200 BCE).{{sfn|Lee|2002|pp=15–42}}{{sfn|Teeple|2006|pp=14–20}}

[[File:Unas Pyramidentexte det1.jpg|thumb|[[Pyramid Texts|Pyramid text]], [[Pyramid of Unas]], [[Saqqara]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], 24th century BCE]]
These societies developed a number of unifying characteristics, including a central government, a complex economy and social structure, sophisticated language and writing systems, and distinct cultures and religions. These cultures variously invented the [[wheel]],{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=44}} [[mathematics]],{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=59}} bronze-working, [[sailing]] boats, the [[potter's wheel]], woven cloth, construction of monumental buildings,{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=16}} and [[writing]].{{sfn|McNeill|1999|p=18}} Writing facilitated the administration of cities, the expression of ideas, and the preservation of information.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=43–46}} Scholars now recognize that writing may have independently developed in at least four ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia (between 3400 and 3100 BCE), Egypt (around 3250 BCE),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Regulski|first=Ilona|date=2016-05-02|title=The Origins and Early Development of Writing in Egypt|work=Oxford Handbooks Online|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-61|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.013.61|isbn=978-0-19-993541-3|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031145327/https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-61|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Wengrow, David]]. "The Invention of Writing in Egypt", in ''Before the Pyramids: Origin of Egyptian Civilization'', Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, 2011, pp. 99–103.</ref> China (2000 BCE),<ref>James Legge, D.D., translator, "The Shoo King, or the Book of Historical Documents, Volume III, Part I, page 12]. Early Chinese Writing", in ''The World's Writing Systems'', ed. Bright and Daniels, p.191</ref> and lowland Mesoamerica (by 650 BCE).<ref name="FaganBeck1996">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ystMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA762|title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-19-507618-9|editor=Brian M. Fagan, Charlotte Beck|page=762|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803081325/https://books.google.com/books?id=ystMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA762|url-status=live}}</ref>

Typical of the Neolithic was a tendency to worship [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] [[Deity|deities]]. Entities such as the Sun, Moon, Earth, sky, and sea were often deified.{{sfn|Mercer|1949|p=259}} [[Shrine]]s developed, which evolved into [[temple]] establishments, complete with a complex hierarchy of [[Priest|priests and priestesses]] and other functionaries. Among the earliest surviving written religious scriptures are the Egyptian ''[[Pyramid Texts]]'', the oldest of which date to between 2400 and 2300 BCE.{{sfn|Allen|2007|p=1}}

==Ancient history (3000 BCE to 500 CE)==
{{Main|Ancient history|Timeline of ancient history}}
{{ancient history}}

===Cradles of civilization===
{{Main|Cradle of civilization|Bronze Age|Iron Age}}
[[File:All Gizah Pyramids.jpg|thumb|left|[[Giza pyramid complex|Great Pyramids of Giza]], [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]]]
The Bronze Age is part of the [[three-age system]] ([[Neolithic|Stone Age]], [[Bronze Age]], [[Iron Age]]), a system which effectively describes the early history of [[civilization]] for some parts of the world. The Bronze Age saw the development of [[city-state]]s as well as the emergence of [[Cradle of civilization|first civilizations]]. These settlements were concentrated in fertile river valleys: the [[Tigris–Euphrates river system|Tigris and Euphrates]] in [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Nile]] in [[Egypt]],{{sfn|Buchanan|1979|p=23}} the [[Indus River|Indus]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]],{{sfn|Chakrabarti|2004|pp=10–13}} and the [[Yangtze]] and [[Yellow River]]s in China.

[[Sumer]], located in [[Mesopotamia]], is the first known complex civilization, having developed the first [[city-state]]s in the 4th millennium BCE.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=54–55}} It was in these cities that the earliest known form of writing, [[Cuneiform|cuneiform script]], appeared around 3000 BCE.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=62–63}}{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=53–54}} Cuneiform writing began as a system of [[Pictogram|pictographs]], whose pictorial representations eventually became simplified and more abstract.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=53–54}} Cuneiform texts were written by using a blunt [[Phragmites|reed]] as a [[stylus]] to draw [[symbol]]s upon [[clay tablet]]s.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=62–63}} Writing made the administration of a large state far easier.

Transport was facilitated by waterways—by rivers and seas. The [[Mediterranean Sea]], at the juncture of three continents, fostered the projection of military power and the exchange of goods, ideas, and inventions. This era also saw new land technologies, such as horse-based cavalry and chariots, that allowed armies to move faster.

[[File:Wall painting of male and female taureadors from Knossos (Court of the Stone Spout) - Heraklion AM - 01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bull-Leaping Fresco|Fresco]], [[Knossos]], [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Crete]]]]

These developments led to the rise of territorial states and [[empire]]s. In Mesopotamia there prevailed a pattern of independent warring city-states and of a loose hegemony shifting from one city to another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/mesopotamianhistory/index.html |title=Mesopotamian history: the basics |last= |first= |date= |website=oracc.museum.upenn.edu |publisher= |access-date=16 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> In Egypt, by contrast, first there was a dual division into [[Upper and Lower Egypt]] which was shortly followed by unification of all the valley around 3100 BCE, followed by permanent pacification.{{sfn|Bard|2000|pp=57–64}} In Crete the [[Minoan civilization]] had entered the Bronze Age by 2700 BCE and is regarded as the first civilization in Europe.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=76–77}} Over the next millennia, other river valleys saw monarchical empires rise to power.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/birth-agriculture-neolithic-revolution/a/introduction-what-is-civilization |title=Early civilizations |last1=Elshaikh |first1=Eman |last2=Schroeder |first2=Steven |date= |website=khanacademy.com |publisher=[[Khan Academy]] |access-date=16 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> In the 25th – 21st centuries BCE, the empires of [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]] and [[Neo-Sumerian Empire|Sumer]] arose in [[Mesopotamia]].{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=36–37}}

Over the following millennia, civilizations developed across the world. [[Trade]] increasingly became a source of power as states with access to important resources or controlling important trade routes rose to dominance.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/4823-ancient-trade-changed-world.html |title=How Ancient Trade Changed the World |last=Whipps |first=Heather |date=18 February 2008 |website=livescience.com |publisher=[[Live Science]] |access-date=16 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> By 1600 BCE, [[Mycenaean Greece]] began to develop,{{sfn|Price|Thonemann|2010|p=22}} and ended with the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]] that started to affect many Mediterranean civilizations between 1200 and 1150 BCE. In India, this era was the [[Vedic period]] (1750-600 BCE), which laid the foundations of [[Hinduism]] and other cultural aspects of early Indian society, and ended in the 6th century BCE.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=116–122}} From around 550 BCE, many independent kingdoms and republics known as the [[Mahajanapadas]] were established across the subcontinent.{{sfn|Singh|2008|pp=260–264}}

As complex civilizations arose in the Eastern Hemisphere, the indigenous societies in the [[Americas]] remained relatively simple and fragmented into diverse regional cultures. During the [[formative stage]] in [[Mesoamerica]] (about 1500 BCE to 500 CE), more complex and centralized civilizations began to develop, mostly in what is now Mexico, Central America, and Peru. They included civilizations such as the [[Olmecs]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotecs]], [[Moche culture|Moche]], and [[Nazca culture|Nazca]]. They developed agriculture, growing [[maize]], [[chili pepper]]s, [[Cocoa bean|cocoa]], [[tomato]]es, and [[potato]]es, crops unique to the Americas, and creating distinct cultures and religions. These ancient indigenous societies would be greatly affected, for good and ill, by European contact during the early modern period.

===Axial Age===
{{Main|Axial Age|History of philosophy|Timeline of religion|History of religion}}

[[File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg|thumb|left|upright|The [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]]]
[[File:Socrates Louvre.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Socrates]]]]

Beginning in the 8th century BCE, the "[[Axial Age]]" saw the development of a set of transformative philosophical and religious ideas, mostly independently, in many different places.<ref>{{cite journal |title=What changed during the axial age: Cognitive styles or reward systems? |last1=Baumard |first1=Nicolas |last2=Hyafil |first2=Alexandre |last3=Boyer |first3=Pascal |journal=Communicative & Integrative Biology |date=25 September 2015 |volume=8 |issue=5 |pages=e1046657 |publisher=[[United States National Library of Medicine]] |doi=10.1080/19420889.2015.1046657 |pmid=27066164 |pmc=4802742 |quote=}}</ref> Chinese [[Confucianism]], Indian [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], and [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[monotheism]] are all claimed by some scholars to have developed in the 6th century BCE. ([[Karl Jaspers]]' Axial-Age theory also includes [[Iran|Persia]]n [[Zoroastrianism]], but other scholars dispute his timeline for Zoroastrianism.) In the 5th century BCE, [[Socrates]] and [[Plato]] made substantial advances in the development of [[ancient Greek philosophy]].

In the East, three schools of thought would dominate Chinese thinking well into the 20th century. These were [[Taoism]], [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]], and [[Confucianism]]. The Confucian tradition, which would become particularly dominant, looked for [[Politics|political]] [[morality]] not to the force of law but to the power and example of [[tradition]]. Confucianism would later spread to [[Korea]] and toward [[Japan]].

In the West, the [[ancient Greece|Greek]] philosophical tradition, represented by [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and other philosophers,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=63}} along with accumulated science, technology, and culture, diffused throughout [[Europe]], Egypt, the [[Middle East]], and Northwest India, starting in the 4th century BCE after the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]] of [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedon]].{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=70–71}}

===Regional empires===
{{Main|Civilization|Empire}}
The millennium from 500 BCE to 500 CE saw a series of empires of unprecedented size develop. Well-trained professional armies, unifying ideologies, and advanced bureaucracies created the possibility for emperors to rule over large domains whose populations could attain numbers upwards of tens of millions of subjects.
The great [[empire]]s depended on [[military]] [[annexation]] of territory and on the formation of defended settlements to become agricultural centres. The relative peace that the empires brought encouraged [[international trade]], most notably the massive trade routes in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], the maritime trade web in the Indian Ocean, and the [[Silk Road]]. In southern Europe, the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] (and later the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]), in an era known as "[[classical antiquity]]," established cultures whose practices, laws, and customs are considered the foundation of contemporary [[Western culture]].

[[File:Persepolis The Persian Soldiers.jpg|thumb|[[Persepolis]], [[Achaemenid Empire]], 6th century BCE]]
[[File:The Parthenon in Athens.jpg|thumb|left|The Parthenon, Athens]]
[[File:Ashoka pillar at Vaishali, Bihar, India.jpg|thumb|Pillar erected by India's Maurya Emperor Ashoka]]
[[File:Roma-colonna di trainao.jpg|thumb|left|[[Trajan's Column]], [[Rome]]]]
[[File:Terrakottaarmén.jpg|thumb|left|[[Terracotta Army]], [[China]], c. 210 BCE]]
[[File:Stela aksum.jpg|thumb|[[Obelisk of Axum]], [[Ethiopia]]]]

There were a number of regional empires during this period. The kingdom of the [[Medes]] helped to destroy the [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]] in tandem with the nomadic [[Scythians]] and the [[Babylonia|Babylonians]]. [[Nineveh]], the capital of Assyria, was sacked by the Medes in 612 BCE.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=110}} The [[Medes|Median Empire]] gave way to successive [[History of Iran|Iranian]] empires, including the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (550–330 BCE), the [[Parthian Empire]] (247 BCE–224 CE), and the [[Sasanian Empire]] (224–651 CE).

Several empires began in modern-day Greece. First was the [[Delian League]] (from 477 BCE){{sfn|Martin|2000|pp=106–107}} and the succeeding [[Delian League#The Athenian Empire (454–404 BC)|Athenian Empire]] (454–404 BCE), centered in present-day [[Greece]]. Later, [[Alexander the Great]] (356–323 BCE), of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]], founded an empire of conquest, extending from present-day Greece to present-day India.{{sfn|Golden|2011|p=25}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml|title=Alexander the Great|website=Historic Figures|publisher=BBC|access-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119120544/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml|archive-date=19 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The empire divided shortly after his death, but the influence of his [[Hellenization|Hellenistic]] successors made for an extended [[Hellenistic period]] (323–31 BCE)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm|title=Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition|last1=Hemingway|first1=Collette|last2=Hemingway|first2=Seán|date=April 2007|website=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004102824/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm|archive-date=4 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> throughout the region.

In Asia, the [[Maurya Empire]] (322–185 BCE) existed in present-day [[History of India|India]];<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of India |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |publisher=Routledge |year=2004| isbn=978-0-415-32920-0 |edition=4th}}</ref> in the 3rd century BCE, most of [[South Asia]] was united to the Maurya Empire by [[Chandragupta Maurya]] and flourished under [[Ashoka|Ashoka the Great]]. From the 3rd century CE, the [[Gupta Empire|Gupta dynasty]] oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's Golden Age. From the 4th to 6th centuries, northern India was ruled by the [[Gupta Empire]]. In southern India, three prominent [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] kingdoms emerged: the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cera-dynasty |title=Cera Dynasty |last=Pletcher |first=Kenneth |date=8 November 2016 |website=britannica.com |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of South India|last=Nilakanta Sastri |first=K. A. |page=157}}</ref> and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]]. The ensuing stability contributed to heralding in the golden age of [[Hindus|Hindu]] culture in the 4th and 5th centuries.

In Europe, the [[History of the Roman Empire|Roman Empire]], centered in present-day [[Italy]], began in the 7th century BCE.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=106–107}} In the 3rd century BCE the [[Roman Republic]] began expanding its territory through conquest and alliances.{{sfn|Kelly|2007|pp=4–6}} By the time of [[Augustus]] (63 BCE – 14 CE), the first Roman Emperor, Rome had already established dominion over most of the Mediterranean. The empire would continue to grow, controlling much of the land from [[England]] to [[Mesopotamia]], reaching its greatest extent under the emperor [[Trajan]] (died 117 CE). In the 3rd century CE, the empire split into western and eastern regions, with (usually) separate emperors. The Western empire would [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall]], in 476 CE, to German influence under [[Odoacer]]. The eastern empire, now known as the [[Byzantine Empire]], with its capital at [[Constantinople]], would continue for another thousand years, until Constantinople was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453.

In China, the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BCE), the first imperial dynasty of China, was followed by the [[Han dynasty|Han Empire]] (206 BCE – 220 CE). The Han dynasty was comparable in power and influence to the Roman Empire that lay at the other end of the [[Silk Road]]. Han China developed advanced cartography, shipbuilding, and navigation. The Chinese invented [[blast furnace]]s, and created finely tuned copper instruments. As with other empires during the Classical Period, Han China advanced significantly in the areas of government, education, mathematics, astronomy, technology, and many others.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Remaking China's Public Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century |last=Zhou |first=Jinghao |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-275-97882-2 |location=Westport }}</ref>

[[File:Chichén Itzá Mayan observatory.jpg|thumb|[[Maya civilization|Maya]] [[observatory]], [[Chichen Itza]], [[Mexico]]]]

In Africa, the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], centred in present-day Ethiopia, established itself by the 1st century CE as a major trading empire, dominating its neighbours in South [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]] and controlling the [[Red Sea]] trade. It minted its own currency and carved enormous monolithic [[stele]]s such as the [[Obelisk of Axum]] to mark their emperors' graves.

Successful regional empires were also established in the [[Americas]], arising from cultures established as early as 2500 BCE.{{sfn|Fagan|2005|pp=390, 396}} In [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]], vast pre-Columbian societies were built, the most notable being the [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec Empire]] (700 BCE – 1521 CE),<ref>Zapotec civilization has its beginnings in 700 BCE: see {{Cite book|title=Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley|last1=Flannery|first1=Kent V.|last2=Marcus|first2=Joyce|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=1996|isbn=978-0-500-05078-1|location=New York|page=146}} Zapotec civilization ended in 1521 according to the five archaeological stages presented in {{Cite book|title=The Zapotecs: Princes, Priests, and Peasants|last=Whitecotton|first=Joseph W.|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1977|location=Norman|page= 26, LI.1–3|no-pp=y}}</ref> and the [[Maya civilization]], which reached its highest state of development during the Mesoamerican Classic period (c. 250–900 CE),{{sfn|Coe|2011|p=91}} but continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century CE. Maya civilization arose as the [[Olmecs|Olmec]] [[mother culture]] gradually declined. The great Mayan [[city-state]]s slowly rose in number and prominence, and Maya culture spread throughout the [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] and surrounding areas. The later empire of the [[Aztecs]] was built on neighbouring cultures and was influenced by conquered peoples such as the [[Toltec]]s.

Some areas experienced slow but steady technological advances, with important developments such as the [[stirrup]] and [[moldboard plough]] arriving every few centuries. There were, however, in some regions, periods of rapid technological progress. Most important, perhaps, was the [[Hellenistic period]] in the region of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], during which hundreds of technologies were invented.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Camp|first1=John McK.|last2=Dinsmoor|first2=William B.|title=Ancient Athenian building methods|date=1984|publisher=American School of Classical Studies at Athens|series=Excavations of the Athenian Agora|volume=21|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0-87661-626-0|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientathenianb00camp}}</ref> Such periods were followed by periods of technological decay, as during the [[Roman Empire]]'s decline and [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall]] and the ensuing [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] period.

===Declines, falls, and resurgence===
The ancient empires faced common problems associated with maintaining huge armies and supporting a central bureaucracy. These costs fell most heavily on the [[peasant]]ry, while land-owning [[magnate]]s increasingly evaded centralized control and its costs. [[Barbarian]] pressure on the frontiers hastened internal dissolution. [[China]]'s [[Han dynasty]] fell into [[civil war]] in 220 CE, beginning the [[Three Kingdoms]] period, while its [[Roman Empire|Roman]] counterpart became increasingly decentralized and divided about the same time in what is known as the [[Crisis of the Third Century]]. The great empires of Eurasia were all located on temperate and subtropical coastal plains. From the [[Central Asia]]n steppes, horse-based nomads, mainly Mongols and Turks, dominated a large part of the continent. The development of the stirrup and the breeding of horses strong enough to carry a fully armed archer made the nomads a constant threat to the more settled civilizations.
[[File:Pantheon Rome 04 2016 6460.jpg|thumb|left|The Pantheon in Rome, Italy, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church]]
The gradual break-up of the [[Roman Empire]], spanning several centuries after the 2nd century CE, coincided with the spread of [[Christianity]] outward from the Middle East.{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=95, 99}} The Western Roman Empire fell under the domination of [[List of ancient Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] in the 5th century,{{sfn|Collins|1999|pp=80–99}} and these [[Polity|polities]] gradually developed into a number of warring states, all associated in one way or another with the [[Catholic Church]].{{sfn|Collins|1999|pp=100–115}} The remaining part of the Roman Empire, in the eastern Mediterranean, continued as what came to be called the [[Byzantine Empire]].{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=97, 103}} Centuries later, a limited unity would be restored to western Europe through the establishment in 962 of a revived "Roman Empire",{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=404}} later called the [[Holy Roman Empire]],{{sfn|Loyn|1991|pp=122–123}} comprising a number of states in what is now Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Italy, and parts of France.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire|last=Whaley|first=Joachim|year=2012 |volume=1 |pages=17–20 }}</ref>{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p=23}}

In China, [[Dynasty|dynasties]] would rise and fall, but, by sharp contrast to the Mediterranean-European world, dynastic unity would be restored. After the fall of the [[Eastern Han dynasty]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html |title=Dynasties of Early Imperial China: Han Dynasty|publisher=Minnesota State University |access-date=18 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710041505/http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html |archive-date=10 July 2009 }}</ref> and the demise of the Three Kingdoms, [[nomad]]ic tribes from the north began to invade in the 4th century, eventually conquering areas of northern China and setting up many small kingdoms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ia601601.us.archive.org/25/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.535974/2015.535974.early-empires.pdf |title=The Early Empires of Central Asia |last=Montgomery McGovern |first=William |date=1884 |website=ia601601.us.archive.org |publisher=[[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The [[Sui dynasty]] successfully reunified the whole of China{{sfn|Gascoigne|2003|pp=90–92}} in 581,{{sfn|Gernet|1996|pp=237–238}} and laid the foundations for a Chinese golden age under the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907).

==Post-classical history (500 CE to 1500 CE)==
{{Main|Post-classical history}}
[[File:Sankore Moske Timboektoe.JPG|thumb|University of Timbuktu, Mali]]
The term "post-classical era", though derived from the Eurocentric name of the era of "[[classical antiquity]]", takes in a broader geographic sweep. The era is commonly dated from the 5th-century [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], which fragmented into many separate kingdoms, some of which would later be confederated under the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The [[Byzantine Empire]] survived until late in the post-classical or medieval period.

The post-classical period also encompasses the [[Early Muslim conquests]], the subsequent [[Islamic Golden Age]], and the commencement and expansion of the [[Arab slave trade]], followed by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol invasions]] of the [[Middle East]], [[Central Asia]], and [[Eastern Europe]] and the founding around 1280 of the [[Ottoman Empire]].{{sfn|Shaw|1976|p=13}} [[South Asia]] saw a series of [[middle kingdoms of India]], followed by the establishment of [[Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent|Islamic empires in India]].

In western Africa, the [[Mali Empire]] and the [[Songhai Empire]] developed. On the southeast coast of Africa, Arabic ports were established where [[gold]], [[Spice trade|spices]], and other commodities were traded. This allowed Africa to join the [[Southeast Asia]] trading system, bringing it contact with Asia; this, along with Muslim culture, resulted in the [[Swahili culture]].

[[China]] experienced the successive [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], [[Song dynasty|Song]], [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]], and early [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] dynasties. Middle Eastern trade routes along the Indian Ocean, and the [[Silk Road]] through the Gobi Desert, provided limited economic and cultural contact between Asian and European civilizations.

During the same period, civilizations in the [[Americas]], such as the [[Mississippian culture]], [[Ancestral Puebloans]], [[Wari]] and [[Inca Empire|Inca]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], and [[Aztecs]], reached their zenith. All would be compromised by, then conquered after, contact with [[European colonization of the Americas|European colonists]] at the beginning of the [[#Modern history|modern period]].

===Greater Middle East===
{{Main|History of the Middle East|History of North Africa|History of Central Asia|History of the Caucasus|Islamic Golden Age}}
Prior to the advent of [[Islam]] in the 7th century, the [[Middle East]] was dominated by the [[Byzantine Empire]] and the [[Sasanian Empire]] that frequently fought each other for control of several disputed regions. This was also a cultural battle, with the Byzantine Christian culture competing against Persian [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] traditions. The birth of the [[History of Islam|Islam]] created a new contender that quickly surpassed both of these empires. The new religion greatly affected the [[political history|political]], [[economic history|economic]], and [[military history]] of the [[Old World]], especially the Middle East.

[[File:Grande Mosquée de Kairouan, vue d'ensemble.jpg|thumb|left|Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE]]

From their centre on the [[Arabian Peninsula]], Muslims began their expansion during the early Postclassical Era. By 750 CE, they came to conquer most of the Near East, North Africa, and parts of Europe, ushering in an era of learning, science, and invention known as the [[Islamic Golden Age]]. The knowledge and skills of the ancient Near East, Greece, and Persia were preserved in the Postclassical Era by Muslims, who also added new and important innovations from outside, such as the manufacture of paper from China and decimal positional numbering from India.

Much of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of [[Mecca]] had served as a centre of trade in Arabia, and the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] himself was a merchant. With the new Islamic tradition of the ''[[Hajj]]'', the pilgrimage to Mecca, the city became even more a centre for exchanging goods and ideas. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to the Europeans, Indians, and Chinese, who based their societies on an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their Islamic faith to [[Islam in China|China]], [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]], [[Islam in Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]], and the kingdoms of western [[Islam in Africa|Africa]], and returned with new discoveries and inventions.
[[File:Crac des chevaliers syria.jpeg|thumb|[[Crusading movement|Crusader]] ''[[Krak des Chevaliers]]'', [[Syria]]]]

The [[Crusading movement]] initially developed religious motivations and European expansionism to roll back Muslim territory and regain control of the [[Holy Land]]. It was ultimately unsuccessful and served more to weaken the Byzantine Empire, especially with the 1204 [[Sack of Constantinople]]. The Byzantine Empire began to lose increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Turks. Arab domination of the region ended in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region but were eventually eclipsed by the Turks and the founding of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in modern-day [[Turkey]] around 1280.{{sfn|Shaw|1976|p=13}}

[[North Africa]] saw the rise of polities formed by the [[Berbers]], such as the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid dynasty]] in [[Morocco]], the [[Zayyanid dynasty]] in [[Algeria]], and the [[Hafsid dynasty]] in [[Tunisia]]. The coastal region was known as the [[Barbary Coast]]. Pirates based in North African ports conducted operations that included capturing merchant ships and raiding coastal settlements. Many European captives were sold in North African markets as part of the [[Barbary slave trade]].

Starting with the [[Sui dynasty]] (581–618), the Chinese began expanding into eastern [[Central Asia]], and confronted [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] nomads, who were becoming the most dominant ethnic group in Central Asia.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=113}}{{sfn|Xue|1992|pp=149–152, 257–264}} Originally the relationship was largely cooperative, but in 630 the [[Tang dynasty]] began an offensive against the Turks,{{sfn|Xue|1992|pp=226–227}} capturing areas of the Mongolian Ordos Desert. In the 8th century, Islam began to penetrate the region and soon became the sole faith of most of the population, though Buddhism remained strong in the east.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/buddhism-and-islam-in-asia-a-long-and-complicated-history/ |title=Buddhism and Islam in Asia: A Long and Complicated History |last=Pillalamarri |first=Akhilesh |date=29 October 2017 |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=[[The Diplomat]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The desert nomads of [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] could militarily match the nomads of the steppe, and the early [[Caliphate|Arab Empire]] gained control over parts of Central Asia.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=113}} The [[Hephthalites]] were the most powerful of the nomad groups in the 6th and 7th centuries, and controlled much of the region. In the 9th through 13th centuries the region was divided among several powerful states, including the [[Samanid Empire]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40379005 |title=The Islamization of Central Asia in the Sāmānid Era and the Reshaping of the Muslim World |last=Tor |first=Deborah |date=2009 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=279–299 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/S0041977X09000524 |jstor=40379005 |s2cid=153554938 |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk Empire]],{{sfn|Ṭabīb|Faḍlallāh|Nishapuri|Nīšāpūrī|2001|p=9}} and the [[Anushtegin dynasty|Khwarezmid Empire]]. The largest empire to rise out of Central Asia developed when [[Genghis Khan]] united the tribes of Mongolia. The [[Mongol Empire]] spread to comprise all of Central Asia and China as well as large parts of Russia and the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-mongol-empire/ |title=The Mongol Empire - Boundless World History |last= |first= |date= |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |publisher= |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref>} After Genghis Khan died in 1227,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=153}} most of Central Asia continued to be dominated by a successor state, [[Chagatai Khanate]]. In 1369, [[Timur]], a Turkic leader in the Mongol military tradition, conquered most of the region and founded the [[Timurid Empire]]. Timur's large empire collapsed soon after his death, however. The region then became divided into smaller khanates that were established by the [[Uzbeks]], including the [[Khanate of Bukhara]] and the [[Khanate of Khiva]].

In the aftermath of the [[Byzantine–Sasanian wars]], the [[Caucasus]] saw [[Armenia]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] flourish as independent realms free from foreign suzerainty. As the Byzantines and Sasanians became exhausted of continuous wars, the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] used the opportunity to expand to the Caucasus during the [[early Muslim conquests]]. By the 13th century, the arrival of the Mongols saw the region invaded once again.

===Europe===
{{main|History of Europe|Middle Ages|Timeline of the Middle Ages}}
[[Europe]] during the [[Early Middle Ages]] was characterized by depopulation, deurbanization, and [[barbarian]] invasion, all of which had begun in [[late antiquity]]. The barbarian invaders formed their own new kingdoms in the remains of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East, once part of the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]], became part of the [[Caliphate]] after conquest by [[Muhammad]]'s successors. Although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, most of the new kingdoms incorporated as many of the existing Roman institutions as they could. Christianity expanded in western Europe, and monasteries were founded. In the 7th and 8th centuries the [[Franks]], under the [[Carolingian dynasty]], established an empire covering much of western Europe;<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780429061530-18/carolingian-conquests-margaret-deanesly |title=The Carolingian Conquests |last=Deanesly |first=Margaret |website=taylorfrancis.com |year=2019 |pages=339–355 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |doi=10.4324/9780429061530-18 |isbn=9780429061530 |s2cid=198789183 |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> it lasted until the 9th century, when it succumbed to pressure from new invaders—the [[Vikings]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Vikings|last=Roesdahl|first=Else|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1998|isbn=978-0-14-025282-8|url=https://archive.org/details/vikingsreviseded00else}}</ref> [[Hungarians#Entering the Carpathian Basin (c. 895)|Magyars]], and [[Saracen]]s.

[[File:Saint Peter's Basilica facade, Rome, Italy.jpg|thumb|[[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]]]]

During the [[High Middle Ages]], which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as technological and agricultural innovations allowed trade to flourish and crop yields to increase. [[Manorialism]], the organization of peasants into villages that owed rents and labour service to nobles, and [[feudalism]], a political structure whereby [[knight]]s and lower-status nobles owed military service to their overlords in return for the right to rents from lands and [[Manorialism|manor]]s, were two of the ways of organizing medieval society that developed during the High Middle Ages. Kingdoms became more centralized after the decentralizing effects of the break-up of the [[Carolingian Empire]]. The [[Crusading movement]] attempted to gain [[Roman Catholic]] control of the [[Holy Land]] from the [[Muslims]] and succeeded for long enough to establish some Christian states in the Near East. Italian merchants imported slaves to work in households or in [[sugar]] processing.<ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=William |author-link= |date=20 December 2017 |title=Critical Readings on Global Slavery |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004346611/BP000028.xml |location= |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |page=665–698 |isbn=9789004346611}}</ref> Intellectual life was marked by [[scholasticism]] and the founding of universities, while the building of [[Gothic cathedrals and churches]] was one of the outstanding artistic achievements of the age.

The [[Late Middle Ages]] were marked by difficulties and calamities. Famine, plague, and war devastated the population of western Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/from-the-brink-of-the-apocalypse-confronting-famine-war-plague-and-death-in-the-later-middle-ages |title=From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages |last=Aberth |first=John |date=1 January 2001 |website=hamilton.edu |publisher= |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The [[Black Death]] alone killed approximately 75 to 200 million people between 1347 and 1350.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/29/2149185.htm|title=Black death 'discriminated' between victims|last=Dunham|first=Will|date=29 January 2008|work=ABC Science|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220120404/http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/01/29/2149185.htm|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1576875.stm|title=De-coding the Black Death|date=3 October 2001|work=BBC|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707042715/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1576875.stm|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. Starting in Asia, the disease reached Mediterranean and western Europe during the late 1340s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article.html|title=Plague: The Black Death|publisher=National Geographic|access-date=3 November 2008|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6HfrvlPBO?url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/plague-article.html|archive-date=26 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and killed tens of millions of Europeans in six years; between a third and a half of the population perished.

The Middle Ages witnessed the first sustained [[urbanization]] of northern and western Europe and it lasted until the beginning of the [[early modern period]] in the 16th century,{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2008|p=595}} marked by the rise of [[nation state]]s,{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|p=280}} the division of Western [[Christianity]] in the [[Reformation]],{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=319–323}} the rise of [[humanism]] in the [[Italian Renaissance]],{{sfn|McNeill|1999|pp=267–268}} and the beginnings of European overseas expansion which allowed for the [[Columbian exchange]].

In [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]], in 1386, the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] (the latter including territories of modern [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]), facing depredations by the [[Teutonic Order]] and later also threats from [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]], the [[Crimean Tatars]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]], formed a [[personal union]] through the marriage of Poland's Queen [[Jadwiga of Poland|Jadwiga]] to [[List of rulers of Lithuania|Lithuanian Grand Duke]] Jogaila, who became King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]] of Poland. For the next four centuries, until the 18th-century [[Partitions of Poland|partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] by [[Prussia]], [[Russia]], and [[Austria]], the two polities conducted a federated [[Condominium (international law)|condominium]], long Europe's largest state, which welcomed diverse ethnicities and religions, including most of the world's [[Jews]], furthered scientific thought (e.g. [[Nicolaus Copernicus]]'s [[Heliocentrism|heliocentric theory]]), and—in a last-ditch effort to preserve their [[sovereignty]]—adopted the [[Constitution of 3 May 1791]], the world's second modern written constitution after the [[Constitution of the United States]] that went into effect in 1789.

===Sub-Saharan Africa===
{{main|History of Africa}}
[[File:Head of an Oba MET DP231468.jpg|thumb|A [[brass]] "[[Benin Bronzes|Benin Bronze]]" from [[Nigeria]]]]
Medieval [[sub-Saharan Africa]] was home to many different civilizations. The [[Kingdom of Aksum]] declined in the 7th century as Islam cut it off from its Christian allies and its people moved further into the [[Ethiopian Highlands]] for protection. They eventually gave way to the [[Zagwe dynasty]] who are famed for their rock cut architecture at [[Lalibela]]. The Zagwe would then fall to the [[Solomonic dynasty]] who claimed descent from the Aksumite emperors<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heldman |first1=Marylin |last2=Haile |first2=Getatchew |author-link= |date=1987 |title=WHO IS WHO IN ETHIOPIA'S PAST, PART III: Founders of Ethiopia's Solomonic Dynasty |journal=Northeast African Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43661131 |publisher=[[Michigan State University Press]] |jstor=43661131 }}</ref> and would rule the country well into the 20th century. In the West African [[Sahel]] region, many Islamic empires rose, such as the [[Ghana Empire]], the [[Mali Empire]], the [[Songhai Empire]], and the [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]]. They controlled the [[trans-Saharan trade]] in gold, ivory, salt and slaves.

South of the Sahel, civilizations rose in the coastal forests. These include the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] city of [[Ifẹ]], noted for its art,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blier |first=Suzanne Preston |year=2012 |title=Art in Ancient Ife, Birthplace of the Yoruba |url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/blier/files/blier.pdf |journal=African Arts |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=70–85 |doi=10.1162/afar_a_00029 |s2cid=18837520 |access-date=24 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329114114/http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/blier/files/blier.pdf |archive-date=29 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Oyo Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Benin]] of the [[Edo people]] centred in [[Benin City]], the [[Igbo people|Igbo]] [[Kingdom of Nri]] which produced advanced bronze art at [[Igbo-Ukwu]], and the [[Akan people|Akan]] who are noted for their intricate architecture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.valpo.edu/brauer-museum-of-art/african-artifacts/maxwell-price-collection-part-two/igbo-ukwu-bronze-statuette/ |title=Igbo-Ukwu Bronze Statuette |last= |first= |date= |website=valpo.edu |publisher=[[Valparaiso University]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tota.world/article/68/ |title=Architecture of Akan Societies |last= |first= |date= |website=tota.world |publisher= |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

[[Central Africa]] saw the formation of several states, including the [[Kingdom of Kongo]]. In what is now modern [[Southern Africa]], native Africans created various kingdoms such as the [[Kingdom of Mutapa]]. They flourished through trade with the [[Swahili people]] on the East African coast. They built large defensive stone structures without mortar such as [[Great Zimbabwe]], capital of the [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]], [[Khami]], capital of [[Kingdom of Butua]], and [[Danangombe]] (Dhlo-Dhlo), capital of the [[Rozvi Empire]]. The Swahili people themselves were the inhabitants of the East African coast from Kenya to Mozambique who traded extensively with Asians and Arabs, who introduced them to Islam. They built many port cities such as [[Mombasa]], [[Zanzibar]] and [[Kilwa Kisiwani|Kilwa]], which were known to Chinese sailors under [[Zheng He]] and Islamic geographers.

===South Asia===
{{main|History of India}}
[[File:Hoysala emblem.JPG|thumb|[[Chennakeshava Temple, Belur|Chennakesava Temple]], [[Belur, Karnataka|Belur]], [[India]]]]
In northern [[History of India|India]], after the fall (550 CE) of the [[Gupta Empire]], the region was divided into a complex and fluid network of smaller kingly states.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/decline-of-the-gupta-empire/ |title=Decline of the Gupta Empire - World Civilization |last= |first= |date= |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |publisher=Lumean Learning |access-date=2 October 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Early Muslim incursions began in the west in 712 CE, when the Arab [[Umayyad Caliphate]] annexed much of present-day [[Pakistan]]. Arab military advance was largely halted at that point, but Islam still spread in India, largely due to the influence of Arab merchants along the western coast.

The ninth century saw a [[Tripartite Struggle]] for control of northern India, among the [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Pratihara Empire]], the [[Pala Empire]], and the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty|Rashtrakuta Empire]]. Some of the important states that emerged in India at this time included the [[Bahmani Sultanate]] and the [[Vijayanagara Empire]].

Post-classical dynasties in South India included those of the [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukyas]], the [[Hoysala Empire|Hoysalas]], the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], and the [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysores]]. Science, engineering, art, literature, astronomy, and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India/Southern-India |title=India - Southern India |last= |first= |date= |website=britannica.com |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

===Northeast Asia===
{{main|History of East Asia|History of Siberia}}
After a period of relative disunity, [[History of China|China]] was reunified by the [[Sui dynasty]] in 589<ref>{{cite web |url=https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/sui/essay.html |title=The Sui dynasty |last= |first= |date= |website=depts.washington.edu |publisher=[[University of Washington]] |access-date=2 October 2021 |quote=}}</ref> and under the succeeding [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907) China entered a [[Golden ages of China|Golden Age]].{{sfn|Lewis|2009|p=1}} The Tang Empire competed with the [[Tibetan Empire]] (618–842) for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia.{{sfn|Whitfield|2004|p=193}} The Tang dynasty eventually splintered, however, and after [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|half a century of turmoil]] the [[Northern Song Dynasty|Song dynasty]] reunified China,{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} when it was, according to [[William H. McNeill (historian)|William McNeill]], the "richest, most skilled, and most populous country on earth".{{sfn|McNeill|1982|p=50}} Pressure from nomadic empires to the north became increasingly urgent. By 1142, North China had been lost to the [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]] in the [[Jin–Song Wars]], and the [[Mongol Empire]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Buell|first1=Paul D.|title=Historical dictionary of the Mongol world empire|date=2003|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham (Maryland)|isbn=978-0-8108-4571-8}}</ref> [[Mongol conquest of China|conquered all of China]] in 1279, along with almost half of Eurasia's landmass. After about a century of Mongol [[Yuan dynasty]] rule, the ethnic Chinese reasserted control with the founding of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368).

[[File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba.jpg|thumb|300px|Battle during [[Mongol invasions of Japan#Second invasion (1281)|1281 Mongol invasion of Japan]]]]

In [[History of Japan|Japan]], the imperial lineage had been established by this time, and during the [[Asuka period]] (538–710) the [[Yamato Province]] developed into a clearly centralized state.<ref name="HOJ">{{cite book|title=A History of Japan|last2=Caiger|first2=J.G.|date=2011|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-0097-8|edition=Revised|location=New York|last1=Mason|first1=R.H.P.}}</ref> [[Buddhism]] was introduced, and there was an emphasis on the adoption of elements of Chinese culture and [[Confucianism]]. The [[Nara period]] of the 8th century<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan: A Country Study|publisher=Library of Congress, Federal Research Division|year=1994|editor-last=Dolan|editor-first=Ronald E.|chapter=Nara and Heian Periods, A.D. 710–1185|editor-last2=Worden|editor-first2=Robert L.}}</ref> marked the emergence of a strong Japanese state and is often portrayed as a golden age.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} During this period, the imperial government undertook great public works, including government offices, temples, roads, and irrigation systems.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} The [[Heian period]] (794 to 1185) saw the peak of imperial power, followed by the rise of militarized clans, and the beginning of [[Feudal Japan|Japanese feudalism]]. The feudal period of Japanese history, dominated by powerful regional lords ([[daimyo]]s) and the military rule of warlords ([[shogun]]s) such as the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] and [[Tokugawa shogunate]], stretched from 1185 to 1868. The emperor remained, but mostly as a figurehead, and the power of merchants was weak.

Postclassical [[History of Korea|Korea]] saw the end of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Three Kingdoms]] era, the three kingdoms being [[Goguryeo]], [[Baekje]] and [[Silla]]. Silla conquered Baekje in 660, and Goguryeo in 668,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Three Kingdoms, Korea|editor1-last=Ackerman|editor1-first=Marsha E.|editor2-last=Schroeder|editor2-first=Michael J.|editor3-last=Terry|editor3-first=Janice J.|editor4-last=Upshur|editor4-first=Jiu-Hwa Lo|editor5-last=Whitters|editor5-first=Mark F.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of world history|date=2008|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-6386-4|page=464|display-editors=1}}</ref> marking the beginning of the [[Northern and Southern States period]] (남북국시대), with [[Later Silla|Unified Silla]] in the south and [[Balhae]], a successor state to Goguryeo, in the north.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1075074&cid=40942&categoryId=33373|title=남북국시대 (North-South States Period)|website=Encyclopedia|publisher=Naver|access-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140110225333/http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1075074&cid=40942&categoryId=33373|archive-date=10 January 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In 892 CE, this arrangement reverted to the [[Later Three Kingdoms]], with Goguryeo (then called [[Taebong]] and eventually named [[Goryeo]]) emerging as dominant, unifying the entire peninsula by 936.<ref name="kta p113">{{cite book|author=The Association of Korean History Teachers|title=Korea through the ages; Volume One: Ancient|date=2005|publisher=The Center for Information on Korean Culture, The Academy of Korean Studies|location=Seongnam-si|isbn=978-89-7105-545-8|page=113}}</ref> The founding Goryeo dynasty ruled until 1392, succeeded by the [[Joseon]] dynasty, which ruled for approximately 500 years.

===Southeast Asia===
[[File:Angkor wat temple.jpg|thumb|[[Angkor Wat]] temple, [[Cambodia]], early 12th century]]
{{main| History of Southeast Asia}}
The beginning of the Middle Ages in [[Southeast Asia]] saw the fall (550 CE) of the [[Funan|Kingdom of Funan]] to the [[Chenla|Chenla Empire]], which was then replaced by the [[Khmer Empire]] (802 CE). The [[Khmer people]]'s capital city, [[Angkor]], was the largest city in the world prior to the industrial age and contained over a thousand temples, the most famous being [[Angkor Wat]].

The [[Sukhothai Kingdom|Sukhothai]] (1238 CE) and [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]] (1351 CE) kingdoms were major powers of the [[Thai people]], who were influenced by the Khmer.

Starting in the 9th century, the [[Pagan Kingdom]] rose to prominence in modern [[Myanmar]]. Its collapse brought about political fragmention that ended with the rise of the [[First Toungoo Empire|Toungoo Empire]] in the 16th century.

Other notable kingdoms of the period include the [[Srivijaya|Srivijayan Empire]] and the [[Lavo Kingdom]] (both coming into prominence in the 7th century), the [[Champa]] and the [[Hariphunchai]] (both about 750), the [[Đại Việt]] (968), [[Lan Na]] (13th century), [[Majapahit]] (1293), [[Lan Xang]] (1354), and the [[Kingdom of Ava]] (1364).

This period saw the spread of Islam to present-day Indonesia (beginning in the 13th century) and the emergence of the [[Peninsular Malaysia|Malay states]], including the [[Malacca Sultanate]] and the [[Bruneian Empire]].

In the [[History of the Philippines|Philippines]], several polities were formed such as the [[Maynila (historical polity)|Rajahnate of Maynila]], the [[Cebu (historical polity)|Rajahnate of Cebu]], and the [[Butuan (historical polity)|Rajahnate of Butuan]].

===Oceania===
[[File:Ahu Tongariki, 15 moais.JPG|thumb|[[Moai]], [[Rapa Nui]] (Easter Island)]]
{{main| History of Oceania}}
In [[Oceania]], the [[Tuʻi Tonga Empire]] was founded in the 10th century CE and expanded between 1200 and 1500. Tongan culture, language, and hegemony spread widely throughout Eastern [[Melanesia]], [[Micronesia]], and Central [[Polynesia]] during this period,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kirch|first1=Patrick Vinton|last2=Green|first2=Roger C.|title=Hawaiki, ancestral Polynesia: an essay in historical anthropology|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University press|isbn=978-0-521-78879-3|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&pg=PA87|access-date=10 January 2021|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331092119/https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref> influencing East 'Uvea, Rotuma, Futuna, Samoa, and Niue, as well as specific islands and parts of Micronesia (Kiribati, Pohnpei, and miscellaneous outliers), Vanuatu, and New Caledonia (specifically, the [[Loyalty Islands Province|Loyalty Islands]], with the main island being predominantly populated by the Melanesian [[Kanak people]] and their cultures).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Geraghty|first1=Paul|chapter=Linguistic evidence for the Tongan empire|editor1-last=Dutton|editor1-first=Tom|title=Language contact and change in the Austronesian world|date=1994|publisher=Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-11-012786-7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&pg=PA233|series=Trends in linguistics: Studies and monographs|volume=77|pages=236–39|access-date=6 June 2016|archive-date=3 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103031951/https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&pg=PA233|url-status=live}}</ref>

In northern [[Australia]], there is evidence that some [[Aboriginal Australians|aboriginal groups]] regularly [[Makassan contact with Australia|traded]] with [[Makassar people|Makassarese]] fishermen from Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans.{{sfn|MacKnight|1986|pp=69–75}}{{sfn|Pascoe|2015}}

At around the same time, a powerful [[thalassocracy]] appeared in Eastern Polynesia, centered around the [[Society Islands]], specifically on the sacred [[Taputapuatea marae]], which drew in Eastern Polynesian colonists from places as far away as Hawaii, New Zealand (''[[Aotearoa]]''), and the Tuamotu Islands for political, spiritual and economic reasons, until the unexplained collapse of regular long-distance voyaging in the Eastern Pacific a few centuries before Europeans began exploring the area.

Indigenous written records from this period are virtually nonexistent, as it seems that all Pacific Islanders, with the possible exception of the enigmatic [[Rapa Nui people|Rapa Nui]] and their currently undecipherable [[Rongorongo]] script, had no writing systems of any kind until after their introduction by European colonists. However, some indigenous prehistories can be estimated and academically reconstructed through careful, judicious analysis of native oral traditions, colonial ethnography, archeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics research.

===Americas===
[[File:Machu Picchu, Perú, 2015-07-30, DD 47.JPG|thumbnail|[[Machu Picchu]], [[Inca Empire]], [[Peru]]]]
{{main|History of the Americas|History of North America|History of Central America|History of the Caribbean|History of South America}}
In [[North America]], this period saw the rise of the [[Mississippian culture]] in the modern-day [[United States]] c. 800 CE, marked by the extensive 12th-century urban complex at [[Cahokia]]. The [[Ancestral Puebloans]] and their predecessors (9th – 13th centuries) built extensive permanent settlements, including stone structures that would remain the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.{{sfn|Fagan|2005|p=35}}

In [[Mesoamerica]], the [[Teotihuacan]] civilization fell and the [[Classic Maya collapse]] occurred. The [[Aztec Empire]] came to dominate much of Mesoamerica in the 14th and 15th centuries.

In [[South America]], the 14th and 15th centuries saw the rise of the Inca. The [[Inca Empire]] of Tawantinsuyu, with its capital at [[Cusco]], spanned the entire [[Andes]], making it the most extensive [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] civilization. The Inca were prosperous and advanced, known for an excellent [[Inca road system|road system]] and unrivaled [[masonry]].

==Modern history (1500 to the present)==
{{redirect|Modern Age|the periodical|Modern Age (periodical)}}
{{redirect|Modern Era|the geological and paleontological sense|Holocene}}
{{see also|Timelines of modern history}}
[[File:Gutenburg bible.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gutenberg Bible]], ca. 1450, produced using [[movable type]]]]

In the linear, global, [[Historiography|historiographical]] approach, '''modern history''' (the "modern period," the "modern era," "modern times") is the history of the period following [[post-classical history]] (in Europe known as the "[[Middle Ages]]"), spanning from about 1500 to the present. "[[Contemporary history]]" includes events from around 1945 to the present. (The definitions of both terms, "modern history" and "contemporary history", have changed over time, as more history has occurred, and so have their start dates.)<ref>Intrinsic to the [[English language]], "modern" denotes (in reference to history) a period that is opposed to either ancient or medieval; modern history is the history of the world since the end of the Middle Ages.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaNDmZBcNGQC&pg=PA3814|title=The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia|year=1906|access-date=15 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161212164000/https://books.google.com/books?id=LaNDmZBcNGQC&pg=PA3814|archive-date=12 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Modern history can be further broken down into periods:
* The [[early modern period]] began around 1500 and ended around 1815. Notable historical milestones included the continued European [[Renaissance]] (whose start is dated variously between 1200 and 1401), the [[Age of Discovery]], the [[Gunpowder empires|Islamic gunpowder empires]], the [[Reformation]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Larousse Encyclopedia of Modern History, From 1500 to the Present Day|last=Dunan|first=Marcel|publisher=Harper & Row|year=1964|location=New York|oclc=395134}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=modern|encyclopedia=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=2000|url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/28/M0362800.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622132303/http://www.bartleby.com/61/28/M0362800.html|archive-date=22 June 2008|edition=4th|access-date=29 November 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[American Revolution]]. With the [[Scientific Revolution]], new information about the world was discovered via [[empirical research]]<ref>Baird, F.E., & Kaufmann, W.A. (2008). ''Philosophic classics: From Plato to Derrida''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.</ref> and the [[scientific method]], by contrast with the earlier emphasis on [[reason]] and "[[innatism|innate knowledge]]". The Scientific Revolution received impetus from [[Johannes Gutenberg]]'s introduction to Europe of [[printing]], using [[movable type]], and from the invention of the [[telescope]] and [[microscope]]. [[Globalization]] was fuelled by international trade and [[colonization]].
* The [[late modern period]] began sometime around 1750–1815, as Europe experienced the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the military-political turbulence of the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]], which were followed by the ''[[Pax Britannica]]''. The late modern period continues either to the end of [[World War II]], in 1945, or to the present. Other notable historical milestones included the [[Great Divergence]] and the [[Russian Revolution]].
* [[Contemporary history]] (a period also dubbed ''[[Pax Americana]]'' in geopolitics) includes historic events from approximately 1945 that are closely relevant to the present time. Major developments include the [[Cold War]], continual [[war|hot wars]] and [[proxy war]]s, the [[Jet Age]], the [[DNA]] revolution, the [[Green Revolution]],{{efn|However, the [[Green Revolution]] has brought unintended consequences: "[[India]] originally possessed some 110,000 [[landrace]]s of [[rice]] with diverse and valuable properties. These include enrichment in vital nutrients and the ability to withstand flood, drought, salinity or pest infestations. The Green Revolution covered fields with a few high-yielding varieties, so that roughly 90 percent of the landraces vanished from farmers' collections. High-yielding varieties require expensive inputs. They perform abysmally on marginal farms or in adverse environmental conditions, forcing poor farmers into debt."<ref>Debal Deb, "Restoring Rice Biodiversity", ''[[Scientific American]]'', vol. 321, no. 4 (October 2019), pp. 54–61. (p. 54.)</ref>}} [[Satellite|artificial satellites]] and the [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS), development of the supranational [[European Union]], the [[Information Age]], rapid economic development in [[India]] and [[China]], increasing [[terrorism]], and a daunting array of [[Global catastrophic risk|global ecological crises]] headed by the imminent existential threat of runaway [[climate change|global warming]].

The defining features of the modern era developed predominantly in Europe, and so different periodizations are sometimes applied to other parts of the world. When the European periods are used globally, this is often in the context of contact with European culture in the Age of Discovery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_14.html|title=Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts: Late Medieval and Early Modern Medicine|date=15 December 2011|website=U.S. National Library of Medicine|publisher=National Institutes of Health|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009021615/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_14.html|archive-date=9 October 2019|access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref>

In the humanities and social sciences, the norms, attitudes, and practices arising during the modern period are known as [[modernity]]. The corresponding terms for post-[[World War II]] culture are [[postmodernity]] or [[late modernity]].

===Early modern period (1500 to 1800)===
{{Main|Early modern period}}
The "[[early Modern period]]"{{efn|"Early Modern," historically speaking, refers to Western European history from 1501 (after the widely accepted end of the [[Late Middle Ages]]; the transition period was the 15th century) to either 1750 or c. 1790–1800, by whichever [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]] is favoured by a school of scholars defining the period—which, in many cases of [[periodization]], differs as well within a discipline such as art, philosophy or history.}} was the period between the Middle Ages and the [[Industrial Revolution]]—roughly 1500 to 1800.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2008|p=595}} The early Modern period was characterized by the rise of science, and by increasingly rapid [[History of technology|technological progress]], [[Secularization|secularized]] civic [[politics]], and the [[nation state]]. [[Capitalism|Capitalist economies]] began their rise, initially in northern [[Italy|Italian]] [[republic]]s such as [[Genoa]]. The Early Modern period saw the rise and dominance of [[mercantilism|mercantilist]] economic theory, and the decline and eventual disappearance, in much of the European sphere, of [[feudalism]], serfdom, and the power of the [[Catholic Church]]. The period included the [[Reformation]], the disastrous [[Thirty Years' War]], the [[Age of Discovery]], European [[Colonialism|colonial expansion]], the peak of European [[witch-hunt]]ing, the [[Scientific Revolution]], and the [[Age of Enlightenment]].{{efn|The Age of Enlightenment has also been referred to as the [[Age of Enlightenment|Age of Reason]]. Historians also include the late 17th century, which is typically known as the Age of Reason or [[Age of Rationalism]], as part of the Enlightenment; however, contemporary historians have considered the Age of Reason distinct to the ideas developed in the Enlightenment. The use of the term here includes both Ages under a single all-inclusive time-frame.}}

====Renaissance====
[[File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'' (c. 1490), [[Renaissance]] [[Italy]]]]
{{main|Renaissance}}
[[Europe]]'s [[Renaissance]] – the "rebirth" of classical culture, beginning in the 14th century and extending into the 16th – comprised the rediscovery of the [[classical antiquity|classical]] world's cultural, scientific, and technological achievements, and the [[Economy|economic]] and social rise of Europe.

The Renaissance engendered a culture of [[curiosity|inquisitiveness]] which ultimately led to [[Humanism]]{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|pp=250–253}} and the [[Scientific Revolution]].{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|pp=683–685}}

This period, which saw social and political upheavals, and revolutions in many [[intellectual]] pursuits, is also celebrated for its [[art]]istic developments and the attainments of such [[polymath]]s as [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Michelangelo]], who inspired the term "[[Polymath|Renaissance man]]."

====European expansion====
{{Further|Age of Discovery|Colonialism|16th century|17th century}}
During this period, European powers came to dominate most of the world. Although the most developed regions of European classical civilization were more urbanized than any other region of the world, European civilization had undergone a lengthy period of gradual decline and collapse. During the early modern period, Europe was able to regain its dominance; historians still debate the causes.

Europe's success in this period stands in contrast to other regions. For example, one of the most advanced civilizations of the Middle Ages was China. It had developed an advanced [[Monetary economics|monetary economy]] by 1000 CE. China had a free [[peasant]]ry who were no longer subsistence farmers, and could sell their produce and actively participate in the market. According to [[Adam Smith]], writing in the 18th century, China had long been one of the richest, most fertile, best cultivated, most industrious, most urbanized, and most prosperous countries in the world. It enjoyed a technological advantage and had a monopoly in [[cast iron]] production, piston bellows, [[suspension bridge]] construction, [[printing]], and the [[compass]]. However, it seemed to have long since stopped progressing. [[Marco Polo]], who visited China in the 13th century, describes its cultivation, industry, and populousness almost in the same terms as travellers would in the 18th century.

One theory of Europe's rise holds that Europe's [[geography]] played an important role in its success. The Middle East, India and China are all ringed by mountains and oceans but, once past these outer barriers, are nearly flat. By contrast, the [[Pyrenees]], [[Alps]], [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]] and other mountain ranges run through Europe, and the continent is also divided by several seas. This gave Europe some degree of protection from the peril of Central Asian invaders. Before the era of firearms, these nomads were militarily superior to the agricultural states on the periphery of the Eurasian continent and, as they broke out into the plains of northern India or the valleys of China, were all but unstoppable. These invasions were often devastating. The [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]] was ended by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol]] [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|sack of Baghdad]] in 1258. India and China were subject to periodic [[invasion]]s, and Russia spent a couple of centuries under the [[List of conflicts in Europe during Turco-Mongol rule|Mongol-Tatar]] yoke. Central and western Europe, logistically more distant from the Central Asian heartland, proved less vulnerable to these threats.

Geography contributed to important [[Geopolitics|geopolitical]] differences. For most of their histories, China, India, and the Middle East were each unified under a single dominant power that expanded until it reached the surrounding mountains and deserts.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} In 1600 the [[Ottoman Empire]] controlled almost all the Middle East,{{sfn|Imber|2002|p=66}} the [[Ming dynasty]] ruled China,{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006}}{{sfn|Stearns|Langer|2001|pp=376–377}} and the [[Mughal Empire]] held sway over India. By contrast, Europe was almost always divided into a number of warring states. Pan-European empires, with the notable exception of the [[Roman Empire]], tended to collapse soon after they arose. Another doubtless important geographic factor in the rise of Europe was the Mediterranean Sea, which, for millennia, had functioned as a maritime superhighway fostering the exchange of goods, people, ideas and inventions.

Nearly all the agricultural civilizations have been heavily constrained by their [[Natural environment|environments]]. Productivity remained low, and [[Climate|climatic]] changes easily instigated [[Business cycle|boom-and-bust cycles]] that brought about civilizations' rise and fall. By about 1500, however, there was a qualitative change in world history. [[Technology|Technological]] advance and the [[wealth]] generated by [[trade]] gradually brought about a widening of possibilities.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Miller|editor1-first=Edward|editor2-last=Postan|editor2-first=Cynthia|editor3-last=Postan|editor3-first=Michael Moissey|title=The Cambridge economic history of Europe: Volume 2, Trade and Industry in the Middle Ages|date=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-08709-4|edition=2nd}}</ref>
[[File:OrteliusWorldMap.jpeg|thumb|[[Abraham Ortelius#Map publisher|1570 world map]], showing Europeans' discoveries]]
Many have also argued that Europe's institutions allowed it to expand, that [[Right to property|property rights]] and [[free market]] economics were stronger than elsewhere due to an ideal of [[Political freedom|freedom]] peculiar to Europe. In recent years, however, scholars such as [[Kenneth Pomeranz]] have challenged this view. Europe's maritime expansion unsurprisingly—given the continent's geography—was largely the work of its Atlantic states: Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands. Initially the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish Empire]]s were the predominant conquerors and sources of influence, and their union resulted in the [[Iberian Union]], the first global empire on which the "[[The empire on which the sun never sets|sun never set]]". Soon the more northern English, French and Dutch began to dominate the Atlantic. In a series of wars fought in the 17th and 18th centuries, culminating with the [[Napoleonic Wars]], [[British Empire|Britain]] emerged as the new world power.

===Regional developments===

====Greater Middle East====
[[File:Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) - the epitome of Byzantine architecture - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Hagia Sophia]], [[Istanbul]] (formerly [[Constantinople]]), [[Turkey]]]]
The [[Ottoman Empire]], after [[Fall of Constantinople|conquering Constantinople]] in 1453, quickly became the most powerful state in the [[Middle East]]. [[Iran|Persia]] came under the rule of the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid Empire]] in 1501, succeeded by the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid Empire]] in 1736, the [[Zand dynasty|Zand Empire]] in 1751, and the [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar Empire]] in 1794. In [[North Africa]], the [[Wattasid dynasty|Wattasid Sultanate]], [[Zayyanid dynasty|Zayyanid Sultanate]], and [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid Sultanate]] remained as independent [[Berbers|Berber]] states until the 16th century. Areas to the north and east in [[Central Asia]] were held by the [[Uzbeks]] and [[Pashtuns]]. By the start of the 19th century, the [[Russian Empire]] began its [[Russian conquest of the Caucasus|conquest]] of the [[Caucasus]].

====Europe====
In [[History of Russia|Russia]], [[Ivan the Terrible]] was crowned in 1547 as the first [[Tsar]] of Russia, and by annexing the Turkic khanates in the east, transformed Russia into a regional power. The countries of western Europe, while expanding prodigiously through technological advancement and colonial conquest, competed with each other economically and militarily in a state of almost constant [[List of wars 1500–1799|war]]. Often the wars had a [[European wars of religion|religious dimension]], either Catholic versus Protestant, or (primarily in eastern Europe) Christian versus Muslim. Wars of particular note include the [[Thirty Years' War]], the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the [[Seven Years' War]], and the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. [[Napoleon]] [[Coup of 18 Brumaire|came to power]] in France in 1799, an event foreshadowing the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century.

====Sub-Saharan Africa====
In [[History of Africa|Africa]], this period saw a decline in many civilizations and an advancement in others. The [[Swahili coast]] declined after coming under the [[Portuguese Empire]] and later the [[Omani Empire]]. In [[West Africa]], the [[Songhai Empire]] fell to the Moroccans in 1591 when they invaded with guns. The [[Bono state|Bono State]] which gave birth to numerous [[Akan people|Akan]] states in search of gold such as [[Akwamu]], [[Akyem]], [[Fante people|Fante]], [[Adansi]] etc.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meyerowitz|first=Eva L. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3lyAAAAMAAJ|title=The Early History of the Akan States of Ghana|date=1975|publisher=Red Candle Press|isbn=978-0-608-39035-2|language=en}}</ref> The South African [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]] gave way to smaller kingdoms such as [[Kingdom of Mutapa|Mutapa]], [[Kingdom of Butua|Butua]], and [[Rozvi Empire|Rozvi]]. [[Ethiopia]] suffered from the 1531 invasion from neighbouring Muslim [[Adal Sultanate]], and in 1769 entered the [[Zemene Mesafint]] (Age of Princes) during which the Emperor became a figurehead and the country was ruled by warlords, though the royal line later would recover under Emperor [[Tewodros II]]. The [[Ajuran Sultanate]], in the [[Horn of Africa]], began to decline in the 17th century, succeeded by the [[Sultanate of the Geledi|Geledi Sultanate]]. Other civilizations in Africa advanced during this period. The [[Oyo Empire]] experienced its golden age, as did the [[Kingdom of Benin]]. The [[Ashanti Empire]] rose to power in what is modern day [[Ghana]] in 1670. The [[Kingdom of Kongo]] also thrived during this period.

====South Asia====
[[File:Taj Mahal in March 2004.jpg|thumb|left|[[Taj Mahal]], [[Mughal Empire]], [[India]]]]
On the [[Indian subcontinent]], the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and the [[Deccan sultanates]] would give way, beginning in the 16th century, to the [[Mughal Empire]].{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Starting in the northwest, the Mughal Empire would by the late 17th century come to rule the entire subcontinent,<ref>{{cite web |last1=La l |first1=Vinay |url=https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html |title=The Mughal Empire |work=Manas: India and its Neighbors |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |date=2001 |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430003224/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/mughals.html |archive-date=30 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> except for the southernmost Indian provinces, which would remain independent. Against the Muslim Mughal Empire, the Hindu [[Maratha Empire]] was founded on the west coast in 1674, gradually gaining territory—a majority of present-day India—from the Mughals over several decades, particularly in the [[Mughal–Maratha Wars]] (1681–1701). The Maratha Empire would in 1818 fall under the control of the British [[East India Company]], with all former Maratha and Mughal authority devolving in 1858 to the [[British Raj]].

====Northeast Asia====
[[File:Chemin de ronde muraille long.JPG|thumb|[[Ming dynasty]] section, [[Great Wall of China]]]]
In [[History of China|China]], the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] gave way in 1644 to the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], the last Chinese imperial dynasty, which would rule until 1912. [[History of Japan|Japan]] experienced its [[Azuchi–Momoyama period]] (1568–1603), followed by the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868). The [[History of Korea|Korean]] [[Joseon|Joseon dynasty]] (1392–1910) ruled throughout this period, successfully repelling 16th and 17th century invasions from Japan and China. Expanded maritime trade with Europe significantly affected China and Japan during this period, particularly by the Portuguese who had a presence in [[Macau]] and [[Nagasaki]]. However, China and Japan would later pursue isolationist policies designed to eliminate foreign influences.

====Southeast Asia====
In 1511 the Portuguese overthrew the [[Malacca Sultanate]] in present-day Malaysia and Indonesian [[Sumatra]]. The Portuguese held this important trading territory (and the valuable associated navigational strait) until overthrown by the Dutch in 1641. The [[Johor Sultanate]], centred on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, became the dominant trading power in the region. [[Western imperialism in Asia|European colonization]] expanded with the Dutch in [[Dutch East Indies|Indonesia]], the Portuguese in [[Portuguese Timor|East Timor]], and the Spanish in the [[Spanish East Indies|Philippines]]. Into the 19th century, European expansion would affect the whole of Southeast Asia, with the British in [[British rule in Burma|Myanmar]] and [[British Malaya|Malaysia]], and the French in [[French Indochina|Indochina]]. Only [[History of Thailand|Thailand]] would successfully resist colonization.

====Oceania====
The Pacific islands of [[History of Oceania|Oceania]] would also be affected by European contact, starting with the circumnavigational voyage of [[Ferdinand Magellan]], who landed on the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]] and other islands in 1521. Also notable were the voyages (1642–44) of [[Abel Tasman]] to present-day [[History of Australia|Australia]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and nearby islands, and the voyages (1768–1779) of Captain [[James Cook]], who made the first recorded European contact with [[History of Hawaii|Hawaii]]. Britain would found its [[Colony of New South Wales|first colony]] on Australia in 1788.

====Americas====
In the [[History of the Americas|Americas]], the [[European colonization of the Americas|western European powers]] vigorously colonized the newly discovered continents, largely displacing the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous populations]], and destroying the advanced civilizations of the [[Aztec Empire|Aztecs]] and the [[Inca Empire|Incas]]. Spain, Portugal, Britain, and France all made extensive territorial claims, and undertook large-scale settlement, including the importation of large numbers of African [[History of slavery#Amercias|slaves]]. Portugal claimed [[Colonial Brazil|Brazil]]. Spain claimed the rest of [[History of South America|South America]], [[Mesoamerica]], and southern [[History of North America|North America]]. Britain colonized the east coast of North America, and France colonized the central region of North America. Russia made incursions onto the northwest coast of North America, with a first colony in present-day [[History of Alaska|Alaska]] in 1784, and the outpost of [[Fort Ross, California|Fort Ross]] in present-day [[History of California|California]] in 1812.<ref>{{cite ohp|5|Fort Ross|2018-02-15}}</ref> In 1762, in the midst of the [[Seven Years' War]], France secretly ceded most of its North American claims to Spain in the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]]. Thirteen of the British colonies declared independence as the [[History of the United States|United States of America]] in 1776, ratified by the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1783, ending the [[American Revolutionary War]]. [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] won France's claims back from Spain in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1800, but sold them to the United States in 1803 as the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

===Late modern period (1800 to the present)===
====19th century====
{{Main|Late modern period}}
{{further|18th century|19th century|Long nineteenth century|Age of Imperialism|Age of Revolution|Diplomatic Revolution|Industrial Revolution}}
[[File:Maquina vapor Watt ETSIIM.jpg|thumb|left|[[James Watt|Watt]]'s [[steam engine]] powered the [[Industrial Revolution]].]]
The [[Scientific Revolution]] changed humanity's understanding of the world and led to the [[Industrial Revolution]], a major transformation of the world's economies. The Scientific Revolution in the 17th century had had little immediate effect on industrial [[technology]]; only in the second half of the 18th century did scientific advances begin to be applied substantially to practical [[invention]]. The Industrial Revolution began in [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] and used new modes of production—the [[factory]], [[mass production]], and [[mechanization]]—to manufacture a wide array of goods faster and using less labour than previously required. The [[Age of Enlightenment]] also led to the beginnings of modern [[democracy]] in the late-18th century [[American Revolution|American]] and [[French Revolution]]s. [[Democracy]] and [[republicanism]] would grow to have a profound effect on world events and on [[quality of life]].
[[File:World 1898 empires colonies territory.png|thumb|400px|[[Empire]]s of the world in 1898]]
[[File:Wright First Flight 1903Dec17 (full restore 115).jpg|thumb|The [[Wright brothers]] built and flew the first airplane, the ''[[Wright Flyer]]'', in 1903]]
After Europeans had achieved influence and control over the Americas, [[Imperialism|imperial]] activities turned to the lands of Asia and Oceania. In the 19th century the European states had social and technological advantage over Eastern lands.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Britain gained control of the Indian subcontinent, Egypt and the [[Peninsular Malaysia|Malay Peninsula]]; the [[Cochinchina campaign|French took Indochina]]; while the Dutch cemented their control over the [[Dutch East Indies]]. The British also colonized Australia, New Zealand and South Africa with large numbers of British colonists emigrating to these colonies. Russia colonized large pre-agricultural areas of Siberia. In the late 19th century, the European powers [[Scramble for Africa|divided the remaining areas of Africa]]. Within Europe, economic and military challenges created a system of [[nation state]]s, and ethno-linguistic groupings began to identify themselves as distinctive nations with aspirations for cultural and political autonomy. This [[nationalism]] would become important to peoples across the world in the 20th century.

During the [[Second Industrial Revolution]], the world economy became reliant on [[coal]] as a fuel, as new methods of [[transport]], such as [[Rail transport|railways]] and [[steamship]]s, effectively shrank the world. Meanwhile, industrial [[pollution]] and [[Natural environment|environmental]] damage, present since the discovery of fire and the beginning of civilization, accelerated drastically.

The advantages that Europe had developed by the mid-18th century were two: an [[Entrepreneurship|entrepreneurial]] culture,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wood|first1=Neal|title=John Locke and agrarian capitalism|date=1984|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-05046-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2KIpqQ9QHBkC}}</ref> and the wealth generated by the Atlantic trade (including the [[Slavery in Africa|African slave trade]]). By the late 16th century, [[silver]] from the Americas accounted for the Spanish empire's wealth.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} The profits of the [[History of slavery#Africa|slave trade]] and of [[West Indies|West Indian]] plantations amounted to 5% of the [[Economic history of the United Kingdom|British economy]] at the time of the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mintz |first1=S. |last2=McNeil |first2=S. |title=Was slavery the engine of economic growth? |url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/topic_display.cfm?tcid=104 |website=Digital History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226181840/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/con_economic.cfm |archive-date=26 February 2009}}</ref> While some historians conclude that, in 1750, [[Workforce productivity|labour productivity]] in the most developed regions of China was still on a par with that of Europe's Atlantic economy,<ref>see the NBER Publications by Carol H. Shiue and Wolfgang Keller at [http://www.nber.org/cgi-bin/author_papers.pl?author=carol_shiue nber.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528213159/http://www.nber.org/cgi-bin/author_papers.pl?author=carol_shiue |date=28 May 2006 }}</ref> other historians such as [[Angus Maddison]] hold that the per-capita productivity of western Europe had by the late [[Middle Ages]] surpassed that of all other regions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/ |title=Homepage of Angus Maddison |publisher=Ggdc.net |access-date=18 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728181613/http://www.ggdc.net/Maddison/ |archive-date=28 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====20th century====
{{Main|20th century}}
{{further|Interwar period|Roaring Twenties|Great Depression|Cold War|Green Revolution|Space exploration|Digital Revolution}}
[[File:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|thumb|left|[[World War I]] [[trench warfare]]]]
The 20th century opened with Europe at an apex of wealth and power, and with much of the world under its direct [[Colonialism|colonial]] control or its indirect domination. Much of the rest of the world was influenced by heavily Europeanized nations: the United States and Japan.

As the century unfolded, however, the global system dominated by rival powers was subjected to severe strains, and ultimately yielded to a more fluid structure of independent nations organized on Western models.

This transformation was catalyzed by wars of unparalleled scope and devastation. [[World War I]] led to the collapse of four empires – [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[German Empire]], the [[Ottoman Empire]], and the [[Russian Empire]] – and weakened the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]].

In the war's aftermath, powerful ideologies rose to prominence. The [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917 created the first [[communism|communist]] state, while the 1920s and 1930s saw [[militarism|militaristic]] [[fascism|fascist]] dictatorships gain control in [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italy]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], [[Francoist Spain|Spain]], and elsewhere.

[[File:Nagasakibomb.jpg|thumb|right|[[Atomic bombings]]: [[Hiroshima]], [[Nagasaki]], 1945]]
Ongoing national rivalries, exacerbated by the economic turmoil of the [[Great Depression]], helped precipitate [[World War II]]. The [[Militarism|militaristic]] [[dictatorship]]s of Europe and Japan pursued an ultimately doomed course of [[Imperialism|imperialist]] [[expansionism]], in the course of which [[Nazi Germany]], under [[Adolf Hitler]], orchestrated the [[genocide]] of six million [[Jews]] in [[the Holocaust]], while [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]] [[Japanese war crimes|murdered]] millions of [[Chinese people|Chinese]].

The World War II defeat of the [[Axis powers]] by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied powers]] opened the way for the advance of [[communism]] into [[East Germany]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]], [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Socialist Republic of Romania|Romania]], [[China]], [[North Korea]], and [[North Vietnam]].

[[File:My Lai massacre woman and children.jpg|thumb|Civilians (here, [[Mỹ Lai massacre|Mỹ Lai]], [[Vietnam]], 1968) suffered greatly in 20th-century wars.]]
When [[World War II]] ended in 1945, the [[United Nations]] was founded in the hope of preventing future wars,<ref name=Fasulo1>{{harvnb|Fasulo|2015|pp=1–3}}</ref> as the [[League of Nations]] had been formed following [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/League-of-Nations|title=League of Nations {{!}} Definition & Purpose|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=6 September 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708104629/https://www.britannica.com/topic/League-of-Nations|archive-date=8 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The war had left two countries, the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]], with principal power to influence [[International relations|international affairs]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zinn|first=Howard|title=A People's History of the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/peopleshistoryof00zinn_2|url-access=registration|date=2003|edition=5th|place=New York|publisher=HarperPerennial Modern Classics [2005 reprint]|isbn=978-0-06-083865-2}}</ref> Each was suspicious of the other and feared a global spread of the other's, respectively [[Capitalism|capitalist]] and [[Communism|communist]], political-economic model. This led to the [[Cold War]], a forty-five-year stand-off and [[arms race]] between the United States and its allies, on one hand, and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other.{{sfn|Allison|2018|p=126}}

With the development of [[nuclear weapon]]s during World War II, and with their subsequent [[Nuclear proliferation|proliferation]], all of humanity were put at risk of [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] between the two superpowers, as demonstrated by [[List of nuclear close calls|many incidents]], most prominently the October 1962 [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Such war [[Nuclear holocaust|being viewed as impractical]], the superpowers instead waged [[proxy war]]s in non-nuclear-armed [[Third World]] countries{{sfn|Allison|2018|pp=127–128}}<ref>Tom Stevenson, "In the Grey Zone" (review of Eli Berman and David A. Lake, ''Proxy Wars: Suppressing Violence through Local Agents'', Cornell, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-5017-3306-2}}; Tyrone L. Groh, ''Proxy War: The Least Bad Option'', Stanford, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-5036-0818-4}}; Andreas Krieg and Jean–Marc Rickli, ''Surrogate Warfare: The Transformation of War in the 21st Century'', Georgetown, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-62616-678-3}}), ''[[London Review of Books]]'', vol. 42, no. 20 (22 October 2020), pp. 41–43.</ref>

In China, [[Mao Zedong]] implemented [[Industrialisation|industrialization]] and [[Collective farming|collectivization]] reforms as part of the [[Great Leap Forward]] (1958–1962), leading to the [[Great Chinese Famine|starvation deaths]] (1959–1961) of tens of millions of people.

Between 1969 and 1972, as part of the Cold War [[Space Race]], twelve [[Astronaut|astronauts]] [[Apollo program|landed]] on the [[Moon]] and safely returned to [[Earth]].{{efn|[[James Gleick]] writes in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'': "'If we can put a man on the moon, why can's we...?' became a [[cliché]] even before [[Apollo program|Apollo]] succeeded.... Now... the missing predicate is the urgent one: why can't we stop [[Climate change|destroying the climate]] of our own planet?... I say leave it [the moon] alone for a while."<ref>[[James Gleick]], "Moon Fever" [review of [[Oliver Morton]], ''The Moon: A History of the Future''; ''Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography'', an exhibition at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City]], 3 July – 22 September 2019; [[Douglas Brinkley]],''American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race; [[Brandon R. Brown]], ''The Apollo Chronicles: Engineering America's First Moon Missions''; [[Roger D. Launius]], ''Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race; ''Apollo 11'', a documentary film directed by [[Todd Douglas Miller]]; and [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]], ''Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys (50th Anniversary Edition)''], ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 13 (15 August 2019), pp. 54–58. (pp. 57–58.)</ref>}}

The Cold War ended peacefully in 1991 after the [[Pan-European Picnic]], the subsequent fall of the [[Iron Curtain]] and the [[Berlin Wall]], and the collapse of the [[Eastern Bloc]] and the [[Warsaw Pact]]. The [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union collapsed]], partly due to its inability to compete economically with the United States and Western Europe. However, the United States likewise began to show signs of slippage in its geopolitical influence,{{sfn|McCormick|1995|p=155}}{{efn|"In the aftermath of the disintegration of the Soviet Union..." writes [[Graham Allison]], "Americans were... caught up in a surge of triumphalism." [[Francis Fukuyama]], in a 1992 best-selling book, proclaimed ''[[The End of History and the Last Man|The End of History]]'', the victory of [[free-market economics]], and the permanent ascendancy of Western [[liberal democracy]]. But it soon became evident, writes Allison, that "the end of the [[Cold War]] [had] produced a unipolar moment, not a unipolar era. [T]he U.S. economy, which [had] accounted for half of the world's [[GDP]] after World War II, had fallen to less than a quarter of global GDP by the end of the Cold War and stands at just one-seventh today. For a nation whose core strategy has been to overwhelm challenges with resources, this decline calls into question the terms of U.S. leadership.{{sfn|Allison|2018|p=129–131}} }} even as its [[private sector]], now less inhibited by the claims of the [[public sector]], increasingly sought private advantage to the prejudice of the public [[Well-being|weal]].{{efn|"In the advanced economies of the West, from 1945 to around 1975," writes Robin Varghese in ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', "voters showed how [[politics]] could tame [[Market economy|markets]], putting officials in power who pursued a range of [[social democratic]] policies without damaging the economy. This period... saw a historically unique combination of high growth, increasing productivity, rising real wages, technological innovation, and expanding systems of [[social insurance]] in [[Western Europe]], [[North America]], and [[Japan]].... Since the 1970s, businesses across the developed world have been cutting their [[wage]] bills not only through labor-saving [[Technological change|technological innovations]] but also by pushing for regulatory changes and developing new forms of employment. These include just-in-time contracts, which shift risks to workers; [[noncompete clause]]s, which reduce bargaining power; and [[freelance]] arrangements, which exempt businesses from providing employees with benefits such as [[health insurance]]. The result has been that since the beginning of the twenty-first century, labor's share of [[GDP]] has fallen steadily in many developed economies.... The challenge today is to identify... a [[mixed economy]] that can successfully deliver what the [1945–75] golden age did, this time with greater [[gender equality|gender]] and [[racial equality]] to boot."{{sfn|Varghese|2018|pp=36–42}} }}{{efn|Historian [[Christopher R. Browning]] writes: "In the first three postwar decades, workers and management effectively shared the increased wealth produced by the growth in [[productivity]]. Since the 1970s that [[social contract]] has collapsed, [[trade union|union]] membership and influence have declined, wage growth has stagnated, and inequality in wealth has grown sharply."{{sfn|Browning|2018|p=16}} }}{{efn|[[Nobel Prize in Economics|Economics Nobel laureate]] [[Joseph E. Stiglitz]] writes in ''[[Scientific American]]'', in part: "[T]he U.S. has the highest level of [[economic inequality]] among developed countries.... Since the mid-1970s the rules of the economic game have been rewritten... globally and nationally [to] advantage the rich... in a [[political system]] that is itself rigged through [[gerrymandering]], [[voter suppression]] and the influence of money.... [Enforcement of] [[antitrust laws]], first enacted [in 1890] in the U.S. to prevent the agglomeration of [[market power]], has weakened... [[Technological change]]s have concentrated market power in the hands of a few global players... part[ly] because of "[[network effects]]"... [E]stablished firms with deep [[war chest]]s have enormous power to crush competitors and ultimately raise prices.... A concerted attack on [[labor union|unions]] has almost halved the fraction of unionized workers in the [U.S.], to about 11 percent.... U.S. investment treaties such as [[NAFTA]] protect investors against a tightening of [[environmental regulations|environmental]] and health regulations abroad. [Such] provisions... enhance the credibility of a company's threat to move abroad if workers do not temper their demands.... [I]t is hard to imagine meaningful change without a concerted effort to take [[money]] out of [[politics]]..."<ref>[[Joseph E. Stiglitz]], "A Rigged Economy: And what we can do about it" (The Science of Inequality), ''[[Scientific American]]'', vol. 319, no. 5 (November 2018), pp. 57–61.</ref>}}

In the early postwar decades, the colonies in Asia and Africa of the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, and other west European empires won their formal independence.{{sfn|Abernethy|2000|p=133}} However, these newly independent countries often faced challenges in the form of [[neocolonialism]], sociopolitical disarray, poverty, illiteracy, and [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] [[tropical disease]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stern|first1=Nicholas|last2=Rogers|first2=F. Halsey|last3=Dethier|first3=Jean-Jacques|title=Growth and Empowerment: Making Development Happen|date=2006|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Mass|series=Munich lectures in economics|isbn=978-0-262-26474-7}}</ref>{{efn|The president of the [[World Bank]], [[Jim Yong Kim]], urges the governments of both [[developed country|developed]] and [[developing country|developing countries]] to [[investment|invest]] more in [[human capital]], "which is the sum total of a population's [[health]], skills, knowledge, experience, and habits." Increased levels of quality [[education]] increase a person's income. "Socioemotional skills, such as [[Grit (personality trait)|grit]] and [[conscientiousness]], often have equally large economic returns.... [[Health]] also matters. [I]n [[Kenya]], [administration of inexpensive] [[deworming|deworming drugs]] in childhood [has] reduced school absences and raised wages in adulthood by... 20 percent... Proper [[nutrition]] and stimulation ''[[Uterus|in utero]]'' and during early childhood improve physical and mental [[well-being]] later in life. [F]ocusing on human capital during the first 1,000 days of a child's life is one of the most cost-effective [[investment]]s governments can make.... [[Human capital]] doesn't materialize on its own; it must be nurtured by the state."{{sfn|Kim|2018|pp=92–96}} }}{{efn|[[William Hardy McNeill]], in his 1963 book ''[[The Rise of the West]]'', appears to have interpreted the decline of the European empires as paradoxically being due to [[Westernization]] itself, writing that "Although European empires have decayed since 1945, and the separate nation-states of Europe have been eclipsed as centers of political power by the melding of peoples and nations occurring under the aegis of both the American and Russian governments, it remains true that, since the end of World War II, the scramble to imitate and appropriate science, technology, and other aspects of Western culture has accelerated enormously all round the world. Thus the dethronement of western Europe from its brief mastery of the globe coincided with (and was caused by) an unprecedented, rapid Westernization of all the peoples of the earth."<ref name="McNeill">{{cite book|title=The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community|last=McNeill|first=William H.|year=1991|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>{{rp|566}} McNeill further writes that "The rise of the West, as intended by the title and meaning of this book, is only accelerated when one or another Asian or African people throws off European administration by making Western techniques, attitudes, and ideas sufficiently their own to permit them to do so".<ref name="McNeill" />{{rp|807}}}}

Most Western European and Central European countries gradually formed a political and economic community, the [[European Union]], which expanded eastward to include former [[Soviet satellite states]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dinan|first1=Desmond|title=Europe recast: a history of European Union|date=2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-0-333-98734-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Peterson|editor1-first=John|editor2-last=Shackleton|editor2-first=Michael|title=The institutions of the European Union|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-957498-8|edition=3rd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rifkin|first1=Jeremy|title=The European dream: how Europe's vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American dream|url=https://archive.org/details/europeandreamhow00rifk|url-access=registration|date=2004|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher|location=New York|isbn=978-1-58542-345-3}}</ref> The European Union's effectiveness was handicapped by the immaturity of its common economic and political institutions,{{efn|James McAuley writes in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', 15 August 2019, pp. 47–48: "There was never a single moment that marked the definitive establishment of the [[European Union]], which... has continued to define itself since [[World War II]]. [T]he major turning points have all been quiet steps on the way to further [[economic integration]] while preserving [[national sovereignty]]. Today there is only an incomplete [[monetary union]] without a real political contract to manage it... [Nevertheless, the Union's] various peoples have grown remarkably closer... The European Union now has open borders, a single market from Portugal to the Baltics, and more or less monthly meetings of member state leaders [the [[European Council]]]. What's more, those member states are now closer to each other than they are to the [[United States]]... [T]his transformation has occurred informally and organically... [R]obust supranational politics are taking root in Europe... [[Luuk van Middelaar]] writes: '[W]hat unites us as Europeans on this continent is bigger and stronger than anything that divides us.'"<ref>James McAuley, "A More Perfect Union?" (review of [[Luuk van Middelaar]], ''Alarums and Excursions: Improving Politics on the European Stage'', translated from the Dutch by Liz Waters, Agenda, 2019, 301 pp.; and Stéphanie Hennette, [[Thomas Piketty]], Guillaume Sacriste, and Antoine Vauchez, ''How to Democratize Europe'', translated from the French by Paul Dermine, Marc LePain, and Patrick Camiller, Harvard University Press, 2019, 209 pp.), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 13 (15 August 2019), pp. 46–48.</ref>}} somewhat comparable to the inadequacy of United States institutions under the [[Articles of Confederation]] prior to the adoption of the [[Constitution of the United States]] that came into force in 1789. Asian, African, and South American countries followed suit and began taking tentative steps toward forming their own respective [[Continental union|continental associations]].
[[File:Apollo 17 Cernan on moon.jpg|thumb|Last Moon landing: [[Apollo 17]] (1972)]]
Cold War preparations to deter or to fight a third world war accelerated advances in [[Technology|technologies]] that, though conceptualized before World War II, had been implemented for that war's exigencies, such as [[jet aircraft]], [[rocket]]ry, and [[computer]]s. In the decades after World War II, these advances led to jet travel, [[satellite|artificial satellites]] with innumerable applications including the [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS), and the [[Internet]]. These inventions have revolutionized the movement of people, ideas, and information.

However, not all scientific and technological advances in the second half of the 20th century required an initial military impetus. That period also saw ground-breaking developments such as the discovery of the structure of [[DNA]]{{sfn|Pääbo|2003|p=95}} and [[DNA sequencing]], the consequent sequencing of the [[human genome]] ([[Human Genome Project|The Human Genome Project]]), the worldwide [[eradication of smallpox]], the discovery of [[Stem cell|stem cells]], the introduction of the portable [[Mobile phone|cellular phone]], the discovery of [[plate tectonics]], crewed and uncrewed [[Space exploration|exploration of space]] and of previously inaccessible parts of [[Earth]], and foundational discoveries in [[physics]] phenomena ranging from the smallest entities ([[particle physics]]) to the greatest entity ([[physical cosmology]]).

=====21st century=====
{{Main|21st century}}

The 21st century has been marked by growing [[economic globalization]] and integration, with consequent increased risk to interlinked economies, as exemplified by the [[Great Recession]] of the late 2000s and early 2010s.<ref>Bob Davis, "What's a Global Recession?", ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', 22 April 2009. [https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/04/22/whats-a-global-recession/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228002745/https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/04/22/whats-a-global-recession/ |date=28 February 2019 }} Retrieved 2 January 2019.</ref> This period has also seen the expansion of communications with [[mobile phone]]s and the [[Internet]], which have caused fundamental [[society|societal]] changes in business, politics, and individuals' personal lives.

[[File:Pudong Shanghai November 2017 panorama.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[China]] [[Urbanization|urbanized]] rapidly in the 21st century ([[Shanghai]] pictured).]]
Worldwide competition for [[natural resource]]s has risen due to growing populations and industrialization, especially in India, China, and Brazil. The increased demands are contributing to increased [[environmental degradation]] and to [[climate change]].

In 2020, the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] became the first pandemic in the 21st century to substantially disrupt global trading and cause recessions in the global economy.<ref>Asare, Prince, and Richard Barfi. "The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Global Economy: Emphasis on Poverty Alleviation and Economic Growth." ''Economics'' 8.1 (2021): 32–43 [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Prince_Vitenu-Sackey/publication/348162269_The_Impact_of_Covid-19_Pandemic_on_the_Global_Economy_Emphasis_on_Poverty_Alleviation_and_Economic_Growth/links/5ff1611c45851553a0151517/The-Impact-of-Covid-19-Pandemic-on-the-Global-Economy-Emphasis-on-Poverty-Alleviation-and-Economic-Growth.pdf online]. </ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* ''[[Andrew Marr's History of the World]]'' (2012 BBC series)
* [[Cultural history]]
* [[Economic history of the world]]
* [[Globalization]]
* [[Historic recurrence]]
* [[Historiography]]
* [[History of science]]
* [[History of technology]]
* [[List of archaeological periods]]
* [[List of decades, centuries, and millennia]]
* [[List of time periods]]
* [[Political history of the world]]
* [[Timeline of geopolitical changes (1900−present)]]
* [[Timeline of national independence]]
* [[Western culture]]
{{div col end}}
* '''''{{portal-inline|Modern history}}'''''
* '''''{{portal-inline|World}}'''''

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Gavashelishvili23">{{cite journal|last1=Gavashelishvili|first1=Alexander|last2=Tarkhnishvili|first2=David|year=2016|title=Biomes and human distribution during the last ice age|journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography|volume=25|issue=5|pages=563–574|doi=10.1111/geb.12437}}</ref>
<ref name="USCB_World population estimates">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_history.php |title=International Programs - Historical Estimates of World Population - U.S. Census Bureau |date=August 2016 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=15 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709092946/https://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/table_history.php |archive-date=9 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Smithsonian Institution">{{cite web |url=http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens |title=Homo sapiens |work=The Smithsonian Institutions's Human Origins Program |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |access-date=21 May 2017 |date=8 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126182839/http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens |archive-date=26 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

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* {{cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |location=Delhi }}
* {{cite book | editor-last1 = Stearns | editor-first1 = Peter N. | editor-link1 = Peter Stearns | editor-first2=William L. | editor-last2= Langer |edition=Sixth | title = The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company |location=Boston | date = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-395-65237-4 | title-link = Encyclopedia of World History }}
* [[Joseph E. Stiglitz|Stiglitz, Joseph E.]], "A Rigged Economy: And what we can do about it" (The Science of Inequality), ''[[Scientific American]]'', vol. 319, no. 5 (November 2018), pp. 57–61.
* {{Cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Larry E.|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3041K2Zv76AC&pg=PT73|title=The SAGE glossary of the social and behavioral sciences|publisher=Editions SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-5143-2|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230003359/https://books.google.com/books?id=3041K2Zv76AC&pg=PT73|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |title=The History of the Seljuq Turks from the Jāmiʻ Al-tawārīkh: An Ilkhanid Adaptation of the Saljūq-nāma of Ẓahīr Al-Dīn Nīshāpūrī |last1=Ṭabīb |first1=Rashīd al-Dīn |last2=Faḍlallāh |first2=Rašīd-ad-Dīn |last3=Nishapuri |first3=Zahir al-Din |last4=Nīšāpūrī |first4=Ẓahīr-ad-Dīn |date=2001 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7007-1342-4 |editor-last=Bosworth |editor-first=Clifford Edmund |page=9 |translator-last=Luther |translator-first=Kenneth Allin |quote=[T]he Turks were illiterate and uncultivated when they arrived in Khurasan and depended on Iranian scribes, poets, jurists, and theologians to man the institution of the Empire. }}
* {{cite book |last=Teeple |first=John B. |title=Timelines of World History |publisher=DK Publishing |location=New York |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7566-1703-5 }}
* {{cite book | last = Tudge | first = Colin | author-link = Colin Tudge | title = Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers: How Agriculture Really Began | date = 1998 | publisher = Yale University Press | location = New Haven, CT | isbn = 978-0-300-08024-7 | title-link = Neanderthals, Bandits and Farmers }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Varghese|first=Robin|title=Marxist World: What Did You Expect From Capitalism?|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=34–42}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitfield|first=Susan|date=2004|title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War, and Faith|url=https://archive.org/details/aurelsteinonsilk0000whit|url-access=registration|publisher=Serendia Publications, Inc|isbn=978-1-932476-13-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Xue |first=Zongzheng |date=1992 |title=A History of Turks |location=Beijing |publisher=Chinese Social Sciences Press}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|History_of_the_world.ogg|date=2005-04-19}}
{{Sister project links|commons=Category:History}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Baten |editor-first=Joerg |year=2016 |title=A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to present |isbn= 978-1-107-50718-0|ref=none}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Ben-Ami|first=Shlomo|author-link=Shlomo Ben-Ami|title=Gobalization's Discontents|magazine=[[The Nation]]|volume=307|number=2|date=16–23 July 2018|page=27}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Busby|first=Joshua|title=Warming World: Why Climate Change Matters More Than Anything Else|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=49–55}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Cockburn|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Cockburn|title=How to Start a Nuclear War: The increasingly direct road to ruin|magazine=[[Harper's]]|volume=337|number=2019|date=August 2018|pages=51–58}}
* {{cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared | title=Guns, Germs, and Steel | date=1997| publisher=W. W. Norton | location=New York | author-link=Jared Diamond |title-link=Guns, Germs, and Steel|postscript=, updated eds., 2003, 2007.}}
* {{cite magazine|last1=Flournoy|first1=Michèle|author-link1=Michèle Flournoy|last2=Sulmeyer|first2=Michael|author-link2=Michael Sulmeyer|title=Battlefield Internet: A Plan for Securing Cyberspace|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=40–46}}
* {{cite book |author=Fournet, Louis-Henri |year=1986 |title= Diagrammatic Chart of World History |publisher= Editions Sides |isbn= 978-2-86861-096-6}}
* {{cite book |author=Frankopan, Peter |author-link=Peter Frankopan |year=2015 |title=The Silk Roads: A New History of the World |publisher=Knopf |isbn= 978-1-101-94632-9 |title-link=The Silk Roads: A New History of the World }}
* {{cite book |last=Friedman |first=Thomas L. |year=2007 |title=The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century |edition=Further Updated and Expanded |publisher=Picador |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-42507-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldisflat00thom }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Gribbin|first=John|author-link=John Gribbin|title=Alone in the Milky Way: Why we are probably the only intelligent life in the galaxy|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|volume=319|number=3 |date=September 2018|pages=94–99}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Kornbluh|first=Karen|author-link=Karen Kornbluh|title=The Internet's Lost Promise and How America Can Restore It|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=33–38}}
* {{cite book |last=Landes| first=David |author-link=David Landes |date=1999 |title=The Wealth and Poverty of Nations |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |isbn= 978-0-393-31888-3 |title-link=The Wealth and Poverty of Nations }}
* {{cite journal |last=Landes |first=David |author-link=David Landes |title=Why Europe and the West? Why Not China? |journal= [[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume= 20 |issue=2 |pages=3–22 |date=Spring 2006 |doi=10.1257/jep.20.2.3|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite magazine|last1=Malley|first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert Malley|last2=Finer|first2=Jon|author-link2=Jon Finer|title=The Long Shadow of 9/11: How Counterterrorism Warps U.S. Foreign Policy|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=4|date=July–August 2018|pages=58–69}}
* {{cite magazine|last=McKibben|first=Bill|author-link=Bill McKibben|title=Catastrophic Climate Change|magazine=[[The Nation]]|volume=307|number=2|date=16–23 July 2018|pages=18–20}}
* [[Bill McKibben|McKibben, Bill]], "A Very Grim Forecast" (partly a review of ''Global Warming of 1.5 [degree] C: an [[IPCC]] Special Report by the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]]. Available at www.ipcc.ch''), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXV, no. 18 (22 November 2018), pp. 4, 6, 8.
* {{cite magazine|last=McKibben|first=Bill|author-link=Bill McKibben|title=Life on a Shrinking Planet: With wildfires, heat waves, and rising sea levels, large tracts of the earth are at risk of becoming uninhabitable|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=26 November 2018|pages=46–55}}
* {{cite book |last=McNeill |first=William H. |author-link=William H. McNeill (historian) |year=1963 |title=The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community |url=https://archive.org/details/riseofwest00will |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=9780226561424 }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Nilekani|first=Nandan|author-link=Nandan Nilekani|title=Data to the People: India's Inclusive Internet|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]]|volume=97|number=5|date=September–October 2018|pages=19–26}}
* {{cite book |last=Pomeranz |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Pomeranz |title=The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy |location= Princeton |year=2000 }}

{{Social sciences}}
{{short description|Recorded history of humanity}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The World}}
[[Category:World history| ]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]

Hare à la royale

2021-12-07T19:58:50Z

Huhsunqu:

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Hare ''à la royale''}}
'''Hare {{lang|fr|à la royale}}''' (also called '''{{lang|fr|lièvre à la royale}}''' or '''royal hare''')<ref>{{Cite news|last=Fabricant|first=Florence|date=2016-12-05|title=Long-Eared Feast, Fit for a King (Published 2016)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/dining/lievre-a-la-royale-racines-ny.html|access-date=2021-01-11|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-12-02|title=Le lièvre à la royale, agitateur de palais|url=https://next.liberation.fr/food/2016/12/02/le-lievre-a-la-royale-agitateur-de-palais_1532522|access-date=2021-01-11|website=Libération.fr|language=fr}}</ref> is a traditional [[French cuisine|French culinary dish]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Downie|first=David|date=2017-09-26|title=Blood's Role In French Cuisine And History|url=https://www.foodrepublic.com/2017/09/26/blood-french-cuisine-history/|access-date=2021-01-11|website=Food Republic|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Foodie|first=The Old|title=Lièvre à la Royale.|url=http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2006/11/livre-la-royale.html|access-date=2021-01-11|language=en}}</ref> There are two interpretations of this dish that both have historic origins. One is a [[hare]] in a [[stew]] with [[garlic]] and [[shallots]] that includes red [[wine]]. The other includes meat stuffed with [[foie gras]] and truffles serves in slices and topped with red wine.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-01-24|title=Lièvre à La Royale|url=https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lievre-a-la-royale-388868|access-date=2021-01-11|website=Epicurious|language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:National dishes]]
[[Category:French cuisine]]
[[Category:Rabbit dishes]]

{{France-cuisine-stub}}

Category:Indus Valley Civilisation

2021-12-03T03:42:48Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Commons category|Indus Valley Civilization}}
*The '''[[Indus Valley Civilisation]]''' — a [[civilisation]] of {{C|Bronze Age Asia}}.
::::::::::*Its sites are primarily in the [[Indus River]] Basin, and within present-day [[Pakistan]] and western [[India]].

{{Indus Valley Civilization}}

[[Category:Bronze Age countries in Asia]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of South Asia]]
[[Category:Bronze Age cultures of Asia]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in India]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of South Asia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Prehistoric India]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of Sindh]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples]]
[[Category:Pre-Indo-Europeans]]
[[Category:Indus River]]
[[Category:Civilizations]]

Post-classical history

2021-10-08T06:46:40Z

Huhsunqu: /* Timeline */

{{short description|Period between ancient history and modern history}}
{{redirect|Post-classical|the film editing style commonly used in American films since the 1960s|Post-classical editing}}
[[File:Jingangjing.jpg|alt=Diamond Sutra, World's first printed book|thumb|The [[Diamond Sutra]], of [[Dunhuang]], China was published in 868 AD as the first printed book using [[woodblock printing]] techniques. This image is a front piece for the book which was instrumental in spreading [[East Asian Buddhism|East-Asian Buddhism]] ([[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism]]). Post-classical times were an era of religion. Matters of faith took part in the development of political power and in the personal lives of most ordinary people in both the [[Old World|Old]] and [[New World]]. Geographic regions were often divided based on a location's religious affiliation.|300x300px]]
{{Human history}}

'''Post-classical history''', as used in [[global history]], generally runs from about 500 CE to 1500 CE (roughly corresponding to the European [[Middle Ages]]). The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade networks between civilizations.<ref>[http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf The Post‐Classical Era] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031011114/http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf |date=2014-10-31 }} by Joel Hermansen</ref><ref name="weller-stearns" />

In Asia, the [[spread of Islam]] created a [[Caliphate|new empire]] and [[Islamic Golden Age]] with trade among the [[Asia]]n, [[Africa]]n and [[Europe]]an continents, and advances in [[science in the medieval Islamic world]]. [[East Asia]] experienced the full establishment of power of [[History of China#Imperial China|Imperial China]], which established several prosperous dynasties influencing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Religions such as [[Buddhism]] and [[Neo-Confucianism]] spread in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|last=Thompson|first=John M.|date=2010-10-19|publisher=National Geographic Books|isbn=9781426205330|language=en|page=82}}</ref> [[Gunpowder]] was developed in China during the post-classical era. The [[Mongol Empire]] connected Europe and Asia, creating safe trade and stability between the two regions.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=128}}</ref> In total the [[World population estimates|population of the world]] doubled in the time period from approximately 210 million in 500 AD to 461 million in 1500 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Klein Goldewijk|first1=Kees|last2=Beusen|first2=Arthur|last3=Janssen|first3=Peter|date=2010-03-22|title=Long-term dynamic modeling of global population and built-up area in a spatially explicit way: HYDE 3.1|journal=The Holocene|volume=20|issue=4|pages=565–573|doi=10.1177/0959683609356587|issn=0959-6836|bibcode=2010Holoc..20..565K|s2cid=128905931|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/3f53450b1f59eac6ad2d781adb8309087ac3e0d2}}</ref> Population generally grew steadily throughout the period but endured some incidental declines in events including the [[Plague of Justinian]], the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]], and the [[Black Death]].<ref name="Haub1650">Haub (1995): "The average annual rate of growth was actually lower from 1 A.D. to 1650 than the rate suggested above for the 8000 B.C. to 1 A.D. period. One reason for this abnormally slow growth was the Black Plague. This dreaded scourge was not limited to 14th century Europe. The epidemic may have begun about 542 A.D. in Western Asia, spreading from there. It is believed that half the Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the 6th century, a total of 100 million deaths."</ref>

The period is also called the '''medieval era''', '''post-antiquity era''', '''post-ancient era''', or '''pre-modern era'''.
{{TOC limit}}

==Historiography==
===Terminology and periodization===
[[File:Leonardo Bruni 2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Leonardo Bruni]], [[Renaissance]] historian who helped develop the concept of "[[Middle Ages]]"]]
Post-classical history is a [[periodization]] used by historians employing a [[world history]] approach to history, specifically the school developed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.<ref name=weller-stearns>{{cite book |editor=R. Charles Weller |title=21st-Century Narratives of World History: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives |publisher=Palgrave |chapter=Periodization in World History: Challenges and Opportunities |last=Stearns |first=Peter N. |author-link=Peter N. Stearns |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-62077-0}}</ref> Outside of world history, the term is also sometimes used to avoid erroneous pre-conceptions around the terms ''Middle Ages'', ''Medieval'' and the ''[[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]'' (see [[Medievalism]]), though the application of the term ''post-classical'' on a global scale is also problematic, and may likewise be [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]].<ref>Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, 'Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages', ''Past & Present'', 238 (November 2018), 1-44 (p. 16).</ref>

The post-classical period corresponds roughly to the period from 500 AD to 1450 AD.<ref name=weller-stearns/> Beginning and ending dates might vary depending on the region, with the period beginning at the end of the previous classical period: [[End of the Han Dynasty|Han China]] (ending in 220 AD), the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire]] (in 476 AD), the [[Gupta Empire]] (in 543 AD), and the [[Sasanian Empire]] (in 651 AD).

The post-classical period is one of the five or six major periods world historians use:
# early civilization,
# [[Ancient history|classical societies]],
# post-classical
# [[early modern]],
# [[long nineteenth century]], and
# [[Modern history|contemporary or modern era]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> (Sometimes the nineteenth century and modern are combined.<ref name=weller-stearns/>)
Although ''post-classical'' is synonymous with the [[Middle Ages]] of Western Europe, the term ''post-classical'' is not necessarily a member of the traditional [[Late Middle Ages#Historiography and periodization|tripartite periodisation]] of Western European history into ''classical'', ''middle'' and ''modern''.

===Approaches===
The historical field of [[world history]], which looks at common themes occurring across multiple cultures and regions, has enjoyed extensive development since the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199235810.001.0001|year = 2012|isbn = 9780199235810|volume = 1|title = The Oxford Handbook of World History|last1 = Bentley|first1 = the Late Jerry H.|editor1-first = Jerry H|editor1-last = Bentley}}</ref> However, World History research has tended to focus on [[early modern globalization]] (beginning around 1500) and subsequent developments, and views post-classical history as mainly pertaining to [[Afro-Eurasia]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Historians recognize the difficulties of creating a periodization and identifying common themes that include not only this region but also, for example, the Americas, since they had little contact with Afro-Eurasia before the [[Columbian Exchange]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Thus recent research has emphasised that "a global history of the period between 500 and 1500 is still wanting" and that "historians have only just begun to embark on a global history of the Middle Ages".<ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017">Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84.</ref>

For many regions of the world, there are well established histories. Although [[Medieval Studies]] in Europe tended in the nineteenth century to focus on creating histories for individual nation-states, much twentieth-century research focused, successfully, on creating an integrated history of medieval Europe.<ref>Graham A. Loud and Martial Staub, 'Some Thoughts on the Making of the Middle Ages', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 1-13.</ref><ref>Patrick Geary, 'European Ethnicities and European as an Ethnicity: Does Europe Have too Much History?', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 57-69.</ref><ref>Jinty Nelson, 'Why Reinventing Medieval History is a Good Idea', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 17-36.</ref><ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017"/> The Islamic World likewise has a rich regional historiography, ranging from the fourteenth-century [[Ibn Khaldun]] to the twentieth-century [[Marshall Hodgson]] and beyond.<ref>Adam J. Silverstein, ''Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 94-107.</ref> Correspondingly, research into the network of commercial hubs which enabled goods and ideas to move between China in the East and the Atlantic islands in the West—which can be called the [[Archaic globalization|early history of globalization]]—is fairly advanced; one key historian in this field is [[Janet Abu-Lughod]].<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [81-83].</ref> Understanding of communication within Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas is, by contrast, far more limited.<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [80-81].</ref>

Recent history-writing, therefore, has begun to explore the possibilities of writing history covering the Old World, where Human activities were fairly interconnected, and establish its relationship with other cultural spheres, such as the Americas and Oceania. In the assessment of [[James Belich (historian)|James Belich]], [[John Darwin (historian)|John Darwin]], [[Margret Frenz]], and [[Chris Wickham]],
<blockquote>Global history may be boundless, but global historians are not. Global history cannot usefully mean the history of everything, everywhere, all the time. […] Three approaches […] seem to us to have real promise. One is global history as the pursuit of significant historical problems across time, space, and specialism. This can sometimes be characterized as [[comparative history|‘comparative’ history]]. […] Another is connectedness, including transnational relationships. […] The third approach is the study of globalization […]. Globalization is a term that needs to be rescued from the present, and salvaged for the past. To define it as always encompassing the whole planet is to mistake the current outcome for a very ancient process.<ref>James Belich, John Darwin, and Chris Wickham, 'Introduction: The Prospect of Global History', in ''The Prospect of Global History'', ed. by James Belich, John Darwin, Margret Frenz, and Chris Wickham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 3–22 [3] {{DOI|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198732259.001.0001}}.</ref></blockquote>
A number of commentators have pointed to the history of the earth's [[climate]] as a useful approach to World History in the Middle Ages, noting that certain climate events had effects on all human populations.<ref>William S. Atwell, '[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928200709/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 |date=2018-09-28 }}', ''Journal of World History'', 12.1 (Spring 2001), 29-98.</ref><ref>Richard W. Bulliet, ''Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), {{ISBN|978-0-231-51987-8}}.</ref><ref>Ronnie Ellenblum, ''The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean: Climate Change and the Decline of the East, 950-1072'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).</ref><ref>John L. Brooke, ''Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-139-05081-4}}, {{DOI|10.1017/CBO9781139050814}}.</ref><ref>Victor Lieberman, ‘Charter State Collapse in Southeast Asia, c.1250–1400, as a Problem in Regional and World History’, American Historical Review, cxvi (2011), 937–63.</ref><ref>Bruce M. S. Campbell, The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World (Cambridge, 2016).</ref>

== Main trends ==
The Post-classical era saw several common developments or themes. There was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas; the rise and/or spread of the three major world, or missionary, religions; and a period of rapidly expanding trade and trade networks.

=== Growth of civilization ===
{{Main|Civilization}}[[File:Piquillacta Archaeological site - street.jpg|thumb|[[Piquillacta]], an administrative urban center of the [[Wari Empire]], a South America Andean civilization that thrived from the 5th to the 8th century]]
First was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas across [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[Mesoamerica]], and western [[South America]]. However, as noted by world historian [[Peter N. Stearns]], there were no common global political trends during the post-classical period, rather it was a period of loosely organized states and other developments, but no common political patterns emerged.<ref name=weller-stearns/> In Asia, China continued its historic [[dynastic cycle]] and became more complex, improving its bureaucracy. The creation of the Islamic Empires established a new power in the Middle East, North Africa, and [[Central Asia]]. Africa created the [[Songhai Empire|Songhai]] and [[Mali Empire|Mali]] kingdoms in the West. The fall of Roman civilization not only left a power vacuum for the Mediterranean and Europe, but forced certain areas to build what some historians might call new civilizations entirely.{{sfn|Birken|1992|pages=451–461}} An entirely different political system was applied in Western Europe (i.e. [[feudalism]]), as well as a different society (i.e. [[manorialism]]). But the once East Roman Empire, Byzantium, retained many features of old Rome, as well as Greek and Persian similarities. Kiev Rus' and subsequently Russia began development in Eastern Europe as well. In the isolated Americas, Mesoamerica saw the building of the [[Aztec]] Empire, while the [[Andean civilizations|Andean region]] of South America saw the establishment of the [[Wari Empire]] first and the [[Inca Empire]] later.

=== Spread of universal religions ===
{{Main|History of religion}}
[[File:Siege of Acre.jpg|thumb|[[Siege of Acre (1189–91)|Siege of Acre]] (1191; picture from 1280.) Religious wars were common in post-classical times. One of the largest was the [[Crusades]]. |200x200px]]
Religion that envisaged the possibility that all humans could be included in a universal order had emerged already in the first millennium BC, particularly with Buddhism. In the following millennium, Buddhism was joined by two other major, universalising, missionary religions, both developing from [[Judaism]]: Christianity and Islam. By the end of the period, these three religions were between them widespread, and often politically dominant, across the Old World.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014">Yuval Noah Harari, ''[[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]'', trans. by Yuval Noah Harari, John Purcell and Haim Watzman (London: Harvill Secker, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-84655-823-8|978-1-84655-824-5}}, chapter 12.</ref>
* [[Buddhism]] spread from India into China and flourished there briefly before using it as a hub to spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam;{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} a similar effect occurred with Confucian revivalism in the later centuries.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014"/>
* [[Christianity]] had become the [[State church of the Roman Empire]] in 380, and continued spreading into northern and eastern Europe during the post-classical period at the expense of belief systems that Christians labelled [[Paganism|pagan]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} An attempt was even made to incur upon the Middle East during the [[Crusades]]. The split of the [[Catholic Church]] in Western Europe and the [[Orthodox Church]] in Eastern Europe encouraged religious and cultural diversity in Eurasia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard |last=Fletcher |title=The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity, 371-1386 AD |location=London |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997}}</ref>
* [[Islam]] began between 610 and 632, with a series of revelations to [[Muhammad]]. It helped unify the warring [[Bedouin]] clans of the Arabian peninsula and, through a rapid series of [[Muslim conquests]], became established to the west across [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|North Africa]], the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Iberian Peninsula]], and parts of [[Islam in Africa|West Africa]], and to the east across [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Persia]], [[Islamicisation of Xinjiang|Central Asia]], [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]], and [[Spread of Islam in Indonesia|Indonesia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Adam J. |last=Silverstein |title=Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-954572-8 |pages=9–35}}</ref>

=== Trade and communication ===
{{Main|Trade route}}
[[File:Rakaposhi View from Babusar Top.jpg|left|thumb|[[Pakistan]]'s [[Babusar Pass]], part of the [[Silk Road]]]]
Finally, communication and trade across [[Afro-Eurasia]] increased rapidly. The [[Silk Road]] continued to spread cultures and ideas through trade and throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade networks were established between West Europe, Byzantium, early Russia, the Islamic Empires, and the [[Far East]]ern civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|title=Environment and Trade: The Viking Age|publisher=Khan Academy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005514/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|archive-date=2018-06-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Africa the earlier introduction of the Camel allowed for a new and eventually large [[trans-Saharan trade]], which connected Sub-Saharan West Africa to Eurasia. The Islamic Empires adopted many Greek, Roman, and Indian advances and spread them through the Islamic sphere of influence, [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|allowing these developments to reach Europe]], North and West Africa, and Central Asia. Islamic sea trade helped connect these areas, including those in the [[Indian Ocean]] and in the [[Mediterranean]], replacing Byzantium in the latter region. The Christian Crusades into the Middle East (as well as Muslim Spain and [[Sicily]]) [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|brought Islamic science, technology, and goods to Western Europe]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} Western trade into East Asia was pioneered by [[Marco Polo]]. Importantly, China began the sinicization (or Chinese influence) of regions like Japan,{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} Korea, and Vietnam through trade and conquest. Finally, the growth of the [[Mongol Empire]] in Central Asia established safe trade such as to allow goods, cultures, ideas, and disease to spread between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

The Americas had their own trade network, however theirs was limited by the lack of draft animals and the wheel. In [[Oceania]] some of the island chains of [[Polynesia]] and [[Micronesia]] also engaged in trade with one another.

=== Climate ===
{{Main|Historical climatology|Little Ice Age}}During Post-classical times, there is evidence that many regions of the world were affected similarly by global climate conditions; however, direct effects in temperature and precipitation varied by region. According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]], changes did not all occur at once. Generally however, studies found that temperatures were relatively warmer in the 11th century, but colder by the early 17th century. The degree of climate change which occurred in all regions across the world is uncertain, as is whether such changes were all part of a global trend.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |title=Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=339 |date=2013-04-21 |doi=10.1038/NGEO1797 |bibcode=2013NatGe...6..339P |last1=Ahmed |first1=Moinuddin |last2=Anchukaitis |first2=Kevin J. |last3=Asrat |first3=Asfawossen |last4=Borgaonkar |first4=Hemant P. |last5=Braida |first5=Martina |last6=Buckley |first6=Brendan M. |last7=Büntgen |first7=Ulf |last8=Chase |first8=Brian M. |last9=Christie |first9=Duncan A. |last10=Cook |first10=Edward R. |last11=Curran |first11=Mark A.J. |last12=Diaz |first12=Henry F. |last13=Esper |first13=Jan |last14=Fan |first14=Ze-Xin |last15=Gaire |first15=Narayan P. |last16=Ge |first16=Quansheng |last17=Gergis |first17=Joëlle |last18=González-Rouco |first18=J. Fidel |last19=Goosse |first19=Hugues |last20=Grab |first20=Stefan W. |last21=Graham |first21=Nicholas |last22=Graham |first22=Rochelle |last23=Grosjean |first23=Martin |last24=Hanhijärvi |first24=Sami T. |last25=Kaufman |first25=Darrell S. |last26=Kiefer |first26=Thorsten |last27=Kimura |first27=Katsuhiko |last28=Korhola |first28=Atte A. |last29=Krusic |first29=Paul J. |last30=Lara |first30=Antonio |display-authors=29 |access-date=2018-06-29 |archive-date=2019-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930193918/https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Climate trends seemed to be more recognizable in the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] than in the [[Southern Hemisphere]].[[File:2000 Year Temperature Comparison.png|thumb|300px|Reconstructed depth of [[Little Ice Age]] varies among studies. Anomalies shown are from the 1950–80 reference period.]]

There are shorter climate periods that could be said roughly to account for large scale climate trends in the Post-classical Period. These include the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]], the [[Medieval Warm Period]] and the [[Little Ice Age]]. The [[Extreme weather events of 535–536|extreme weather events of 536–537]] were likely initiated by the eruption of the [[Lake Ilopango|Lake llopango caldera]] in [[El Salvador]]. Sulfate emitted into the air initiated global cooling, migrations and crop failures worldwide, possibly intensifying an already cooler time period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|title=Old trees reveal Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) around 1,500 years ago|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628233424/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Records show that the world's average temperature remained colder for at least a century afterwards.

The [[Medieval Warm Period]] from 950 to 1250 occurred mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, causing warmer summers in many areas; the high temperatures would only be surpassed by the global warming of the 20th/21st centuries. It has been hypothesized that the warmer temperatures allowed the Norse to colonize Greenland, due to ice-free waters. Outside of Europe there is evidence of warming conditions, including higher temperatures in China and major North American droughts which adversely affected numerous cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/TimeSeriesDisplay.aspx|title=Drought Congruence 1000-1300, Central United States|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref>

After 1250, glaciers began to expand in Greenland, affecting its [[thermohaline circulation]], and cooling the entire North Atlantic. In the 14th century, the growing season in Europe became unreliable; meanwhile in China the cultivation of oranges was driven southward by colder temperatures. Especially in Europe, the Little Ice Age had great cultural ramifications.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|title=Timeline Middle Ages and Early Modern Period – Environmental History Resources|work=Environmental History Resources|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628205003/https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|url-status=live}}</ref> It persisted until the [[Industrial Revolution]], long after the Post-classical Period.<ref name="Hendy2002">{{Cite journal| last1 = Hendy | first1 = E.| last2 = Gagan | first2 = M.| last3 = Alibert | first3 = C.| last4 = McCulloch | first4 = M.| last5 = Lough | first5 = J.| last6 = Isdale | first6 = P.| title = Abrupt decrease in tropical Pacific sea surface salinity at end of Little Ice Age| journal = Science| volume = 295| issue = 5559| pages = 1511–1514| year = 2002| pmid = 11859191| doi = 10.1126/science.1067693|bibcode = 2002Sci...295.1511H | s2cid = 25698190| url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/83d0d210ed3051abf0e1c32f567536c1d426cde7}}</ref> Its causes are unclear: possible explanations include [[Solar maximum|sunspots]], [[Earth's orbit|orbital cycles of the Earth]], [[Volcano|volcanic activity]], [[Thermohaline circulation|ocean circulation]], and man-made [[population decline]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|title=Carnegie Department of Global Ecology|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-08-03|archive-date=2017-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311091353/https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
{{Main|Timeline of the Global Middle Ages}}
This timetable gives a basic overview of states, cultures and events which transpired roughly between the years 400 and 1500. Sections are broken by political and geographic location.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|pages=17–19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|title=TIMELINE: World History|website=www.wdl.org|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-date=2019-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122121358/https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|url-status=live}}</ref>
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:1000 height:425
PlotArea = width:720 height:375 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.17,0.81,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.15) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:400 till:1500
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:400
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:400

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line, black) width:15 shift:(0,-3)

bar:Timeframe color:era
from: 476 till: 1000 text:[[Early Middle Ages|Early period]]
from: 1000 till: 1300 text:[[High Middle Ages|High period]]
from: 1300 till: 1450 text:[[Late Middle Ages|Late period]]
bar:Timeframe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Iron Age]])
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,4) text:[[Ancient history|Ancient]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:[[Modern age|Modern]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text:[[Early modern|(Early)]]
bar:Europe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 text:[[Late Antiquity|Antiquity]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Renaissance]]
bar:Europe color:age
from: 476 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,4) text:[[Feudalism]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Manorialism]])
from: 950 till: 1100 text:[[Urbanization]]
from: 1100 till: 1240 text:[[Crusades]]
from: 1240 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1400 text:[[Crisis of the Late Middle Ages|Crisis]]
bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 400 till: 700 text:[[Germanic Iron Age|Germanic Iron]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,4) text:[[Viking Age|Vikings]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Norsemen]])
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(0,4) text:[[Christianization of Scandinavia|Christianization]]
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(4,-7) text:([[Northern Crusades]])
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Kalmar Union]]
bar:E.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(15,4) text:[[Hunnic Empire]]
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarmatians]]
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 500 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till: 864 text:[[Rus' Khaganate]]
from: 864 till: 1237 text:[[Kievan Rus']]
from: 1237 till: 1240 shift:(0,4) text:[[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongols]]
from: 1240 till: 1283 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarai (city)|Sarai]]
from: 1283 till: 1400 text:[[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]]
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 475 shift:(15,0) text:[[Germanic Wars]]
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 475 till: 751 text:[[Francia]]
from: 751 till: 843 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 843 till: 987 text:[[East Francia|E. Francia]]
from: 987 till: 1500 text:[[Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:Apennine color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 774 text:[[Lombard kingdom]]
from: 774 till: 962 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 962 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:British.Isle color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 text:[[Sub-Roman Britain|Sub-Roman]]
bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,4) text:[[Anglo-Saxon England]]
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Heptarchy]])
from: 927 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of England]]
bar:Iberia color:age
from: 400 till: 711 text:[[Visigothic Kingdom]]
from: 711 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Al-Andalus]]
from: 711 till: 756 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 756 till: 1031 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Caliphate of Córdoba|Córdoba Caliphate]]
from: 1031 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Reconquista]]
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 850 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 850 till: 950 text:[[First Bulgarian Empire|1st Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 950 till: 1185 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 1185 till: 1389 text:[[Second Bulgarian Empire|2nd Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 1389 till: 1500 text:[[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]
bar:M.East color:filler
from: 400 till: 622 text:[[Sasanian Empire]]
bar:M.East color:age
from: 622 till: 750 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 750 till: 1050 text:[[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]]
from: 1050 till: 1171 text:[[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]]
from: 1171 till: 1250 text:[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 text:[[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluks]]
bar:India color:age
from: 400 till: 1200 shift:(0,4) text:[[Middle kingdoms of India|Indian Middle kingdoms]]
from: 400 till: 590 text:[[Gupta Empire]]
from: 400 till: 1279 text:[[Chola Dynasty]]
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,5) text:[[Delhi Sultanate]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Vijaynagara Empire]]
bar:C.Asia color:filler
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,4) text:[[Scythians]]
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Hephthalites]]
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 632 till: 800 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 800 till: 1000 text:[[Samanids]]
from: 1000 till: 1200 text:[[Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty|Khwārazm-Shāh]]
from: 1200 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol Empire|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Chagatai Khanate]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Golden Horde]]
bar:China color:age
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,4) text:[[Six Dynasties]]
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Early Imperial China]])
from: 585 till: 618 text:[[Sui Dynasty|Sui]]
from: 618 till: 907 text:[[Tang Dynasty|Tang]]
from: 907 till: 960 text:[[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period|5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms]]
from: 960 till: 1275 text:[[Song Dynasty|Liao, Song, Jin]]
from: 1275 till: 1368 text:[[Yuan Dynasty|Great Yuan]]
from: 1368 till: 1500 text:[[Ming Dynasty|Great Ming]]
bar:Japan color:age
from: 400 till: 710 shift:(0,4) text:[[Yamato period|Yamato]]
from: 400 till: 538 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Kofun period|Kofun]]
from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Asuka period|Asuka]]
from: 710 till: 794 text:[[Nara period|Nara]]
from: 794 till: 1185 text:[[Heian period|Heian]]
from: 1185 till: 1333 text:[[Kamakura period|Kamakura]]
from: 1333 till: 1336 text:[[Kenmu restoration|Kenmu]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Muromachi period|Muromachi]]
bar:Korea color:age
from: 400 till: 935 shift:(0,4) text:[[Silla]]
from: 400 till: 668 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]
from: 698 till: 926 shift:(0,-4) text:[[North South States Period]]
from: 918 till: 1392 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Goryeo]]
from: 1392 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Joseon]]
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 650 text:Classic
from: 650 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Precolombian]]
from: 650 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Woodland period]]
from: 1000 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mississippian culture]]
bar:C.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:[[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]]
from: 400 till: 900 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mayan civilization]]
from: 900 till: 1200 shift:(0,-4) text:Early Postclassic
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Late Postclassic
from: 1430 till: 1500 text: [[Aztec Empire]]
bar:S.America color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:[[Andean civilization]]
from: 400 till: 600 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Early Intermediate]]
from: 600 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Wari Empire]]
from: 1000 till: 1438 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Late Intermediate Period|Late Intermediate]]
from: 1438 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text: [[Inca Empire]]
</timeline>
:::''Dates are approximate range (based upon influence), consult particular article for details''
::: {{color box|#ffd880}} Middle Ages Divisions, {{color box|#f2d97f}} Middle Ages Themes {{color box|#cccccc}}

== History by region in the Old World ==
=== Africa ===
{{Main|History of Africa#500 to 1800|l1=Medieval Africa}}

[[File:Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th-15th cent).jpg|thumb|Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th–15th century), within the [[Mali Empire]]]]
During the Postclassical Era, [[Africa]] was both culturally and politically affected by the introduction of Islam and the Arabic empires.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=184}} This was especially true in the north, the [[Sudan region]], and the east coast. However, this conversion was not complete nor uniform among different areas, and the low-level classes hardly changed their beliefs at all.<ref name="metmuseum islam trade and spread">{{cite web|title=Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=15 June 2013|archive-date=17 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517025116/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the migration and conquest of Muslims into Africa, much of the continent was dominated by diverse societies of varying sizes and complexities. These were ruled by kings or councils of elders who would control their constituents in a variety of ways. Most of these peoples practiced spiritual, animistic religions. Africa was culturally separated between Saharan Africa (which consisted of [[North Africa]] and the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]]) and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] (everything south of the Sahara). Sub-Saharan Africa was further divided into the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]], which covered everything north of [[Central Africa]], including [[West Africa]]. The area south of the Sudan was primarily occupied by the [[Bantu peoples]] who spoke the [[Bantu language]]. From 1100 onward [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] and the [[Islamic World]] became dependent on Africa for gold.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

After 650 approximately urbanization expanded for the first time beyond the ancient kingdoms [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] and [[Nubia]]. African civilizations can be divided into three categories based on religion:
*Christian civilizations on the [[Horn of Africa]],
*Islamic civilizations which formed in the Niger River valley in West Africa, and on the coast of East Africa, and
*[[Traditional society|traditional societies]] which adhered to native African religions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|title=History of Sub-Saharan Africa {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-06-09|archive-date=2018-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617092834/http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|url-status=live}}</ref> South of the Sahara African kingdoms developed based on continental trade with one another through land based routes and generally avoided sea trade.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

Sub-Saharan Africa was part of two large, separate trading networks, the Trans Saharan trade which bridged commerce between West and North Africa. Due to the huge profits from trade native African Islamic empires arose, including those of [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]], [[Mali Empire|Mali]] and [[Songhai Empire|Songhay]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=225|oclc=298782520}}</ref> In the 14th century, [[Musa I of Mali|Mansa Musa]] king of Mali may have been the wealthiest person of his time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tschanz|first=David|title=Lion of Mali: The Hajj of Mansa Musa|url=https://www.academia.edu/1593503|journal=Makzan|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110252/https://www.academia.edu/1593503/Lion_Of_Mali_The_Hajj_of_Mansa_Musa|url-status=live}}</ref> Within Mali, the city of [[Timbuktu]] was an international center of science and well known throughout the Islamic World, particularly from the [[Sankore Madrasah|University of Sankore]].
East Africa was part of the [[Indian Ocean trade|Indian Ocean trade network]], which included both Arab ruled Islamic cities on the East African Coast such as [[Mombasa]] and Traditional cities such as [[Great Zimbabwe]] which exported gold, copper and ivory to markets in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

=== Europe ===
{{main|Middle Ages}}[[File:Medieval ploughing.JPG|left|thumb|Medieval ploughing. Most Europeans in the Middle Ages were landless pesants called ''[[Serfdom|serfs]]'' who worked in exchange for military protection. After the [[Black Death]] of the 1340s, a labor shortage caused serfs to demand wages for their labor. Drawing from 1300|alt=|200x200px]]In Europe, Western civilization reconstituted after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]] into the period now known as the [[Early Middle Ages]] (500–1000). The Early Middle Ages saw a continuation of trends begun in [[Late Antiquity]]: depopulation, deurbanization, and increased [[barbarian]] invasion.<ref name="clark">Gilian Clark, ''Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford 2011), pp. 1–2.</ref>

From the 7th until the 11th centuries [[Early Muslim conquests|Arabs]], [[Hungarians|Magyars]] and [[Viking Age|Norse]] were all threats to the Christian Kingdoms that killed thousands of people over centuries.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=291}} Raiders however, also created new trading networks.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}} In western Europe the Frankish king [[Charlemagne]] attempted to kindle the rise of culture and science in the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=284}} In the year 800 [[Charlemagne]] founded the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in attempt to resurrect [[Classical Rome]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|pp=282–283}} The reign of Charlemagne attempted to kindle a rise of learning and literacy in what has become known as the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=282}}

In Eastern Europe, the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] survived in what is now called the [[Byzantine Empire]] which created the [[Corpus Juris Civilis|Code of Justinian]] that inspired the legal structures of modern European states.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=272}} Ruled by religious [[Orthodox Christianity|Christian Orthodox]] emperors the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church]] Christianized the [[Kievan Rus'|Kievan Rus]], who were the foundation of modern-day [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=96}}</ref> [[Byzantium]] flourished as the leading power and trade center in its region in the [[Macedonian Renaissance]] until it was overshadowed by [[Italian city-states|Italian City States]] and the Islamic [[Ottoman Empire]] near the end of the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=108}}</ref><{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=285}}

[[File:Bobolice, zamek.jpg|thumb|[[Bobolice Castle]], in [[Bobolice|Boblice Poland]]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval Europe]]an castles were centers of [[Feudalism|feudal power.]] ]]
Later in the period, the creation of the [[feudal system]] allowed greater degrees of military and agricultural organization. There was sustained [[urbanization]] in [[Northern Europe|northern]] and [[western Europe]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} Later developments were marked by [[manorialism]] and [[feudalism]], and evolved into the prosperous [[High Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} After 1000 the Christian kingdoms that had emerged from Rome's collapse changed dramatically in their cultural and societal character.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}}

During the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300), [[Christianity|Christian]]-oriented art and architecture flourished and the [[Crusades]] were mounted to recapture the [[Holy Land]] from [[Muslim]] control.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=444}} The influence of the emerging [[nation-state]] was tempered by the ideal of an international [[Christendom]] and the presence of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] in all western kingdoms.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=122–123}} The codes of [[chivalry]] and [[courtly love]] set rules for proper behavior, while the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] philosophers attempted to reconcile faith and reason.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}} The age of Feudalism would be dramatically transformed by the cataclysm of the [[Black Death]] and its aftermath.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=142}} This time would be a major underlying cause for the Renaissance. By the turn of the 16th century European or [[Western world|Western Civilization]] would be engaging in the [[Age of Discovery]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=477}}

The term "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation from the path of [[Classical antiquity|classical learning]], a path supposedly reconnected by [[Renaissance]] scholarship.<ref name="Miglio112">Miglio "Curial Humanism" ''Interpretations of Renaissance Humanism'' p. 112</ref>

=== West Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Middle East}}

The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding [[Middle East]] and [[Near East]] regions saw dramatic change during the Postclassical Era caused primarily by the spread of [[Islam]] and the establishment of the [[Caliphate|Arabian Empires]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=78}}</ref>

[[File:Крепость Нарын-Кала в Дербенте.jpg|left|thumb|6th century Sassanid defense lines in modern-day [[Derbent|Derbent, Dagestan Russia]]. Prior to the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]], [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Persia]] with its [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian Religion]] was prevalent]]

In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated by empires and their spheres of influence; the two most prominent were the Persian [[Sasanian Empire]], centered in what is now [[Iran]], and the [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[Anatolia]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). The Byzantines and Sasanians fought with each other continually, a reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=70}}</ref> The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Outline of History|last=Wells|first=H.G|publisher=Garden City Publishing Inc|year=1920|location=Garden City, NUY|page=544}}</ref> Meanwhile, the nomadic [[Bedouin]] tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal stability, greater trade networking and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism.
[[File:Hagia Sophia Mars 2013.jpg|thumb|The [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople was the center of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[File:15th century egyptian anatomy of horse.jpg|thumb|Anatomy of a horse from the 15th century. The [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]] made advances in [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|medicine]]. From the University Library, Istanbul.|alt=|276x276px]]

While the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Roman and [[Sassanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persian empires were both weakened by the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], a new power in the form of [[Islam]] grew in the Middle East under [[Muhammad in Medina]]. In a series of rapid [[Muslim conquests]], the [[Rashidun army]], led by the [[Caliph]]s and skilled military commanders such as [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]] and completely engulfing Persia in the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]. It would be the Arab [[Caliphate]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Arab|ethnic identity]] that persists today. These Caliphates included the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and later the Turkic-based [[Seljuq Empire]].

After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into 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>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=76}}</ref> Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in [[History of medicine|medicine]], [[History of elementary algebra|algebra]], [[History of geometry|geometry]], [[History of astronomy|astronomy]], [[History of anatomy|anatomy]], and [[History of ethics|ethics]] that would later finds it way back to Western Europe.

The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the [[Hejaz]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=110}}</ref> This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joint European forces mainly from [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], and the emerging [[Holy Roman Empire]], to enter the region.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=328}} In 1099 the knights of the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Jerusalem]] and founded the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], which survived until 1187, when [[Saladin]] retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=331}} In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)]] and advancing as far south as the border of [[Egypt]] in what became known as the [[Mongol conquests]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=333}} The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but the chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turko-Mongol]], [[Timur]], and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]].

=== South Asia ===
[[File:Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple).jpg|thumb|Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple) constructed by [[Rajendra Chola I|Rajendra Chola]]. Picture by Prakash Chidambaram.|alt=]]
{{main|Medieval India|History of India#Classical to early medieval periods (c. 200 BCE – c. 1200 CE)|#Late medieval period (c. 1200–1526 CE)}}
There has been difficulty applying the word 'medieval' or 'post classical' to the history of South Asia. This section follows historian Stein Burton's definition that corresponds from the 8th century to the 16th century, more of less following the same time frame of the Post Classical Period and the European Middle Ages.<ref>{{citation|last=Stein|first=Burton|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=D.|date=27 April 2010|title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726001148/https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until the 13th century, there was no less than 20 to 40 different states on the Indian Subcontinent which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems and religions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: A History|last=Keay|first=John|author-link=John Keay|publisher=[[Grove Press]]|year=2000|pages=xx–xxi}}</ref> At the beginning of the time period [[Buddhism]] was predominant throughout the area with the short-lived [[Pala Empire]] on the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Indo Gangetic Plain]] sponsoring the faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist [[Nalanda University]] in modern-day [[Bihar|Bihar, India]] a centre of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the ''[[Chaturanga]]'' game which later was exported to Europe and became [[Chess]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Murray |first=H.J.R.| title=A History of Chess| publisher=Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press)| year=1913| isbn=978-0-936317-01-4| oclc=13472872| author-link=H. J. R. Murray| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchess00murr}}</ref>
In Southern India, the [[Hindu]] Kingdom of [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and [[Chola invasion of Srivijaya|Indonesia]] as oversees territories and helped spread Hinduism into the historic culture of these places.<ref>''History of Asia'' by B.V. Rao p.211</ref> In this time period, neighboring areas such as [[History of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[History of Tibet|Tibet]], [[History of Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] were under [[Greater India|South Asian influence]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | title=The spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=20 December 2016 | date= | archive-date=16 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116205245/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1206 onward a series of [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Turkic Islamic invasions]] from modern-day Afghanistan and Iran conquered massive portions of Northern India, founding the [[Delhi Sultanate]] which remained supreme until the 16th century.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=107}} [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|Buddhism declined]] in South Asia vanishing in many areas but Hinduism survived and reinforced itself in areas conquered by [[Hindu –Islamic relations|Muslims]]. In the far South, the Kingdom of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijanyagar]] was not conquered by any Muslim state in the period. The turn of the 16th century would see the rise of a new Islamic Empire – the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] and the establishment of European trade posts by the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|title=mughal_index|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=2019-06-14|archive-date=2019-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715193143/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Southeast Asia ===
{{main|History of Southeast Asia#Medieval History}}
[[File:Borobdur9205.jpg|thumb|View of [[Borobudur]], from center point of view. Located in [[Magelang|Megelang]], [[Central Java]], [[Indonesia]]. Built in the 9th century Borobudur is the largest Buddhist Temple in the world.|alt=|left]]From the 8th century onward Southeast Asia stood to benefit from the trade taking place between South and East Asia, numerous kingdoms arose in the region due to the flow of wealth passing through the [[Strait of Malacca]]. While Southeast Asia had numerous outside influences [[Greater India|India]] was the greatest source of inspiration for the region. North Vietnam as an exception was culturally closer to China for centuries due to conquest.

Since rule from the third century BCE North Vietnam continued to be subjugated by Chinese states, although they continually resisted periodically. There were three periods of [[Chinese domination of Vietnam|Chinese Domination]] that spanned near 1100 years. The Vietnamese gained long lasting independence in the 10th century when China was [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|divided]] with [[Tĩnh Hải quân]] and the successor [[Đại Việt]]. Nonetheless, even as an independent state a sort of begrudging [[sinicization]] occurred. South Vietnam was governed by the ancient Hindu [[Champa|Champa Kingdom]] but was annexed by the [[Cham–Annamese War|Vietnamese]] in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|title=Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur|first=Ben|last=Kiernan|year=2009|publisher=Yale University Press|page=110|isbn=978-0-300-14425-3|access-date=January 9, 2011|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref>

The spread of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and maritime trade between China and [[South Asia]] created the foundation for Southeast Asia's first major empires; including the [[Khmer Empire]] from Cambodia and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] from Indonesia. During the Khmer Empire's height in the 12th century the city of [[Angkor Thom]] was among the largest of the pre-modern world due to its water management. [[Jayavarman II|King Jayavarman II]] constructed over a hundred hospitals throughout his realm.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Indianized states of Southeast Asia|first=George|last=Cœdès|isbn=978-0-8248-0368-1|location=Honolulu|oclc=961876784|year=1968|publisher=East-West Center Press}}</ref> Nearby rose the [[Pagan Empire]] in modern-day Burma, using elephants as military might.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=211|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The construction of the Buddhist [[Shwezigon Pagoda]] and its tolerance for believers of older polytheistic gods helped [[Theravada|Theravada Buddhism]] become supreme in the region.<ref name=":4" />

In Indonesia, [[Srivijaya]] from the 7th through 14th century was a [[Thalassocracy]] that focused on maritime city states and trade. Controlling the vital choke points of the [[Sunda Strait|Sunda]] and [[Strait of Malacca|Malacca straits]] it became rich from trade ranging from Japan through Arabia. Gold, Ivory and Ceramics were all major commodities traveling through port cities. The Empire was also responsible for the construction of wonders such as [[Borobudur]]. During this time Indonesian sailors crossed the [[Indian Ocean]]; evidence suggests that they may have colonized [[History of Madagascar|Madagascar]].<ref name="Madagascar Founded By Women">{{cite web |url=http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |title=Madagascar Founded By Women |publisher=Discovery.com |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-date=2012-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322115439/http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Indian culture spread to the [[History of the Philippines (900–1521)|Philippines]], likely through Indonesian trade resulting in the first documented use of writing in the archipelago and [[Indianized kingdom]]s.<ref>The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History by Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson p.186</ref>

Over time changing economic and political conditions else where and wars weakened the traditional empires of South East Asia. While the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]] did not directly annex Southeast Asia the war-time devastation paved way for the rise of new nations. In the 15th century the Khmer Empire was supplanted by the Thai [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] was overtaken by the [[Majapahit]] and later the Islamic [[Malacca Sultanate]] by 1450.

=== East Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Asia|}}[[File:Palastexamen-SongDynastie.jpg|thumb|In China public examinations gave citizens the opportunity to be employed by the Imperial Government through [[meritocracy]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Chinese Imperial Dynasties|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|language=en|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2018-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627034117/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|url-status=live}}</ref> The examination system reached its maximum effectiveness in the 11th–12th centuries. Painting from [[Ming dynasty]] era.|alt=]] The time frame of 500–1500 in East Asia's history and China in particular has been proposed as an accurate classification for the region's history within the context of global Post-classical history.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clark|first=Paul|title=Chinese History in the Post-Classical Age (500 CE to 1500 CE)|url=http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|journal=Humanities Institute|access-date=2018-08-31|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225615/http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> There has been an attempt made in college courses to adapt the Post-Classical concept to Chinese terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|title=A.P World Civilizations China|website=Berkeley.edu|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-date=2015-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708211451/https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

During this period the [[Eastern world]] empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas. [[Japan]] and [[Korea]] went under the process of voluntary [[sinicization]], or the impression of Chinese cultural and political ideas.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/japan/|title=Ancient Japan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034328/https://www.ancient.eu/japan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Japanese & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034356/https://www.ancient.eu/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Korean & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2021-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311054538/https://www.ancient.eu/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Korea]] and [[Asuka period|Japan]] sinicized because their ruling class were largely impressed by China's bureaucracy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} The major influences China had on these countries were the spread of Confucianism, the spread of Buddhism, and the establishment of centralized governance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=181}} In the times of the [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]] (581–1279), China remained the world's largest economy and most technologically advanced society.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false Bulliet & Crossley & Headrick & Hirsch & Johnson 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229161111/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2019-12-29 }}, p. 264.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lockard|first=Craig|date=1999|title=Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|journal=Encarta Historical Essays|access-date=2018-06-16|archive-date=2020-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924191957/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Four Great Inventions|Inventions]] such as gunpowder, woodblock printing and the magnetic compass were improved upon. China stood in contrast to other areas at the time as the imperial governments exhibited concentrated central authority instead of [[feudalism]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dalby|first=Michael T.|doi=10.1017/chol9780521214469.010|pages=561–681|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-05594-9|title=The Cambridge History of China|year=1979|chapter=Court politics in late T'ang times}}</ref>

China exhibited much interest in [[Foreign relations of imperial China|foreign affairs]], during the Tang and Song dynasties. From the 7th through the 10th Tang China was focused on securing the [[Silk Road]] as the selling of its goods westwards was central to the nation's economy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=615|oclc=298782520}}</ref> For a time China, successfully secured its frontiers by integrating their nomadic neighbors such as the [[Göktürks|Gokturks]] into their civilization.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=149}} The Tang dynasty expanded into Central Asia and received tribute from Eastern Iran.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} Western expansion ended with [[Battle of Talas|wars]] with the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and the deadly [[An Lushan Rebellion]] which resulted in an deadly but uncertain death toll of millions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=156}}

After the collapse of the Tang dynasty and subsequent [[Ten Kingdoms period|civil wars]] came the second phase of Chinese interest in foreign relations. Unlike the Tang, the Song specialized in overseas trade and peacefully created a maritime network and China's population became concentrated in the south.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=126–127}} Chinese merchant ships reached Indonesia, India and Arabia. Southeast Asia's economy flourished from trade with Song China.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=132}}
[[File:미륵반가사유상 (彌勒菩薩半跏思惟像).jpg|thumb|A Japanese Buddha sculpture from the [[Asuka period|Asuka Period]]|alt=|left]]
With the country's emphasis on trade and economic growth, [[Economy of the Song dynasty|Song China's economy]] began to use machines to manufacture goods and coal as a source of energy.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=160}} The advances of the Song in the 11th/12th centuries have been considered an early [[Chinese industrialization|industrial revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=F.So L.|last2=Schafer|first2=J.F.|date=1978|title=Registration of Clintland 60 and Clintland 64 Oats (Reg. No. 280 and 281)|journal=Crop Science|volume=18|issue=2|page=354|doi=10.2135/cropsci1978.0011183x001800020049x|issn=0011-183X}}</ref> Economic advancements came at the cost of military affairs and the Song became open to invasions from the north. China became divided as Song's northern lands were conquered by the [[Jurchen people]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=202|oclc=298782520}}</ref> By 1200 there were five Chinese kingdoms stretching from modern day Turkestan to the Sea of Japan including the [[Qara Khitai|Western Liao]], [[Western Xia]], [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]], [[Song dynasty|Southern Song]] and [[Dali Kingdom|Dali]].<ref>{{Citation|last=國家地震局地球物理硏究所 (China)|script-title=zh:中國歷史地震圖集 : 清時期|date=1990|publisher=Zhongguo di tu chu ban she|isbn=7503105747|oclc=26030569}}</ref> Because these states competed with each other they all were eventually annexed by the rising [[Mongol Empire]] before 1279.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicleof world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|pages=232–233|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

After seventy years of [[Mongol conquest of China|conquest]], the Mongols proclaimed the [[Yuan dynasty]] and also annexed [[Mongol invasions of Korea|Korea]]; they failed to conquer [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Japan]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=128–129}} Mongol conquerors also made China accessible to [[Europeans in Medieval China|European travelers]] such as [[Marco Polo]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Mongols in World History|url=https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|journal=Asian Topics in World History|via=Columbia University|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110316/https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|url-status=live}}</ref> The Mongol era was short lived due to plagues and famine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|title=HISTORY OF CHINA|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2017-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160403/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|url-status=live}}</ref> After [[Red Turban Rebellion|revolution]] in 1368 the succeeding [[Ming dynasty]] ushered in a period of prosperity and brief [[Ming treasure voyages|foreign expeditions]] before isolating itself from global affairs for centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|title=Zheng He|website=Khan Academy|language=en|access-date=2018-08-14|archive-date=2018-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232811/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Muromachi period|Japan]] however continued to have relations with China and with other Asian countries. In the 15th century [[Sejong the Great]] of Korea cemented his country's identity by creating the [[Hangul|Hangul Writing]] system to replace use of [[Chinese characters|Chinese Characters]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burzillo|first=David|date=May 2004|title=Writing and World History|url=http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|journal=World History Connected|volume=1|issue=2|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425013301/http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Japan fell under military rule of the [[Kamakura period|Kamakura]] and later [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga]] Shogunate dominated by [[Samurai|Samauri]] warriors.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=226|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

== Eurasia ==
This section explains events and trends which affected the geographic area of [[Eurasia]]. The civilizations within this area were distinct from one another but still endured shared experiences and some development patterns

{{Gallery
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|File:East-Hem 500ad.jpg| alt1=Map of the Eastern Hemisphere 475 AD.
|Map of the Eastern Hemisphere 500 AD
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|Map of the Eastern Hemisphere 800 AD
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=== Mongol Empire ===
{{main|Mongol Empire}}[[File:DiezAlbumsArmedRiders I.jpg|thumb|
Mounted warriors pursue enemies. Illustration of Rashid-ad-Din's Gami' at-tawarih. Tabriz (?), 1st quarter of 14th century.
|alt=|left]]

The Mongol Empire which existed during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest [[List of largest empires#Largest empires by land area and population|continuous land empire]] in history.<ref>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. p. 5.</ref> Originating in the [[steppe]]s of [[Central Asia]], the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from [[Central Europe]] to the [[Sea of Japan]], extending northwards into [[Siberia]], eastwards and southwards into the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Indochina]], and the [[Iranian plateau]], and westwards as far as the [[Levant]] and [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=234|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the [[Mongolia]] homeland under the leadership of [[Genghis Khan]], who was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under his descendants, who sent [[Mongol invasions|invasions]] in every direction.<ref>Diamond. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel''. p. 367.</ref><ref>''The Mongols and Russia'', by [[George Vernadsky]]</ref><ref>''The Mongol World Empire, 1206–1370'', by John Andrew Boyle</ref><ref>''The History of China'', by David Curtis Wright. p. 84.</ref><ref>''The Early Civilization of China'', by Yong Yap Cotterell, Arthur Cotterell. p. 223.</ref><ref>''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281'' by Reuven Amitai-Preiss</ref> The vast transcontinental empire connected the [[eastern world|east]] with the [[western world|west]] with an enforced ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'' allowing trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Gregory G.|last=Guzman|title=Were the barbarians a negative or positive factor in ancient and medieval history?|journal=The Historian|volume=50|issue=4|year=1988|pages=568–570|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1988.tb00759.x|jstor=24447158}}</ref><ref>[[Thomas T. Allsen]]. ''Culture and Conquest''. p. 211.</ref>

The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir [[Ögedei Khan|Ögedei]], or one of his other sons such as [[Tolui]], [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]], or [[Jochi]]. After [[Möngke Khan]] died, rival ''[[kurultai]]'' councils simultaneously elected different successors, the brothers [[Ariq Böke]] and [[Kublai Khan]], who then not only fought each other in the [[Toluid Civil War]], but also dealt with challenges from descendants of other sons of Genghis.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Biran |title=Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia |publisher=The Curzon Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7007-0631-0}}</ref> Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the [[Chagatai khans|Chagatayid]] and [[House of Ögedei|Ögedeid]] families.

[[File:LetterOljeituToPhilipLeBel.jpg|thumb|Letter from the Mongolian-Persian [[Ilkhanate]] to France, 1305. The Chinese style stamp was used outside China as the official symbol of the Khans and their messengers|alt=]]The [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in 1260 marked the high-water point of the [[Mongol conquests]] and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. Though the Mongols launched many more invasions into the Levant, briefly occupying it and raiding as far as Gaza after a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar]] in 1299, they withdrew due to various geopolitical factors.

By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires, each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives: the [[Golden Horde]] khanate in the northwest; the [[Chagatai Khanate]] in the west; the [[Ilkhanate]] in the southwest; and the [[Yuan dynasty]] based in modern-day [[Beijing]].<ref name="China p413">''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States''. p. 413.</ref> In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty,<ref>Jackson. ''Mongols and the West''. p. 127.</ref><ref>Allsen. ''Culture and Conquest''. pp. xiii, 235.</ref> but it was later overthrown by the [[Han Chinese]] [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=233|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The Genghisid rulers returned to Mongolia homeland and continued rule in the [[Northern Yuan dynasty]].<ref name=":6" /> All of the original Mongol Khanates collapsed by 1500, but smaller successor states remained independent until the 1700s. Descendants of [[Chagatai Khan]] created the [[Mughal Empire]] that ruled much of India in [[Early modern period|early modern]] times.<ref name=":6" />

=== The Silk Road ===
{{main|History of Central Asia|History of Siberia|Silk Road}}
[[File:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg|left|thumb|Central Asian Buddhist Monks, the Silk Road allowed for the exchange for ideas as well as goods. A Caucasian looking [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] teacher possibly [[Sogdia]]n instructs an East-Asian monk. Dated from the 9th century near [[Turpan|Turfan, Xinxiang, China]] |214x214px]]
The Silk Road was a Eurasian trade route that played a large role in global communication and interaction. It stimulated cultural exchange; encouraged the learning of new languages; resulted in the trade of many goods, such as silk, gold, and spices; and also spread religion and disease.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} It is even claimed by some historians – such as [[Andre Gunder Frank]], [[William Hardy McNeill]], [[Jerry H. Bentley]], and [[Marshall Hodgson]] – that the Afro-Eurasian world was loosely united culturally, and that the Silk Road was fundamental to this unity.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} This major trade route began with the [[Han dynasty]] of China, connecting it to the Roman Empire and any regions in between or nearby. At this time, Central Asia exported horses, [[wool]], and [[jade]] into China for the latter's silk; the Romans would trade for the Chinese commodity as well, offering wine in return.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=101}} The Silk Road would often decline and rise again in trade from the Iron Age to the Postclassical Era. Following one such decline, it was reopened in Central Asia by [[Han Dynasty]] General [[Ban Chao]] during the 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The Silk Road was also a major factor in spreading religion across Afro-Eurasia. Muslim teachings from Arabia and [[Persia]] reached East Asia. Buddhism spread from India, to China, to Central Asia. One significant development in the spread of Buddhism was the carving of the [[Gandhara]] School in the cities of [[Taxila (ancient)|ancient Taxila]] and the [[Peshwar]], allegedly in the mid 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The route was vulnerable to spreading plague. The [[Plague of Justinian]] originated in East Asia and had a major outbreak in Europe in 542 causing the deaths of a quarter of the Mediterranean's population. Trade between Europe, Africa and Asia along the route was at least partially responsible for spreading the plague.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|title=Justinian's Plague (541–542 CE)|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-10|date=|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418160219/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is a popular theory that the Black Death was caused by the Mongol conquests. The claim is that the direct link that it opened between the East and West provided the path for rats and fleas that carried the disease.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-691-13589-2|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=195}}</ref> Although there is no concrete historical evidence to this theory, the plague is considered endemic on the steppe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction|last=Milward|first=James|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-978286-4|location=Oxford|pages=46}}</ref>

There were vulnerabilities as well to changing political situations. The rise of Islam changed the Silk Road, because Muslim rulers generally closed the Silk Road to [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] to an extent Europe would be cut off from Asia for centuries. Specifically, the political developments that affected the Silk Road included the emergence of the Turks, the political movements of the Sasanian and Byzantine empires, and the rise of the Arabs, among others.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith|last1=Whitfield|first1=Susan|last2=Sims-Williams|first2=Ursula|publisher=Serindia Publications, Inc.|year=2004|isbn=978-1-932476-12-5|location=Chicago, IL|pages=30}}</ref>
[[File:Song Tapestry.jpg|thumb|Chinese-Song-era tapestry, Chinese Silk was carried west over large distances and sold for large profits.|alt=Chinese-Song era tapestry|264x264px]]

The Silk Road flourished again in the 13th century during the reign of the Mongol Empire, which through conquest had brought stability in Central Asia comparable to the [[Pax Romana]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} It was claimed by a Muslim historian that Central Asia was peaceful and safe to transverse <blockquote>"(Central Asia) enjoyed such a peace that a man might have journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a golden platter upon his head without suffering the least violence from anyone."{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}} </blockquote>

As such, trade and communication between Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East required little effort. Handicraft production, art, and scholarship prospered, and wealthy merchants enjoyed cosmopolitan cities.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}}

The Silk Road trade played a role in spreading the infamous [[Black Death]]. Originating in China, the [[bubonic plague]] was spread by Mongol warriors catapulting diseased corpses into enemy towns in the [[Crimea]]. The disease, spread by rats, was carried by merchant ships sailing across the Mediterranean that brought the plague back to Sicily, causing an [[epidemic]] in 1347.{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=310}} Nevertheless, after the 15th century, the Silk Road disappeared from regular use.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} This was primarily a result from the growing sea travel pioneered by Europeans, which allowed the trade of goods by sailing around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}}

=== Science ===
{{main|History of Science#Post-classical science|History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent|History of science and technology in China}}
[[File:Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript.jpg|left|thumb|Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript]]
The term ''post-classical science'' is often used in academic circles and in college courses to combine the study of [[European science in the Middle Ages|medieval European science]] and [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic science]] due to their interactions with one another.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|title=Outline – Post-Classical Science – History of Science Study Guide – Dr Robert A. Hatch|last=Hatch|first=Dr Robert A.|website=users.clas.ufl.edu|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2016-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630150105/http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However scientific knowledge also spread westward by trade and war from Eastern Eurasia, particularly from China by Arabs. The Islamic World also benefited from medical knowledge from [[Indian influence on Islamic science|South Asia]].<ref>A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine By Plinio Prioreschi Vol. iv, p. 121, {{ISBN|1-888456-02-7}}</ref>

In the case of the Western World and in Islamic realms much emphasis was placed on preserving the rationalist Greek Tradition of figures such as [[Aristotle]]. In the context of science within Islam there are questions as to whether Islamic Scientists simply preserved accomplishments from [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]] or built upon earlier Greek advances.<ref>[[Bertrand Russell]] (1945) ''[[A History of Western Philosophy|History of Western Philosophy]]'', book 2, part 2, chapter X</ref><ref>[[Abdus Salam]], H.R. Dalafi, Mohamed Hassan (1994). ''Renaissance of Sciences in Islamic Countries'' p. 162. World Scientific, {{ISBN|9971-5-0713-7}}.</ref> Regardless, Classical European Science was brought back to the Christian Kingdoms due to the experience of the [[Crusades]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}}

As a result of Persian trade in China, and the battle of the [[Battle of Talas|Talas River]], Chinese innovations entered the Islamic intellectual world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Collins Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=108}}</ref> These include advances in astronomy and in [[History of paper|paper-making]].<ref name="meggs58">Meggs, Philip B. ''A History of Graphic Design.'' John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (p. 58) {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Masood|2009|pp=132–135}} Paper-making spread through the Islamic World as far west as [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]], before paper-making was acquired for Europe by the [[Reconquista]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|title=History of paper|website=users.stlcc.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822144311/http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is debate about [[History of gunpowder#Spread throughout Eurasia and Africa|transmission of gunpowder]] on whether the Mongols introduced [[Science and technology of the Song dynasty#Gunpowder warfare|Chinese gunpowder weapons]] to Europe or if gunpowder weapons were invented in Europe independently.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chase |first=Kenneth |year=2003 |title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9|page=58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Morillo |first=Stephen |year=2008 |title=War in World History: Society, Technology, and War from Ancient Times to the Present, Volume 1, To 1500 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-052584-9|page=259}}</ref>

=== Literate culture and arts ===
{{main|History of literature|History of art|History of music}}
[[File:Genji emaki sekiya.jpg|thumb|12th century illustration from the ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'', the world's first novel.]]

[[File:Talaei-tetrachords.ogg|left|thumb|Persian Talaei-tetrachords]]
[[File:Ut Queant Laxis.ogg|left|thumb|Italy, 8th century ''Ut Queant Laxis'']]
Within Eurasia, there were four major civilization groups that had literate cultures and created literature and arts, including Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Southeast Asia could be a possible fifth category but was influenced heavily from both South and East Asia literal cultures. All four cultures in Post-Classical Times used [[poetry]], [[drama]] and [[prose]]. Throughout the period and until the 19th century poetry was the dominant form of literary expression. In the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and China great poetic works often used figurative language. Examples include, the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Shakuntala (play)|Shakuntala]]'', the [[Arabic]] ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Thousand and one nights]]'', [[Old English]] ''[[Beowulf]] '' and works by the Chinese [[Du Fu]]. In Japan, prose uniquely thrived more than in other geographic areas. The ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'' is considered the world's first realistic novel written in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|title=World Literature and Music {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724230109/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Musically, most regions of the world only used [[Melody|melodies]] as opposed to [[harmony]]. Medieval Europe was the lone exception to this rule, developing harmonic music in the 14th/15th century as musical culture transitioned form sacred music (meant for the church) to secular music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|title=Western Music Timeline {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623210258/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref> South Asian and Mid-Eastern music were similar to each other for their use of [[Microtonal music|microtone]]. East-Asian music shared some similarities with European Music for using a [[pentatonic scale]].

== The Americas ==
{{main|Pre-Columbian era}}

The Postclassical Era of the Americas can be considered set at a different time span from that of Afro-Eurasia. As the developments of Mesoamerican and Andean civilization differ greatly from that of the Old World, as well as the speed at which it developed, the Postclassical Era in the traditional sense does not take place until near the end of the medieval age in Western Europe. As such, for the purposes of this article, the [[Woodland period]] and [[Classic stage]] of the Americas will be discussed here, which takes place from about 400 to 1400.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willey |first=Gordon R. |year=1989 |chapter=Gordon Willey |title=The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney |editor=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2=Christopher Chippindale |editor-link=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2-link=Christopher Chippindale |location=New York |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |isbn=0-500-05051-1 |oclc=19750309}}</ref> For the technical Postclassical stage in American development which took place on the eve of European contact, see [[Post-Classic stage]].

{{Gallery
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|File:North American cultural areas.png
|alt1=Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|File:Áreas Culturales de América.PNG
|alt2= Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
|Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
}}

=== North America ===
As a continent there was little unified trade or communication. Advances in agriculture spread northward from [[Mesoamerica]] indirectly through trade. Major cultural areas however still developed independently of each other.

==== Norse Contact and the Polar Regions ====
{{Main|Norse colonization of North America}}
[[File:Authentic Viking recreation.jpg|thumb|Authentic reconstruction of Norse site at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]]. Photo provided by Dylan Kereluk.]]

While there was little regular contact between the Americas and the Old World the [[Vikings|Norse Vikings]] explored and even colonized [[Greenland]] and [[Canada]] as early as 1000. None of these settlements survived past [[Middle Ages|Medieval Times]]. Outside of Scandinavia knowledge of the discovery of the Americas was interpreted as a [[Vinland#Medieval geographers|remote island]] or the [[North Pole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|title=[Vinland in] Chapter 39|first=Adam of|last=Bremen|date=30 November 1977|website=www.canadianmysteries.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117100208/http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

The Norse arriving from Greenland settled Greenland from approximately 980 to 1450.<ref name=":2" /> The Norse arrived in southern [[Greenland]] prior to the 13th century approach of [[Inuit]] [[Thule people]] in the area. The extent of the interaction between the Norse and Thule is unclear.<ref name=":2" /> Greenland was valuable to the Norse due to trade of ivory that came from the tusks of walruses. The [[Little Ice Age]] adversely affected the colonies and they vanished.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of archaeology|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry W.|last2=Gosden|first2=Chris|last3=Joyce|first3=Rosemary A.|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-927101-6|page=592|oclc=277205272}}</ref> Greenland would be lost to Europeans until [[Danish colonization of the Americas|Danish Colonization]] in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|title=Colonialism in Greenland: An Inuit Perspective|website=arcticcircle.uconn.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031152005/http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|archive-date=2017-10-31|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Norse also explored and colonized farther south in [[Newfoundland|Newfoundland Canada]] at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]] referred to by the Norse as ''[[Vinland]]''. The colony at most existed for twenty years and resulted in no known transmission of diseases or technology to the [[First Nations]]. To the Norse ''Vinland'' was known for plentiful grape vines to make superior wine. One reason for the colony's failure was constant violence with the native [[Beothuk]] tribe who the Norse referred to as [[Skræling|Skraeling]].

After initial expeditions there is a possibility that the Norse continued to visit modern day Canada. Surviving records from medieval Iceland indicate some sporadic voyages to a land called ''[[Markland]]'', possibly the coast of [[Labrador|Labrador, Canada]], as late as 1347 presumably to collect wood for deforested Greenland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seaver |first=Kristen A. |title=The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, Ca. A.D. 1000–1500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1996 |page=28 |isbn=978-0-8047-3161-4 |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Northern Areas ====
{{Main|Indigenous peoples in Canada#Post-Archaic periods|History of Native Americans in the United States#Major cultures}}[[File:Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM.jpg|left|thumb|Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM|133x133px]]In northern [[North America]], many [[hunter-gatherer]] and [[agricultural]] societies thrived in the diverse region. [[Native American in the United States|Native American tribes]] varied greatly in characteristics; some, including the [[Mississippian culture]] and the [[Ancestral Puebloans]] were complex chiefdoms. Other nations which inhabited the states of the modern northern United States and Canada had less complexity and did not follow technological changes as quickly. Approximately around the year 500 during the [[Woodland period]], Native Americans began to transition to bows and arrows from spears for hunting and warfare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|title=American Indian Archery Technology {{!}} The Office of the State Archaeologist|website=archaeology.uiowa.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-05-26|archive-date=2018-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527201628/https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|url-status=live}}</ref> Technological advancement however was uneven. During the 12th century was the widespread adoption of Corn as a staple crop in the [[Eastern United States]]. Corn would continue to be the staple crop of natives in the Eastern United States and Canada until the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian Exchange]].

[[File:Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado USA.JPG|thumb|Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado|133x133px]]
In the eastern United States, rivers were the medium of trade and communication. [[Cahokia]] located in the modern U.S [[State of Illinois]] was among the most significant within the Mississippi Culture. Focused around [[Monks Mound]] archaeology indicates the population increased exponentially after 1000 because it manufactured important tools for agriculture and cultural attractions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=393}} Around 1350 Cahokia was abandoned, environmental factors have been proposed for the city's decline.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|title=As the river rises: Cahokia's emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding|website=news.wisc.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-31|archive-date=2018-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213205/https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the same time Ancestral Puebloans constructed clusters of buildings in the [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park|Chaco Canyon]] site located in the [[New Mexico|State of New Mexico]]. Individual houses may have been occupied by more than 600 residents at any one time. Chaco Canyon was the only pre-Columbian site in the United States to build paved roads.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carballo|first=David M.|chapter=Trade Routes in the Americas Before Columbus|title=The Great Trade Routes: A History of Cargos and Commerce Over Land and Sea|editor-last=Parker|editor-first=Philip|location=London|publisher=Conway Publishing|url=https://www.academia.edu/4998969|pages=166–170|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.academia.edu/4998969/Trade_Routes_in_the_Americas_Before_Columbus|url-status=live}}</ref> Pottery indicates a society that was becoming more complex, turkeys for the first time in the continental United States were also domesticated. Around 1150 the structures of Chaco Canyon were abandoned, likely as a result of severe drought.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fagan
|first1=B. M.|year=2005|title=Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195170436|pages=18–19}}</ref>{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=391}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/MapDisplay.aspx|title=Reconstructed JJA PDSI 1150 AD|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref> There were also other Pueblo complexes in the Southwestern United States. After reaching climaxes native complex societies in the United States declined and did not entirely recover before the arrival of European Explorers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500.|pages=391}}</ref>

==== Mesoamerica ====
{{Main|Mesoamerica}}
[[File:Telamones Tula.jpg|thumb|Toltec [[Atlantean figures]] at the Tula site. The [[Toltec|Toltec Civilization]] inspired the later [[Aztecs]].|alt=|left]]At the beginning of the global Post Classic Period, the city of [[Teotihuacan]] was at its zenith, housing over 125,000 people, at 500 A.D it was the sixth largest city in the world at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|title=Populations of Largest Cities in PMNs from 2000BC to 1988AD|work=Etext Archives|date=2007-09-29|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110844/http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|archive-date=2007-09-29}}</ref> The city's residents built the [[Pyramid of the Sun]] the third largest pyramid of the world, oriented to follow astronomical events. Suddenly in the 6th and 7th centuries, the city suddenly declined possibly as a result of severe environmental damage caused by [[extreme weather events of 535–536]]. There is evidence that large parts of the city were burned, possibly in a domestic rebellion.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-29|date=|archive-date=2021-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417181631/https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|url-status=live}}</ref> The city's legacy would inspire all future civilizations in the region.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=Ancient History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

At the same time was Classic Age of the [[Maya civilization|Mayan Civilization]] clustered in dozens of city states on the [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] and modern day [[Guatemala]].<ref>{{harvnb|Barraclough|2003|page=46}}</ref> The most significant of these cities were [[Chichen Itza]] which often fiercely competed with its neighbors to be the dominant economic influence in the region.

The Mayans had an upper caste of priests, who were well versed in astronomy, mathematics and writing. The Mayan developed the concept of zero, and a 365-day calendar which possibly pre-dates its creation in Old-World societies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|title=HISTORY OF MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATION|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-06-29|archive-date=2018-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322045141/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|url-status=live}}</ref> After 900, many Mayan cities suddenly declined in a period of drought.[[File:Aztec11 Bloodletting.jpg|thumb|Aztec Bloodletting, priests conduct a heart sacrifice, from the ''Tudela Codex'', 16th century.|197x197px]]

The [[Toltec Empire]] arose from the [[Toltec]] culture, and were remembered as wise and benevolent leaders. One priest-king called [[Ce Acatl Topiltzin]] advocated against human sacrifice.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Henry|date=2001|title=Topiltzin Quetzalcotal. The once and future Lord of the Toltec|journal=Boulder: University Press of Colorado|pages=258}}</ref> After his death in 947, civil wars of religious character broke out between those who supported and opposed Topiltzin's teachings.<ref name=":8" /> Modern historians however are skeptical of the extent of Toltec and influence and believe that much of the information known about the Toltecs was created by the later Aztecs as an inspiration myth.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Aztec kings : the construction of rulership in Mexica history|last=Gillespie|first=Susan D.|date=1989|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=0816510954|location=Tucson|oclc=19353576}}</ref>

In the 1300s, a small band of violent, religious radicals called the [[Aztec]]s began minor raids throughout the area.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Eventually they began to claim connections with the Toltec civilization, and insisted they were the rightful successors.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|title=Traditions and Encounters, AP Edition , 5th Edition|last=Bentley|publisher=McGraw-Hill|chapter=Chapter 20|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2017-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519144625/http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> They began to grow in numbers and conquer large areas of land. Fundamental to their conquest, was the use of [[Terrorism|political terror]] in the sense that the Aztec leaders and priests would command the [[human sacrifice]] of their [[Conquest (military)#Subjugation|subjugated]] people as means of humility and coercion.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Most of the Mesoamerican region would eventually fall under the Aztec Empire.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} On the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] most of the [[Maya peoples|Mayan People]] continued to be independent of the Aztecs but their traditional civilization declined.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Aztec developments expanded cultivation, applying the use of [[chinampa]]s, irrigation, and [[terrace agriculture]]; important crops included [[maize]], [[sweet potato]]es, and [[avocado]]s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}

In 1430 the city of [[Tenochtitlan]] allied with other powerful [[Nahuan languages|Nahuatl]] speaking cities- [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]] and [[Tlacopan]] to create the Aztec Empire otherwise known as Triple-Alliance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Though referred to as an empire the Aztec Empire functioned as a system of tribute collection with Tenochtitlan at its center. By the turn of the 16th century "[[flower war]]s" between the Aztecs and rival states such as [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]] had continued for over fifty years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |title=Conquistadors – Cortés |publisher=PBS |access-date=2010-10-31 |archive-date=2011-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182621/http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== South America ===
{{main|Pre-Columbian era#South America}}

South American civilization was concentrated in the Andean region which had already hosted complex cultures since 2,500 BC. East of the Andean region, the natives were generally semi nomadic. Discoveries on the [[Amazon basin|Amazon River Basin]] indicate the region likely had a pre-contact population of five million people and hosted complex societies.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |date=December 2009 |volume=83 |issue=322 |pages=1084–1095 |title=Pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in the upper Purús: a complex society in western Amazonia |first1=Martti |last1=Pärssinen |first2=Denise |last2=Schaan |first3=Alceu |last3=Ranzi |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00099373 |s2cid=55741813 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |access-date=2020-01-24 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Pre-Columbian-geometric-earthworks-in-the-upper-a-P%C3%A4rssinen-Schaan/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Around the continent numerous agricultural peoples from [[History of Colombia|Colombia]] to [[History of Argentina|Argentina]] steadily advanced from 500 AD until European contact.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=47}}</ref>

==== Andean Region ====
{{main|Andean civilizations|}}
[[File:Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru - panoramio (1).jpg|left|thumb|Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru, provided by David Broad.|238x238px|alt=]]

During [[Ancient history|Ancient times]] the Andean Region had developed civilizations independent of outside influences including that of [[Mesoamerica]].<ref>Upton, Gary and von Hagen, Adriana (2015), ''Encyclopedia of the Incas'', New York: Rowand & Littlefield, p. 2. Some scholars cite 6 or 7 pristine civilizations.</ref> Through the Post Classical era a cycle of civilizations continued until [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Spanish contact]]. Collectively Andean societies lacked currency, a written language and solid draft animals enjoyed by old world civilizations. Instead Andeans developed other methods to foster their growth, including use of the [[quipu]] system to communicate messages, lamas to carry smaller loads and an economy based on [[Reciprocity (social and political philosophy)|reciprocity]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Societies were often based on strict social hierarchies and economic redistribution from the ruling class.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}>

In the first half of the Post Classical Period the Andean Region was dominated by two almost equally powerful states. In the North of Peru was the [[Wari Empire]] and in the South of Peru and Bolivia there was the [[Tiwanaku empire]] both of whom were inspired by the earlier [[Moche culture|Moche People]]. While the extent of their relationship to each other is unknown, it is believed that they were in a Cold-War with one another, competing but avoiding direct conflict to avoid [[mutual assured destruction]]. Without war there was prosperity and around the year 700 Tiwanaku city hosted a population of 1.4. million.<ref>Kolata, Alan L. ''Valley of the Spirits: A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara,'' Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 1996</ref> After the 8th century both states declined due to changing environmental conditions, laying the ground work for the Incas to emerge as a distinct culture centuries later.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=387}}

In the 15th century the [[Inca Empire]] rose to annex all other nations in the area. Led by their, sun-god king, [[Sapa Inca]], they slowly conquered what is now [[Peru]], and built their society throughout the Andes cultural region. The Incas spoke the [[Quechua languages]]. The Incas used the advances created by earlier Andean societies. Incas have been known to have used [[abacus]]es to calculate mathematics. The Inca Empire is known for some of its magnificent structures, such as [[Machu Picchu]] in the [[Cusco region]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=389}} The empire expanded quickly northwards to Ecuador, Southwards to central Chile. To the north of the Inca Empire remained the independent [[Tairona]] and [[Muisca Confederation|Musica Confederation]] who practiced agriculture and gold metallurgy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Muisca_Civilization/|title=Muisca Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084340/https://www.ancient.eu/Muisca_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Tairona_Civilization/|title=Tairona Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902151733/https://www.ancient.eu/Tairona_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Oceania ==
{{Gallery
| title = Maps depicting Oceania
| align = center
| footer =
| height = 200
| width = 350

|File:Aboriginal regions.png
|alt1=Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia.
|Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia
|File:Polynesian Migration.svg
|alt2=Polynesian Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
|Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
}}

{{Main|History of Oceania}}
[[File:Micronesian navigational chart.jpg|alt=Micronesian navigational chart|thumb|[[Marshall Islands stick chart|Micronesian navigational chart]], these were used by Polynesians to navigate through wind and water currents.]]
Separate from developments in [[Afro-Eurasia]] and the Americas the region of greater [[Oceania]] continued to develop independently of the outside world. In [[History of Australia|Australia]], the society of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aborigines]] and [[Melanesia]] changed little through the Post Classical Period since their arrival in the area from Africa around 50,000 BC. The only outside contact were encounters with fishermen of [[Makassan contact with Australia|Indonesian]] origin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands|last=Ian|first=Lilley|date=2006|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-23082-3|page=117|oclc=474724373}}</ref> Polynesian and Micronesian Peoples are rooted from [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|Taiwan]] and [[Southeast Asia]] and began their migration into the [[Pacific Ocean]] from 3000 to 1500 BC.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|title=Australia and Oceania: Human Geography|date=2012-01-04|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=2018-09-07|language=en|archive-date=2018-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015753/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During Post-classical Times the [[Micronesia]]n and the [[Polynesia]]n peoples constructed cities in some areas such as [[Nan Madol]] and [[Muʻa (Tongatapu)|Mu'a]]. Around 1200 AD the [[Tu'i Tonga Empire]] spread its influence far and wide throughout the South Pacific Islands, being described by academics as a maritime chiefdom which used trade networks to keep power centralized around the king's capital. Polynesians on [[Outrigger canoe|outrigger]] canoes [[Polynesian navigation|discovered]] and colonized some of the last uninhabited islands of earth.<ref name=":5" /> [[Discovery and settlement of Hawaii|Hawaii]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and [[History of Easter Island|Easter Island]] were among the final places to be reached, settlers discovering pristine lands. [[Polynesian narrative|Oral Tradition]] claimed that navigator [[Ui-te-Rangiora]] discovered icebergs in the [[Southern Ocean]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Stephenson Percy |author-link=Percy Smith (ethnologist) |title=Hawaiki: the whence of the Maori: with a sketch of Polynesian history, being an introd. to the native history of Rarotonga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2013-01-19 |year=1898 |publisher=Whitcombe & Tombs |pages=90–91 |archive-date=2020-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225616/https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In exploring and settling, Polynesian settlers did not strike at random but used their knowledge of wind and water currents to reach their destinations.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=9}}

[[File:Book-Hawaii-Vtorov-246.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hale o Keawe]], a restored [[Heiau]] in the U.S [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]], used as sacred temple and sacrificial altar. The statues represent traditional gods.]]
[[File:War canoes (5178916728).jpg|thumb|Authentic [[Māori culture|Maori]] [[Waka (canoe)|Waka]], used for warfare and navigation in [[New Zealand]]]]
On the settled islands some Polynesian groups became distinct from one another. A significant example being the [[Māori people|Maori]] of New Zealand. Other island systems kept in contact with each other, such as [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]] and the [[Society Islands]]. Ecologically, Polynesians had the challenge of sustaining themselves within limited environments. Some settlements caused mass extinctions of some native plant and animal species over time by hunting species such as the [[Moa]] and introducing the [[Polynesian Rat]].<ref name=":5" /> Easter Island settlers engaged in complete ecological destruction of their habtiat and their population crashed afterwards possibly due to the construction of the [[Moai|Easter Island Statues]].<ref name=terry_hunt>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1511/2006.61.1002| title = Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island| journal = American Scientist| volume = 94| issue = 5| page = 412| year = 2006| last1 = Hunt | first1 = T. }}</ref><ref>West, Barbara A. (2008) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412174820/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en |date=2016-04-12 }}''. Infobase Publishing. p. 684. {{ISBN|0-8160-7109-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Holdaway |first=R.N. |last2=Jacomb |first2=C. |year=2000 |title=Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5461 |pages=2250–2254 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5461.2250 |pmid=10731144 |bibcode=2000Sci...287.2250H}}</ref> Other colonizing groups adapted to accommodate to the ecology of specific islands such as the [[Moriori]] of the [[Chatham Islands]].

Europeans on their voyages visited many Pacific Islands in the 16th and 17th century, but most areas of Oceania were not colonized until after the [[First voyage of James Cook|voyages]] of British explorer [[James Cook]] in the 1780s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=236}}

==End of the period==
{{Main|Early modern period}}
[[File:Genoese world map 1457. LOC 97690053.jpg|left|thumb|300px|[[Genoese map|Genoese world map]], 1457 it suggests the possibility of sea travel to India from Western Europe though this had not yet been done at the time.]]

As the postclassical era drew to a close in the 15th century, many of the empires established throughout the period were in decline.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}} The [[Byzantine Empire]] would soon be overshadowed in the Mediterranean by Italian city states such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] and the [[Ottoman Turks]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=113}}</ref> The Byzantines faced repeated attacks from eastern and western powers during the [[Fourth Crusade]], and declined further until the loss of [[Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1453.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}}

The largest change came in terms of trade and technology. The global significance of the fall of the Byzantines was the disruption of overland routes between Asia and Europe.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=144}}</ref> Traditional dominance of [[Nomad]]ism in Eurasia declined and the [[Pax Mongolica|Pax Mongolia]] which had allowed for interactions between different civilizations was no longer available. [[Western Asia]] and [[South Asia]] were conquered by [[gunpowder empires]] which successfully utilized advances in military technology but closed the [[Silk Road]].<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Madeline C.|last=Zilfi|year=1997|title=Halil Inalcik and Donald Quataert, editors. ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1994. pp. xxxi, 1026 |journal=The American Historical Review|language=en|volume=102|issue=2|pages=488–489|doi=10.1086/ahr/102.2.488|issn=1937-5239}}</ref>
[[File:THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ITALY, PROBABLY VENICE, LATE 15THEARLY 16TH CENTURY. Private coll..jpg|thumb|The fall of Constantinople brought the last remnants of the [[Roman Empire|Classical Roman Empire]] to an end. |alt=|200x200px]]

Europeans – specifically the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and various Italian explorers – intended to replace land travel with sea travel.<ref name=":11" /> Originally European exploration merely looked for new routes to reach known destinations.<ref name=":11">[[Post-classical history#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]]</ref> Portuguese Explorer [[Vasco da Gama|Vasco De Gama]] traveled to India by sea in 1498 by circumnavigating Africa around the [[Cape of Good Hope]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Northrup|first=David|date=1998|title=Vasco da Gama and Africa: An Era of Mutual Discovery, 1497-1800|journal=Journal of World History|language=en|volume=9|issue=2|pages=189–211|doi=10.1353/jwh.2005.0107|s2cid=144399108|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> India and the coast of Africa were already known to Europeans but none had attempted a large trading mission prior to that time.<ref name=":12" /> Due to navigation advances Portugal would create a [[Portuguese Empire|global colonial empire]] beginning with the conquest of [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]] in modern-day [[Malaysia]] from 1511.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=158}}

Other Explorers such as the Spanish sponsored Italian [[Christopher Columbus]] intended to engage in trade by traveling on unfamiliar routes west from Europe. The subsequent [[European discovery of the Americas]] in 1492 resulted in the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian exchange]] and the world's first pan-oceanic [[globalization]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}} Spanish Explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] performed the [[Magellan's circumnavigation|first known circumnavigation]] of Earth in 1521.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=}} The transfer of goods and diseases across [[ocean]]s was unprecedented in creating a more connected world.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=159}} From developments in navigation and trade [[modern history]] began.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}}

== See also ==
* [[Age of Empires II]] – A [[PC game|personal computer game]] using Post-classical history as its setting.
* [[Ancient history]] – covers all human history/prehistory preceding the Postclassical Era.
* [[Classical antiquity]] – centered in the [[Mediterranean Basin]], the interlocking civilizations of [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]]
* [[Early modern period]] – succeeding global time period.
* [[Economic history of the world]]
* [[History of cartography]] – Covers history of cartography and includes images of maps from Post-classical times.
* [[History by period]]
* [[Late Antiquity]] (aka: [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]) – mainland Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, transition from Classical Antiquity to the [[Middle Ages]].
* [[List of largest cities throughout history]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|title=HarperCollins atlas of world history|date=2003|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Borders Press in association with HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-681-50288-8|oclc=56350180}}
* {{citation|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500|last1=Berger|first1=Eugene|last2=Israel|first2=George|last3=Miller|first3=Charlotte|last4=Parkinson|first4=Brian|last5=Reeves|first5=Andrew|last6=Williams|first6=Nadejda|publisher=University of North Georgia, Press|isbn=978-1-940771-10-6|oclc=961216293|location=Dahlonega, GA|date=2016-09-30}}
* {{citation|last=Birken|first=Lawrence|title=What is Western Civilization?|journal=The History Teacher|year=1992|doi=10.2307/494353|jstor=494353|volume=25|issue=4|pages=451–461|s2cid=141243435|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110243/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-Is-Western-Civilization-Birken/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Bowman|first=John S.|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|year=2000|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C}}
* {{citation|last=Christian|first=David|title=Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History|journal=Journal of World History|year=2000|volume=11|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.1353/jwh.2000.0004|jstor=20078816|s2cid=18008906}}
* {{citation|last=Masood |first=Ehsan |title=Science and Islam: A History |author-link=Ehsan Masood |publisher=Icon Books |year=2009 | isbn=978-1-785-78202-2 }}
* {{citation|last1=Stearns|first1=Peter N.|author-link1=Peter Stearns|last2=Adas|first2=Michael|author-link2=Michael Adas|last3=Schwartz|first3=Stuart B.|author-link3=Stuart B. Schwartz|last4=Gilbert|first4=Marc Jason|title=World Civilizations: The Global Experience|year=2011|publisher=[[Longman]]|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|isbn=978-0-13-136020-4|edition=6th}}
* {{citation|last1=Thompson|first1=John M.|last2=O'Toole|first2=Dan|last3=Patrick|first3=Bethanne|last4=Pruneski|first4=Lauren|last5=Thompson|first5=Tiffin|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|year=2009|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1-4262-0533-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Bauer|first=Susan Wise|title=The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade}}
* {{citation|last=Butt|first=John J.|title=Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31668-5|edition=Illustrated}}
* {{citation|last=Fortescue|first=Adrian|title=The Eastern Schism|encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia|volume=13|year=1912|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|location=New York City|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|access-date=2013-05-24|archive-date=2013-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529105320/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Esposito|first=John L.|title=The Oxford History of Islam|year=1999|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-19-510799-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imw_KFD5bsQC&q=Abbasid+History&pg=PR7|edition=Illustrated|author-link=John Esposito}}
* {{citation|last=Guzman|first=Gregory|title=Christian Europe and Mongol Asia: First Medieval Intercultural Contact Between East and West|journal=Essays in Medieval Studies|year=1985|volume=2|url=http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|access-date=2013-07-21|archive-date=2012-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413044909/http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Hourani|first=Albert|title=A History of the Arab Peoples|year=2013|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|isbn=978-0-571-30249-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|edition=Updated|author-link=Albert Hourani|access-date=2015-10-25|archive-date=2020-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209104042/https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last1=Nawwab|first1=Ismail I.|title=Saudi Aramco and Its World: Arabia and the Middle East|chapter-url=http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|publisher=Arabian American Oil Company|edition=1st|year=1980|chapter=Islam and Islamic History|last2=Speers|first2=Peter C.|last3=Hoye|first3=Paul F.|access-date=2013-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528115344/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|archive-date=2011-05-28|url-status=dead}}
* {{citation|last=Procopius|title=History of the Wars|volume=1|year=1914|publisher=Loeb Classical Library|location=London}}
* {{citation|last=Stearns|first=Peter N.|year=2007|title=A Brief History of the World|publisher=[[The Teaching Company]]|author-link=Peter Stearns}}
* {{citation|last=Wawro|first=Geoffrey|title=Historical Atlas: A Comprehensive History of the World|year=2008|publisher=Millennium House|location=Elanora Heights, NSW, Australia|isbn=978-1-921209-23-9|author-link=Geoffrey Wawro}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pastoral/pastoral.htm Asia for Educators] The Mongols' effects on world history
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml BBC's World Service] Historical summaries of African societies
* [http://www.freeman-pedia.com/early-modern-600-ce-to-1450-ce/ Freemanpedia] A graphical representation of the Post-classical era.
* [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/ Silk Road Seattle] A rich selection of primary sources on the Silk Road and interactions between different cultures in Post-classical times.

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=[[History by period]]|before=[[Ancient history]]|after=[[Early modern period]]|years=5th Century – 15th Century}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Fields of history]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:Civilizations]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]
[[Category:World history]]

Post-classical history

2021-10-08T06:39:24Z

Huhsunqu: /* Timeline */

{{short description|Period between ancient history and modern history}}
{{redirect|Post-classical|the film editing style commonly used in American films since the 1960s|Post-classical editing}}
[[File:Jingangjing.jpg|alt=Diamond Sutra, World's first printed book|thumb|The [[Diamond Sutra]], of [[Dunhuang]], China was published in 868 AD as the first printed book using [[woodblock printing]] techniques. This image is a front piece for the book which was instrumental in spreading [[East Asian Buddhism|East-Asian Buddhism]] ([[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism]]). Post-classical times were an era of religion. Matters of faith took part in the development of political power and in the personal lives of most ordinary people in both the [[Old World|Old]] and [[New World]]. Geographic regions were often divided based on a location's religious affiliation.|300x300px]]
{{Human history}}

'''Post-classical history''', as used in [[global history]], generally runs from about 500 CE to 1500 CE (roughly corresponding to the European [[Middle Ages]]). The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade networks between civilizations.<ref>[http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf The Post‐Classical Era] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031011114/http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf |date=2014-10-31 }} by Joel Hermansen</ref><ref name="weller-stearns" />

In Asia, the [[spread of Islam]] created a [[Caliphate|new empire]] and [[Islamic Golden Age]] with trade among the [[Asia]]n, [[Africa]]n and [[Europe]]an continents, and advances in [[science in the medieval Islamic world]]. [[East Asia]] experienced the full establishment of power of [[History of China#Imperial China|Imperial China]], which established several prosperous dynasties influencing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Religions such as [[Buddhism]] and [[Neo-Confucianism]] spread in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|last=Thompson|first=John M.|date=2010-10-19|publisher=National Geographic Books|isbn=9781426205330|language=en|page=82}}</ref> [[Gunpowder]] was developed in China during the post-classical era. The [[Mongol Empire]] connected Europe and Asia, creating safe trade and stability between the two regions.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=128}}</ref> In total the [[World population estimates|population of the world]] doubled in the time period from approximately 210 million in 500 AD to 461 million in 1500 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Klein Goldewijk|first1=Kees|last2=Beusen|first2=Arthur|last3=Janssen|first3=Peter|date=2010-03-22|title=Long-term dynamic modeling of global population and built-up area in a spatially explicit way: HYDE 3.1|journal=The Holocene|volume=20|issue=4|pages=565–573|doi=10.1177/0959683609356587|issn=0959-6836|bibcode=2010Holoc..20..565K|s2cid=128905931|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/3f53450b1f59eac6ad2d781adb8309087ac3e0d2}}</ref> Population generally grew steadily throughout the period but endured some incidental declines in events including the [[Plague of Justinian]], the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]], and the [[Black Death]].<ref name="Haub1650">Haub (1995): "The average annual rate of growth was actually lower from 1 A.D. to 1650 than the rate suggested above for the 8000 B.C. to 1 A.D. period. One reason for this abnormally slow growth was the Black Plague. This dreaded scourge was not limited to 14th century Europe. The epidemic may have begun about 542 A.D. in Western Asia, spreading from there. It is believed that half the Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the 6th century, a total of 100 million deaths."</ref>

The period is also called the '''medieval era''', '''post-antiquity era''', '''post-ancient era''', or '''pre-modern era'''.
{{TOC limit}}

==Historiography==
===Terminology and periodization===
[[File:Leonardo Bruni 2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Leonardo Bruni]], [[Renaissance]] historian who helped develop the concept of "[[Middle Ages]]"]]
Post-classical history is a [[periodization]] used by historians employing a [[world history]] approach to history, specifically the school developed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.<ref name=weller-stearns>{{cite book |editor=R. Charles Weller |title=21st-Century Narratives of World History: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives |publisher=Palgrave |chapter=Periodization in World History: Challenges and Opportunities |last=Stearns |first=Peter N. |author-link=Peter N. Stearns |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-62077-0}}</ref> Outside of world history, the term is also sometimes used to avoid erroneous pre-conceptions around the terms ''Middle Ages'', ''Medieval'' and the ''[[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]'' (see [[Medievalism]]), though the application of the term ''post-classical'' on a global scale is also problematic, and may likewise be [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]].<ref>Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, 'Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages', ''Past & Present'', 238 (November 2018), 1-44 (p. 16).</ref>

The post-classical period corresponds roughly to the period from 500 AD to 1450 AD.<ref name=weller-stearns/> Beginning and ending dates might vary depending on the region, with the period beginning at the end of the previous classical period: [[End of the Han Dynasty|Han China]] (ending in 220 AD), the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire]] (in 476 AD), the [[Gupta Empire]] (in 543 AD), and the [[Sasanian Empire]] (in 651 AD).

The post-classical period is one of the five or six major periods world historians use:
# early civilization,
# [[Ancient history|classical societies]],
# post-classical
# [[early modern]],
# [[long nineteenth century]], and
# [[Modern history|contemporary or modern era]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> (Sometimes the nineteenth century and modern are combined.<ref name=weller-stearns/>)
Although ''post-classical'' is synonymous with the [[Middle Ages]] of Western Europe, the term ''post-classical'' is not necessarily a member of the traditional [[Late Middle Ages#Historiography and periodization|tripartite periodisation]] of Western European history into ''classical'', ''middle'' and ''modern''.

===Approaches===
The historical field of [[world history]], which looks at common themes occurring across multiple cultures and regions, has enjoyed extensive development since the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199235810.001.0001|year = 2012|isbn = 9780199235810|volume = 1|title = The Oxford Handbook of World History|last1 = Bentley|first1 = the Late Jerry H.|editor1-first = Jerry H|editor1-last = Bentley}}</ref> However, World History research has tended to focus on [[early modern globalization]] (beginning around 1500) and subsequent developments, and views post-classical history as mainly pertaining to [[Afro-Eurasia]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Historians recognize the difficulties of creating a periodization and identifying common themes that include not only this region but also, for example, the Americas, since they had little contact with Afro-Eurasia before the [[Columbian Exchange]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Thus recent research has emphasised that "a global history of the period between 500 and 1500 is still wanting" and that "historians have only just begun to embark on a global history of the Middle Ages".<ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017">Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84.</ref>

For many regions of the world, there are well established histories. Although [[Medieval Studies]] in Europe tended in the nineteenth century to focus on creating histories for individual nation-states, much twentieth-century research focused, successfully, on creating an integrated history of medieval Europe.<ref>Graham A. Loud and Martial Staub, 'Some Thoughts on the Making of the Middle Ages', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 1-13.</ref><ref>Patrick Geary, 'European Ethnicities and European as an Ethnicity: Does Europe Have too Much History?', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 57-69.</ref><ref>Jinty Nelson, 'Why Reinventing Medieval History is a Good Idea', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 17-36.</ref><ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017"/> The Islamic World likewise has a rich regional historiography, ranging from the fourteenth-century [[Ibn Khaldun]] to the twentieth-century [[Marshall Hodgson]] and beyond.<ref>Adam J. Silverstein, ''Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 94-107.</ref> Correspondingly, research into the network of commercial hubs which enabled goods and ideas to move between China in the East and the Atlantic islands in the West—which can be called the [[Archaic globalization|early history of globalization]]—is fairly advanced; one key historian in this field is [[Janet Abu-Lughod]].<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [81-83].</ref> Understanding of communication within Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas is, by contrast, far more limited.<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [80-81].</ref>

Recent history-writing, therefore, has begun to explore the possibilities of writing history covering the Old World, where Human activities were fairly interconnected, and establish its relationship with other cultural spheres, such as the Americas and Oceania. In the assessment of [[James Belich (historian)|James Belich]], [[John Darwin (historian)|John Darwin]], [[Margret Frenz]], and [[Chris Wickham]],
<blockquote>Global history may be boundless, but global historians are not. Global history cannot usefully mean the history of everything, everywhere, all the time. […] Three approaches […] seem to us to have real promise. One is global history as the pursuit of significant historical problems across time, space, and specialism. This can sometimes be characterized as [[comparative history|‘comparative’ history]]. […] Another is connectedness, including transnational relationships. […] The third approach is the study of globalization […]. Globalization is a term that needs to be rescued from the present, and salvaged for the past. To define it as always encompassing the whole planet is to mistake the current outcome for a very ancient process.<ref>James Belich, John Darwin, and Chris Wickham, 'Introduction: The Prospect of Global History', in ''The Prospect of Global History'', ed. by James Belich, John Darwin, Margret Frenz, and Chris Wickham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 3–22 [3] {{DOI|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198732259.001.0001}}.</ref></blockquote>
A number of commentators have pointed to the history of the earth's [[climate]] as a useful approach to World History in the Middle Ages, noting that certain climate events had effects on all human populations.<ref>William S. Atwell, '[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928200709/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 |date=2018-09-28 }}', ''Journal of World History'', 12.1 (Spring 2001), 29-98.</ref><ref>Richard W. Bulliet, ''Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), {{ISBN|978-0-231-51987-8}}.</ref><ref>Ronnie Ellenblum, ''The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean: Climate Change and the Decline of the East, 950-1072'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).</ref><ref>John L. Brooke, ''Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-139-05081-4}}, {{DOI|10.1017/CBO9781139050814}}.</ref><ref>Victor Lieberman, ‘Charter State Collapse in Southeast Asia, c.1250–1400, as a Problem in Regional and World History’, American Historical Review, cxvi (2011), 937–63.</ref><ref>Bruce M. S. Campbell, The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World (Cambridge, 2016).</ref>

== Main trends ==
The Post-classical era saw several common developments or themes. There was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas; the rise and/or spread of the three major world, or missionary, religions; and a period of rapidly expanding trade and trade networks.

=== Growth of civilization ===
{{Main|Civilization}}[[File:Piquillacta Archaeological site - street.jpg|thumb|[[Piquillacta]], an administrative urban center of the [[Wari Empire]], a South America Andean civilization that thrived from the 5th to the 8th century]]
First was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas across [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[Mesoamerica]], and western [[South America]]. However, as noted by world historian [[Peter N. Stearns]], there were no common global political trends during the post-classical period, rather it was a period of loosely organized states and other developments, but no common political patterns emerged.<ref name=weller-stearns/> In Asia, China continued its historic [[dynastic cycle]] and became more complex, improving its bureaucracy. The creation of the Islamic Empires established a new power in the Middle East, North Africa, and [[Central Asia]]. Africa created the [[Songhai Empire|Songhai]] and [[Mali Empire|Mali]] kingdoms in the West. The fall of Roman civilization not only left a power vacuum for the Mediterranean and Europe, but forced certain areas to build what some historians might call new civilizations entirely.{{sfn|Birken|1992|pages=451–461}} An entirely different political system was applied in Western Europe (i.e. [[feudalism]]), as well as a different society (i.e. [[manorialism]]). But the once East Roman Empire, Byzantium, retained many features of old Rome, as well as Greek and Persian similarities. Kiev Rus' and subsequently Russia began development in Eastern Europe as well. In the isolated Americas, Mesoamerica saw the building of the [[Aztec]] Empire, while the [[Andean civilizations|Andean region]] of South America saw the establishment of the [[Wari Empire]] first and the [[Inca Empire]] later.

=== Spread of universal religions ===
{{Main|History of religion}}
[[File:Siege of Acre.jpg|thumb|[[Siege of Acre (1189–91)|Siege of Acre]] (1191; picture from 1280.) Religious wars were common in post-classical times. One of the largest was the [[Crusades]]. |200x200px]]
Religion that envisaged the possibility that all humans could be included in a universal order had emerged already in the first millennium BC, particularly with Buddhism. In the following millennium, Buddhism was joined by two other major, universalising, missionary religions, both developing from [[Judaism]]: Christianity and Islam. By the end of the period, these three religions were between them widespread, and often politically dominant, across the Old World.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014">Yuval Noah Harari, ''[[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]'', trans. by Yuval Noah Harari, John Purcell and Haim Watzman (London: Harvill Secker, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-84655-823-8|978-1-84655-824-5}}, chapter 12.</ref>
* [[Buddhism]] spread from India into China and flourished there briefly before using it as a hub to spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam;{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} a similar effect occurred with Confucian revivalism in the later centuries.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014"/>
* [[Christianity]] had become the [[State church of the Roman Empire]] in 380, and continued spreading into northern and eastern Europe during the post-classical period at the expense of belief systems that Christians labelled [[Paganism|pagan]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} An attempt was even made to incur upon the Middle East during the [[Crusades]]. The split of the [[Catholic Church]] in Western Europe and the [[Orthodox Church]] in Eastern Europe encouraged religious and cultural diversity in Eurasia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard |last=Fletcher |title=The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity, 371-1386 AD |location=London |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997}}</ref>
* [[Islam]] began between 610 and 632, with a series of revelations to [[Muhammad]]. It helped unify the warring [[Bedouin]] clans of the Arabian peninsula and, through a rapid series of [[Muslim conquests]], became established to the west across [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|North Africa]], the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Iberian Peninsula]], and parts of [[Islam in Africa|West Africa]], and to the east across [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Persia]], [[Islamicisation of Xinjiang|Central Asia]], [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]], and [[Spread of Islam in Indonesia|Indonesia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Adam J. |last=Silverstein |title=Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-954572-8 |pages=9–35}}</ref>

=== Trade and communication ===
{{Main|Trade route}}
[[File:Rakaposhi View from Babusar Top.jpg|left|thumb|[[Pakistan]]'s [[Babusar Pass]], part of the [[Silk Road]]]]
Finally, communication and trade across [[Afro-Eurasia]] increased rapidly. The [[Silk Road]] continued to spread cultures and ideas through trade and throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade networks were established between West Europe, Byzantium, early Russia, the Islamic Empires, and the [[Far East]]ern civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|title=Environment and Trade: The Viking Age|publisher=Khan Academy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005514/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|archive-date=2018-06-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Africa the earlier introduction of the Camel allowed for a new and eventually large [[trans-Saharan trade]], which connected Sub-Saharan West Africa to Eurasia. The Islamic Empires adopted many Greek, Roman, and Indian advances and spread them through the Islamic sphere of influence, [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|allowing these developments to reach Europe]], North and West Africa, and Central Asia. Islamic sea trade helped connect these areas, including those in the [[Indian Ocean]] and in the [[Mediterranean]], replacing Byzantium in the latter region. The Christian Crusades into the Middle East (as well as Muslim Spain and [[Sicily]]) [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|brought Islamic science, technology, and goods to Western Europe]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} Western trade into East Asia was pioneered by [[Marco Polo]]. Importantly, China began the sinicization (or Chinese influence) of regions like Japan,{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} Korea, and Vietnam through trade and conquest. Finally, the growth of the [[Mongol Empire]] in Central Asia established safe trade such as to allow goods, cultures, ideas, and disease to spread between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

The Americas had their own trade network, however theirs was limited by the lack of draft animals and the wheel. In [[Oceania]] some of the island chains of [[Polynesia]] and [[Micronesia]] also engaged in trade with one another.

=== Climate ===
{{Main|Historical climatology|Little Ice Age}}During Post-classical times, there is evidence that many regions of the world were affected similarly by global climate conditions; however, direct effects in temperature and precipitation varied by region. According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]], changes did not all occur at once. Generally however, studies found that temperatures were relatively warmer in the 11th century, but colder by the early 17th century. The degree of climate change which occurred in all regions across the world is uncertain, as is whether such changes were all part of a global trend.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |title=Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=339 |date=2013-04-21 |doi=10.1038/NGEO1797 |bibcode=2013NatGe...6..339P |last1=Ahmed |first1=Moinuddin |last2=Anchukaitis |first2=Kevin J. |last3=Asrat |first3=Asfawossen |last4=Borgaonkar |first4=Hemant P. |last5=Braida |first5=Martina |last6=Buckley |first6=Brendan M. |last7=Büntgen |first7=Ulf |last8=Chase |first8=Brian M. |last9=Christie |first9=Duncan A. |last10=Cook |first10=Edward R. |last11=Curran |first11=Mark A.J. |last12=Diaz |first12=Henry F. |last13=Esper |first13=Jan |last14=Fan |first14=Ze-Xin |last15=Gaire |first15=Narayan P. |last16=Ge |first16=Quansheng |last17=Gergis |first17=Joëlle |last18=González-Rouco |first18=J. Fidel |last19=Goosse |first19=Hugues |last20=Grab |first20=Stefan W. |last21=Graham |first21=Nicholas |last22=Graham |first22=Rochelle |last23=Grosjean |first23=Martin |last24=Hanhijärvi |first24=Sami T. |last25=Kaufman |first25=Darrell S. |last26=Kiefer |first26=Thorsten |last27=Kimura |first27=Katsuhiko |last28=Korhola |first28=Atte A. |last29=Krusic |first29=Paul J. |last30=Lara |first30=Antonio |display-authors=29 |access-date=2018-06-29 |archive-date=2019-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930193918/https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Climate trends seemed to be more recognizable in the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] than in the [[Southern Hemisphere]].[[File:2000 Year Temperature Comparison.png|thumb|300px|Reconstructed depth of [[Little Ice Age]] varies among studies. Anomalies shown are from the 1950–80 reference period.]]

There are shorter climate periods that could be said roughly to account for large scale climate trends in the Post-classical Period. These include the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]], the [[Medieval Warm Period]] and the [[Little Ice Age]]. The [[Extreme weather events of 535–536|extreme weather events of 536–537]] were likely initiated by the eruption of the [[Lake Ilopango|Lake llopango caldera]] in [[El Salvador]]. Sulfate emitted into the air initiated global cooling, migrations and crop failures worldwide, possibly intensifying an already cooler time period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|title=Old trees reveal Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) around 1,500 years ago|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628233424/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Records show that the world's average temperature remained colder for at least a century afterwards.

The [[Medieval Warm Period]] from 950 to 1250 occurred mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, causing warmer summers in many areas; the high temperatures would only be surpassed by the global warming of the 20th/21st centuries. It has been hypothesized that the warmer temperatures allowed the Norse to colonize Greenland, due to ice-free waters. Outside of Europe there is evidence of warming conditions, including higher temperatures in China and major North American droughts which adversely affected numerous cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/TimeSeriesDisplay.aspx|title=Drought Congruence 1000-1300, Central United States|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref>

After 1250, glaciers began to expand in Greenland, affecting its [[thermohaline circulation]], and cooling the entire North Atlantic. In the 14th century, the growing season in Europe became unreliable; meanwhile in China the cultivation of oranges was driven southward by colder temperatures. Especially in Europe, the Little Ice Age had great cultural ramifications.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|title=Timeline Middle Ages and Early Modern Period – Environmental History Resources|work=Environmental History Resources|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628205003/https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|url-status=live}}</ref> It persisted until the [[Industrial Revolution]], long after the Post-classical Period.<ref name="Hendy2002">{{Cite journal| last1 = Hendy | first1 = E.| last2 = Gagan | first2 = M.| last3 = Alibert | first3 = C.| last4 = McCulloch | first4 = M.| last5 = Lough | first5 = J.| last6 = Isdale | first6 = P.| title = Abrupt decrease in tropical Pacific sea surface salinity at end of Little Ice Age| journal = Science| volume = 295| issue = 5559| pages = 1511–1514| year = 2002| pmid = 11859191| doi = 10.1126/science.1067693|bibcode = 2002Sci...295.1511H | s2cid = 25698190| url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/83d0d210ed3051abf0e1c32f567536c1d426cde7}}</ref> Its causes are unclear: possible explanations include [[Solar maximum|sunspots]], [[Earth's orbit|orbital cycles of the Earth]], [[Volcano|volcanic activity]], [[Thermohaline circulation|ocean circulation]], and man-made [[population decline]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|title=Carnegie Department of Global Ecology|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-08-03|archive-date=2017-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311091353/https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
{{Main|Timeline of the Global Middle Ages}}
This timetable gives a basic overview of states, cultures and events which transpired roughly between the years 400 and 1500. Sections are broken by political and geographic location.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|pages=17–19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|title=TIMELINE: World History|website=www.wdl.org|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-date=2019-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122121358/https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|url-status=live}}</ref>
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:1000 height:425
PlotArea = width:720 height:375 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.17,0.81,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.15) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:400 till:1500
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:400
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:400

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line, black) width:15 shift:(0,-3)

bar:Timeframe color:era
from: 476 till: 1000 text:[[Early Middle Ages|Early period]]
from: 1000 till: 1300 text:[[High Middle Ages|High period]]
from: 1300 till: 1450 text:[[Late Middle Ages|Late period]]
bar:Timeframe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Iron Age]])
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,4) text:[[Ancient history|Ancient]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:[[Modern age|Modern]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text:[[Early modern|(Early)]]
bar:Europe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 text:[[Late Antiquity|Antiquity]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Renaissance]]
bar:Europe color:age
from: 476 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,4) text:[[Feudalism]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Manorialism]])
from: 950 till: 1100 text:[[Urbanization]]
from: 1100 till: 1240 text:[[Crusades]]
from: 1240 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1400 text:[[Crisis of the Late Middle Ages|Crisis]]
bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 400 till: 700 text:[[Germanic Iron Age|Germanic Iron]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,4) text:[[Viking Age|Vikings]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Norsemen]])
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(0,4) text:[[Christianization of Scandinavia|Christianization]]
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(4,-7) text:([[Northern Crusades]])
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Kalmar Union]]
bar:E.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(15,4) text:[[Hunnic Empire]]
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarmatians]]
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 500 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till: 864 text:[[Rus' Khaganate]]
from: 864 till: 1237 text:[[Kievan Rus']]
from: 1237 till: 1240 shift:(0,4) text:[[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongols]]
from: 1240 till: 1283 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarai (city)|Sarai]]
from: 1283 till: 1400 text:[[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]]
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 475 shift:(15,0) text:[[Germanic Wars]]
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 475 till: 751 text:[[Francia]]
from: 751 till: 843 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 843 till: 987 text:[[East Francia|E. Francia]]
from: 987 till: 1500 text:[[Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:Apennine color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 774 text:[[Lombard kingdom]]
from: 774 till: 962 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 962 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:British.Isle color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 text:[[Sub-Roman Britain|Sub-Roman]]
bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,4) text:[[Anglo-Saxon England]]
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Heptarchy]])
from: 927 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of England]]
bar:Iberia color:age
from: 400 till: 711 text:[[Visigothic Kingdom]]
from: 711 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Al-Andalus]]
from: 711 till: 756 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 756 till: 1031 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Caliphate of Córdoba|Córdoba Caliphate]]
from: 1031 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Reconquista]]
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 850 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 850 till: 950 text:[[First Bulgarian Empire|1st Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 950 till: 1185 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 1185 till: 1389 text:[[Second Bulgarian Empire|2nd Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 1389 till: 1500 text:[[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]
bar:M.East color:filler
from: 400 till: 622 text:[[Sasanian Empire]]
bar:M.East color:age
from: 622 till: 750 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 750 till: 1050 text:[[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]]
from: 1050 till: 1171 text:[[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]]
from: 1171 till: 1250 text:[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 text:[[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluks]]
bar:India color:age
from: 400 till: 1200 shift:(0,4) text:[[Middle kingdoms of India|Indian Middle kingdoms]]
from: 400 till: 590 text:[[Gupta Empire]]
from: 400 till: 1279 text:[[Chola Dynasty]]
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,5) text:[[Delhi Sultanate]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Vijaynagara Empire]]
bar:C.Asia color:filler
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,4) text:[[Scythians]]
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Hephthalites]]
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 632 till: 800 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 800 till: 1000 text:[[Samanids]]
from: 1000 till: 1200 text:[[Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty|Khwārazm-Shāh]]
from: 1200 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol Empire|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Chagatai Khanate]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Golden Horde]]
bar:China color:age
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,4) text:[[Six Dynasties]]
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Early Imperial China]])
from: 585 till: 618 text:[[Sui Dynasty|Sui]]
from: 618 till: 907 text:[[Tang Dynasty|Tang]]
from: 907 till: 960 text:[[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period|5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms]]
from: 960 till: 1275 text:[[Song Dynasty|Liao, Song, Jin]]
from: 1275 till: 1368 text:[[Yuan Dynasty|Great Yuan]]
from: 1368 till: 1500 text:[[Ming Dynasty|Great Ming]]
bar:Japan color:age
from: 400 till: 710 shift:(0,4) text:[[Yamato period|Yamato]]
from: 400 till: 538 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Kofun period|Kofun]]
from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Asuka period|Asuka]]
from: 710 till: 794 text:[[Nara period|Nara]]
from: 794 till: 1185 text:[[Heian period|Heian]]
from: 1185 till: 1333 text:[[Kamakura period|Kamakura]]
from: 1333 till: 1336 text:[[Kenmu restoration|Kenmu]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Muromachi period|Muromachi]]
bar:Korea color:age
from: 400 till: 935 shift:(0,4) text:[[Silla]]
from: 400 till: 668 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]
from: 698 till: 926 shift:(0,-4) text:[[North South States Period]]
from: 918 till: 1392 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Goryeo]]
from: 1392 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Joseon]]
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 650 text:Classic
from: 650 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Precolombian]]
from: 650 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Woodland period]]
from: 1000 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mississippian culture]]
bar:C.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:[[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]]
from: 400 till: 900 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mayan civilization]]
from: 900 till: 1200 shift:(0,-4) text:Early Postclassic
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Late Postclassic
from: 1430 till: 1500 text: [[Aztec Empire]]
bar:S.America color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:[[Andean civilization]]
from: 400 till: 600 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Early Intermediate]]
from: 600 till: 900 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Wari Empire]] and [[Tiwanaku]]
from: 900 till: 1438 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Late Intermediate]]
from: 1438 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text: [[Inca Empire]]
</timeline>
:::''Dates are approximate range (based upon influence), consult particular article for details''
::: {{color box|#ffd880}} Middle Ages Divisions, {{color box|#f2d97f}} Middle Ages Themes {{color box|#cccccc}}

== History by region in the Old World ==
=== Africa ===
{{Main|History of Africa#500 to 1800|l1=Medieval Africa}}

[[File:Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th-15th cent).jpg|thumb|Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th–15th century), within the [[Mali Empire]]]]
During the Postclassical Era, [[Africa]] was both culturally and politically affected by the introduction of Islam and the Arabic empires.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=184}} This was especially true in the north, the [[Sudan region]], and the east coast. However, this conversion was not complete nor uniform among different areas, and the low-level classes hardly changed their beliefs at all.<ref name="metmuseum islam trade and spread">{{cite web|title=Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=15 June 2013|archive-date=17 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517025116/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the migration and conquest of Muslims into Africa, much of the continent was dominated by diverse societies of varying sizes and complexities. These were ruled by kings or councils of elders who would control their constituents in a variety of ways. Most of these peoples practiced spiritual, animistic religions. Africa was culturally separated between Saharan Africa (which consisted of [[North Africa]] and the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]]) and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] (everything south of the Sahara). Sub-Saharan Africa was further divided into the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]], which covered everything north of [[Central Africa]], including [[West Africa]]. The area south of the Sudan was primarily occupied by the [[Bantu peoples]] who spoke the [[Bantu language]]. From 1100 onward [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] and the [[Islamic World]] became dependent on Africa for gold.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

After 650 approximately urbanization expanded for the first time beyond the ancient kingdoms [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] and [[Nubia]]. African civilizations can be divided into three categories based on religion:
*Christian civilizations on the [[Horn of Africa]],
*Islamic civilizations which formed in the Niger River valley in West Africa, and on the coast of East Africa, and
*[[Traditional society|traditional societies]] which adhered to native African religions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|title=History of Sub-Saharan Africa {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-06-09|archive-date=2018-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617092834/http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|url-status=live}}</ref> South of the Sahara African kingdoms developed based on continental trade with one another through land based routes and generally avoided sea trade.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

Sub-Saharan Africa was part of two large, separate trading networks, the Trans Saharan trade which bridged commerce between West and North Africa. Due to the huge profits from trade native African Islamic empires arose, including those of [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]], [[Mali Empire|Mali]] and [[Songhai Empire|Songhay]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=225|oclc=298782520}}</ref> In the 14th century, [[Musa I of Mali|Mansa Musa]] king of Mali may have been the wealthiest person of his time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tschanz|first=David|title=Lion of Mali: The Hajj of Mansa Musa|url=https://www.academia.edu/1593503|journal=Makzan|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110252/https://www.academia.edu/1593503/Lion_Of_Mali_The_Hajj_of_Mansa_Musa|url-status=live}}</ref> Within Mali, the city of [[Timbuktu]] was an international center of science and well known throughout the Islamic World, particularly from the [[Sankore Madrasah|University of Sankore]].
East Africa was part of the [[Indian Ocean trade|Indian Ocean trade network]], which included both Arab ruled Islamic cities on the East African Coast such as [[Mombasa]] and Traditional cities such as [[Great Zimbabwe]] which exported gold, copper and ivory to markets in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

=== Europe ===
{{main|Middle Ages}}[[File:Medieval ploughing.JPG|left|thumb|Medieval ploughing. Most Europeans in the Middle Ages were landless pesants called ''[[Serfdom|serfs]]'' who worked in exchange for military protection. After the [[Black Death]] of the 1340s, a labor shortage caused serfs to demand wages for their labor. Drawing from 1300|alt=|200x200px]]In Europe, Western civilization reconstituted after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]] into the period now known as the [[Early Middle Ages]] (500–1000). The Early Middle Ages saw a continuation of trends begun in [[Late Antiquity]]: depopulation, deurbanization, and increased [[barbarian]] invasion.<ref name="clark">Gilian Clark, ''Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford 2011), pp. 1–2.</ref>

From the 7th until the 11th centuries [[Early Muslim conquests|Arabs]], [[Hungarians|Magyars]] and [[Viking Age|Norse]] were all threats to the Christian Kingdoms that killed thousands of people over centuries.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=291}} Raiders however, also created new trading networks.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}} In western Europe the Frankish king [[Charlemagne]] attempted to kindle the rise of culture and science in the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=284}} In the year 800 [[Charlemagne]] founded the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in attempt to resurrect [[Classical Rome]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|pp=282–283}} The reign of Charlemagne attempted to kindle a rise of learning and literacy in what has become known as the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=282}}

In Eastern Europe, the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] survived in what is now called the [[Byzantine Empire]] which created the [[Corpus Juris Civilis|Code of Justinian]] that inspired the legal structures of modern European states.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=272}} Ruled by religious [[Orthodox Christianity|Christian Orthodox]] emperors the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church]] Christianized the [[Kievan Rus'|Kievan Rus]], who were the foundation of modern-day [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=96}}</ref> [[Byzantium]] flourished as the leading power and trade center in its region in the [[Macedonian Renaissance]] until it was overshadowed by [[Italian city-states|Italian City States]] and the Islamic [[Ottoman Empire]] near the end of the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=108}}</ref><{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=285}}

[[File:Bobolice, zamek.jpg|thumb|[[Bobolice Castle]], in [[Bobolice|Boblice Poland]]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval Europe]]an castles were centers of [[Feudalism|feudal power.]] ]]
Later in the period, the creation of the [[feudal system]] allowed greater degrees of military and agricultural organization. There was sustained [[urbanization]] in [[Northern Europe|northern]] and [[western Europe]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} Later developments were marked by [[manorialism]] and [[feudalism]], and evolved into the prosperous [[High Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} After 1000 the Christian kingdoms that had emerged from Rome's collapse changed dramatically in their cultural and societal character.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}}

During the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300), [[Christianity|Christian]]-oriented art and architecture flourished and the [[Crusades]] were mounted to recapture the [[Holy Land]] from [[Muslim]] control.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=444}} The influence of the emerging [[nation-state]] was tempered by the ideal of an international [[Christendom]] and the presence of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] in all western kingdoms.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=122–123}} The codes of [[chivalry]] and [[courtly love]] set rules for proper behavior, while the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] philosophers attempted to reconcile faith and reason.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}} The age of Feudalism would be dramatically transformed by the cataclysm of the [[Black Death]] and its aftermath.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=142}} This time would be a major underlying cause for the Renaissance. By the turn of the 16th century European or [[Western world|Western Civilization]] would be engaging in the [[Age of Discovery]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=477}}

The term "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation from the path of [[Classical antiquity|classical learning]], a path supposedly reconnected by [[Renaissance]] scholarship.<ref name="Miglio112">Miglio "Curial Humanism" ''Interpretations of Renaissance Humanism'' p. 112</ref>

=== West Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Middle East}}

The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding [[Middle East]] and [[Near East]] regions saw dramatic change during the Postclassical Era caused primarily by the spread of [[Islam]] and the establishment of the [[Caliphate|Arabian Empires]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=78}}</ref>

[[File:Крепость Нарын-Кала в Дербенте.jpg|left|thumb|6th century Sassanid defense lines in modern-day [[Derbent|Derbent, Dagestan Russia]]. Prior to the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]], [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Persia]] with its [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian Religion]] was prevalent]]

In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated by empires and their spheres of influence; the two most prominent were the Persian [[Sasanian Empire]], centered in what is now [[Iran]], and the [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[Anatolia]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). The Byzantines and Sasanians fought with each other continually, a reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=70}}</ref> The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Outline of History|last=Wells|first=H.G|publisher=Garden City Publishing Inc|year=1920|location=Garden City, NUY|page=544}}</ref> Meanwhile, the nomadic [[Bedouin]] tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal stability, greater trade networking and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism.
[[File:Hagia Sophia Mars 2013.jpg|thumb|The [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople was the center of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[File:15th century egyptian anatomy of horse.jpg|thumb|Anatomy of a horse from the 15th century. The [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]] made advances in [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|medicine]]. From the University Library, Istanbul.|alt=|276x276px]]

While the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Roman and [[Sassanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persian empires were both weakened by the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], a new power in the form of [[Islam]] grew in the Middle East under [[Muhammad in Medina]]. In a series of rapid [[Muslim conquests]], the [[Rashidun army]], led by the [[Caliph]]s and skilled military commanders such as [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]] and completely engulfing Persia in the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]. It would be the Arab [[Caliphate]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Arab|ethnic identity]] that persists today. These Caliphates included the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and later the Turkic-based [[Seljuq Empire]].

After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into 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>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=76}}</ref> Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in [[History of medicine|medicine]], [[History of elementary algebra|algebra]], [[History of geometry|geometry]], [[History of astronomy|astronomy]], [[History of anatomy|anatomy]], and [[History of ethics|ethics]] that would later finds it way back to Western Europe.

The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the [[Hejaz]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=110}}</ref> This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joint European forces mainly from [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], and the emerging [[Holy Roman Empire]], to enter the region.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=328}} In 1099 the knights of the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Jerusalem]] and founded the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], which survived until 1187, when [[Saladin]] retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=331}} In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)]] and advancing as far south as the border of [[Egypt]] in what became known as the [[Mongol conquests]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=333}} The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but the chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turko-Mongol]], [[Timur]], and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]].

=== South Asia ===
[[File:Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple).jpg|thumb|Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple) constructed by [[Rajendra Chola I|Rajendra Chola]]. Picture by Prakash Chidambaram.|alt=]]
{{main|Medieval India|History of India#Classical to early medieval periods (c. 200 BCE – c. 1200 CE)|#Late medieval period (c. 1200–1526 CE)}}
There has been difficulty applying the word 'medieval' or 'post classical' to the history of South Asia. This section follows historian Stein Burton's definition that corresponds from the 8th century to the 16th century, more of less following the same time frame of the Post Classical Period and the European Middle Ages.<ref>{{citation|last=Stein|first=Burton|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=D.|date=27 April 2010|title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726001148/https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until the 13th century, there was no less than 20 to 40 different states on the Indian Subcontinent which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems and religions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: A History|last=Keay|first=John|author-link=John Keay|publisher=[[Grove Press]]|year=2000|pages=xx–xxi}}</ref> At the beginning of the time period [[Buddhism]] was predominant throughout the area with the short-lived [[Pala Empire]] on the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Indo Gangetic Plain]] sponsoring the faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist [[Nalanda University]] in modern-day [[Bihar|Bihar, India]] a centre of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the ''[[Chaturanga]]'' game which later was exported to Europe and became [[Chess]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Murray |first=H.J.R.| title=A History of Chess| publisher=Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press)| year=1913| isbn=978-0-936317-01-4| oclc=13472872| author-link=H. J. R. Murray| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchess00murr}}</ref>
In Southern India, the [[Hindu]] Kingdom of [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and [[Chola invasion of Srivijaya|Indonesia]] as oversees territories and helped spread Hinduism into the historic culture of these places.<ref>''History of Asia'' by B.V. Rao p.211</ref> In this time period, neighboring areas such as [[History of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[History of Tibet|Tibet]], [[History of Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] were under [[Greater India|South Asian influence]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | title=The spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=20 December 2016 | date= | archive-date=16 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116205245/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1206 onward a series of [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Turkic Islamic invasions]] from modern-day Afghanistan and Iran conquered massive portions of Northern India, founding the [[Delhi Sultanate]] which remained supreme until the 16th century.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=107}} [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|Buddhism declined]] in South Asia vanishing in many areas but Hinduism survived and reinforced itself in areas conquered by [[Hindu –Islamic relations|Muslims]]. In the far South, the Kingdom of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijanyagar]] was not conquered by any Muslim state in the period. The turn of the 16th century would see the rise of a new Islamic Empire – the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] and the establishment of European trade posts by the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|title=mughal_index|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=2019-06-14|archive-date=2019-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715193143/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Southeast Asia ===
{{main|History of Southeast Asia#Medieval History}}
[[File:Borobdur9205.jpg|thumb|View of [[Borobudur]], from center point of view. Located in [[Magelang|Megelang]], [[Central Java]], [[Indonesia]]. Built in the 9th century Borobudur is the largest Buddhist Temple in the world.|alt=|left]]From the 8th century onward Southeast Asia stood to benefit from the trade taking place between South and East Asia, numerous kingdoms arose in the region due to the flow of wealth passing through the [[Strait of Malacca]]. While Southeast Asia had numerous outside influences [[Greater India|India]] was the greatest source of inspiration for the region. North Vietnam as an exception was culturally closer to China for centuries due to conquest.

Since rule from the third century BCE North Vietnam continued to be subjugated by Chinese states, although they continually resisted periodically. There were three periods of [[Chinese domination of Vietnam|Chinese Domination]] that spanned near 1100 years. The Vietnamese gained long lasting independence in the 10th century when China was [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|divided]] with [[Tĩnh Hải quân]] and the successor [[Đại Việt]]. Nonetheless, even as an independent state a sort of begrudging [[sinicization]] occurred. South Vietnam was governed by the ancient Hindu [[Champa|Champa Kingdom]] but was annexed by the [[Cham–Annamese War|Vietnamese]] in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|title=Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur|first=Ben|last=Kiernan|year=2009|publisher=Yale University Press|page=110|isbn=978-0-300-14425-3|access-date=January 9, 2011|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref>

The spread of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and maritime trade between China and [[South Asia]] created the foundation for Southeast Asia's first major empires; including the [[Khmer Empire]] from Cambodia and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] from Indonesia. During the Khmer Empire's height in the 12th century the city of [[Angkor Thom]] was among the largest of the pre-modern world due to its water management. [[Jayavarman II|King Jayavarman II]] constructed over a hundred hospitals throughout his realm.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Indianized states of Southeast Asia|first=George|last=Cœdès|isbn=978-0-8248-0368-1|location=Honolulu|oclc=961876784|year=1968|publisher=East-West Center Press}}</ref> Nearby rose the [[Pagan Empire]] in modern-day Burma, using elephants as military might.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=211|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The construction of the Buddhist [[Shwezigon Pagoda]] and its tolerance for believers of older polytheistic gods helped [[Theravada|Theravada Buddhism]] become supreme in the region.<ref name=":4" />

In Indonesia, [[Srivijaya]] from the 7th through 14th century was a [[Thalassocracy]] that focused on maritime city states and trade. Controlling the vital choke points of the [[Sunda Strait|Sunda]] and [[Strait of Malacca|Malacca straits]] it became rich from trade ranging from Japan through Arabia. Gold, Ivory and Ceramics were all major commodities traveling through port cities. The Empire was also responsible for the construction of wonders such as [[Borobudur]]. During this time Indonesian sailors crossed the [[Indian Ocean]]; evidence suggests that they may have colonized [[History of Madagascar|Madagascar]].<ref name="Madagascar Founded By Women">{{cite web |url=http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |title=Madagascar Founded By Women |publisher=Discovery.com |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-date=2012-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322115439/http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Indian culture spread to the [[History of the Philippines (900–1521)|Philippines]], likely through Indonesian trade resulting in the first documented use of writing in the archipelago and [[Indianized kingdom]]s.<ref>The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History by Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson p.186</ref>

Over time changing economic and political conditions else where and wars weakened the traditional empires of South East Asia. While the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]] did not directly annex Southeast Asia the war-time devastation paved way for the rise of new nations. In the 15th century the Khmer Empire was supplanted by the Thai [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] was overtaken by the [[Majapahit]] and later the Islamic [[Malacca Sultanate]] by 1450.

=== East Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Asia|}}[[File:Palastexamen-SongDynastie.jpg|thumb|In China public examinations gave citizens the opportunity to be employed by the Imperial Government through [[meritocracy]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Chinese Imperial Dynasties|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|language=en|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2018-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627034117/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|url-status=live}}</ref> The examination system reached its maximum effectiveness in the 11th–12th centuries. Painting from [[Ming dynasty]] era.|alt=]] The time frame of 500–1500 in East Asia's history and China in particular has been proposed as an accurate classification for the region's history within the context of global Post-classical history.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clark|first=Paul|title=Chinese History in the Post-Classical Age (500 CE to 1500 CE)|url=http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|journal=Humanities Institute|access-date=2018-08-31|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225615/http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> There has been an attempt made in college courses to adapt the Post-Classical concept to Chinese terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|title=A.P World Civilizations China|website=Berkeley.edu|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-date=2015-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708211451/https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

During this period the [[Eastern world]] empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas. [[Japan]] and [[Korea]] went under the process of voluntary [[sinicization]], or the impression of Chinese cultural and political ideas.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/japan/|title=Ancient Japan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034328/https://www.ancient.eu/japan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Japanese & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034356/https://www.ancient.eu/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Korean & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2021-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311054538/https://www.ancient.eu/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Korea]] and [[Asuka period|Japan]] sinicized because their ruling class were largely impressed by China's bureaucracy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} The major influences China had on these countries were the spread of Confucianism, the spread of Buddhism, and the establishment of centralized governance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=181}} In the times of the [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]] (581–1279), China remained the world's largest economy and most technologically advanced society.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false Bulliet & Crossley & Headrick & Hirsch & Johnson 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229161111/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2019-12-29 }}, p. 264.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lockard|first=Craig|date=1999|title=Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|journal=Encarta Historical Essays|access-date=2018-06-16|archive-date=2020-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924191957/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Four Great Inventions|Inventions]] such as gunpowder, woodblock printing and the magnetic compass were improved upon. China stood in contrast to other areas at the time as the imperial governments exhibited concentrated central authority instead of [[feudalism]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dalby|first=Michael T.|doi=10.1017/chol9780521214469.010|pages=561–681|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-05594-9|title=The Cambridge History of China|year=1979|chapter=Court politics in late T'ang times}}</ref>

China exhibited much interest in [[Foreign relations of imperial China|foreign affairs]], during the Tang and Song dynasties. From the 7th through the 10th Tang China was focused on securing the [[Silk Road]] as the selling of its goods westwards was central to the nation's economy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=615|oclc=298782520}}</ref> For a time China, successfully secured its frontiers by integrating their nomadic neighbors such as the [[Göktürks|Gokturks]] into their civilization.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=149}} The Tang dynasty expanded into Central Asia and received tribute from Eastern Iran.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} Western expansion ended with [[Battle of Talas|wars]] with the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and the deadly [[An Lushan Rebellion]] which resulted in an deadly but uncertain death toll of millions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=156}}

After the collapse of the Tang dynasty and subsequent [[Ten Kingdoms period|civil wars]] came the second phase of Chinese interest in foreign relations. Unlike the Tang, the Song specialized in overseas trade and peacefully created a maritime network and China's population became concentrated in the south.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=126–127}} Chinese merchant ships reached Indonesia, India and Arabia. Southeast Asia's economy flourished from trade with Song China.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=132}}
[[File:미륵반가사유상 (彌勒菩薩半跏思惟像).jpg|thumb|A Japanese Buddha sculpture from the [[Asuka period|Asuka Period]]|alt=|left]]
With the country's emphasis on trade and economic growth, [[Economy of the Song dynasty|Song China's economy]] began to use machines to manufacture goods and coal as a source of energy.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=160}} The advances of the Song in the 11th/12th centuries have been considered an early [[Chinese industrialization|industrial revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=F.So L.|last2=Schafer|first2=J.F.|date=1978|title=Registration of Clintland 60 and Clintland 64 Oats (Reg. No. 280 and 281)|journal=Crop Science|volume=18|issue=2|page=354|doi=10.2135/cropsci1978.0011183x001800020049x|issn=0011-183X}}</ref> Economic advancements came at the cost of military affairs and the Song became open to invasions from the north. China became divided as Song's northern lands were conquered by the [[Jurchen people]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=202|oclc=298782520}}</ref> By 1200 there were five Chinese kingdoms stretching from modern day Turkestan to the Sea of Japan including the [[Qara Khitai|Western Liao]], [[Western Xia]], [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]], [[Song dynasty|Southern Song]] and [[Dali Kingdom|Dali]].<ref>{{Citation|last=國家地震局地球物理硏究所 (China)|script-title=zh:中國歷史地震圖集 : 清時期|date=1990|publisher=Zhongguo di tu chu ban she|isbn=7503105747|oclc=26030569}}</ref> Because these states competed with each other they all were eventually annexed by the rising [[Mongol Empire]] before 1279.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicleof world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|pages=232–233|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

After seventy years of [[Mongol conquest of China|conquest]], the Mongols proclaimed the [[Yuan dynasty]] and also annexed [[Mongol invasions of Korea|Korea]]; they failed to conquer [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Japan]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=128–129}} Mongol conquerors also made China accessible to [[Europeans in Medieval China|European travelers]] such as [[Marco Polo]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Mongols in World History|url=https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|journal=Asian Topics in World History|via=Columbia University|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110316/https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|url-status=live}}</ref> The Mongol era was short lived due to plagues and famine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|title=HISTORY OF CHINA|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2017-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160403/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|url-status=live}}</ref> After [[Red Turban Rebellion|revolution]] in 1368 the succeeding [[Ming dynasty]] ushered in a period of prosperity and brief [[Ming treasure voyages|foreign expeditions]] before isolating itself from global affairs for centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|title=Zheng He|website=Khan Academy|language=en|access-date=2018-08-14|archive-date=2018-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232811/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Muromachi period|Japan]] however continued to have relations with China and with other Asian countries. In the 15th century [[Sejong the Great]] of Korea cemented his country's identity by creating the [[Hangul|Hangul Writing]] system to replace use of [[Chinese characters|Chinese Characters]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burzillo|first=David|date=May 2004|title=Writing and World History|url=http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|journal=World History Connected|volume=1|issue=2|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425013301/http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Japan fell under military rule of the [[Kamakura period|Kamakura]] and later [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga]] Shogunate dominated by [[Samurai|Samauri]] warriors.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=226|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

== Eurasia ==
This section explains events and trends which affected the geographic area of [[Eurasia]]. The civilizations within this area were distinct from one another but still endured shared experiences and some development patterns

{{Gallery
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|File:East-Hem 500ad.jpg| alt1=Map of the Eastern Hemisphere 475 AD.
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=== Mongol Empire ===
{{main|Mongol Empire}}[[File:DiezAlbumsArmedRiders I.jpg|thumb|
Mounted warriors pursue enemies. Illustration of Rashid-ad-Din's Gami' at-tawarih. Tabriz (?), 1st quarter of 14th century.
|alt=|left]]

The Mongol Empire which existed during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest [[List of largest empires#Largest empires by land area and population|continuous land empire]] in history.<ref>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. p. 5.</ref> Originating in the [[steppe]]s of [[Central Asia]], the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from [[Central Europe]] to the [[Sea of Japan]], extending northwards into [[Siberia]], eastwards and southwards into the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Indochina]], and the [[Iranian plateau]], and westwards as far as the [[Levant]] and [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=234|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the [[Mongolia]] homeland under the leadership of [[Genghis Khan]], who was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under his descendants, who sent [[Mongol invasions|invasions]] in every direction.<ref>Diamond. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel''. p. 367.</ref><ref>''The Mongols and Russia'', by [[George Vernadsky]]</ref><ref>''The Mongol World Empire, 1206–1370'', by John Andrew Boyle</ref><ref>''The History of China'', by David Curtis Wright. p. 84.</ref><ref>''The Early Civilization of China'', by Yong Yap Cotterell, Arthur Cotterell. p. 223.</ref><ref>''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281'' by Reuven Amitai-Preiss</ref> The vast transcontinental empire connected the [[eastern world|east]] with the [[western world|west]] with an enforced ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'' allowing trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Gregory G.|last=Guzman|title=Were the barbarians a negative or positive factor in ancient and medieval history?|journal=The Historian|volume=50|issue=4|year=1988|pages=568–570|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1988.tb00759.x|jstor=24447158}}</ref><ref>[[Thomas T. Allsen]]. ''Culture and Conquest''. p. 211.</ref>

The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir [[Ögedei Khan|Ögedei]], or one of his other sons such as [[Tolui]], [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]], or [[Jochi]]. After [[Möngke Khan]] died, rival ''[[kurultai]]'' councils simultaneously elected different successors, the brothers [[Ariq Böke]] and [[Kublai Khan]], who then not only fought each other in the [[Toluid Civil War]], but also dealt with challenges from descendants of other sons of Genghis.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Biran |title=Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia |publisher=The Curzon Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7007-0631-0}}</ref> Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the [[Chagatai khans|Chagatayid]] and [[House of Ögedei|Ögedeid]] families.

[[File:LetterOljeituToPhilipLeBel.jpg|thumb|Letter from the Mongolian-Persian [[Ilkhanate]] to France, 1305. The Chinese style stamp was used outside China as the official symbol of the Khans and their messengers|alt=]]The [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in 1260 marked the high-water point of the [[Mongol conquests]] and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. Though the Mongols launched many more invasions into the Levant, briefly occupying it and raiding as far as Gaza after a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar]] in 1299, they withdrew due to various geopolitical factors.

By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires, each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives: the [[Golden Horde]] khanate in the northwest; the [[Chagatai Khanate]] in the west; the [[Ilkhanate]] in the southwest; and the [[Yuan dynasty]] based in modern-day [[Beijing]].<ref name="China p413">''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States''. p. 413.</ref> In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty,<ref>Jackson. ''Mongols and the West''. p. 127.</ref><ref>Allsen. ''Culture and Conquest''. pp. xiii, 235.</ref> but it was later overthrown by the [[Han Chinese]] [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=233|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The Genghisid rulers returned to Mongolia homeland and continued rule in the [[Northern Yuan dynasty]].<ref name=":6" /> All of the original Mongol Khanates collapsed by 1500, but smaller successor states remained independent until the 1700s. Descendants of [[Chagatai Khan]] created the [[Mughal Empire]] that ruled much of India in [[Early modern period|early modern]] times.<ref name=":6" />

=== The Silk Road ===
{{main|History of Central Asia|History of Siberia|Silk Road}}
[[File:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg|left|thumb|Central Asian Buddhist Monks, the Silk Road allowed for the exchange for ideas as well as goods. A Caucasian looking [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] teacher possibly [[Sogdia]]n instructs an East-Asian monk. Dated from the 9th century near [[Turpan|Turfan, Xinxiang, China]] |214x214px]]
The Silk Road was a Eurasian trade route that played a large role in global communication and interaction. It stimulated cultural exchange; encouraged the learning of new languages; resulted in the trade of many goods, such as silk, gold, and spices; and also spread religion and disease.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} It is even claimed by some historians – such as [[Andre Gunder Frank]], [[William Hardy McNeill]], [[Jerry H. Bentley]], and [[Marshall Hodgson]] – that the Afro-Eurasian world was loosely united culturally, and that the Silk Road was fundamental to this unity.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} This major trade route began with the [[Han dynasty]] of China, connecting it to the Roman Empire and any regions in between or nearby. At this time, Central Asia exported horses, [[wool]], and [[jade]] into China for the latter's silk; the Romans would trade for the Chinese commodity as well, offering wine in return.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=101}} The Silk Road would often decline and rise again in trade from the Iron Age to the Postclassical Era. Following one such decline, it was reopened in Central Asia by [[Han Dynasty]] General [[Ban Chao]] during the 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The Silk Road was also a major factor in spreading religion across Afro-Eurasia. Muslim teachings from Arabia and [[Persia]] reached East Asia. Buddhism spread from India, to China, to Central Asia. One significant development in the spread of Buddhism was the carving of the [[Gandhara]] School in the cities of [[Taxila (ancient)|ancient Taxila]] and the [[Peshwar]], allegedly in the mid 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The route was vulnerable to spreading plague. The [[Plague of Justinian]] originated in East Asia and had a major outbreak in Europe in 542 causing the deaths of a quarter of the Mediterranean's population. Trade between Europe, Africa and Asia along the route was at least partially responsible for spreading the plague.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|title=Justinian's Plague (541–542 CE)|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-10|date=|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418160219/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is a popular theory that the Black Death was caused by the Mongol conquests. The claim is that the direct link that it opened between the East and West provided the path for rats and fleas that carried the disease.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-691-13589-2|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=195}}</ref> Although there is no concrete historical evidence to this theory, the plague is considered endemic on the steppe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction|last=Milward|first=James|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-978286-4|location=Oxford|pages=46}}</ref>

There were vulnerabilities as well to changing political situations. The rise of Islam changed the Silk Road, because Muslim rulers generally closed the Silk Road to [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] to an extent Europe would be cut off from Asia for centuries. Specifically, the political developments that affected the Silk Road included the emergence of the Turks, the political movements of the Sasanian and Byzantine empires, and the rise of the Arabs, among others.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith|last1=Whitfield|first1=Susan|last2=Sims-Williams|first2=Ursula|publisher=Serindia Publications, Inc.|year=2004|isbn=978-1-932476-12-5|location=Chicago, IL|pages=30}}</ref>
[[File:Song Tapestry.jpg|thumb|Chinese-Song-era tapestry, Chinese Silk was carried west over large distances and sold for large profits.|alt=Chinese-Song era tapestry|264x264px]]

The Silk Road flourished again in the 13th century during the reign of the Mongol Empire, which through conquest had brought stability in Central Asia comparable to the [[Pax Romana]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} It was claimed by a Muslim historian that Central Asia was peaceful and safe to transverse <blockquote>"(Central Asia) enjoyed such a peace that a man might have journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a golden platter upon his head without suffering the least violence from anyone."{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}} </blockquote>

As such, trade and communication between Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East required little effort. Handicraft production, art, and scholarship prospered, and wealthy merchants enjoyed cosmopolitan cities.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}}

The Silk Road trade played a role in spreading the infamous [[Black Death]]. Originating in China, the [[bubonic plague]] was spread by Mongol warriors catapulting diseased corpses into enemy towns in the [[Crimea]]. The disease, spread by rats, was carried by merchant ships sailing across the Mediterranean that brought the plague back to Sicily, causing an [[epidemic]] in 1347.{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=310}} Nevertheless, after the 15th century, the Silk Road disappeared from regular use.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} This was primarily a result from the growing sea travel pioneered by Europeans, which allowed the trade of goods by sailing around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}}

=== Science ===
{{main|History of Science#Post-classical science|History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent|History of science and technology in China}}
[[File:Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript.jpg|left|thumb|Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript]]
The term ''post-classical science'' is often used in academic circles and in college courses to combine the study of [[European science in the Middle Ages|medieval European science]] and [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic science]] due to their interactions with one another.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|title=Outline – Post-Classical Science – History of Science Study Guide – Dr Robert A. Hatch|last=Hatch|first=Dr Robert A.|website=users.clas.ufl.edu|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2016-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630150105/http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However scientific knowledge also spread westward by trade and war from Eastern Eurasia, particularly from China by Arabs. The Islamic World also benefited from medical knowledge from [[Indian influence on Islamic science|South Asia]].<ref>A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine By Plinio Prioreschi Vol. iv, p. 121, {{ISBN|1-888456-02-7}}</ref>

In the case of the Western World and in Islamic realms much emphasis was placed on preserving the rationalist Greek Tradition of figures such as [[Aristotle]]. In the context of science within Islam there are questions as to whether Islamic Scientists simply preserved accomplishments from [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]] or built upon earlier Greek advances.<ref>[[Bertrand Russell]] (1945) ''[[A History of Western Philosophy|History of Western Philosophy]]'', book 2, part 2, chapter X</ref><ref>[[Abdus Salam]], H.R. Dalafi, Mohamed Hassan (1994). ''Renaissance of Sciences in Islamic Countries'' p. 162. World Scientific, {{ISBN|9971-5-0713-7}}.</ref> Regardless, Classical European Science was brought back to the Christian Kingdoms due to the experience of the [[Crusades]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}}

As a result of Persian trade in China, and the battle of the [[Battle of Talas|Talas River]], Chinese innovations entered the Islamic intellectual world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Collins Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=108}}</ref> These include advances in astronomy and in [[History of paper|paper-making]].<ref name="meggs58">Meggs, Philip B. ''A History of Graphic Design.'' John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (p. 58) {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Masood|2009|pp=132–135}} Paper-making spread through the Islamic World as far west as [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]], before paper-making was acquired for Europe by the [[Reconquista]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|title=History of paper|website=users.stlcc.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822144311/http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is debate about [[History of gunpowder#Spread throughout Eurasia and Africa|transmission of gunpowder]] on whether the Mongols introduced [[Science and technology of the Song dynasty#Gunpowder warfare|Chinese gunpowder weapons]] to Europe or if gunpowder weapons were invented in Europe independently.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chase |first=Kenneth |year=2003 |title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9|page=58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Morillo |first=Stephen |year=2008 |title=War in World History: Society, Technology, and War from Ancient Times to the Present, Volume 1, To 1500 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-052584-9|page=259}}</ref>

=== Literate culture and arts ===
{{main|History of literature|History of art|History of music}}
[[File:Genji emaki sekiya.jpg|thumb|12th century illustration from the ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'', the world's first novel.]]

[[File:Talaei-tetrachords.ogg|left|thumb|Persian Talaei-tetrachords]]
[[File:Ut Queant Laxis.ogg|left|thumb|Italy, 8th century ''Ut Queant Laxis'']]
Within Eurasia, there were four major civilization groups that had literate cultures and created literature and arts, including Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Southeast Asia could be a possible fifth category but was influenced heavily from both South and East Asia literal cultures. All four cultures in Post-Classical Times used [[poetry]], [[drama]] and [[prose]]. Throughout the period and until the 19th century poetry was the dominant form of literary expression. In the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and China great poetic works often used figurative language. Examples include, the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Shakuntala (play)|Shakuntala]]'', the [[Arabic]] ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Thousand and one nights]]'', [[Old English]] ''[[Beowulf]] '' and works by the Chinese [[Du Fu]]. In Japan, prose uniquely thrived more than in other geographic areas. The ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'' is considered the world's first realistic novel written in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|title=World Literature and Music {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724230109/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Musically, most regions of the world only used [[Melody|melodies]] as opposed to [[harmony]]. Medieval Europe was the lone exception to this rule, developing harmonic music in the 14th/15th century as musical culture transitioned form sacred music (meant for the church) to secular music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|title=Western Music Timeline {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623210258/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref> South Asian and Mid-Eastern music were similar to each other for their use of [[Microtonal music|microtone]]. East-Asian music shared some similarities with European Music for using a [[pentatonic scale]].

== The Americas ==
{{main|Pre-Columbian era}}

The Postclassical Era of the Americas can be considered set at a different time span from that of Afro-Eurasia. As the developments of Mesoamerican and Andean civilization differ greatly from that of the Old World, as well as the speed at which it developed, the Postclassical Era in the traditional sense does not take place until near the end of the medieval age in Western Europe. As such, for the purposes of this article, the [[Woodland period]] and [[Classic stage]] of the Americas will be discussed here, which takes place from about 400 to 1400.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willey |first=Gordon R. |year=1989 |chapter=Gordon Willey |title=The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney |editor=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2=Christopher Chippindale |editor-link=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2-link=Christopher Chippindale |location=New York |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |isbn=0-500-05051-1 |oclc=19750309}}</ref> For the technical Postclassical stage in American development which took place on the eve of European contact, see [[Post-Classic stage]].

{{Gallery
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|File:North American cultural areas.png
|alt1=Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|File:Áreas Culturales de América.PNG
|alt2= Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
|Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
}}

=== North America ===
As a continent there was little unified trade or communication. Advances in agriculture spread northward from [[Mesoamerica]] indirectly through trade. Major cultural areas however still developed independently of each other.

==== Norse Contact and the Polar Regions ====
{{Main|Norse colonization of North America}}
[[File:Authentic Viking recreation.jpg|thumb|Authentic reconstruction of Norse site at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]]. Photo provided by Dylan Kereluk.]]

While there was little regular contact between the Americas and the Old World the [[Vikings|Norse Vikings]] explored and even colonized [[Greenland]] and [[Canada]] as early as 1000. None of these settlements survived past [[Middle Ages|Medieval Times]]. Outside of Scandinavia knowledge of the discovery of the Americas was interpreted as a [[Vinland#Medieval geographers|remote island]] or the [[North Pole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|title=[Vinland in] Chapter 39|first=Adam of|last=Bremen|date=30 November 1977|website=www.canadianmysteries.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117100208/http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

The Norse arriving from Greenland settled Greenland from approximately 980 to 1450.<ref name=":2" /> The Norse arrived in southern [[Greenland]] prior to the 13th century approach of [[Inuit]] [[Thule people]] in the area. The extent of the interaction between the Norse and Thule is unclear.<ref name=":2" /> Greenland was valuable to the Norse due to trade of ivory that came from the tusks of walruses. The [[Little Ice Age]] adversely affected the colonies and they vanished.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of archaeology|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry W.|last2=Gosden|first2=Chris|last3=Joyce|first3=Rosemary A.|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-927101-6|page=592|oclc=277205272}}</ref> Greenland would be lost to Europeans until [[Danish colonization of the Americas|Danish Colonization]] in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|title=Colonialism in Greenland: An Inuit Perspective|website=arcticcircle.uconn.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031152005/http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|archive-date=2017-10-31|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Norse also explored and colonized farther south in [[Newfoundland|Newfoundland Canada]] at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]] referred to by the Norse as ''[[Vinland]]''. The colony at most existed for twenty years and resulted in no known transmission of diseases or technology to the [[First Nations]]. To the Norse ''Vinland'' was known for plentiful grape vines to make superior wine. One reason for the colony's failure was constant violence with the native [[Beothuk]] tribe who the Norse referred to as [[Skræling|Skraeling]].

After initial expeditions there is a possibility that the Norse continued to visit modern day Canada. Surviving records from medieval Iceland indicate some sporadic voyages to a land called ''[[Markland]]'', possibly the coast of [[Labrador|Labrador, Canada]], as late as 1347 presumably to collect wood for deforested Greenland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seaver |first=Kristen A. |title=The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, Ca. A.D. 1000–1500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1996 |page=28 |isbn=978-0-8047-3161-4 |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Northern Areas ====
{{Main|Indigenous peoples in Canada#Post-Archaic periods|History of Native Americans in the United States#Major cultures}}[[File:Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM.jpg|left|thumb|Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM|133x133px]]In northern [[North America]], many [[hunter-gatherer]] and [[agricultural]] societies thrived in the diverse region. [[Native American in the United States|Native American tribes]] varied greatly in characteristics; some, including the [[Mississippian culture]] and the [[Ancestral Puebloans]] were complex chiefdoms. Other nations which inhabited the states of the modern northern United States and Canada had less complexity and did not follow technological changes as quickly. Approximately around the year 500 during the [[Woodland period]], Native Americans began to transition to bows and arrows from spears for hunting and warfare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|title=American Indian Archery Technology {{!}} The Office of the State Archaeologist|website=archaeology.uiowa.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-05-26|archive-date=2018-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527201628/https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|url-status=live}}</ref> Technological advancement however was uneven. During the 12th century was the widespread adoption of Corn as a staple crop in the [[Eastern United States]]. Corn would continue to be the staple crop of natives in the Eastern United States and Canada until the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian Exchange]].

[[File:Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado USA.JPG|thumb|Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado|133x133px]]
In the eastern United States, rivers were the medium of trade and communication. [[Cahokia]] located in the modern U.S [[State of Illinois]] was among the most significant within the Mississippi Culture. Focused around [[Monks Mound]] archaeology indicates the population increased exponentially after 1000 because it manufactured important tools for agriculture and cultural attractions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=393}} Around 1350 Cahokia was abandoned, environmental factors have been proposed for the city's decline.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|title=As the river rises: Cahokia's emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding|website=news.wisc.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-31|archive-date=2018-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213205/https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the same time Ancestral Puebloans constructed clusters of buildings in the [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park|Chaco Canyon]] site located in the [[New Mexico|State of New Mexico]]. Individual houses may have been occupied by more than 600 residents at any one time. Chaco Canyon was the only pre-Columbian site in the United States to build paved roads.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carballo|first=David M.|chapter=Trade Routes in the Americas Before Columbus|title=The Great Trade Routes: A History of Cargos and Commerce Over Land and Sea|editor-last=Parker|editor-first=Philip|location=London|publisher=Conway Publishing|url=https://www.academia.edu/4998969|pages=166–170|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.academia.edu/4998969/Trade_Routes_in_the_Americas_Before_Columbus|url-status=live}}</ref> Pottery indicates a society that was becoming more complex, turkeys for the first time in the continental United States were also domesticated. Around 1150 the structures of Chaco Canyon were abandoned, likely as a result of severe drought.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fagan
|first1=B. M.|year=2005|title=Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195170436|pages=18–19}}</ref>{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=391}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/MapDisplay.aspx|title=Reconstructed JJA PDSI 1150 AD|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref> There were also other Pueblo complexes in the Southwestern United States. After reaching climaxes native complex societies in the United States declined and did not entirely recover before the arrival of European Explorers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500.|pages=391}}</ref>

==== Mesoamerica ====
{{Main|Mesoamerica}}
[[File:Telamones Tula.jpg|thumb|Toltec [[Atlantean figures]] at the Tula site. The [[Toltec|Toltec Civilization]] inspired the later [[Aztecs]].|alt=|left]]At the beginning of the global Post Classic Period, the city of [[Teotihuacan]] was at its zenith, housing over 125,000 people, at 500 A.D it was the sixth largest city in the world at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|title=Populations of Largest Cities in PMNs from 2000BC to 1988AD|work=Etext Archives|date=2007-09-29|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110844/http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|archive-date=2007-09-29}}</ref> The city's residents built the [[Pyramid of the Sun]] the third largest pyramid of the world, oriented to follow astronomical events. Suddenly in the 6th and 7th centuries, the city suddenly declined possibly as a result of severe environmental damage caused by [[extreme weather events of 535–536]]. There is evidence that large parts of the city were burned, possibly in a domestic rebellion.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-29|date=|archive-date=2021-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417181631/https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|url-status=live}}</ref> The city's legacy would inspire all future civilizations in the region.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=Ancient History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

At the same time was Classic Age of the [[Maya civilization|Mayan Civilization]] clustered in dozens of city states on the [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] and modern day [[Guatemala]].<ref>{{harvnb|Barraclough|2003|page=46}}</ref> The most significant of these cities were [[Chichen Itza]] which often fiercely competed with its neighbors to be the dominant economic influence in the region.

The Mayans had an upper caste of priests, who were well versed in astronomy, mathematics and writing. The Mayan developed the concept of zero, and a 365-day calendar which possibly pre-dates its creation in Old-World societies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|title=HISTORY OF MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATION|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-06-29|archive-date=2018-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322045141/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|url-status=live}}</ref> After 900, many Mayan cities suddenly declined in a period of drought.[[File:Aztec11 Bloodletting.jpg|thumb|Aztec Bloodletting, priests conduct a heart sacrifice, from the ''Tudela Codex'', 16th century.|197x197px]]

The [[Toltec Empire]] arose from the [[Toltec]] culture, and were remembered as wise and benevolent leaders. One priest-king called [[Ce Acatl Topiltzin]] advocated against human sacrifice.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Henry|date=2001|title=Topiltzin Quetzalcotal. The once and future Lord of the Toltec|journal=Boulder: University Press of Colorado|pages=258}}</ref> After his death in 947, civil wars of religious character broke out between those who supported and opposed Topiltzin's teachings.<ref name=":8" /> Modern historians however are skeptical of the extent of Toltec and influence and believe that much of the information known about the Toltecs was created by the later Aztecs as an inspiration myth.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Aztec kings : the construction of rulership in Mexica history|last=Gillespie|first=Susan D.|date=1989|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=0816510954|location=Tucson|oclc=19353576}}</ref>

In the 1300s, a small band of violent, religious radicals called the [[Aztec]]s began minor raids throughout the area.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Eventually they began to claim connections with the Toltec civilization, and insisted they were the rightful successors.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|title=Traditions and Encounters, AP Edition , 5th Edition|last=Bentley|publisher=McGraw-Hill|chapter=Chapter 20|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2017-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519144625/http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> They began to grow in numbers and conquer large areas of land. Fundamental to their conquest, was the use of [[Terrorism|political terror]] in the sense that the Aztec leaders and priests would command the [[human sacrifice]] of their [[Conquest (military)#Subjugation|subjugated]] people as means of humility and coercion.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Most of the Mesoamerican region would eventually fall under the Aztec Empire.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} On the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] most of the [[Maya peoples|Mayan People]] continued to be independent of the Aztecs but their traditional civilization declined.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Aztec developments expanded cultivation, applying the use of [[chinampa]]s, irrigation, and [[terrace agriculture]]; important crops included [[maize]], [[sweet potato]]es, and [[avocado]]s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}

In 1430 the city of [[Tenochtitlan]] allied with other powerful [[Nahuan languages|Nahuatl]] speaking cities- [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]] and [[Tlacopan]] to create the Aztec Empire otherwise known as Triple-Alliance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Though referred to as an empire the Aztec Empire functioned as a system of tribute collection with Tenochtitlan at its center. By the turn of the 16th century "[[flower war]]s" between the Aztecs and rival states such as [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]] had continued for over fifty years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |title=Conquistadors – Cortés |publisher=PBS |access-date=2010-10-31 |archive-date=2011-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182621/http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== South America ===
{{main|Pre-Columbian era#South America}}

South American civilization was concentrated in the Andean region which had already hosted complex cultures since 2,500 BC. East of the Andean region, the natives were generally semi nomadic. Discoveries on the [[Amazon basin|Amazon River Basin]] indicate the region likely had a pre-contact population of five million people and hosted complex societies.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |date=December 2009 |volume=83 |issue=322 |pages=1084–1095 |title=Pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in the upper Purús: a complex society in western Amazonia |first1=Martti |last1=Pärssinen |first2=Denise |last2=Schaan |first3=Alceu |last3=Ranzi |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00099373 |s2cid=55741813 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |access-date=2020-01-24 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Pre-Columbian-geometric-earthworks-in-the-upper-a-P%C3%A4rssinen-Schaan/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Around the continent numerous agricultural peoples from [[History of Colombia|Colombia]] to [[History of Argentina|Argentina]] steadily advanced from 500 AD until European contact.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=47}}</ref>

==== Andean Region ====
{{main|Andean civilizations|}}
[[File:Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru - panoramio (1).jpg|left|thumb|Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru, provided by David Broad.|238x238px|alt=]]

During [[Ancient history|Ancient times]] the Andean Region had developed civilizations independent of outside influences including that of [[Mesoamerica]].<ref>Upton, Gary and von Hagen, Adriana (2015), ''Encyclopedia of the Incas'', New York: Rowand & Littlefield, p. 2. Some scholars cite 6 or 7 pristine civilizations.</ref> Through the Post Classical era a cycle of civilizations continued until [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Spanish contact]]. Collectively Andean societies lacked currency, a written language and solid draft animals enjoyed by old world civilizations. Instead Andeans developed other methods to foster their growth, including use of the [[quipu]] system to communicate messages, lamas to carry smaller loads and an economy based on [[Reciprocity (social and political philosophy)|reciprocity]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Societies were often based on strict social hierarchies and economic redistribution from the ruling class.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}>

In the first half of the Post Classical Period the Andean Region was dominated by two almost equally powerful states. In the North of Peru was the [[Wari Empire]] and in the South of Peru and Bolivia there was the [[Tiwanaku empire]] both of whom were inspired by the earlier [[Moche culture|Moche People]]. While the extent of their relationship to each other is unknown, it is believed that they were in a Cold-War with one another, competing but avoiding direct conflict to avoid [[mutual assured destruction]]. Without war there was prosperity and around the year 700 Tiwanaku city hosted a population of 1.4. million.<ref>Kolata, Alan L. ''Valley of the Spirits: A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara,'' Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 1996</ref> After the 8th century both states declined due to changing environmental conditions, laying the ground work for the Incas to emerge as a distinct culture centuries later.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=387}}

In the 15th century the [[Inca Empire]] rose to annex all other nations in the area. Led by their, sun-god king, [[Sapa Inca]], they slowly conquered what is now [[Peru]], and built their society throughout the Andes cultural region. The Incas spoke the [[Quechua languages]]. The Incas used the advances created by earlier Andean societies. Incas have been known to have used [[abacus]]es to calculate mathematics. The Inca Empire is known for some of its magnificent structures, such as [[Machu Picchu]] in the [[Cusco region]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=389}} The empire expanded quickly northwards to Ecuador, Southwards to central Chile. To the north of the Inca Empire remained the independent [[Tairona]] and [[Muisca Confederation|Musica Confederation]] who practiced agriculture and gold metallurgy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Muisca_Civilization/|title=Muisca Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084340/https://www.ancient.eu/Muisca_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Tairona_Civilization/|title=Tairona Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902151733/https://www.ancient.eu/Tairona_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Oceania ==
{{Gallery
| title = Maps depicting Oceania
| align = center
| footer =
| height = 200
| width = 350

|File:Aboriginal regions.png
|alt1=Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia.
|Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia
|File:Polynesian Migration.svg
|alt2=Polynesian Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
|Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
}}

{{Main|History of Oceania}}
[[File:Micronesian navigational chart.jpg|alt=Micronesian navigational chart|thumb|[[Marshall Islands stick chart|Micronesian navigational chart]], these were used by Polynesians to navigate through wind and water currents.]]
Separate from developments in [[Afro-Eurasia]] and the Americas the region of greater [[Oceania]] continued to develop independently of the outside world. In [[History of Australia|Australia]], the society of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aborigines]] and [[Melanesia]] changed little through the Post Classical Period since their arrival in the area from Africa around 50,000 BC. The only outside contact were encounters with fishermen of [[Makassan contact with Australia|Indonesian]] origin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands|last=Ian|first=Lilley|date=2006|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-23082-3|page=117|oclc=474724373}}</ref> Polynesian and Micronesian Peoples are rooted from [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|Taiwan]] and [[Southeast Asia]] and began their migration into the [[Pacific Ocean]] from 3000 to 1500 BC.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|title=Australia and Oceania: Human Geography|date=2012-01-04|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=2018-09-07|language=en|archive-date=2018-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015753/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During Post-classical Times the [[Micronesia]]n and the [[Polynesia]]n peoples constructed cities in some areas such as [[Nan Madol]] and [[Muʻa (Tongatapu)|Mu'a]]. Around 1200 AD the [[Tu'i Tonga Empire]] spread its influence far and wide throughout the South Pacific Islands, being described by academics as a maritime chiefdom which used trade networks to keep power centralized around the king's capital. Polynesians on [[Outrigger canoe|outrigger]] canoes [[Polynesian navigation|discovered]] and colonized some of the last uninhabited islands of earth.<ref name=":5" /> [[Discovery and settlement of Hawaii|Hawaii]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and [[History of Easter Island|Easter Island]] were among the final places to be reached, settlers discovering pristine lands. [[Polynesian narrative|Oral Tradition]] claimed that navigator [[Ui-te-Rangiora]] discovered icebergs in the [[Southern Ocean]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Stephenson Percy |author-link=Percy Smith (ethnologist) |title=Hawaiki: the whence of the Maori: with a sketch of Polynesian history, being an introd. to the native history of Rarotonga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2013-01-19 |year=1898 |publisher=Whitcombe & Tombs |pages=90–91 |archive-date=2020-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225616/https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In exploring and settling, Polynesian settlers did not strike at random but used their knowledge of wind and water currents to reach their destinations.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=9}}

[[File:Book-Hawaii-Vtorov-246.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hale o Keawe]], a restored [[Heiau]] in the U.S [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]], used as sacred temple and sacrificial altar. The statues represent traditional gods.]]
[[File:War canoes (5178916728).jpg|thumb|Authentic [[Māori culture|Maori]] [[Waka (canoe)|Waka]], used for warfare and navigation in [[New Zealand]]]]
On the settled islands some Polynesian groups became distinct from one another. A significant example being the [[Māori people|Maori]] of New Zealand. Other island systems kept in contact with each other, such as [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]] and the [[Society Islands]]. Ecologically, Polynesians had the challenge of sustaining themselves within limited environments. Some settlements caused mass extinctions of some native plant and animal species over time by hunting species such as the [[Moa]] and introducing the [[Polynesian Rat]].<ref name=":5" /> Easter Island settlers engaged in complete ecological destruction of their habtiat and their population crashed afterwards possibly due to the construction of the [[Moai|Easter Island Statues]].<ref name=terry_hunt>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1511/2006.61.1002| title = Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island| journal = American Scientist| volume = 94| issue = 5| page = 412| year = 2006| last1 = Hunt | first1 = T. }}</ref><ref>West, Barbara A. (2008) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412174820/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en |date=2016-04-12 }}''. Infobase Publishing. p. 684. {{ISBN|0-8160-7109-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Holdaway |first=R.N. |last2=Jacomb |first2=C. |year=2000 |title=Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5461 |pages=2250–2254 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5461.2250 |pmid=10731144 |bibcode=2000Sci...287.2250H}}</ref> Other colonizing groups adapted to accommodate to the ecology of specific islands such as the [[Moriori]] of the [[Chatham Islands]].

Europeans on their voyages visited many Pacific Islands in the 16th and 17th century, but most areas of Oceania were not colonized until after the [[First voyage of James Cook|voyages]] of British explorer [[James Cook]] in the 1780s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=236}}

==End of the period==
{{Main|Early modern period}}
[[File:Genoese world map 1457. LOC 97690053.jpg|left|thumb|300px|[[Genoese map|Genoese world map]], 1457 it suggests the possibility of sea travel to India from Western Europe though this had not yet been done at the time.]]

As the postclassical era drew to a close in the 15th century, many of the empires established throughout the period were in decline.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}} The [[Byzantine Empire]] would soon be overshadowed in the Mediterranean by Italian city states such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] and the [[Ottoman Turks]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=113}}</ref> The Byzantines faced repeated attacks from eastern and western powers during the [[Fourth Crusade]], and declined further until the loss of [[Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1453.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}}

The largest change came in terms of trade and technology. The global significance of the fall of the Byzantines was the disruption of overland routes between Asia and Europe.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=144}}</ref> Traditional dominance of [[Nomad]]ism in Eurasia declined and the [[Pax Mongolica|Pax Mongolia]] which had allowed for interactions between different civilizations was no longer available. [[Western Asia]] and [[South Asia]] were conquered by [[gunpowder empires]] which successfully utilized advances in military technology but closed the [[Silk Road]].<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Madeline C.|last=Zilfi|year=1997|title=Halil Inalcik and Donald Quataert, editors. ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1994. pp. xxxi, 1026 |journal=The American Historical Review|language=en|volume=102|issue=2|pages=488–489|doi=10.1086/ahr/102.2.488|issn=1937-5239}}</ref>
[[File:THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ITALY, PROBABLY VENICE, LATE 15THEARLY 16TH CENTURY. Private coll..jpg|thumb|The fall of Constantinople brought the last remnants of the [[Roman Empire|Classical Roman Empire]] to an end. |alt=|200x200px]]

Europeans – specifically the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and various Italian explorers – intended to replace land travel with sea travel.<ref name=":11" /> Originally European exploration merely looked for new routes to reach known destinations.<ref name=":11">[[Post-classical history#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]]</ref> Portuguese Explorer [[Vasco da Gama|Vasco De Gama]] traveled to India by sea in 1498 by circumnavigating Africa around the [[Cape of Good Hope]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Northrup|first=David|date=1998|title=Vasco da Gama and Africa: An Era of Mutual Discovery, 1497-1800|journal=Journal of World History|language=en|volume=9|issue=2|pages=189–211|doi=10.1353/jwh.2005.0107|s2cid=144399108|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> India and the coast of Africa were already known to Europeans but none had attempted a large trading mission prior to that time.<ref name=":12" /> Due to navigation advances Portugal would create a [[Portuguese Empire|global colonial empire]] beginning with the conquest of [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]] in modern-day [[Malaysia]] from 1511.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=158}}

Other Explorers such as the Spanish sponsored Italian [[Christopher Columbus]] intended to engage in trade by traveling on unfamiliar routes west from Europe. The subsequent [[European discovery of the Americas]] in 1492 resulted in the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian exchange]] and the world's first pan-oceanic [[globalization]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}} Spanish Explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] performed the [[Magellan's circumnavigation|first known circumnavigation]] of Earth in 1521.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=}} The transfer of goods and diseases across [[ocean]]s was unprecedented in creating a more connected world.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=159}} From developments in navigation and trade [[modern history]] began.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}}

== See also ==
* [[Age of Empires II]] – A [[PC game|personal computer game]] using Post-classical history as its setting.
* [[Ancient history]] – covers all human history/prehistory preceding the Postclassical Era.
* [[Classical antiquity]] – centered in the [[Mediterranean Basin]], the interlocking civilizations of [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]]
* [[Early modern period]] – succeeding global time period.
* [[Economic history of the world]]
* [[History of cartography]] – Covers history of cartography and includes images of maps from Post-classical times.
* [[History by period]]
* [[Late Antiquity]] (aka: [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]) – mainland Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, transition from Classical Antiquity to the [[Middle Ages]].
* [[List of largest cities throughout history]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|title=HarperCollins atlas of world history|date=2003|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Borders Press in association with HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-681-50288-8|oclc=56350180}}
* {{citation|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500|last1=Berger|first1=Eugene|last2=Israel|first2=George|last3=Miller|first3=Charlotte|last4=Parkinson|first4=Brian|last5=Reeves|first5=Andrew|last6=Williams|first6=Nadejda|publisher=University of North Georgia, Press|isbn=978-1-940771-10-6|oclc=961216293|location=Dahlonega, GA|date=2016-09-30}}
* {{citation|last=Birken|first=Lawrence|title=What is Western Civilization?|journal=The History Teacher|year=1992|doi=10.2307/494353|jstor=494353|volume=25|issue=4|pages=451–461|s2cid=141243435|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110243/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-Is-Western-Civilization-Birken/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Bowman|first=John S.|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|year=2000|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C}}
* {{citation|last=Christian|first=David|title=Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History|journal=Journal of World History|year=2000|volume=11|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.1353/jwh.2000.0004|jstor=20078816|s2cid=18008906}}
* {{citation|last=Masood |first=Ehsan |title=Science and Islam: A History |author-link=Ehsan Masood |publisher=Icon Books |year=2009 | isbn=978-1-785-78202-2 }}
* {{citation|last1=Stearns|first1=Peter N.|author-link1=Peter Stearns|last2=Adas|first2=Michael|author-link2=Michael Adas|last3=Schwartz|first3=Stuart B.|author-link3=Stuart B. Schwartz|last4=Gilbert|first4=Marc Jason|title=World Civilizations: The Global Experience|year=2011|publisher=[[Longman]]|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|isbn=978-0-13-136020-4|edition=6th}}
* {{citation|last1=Thompson|first1=John M.|last2=O'Toole|first2=Dan|last3=Patrick|first3=Bethanne|last4=Pruneski|first4=Lauren|last5=Thompson|first5=Tiffin|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|year=2009|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1-4262-0533-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Bauer|first=Susan Wise|title=The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade}}
* {{citation|last=Butt|first=John J.|title=Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31668-5|edition=Illustrated}}
* {{citation|last=Fortescue|first=Adrian|title=The Eastern Schism|encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia|volume=13|year=1912|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|location=New York City|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|access-date=2013-05-24|archive-date=2013-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529105320/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Esposito|first=John L.|title=The Oxford History of Islam|year=1999|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-19-510799-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imw_KFD5bsQC&q=Abbasid+History&pg=PR7|edition=Illustrated|author-link=John Esposito}}
* {{citation|last=Guzman|first=Gregory|title=Christian Europe and Mongol Asia: First Medieval Intercultural Contact Between East and West|journal=Essays in Medieval Studies|year=1985|volume=2|url=http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|access-date=2013-07-21|archive-date=2012-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413044909/http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Hourani|first=Albert|title=A History of the Arab Peoples|year=2013|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|isbn=978-0-571-30249-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|edition=Updated|author-link=Albert Hourani|access-date=2015-10-25|archive-date=2020-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209104042/https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last1=Nawwab|first1=Ismail I.|title=Saudi Aramco and Its World: Arabia and the Middle East|chapter-url=http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|publisher=Arabian American Oil Company|edition=1st|year=1980|chapter=Islam and Islamic History|last2=Speers|first2=Peter C.|last3=Hoye|first3=Paul F.|access-date=2013-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528115344/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|archive-date=2011-05-28|url-status=dead}}
* {{citation|last=Procopius|title=History of the Wars|volume=1|year=1914|publisher=Loeb Classical Library|location=London}}
* {{citation|last=Stearns|first=Peter N.|year=2007|title=A Brief History of the World|publisher=[[The Teaching Company]]|author-link=Peter Stearns}}
* {{citation|last=Wawro|first=Geoffrey|title=Historical Atlas: A Comprehensive History of the World|year=2008|publisher=Millennium House|location=Elanora Heights, NSW, Australia|isbn=978-1-921209-23-9|author-link=Geoffrey Wawro}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pastoral/pastoral.htm Asia for Educators] The Mongols' effects on world history
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml BBC's World Service] Historical summaries of African societies
* [http://www.freeman-pedia.com/early-modern-600-ce-to-1450-ce/ Freemanpedia] A graphical representation of the Post-classical era.
* [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/ Silk Road Seattle] A rich selection of primary sources on the Silk Road and interactions between different cultures in Post-classical times.

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=[[History by period]]|before=[[Ancient history]]|after=[[Early modern period]]|years=5th Century – 15th Century}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Fields of history]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:Civilizations]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]
[[Category:World history]]

Post-classical history

2021-10-08T06:36:33Z

Huhsunqu: /* Timeline */

{{short description|Period between ancient history and modern history}}
{{redirect|Post-classical|the film editing style commonly used in American films since the 1960s|Post-classical editing}}
[[File:Jingangjing.jpg|alt=Diamond Sutra, World's first printed book|thumb|The [[Diamond Sutra]], of [[Dunhuang]], China was published in 868 AD as the first printed book using [[woodblock printing]] techniques. This image is a front piece for the book which was instrumental in spreading [[East Asian Buddhism|East-Asian Buddhism]] ([[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism]]). Post-classical times were an era of religion. Matters of faith took part in the development of political power and in the personal lives of most ordinary people in both the [[Old World|Old]] and [[New World]]. Geographic regions were often divided based on a location's religious affiliation.|300x300px]]
{{Human history}}

'''Post-classical history''', as used in [[global history]], generally runs from about 500 CE to 1500 CE (roughly corresponding to the European [[Middle Ages]]). The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade networks between civilizations.<ref>[http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf The Post‐Classical Era] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031011114/http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf |date=2014-10-31 }} by Joel Hermansen</ref><ref name="weller-stearns" />

In Asia, the [[spread of Islam]] created a [[Caliphate|new empire]] and [[Islamic Golden Age]] with trade among the [[Asia]]n, [[Africa]]n and [[Europe]]an continents, and advances in [[science in the medieval Islamic world]]. [[East Asia]] experienced the full establishment of power of [[History of China#Imperial China|Imperial China]], which established several prosperous dynasties influencing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Religions such as [[Buddhism]] and [[Neo-Confucianism]] spread in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|last=Thompson|first=John M.|date=2010-10-19|publisher=National Geographic Books|isbn=9781426205330|language=en|page=82}}</ref> [[Gunpowder]] was developed in China during the post-classical era. The [[Mongol Empire]] connected Europe and Asia, creating safe trade and stability between the two regions.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=128}}</ref> In total the [[World population estimates|population of the world]] doubled in the time period from approximately 210 million in 500 AD to 461 million in 1500 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Klein Goldewijk|first1=Kees|last2=Beusen|first2=Arthur|last3=Janssen|first3=Peter|date=2010-03-22|title=Long-term dynamic modeling of global population and built-up area in a spatially explicit way: HYDE 3.1|journal=The Holocene|volume=20|issue=4|pages=565–573|doi=10.1177/0959683609356587|issn=0959-6836|bibcode=2010Holoc..20..565K|s2cid=128905931|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/3f53450b1f59eac6ad2d781adb8309087ac3e0d2}}</ref> Population generally grew steadily throughout the period but endured some incidental declines in events including the [[Plague of Justinian]], the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]], and the [[Black Death]].<ref name="Haub1650">Haub (1995): "The average annual rate of growth was actually lower from 1 A.D. to 1650 than the rate suggested above for the 8000 B.C. to 1 A.D. period. One reason for this abnormally slow growth was the Black Plague. This dreaded scourge was not limited to 14th century Europe. The epidemic may have begun about 542 A.D. in Western Asia, spreading from there. It is believed that half the Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the 6th century, a total of 100 million deaths."</ref>

The period is also called the '''medieval era''', '''post-antiquity era''', '''post-ancient era''', or '''pre-modern era'''.
{{TOC limit}}

==Historiography==
===Terminology and periodization===
[[File:Leonardo Bruni 2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Leonardo Bruni]], [[Renaissance]] historian who helped develop the concept of "[[Middle Ages]]"]]
Post-classical history is a [[periodization]] used by historians employing a [[world history]] approach to history, specifically the school developed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.<ref name=weller-stearns>{{cite book |editor=R. Charles Weller |title=21st-Century Narratives of World History: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives |publisher=Palgrave |chapter=Periodization in World History: Challenges and Opportunities |last=Stearns |first=Peter N. |author-link=Peter N. Stearns |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-62077-0}}</ref> Outside of world history, the term is also sometimes used to avoid erroneous pre-conceptions around the terms ''Middle Ages'', ''Medieval'' and the ''[[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]'' (see [[Medievalism]]), though the application of the term ''post-classical'' on a global scale is also problematic, and may likewise be [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]].<ref>Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, 'Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages', ''Past & Present'', 238 (November 2018), 1-44 (p. 16).</ref>

The post-classical period corresponds roughly to the period from 500 AD to 1450 AD.<ref name=weller-stearns/> Beginning and ending dates might vary depending on the region, with the period beginning at the end of the previous classical period: [[End of the Han Dynasty|Han China]] (ending in 220 AD), the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire]] (in 476 AD), the [[Gupta Empire]] (in 543 AD), and the [[Sasanian Empire]] (in 651 AD).

The post-classical period is one of the five or six major periods world historians use:
# early civilization,
# [[Ancient history|classical societies]],
# post-classical
# [[early modern]],
# [[long nineteenth century]], and
# [[Modern history|contemporary or modern era]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> (Sometimes the nineteenth century and modern are combined.<ref name=weller-stearns/>)
Although ''post-classical'' is synonymous with the [[Middle Ages]] of Western Europe, the term ''post-classical'' is not necessarily a member of the traditional [[Late Middle Ages#Historiography and periodization|tripartite periodisation]] of Western European history into ''classical'', ''middle'' and ''modern''.

===Approaches===
The historical field of [[world history]], which looks at common themes occurring across multiple cultures and regions, has enjoyed extensive development since the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199235810.001.0001|year = 2012|isbn = 9780199235810|volume = 1|title = The Oxford Handbook of World History|last1 = Bentley|first1 = the Late Jerry H.|editor1-first = Jerry H|editor1-last = Bentley}}</ref> However, World History research has tended to focus on [[early modern globalization]] (beginning around 1500) and subsequent developments, and views post-classical history as mainly pertaining to [[Afro-Eurasia]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Historians recognize the difficulties of creating a periodization and identifying common themes that include not only this region but also, for example, the Americas, since they had little contact with Afro-Eurasia before the [[Columbian Exchange]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Thus recent research has emphasised that "a global history of the period between 500 and 1500 is still wanting" and that "historians have only just begun to embark on a global history of the Middle Ages".<ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017">Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84.</ref>

For many regions of the world, there are well established histories. Although [[Medieval Studies]] in Europe tended in the nineteenth century to focus on creating histories for individual nation-states, much twentieth-century research focused, successfully, on creating an integrated history of medieval Europe.<ref>Graham A. Loud and Martial Staub, 'Some Thoughts on the Making of the Middle Ages', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 1-13.</ref><ref>Patrick Geary, 'European Ethnicities and European as an Ethnicity: Does Europe Have too Much History?', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 57-69.</ref><ref>Jinty Nelson, 'Why Reinventing Medieval History is a Good Idea', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 17-36.</ref><ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017"/> The Islamic World likewise has a rich regional historiography, ranging from the fourteenth-century [[Ibn Khaldun]] to the twentieth-century [[Marshall Hodgson]] and beyond.<ref>Adam J. Silverstein, ''Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 94-107.</ref> Correspondingly, research into the network of commercial hubs which enabled goods and ideas to move between China in the East and the Atlantic islands in the West—which can be called the [[Archaic globalization|early history of globalization]]—is fairly advanced; one key historian in this field is [[Janet Abu-Lughod]].<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [81-83].</ref> Understanding of communication within Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas is, by contrast, far more limited.<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [80-81].</ref>

Recent history-writing, therefore, has begun to explore the possibilities of writing history covering the Old World, where Human activities were fairly interconnected, and establish its relationship with other cultural spheres, such as the Americas and Oceania. In the assessment of [[James Belich (historian)|James Belich]], [[John Darwin (historian)|John Darwin]], [[Margret Frenz]], and [[Chris Wickham]],
<blockquote>Global history may be boundless, but global historians are not. Global history cannot usefully mean the history of everything, everywhere, all the time. […] Three approaches […] seem to us to have real promise. One is global history as the pursuit of significant historical problems across time, space, and specialism. This can sometimes be characterized as [[comparative history|‘comparative’ history]]. […] Another is connectedness, including transnational relationships. […] The third approach is the study of globalization […]. Globalization is a term that needs to be rescued from the present, and salvaged for the past. To define it as always encompassing the whole planet is to mistake the current outcome for a very ancient process.<ref>James Belich, John Darwin, and Chris Wickham, 'Introduction: The Prospect of Global History', in ''The Prospect of Global History'', ed. by James Belich, John Darwin, Margret Frenz, and Chris Wickham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 3–22 [3] {{DOI|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198732259.001.0001}}.</ref></blockquote>
A number of commentators have pointed to the history of the earth's [[climate]] as a useful approach to World History in the Middle Ages, noting that certain climate events had effects on all human populations.<ref>William S. Atwell, '[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928200709/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 |date=2018-09-28 }}', ''Journal of World History'', 12.1 (Spring 2001), 29-98.</ref><ref>Richard W. Bulliet, ''Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), {{ISBN|978-0-231-51987-8}}.</ref><ref>Ronnie Ellenblum, ''The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean: Climate Change and the Decline of the East, 950-1072'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).</ref><ref>John L. Brooke, ''Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-139-05081-4}}, {{DOI|10.1017/CBO9781139050814}}.</ref><ref>Victor Lieberman, ‘Charter State Collapse in Southeast Asia, c.1250–1400, as a Problem in Regional and World History’, American Historical Review, cxvi (2011), 937–63.</ref><ref>Bruce M. S. Campbell, The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World (Cambridge, 2016).</ref>

== Main trends ==
The Post-classical era saw several common developments or themes. There was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas; the rise and/or spread of the three major world, or missionary, religions; and a period of rapidly expanding trade and trade networks.

=== Growth of civilization ===
{{Main|Civilization}}[[File:Piquillacta Archaeological site - street.jpg|thumb|[[Piquillacta]], an administrative urban center of the [[Wari Empire]], a South America Andean civilization that thrived from the 5th to the 8th century]]
First was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas across [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[Mesoamerica]], and western [[South America]]. However, as noted by world historian [[Peter N. Stearns]], there were no common global political trends during the post-classical period, rather it was a period of loosely organized states and other developments, but no common political patterns emerged.<ref name=weller-stearns/> In Asia, China continued its historic [[dynastic cycle]] and became more complex, improving its bureaucracy. The creation of the Islamic Empires established a new power in the Middle East, North Africa, and [[Central Asia]]. Africa created the [[Songhai Empire|Songhai]] and [[Mali Empire|Mali]] kingdoms in the West. The fall of Roman civilization not only left a power vacuum for the Mediterranean and Europe, but forced certain areas to build what some historians might call new civilizations entirely.{{sfn|Birken|1992|pages=451–461}} An entirely different political system was applied in Western Europe (i.e. [[feudalism]]), as well as a different society (i.e. [[manorialism]]). But the once East Roman Empire, Byzantium, retained many features of old Rome, as well as Greek and Persian similarities. Kiev Rus' and subsequently Russia began development in Eastern Europe as well. In the isolated Americas, Mesoamerica saw the building of the [[Aztec]] Empire, while the [[Andean civilizations|Andean region]] of South America saw the establishment of the [[Wari Empire]] first and the [[Inca Empire]] later.

=== Spread of universal religions ===
{{Main|History of religion}}
[[File:Siege of Acre.jpg|thumb|[[Siege of Acre (1189–91)|Siege of Acre]] (1191; picture from 1280.) Religious wars were common in post-classical times. One of the largest was the [[Crusades]]. |200x200px]]
Religion that envisaged the possibility that all humans could be included in a universal order had emerged already in the first millennium BC, particularly with Buddhism. In the following millennium, Buddhism was joined by two other major, universalising, missionary religions, both developing from [[Judaism]]: Christianity and Islam. By the end of the period, these three religions were between them widespread, and often politically dominant, across the Old World.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014">Yuval Noah Harari, ''[[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]'', trans. by Yuval Noah Harari, John Purcell and Haim Watzman (London: Harvill Secker, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-84655-823-8|978-1-84655-824-5}}, chapter 12.</ref>
* [[Buddhism]] spread from India into China and flourished there briefly before using it as a hub to spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam;{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} a similar effect occurred with Confucian revivalism in the later centuries.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014"/>
* [[Christianity]] had become the [[State church of the Roman Empire]] in 380, and continued spreading into northern and eastern Europe during the post-classical period at the expense of belief systems that Christians labelled [[Paganism|pagan]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} An attempt was even made to incur upon the Middle East during the [[Crusades]]. The split of the [[Catholic Church]] in Western Europe and the [[Orthodox Church]] in Eastern Europe encouraged religious and cultural diversity in Eurasia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard |last=Fletcher |title=The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity, 371-1386 AD |location=London |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997}}</ref>
* [[Islam]] began between 610 and 632, with a series of revelations to [[Muhammad]]. It helped unify the warring [[Bedouin]] clans of the Arabian peninsula and, through a rapid series of [[Muslim conquests]], became established to the west across [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|North Africa]], the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Iberian Peninsula]], and parts of [[Islam in Africa|West Africa]], and to the east across [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Persia]], [[Islamicisation of Xinjiang|Central Asia]], [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]], and [[Spread of Islam in Indonesia|Indonesia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Adam J. |last=Silverstein |title=Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-954572-8 |pages=9–35}}</ref>

=== Trade and communication ===
{{Main|Trade route}}
[[File:Rakaposhi View from Babusar Top.jpg|left|thumb|[[Pakistan]]'s [[Babusar Pass]], part of the [[Silk Road]]]]
Finally, communication and trade across [[Afro-Eurasia]] increased rapidly. The [[Silk Road]] continued to spread cultures and ideas through trade and throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade networks were established between West Europe, Byzantium, early Russia, the Islamic Empires, and the [[Far East]]ern civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|title=Environment and Trade: The Viking Age|publisher=Khan Academy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005514/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|archive-date=2018-06-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Africa the earlier introduction of the Camel allowed for a new and eventually large [[trans-Saharan trade]], which connected Sub-Saharan West Africa to Eurasia. The Islamic Empires adopted many Greek, Roman, and Indian advances and spread them through the Islamic sphere of influence, [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|allowing these developments to reach Europe]], North and West Africa, and Central Asia. Islamic sea trade helped connect these areas, including those in the [[Indian Ocean]] and in the [[Mediterranean]], replacing Byzantium in the latter region. The Christian Crusades into the Middle East (as well as Muslim Spain and [[Sicily]]) [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|brought Islamic science, technology, and goods to Western Europe]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} Western trade into East Asia was pioneered by [[Marco Polo]]. Importantly, China began the sinicization (or Chinese influence) of regions like Japan,{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} Korea, and Vietnam through trade and conquest. Finally, the growth of the [[Mongol Empire]] in Central Asia established safe trade such as to allow goods, cultures, ideas, and disease to spread between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

The Americas had their own trade network, however theirs was limited by the lack of draft animals and the wheel. In [[Oceania]] some of the island chains of [[Polynesia]] and [[Micronesia]] also engaged in trade with one another.

=== Climate ===
{{Main|Historical climatology|Little Ice Age}}During Post-classical times, there is evidence that many regions of the world were affected similarly by global climate conditions; however, direct effects in temperature and precipitation varied by region. According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]], changes did not all occur at once. Generally however, studies found that temperatures were relatively warmer in the 11th century, but colder by the early 17th century. The degree of climate change which occurred in all regions across the world is uncertain, as is whether such changes were all part of a global trend.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |title=Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=339 |date=2013-04-21 |doi=10.1038/NGEO1797 |bibcode=2013NatGe...6..339P |last1=Ahmed |first1=Moinuddin |last2=Anchukaitis |first2=Kevin J. |last3=Asrat |first3=Asfawossen |last4=Borgaonkar |first4=Hemant P. |last5=Braida |first5=Martina |last6=Buckley |first6=Brendan M. |last7=Büntgen |first7=Ulf |last8=Chase |first8=Brian M. |last9=Christie |first9=Duncan A. |last10=Cook |first10=Edward R. |last11=Curran |first11=Mark A.J. |last12=Diaz |first12=Henry F. |last13=Esper |first13=Jan |last14=Fan |first14=Ze-Xin |last15=Gaire |first15=Narayan P. |last16=Ge |first16=Quansheng |last17=Gergis |first17=Joëlle |last18=González-Rouco |first18=J. Fidel |last19=Goosse |first19=Hugues |last20=Grab |first20=Stefan W. |last21=Graham |first21=Nicholas |last22=Graham |first22=Rochelle |last23=Grosjean |first23=Martin |last24=Hanhijärvi |first24=Sami T. |last25=Kaufman |first25=Darrell S. |last26=Kiefer |first26=Thorsten |last27=Kimura |first27=Katsuhiko |last28=Korhola |first28=Atte A. |last29=Krusic |first29=Paul J. |last30=Lara |first30=Antonio |display-authors=29 |access-date=2018-06-29 |archive-date=2019-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930193918/https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Climate trends seemed to be more recognizable in the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] than in the [[Southern Hemisphere]].[[File:2000 Year Temperature Comparison.png|thumb|300px|Reconstructed depth of [[Little Ice Age]] varies among studies. Anomalies shown are from the 1950–80 reference period.]]

There are shorter climate periods that could be said roughly to account for large scale climate trends in the Post-classical Period. These include the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]], the [[Medieval Warm Period]] and the [[Little Ice Age]]. The [[Extreme weather events of 535–536|extreme weather events of 536–537]] were likely initiated by the eruption of the [[Lake Ilopango|Lake llopango caldera]] in [[El Salvador]]. Sulfate emitted into the air initiated global cooling, migrations and crop failures worldwide, possibly intensifying an already cooler time period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|title=Old trees reveal Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) around 1,500 years ago|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628233424/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Records show that the world's average temperature remained colder for at least a century afterwards.

The [[Medieval Warm Period]] from 950 to 1250 occurred mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, causing warmer summers in many areas; the high temperatures would only be surpassed by the global warming of the 20th/21st centuries. It has been hypothesized that the warmer temperatures allowed the Norse to colonize Greenland, due to ice-free waters. Outside of Europe there is evidence of warming conditions, including higher temperatures in China and major North American droughts which adversely affected numerous cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/TimeSeriesDisplay.aspx|title=Drought Congruence 1000-1300, Central United States|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref>

After 1250, glaciers began to expand in Greenland, affecting its [[thermohaline circulation]], and cooling the entire North Atlantic. In the 14th century, the growing season in Europe became unreliable; meanwhile in China the cultivation of oranges was driven southward by colder temperatures. Especially in Europe, the Little Ice Age had great cultural ramifications.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|title=Timeline Middle Ages and Early Modern Period – Environmental History Resources|work=Environmental History Resources|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628205003/https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|url-status=live}}</ref> It persisted until the [[Industrial Revolution]], long after the Post-classical Period.<ref name="Hendy2002">{{Cite journal| last1 = Hendy | first1 = E.| last2 = Gagan | first2 = M.| last3 = Alibert | first3 = C.| last4 = McCulloch | first4 = M.| last5 = Lough | first5 = J.| last6 = Isdale | first6 = P.| title = Abrupt decrease in tropical Pacific sea surface salinity at end of Little Ice Age| journal = Science| volume = 295| issue = 5559| pages = 1511–1514| year = 2002| pmid = 11859191| doi = 10.1126/science.1067693|bibcode = 2002Sci...295.1511H | s2cid = 25698190| url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/83d0d210ed3051abf0e1c32f567536c1d426cde7}}</ref> Its causes are unclear: possible explanations include [[Solar maximum|sunspots]], [[Earth's orbit|orbital cycles of the Earth]], [[Volcano|volcanic activity]], [[Thermohaline circulation|ocean circulation]], and man-made [[population decline]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|title=Carnegie Department of Global Ecology|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-08-03|archive-date=2017-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311091353/https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
{{Main|Timeline of the Global Middle Ages}}
This timetable gives a basic overview of states, cultures and events which transpired roughly between the years 400 and 1500. Sections are broken by political and geographic location.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|pages=17–19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|title=TIMELINE: World History|website=www.wdl.org|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-date=2019-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122121358/https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|url-status=live}}</ref>
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:1000 height:425
PlotArea = width:720 height:375 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.17,0.81,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.15) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:400 till:1500
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:400
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:400

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line, black) width:15 shift:(0,-3)

bar:Timeframe color:era
from: 476 till: 1000 text:[[Early Middle Ages|Early period]]
from: 1000 till: 1300 text:[[High Middle Ages|High period]]
from: 1300 till: 1450 text:[[Late Middle Ages|Late period]]
bar:Timeframe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Iron Age]])
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,4) text:[[Ancient history|Ancient]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:[[Modern age|Modern]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text:[[Early modern|(Early)]]
bar:Europe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 text:[[Late Antiquity|Antiquity]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Renaissance]]
bar:Europe color:age
from: 476 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,4) text:[[Feudalism]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Manorialism]])
from: 950 till: 1100 text:[[Urbanization]]
from: 1100 till: 1240 text:[[Crusades]]
from: 1240 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1400 text:[[Crisis of the Late Middle Ages|Crisis]]
bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 400 till: 700 text:[[Germanic Iron Age|Germanic Iron]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,4) text:[[Viking Age|Vikings]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Norsemen]])
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(0,4) text:[[Christianization of Scandinavia|Christianization]]
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(4,-7) text:([[Northern Crusades]])
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Kalmar Union]]
bar:E.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(15,4) text:[[Hunnic Empire]]
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarmatians]]
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 500 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till: 864 text:[[Rus' Khaganate]]
from: 864 till: 1237 text:[[Kievan Rus']]
from: 1237 till: 1240 shift:(0,4) text:[[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongols]]
from: 1240 till: 1283 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarai (city)|Sarai]]
from: 1283 till: 1400 text:[[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]]
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 475 shift:(15,0) text:[[Germanic Wars]]
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 475 till: 751 text:[[Francia]]
from: 751 till: 843 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 843 till: 987 text:[[East Francia|E. Francia]]
from: 987 till: 1500 text:[[Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:Apennine color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 774 text:[[Lombard kingdom]]
from: 774 till: 962 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 962 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:British.Isle color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 text:[[Sub-Roman Britain|Sub-Roman]]
bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,4) text:[[Anglo-Saxon England]]
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Heptarchy]])
from: 927 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of England]]
bar:Iberia color:age
from: 400 till: 711 text:[[Visigothic Kingdom]]
from: 711 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Al-Andalus]]
from: 711 till: 756 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 756 till: 1031 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Caliphate of Córdoba|Córdoba Caliphate]]
from: 1031 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Reconquista]]
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 850 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 850 till: 950 text:[[First Bulgarian Empire|1st Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 950 till: 1185 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 1185 till: 1389 text:[[Second Bulgarian Empire|2nd Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 1389 till: 1500 text:[[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]
bar:M.East color:filler
from: 400 till: 622 text:[[Sasanian Empire]]
bar:M.East color:age
from: 622 till: 750 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 750 till: 1050 text:[[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]]
from: 1050 till: 1171 text:[[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]]
from: 1171 till: 1250 text:[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 text:[[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluks]]
bar:India color:age
from: 400 till: 1200 shift:(0,4) text:[[Middle kingdoms of India|Indian Middle kingdoms]]
from: 400 till: 590 text:[[Gupta Empire]]
from: 400 till: 1279 text:[[Chola Dynasty]]
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,5) text:[[Delhi Sultanate]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Vijaynagara Empire]]
bar:C.Asia color:filler
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,4) text:[[Scythians]]
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Hephthalites]]
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 632 till: 800 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 800 till: 1000 text:[[Samanids]]
from: 1000 till: 1200 text:[[Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty|Khwārazm-Shāh]]
from: 1200 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol Empire|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Chagatai Khanate]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Golden Horde]]
bar:China color:age
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,4) text:[[Six Dynasties]]
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Early Imperial China]])
from: 585 till: 618 text:[[Sui Dynasty|Sui]]
from: 618 till: 907 text:[[Tang Dynasty|Tang]]
from: 907 till: 960 text:[[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period|5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms]]
from: 960 till: 1275 text:[[Song Dynasty|Liao, Song, Jin]]
from: 1275 till: 1368 text:[[Yuan Dynasty|Great Yuan]]
from: 1368 till: 1500 text:[[Ming Dynasty|Great Ming]]
bar:Japan color:age
from: 400 till: 710 shift:(0,4) text:[[Yamato period|Yamato]]
from: 400 till: 538 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Kofun period|Kofun]]
from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Asuka period|Asuka]]
from: 710 till: 794 text:[[Nara period|Nara]]
from: 794 till: 1185 text:[[Heian period|Heian]]
from: 1185 till: 1333 text:[[Kamakura period|Kamakura]]
from: 1333 till: 1336 text:[[Kenmu restoration|Kenmu]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Muromachi period|Muromachi]]
bar:Korea color:age
from: 400 till: 935 shift:(0,4) text:[[Silla]]
from: 400 till: 668 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]
from: 698 till: 926 shift:(0,-4) text:[[North South States Period]]
from: 918 till: 1392 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Goryeo]]
from: 1392 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Joseon]]
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 650 text:Classic
from: 650 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Precolombian]]
from: 650 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Woodland period]]
from: 1000 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mississippian culture]]
bar:C.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:[[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]]
from: 400 till: 900 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mayan civilization]]
from: 900 till: 1200 shift:(0,-4) text:Early Postclassic
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Late Postclassic
from: 1430 till: 1500 text: [[Aztec Empire]]
bar:S.America color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 text:[[Andean civilization]]
from: 400 till: 600 text:[[Early Intermediate]]
from: 600 till: 900 text:[[Wari Empire]] and [[Tiwanaku]]
from: 900 till: 1438 text:[[Late Intermediate]]
from: 1438 till: 1500 text: [[Inca Empire]]
</timeline>
:::''Dates are approximate range (based upon influence), consult particular article for details''
::: {{color box|#ffd880}} Middle Ages Divisions, {{color box|#f2d97f}} Middle Ages Themes {{color box|#cccccc}}

== History by region in the Old World ==
=== Africa ===
{{Main|History of Africa#500 to 1800|l1=Medieval Africa}}

[[File:Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th-15th cent).jpg|thumb|Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th–15th century), within the [[Mali Empire]]]]
During the Postclassical Era, [[Africa]] was both culturally and politically affected by the introduction of Islam and the Arabic empires.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=184}} This was especially true in the north, the [[Sudan region]], and the east coast. However, this conversion was not complete nor uniform among different areas, and the low-level classes hardly changed their beliefs at all.<ref name="metmuseum islam trade and spread">{{cite web|title=Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=15 June 2013|archive-date=17 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517025116/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the migration and conquest of Muslims into Africa, much of the continent was dominated by diverse societies of varying sizes and complexities. These were ruled by kings or councils of elders who would control their constituents in a variety of ways. Most of these peoples practiced spiritual, animistic religions. Africa was culturally separated between Saharan Africa (which consisted of [[North Africa]] and the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]]) and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] (everything south of the Sahara). Sub-Saharan Africa was further divided into the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]], which covered everything north of [[Central Africa]], including [[West Africa]]. The area south of the Sudan was primarily occupied by the [[Bantu peoples]] who spoke the [[Bantu language]]. From 1100 onward [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] and the [[Islamic World]] became dependent on Africa for gold.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

After 650 approximately urbanization expanded for the first time beyond the ancient kingdoms [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] and [[Nubia]]. African civilizations can be divided into three categories based on religion:
*Christian civilizations on the [[Horn of Africa]],
*Islamic civilizations which formed in the Niger River valley in West Africa, and on the coast of East Africa, and
*[[Traditional society|traditional societies]] which adhered to native African religions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|title=History of Sub-Saharan Africa {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-06-09|archive-date=2018-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617092834/http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|url-status=live}}</ref> South of the Sahara African kingdoms developed based on continental trade with one another through land based routes and generally avoided sea trade.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

Sub-Saharan Africa was part of two large, separate trading networks, the Trans Saharan trade which bridged commerce between West and North Africa. Due to the huge profits from trade native African Islamic empires arose, including those of [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]], [[Mali Empire|Mali]] and [[Songhai Empire|Songhay]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=225|oclc=298782520}}</ref> In the 14th century, [[Musa I of Mali|Mansa Musa]] king of Mali may have been the wealthiest person of his time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tschanz|first=David|title=Lion of Mali: The Hajj of Mansa Musa|url=https://www.academia.edu/1593503|journal=Makzan|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110252/https://www.academia.edu/1593503/Lion_Of_Mali_The_Hajj_of_Mansa_Musa|url-status=live}}</ref> Within Mali, the city of [[Timbuktu]] was an international center of science and well known throughout the Islamic World, particularly from the [[Sankore Madrasah|University of Sankore]].
East Africa was part of the [[Indian Ocean trade|Indian Ocean trade network]], which included both Arab ruled Islamic cities on the East African Coast such as [[Mombasa]] and Traditional cities such as [[Great Zimbabwe]] which exported gold, copper and ivory to markets in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

=== Europe ===
{{main|Middle Ages}}[[File:Medieval ploughing.JPG|left|thumb|Medieval ploughing. Most Europeans in the Middle Ages were landless pesants called ''[[Serfdom|serfs]]'' who worked in exchange for military protection. After the [[Black Death]] of the 1340s, a labor shortage caused serfs to demand wages for their labor. Drawing from 1300|alt=|200x200px]]In Europe, Western civilization reconstituted after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]] into the period now known as the [[Early Middle Ages]] (500–1000). The Early Middle Ages saw a continuation of trends begun in [[Late Antiquity]]: depopulation, deurbanization, and increased [[barbarian]] invasion.<ref name="clark">Gilian Clark, ''Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford 2011), pp. 1–2.</ref>

From the 7th until the 11th centuries [[Early Muslim conquests|Arabs]], [[Hungarians|Magyars]] and [[Viking Age|Norse]] were all threats to the Christian Kingdoms that killed thousands of people over centuries.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=291}} Raiders however, also created new trading networks.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}} In western Europe the Frankish king [[Charlemagne]] attempted to kindle the rise of culture and science in the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=284}} In the year 800 [[Charlemagne]] founded the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in attempt to resurrect [[Classical Rome]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|pp=282–283}} The reign of Charlemagne attempted to kindle a rise of learning and literacy in what has become known as the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=282}}

In Eastern Europe, the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] survived in what is now called the [[Byzantine Empire]] which created the [[Corpus Juris Civilis|Code of Justinian]] that inspired the legal structures of modern European states.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=272}} Ruled by religious [[Orthodox Christianity|Christian Orthodox]] emperors the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church]] Christianized the [[Kievan Rus'|Kievan Rus]], who were the foundation of modern-day [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=96}}</ref> [[Byzantium]] flourished as the leading power and trade center in its region in the [[Macedonian Renaissance]] until it was overshadowed by [[Italian city-states|Italian City States]] and the Islamic [[Ottoman Empire]] near the end of the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=108}}</ref><{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=285}}

[[File:Bobolice, zamek.jpg|thumb|[[Bobolice Castle]], in [[Bobolice|Boblice Poland]]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval Europe]]an castles were centers of [[Feudalism|feudal power.]] ]]
Later in the period, the creation of the [[feudal system]] allowed greater degrees of military and agricultural organization. There was sustained [[urbanization]] in [[Northern Europe|northern]] and [[western Europe]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} Later developments were marked by [[manorialism]] and [[feudalism]], and evolved into the prosperous [[High Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} After 1000 the Christian kingdoms that had emerged from Rome's collapse changed dramatically in their cultural and societal character.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}}

During the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300), [[Christianity|Christian]]-oriented art and architecture flourished and the [[Crusades]] were mounted to recapture the [[Holy Land]] from [[Muslim]] control.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=444}} The influence of the emerging [[nation-state]] was tempered by the ideal of an international [[Christendom]] and the presence of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] in all western kingdoms.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=122–123}} The codes of [[chivalry]] and [[courtly love]] set rules for proper behavior, while the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] philosophers attempted to reconcile faith and reason.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}} The age of Feudalism would be dramatically transformed by the cataclysm of the [[Black Death]] and its aftermath.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=142}} This time would be a major underlying cause for the Renaissance. By the turn of the 16th century European or [[Western world|Western Civilization]] would be engaging in the [[Age of Discovery]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=477}}

The term "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation from the path of [[Classical antiquity|classical learning]], a path supposedly reconnected by [[Renaissance]] scholarship.<ref name="Miglio112">Miglio "Curial Humanism" ''Interpretations of Renaissance Humanism'' p. 112</ref>

=== West Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Middle East}}

The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding [[Middle East]] and [[Near East]] regions saw dramatic change during the Postclassical Era caused primarily by the spread of [[Islam]] and the establishment of the [[Caliphate|Arabian Empires]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=78}}</ref>

[[File:Крепость Нарын-Кала в Дербенте.jpg|left|thumb|6th century Sassanid defense lines in modern-day [[Derbent|Derbent, Dagestan Russia]]. Prior to the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]], [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Persia]] with its [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian Religion]] was prevalent]]

In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated by empires and their spheres of influence; the two most prominent were the Persian [[Sasanian Empire]], centered in what is now [[Iran]], and the [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[Anatolia]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). The Byzantines and Sasanians fought with each other continually, a reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=70}}</ref> The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Outline of History|last=Wells|first=H.G|publisher=Garden City Publishing Inc|year=1920|location=Garden City, NUY|page=544}}</ref> Meanwhile, the nomadic [[Bedouin]] tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal stability, greater trade networking and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism.
[[File:Hagia Sophia Mars 2013.jpg|thumb|The [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople was the center of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[File:15th century egyptian anatomy of horse.jpg|thumb|Anatomy of a horse from the 15th century. The [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]] made advances in [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|medicine]]. From the University Library, Istanbul.|alt=|276x276px]]

While the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Roman and [[Sassanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persian empires were both weakened by the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], a new power in the form of [[Islam]] grew in the Middle East under [[Muhammad in Medina]]. In a series of rapid [[Muslim conquests]], the [[Rashidun army]], led by the [[Caliph]]s and skilled military commanders such as [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]] and completely engulfing Persia in the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]. It would be the Arab [[Caliphate]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Arab|ethnic identity]] that persists today. These Caliphates included the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and later the Turkic-based [[Seljuq Empire]].

After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into 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>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=76}}</ref> Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in [[History of medicine|medicine]], [[History of elementary algebra|algebra]], [[History of geometry|geometry]], [[History of astronomy|astronomy]], [[History of anatomy|anatomy]], and [[History of ethics|ethics]] that would later finds it way back to Western Europe.

The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the [[Hejaz]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=110}}</ref> This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joint European forces mainly from [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], and the emerging [[Holy Roman Empire]], to enter the region.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=328}} In 1099 the knights of the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Jerusalem]] and founded the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], which survived until 1187, when [[Saladin]] retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=331}} In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)]] and advancing as far south as the border of [[Egypt]] in what became known as the [[Mongol conquests]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=333}} The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but the chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turko-Mongol]], [[Timur]], and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]].

=== South Asia ===
[[File:Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple).jpg|thumb|Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple) constructed by [[Rajendra Chola I|Rajendra Chola]]. Picture by Prakash Chidambaram.|alt=]]
{{main|Medieval India|History of India#Classical to early medieval periods (c. 200 BCE – c. 1200 CE)|#Late medieval period (c. 1200–1526 CE)}}
There has been difficulty applying the word 'medieval' or 'post classical' to the history of South Asia. This section follows historian Stein Burton's definition that corresponds from the 8th century to the 16th century, more of less following the same time frame of the Post Classical Period and the European Middle Ages.<ref>{{citation|last=Stein|first=Burton|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=D.|date=27 April 2010|title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726001148/https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until the 13th century, there was no less than 20 to 40 different states on the Indian Subcontinent which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems and religions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: A History|last=Keay|first=John|author-link=John Keay|publisher=[[Grove Press]]|year=2000|pages=xx–xxi}}</ref> At the beginning of the time period [[Buddhism]] was predominant throughout the area with the short-lived [[Pala Empire]] on the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Indo Gangetic Plain]] sponsoring the faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist [[Nalanda University]] in modern-day [[Bihar|Bihar, India]] a centre of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the ''[[Chaturanga]]'' game which later was exported to Europe and became [[Chess]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Murray |first=H.J.R.| title=A History of Chess| publisher=Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press)| year=1913| isbn=978-0-936317-01-4| oclc=13472872| author-link=H. J. R. Murray| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchess00murr}}</ref>
In Southern India, the [[Hindu]] Kingdom of [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and [[Chola invasion of Srivijaya|Indonesia]] as oversees territories and helped spread Hinduism into the historic culture of these places.<ref>''History of Asia'' by B.V. Rao p.211</ref> In this time period, neighboring areas such as [[History of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[History of Tibet|Tibet]], [[History of Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] were under [[Greater India|South Asian influence]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | title=The spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=20 December 2016 | date= | archive-date=16 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116205245/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1206 onward a series of [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Turkic Islamic invasions]] from modern-day Afghanistan and Iran conquered massive portions of Northern India, founding the [[Delhi Sultanate]] which remained supreme until the 16th century.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=107}} [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|Buddhism declined]] in South Asia vanishing in many areas but Hinduism survived and reinforced itself in areas conquered by [[Hindu –Islamic relations|Muslims]]. In the far South, the Kingdom of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijanyagar]] was not conquered by any Muslim state in the period. The turn of the 16th century would see the rise of a new Islamic Empire – the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] and the establishment of European trade posts by the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|title=mughal_index|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=2019-06-14|archive-date=2019-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715193143/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Southeast Asia ===
{{main|History of Southeast Asia#Medieval History}}
[[File:Borobdur9205.jpg|thumb|View of [[Borobudur]], from center point of view. Located in [[Magelang|Megelang]], [[Central Java]], [[Indonesia]]. Built in the 9th century Borobudur is the largest Buddhist Temple in the world.|alt=|left]]From the 8th century onward Southeast Asia stood to benefit from the trade taking place between South and East Asia, numerous kingdoms arose in the region due to the flow of wealth passing through the [[Strait of Malacca]]. While Southeast Asia had numerous outside influences [[Greater India|India]] was the greatest source of inspiration for the region. North Vietnam as an exception was culturally closer to China for centuries due to conquest.

Since rule from the third century BCE North Vietnam continued to be subjugated by Chinese states, although they continually resisted periodically. There were three periods of [[Chinese domination of Vietnam|Chinese Domination]] that spanned near 1100 years. The Vietnamese gained long lasting independence in the 10th century when China was [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|divided]] with [[Tĩnh Hải quân]] and the successor [[Đại Việt]]. Nonetheless, even as an independent state a sort of begrudging [[sinicization]] occurred. South Vietnam was governed by the ancient Hindu [[Champa|Champa Kingdom]] but was annexed by the [[Cham–Annamese War|Vietnamese]] in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|title=Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur|first=Ben|last=Kiernan|year=2009|publisher=Yale University Press|page=110|isbn=978-0-300-14425-3|access-date=January 9, 2011|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref>

The spread of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and maritime trade between China and [[South Asia]] created the foundation for Southeast Asia's first major empires; including the [[Khmer Empire]] from Cambodia and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] from Indonesia. During the Khmer Empire's height in the 12th century the city of [[Angkor Thom]] was among the largest of the pre-modern world due to its water management. [[Jayavarman II|King Jayavarman II]] constructed over a hundred hospitals throughout his realm.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Indianized states of Southeast Asia|first=George|last=Cœdès|isbn=978-0-8248-0368-1|location=Honolulu|oclc=961876784|year=1968|publisher=East-West Center Press}}</ref> Nearby rose the [[Pagan Empire]] in modern-day Burma, using elephants as military might.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=211|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The construction of the Buddhist [[Shwezigon Pagoda]] and its tolerance for believers of older polytheistic gods helped [[Theravada|Theravada Buddhism]] become supreme in the region.<ref name=":4" />

In Indonesia, [[Srivijaya]] from the 7th through 14th century was a [[Thalassocracy]] that focused on maritime city states and trade. Controlling the vital choke points of the [[Sunda Strait|Sunda]] and [[Strait of Malacca|Malacca straits]] it became rich from trade ranging from Japan through Arabia. Gold, Ivory and Ceramics were all major commodities traveling through port cities. The Empire was also responsible for the construction of wonders such as [[Borobudur]]. During this time Indonesian sailors crossed the [[Indian Ocean]]; evidence suggests that they may have colonized [[History of Madagascar|Madagascar]].<ref name="Madagascar Founded By Women">{{cite web |url=http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |title=Madagascar Founded By Women |publisher=Discovery.com |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-date=2012-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322115439/http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Indian culture spread to the [[History of the Philippines (900–1521)|Philippines]], likely through Indonesian trade resulting in the first documented use of writing in the archipelago and [[Indianized kingdom]]s.<ref>The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History by Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson p.186</ref>

Over time changing economic and political conditions else where and wars weakened the traditional empires of South East Asia. While the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]] did not directly annex Southeast Asia the war-time devastation paved way for the rise of new nations. In the 15th century the Khmer Empire was supplanted by the Thai [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] was overtaken by the [[Majapahit]] and later the Islamic [[Malacca Sultanate]] by 1450.

=== East Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Asia|}}[[File:Palastexamen-SongDynastie.jpg|thumb|In China public examinations gave citizens the opportunity to be employed by the Imperial Government through [[meritocracy]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Chinese Imperial Dynasties|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|language=en|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2018-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627034117/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|url-status=live}}</ref> The examination system reached its maximum effectiveness in the 11th–12th centuries. Painting from [[Ming dynasty]] era.|alt=]] The time frame of 500–1500 in East Asia's history and China in particular has been proposed as an accurate classification for the region's history within the context of global Post-classical history.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clark|first=Paul|title=Chinese History in the Post-Classical Age (500 CE to 1500 CE)|url=http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|journal=Humanities Institute|access-date=2018-08-31|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225615/http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> There has been an attempt made in college courses to adapt the Post-Classical concept to Chinese terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|title=A.P World Civilizations China|website=Berkeley.edu|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-date=2015-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708211451/https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

During this period the [[Eastern world]] empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas. [[Japan]] and [[Korea]] went under the process of voluntary [[sinicization]], or the impression of Chinese cultural and political ideas.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/japan/|title=Ancient Japan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034328/https://www.ancient.eu/japan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Japanese & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034356/https://www.ancient.eu/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Korean & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2021-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311054538/https://www.ancient.eu/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Korea]] and [[Asuka period|Japan]] sinicized because their ruling class were largely impressed by China's bureaucracy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} The major influences China had on these countries were the spread of Confucianism, the spread of Buddhism, and the establishment of centralized governance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=181}} In the times of the [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]] (581–1279), China remained the world's largest economy and most technologically advanced society.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false Bulliet & Crossley & Headrick & Hirsch & Johnson 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229161111/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2019-12-29 }}, p. 264.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lockard|first=Craig|date=1999|title=Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|journal=Encarta Historical Essays|access-date=2018-06-16|archive-date=2020-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924191957/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Four Great Inventions|Inventions]] such as gunpowder, woodblock printing and the magnetic compass were improved upon. China stood in contrast to other areas at the time as the imperial governments exhibited concentrated central authority instead of [[feudalism]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dalby|first=Michael T.|doi=10.1017/chol9780521214469.010|pages=561–681|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-05594-9|title=The Cambridge History of China|year=1979|chapter=Court politics in late T'ang times}}</ref>

China exhibited much interest in [[Foreign relations of imperial China|foreign affairs]], during the Tang and Song dynasties. From the 7th through the 10th Tang China was focused on securing the [[Silk Road]] as the selling of its goods westwards was central to the nation's economy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=615|oclc=298782520}}</ref> For a time China, successfully secured its frontiers by integrating their nomadic neighbors such as the [[Göktürks|Gokturks]] into their civilization.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=149}} The Tang dynasty expanded into Central Asia and received tribute from Eastern Iran.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} Western expansion ended with [[Battle of Talas|wars]] with the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and the deadly [[An Lushan Rebellion]] which resulted in an deadly but uncertain death toll of millions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=156}}

After the collapse of the Tang dynasty and subsequent [[Ten Kingdoms period|civil wars]] came the second phase of Chinese interest in foreign relations. Unlike the Tang, the Song specialized in overseas trade and peacefully created a maritime network and China's population became concentrated in the south.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=126–127}} Chinese merchant ships reached Indonesia, India and Arabia. Southeast Asia's economy flourished from trade with Song China.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=132}}
[[File:미륵반가사유상 (彌勒菩薩半跏思惟像).jpg|thumb|A Japanese Buddha sculpture from the [[Asuka period|Asuka Period]]|alt=|left]]
With the country's emphasis on trade and economic growth, [[Economy of the Song dynasty|Song China's economy]] began to use machines to manufacture goods and coal as a source of energy.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=160}} The advances of the Song in the 11th/12th centuries have been considered an early [[Chinese industrialization|industrial revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=F.So L.|last2=Schafer|first2=J.F.|date=1978|title=Registration of Clintland 60 and Clintland 64 Oats (Reg. No. 280 and 281)|journal=Crop Science|volume=18|issue=2|page=354|doi=10.2135/cropsci1978.0011183x001800020049x|issn=0011-183X}}</ref> Economic advancements came at the cost of military affairs and the Song became open to invasions from the north. China became divided as Song's northern lands were conquered by the [[Jurchen people]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=202|oclc=298782520}}</ref> By 1200 there were five Chinese kingdoms stretching from modern day Turkestan to the Sea of Japan including the [[Qara Khitai|Western Liao]], [[Western Xia]], [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]], [[Song dynasty|Southern Song]] and [[Dali Kingdom|Dali]].<ref>{{Citation|last=國家地震局地球物理硏究所 (China)|script-title=zh:中國歷史地震圖集 : 清時期|date=1990|publisher=Zhongguo di tu chu ban she|isbn=7503105747|oclc=26030569}}</ref> Because these states competed with each other they all were eventually annexed by the rising [[Mongol Empire]] before 1279.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicleof world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|pages=232–233|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

After seventy years of [[Mongol conquest of China|conquest]], the Mongols proclaimed the [[Yuan dynasty]] and also annexed [[Mongol invasions of Korea|Korea]]; they failed to conquer [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Japan]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=128–129}} Mongol conquerors also made China accessible to [[Europeans in Medieval China|European travelers]] such as [[Marco Polo]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Mongols in World History|url=https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|journal=Asian Topics in World History|via=Columbia University|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110316/https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|url-status=live}}</ref> The Mongol era was short lived due to plagues and famine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|title=HISTORY OF CHINA|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2017-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160403/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|url-status=live}}</ref> After [[Red Turban Rebellion|revolution]] in 1368 the succeeding [[Ming dynasty]] ushered in a period of prosperity and brief [[Ming treasure voyages|foreign expeditions]] before isolating itself from global affairs for centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|title=Zheng He|website=Khan Academy|language=en|access-date=2018-08-14|archive-date=2018-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232811/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Muromachi period|Japan]] however continued to have relations with China and with other Asian countries. In the 15th century [[Sejong the Great]] of Korea cemented his country's identity by creating the [[Hangul|Hangul Writing]] system to replace use of [[Chinese characters|Chinese Characters]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burzillo|first=David|date=May 2004|title=Writing and World History|url=http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|journal=World History Connected|volume=1|issue=2|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425013301/http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Japan fell under military rule of the [[Kamakura period|Kamakura]] and later [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga]] Shogunate dominated by [[Samurai|Samauri]] warriors.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=226|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

== Eurasia ==
This section explains events and trends which affected the geographic area of [[Eurasia]]. The civilizations within this area were distinct from one another but still endured shared experiences and some development patterns

{{Gallery
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|File:East-Hem 500ad.jpg| alt1=Map of the Eastern Hemisphere 475 AD.
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=== Mongol Empire ===
{{main|Mongol Empire}}[[File:DiezAlbumsArmedRiders I.jpg|thumb|
Mounted warriors pursue enemies. Illustration of Rashid-ad-Din's Gami' at-tawarih. Tabriz (?), 1st quarter of 14th century.
|alt=|left]]

The Mongol Empire which existed during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest [[List of largest empires#Largest empires by land area and population|continuous land empire]] in history.<ref>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. p. 5.</ref> Originating in the [[steppe]]s of [[Central Asia]], the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from [[Central Europe]] to the [[Sea of Japan]], extending northwards into [[Siberia]], eastwards and southwards into the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Indochina]], and the [[Iranian plateau]], and westwards as far as the [[Levant]] and [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=234|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the [[Mongolia]] homeland under the leadership of [[Genghis Khan]], who was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under his descendants, who sent [[Mongol invasions|invasions]] in every direction.<ref>Diamond. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel''. p. 367.</ref><ref>''The Mongols and Russia'', by [[George Vernadsky]]</ref><ref>''The Mongol World Empire, 1206–1370'', by John Andrew Boyle</ref><ref>''The History of China'', by David Curtis Wright. p. 84.</ref><ref>''The Early Civilization of China'', by Yong Yap Cotterell, Arthur Cotterell. p. 223.</ref><ref>''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281'' by Reuven Amitai-Preiss</ref> The vast transcontinental empire connected the [[eastern world|east]] with the [[western world|west]] with an enforced ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'' allowing trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Gregory G.|last=Guzman|title=Were the barbarians a negative or positive factor in ancient and medieval history?|journal=The Historian|volume=50|issue=4|year=1988|pages=568–570|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1988.tb00759.x|jstor=24447158}}</ref><ref>[[Thomas T. Allsen]]. ''Culture and Conquest''. p. 211.</ref>

The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir [[Ögedei Khan|Ögedei]], or one of his other sons such as [[Tolui]], [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]], or [[Jochi]]. After [[Möngke Khan]] died, rival ''[[kurultai]]'' councils simultaneously elected different successors, the brothers [[Ariq Böke]] and [[Kublai Khan]], who then not only fought each other in the [[Toluid Civil War]], but also dealt with challenges from descendants of other sons of Genghis.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Biran |title=Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia |publisher=The Curzon Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7007-0631-0}}</ref> Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the [[Chagatai khans|Chagatayid]] and [[House of Ögedei|Ögedeid]] families.

[[File:LetterOljeituToPhilipLeBel.jpg|thumb|Letter from the Mongolian-Persian [[Ilkhanate]] to France, 1305. The Chinese style stamp was used outside China as the official symbol of the Khans and their messengers|alt=]]The [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in 1260 marked the high-water point of the [[Mongol conquests]] and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. Though the Mongols launched many more invasions into the Levant, briefly occupying it and raiding as far as Gaza after a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar]] in 1299, they withdrew due to various geopolitical factors.

By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires, each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives: the [[Golden Horde]] khanate in the northwest; the [[Chagatai Khanate]] in the west; the [[Ilkhanate]] in the southwest; and the [[Yuan dynasty]] based in modern-day [[Beijing]].<ref name="China p413">''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States''. p. 413.</ref> In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty,<ref>Jackson. ''Mongols and the West''. p. 127.</ref><ref>Allsen. ''Culture and Conquest''. pp. xiii, 235.</ref> but it was later overthrown by the [[Han Chinese]] [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=233|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The Genghisid rulers returned to Mongolia homeland and continued rule in the [[Northern Yuan dynasty]].<ref name=":6" /> All of the original Mongol Khanates collapsed by 1500, but smaller successor states remained independent until the 1700s. Descendants of [[Chagatai Khan]] created the [[Mughal Empire]] that ruled much of India in [[Early modern period|early modern]] times.<ref name=":6" />

=== The Silk Road ===
{{main|History of Central Asia|History of Siberia|Silk Road}}
[[File:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg|left|thumb|Central Asian Buddhist Monks, the Silk Road allowed for the exchange for ideas as well as goods. A Caucasian looking [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] teacher possibly [[Sogdia]]n instructs an East-Asian monk. Dated from the 9th century near [[Turpan|Turfan, Xinxiang, China]] |214x214px]]
The Silk Road was a Eurasian trade route that played a large role in global communication and interaction. It stimulated cultural exchange; encouraged the learning of new languages; resulted in the trade of many goods, such as silk, gold, and spices; and also spread religion and disease.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} It is even claimed by some historians – such as [[Andre Gunder Frank]], [[William Hardy McNeill]], [[Jerry H. Bentley]], and [[Marshall Hodgson]] – that the Afro-Eurasian world was loosely united culturally, and that the Silk Road was fundamental to this unity.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} This major trade route began with the [[Han dynasty]] of China, connecting it to the Roman Empire and any regions in between or nearby. At this time, Central Asia exported horses, [[wool]], and [[jade]] into China for the latter's silk; the Romans would trade for the Chinese commodity as well, offering wine in return.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=101}} The Silk Road would often decline and rise again in trade from the Iron Age to the Postclassical Era. Following one such decline, it was reopened in Central Asia by [[Han Dynasty]] General [[Ban Chao]] during the 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The Silk Road was also a major factor in spreading religion across Afro-Eurasia. Muslim teachings from Arabia and [[Persia]] reached East Asia. Buddhism spread from India, to China, to Central Asia. One significant development in the spread of Buddhism was the carving of the [[Gandhara]] School in the cities of [[Taxila (ancient)|ancient Taxila]] and the [[Peshwar]], allegedly in the mid 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The route was vulnerable to spreading plague. The [[Plague of Justinian]] originated in East Asia and had a major outbreak in Europe in 542 causing the deaths of a quarter of the Mediterranean's population. Trade between Europe, Africa and Asia along the route was at least partially responsible for spreading the plague.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|title=Justinian's Plague (541–542 CE)|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-10|date=|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418160219/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is a popular theory that the Black Death was caused by the Mongol conquests. The claim is that the direct link that it opened between the East and West provided the path for rats and fleas that carried the disease.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-691-13589-2|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=195}}</ref> Although there is no concrete historical evidence to this theory, the plague is considered endemic on the steppe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction|last=Milward|first=James|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-978286-4|location=Oxford|pages=46}}</ref>

There were vulnerabilities as well to changing political situations. The rise of Islam changed the Silk Road, because Muslim rulers generally closed the Silk Road to [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] to an extent Europe would be cut off from Asia for centuries. Specifically, the political developments that affected the Silk Road included the emergence of the Turks, the political movements of the Sasanian and Byzantine empires, and the rise of the Arabs, among others.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith|last1=Whitfield|first1=Susan|last2=Sims-Williams|first2=Ursula|publisher=Serindia Publications, Inc.|year=2004|isbn=978-1-932476-12-5|location=Chicago, IL|pages=30}}</ref>
[[File:Song Tapestry.jpg|thumb|Chinese-Song-era tapestry, Chinese Silk was carried west over large distances and sold for large profits.|alt=Chinese-Song era tapestry|264x264px]]

The Silk Road flourished again in the 13th century during the reign of the Mongol Empire, which through conquest had brought stability in Central Asia comparable to the [[Pax Romana]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} It was claimed by a Muslim historian that Central Asia was peaceful and safe to transverse <blockquote>"(Central Asia) enjoyed such a peace that a man might have journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a golden platter upon his head without suffering the least violence from anyone."{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}} </blockquote>

As such, trade and communication between Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East required little effort. Handicraft production, art, and scholarship prospered, and wealthy merchants enjoyed cosmopolitan cities.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}}

The Silk Road trade played a role in spreading the infamous [[Black Death]]. Originating in China, the [[bubonic plague]] was spread by Mongol warriors catapulting diseased corpses into enemy towns in the [[Crimea]]. The disease, spread by rats, was carried by merchant ships sailing across the Mediterranean that brought the plague back to Sicily, causing an [[epidemic]] in 1347.{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=310}} Nevertheless, after the 15th century, the Silk Road disappeared from regular use.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} This was primarily a result from the growing sea travel pioneered by Europeans, which allowed the trade of goods by sailing around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}}

=== Science ===
{{main|History of Science#Post-classical science|History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent|History of science and technology in China}}
[[File:Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript.jpg|left|thumb|Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript]]
The term ''post-classical science'' is often used in academic circles and in college courses to combine the study of [[European science in the Middle Ages|medieval European science]] and [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic science]] due to their interactions with one another.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|title=Outline – Post-Classical Science – History of Science Study Guide – Dr Robert A. Hatch|last=Hatch|first=Dr Robert A.|website=users.clas.ufl.edu|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2016-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630150105/http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However scientific knowledge also spread westward by trade and war from Eastern Eurasia, particularly from China by Arabs. The Islamic World also benefited from medical knowledge from [[Indian influence on Islamic science|South Asia]].<ref>A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine By Plinio Prioreschi Vol. iv, p. 121, {{ISBN|1-888456-02-7}}</ref>

In the case of the Western World and in Islamic realms much emphasis was placed on preserving the rationalist Greek Tradition of figures such as [[Aristotle]]. In the context of science within Islam there are questions as to whether Islamic Scientists simply preserved accomplishments from [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]] or built upon earlier Greek advances.<ref>[[Bertrand Russell]] (1945) ''[[A History of Western Philosophy|History of Western Philosophy]]'', book 2, part 2, chapter X</ref><ref>[[Abdus Salam]], H.R. Dalafi, Mohamed Hassan (1994). ''Renaissance of Sciences in Islamic Countries'' p. 162. World Scientific, {{ISBN|9971-5-0713-7}}.</ref> Regardless, Classical European Science was brought back to the Christian Kingdoms due to the experience of the [[Crusades]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}}

As a result of Persian trade in China, and the battle of the [[Battle of Talas|Talas River]], Chinese innovations entered the Islamic intellectual world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Collins Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=108}}</ref> These include advances in astronomy and in [[History of paper|paper-making]].<ref name="meggs58">Meggs, Philip B. ''A History of Graphic Design.'' John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (p. 58) {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Masood|2009|pp=132–135}} Paper-making spread through the Islamic World as far west as [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]], before paper-making was acquired for Europe by the [[Reconquista]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|title=History of paper|website=users.stlcc.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822144311/http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is debate about [[History of gunpowder#Spread throughout Eurasia and Africa|transmission of gunpowder]] on whether the Mongols introduced [[Science and technology of the Song dynasty#Gunpowder warfare|Chinese gunpowder weapons]] to Europe or if gunpowder weapons were invented in Europe independently.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chase |first=Kenneth |year=2003 |title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9|page=58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Morillo |first=Stephen |year=2008 |title=War in World History: Society, Technology, and War from Ancient Times to the Present, Volume 1, To 1500 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-052584-9|page=259}}</ref>

=== Literate culture and arts ===
{{main|History of literature|History of art|History of music}}
[[File:Genji emaki sekiya.jpg|thumb|12th century illustration from the ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'', the world's first novel.]]

[[File:Talaei-tetrachords.ogg|left|thumb|Persian Talaei-tetrachords]]
[[File:Ut Queant Laxis.ogg|left|thumb|Italy, 8th century ''Ut Queant Laxis'']]
Within Eurasia, there were four major civilization groups that had literate cultures and created literature and arts, including Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Southeast Asia could be a possible fifth category but was influenced heavily from both South and East Asia literal cultures. All four cultures in Post-Classical Times used [[poetry]], [[drama]] and [[prose]]. Throughout the period and until the 19th century poetry was the dominant form of literary expression. In the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and China great poetic works often used figurative language. Examples include, the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Shakuntala (play)|Shakuntala]]'', the [[Arabic]] ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Thousand and one nights]]'', [[Old English]] ''[[Beowulf]] '' and works by the Chinese [[Du Fu]]. In Japan, prose uniquely thrived more than in other geographic areas. The ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'' is considered the world's first realistic novel written in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|title=World Literature and Music {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724230109/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Musically, most regions of the world only used [[Melody|melodies]] as opposed to [[harmony]]. Medieval Europe was the lone exception to this rule, developing harmonic music in the 14th/15th century as musical culture transitioned form sacred music (meant for the church) to secular music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|title=Western Music Timeline {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623210258/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref> South Asian and Mid-Eastern music were similar to each other for their use of [[Microtonal music|microtone]]. East-Asian music shared some similarities with European Music for using a [[pentatonic scale]].

== The Americas ==
{{main|Pre-Columbian era}}

The Postclassical Era of the Americas can be considered set at a different time span from that of Afro-Eurasia. As the developments of Mesoamerican and Andean civilization differ greatly from that of the Old World, as well as the speed at which it developed, the Postclassical Era in the traditional sense does not take place until near the end of the medieval age in Western Europe. As such, for the purposes of this article, the [[Woodland period]] and [[Classic stage]] of the Americas will be discussed here, which takes place from about 400 to 1400.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willey |first=Gordon R. |year=1989 |chapter=Gordon Willey |title=The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney |editor=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2=Christopher Chippindale |editor-link=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2-link=Christopher Chippindale |location=New York |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |isbn=0-500-05051-1 |oclc=19750309}}</ref> For the technical Postclassical stage in American development which took place on the eve of European contact, see [[Post-Classic stage]].

{{Gallery
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|File:North American cultural areas.png
|alt1=Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|File:Áreas Culturales de América.PNG
|alt2= Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
|Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
}}

=== North America ===
As a continent there was little unified trade or communication. Advances in agriculture spread northward from [[Mesoamerica]] indirectly through trade. Major cultural areas however still developed independently of each other.

==== Norse Contact and the Polar Regions ====
{{Main|Norse colonization of North America}}
[[File:Authentic Viking recreation.jpg|thumb|Authentic reconstruction of Norse site at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]]. Photo provided by Dylan Kereluk.]]

While there was little regular contact between the Americas and the Old World the [[Vikings|Norse Vikings]] explored and even colonized [[Greenland]] and [[Canada]] as early as 1000. None of these settlements survived past [[Middle Ages|Medieval Times]]. Outside of Scandinavia knowledge of the discovery of the Americas was interpreted as a [[Vinland#Medieval geographers|remote island]] or the [[North Pole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|title=[Vinland in] Chapter 39|first=Adam of|last=Bremen|date=30 November 1977|website=www.canadianmysteries.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117100208/http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

The Norse arriving from Greenland settled Greenland from approximately 980 to 1450.<ref name=":2" /> The Norse arrived in southern [[Greenland]] prior to the 13th century approach of [[Inuit]] [[Thule people]] in the area. The extent of the interaction between the Norse and Thule is unclear.<ref name=":2" /> Greenland was valuable to the Norse due to trade of ivory that came from the tusks of walruses. The [[Little Ice Age]] adversely affected the colonies and they vanished.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of archaeology|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry W.|last2=Gosden|first2=Chris|last3=Joyce|first3=Rosemary A.|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-927101-6|page=592|oclc=277205272}}</ref> Greenland would be lost to Europeans until [[Danish colonization of the Americas|Danish Colonization]] in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|title=Colonialism in Greenland: An Inuit Perspective|website=arcticcircle.uconn.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031152005/http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|archive-date=2017-10-31|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Norse also explored and colonized farther south in [[Newfoundland|Newfoundland Canada]] at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]] referred to by the Norse as ''[[Vinland]]''. The colony at most existed for twenty years and resulted in no known transmission of diseases or technology to the [[First Nations]]. To the Norse ''Vinland'' was known for plentiful grape vines to make superior wine. One reason for the colony's failure was constant violence with the native [[Beothuk]] tribe who the Norse referred to as [[Skræling|Skraeling]].

After initial expeditions there is a possibility that the Norse continued to visit modern day Canada. Surviving records from medieval Iceland indicate some sporadic voyages to a land called ''[[Markland]]'', possibly the coast of [[Labrador|Labrador, Canada]], as late as 1347 presumably to collect wood for deforested Greenland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seaver |first=Kristen A. |title=The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, Ca. A.D. 1000–1500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1996 |page=28 |isbn=978-0-8047-3161-4 |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Northern Areas ====
{{Main|Indigenous peoples in Canada#Post-Archaic periods|History of Native Americans in the United States#Major cultures}}[[File:Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM.jpg|left|thumb|Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM|133x133px]]In northern [[North America]], many [[hunter-gatherer]] and [[agricultural]] societies thrived in the diverse region. [[Native American in the United States|Native American tribes]] varied greatly in characteristics; some, including the [[Mississippian culture]] and the [[Ancestral Puebloans]] were complex chiefdoms. Other nations which inhabited the states of the modern northern United States and Canada had less complexity and did not follow technological changes as quickly. Approximately around the year 500 during the [[Woodland period]], Native Americans began to transition to bows and arrows from spears for hunting and warfare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|title=American Indian Archery Technology {{!}} The Office of the State Archaeologist|website=archaeology.uiowa.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-05-26|archive-date=2018-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527201628/https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|url-status=live}}</ref> Technological advancement however was uneven. During the 12th century was the widespread adoption of Corn as a staple crop in the [[Eastern United States]]. Corn would continue to be the staple crop of natives in the Eastern United States and Canada until the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian Exchange]].

[[File:Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado USA.JPG|thumb|Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado|133x133px]]
In the eastern United States, rivers were the medium of trade and communication. [[Cahokia]] located in the modern U.S [[State of Illinois]] was among the most significant within the Mississippi Culture. Focused around [[Monks Mound]] archaeology indicates the population increased exponentially after 1000 because it manufactured important tools for agriculture and cultural attractions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=393}} Around 1350 Cahokia was abandoned, environmental factors have been proposed for the city's decline.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|title=As the river rises: Cahokia's emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding|website=news.wisc.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-31|archive-date=2018-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213205/https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the same time Ancestral Puebloans constructed clusters of buildings in the [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park|Chaco Canyon]] site located in the [[New Mexico|State of New Mexico]]. Individual houses may have been occupied by more than 600 residents at any one time. Chaco Canyon was the only pre-Columbian site in the United States to build paved roads.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carballo|first=David M.|chapter=Trade Routes in the Americas Before Columbus|title=The Great Trade Routes: A History of Cargos and Commerce Over Land and Sea|editor-last=Parker|editor-first=Philip|location=London|publisher=Conway Publishing|url=https://www.academia.edu/4998969|pages=166–170|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.academia.edu/4998969/Trade_Routes_in_the_Americas_Before_Columbus|url-status=live}}</ref> Pottery indicates a society that was becoming more complex, turkeys for the first time in the continental United States were also domesticated. Around 1150 the structures of Chaco Canyon were abandoned, likely as a result of severe drought.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fagan
|first1=B. M.|year=2005|title=Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195170436|pages=18–19}}</ref>{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=391}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/MapDisplay.aspx|title=Reconstructed JJA PDSI 1150 AD|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref> There were also other Pueblo complexes in the Southwestern United States. After reaching climaxes native complex societies in the United States declined and did not entirely recover before the arrival of European Explorers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500.|pages=391}}</ref>

==== Mesoamerica ====
{{Main|Mesoamerica}}
[[File:Telamones Tula.jpg|thumb|Toltec [[Atlantean figures]] at the Tula site. The [[Toltec|Toltec Civilization]] inspired the later [[Aztecs]].|alt=|left]]At the beginning of the global Post Classic Period, the city of [[Teotihuacan]] was at its zenith, housing over 125,000 people, at 500 A.D it was the sixth largest city in the world at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|title=Populations of Largest Cities in PMNs from 2000BC to 1988AD|work=Etext Archives|date=2007-09-29|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110844/http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|archive-date=2007-09-29}}</ref> The city's residents built the [[Pyramid of the Sun]] the third largest pyramid of the world, oriented to follow astronomical events. Suddenly in the 6th and 7th centuries, the city suddenly declined possibly as a result of severe environmental damage caused by [[extreme weather events of 535–536]]. There is evidence that large parts of the city were burned, possibly in a domestic rebellion.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-29|date=|archive-date=2021-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417181631/https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|url-status=live}}</ref> The city's legacy would inspire all future civilizations in the region.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=Ancient History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

At the same time was Classic Age of the [[Maya civilization|Mayan Civilization]] clustered in dozens of city states on the [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] and modern day [[Guatemala]].<ref>{{harvnb|Barraclough|2003|page=46}}</ref> The most significant of these cities were [[Chichen Itza]] which often fiercely competed with its neighbors to be the dominant economic influence in the region.

The Mayans had an upper caste of priests, who were well versed in astronomy, mathematics and writing. The Mayan developed the concept of zero, and a 365-day calendar which possibly pre-dates its creation in Old-World societies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|title=HISTORY OF MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATION|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-06-29|archive-date=2018-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322045141/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|url-status=live}}</ref> After 900, many Mayan cities suddenly declined in a period of drought.[[File:Aztec11 Bloodletting.jpg|thumb|Aztec Bloodletting, priests conduct a heart sacrifice, from the ''Tudela Codex'', 16th century.|197x197px]]

The [[Toltec Empire]] arose from the [[Toltec]] culture, and were remembered as wise and benevolent leaders. One priest-king called [[Ce Acatl Topiltzin]] advocated against human sacrifice.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Henry|date=2001|title=Topiltzin Quetzalcotal. The once and future Lord of the Toltec|journal=Boulder: University Press of Colorado|pages=258}}</ref> After his death in 947, civil wars of religious character broke out between those who supported and opposed Topiltzin's teachings.<ref name=":8" /> Modern historians however are skeptical of the extent of Toltec and influence and believe that much of the information known about the Toltecs was created by the later Aztecs as an inspiration myth.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Aztec kings : the construction of rulership in Mexica history|last=Gillespie|first=Susan D.|date=1989|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=0816510954|location=Tucson|oclc=19353576}}</ref>

In the 1300s, a small band of violent, religious radicals called the [[Aztec]]s began minor raids throughout the area.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Eventually they began to claim connections with the Toltec civilization, and insisted they were the rightful successors.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|title=Traditions and Encounters, AP Edition , 5th Edition|last=Bentley|publisher=McGraw-Hill|chapter=Chapter 20|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2017-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519144625/http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> They began to grow in numbers and conquer large areas of land. Fundamental to their conquest, was the use of [[Terrorism|political terror]] in the sense that the Aztec leaders and priests would command the [[human sacrifice]] of their [[Conquest (military)#Subjugation|subjugated]] people as means of humility and coercion.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Most of the Mesoamerican region would eventually fall under the Aztec Empire.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} On the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] most of the [[Maya peoples|Mayan People]] continued to be independent of the Aztecs but their traditional civilization declined.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Aztec developments expanded cultivation, applying the use of [[chinampa]]s, irrigation, and [[terrace agriculture]]; important crops included [[maize]], [[sweet potato]]es, and [[avocado]]s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}

In 1430 the city of [[Tenochtitlan]] allied with other powerful [[Nahuan languages|Nahuatl]] speaking cities- [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]] and [[Tlacopan]] to create the Aztec Empire otherwise known as Triple-Alliance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Though referred to as an empire the Aztec Empire functioned as a system of tribute collection with Tenochtitlan at its center. By the turn of the 16th century "[[flower war]]s" between the Aztecs and rival states such as [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]] had continued for over fifty years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |title=Conquistadors – Cortés |publisher=PBS |access-date=2010-10-31 |archive-date=2011-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182621/http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== South America ===
{{main|Pre-Columbian era#South America}}

South American civilization was concentrated in the Andean region which had already hosted complex cultures since 2,500 BC. East of the Andean region, the natives were generally semi nomadic. Discoveries on the [[Amazon basin|Amazon River Basin]] indicate the region likely had a pre-contact population of five million people and hosted complex societies.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |date=December 2009 |volume=83 |issue=322 |pages=1084–1095 |title=Pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in the upper Purús: a complex society in western Amazonia |first1=Martti |last1=Pärssinen |first2=Denise |last2=Schaan |first3=Alceu |last3=Ranzi |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00099373 |s2cid=55741813 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |access-date=2020-01-24 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Pre-Columbian-geometric-earthworks-in-the-upper-a-P%C3%A4rssinen-Schaan/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Around the continent numerous agricultural peoples from [[History of Colombia|Colombia]] to [[History of Argentina|Argentina]] steadily advanced from 500 AD until European contact.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=47}}</ref>

==== Andean Region ====
{{main|Andean civilizations|}}
[[File:Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru - panoramio (1).jpg|left|thumb|Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru, provided by David Broad.|238x238px|alt=]]

During [[Ancient history|Ancient times]] the Andean Region had developed civilizations independent of outside influences including that of [[Mesoamerica]].<ref>Upton, Gary and von Hagen, Adriana (2015), ''Encyclopedia of the Incas'', New York: Rowand & Littlefield, p. 2. Some scholars cite 6 or 7 pristine civilizations.</ref> Through the Post Classical era a cycle of civilizations continued until [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Spanish contact]]. Collectively Andean societies lacked currency, a written language and solid draft animals enjoyed by old world civilizations. Instead Andeans developed other methods to foster their growth, including use of the [[quipu]] system to communicate messages, lamas to carry smaller loads and an economy based on [[Reciprocity (social and political philosophy)|reciprocity]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Societies were often based on strict social hierarchies and economic redistribution from the ruling class.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}>

In the first half of the Post Classical Period the Andean Region was dominated by two almost equally powerful states. In the North of Peru was the [[Wari Empire]] and in the South of Peru and Bolivia there was the [[Tiwanaku empire]] both of whom were inspired by the earlier [[Moche culture|Moche People]]. While the extent of their relationship to each other is unknown, it is believed that they were in a Cold-War with one another, competing but avoiding direct conflict to avoid [[mutual assured destruction]]. Without war there was prosperity and around the year 700 Tiwanaku city hosted a population of 1.4. million.<ref>Kolata, Alan L. ''Valley of the Spirits: A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara,'' Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 1996</ref> After the 8th century both states declined due to changing environmental conditions, laying the ground work for the Incas to emerge as a distinct culture centuries later.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=387}}

In the 15th century the [[Inca Empire]] rose to annex all other nations in the area. Led by their, sun-god king, [[Sapa Inca]], they slowly conquered what is now [[Peru]], and built their society throughout the Andes cultural region. The Incas spoke the [[Quechua languages]]. The Incas used the advances created by earlier Andean societies. Incas have been known to have used [[abacus]]es to calculate mathematics. The Inca Empire is known for some of its magnificent structures, such as [[Machu Picchu]] in the [[Cusco region]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=389}} The empire expanded quickly northwards to Ecuador, Southwards to central Chile. To the north of the Inca Empire remained the independent [[Tairona]] and [[Muisca Confederation|Musica Confederation]] who practiced agriculture and gold metallurgy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Muisca_Civilization/|title=Muisca Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084340/https://www.ancient.eu/Muisca_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Tairona_Civilization/|title=Tairona Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902151733/https://www.ancient.eu/Tairona_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Oceania ==
{{Gallery
| title = Maps depicting Oceania
| align = center
| footer =
| height = 200
| width = 350

|File:Aboriginal regions.png
|alt1=Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia.
|Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia
|File:Polynesian Migration.svg
|alt2=Polynesian Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
|Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
}}

{{Main|History of Oceania}}
[[File:Micronesian navigational chart.jpg|alt=Micronesian navigational chart|thumb|[[Marshall Islands stick chart|Micronesian navigational chart]], these were used by Polynesians to navigate through wind and water currents.]]
Separate from developments in [[Afro-Eurasia]] and the Americas the region of greater [[Oceania]] continued to develop independently of the outside world. In [[History of Australia|Australia]], the society of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aborigines]] and [[Melanesia]] changed little through the Post Classical Period since their arrival in the area from Africa around 50,000 BC. The only outside contact were encounters with fishermen of [[Makassan contact with Australia|Indonesian]] origin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands|last=Ian|first=Lilley|date=2006|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-23082-3|page=117|oclc=474724373}}</ref> Polynesian and Micronesian Peoples are rooted from [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|Taiwan]] and [[Southeast Asia]] and began their migration into the [[Pacific Ocean]] from 3000 to 1500 BC.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|title=Australia and Oceania: Human Geography|date=2012-01-04|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=2018-09-07|language=en|archive-date=2018-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015753/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During Post-classical Times the [[Micronesia]]n and the [[Polynesia]]n peoples constructed cities in some areas such as [[Nan Madol]] and [[Muʻa (Tongatapu)|Mu'a]]. Around 1200 AD the [[Tu'i Tonga Empire]] spread its influence far and wide throughout the South Pacific Islands, being described by academics as a maritime chiefdom which used trade networks to keep power centralized around the king's capital. Polynesians on [[Outrigger canoe|outrigger]] canoes [[Polynesian navigation|discovered]] and colonized some of the last uninhabited islands of earth.<ref name=":5" /> [[Discovery and settlement of Hawaii|Hawaii]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and [[History of Easter Island|Easter Island]] were among the final places to be reached, settlers discovering pristine lands. [[Polynesian narrative|Oral Tradition]] claimed that navigator [[Ui-te-Rangiora]] discovered icebergs in the [[Southern Ocean]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Stephenson Percy |author-link=Percy Smith (ethnologist) |title=Hawaiki: the whence of the Maori: with a sketch of Polynesian history, being an introd. to the native history of Rarotonga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2013-01-19 |year=1898 |publisher=Whitcombe & Tombs |pages=90–91 |archive-date=2020-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225616/https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In exploring and settling, Polynesian settlers did not strike at random but used their knowledge of wind and water currents to reach their destinations.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=9}}

[[File:Book-Hawaii-Vtorov-246.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hale o Keawe]], a restored [[Heiau]] in the U.S [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]], used as sacred temple and sacrificial altar. The statues represent traditional gods.]]
[[File:War canoes (5178916728).jpg|thumb|Authentic [[Māori culture|Maori]] [[Waka (canoe)|Waka]], used for warfare and navigation in [[New Zealand]]]]
On the settled islands some Polynesian groups became distinct from one another. A significant example being the [[Māori people|Maori]] of New Zealand. Other island systems kept in contact with each other, such as [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]] and the [[Society Islands]]. Ecologically, Polynesians had the challenge of sustaining themselves within limited environments. Some settlements caused mass extinctions of some native plant and animal species over time by hunting species such as the [[Moa]] and introducing the [[Polynesian Rat]].<ref name=":5" /> Easter Island settlers engaged in complete ecological destruction of their habtiat and their population crashed afterwards possibly due to the construction of the [[Moai|Easter Island Statues]].<ref name=terry_hunt>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1511/2006.61.1002| title = Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island| journal = American Scientist| volume = 94| issue = 5| page = 412| year = 2006| last1 = Hunt | first1 = T. }}</ref><ref>West, Barbara A. (2008) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412174820/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en |date=2016-04-12 }}''. Infobase Publishing. p. 684. {{ISBN|0-8160-7109-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Holdaway |first=R.N. |last2=Jacomb |first2=C. |year=2000 |title=Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5461 |pages=2250–2254 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5461.2250 |pmid=10731144 |bibcode=2000Sci...287.2250H}}</ref> Other colonizing groups adapted to accommodate to the ecology of specific islands such as the [[Moriori]] of the [[Chatham Islands]].

Europeans on their voyages visited many Pacific Islands in the 16th and 17th century, but most areas of Oceania were not colonized until after the [[First voyage of James Cook|voyages]] of British explorer [[James Cook]] in the 1780s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=236}}

==End of the period==
{{Main|Early modern period}}
[[File:Genoese world map 1457. LOC 97690053.jpg|left|thumb|300px|[[Genoese map|Genoese world map]], 1457 it suggests the possibility of sea travel to India from Western Europe though this had not yet been done at the time.]]

As the postclassical era drew to a close in the 15th century, many of the empires established throughout the period were in decline.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}} The [[Byzantine Empire]] would soon be overshadowed in the Mediterranean by Italian city states such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] and the [[Ottoman Turks]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=113}}</ref> The Byzantines faced repeated attacks from eastern and western powers during the [[Fourth Crusade]], and declined further until the loss of [[Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1453.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}}

The largest change came in terms of trade and technology. The global significance of the fall of the Byzantines was the disruption of overland routes between Asia and Europe.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=144}}</ref> Traditional dominance of [[Nomad]]ism in Eurasia declined and the [[Pax Mongolica|Pax Mongolia]] which had allowed for interactions between different civilizations was no longer available. [[Western Asia]] and [[South Asia]] were conquered by [[gunpowder empires]] which successfully utilized advances in military technology but closed the [[Silk Road]].<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Madeline C.|last=Zilfi|year=1997|title=Halil Inalcik and Donald Quataert, editors. ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1994. pp. xxxi, 1026 |journal=The American Historical Review|language=en|volume=102|issue=2|pages=488–489|doi=10.1086/ahr/102.2.488|issn=1937-5239}}</ref>
[[File:THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ITALY, PROBABLY VENICE, LATE 15THEARLY 16TH CENTURY. Private coll..jpg|thumb|The fall of Constantinople brought the last remnants of the [[Roman Empire|Classical Roman Empire]] to an end. |alt=|200x200px]]

Europeans – specifically the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and various Italian explorers – intended to replace land travel with sea travel.<ref name=":11" /> Originally European exploration merely looked for new routes to reach known destinations.<ref name=":11">[[Post-classical history#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]]</ref> Portuguese Explorer [[Vasco da Gama|Vasco De Gama]] traveled to India by sea in 1498 by circumnavigating Africa around the [[Cape of Good Hope]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Northrup|first=David|date=1998|title=Vasco da Gama and Africa: An Era of Mutual Discovery, 1497-1800|journal=Journal of World History|language=en|volume=9|issue=2|pages=189–211|doi=10.1353/jwh.2005.0107|s2cid=144399108|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> India and the coast of Africa were already known to Europeans but none had attempted a large trading mission prior to that time.<ref name=":12" /> Due to navigation advances Portugal would create a [[Portuguese Empire|global colonial empire]] beginning with the conquest of [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]] in modern-day [[Malaysia]] from 1511.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=158}}

Other Explorers such as the Spanish sponsored Italian [[Christopher Columbus]] intended to engage in trade by traveling on unfamiliar routes west from Europe. The subsequent [[European discovery of the Americas]] in 1492 resulted in the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian exchange]] and the world's first pan-oceanic [[globalization]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}} Spanish Explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] performed the [[Magellan's circumnavigation|first known circumnavigation]] of Earth in 1521.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=}} The transfer of goods and diseases across [[ocean]]s was unprecedented in creating a more connected world.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=159}} From developments in navigation and trade [[modern history]] began.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}}

== See also ==
* [[Age of Empires II]] – A [[PC game|personal computer game]] using Post-classical history as its setting.
* [[Ancient history]] – covers all human history/prehistory preceding the Postclassical Era.
* [[Classical antiquity]] – centered in the [[Mediterranean Basin]], the interlocking civilizations of [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]]
* [[Early modern period]] – succeeding global time period.
* [[Economic history of the world]]
* [[History of cartography]] – Covers history of cartography and includes images of maps from Post-classical times.
* [[History by period]]
* [[Late Antiquity]] (aka: [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]) – mainland Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, transition from Classical Antiquity to the [[Middle Ages]].
* [[List of largest cities throughout history]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|title=HarperCollins atlas of world history|date=2003|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Borders Press in association with HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-681-50288-8|oclc=56350180}}
* {{citation|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500|last1=Berger|first1=Eugene|last2=Israel|first2=George|last3=Miller|first3=Charlotte|last4=Parkinson|first4=Brian|last5=Reeves|first5=Andrew|last6=Williams|first6=Nadejda|publisher=University of North Georgia, Press|isbn=978-1-940771-10-6|oclc=961216293|location=Dahlonega, GA|date=2016-09-30}}
* {{citation|last=Birken|first=Lawrence|title=What is Western Civilization?|journal=The History Teacher|year=1992|doi=10.2307/494353|jstor=494353|volume=25|issue=4|pages=451–461|s2cid=141243435|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110243/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-Is-Western-Civilization-Birken/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Bowman|first=John S.|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|year=2000|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C}}
* {{citation|last=Christian|first=David|title=Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History|journal=Journal of World History|year=2000|volume=11|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.1353/jwh.2000.0004|jstor=20078816|s2cid=18008906}}
* {{citation|last=Masood |first=Ehsan |title=Science and Islam: A History |author-link=Ehsan Masood |publisher=Icon Books |year=2009 | isbn=978-1-785-78202-2 }}
* {{citation|last1=Stearns|first1=Peter N.|author-link1=Peter Stearns|last2=Adas|first2=Michael|author-link2=Michael Adas|last3=Schwartz|first3=Stuart B.|author-link3=Stuart B. Schwartz|last4=Gilbert|first4=Marc Jason|title=World Civilizations: The Global Experience|year=2011|publisher=[[Longman]]|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|isbn=978-0-13-136020-4|edition=6th}}
* {{citation|last1=Thompson|first1=John M.|last2=O'Toole|first2=Dan|last3=Patrick|first3=Bethanne|last4=Pruneski|first4=Lauren|last5=Thompson|first5=Tiffin|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|year=2009|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1-4262-0533-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Bauer|first=Susan Wise|title=The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade}}
* {{citation|last=Butt|first=John J.|title=Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31668-5|edition=Illustrated}}
* {{citation|last=Fortescue|first=Adrian|title=The Eastern Schism|encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia|volume=13|year=1912|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|location=New York City|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|access-date=2013-05-24|archive-date=2013-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529105320/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Esposito|first=John L.|title=The Oxford History of Islam|year=1999|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-19-510799-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imw_KFD5bsQC&q=Abbasid+History&pg=PR7|edition=Illustrated|author-link=John Esposito}}
* {{citation|last=Guzman|first=Gregory|title=Christian Europe and Mongol Asia: First Medieval Intercultural Contact Between East and West|journal=Essays in Medieval Studies|year=1985|volume=2|url=http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|access-date=2013-07-21|archive-date=2012-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413044909/http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Hourani|first=Albert|title=A History of the Arab Peoples|year=2013|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|isbn=978-0-571-30249-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|edition=Updated|author-link=Albert Hourani|access-date=2015-10-25|archive-date=2020-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209104042/https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last1=Nawwab|first1=Ismail I.|title=Saudi Aramco and Its World: Arabia and the Middle East|chapter-url=http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|publisher=Arabian American Oil Company|edition=1st|year=1980|chapter=Islam and Islamic History|last2=Speers|first2=Peter C.|last3=Hoye|first3=Paul F.|access-date=2013-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528115344/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|archive-date=2011-05-28|url-status=dead}}
* {{citation|last=Procopius|title=History of the Wars|volume=1|year=1914|publisher=Loeb Classical Library|location=London}}
* {{citation|last=Stearns|first=Peter N.|year=2007|title=A Brief History of the World|publisher=[[The Teaching Company]]|author-link=Peter Stearns}}
* {{citation|last=Wawro|first=Geoffrey|title=Historical Atlas: A Comprehensive History of the World|year=2008|publisher=Millennium House|location=Elanora Heights, NSW, Australia|isbn=978-1-921209-23-9|author-link=Geoffrey Wawro}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pastoral/pastoral.htm Asia for Educators] The Mongols' effects on world history
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml BBC's World Service] Historical summaries of African societies
* [http://www.freeman-pedia.com/early-modern-600-ce-to-1450-ce/ Freemanpedia] A graphical representation of the Post-classical era.
* [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/ Silk Road Seattle] A rich selection of primary sources on the Silk Road and interactions between different cultures in Post-classical times.

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=[[History by period]]|before=[[Ancient history]]|after=[[Early modern period]]|years=5th Century – 15th Century}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Fields of history]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:Civilizations]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]
[[Category:World history]]

Post-classical history

2021-10-08T06:29:01Z

Huhsunqu: /* Growth of civilization */

{{short description|Period between ancient history and modern history}}
{{redirect|Post-classical|the film editing style commonly used in American films since the 1960s|Post-classical editing}}
[[File:Jingangjing.jpg|alt=Diamond Sutra, World's first printed book|thumb|The [[Diamond Sutra]], of [[Dunhuang]], China was published in 868 AD as the first printed book using [[woodblock printing]] techniques. This image is a front piece for the book which was instrumental in spreading [[East Asian Buddhism|East-Asian Buddhism]] ([[Mahayana]] [[Buddhism]]). Post-classical times were an era of religion. Matters of faith took part in the development of political power and in the personal lives of most ordinary people in both the [[Old World|Old]] and [[New World]]. Geographic regions were often divided based on a location's religious affiliation.|300x300px]]
{{Human history}}

'''Post-classical history''', as used in [[global history]], generally runs from about 500 CE to 1500 CE (roughly corresponding to the European [[Middle Ages]]). The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade networks between civilizations.<ref>[http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf The Post‐Classical Era] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031011114/http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/hermansenjoel/Notes/the%20post%20classical%20era.pdf |date=2014-10-31 }} by Joel Hermansen</ref><ref name="weller-stearns" />

In Asia, the [[spread of Islam]] created a [[Caliphate|new empire]] and [[Islamic Golden Age]] with trade among the [[Asia]]n, [[Africa]]n and [[Europe]]an continents, and advances in [[science in the medieval Islamic world]]. [[East Asia]] experienced the full establishment of power of [[History of China#Imperial China|Imperial China]], which established several prosperous dynasties influencing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Religions such as [[Buddhism]] and [[Neo-Confucianism]] spread in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|last=Thompson|first=John M.|date=2010-10-19|publisher=National Geographic Books|isbn=9781426205330|language=en|page=82}}</ref> [[Gunpowder]] was developed in China during the post-classical era. The [[Mongol Empire]] connected Europe and Asia, creating safe trade and stability between the two regions.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=128}}</ref> In total the [[World population estimates|population of the world]] doubled in the time period from approximately 210 million in 500 AD to 461 million in 1500 AD.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Klein Goldewijk|first1=Kees|last2=Beusen|first2=Arthur|last3=Janssen|first3=Peter|date=2010-03-22|title=Long-term dynamic modeling of global population and built-up area in a spatially explicit way: HYDE 3.1|journal=The Holocene|volume=20|issue=4|pages=565–573|doi=10.1177/0959683609356587|issn=0959-6836|bibcode=2010Holoc..20..565K|s2cid=128905931|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/3f53450b1f59eac6ad2d781adb8309087ac3e0d2}}</ref> Population generally grew steadily throughout the period but endured some incidental declines in events including the [[Plague of Justinian]], the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]], and the [[Black Death]].<ref name="Haub1650">Haub (1995): "The average annual rate of growth was actually lower from 1 A.D. to 1650 than the rate suggested above for the 8000 B.C. to 1 A.D. period. One reason for this abnormally slow growth was the Black Plague. This dreaded scourge was not limited to 14th century Europe. The epidemic may have begun about 542 A.D. in Western Asia, spreading from there. It is believed that half the Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the 6th century, a total of 100 million deaths."</ref>

The period is also called the '''medieval era''', '''post-antiquity era''', '''post-ancient era''', or '''pre-modern era'''.
{{TOC limit}}

==Historiography==
===Terminology and periodization===
[[File:Leonardo Bruni 2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Leonardo Bruni]], [[Renaissance]] historian who helped develop the concept of "[[Middle Ages]]"]]
Post-classical history is a [[periodization]] used by historians employing a [[world history]] approach to history, specifically the school developed during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.<ref name=weller-stearns>{{cite book |editor=R. Charles Weller |title=21st-Century Narratives of World History: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives |publisher=Palgrave |chapter=Periodization in World History: Challenges and Opportunities |last=Stearns |first=Peter N. |author-link=Peter N. Stearns |year=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-62077-0}}</ref> Outside of world history, the term is also sometimes used to avoid erroneous pre-conceptions around the terms ''Middle Ages'', ''Medieval'' and the ''[[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]'' (see [[Medievalism]]), though the application of the term ''post-classical'' on a global scale is also problematic, and may likewise be [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]].<ref>Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen, 'Introduction: Towards a Global Middle Ages', ''Past & Present'', 238 (November 2018), 1-44 (p. 16).</ref>

The post-classical period corresponds roughly to the period from 500 AD to 1450 AD.<ref name=weller-stearns/> Beginning and ending dates might vary depending on the region, with the period beginning at the end of the previous classical period: [[End of the Han Dynasty|Han China]] (ending in 220 AD), the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire]] (in 476 AD), the [[Gupta Empire]] (in 543 AD), and the [[Sasanian Empire]] (in 651 AD).

The post-classical period is one of the five or six major periods world historians use:
# early civilization,
# [[Ancient history|classical societies]],
# post-classical
# [[early modern]],
# [[long nineteenth century]], and
# [[Modern history|contemporary or modern era]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> (Sometimes the nineteenth century and modern are combined.<ref name=weller-stearns/>)
Although ''post-classical'' is synonymous with the [[Middle Ages]] of Western Europe, the term ''post-classical'' is not necessarily a member of the traditional [[Late Middle Ages#Historiography and periodization|tripartite periodisation]] of Western European history into ''classical'', ''middle'' and ''modern''.

===Approaches===
The historical field of [[world history]], which looks at common themes occurring across multiple cultures and regions, has enjoyed extensive development since the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199235810.001.0001|year = 2012|isbn = 9780199235810|volume = 1|title = The Oxford Handbook of World History|last1 = Bentley|first1 = the Late Jerry H.|editor1-first = Jerry H|editor1-last = Bentley}}</ref> However, World History research has tended to focus on [[early modern globalization]] (beginning around 1500) and subsequent developments, and views post-classical history as mainly pertaining to [[Afro-Eurasia]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Historians recognize the difficulties of creating a periodization and identifying common themes that include not only this region but also, for example, the Americas, since they had little contact with Afro-Eurasia before the [[Columbian Exchange]].<ref name=weller-stearns/> Thus recent research has emphasised that "a global history of the period between 500 and 1500 is still wanting" and that "historians have only just begun to embark on a global history of the Middle Ages".<ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017">Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84.</ref>

For many regions of the world, there are well established histories. Although [[Medieval Studies]] in Europe tended in the nineteenth century to focus on creating histories for individual nation-states, much twentieth-century research focused, successfully, on creating an integrated history of medieval Europe.<ref>Graham A. Loud and Martial Staub, 'Some Thoughts on the Making of the Middle Ages', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 1-13.</ref><ref>Patrick Geary, 'European Ethnicities and European as an Ethnicity: Does Europe Have too Much History?', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 57-69.</ref><ref>Jinty Nelson, 'Why Reinventing Medieval History is a Good Idea', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 17-36.</ref><ref name="Michael Borgolte 2017"/> The Islamic World likewise has a rich regional historiography, ranging from the fourteenth-century [[Ibn Khaldun]] to the twentieth-century [[Marshall Hodgson]] and beyond.<ref>Adam J. Silverstein, ''Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 94-107.</ref> Correspondingly, research into the network of commercial hubs which enabled goods and ideas to move between China in the East and the Atlantic islands in the West—which can be called the [[Archaic globalization|early history of globalization]]—is fairly advanced; one key historian in this field is [[Janet Abu-Lughod]].<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [81-83].</ref> Understanding of communication within Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas is, by contrast, far more limited.<ref>Michael Borgolte, 'A Crisis of the Middle Ages? Deconstructing and Constructing European Identities in a Globalized World', in ''The Making of Medieval History'', ed. by Graham Loud and Martial Staub (York: York Medieval Press, 2017), {{ISBN|978-1-903153-70-3}}, pp. 70-84 [80-81].</ref>

Recent history-writing, therefore, has begun to explore the possibilities of writing history covering the Old World, where Human activities were fairly interconnected, and establish its relationship with other cultural spheres, such as the Americas and Oceania. In the assessment of [[James Belich (historian)|James Belich]], [[John Darwin (historian)|John Darwin]], [[Margret Frenz]], and [[Chris Wickham]],
<blockquote>Global history may be boundless, but global historians are not. Global history cannot usefully mean the history of everything, everywhere, all the time. […] Three approaches […] seem to us to have real promise. One is global history as the pursuit of significant historical problems across time, space, and specialism. This can sometimes be characterized as [[comparative history|‘comparative’ history]]. […] Another is connectedness, including transnational relationships. […] The third approach is the study of globalization […]. Globalization is a term that needs to be rescued from the present, and salvaged for the past. To define it as always encompassing the whole planet is to mistake the current outcome for a very ancient process.<ref>James Belich, John Darwin, and Chris Wickham, 'Introduction: The Prospect of Global History', in ''The Prospect of Global History'', ed. by James Belich, John Darwin, Margret Frenz, and Chris Wickham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 3–22 [3] {{DOI|10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198732259.001.0001}}.</ref></blockquote>
A number of commentators have pointed to the history of the earth's [[climate]] as a useful approach to World History in the Middle Ages, noting that certain climate events had effects on all human populations.<ref>William S. Atwell, '[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 Volcanism and Short-Term Climatic Change in East Asian and World History, c. 1200-1699] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928200709/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20078878 |date=2018-09-28 }}', ''Journal of World History'', 12.1 (Spring 2001), 29-98.</ref><ref>Richard W. Bulliet, ''Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), {{ISBN|978-0-231-51987-8}}.</ref><ref>Ronnie Ellenblum, ''The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean: Climate Change and the Decline of the East, 950-1072'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).</ref><ref>John L. Brooke, ''Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-139-05081-4}}, {{DOI|10.1017/CBO9781139050814}}.</ref><ref>Victor Lieberman, ‘Charter State Collapse in Southeast Asia, c.1250–1400, as a Problem in Regional and World History’, American Historical Review, cxvi (2011), 937–63.</ref><ref>Bruce M. S. Campbell, The Great Transition: Climate, Disease and Society in the Late-Medieval World (Cambridge, 2016).</ref>

== Main trends ==
The Post-classical era saw several common developments or themes. There was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas; the rise and/or spread of the three major world, or missionary, religions; and a period of rapidly expanding trade and trade networks.

=== Growth of civilization ===
{{Main|Civilization}}[[File:Piquillacta Archaeological site - street.jpg|thumb|[[Piquillacta]], an administrative urban center of the [[Wari Empire]], a South America Andean civilization that thrived from the 5th to the 8th century]]
First was the expansion and growth of civilization into new geographic areas across [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[Mesoamerica]], and western [[South America]]. However, as noted by world historian [[Peter N. Stearns]], there were no common global political trends during the post-classical period, rather it was a period of loosely organized states and other developments, but no common political patterns emerged.<ref name=weller-stearns/> In Asia, China continued its historic [[dynastic cycle]] and became more complex, improving its bureaucracy. The creation of the Islamic Empires established a new power in the Middle East, North Africa, and [[Central Asia]]. Africa created the [[Songhai Empire|Songhai]] and [[Mali Empire|Mali]] kingdoms in the West. The fall of Roman civilization not only left a power vacuum for the Mediterranean and Europe, but forced certain areas to build what some historians might call new civilizations entirely.{{sfn|Birken|1992|pages=451–461}} An entirely different political system was applied in Western Europe (i.e. [[feudalism]]), as well as a different society (i.e. [[manorialism]]). But the once East Roman Empire, Byzantium, retained many features of old Rome, as well as Greek and Persian similarities. Kiev Rus' and subsequently Russia began development in Eastern Europe as well. In the isolated Americas, Mesoamerica saw the building of the [[Aztec]] Empire, while the [[Andean civilizations|Andean region]] of South America saw the establishment of the [[Wari Empire]] first and the [[Inca Empire]] later.

=== Spread of universal religions ===
{{Main|History of religion}}
[[File:Siege of Acre.jpg|thumb|[[Siege of Acre (1189–91)|Siege of Acre]] (1191; picture from 1280.) Religious wars were common in post-classical times. One of the largest was the [[Crusades]]. |200x200px]]
Religion that envisaged the possibility that all humans could be included in a universal order had emerged already in the first millennium BC, particularly with Buddhism. In the following millennium, Buddhism was joined by two other major, universalising, missionary religions, both developing from [[Judaism]]: Christianity and Islam. By the end of the period, these three religions were between them widespread, and often politically dominant, across the Old World.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014">Yuval Noah Harari, ''[[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]'', trans. by Yuval Noah Harari, John Purcell and Haim Watzman (London: Harvill Secker, 2014), {{ISBN|978-1-84655-823-8|978-1-84655-824-5}}, chapter 12.</ref>
* [[Buddhism]] spread from India into China and flourished there briefly before using it as a hub to spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam;{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} a similar effect occurred with Confucian revivalism in the later centuries.<ref name="Yuval Noah Harari 2014"/>
* [[Christianity]] had become the [[State church of the Roman Empire]] in 380, and continued spreading into northern and eastern Europe during the post-classical period at the expense of belief systems that Christians labelled [[Paganism|pagan]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} An attempt was even made to incur upon the Middle East during the [[Crusades]]. The split of the [[Catholic Church]] in Western Europe and the [[Orthodox Church]] in Eastern Europe encouraged religious and cultural diversity in Eurasia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard |last=Fletcher |title=The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity, 371-1386 AD |location=London |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997}}</ref>
* [[Islam]] began between 610 and 632, with a series of revelations to [[Muhammad]]. It helped unify the warring [[Bedouin]] clans of the Arabian peninsula and, through a rapid series of [[Muslim conquests]], became established to the west across [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|North Africa]], the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Iberian Peninsula]], and parts of [[Islam in Africa|West Africa]], and to the east across [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Persia]], [[Islamicisation of Xinjiang|Central Asia]], [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|India]], and [[Spread of Islam in Indonesia|Indonesia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Adam J. |last=Silverstein |title=Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-954572-8 |pages=9–35}}</ref>

=== Trade and communication ===
{{Main|Trade route}}
[[File:Rakaposhi View from Babusar Top.jpg|left|thumb|[[Pakistan]]'s [[Babusar Pass]], part of the [[Silk Road]]]]
Finally, communication and trade across [[Afro-Eurasia]] increased rapidly. The [[Silk Road]] continued to spread cultures and ideas through trade and throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade networks were established between West Europe, Byzantium, early Russia, the Islamic Empires, and the [[Far East]]ern civilizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|title=Environment and Trade: The Viking Age|publisher=Khan Academy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005514/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/modal/a/environment-and-trade-viking-age|archive-date=2018-06-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Africa the earlier introduction of the Camel allowed for a new and eventually large [[trans-Saharan trade]], which connected Sub-Saharan West Africa to Eurasia. The Islamic Empires adopted many Greek, Roman, and Indian advances and spread them through the Islamic sphere of influence, [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|allowing these developments to reach Europe]], North and West Africa, and Central Asia. Islamic sea trade helped connect these areas, including those in the [[Indian Ocean]] and in the [[Mediterranean]], replacing Byzantium in the latter region. The Christian Crusades into the Middle East (as well as Muslim Spain and [[Sicily]]) [[Islamic world contributions to medieval Europe|brought Islamic science, technology, and goods to Western Europe]].{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=288}} Western trade into East Asia was pioneered by [[Marco Polo]]. Importantly, China began the sinicization (or Chinese influence) of regions like Japan,{{sfn|Bowman|2000|pages=162–167}} Korea, and Vietnam through trade and conquest. Finally, the growth of the [[Mongol Empire]] in Central Asia established safe trade such as to allow goods, cultures, ideas, and disease to spread between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

The Americas had their own trade network, however theirs was limited by the lack of draft animals and the wheel. In [[Oceania]] some of the island chains of [[Polynesia]] and [[Micronesia]] also engaged in trade with one another.

=== Climate ===
{{Main|Historical climatology|Little Ice Age}}During Post-classical times, there is evidence that many regions of the world were affected similarly by global climate conditions; however, direct effects in temperature and precipitation varied by region. According to the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]], changes did not all occur at once. Generally however, studies found that temperatures were relatively warmer in the 11th century, but colder by the early 17th century. The degree of climate change which occurred in all regions across the world is uncertain, as is whether such changes were all part of a global trend.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |title=Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia |journal=Nature Geoscience |volume=6 |issue=5 |page=339 |date=2013-04-21 |doi=10.1038/NGEO1797 |bibcode=2013NatGe...6..339P |last1=Ahmed |first1=Moinuddin |last2=Anchukaitis |first2=Kevin J. |last3=Asrat |first3=Asfawossen |last4=Borgaonkar |first4=Hemant P. |last5=Braida |first5=Martina |last6=Buckley |first6=Brendan M. |last7=Büntgen |first7=Ulf |last8=Chase |first8=Brian M. |last9=Christie |first9=Duncan A. |last10=Cook |first10=Edward R. |last11=Curran |first11=Mark A.J. |last12=Diaz |first12=Henry F. |last13=Esper |first13=Jan |last14=Fan |first14=Ze-Xin |last15=Gaire |first15=Narayan P. |last16=Ge |first16=Quansheng |last17=Gergis |first17=Joëlle |last18=González-Rouco |first18=J. Fidel |last19=Goosse |first19=Hugues |last20=Grab |first20=Stefan W. |last21=Graham |first21=Nicholas |last22=Graham |first22=Rochelle |last23=Grosjean |first23=Martin |last24=Hanhijärvi |first24=Sami T. |last25=Kaufman |first25=Darrell S. |last26=Kiefer |first26=Thorsten |last27=Kimura |first27=Katsuhiko |last28=Korhola |first28=Atte A. |last29=Krusic |first29=Paul J. |last30=Lara |first30=Antonio |display-authors=29 |access-date=2018-06-29 |archive-date=2019-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930193918/https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb09climatology/files/2012/03/Pages_2013_NatureGeo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Climate trends seemed to be more recognizable in the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] than in the [[Southern Hemisphere]].[[File:2000 Year Temperature Comparison.png|thumb|300px|Reconstructed depth of [[Little Ice Age]] varies among studies. Anomalies shown are from the 1950–80 reference period.]]

There are shorter climate periods that could be said roughly to account for large scale climate trends in the Post-classical Period. These include the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]], the [[Medieval Warm Period]] and the [[Little Ice Age]]. The [[Extreme weather events of 535–536|extreme weather events of 536–537]] were likely initiated by the eruption of the [[Lake Ilopango|Lake llopango caldera]] in [[El Salvador]]. Sulfate emitted into the air initiated global cooling, migrations and crop failures worldwide, possibly intensifying an already cooler time period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|title=Old trees reveal Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) around 1,500 years ago|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628233424/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208112918.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Records show that the world's average temperature remained colder for at least a century afterwards.

The [[Medieval Warm Period]] from 950 to 1250 occurred mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, causing warmer summers in many areas; the high temperatures would only be surpassed by the global warming of the 20th/21st centuries. It has been hypothesized that the warmer temperatures allowed the Norse to colonize Greenland, due to ice-free waters. Outside of Europe there is evidence of warming conditions, including higher temperatures in China and major North American droughts which adversely affected numerous cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/TimeSeriesDisplay.aspx|title=Drought Congruence 1000-1300, Central United States|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref>

After 1250, glaciers began to expand in Greenland, affecting its [[thermohaline circulation]], and cooling the entire North Atlantic. In the 14th century, the growing season in Europe became unreliable; meanwhile in China the cultivation of oranges was driven southward by colder temperatures. Especially in Europe, the Little Ice Age had great cultural ramifications.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|title=Timeline Middle Ages and Early Modern Period – Environmental History Resources|work=Environmental History Resources|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628205003/https://www.eh-resources.org/timeline-middle-ages/|url-status=live}}</ref> It persisted until the [[Industrial Revolution]], long after the Post-classical Period.<ref name="Hendy2002">{{Cite journal| last1 = Hendy | first1 = E.| last2 = Gagan | first2 = M.| last3 = Alibert | first3 = C.| last4 = McCulloch | first4 = M.| last5 = Lough | first5 = J.| last6 = Isdale | first6 = P.| title = Abrupt decrease in tropical Pacific sea surface salinity at end of Little Ice Age| journal = Science| volume = 295| issue = 5559| pages = 1511–1514| year = 2002| pmid = 11859191| doi = 10.1126/science.1067693|bibcode = 2002Sci...295.1511H | s2cid = 25698190| url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/83d0d210ed3051abf0e1c32f567536c1d426cde7}}</ref> Its causes are unclear: possible explanations include [[Solar maximum|sunspots]], [[Earth's orbit|orbital cycles of the Earth]], [[Volcano|volcanic activity]], [[Thermohaline circulation|ocean circulation]], and man-made [[population decline]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|title=Carnegie Department of Global Ecology|website=dge.carnegiescience.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-08-03|archive-date=2017-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311091353/https://dge.carnegiescience.edu/labs/caldeiralab/Caldeira_research/Pongratz_Caldeira.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
{{Main|Timeline of the Global Middle Ages}}
This timetable gives a basic overview of states, cultures and events which transpired roughly between the years 400 and 1500. Sections are broken by political and geographic location.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|pages=17–19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|title=TIMELINE: World History|website=www.wdl.org|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-date=2019-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122121358/https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/world-history/timeline/#31|url-status=live}}</ref>
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:1000 height:425
PlotArea = width:720 height:375 left:65 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify

Colors =
id:time value:rgb(0.17,0.81,1) #
id:period value:rgb(1,0.7,0.5) #
id:span value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.5) #
id:age value:rgb(0.95,0.85,0.5) #
id:era value:rgb(1,0.85,0.15) #
id:eon value:rgb(1,0.85,0.7) #
id:filler value:gray(0.8) # background bar
id:black value:black

Period = from:400 till:1500
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:400
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:400

PlotData =
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line, black) width:15 shift:(0,-3)

bar:Timeframe color:era
from: 476 till: 1000 text:[[Early Middle Ages|Early period]]
from: 1000 till: 1300 text:[[High Middle Ages|High period]]
from: 1300 till: 1450 text:[[Late Middle Ages|Late period]]
bar:Timeframe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Iron Age]])
from: 400 till:476 shift:(0,4) text:[[Ancient history|Ancient]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:[[Modern age|Modern]]
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text:[[Early modern|(Early)]]
bar:Europe color:filler
from: 400 till:476 text:[[Late Antiquity|Antiquity]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Renaissance]]
bar:Europe color:age
from: 476 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,4) text:[[Feudalism]]
from: 700 till:950 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Manorialism]])
from: 950 till: 1100 text:[[Urbanization]]
from: 1100 till: 1240 text:[[Crusades]]
from: 1240 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1400 text:[[Crisis of the Late Middle Ages|Crisis]]
bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 400 till: 700 text:[[Germanic Iron Age|Germanic Iron]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,4) text:[[Viking Age|Vikings]]
from: 700 till: 1100 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Norsemen]])
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(0,4) text:[[Christianization of Scandinavia|Christianization]]
from: 1100 till: 1400 shift:(4,-7) text:([[Northern Crusades]])
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Kalmar Union]]
bar:E.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(15,4) text:[[Hunnic Empire]]
from: 400 till: 500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarmatians]]
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 500 till: 700 text:[[Migration Period|Migration]]
from: 700 till: 864 text:[[Rus' Khaganate]]
from: 864 till: 1237 text:[[Kievan Rus']]
from: 1237 till: 1240 shift:(0,4) text:[[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongols]]
from: 1240 till: 1283 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Sarai (city)|Sarai]]
from: 1283 till: 1400 text:[[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]]
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:[[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Moscow]]
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 400 till: 475 shift:(15,0) text:[[Germanic Wars]]
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 475 till: 751 text:[[Francia]]
from: 751 till: 843 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 843 till: 987 text:[[East Francia|E. Francia]]
from: 987 till: 1500 text:[[Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:Apennine color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 774 text:[[Lombard kingdom]]
from: 774 till: 962 text:[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]]
from: 962 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Holy Roman Empire]]
bar:British.Isle color:filler
from: 400 till: 500 text:[[Sub-Roman Britain|Sub-Roman]]
bar:British.Isle color:age
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,4) text:[[Anglo-Saxon England]]
from: 500 till: 927 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Heptarchy]])
from: 927 till: 1500 text:[[Kingdom of England]]
bar:Iberia color:age
from: 400 till: 711 text:[[Visigothic Kingdom]]
from: 711 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Al-Andalus]]
from: 711 till: 756 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 756 till: 1031 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Caliphate of Córdoba|Córdoba Caliphate]]
from: 1031 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Reconquista]]
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 400 till: 568 text:[[Roman Empire]]
from: 568 till: 850 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 850 till: 950 text:[[First Bulgarian Empire|1st Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 950 till: 1185 text:[[Byzantine Empire]]
from: 1185 till: 1389 text:[[Second Bulgarian Empire|2nd Bulgarian Empire]]
from: 1389 till: 1500 text:[[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]
bar:M.East color:filler
from: 400 till: 622 text:[[Sasanian Empire]]
bar:M.East color:age
from: 622 till: 750 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 750 till: 1050 text:[[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]]
from: 1050 till: 1171 text:[[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]]
from: 1171 till: 1250 text:[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 text:[[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluks]]
bar:India color:age
from: 400 till: 1200 shift:(0,4) text:[[Middle kingdoms of India|Indian Middle kingdoms]]
from: 400 till: 590 text:[[Gupta Empire]]
from: 400 till: 1279 text:[[Chola Dynasty]]
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,5) text:[[Delhi Sultanate]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Vijaynagara Empire]]
bar:C.Asia color:filler
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,4) text:[[Scythians]]
from: 400 till: 632 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Hephthalites]]
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 632 till: 800 text:[[Muslim conquests]]
from: 800 till: 1000 text:[[Samanids]]
from: 1000 till: 1200 text:[[Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty|Khwārazm-Shāh]]
from: 1200 till: 1250 text:[[Mongol Empire|Mongols]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,-7) text:[[Chagatai Khanate]]
from: 1250 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Golden Horde]]
bar:China color:age
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,4) text:[[Six Dynasties]]
from: 400 till: 585 shift:(0,-7) text:([[Early Imperial China]])
from: 585 till: 618 text:[[Sui Dynasty|Sui]]
from: 618 till: 907 text:[[Tang Dynasty|Tang]]
from: 907 till: 960 text:[[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period|5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms]]
from: 960 till: 1275 text:[[Song Dynasty|Liao, Song, Jin]]
from: 1275 till: 1368 text:[[Yuan Dynasty|Great Yuan]]
from: 1368 till: 1500 text:[[Ming Dynasty|Great Ming]]
bar:Japan color:age
from: 400 till: 710 shift:(0,4) text:[[Yamato period|Yamato]]
from: 400 till: 538 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Kofun period|Kofun]]
from: 538 till: 710 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Asuka period|Asuka]]
from: 710 till: 794 text:[[Nara period|Nara]]
from: 794 till: 1185 text:[[Heian period|Heian]]
from: 1185 till: 1333 text:[[Kamakura period|Kamakura]]
from: 1333 till: 1336 text:[[Kenmu restoration|Kenmu]]
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:[[Muromachi period|Muromachi]]
bar:Korea color:age
from: 400 till: 935 shift:(0,4) text:[[Silla]]
from: 400 till: 668 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]
from: 698 till: 926 shift:(0,-4) text:[[North South States Period]]
from: 918 till: 1392 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Goryeo]]
from: 1392 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Joseon]]
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 650 text:Classic
from: 650 till: 1500 shift:(0,4) text:[[Precolombian]]
from: 650 till: 1000 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Woodland period]]
from: 1000 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mississippian culture]]
bar:C.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 shift:(-28,3) text:[[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]]
from: 400 till: 900 shift:(0,-4) text:[[Mayan civilization]]
from: 900 till: 1200 shift:(0,-4) text:Early Postclassic
from: 1200 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Late Postclassic
from: 1430 till: 1500 text: [[Aztec Empire]]
bar:S.Americas color:age
from: 400 till: 1500 text:[[Andean civilization]]
from: 400 till: 700 text:[[Nazca civilization]]
from: 400 till: 1150 text:[[Tiwanaku Empire]]
from: 1197 till: 1438 text:[[Kingdom of Cusco]]
from: 1438 till: 1500 text: [[Inca Empire]]
</timeline>
:::''Dates are approximate range (based upon influence), consult particular article for details''
::: {{color box|#ffd880}} Middle Ages Divisions, {{color box|#f2d97f}} Middle Ages Themes {{color box|#cccccc}}

== History by region in the Old World ==
=== Africa ===
{{Main|History of Africa#500 to 1800|l1=Medieval Africa}}

[[File:Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th-15th cent).jpg|thumb|Djenne Terracotta Equestrian (13th–15th century), within the [[Mali Empire]]]]
During the Postclassical Era, [[Africa]] was both culturally and politically affected by the introduction of Islam and the Arabic empires.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=184}} This was especially true in the north, the [[Sudan region]], and the east coast. However, this conversion was not complete nor uniform among different areas, and the low-level classes hardly changed their beliefs at all.<ref name="metmuseum islam trade and spread">{{cite web|title=Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=15 June 2013|archive-date=17 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517025116/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tsis/hd_tsis.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the migration and conquest of Muslims into Africa, much of the continent was dominated by diverse societies of varying sizes and complexities. These were ruled by kings or councils of elders who would control their constituents in a variety of ways. Most of these peoples practiced spiritual, animistic religions. Africa was culturally separated between Saharan Africa (which consisted of [[North Africa]] and the [[Sahara|Sahara Desert]]) and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] (everything south of the Sahara). Sub-Saharan Africa was further divided into the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]], which covered everything north of [[Central Africa]], including [[West Africa]]. The area south of the Sudan was primarily occupied by the [[Bantu peoples]] who spoke the [[Bantu language]]. From 1100 onward [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] and the [[Islamic World]] became dependent on Africa for gold.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

After 650 approximately urbanization expanded for the first time beyond the ancient kingdoms [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] and [[Nubia]]. African civilizations can be divided into three categories based on religion:
*Christian civilizations on the [[Horn of Africa]],
*Islamic civilizations which formed in the Niger River valley in West Africa, and on the coast of East Africa, and
*[[Traditional society|traditional societies]] which adhered to native African religions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|title=History of Sub-Saharan Africa {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-06-09|archive-date=2018-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617092834/http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/sub-saharan-africa/#age-of-pre-colonial-civilization|url-status=live}}</ref> South of the Sahara African kingdoms developed based on continental trade with one another through land based routes and generally avoided sea trade.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

Sub-Saharan Africa was part of two large, separate trading networks, the Trans Saharan trade which bridged commerce between West and North Africa. Due to the huge profits from trade native African Islamic empires arose, including those of [[Ghana Empire|Ghana]], [[Mali Empire|Mali]] and [[Songhai Empire|Songhay]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=225|oclc=298782520}}</ref> In the 14th century, [[Musa I of Mali|Mansa Musa]] king of Mali may have been the wealthiest person of his time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tschanz|first=David|title=Lion of Mali: The Hajj of Mansa Musa|url=https://www.academia.edu/1593503|journal=Makzan|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110252/https://www.academia.edu/1593503/Lion_Of_Mali_The_Hajj_of_Mansa_Musa|url-status=live}}</ref> Within Mali, the city of [[Timbuktu]] was an international center of science and well known throughout the Islamic World, particularly from the [[Sankore Madrasah|University of Sankore]].
East Africa was part of the [[Indian Ocean trade|Indian Ocean trade network]], which included both Arab ruled Islamic cities on the East African Coast such as [[Mombasa]] and Traditional cities such as [[Great Zimbabwe]] which exported gold, copper and ivory to markets in the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=136}}

=== Europe ===
{{main|Middle Ages}}[[File:Medieval ploughing.JPG|left|thumb|Medieval ploughing. Most Europeans in the Middle Ages were landless pesants called ''[[Serfdom|serfs]]'' who worked in exchange for military protection. After the [[Black Death]] of the 1340s, a labor shortage caused serfs to demand wages for their labor. Drawing from 1300|alt=|200x200px]]In Europe, Western civilization reconstituted after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]] into the period now known as the [[Early Middle Ages]] (500–1000). The Early Middle Ages saw a continuation of trends begun in [[Late Antiquity]]: depopulation, deurbanization, and increased [[barbarian]] invasion.<ref name="clark">Gilian Clark, ''Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford 2011), pp. 1–2.</ref>

From the 7th until the 11th centuries [[Early Muslim conquests|Arabs]], [[Hungarians|Magyars]] and [[Viking Age|Norse]] were all threats to the Christian Kingdoms that killed thousands of people over centuries.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=291}} Raiders however, also created new trading networks.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}} In western Europe the Frankish king [[Charlemagne]] attempted to kindle the rise of culture and science in the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=284}} In the year 800 [[Charlemagne]] founded the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in attempt to resurrect [[Classical Rome]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|pp=282–283}} The reign of Charlemagne attempted to kindle a rise of learning and literacy in what has become known as the [[Carolingian Renaissance]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=282}}

In Eastern Europe, the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] survived in what is now called the [[Byzantine Empire]] which created the [[Corpus Juris Civilis|Code of Justinian]] that inspired the legal structures of modern European states.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=272}} Ruled by religious [[Orthodox Christianity|Christian Orthodox]] emperors the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church]] Christianized the [[Kievan Rus'|Kievan Rus]], who were the foundation of modern-day [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=96}}</ref> [[Byzantium]] flourished as the leading power and trade center in its region in the [[Macedonian Renaissance]] until it was overshadowed by [[Italian city-states|Italian City States]] and the Islamic [[Ottoman Empire]] near the end of the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=108}}</ref><{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=285}}

[[File:Bobolice, zamek.jpg|thumb|[[Bobolice Castle]], in [[Bobolice|Boblice Poland]]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval Europe]]an castles were centers of [[Feudalism|feudal power.]] ]]
Later in the period, the creation of the [[feudal system]] allowed greater degrees of military and agricultural organization. There was sustained [[urbanization]] in [[Northern Europe|northern]] and [[western Europe]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} Later developments were marked by [[manorialism]] and [[feudalism]], and evolved into the prosperous [[High Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=433}} After 1000 the Christian kingdoms that had emerged from Rome's collapse changed dramatically in their cultural and societal character.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=429}}

During the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300), [[Christianity|Christian]]-oriented art and architecture flourished and the [[Crusades]] were mounted to recapture the [[Holy Land]] from [[Muslim]] control.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=444}} The influence of the emerging [[nation-state]] was tempered by the ideal of an international [[Christendom]] and the presence of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]] in all western kingdoms.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=122–123}} The codes of [[chivalry]] and [[courtly love]] set rules for proper behavior, while the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] philosophers attempted to reconcile faith and reason.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}} The age of Feudalism would be dramatically transformed by the cataclysm of the [[Black Death]] and its aftermath.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=142}} This time would be a major underlying cause for the Renaissance. By the turn of the 16th century European or [[Western world|Western Civilization]] would be engaging in the [[Age of Discovery]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=477}}

The term "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation from the path of [[Classical antiquity|classical learning]], a path supposedly reconnected by [[Renaissance]] scholarship.<ref name="Miglio112">Miglio "Curial Humanism" ''Interpretations of Renaissance Humanism'' p. 112</ref>

=== West Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Middle East}}

The Arabian peninsula and the surrounding [[Middle East]] and [[Near East]] regions saw dramatic change during the Postclassical Era caused primarily by the spread of [[Islam]] and the establishment of the [[Caliphate|Arabian Empires]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=78}}</ref>

[[File:Крепость Нарын-Кала в Дербенте.jpg|left|thumb|6th century Sassanid defense lines in modern-day [[Derbent|Derbent, Dagestan Russia]]. Prior to the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]], [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid Persia]] with its [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian Religion]] was prevalent]]

In the 5th century, the Middle East was separated by empires and their spheres of influence; the two most prominent were the Persian [[Sasanian Empire]], centered in what is now [[Iran]], and the [[Byzantine Empire]] in [[Anatolia]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). The Byzantines and Sasanians fought with each other continually, a reflection of the rivalry between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire seen during the previous five hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=70}}</ref> The fighting weakened both states, leaving the stage open to a new power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Outline of History|last=Wells|first=H.G|publisher=Garden City Publishing Inc|year=1920|location=Garden City, NUY|page=544}}</ref> Meanwhile, the nomadic [[Bedouin]] tribes who dominated the Arabian desert saw a period of tribal stability, greater trade networking and a familiarity with Abrahamic religions or monotheism.
[[File:Hagia Sophia Mars 2013.jpg|thumb|The [[Hagia Sophia]] in Constantinople was the center of the Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[File:15th century egyptian anatomy of horse.jpg|thumb|Anatomy of a horse from the 15th century. The [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]] made advances in [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|medicine]]. From the University Library, Istanbul.|alt=|276x276px]]

While the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Roman and [[Sassanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persian empires were both weakened by the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], a new power in the form of [[Islam]] grew in the Middle East under [[Muhammad in Medina]]. In a series of rapid [[Muslim conquests]], the [[Rashidun army]], led by the [[Caliph]]s and skilled military commanders such as [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]], swept through most of the Middle East, taking more than half of Byzantine territory in the [[Arab–Byzantine wars]] and completely engulfing Persia in the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]. It would be the Arab [[Caliphate]]s of the [[Middle Ages]] that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Arab|ethnic identity]] that persists today. These Caliphates included the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], [[Umayyad Caliphate]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and later the Turkic-based [[Seljuq Empire]].

After Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture into 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>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=76}}</ref> Muslims saved and spread Greek advances in [[History of medicine|medicine]], [[History of elementary algebra|algebra]], [[History of geometry|geometry]], [[History of astronomy|astronomy]], [[History of anatomy|anatomy]], and [[History of ethics|ethics]] that would later finds it way back to Western Europe.

The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the [[Seljuq Turks]], migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia. They conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the [[Hejaz]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History|last=Vidal-Nanquet|first=Pierre|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=110}}</ref> This was followed by a series of Christian Western Europe invasions. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joint European forces mainly from [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of France|France]], and the emerging [[Holy Roman Empire]], to enter the region.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=328}} In 1099 the knights of the [[First Crusade]] captured [[Jerusalem]] and founded the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], which survived until 1187, when [[Saladin]] retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=331}} In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the [[Mongol Empire]], swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)]] and advancing as far south as the border of [[Egypt]] in what became known as the [[Mongol conquests]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=333}} The Mongols eventually retreated in 1335, but the chaos that ensued throughout the empire deposed the Seljuq Turks. In 1401, the region was further plagued by the [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turko-Mongol]], [[Timur]], and his ferocious raids. By then, another group of Turks had arisen as well, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]].

=== South Asia ===
[[File:Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple).jpg|thumb|Thanjuvur Peruvudayar Temple ( Big Temple) constructed by [[Rajendra Chola I|Rajendra Chola]]. Picture by Prakash Chidambaram.|alt=]]
{{main|Medieval India|History of India#Classical to early medieval periods (c. 200 BCE – c. 1200 CE)|#Late medieval period (c. 1200–1526 CE)}}
There has been difficulty applying the word 'medieval' or 'post classical' to the history of South Asia. This section follows historian Stein Burton's definition that corresponds from the 8th century to the 16th century, more of less following the same time frame of the Post Classical Period and the European Middle Ages.<ref>{{citation|last=Stein|first=Burton|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=D.|date=27 April 2010|title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726001148/https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until the 13th century, there was no less than 20 to 40 different states on the Indian Subcontinent which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems and religions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: A History|last=Keay|first=John|author-link=John Keay|publisher=[[Grove Press]]|year=2000|pages=xx–xxi}}</ref> At the beginning of the time period [[Buddhism]] was predominant throughout the area with the short-lived [[Pala Empire]] on the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Indo Gangetic Plain]] sponsoring the faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist [[Nalanda University]] in modern-day [[Bihar|Bihar, India]] a centre of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the ''[[Chaturanga]]'' game which later was exported to Europe and became [[Chess]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Murray |first=H.J.R.| title=A History of Chess| publisher=Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press)| year=1913| isbn=978-0-936317-01-4| oclc=13472872| author-link=H. J. R. Murray| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchess00murr}}</ref>
In Southern India, the [[Hindu]] Kingdom of [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] gained prominence with an overseas empire that controlled parts of modern-day Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and [[Chola invasion of Srivijaya|Indonesia]] as oversees territories and helped spread Hinduism into the historic culture of these places.<ref>''History of Asia'' by B.V. Rao p.211</ref> In this time period, neighboring areas such as [[History of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[History of Tibet|Tibet]], [[History of Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] were under [[Greater India|South Asian influence]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | title=The spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=20 December 2016 | date= | archive-date=16 January 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116205245/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific | url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1206 onward a series of [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Turkic Islamic invasions]] from modern-day Afghanistan and Iran conquered massive portions of Northern India, founding the [[Delhi Sultanate]] which remained supreme until the 16th century.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=107}} [[Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent|Buddhism declined]] in South Asia vanishing in many areas but Hinduism survived and reinforced itself in areas conquered by [[Hindu –Islamic relations|Muslims]]. In the far South, the Kingdom of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijanyagar]] was not conquered by any Muslim state in the period. The turn of the 16th century would see the rise of a new Islamic Empire – the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] and the establishment of European trade posts by the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|title=mughal_index|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=2019-06-14|archive-date=2019-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715193143/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/mughal/mughal_index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Southeast Asia ===
{{main|History of Southeast Asia#Medieval History}}
[[File:Borobdur9205.jpg|thumb|View of [[Borobudur]], from center point of view. Located in [[Magelang|Megelang]], [[Central Java]], [[Indonesia]]. Built in the 9th century Borobudur is the largest Buddhist Temple in the world.|alt=|left]]From the 8th century onward Southeast Asia stood to benefit from the trade taking place between South and East Asia, numerous kingdoms arose in the region due to the flow of wealth passing through the [[Strait of Malacca]]. While Southeast Asia had numerous outside influences [[Greater India|India]] was the greatest source of inspiration for the region. North Vietnam as an exception was culturally closer to China for centuries due to conquest.

Since rule from the third century BCE North Vietnam continued to be subjugated by Chinese states, although they continually resisted periodically. There were three periods of [[Chinese domination of Vietnam|Chinese Domination]] that spanned near 1100 years. The Vietnamese gained long lasting independence in the 10th century when China was [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|divided]] with [[Tĩnh Hải quân]] and the successor [[Đại Việt]]. Nonetheless, even as an independent state a sort of begrudging [[sinicization]] occurred. South Vietnam was governed by the ancient Hindu [[Champa|Champa Kingdom]] but was annexed by the [[Cham–Annamese War|Vietnamese]] in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|title=Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur|first=Ben|last=Kiernan|year=2009|publisher=Yale University Press|page=110|isbn=978-0-300-14425-3|access-date=January 9, 2011|archive-date=April 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bc30ytJmwzMC&q=annam+sacked+their+country+vietnamese+smashed+champa+cham+officials+told+the+chinese&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref>

The spread of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and maritime trade between China and [[South Asia]] created the foundation for Southeast Asia's first major empires; including the [[Khmer Empire]] from Cambodia and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] from Indonesia. During the Khmer Empire's height in the 12th century the city of [[Angkor Thom]] was among the largest of the pre-modern world due to its water management. [[Jayavarman II|King Jayavarman II]] constructed over a hundred hospitals throughout his realm.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Indianized states of Southeast Asia|first=George|last=Cœdès|isbn=978-0-8248-0368-1|location=Honolulu|oclc=961876784|year=1968|publisher=East-West Center Press}}</ref> Nearby rose the [[Pagan Empire]] in modern-day Burma, using elephants as military might.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=211|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The construction of the Buddhist [[Shwezigon Pagoda]] and its tolerance for believers of older polytheistic gods helped [[Theravada|Theravada Buddhism]] become supreme in the region.<ref name=":4" />

In Indonesia, [[Srivijaya]] from the 7th through 14th century was a [[Thalassocracy]] that focused on maritime city states and trade. Controlling the vital choke points of the [[Sunda Strait|Sunda]] and [[Strait of Malacca|Malacca straits]] it became rich from trade ranging from Japan through Arabia. Gold, Ivory and Ceramics were all major commodities traveling through port cities. The Empire was also responsible for the construction of wonders such as [[Borobudur]]. During this time Indonesian sailors crossed the [[Indian Ocean]]; evidence suggests that they may have colonized [[History of Madagascar|Madagascar]].<ref name="Madagascar Founded By Women">{{cite web |url=http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |title=Madagascar Founded By Women |publisher=Discovery.com |access-date=2012-03-23 |archive-date=2012-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322115439/http://news.discovery.com/history/madagascar-women-120320.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Indian culture spread to the [[History of the Philippines (900–1521)|Philippines]], likely through Indonesian trade resulting in the first documented use of writing in the archipelago and [[Indianized kingdom]]s.<ref>The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History by Richard Bulliet, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson p.186</ref>

Over time changing economic and political conditions else where and wars weakened the traditional empires of South East Asia. While the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol Invasions]] did not directly annex Southeast Asia the war-time devastation paved way for the rise of new nations. In the 15th century the Khmer Empire was supplanted by the Thai [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] and [[Srivijaya|Sri Vijaya]] was overtaken by the [[Majapahit]] and later the Islamic [[Malacca Sultanate]] by 1450.

=== East Asia ===
{{main|Medieval Asia|}}[[File:Palastexamen-SongDynastie.jpg|thumb|In China public examinations gave citizens the opportunity to be employed by the Imperial Government through [[meritocracy]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Chinese Imperial Dynasties|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|language=en|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2018-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627034117/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/song-china/v/chinese-imperial-dynasties|url-status=live}}</ref> The examination system reached its maximum effectiveness in the 11th–12th centuries. Painting from [[Ming dynasty]] era.|alt=]] The time frame of 500–1500 in East Asia's history and China in particular has been proposed as an accurate classification for the region's history within the context of global Post-classical history.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clark|first=Paul|title=Chinese History in the Post-Classical Age (500 CE to 1500 CE)|url=http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|journal=Humanities Institute|access-date=2018-08-31|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225615/http://www.humanitiesinstitute.org/assets/china20384.postclassical.history.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> There has been an attempt made in college courses to adapt the Post-Classical concept to Chinese terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|title=A.P World Civilizations China|website=Berkeley.edu|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-date=2015-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708211451/https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~daradib/chsntech/review/social-studies/world/china.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

During this period the [[Eastern world]] empires continued to expand through trade, migration and conquests of neighboring areas. [[Japan]] and [[Korea]] went under the process of voluntary [[sinicization]], or the impression of Chinese cultural and political ideas.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/japan/|title=Ancient Japan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034328/https://www.ancient.eu/japan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Japanese & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2018-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034356/https://www.ancient.eu/article/1085/ancient-japanese--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|title=Ancient Korean & Chinese Relations|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-07-31|date=|archive-date=2021-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311054538/https://www.ancient.eu/article/984/ancient-korean--chinese-relations/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Korea]] and [[Asuka period|Japan]] sinicized because their ruling class were largely impressed by China's bureaucracy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} The major influences China had on these countries were the spread of Confucianism, the spread of Buddhism, and the establishment of centralized governance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=181}} In the times of the [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]] (581–1279), China remained the world's largest economy and most technologically advanced society.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false Bulliet & Crossley & Headrick & Hirsch & Johnson 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229161111/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kfAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=2019-12-29 }}, p. 264.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lockard|first=Craig|date=1999|title=Tang Civilization and the Chinese Centuries|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|journal=Encarta Historical Essays|access-date=2018-06-16|archive-date=2020-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924191957/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/ealac/moerman/fall2000/edit/pdfs/wk5/tangci.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Four Great Inventions|Inventions]] such as gunpowder, woodblock printing and the magnetic compass were improved upon. China stood in contrast to other areas at the time as the imperial governments exhibited concentrated central authority instead of [[feudalism]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Dalby|first=Michael T.|doi=10.1017/chol9780521214469.010|pages=561–681|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-05594-9|title=The Cambridge History of China|year=1979|chapter=Court politics in late T'ang times}}</ref>

China exhibited much interest in [[Foreign relations of imperial China|foreign affairs]], during the Tang and Song dynasties. From the 7th through the 10th Tang China was focused on securing the [[Silk Road]] as the selling of its goods westwards was central to the nation's economy.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=615|oclc=298782520}}</ref> For a time China, successfully secured its frontiers by integrating their nomadic neighbors such as the [[Göktürks|Gokturks]] into their civilization.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=149}} The Tang dynasty expanded into Central Asia and received tribute from Eastern Iran.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=126}} Western expansion ended with [[Battle of Talas|wars]] with the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] and the deadly [[An Lushan Rebellion]] which resulted in an deadly but uncertain death toll of millions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=156}}

After the collapse of the Tang dynasty and subsequent [[Ten Kingdoms period|civil wars]] came the second phase of Chinese interest in foreign relations. Unlike the Tang, the Song specialized in overseas trade and peacefully created a maritime network and China's population became concentrated in the south.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=126–127}} Chinese merchant ships reached Indonesia, India and Arabia. Southeast Asia's economy flourished from trade with Song China.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=132}}
[[File:미륵반가사유상 (彌勒菩薩半跏思惟像).jpg|thumb|A Japanese Buddha sculpture from the [[Asuka period|Asuka Period]]|alt=|left]]
With the country's emphasis on trade and economic growth, [[Economy of the Song dynasty|Song China's economy]] began to use machines to manufacture goods and coal as a source of energy.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=160}} The advances of the Song in the 11th/12th centuries have been considered an early [[Chinese industrialization|industrial revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Patterson|first1=F.So L.|last2=Schafer|first2=J.F.|date=1978|title=Registration of Clintland 60 and Clintland 64 Oats (Reg. No. 280 and 281)|journal=Crop Science|volume=18|issue=2|page=354|doi=10.2135/cropsci1978.0011183x001800020049x|issn=0011-183X}}</ref> Economic advancements came at the cost of military affairs and the Song became open to invasions from the north. China became divided as Song's northern lands were conquered by the [[Jurchen people]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=202|oclc=298782520}}</ref> By 1200 there were five Chinese kingdoms stretching from modern day Turkestan to the Sea of Japan including the [[Qara Khitai|Western Liao]], [[Western Xia]], [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]], [[Song dynasty|Southern Song]] and [[Dali Kingdom|Dali]].<ref>{{Citation|last=國家地震局地球物理硏究所 (China)|script-title=zh:中國歷史地震圖集 : 清時期|date=1990|publisher=Zhongguo di tu chu ban she|isbn=7503105747|oclc=26030569}}</ref> Because these states competed with each other they all were eventually annexed by the rising [[Mongol Empire]] before 1279.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicleof world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|pages=232–233|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

After seventy years of [[Mongol conquest of China|conquest]], the Mongols proclaimed the [[Yuan dynasty]] and also annexed [[Mongol invasions of Korea|Korea]]; they failed to conquer [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Japan]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=128–129}} Mongol conquerors also made China accessible to [[Europeans in Medieval China|European travelers]] such as [[Marco Polo]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Mongols in World History|url=https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|journal=Asian Topics in World History|via=Columbia University|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907110316/https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/World%20History%20Textbook-082817.pdf?t=1536279808341|url-status=live}}</ref> The Mongol era was short lived due to plagues and famine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|title=HISTORY OF CHINA|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2017-12-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160403/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=179&HistoryID=aa21&gtrack=pthc|url-status=live}}</ref> After [[Red Turban Rebellion|revolution]] in 1368 the succeeding [[Ming dynasty]] ushered in a period of prosperity and brief [[Ming treasure voyages|foreign expeditions]] before isolating itself from global affairs for centuries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|title=Zheng He|website=Khan Academy|language=en|access-date=2018-08-14|archive-date=2018-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814232811/https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Muromachi period|Japan]] however continued to have relations with China and with other Asian countries. In the 15th century [[Sejong the Great]] of Korea cemented his country's identity by creating the [[Hangul|Hangul Writing]] system to replace use of [[Chinese characters|Chinese Characters]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burzillo|first=David|date=May 2004|title=Writing and World History|url=http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|journal=World History Connected|volume=1|issue=2|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425013301/http://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/1.2/burzillo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Japan fell under military rule of the [[Kamakura period|Kamakura]] and later [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga]] Shogunate dominated by [[Samurai|Samauri]] warriors.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=226|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

== Eurasia ==
This section explains events and trends which affected the geographic area of [[Eurasia]]. The civilizations within this area were distinct from one another but still endured shared experiences and some development patterns

{{Gallery
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|File:East-Hem 500ad.jpg| alt1=Map of the Eastern Hemisphere 475 AD.
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=== Mongol Empire ===
{{main|Mongol Empire}}[[File:DiezAlbumsArmedRiders I.jpg|thumb|
Mounted warriors pursue enemies. Illustration of Rashid-ad-Din's Gami' at-tawarih. Tabriz (?), 1st quarter of 14th century.
|alt=|left]]

The Mongol Empire which existed during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest [[List of largest empires#Largest empires by land area and population|continuous land empire]] in history.<ref>Morgan. ''The Mongols''. p. 5.</ref> Originating in the [[steppe]]s of [[Central Asia]], the Mongol Empire eventually stretched from [[Central Europe]] to the [[Sea of Japan]], extending northwards into [[Siberia]], eastwards and southwards into the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Indochina]], and the [[Iranian plateau]], and westwards as far as the [[Levant]] and [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=234|oclc=298782520}}</ref>

The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the [[Mongolia]] homeland under the leadership of [[Genghis Khan]], who was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under his descendants, who sent [[Mongol invasions|invasions]] in every direction.<ref>Diamond. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel''. p. 367.</ref><ref>''The Mongols and Russia'', by [[George Vernadsky]]</ref><ref>''The Mongol World Empire, 1206–1370'', by John Andrew Boyle</ref><ref>''The History of China'', by David Curtis Wright. p. 84.</ref><ref>''The Early Civilization of China'', by Yong Yap Cotterell, Arthur Cotterell. p. 223.</ref><ref>''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281'' by Reuven Amitai-Preiss</ref> The vast transcontinental empire connected the [[eastern world|east]] with the [[western world|west]] with an enforced ''[[Pax Mongolica]]'' allowing trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies to be disseminated and exchanged across [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Gregory G.|last=Guzman|title=Were the barbarians a negative or positive factor in ancient and medieval history?|journal=The Historian|volume=50|issue=4|year=1988|pages=568–570|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1988.tb00759.x|jstor=24447158}}</ref><ref>[[Thomas T. Allsen]]. ''Culture and Conquest''. p. 211.</ref>

The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan disputed whether the royal line should follow from his son and initial heir [[Ögedei Khan|Ögedei]], or one of his other sons such as [[Tolui]], [[Chagatai Khan|Chagatai]], or [[Jochi]]. After [[Möngke Khan]] died, rival ''[[kurultai]]'' councils simultaneously elected different successors, the brothers [[Ariq Böke]] and [[Kublai Khan]], who then not only fought each other in the [[Toluid Civil War]], but also dealt with challenges from descendants of other sons of Genghis.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Biran |title=Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia |publisher=The Curzon Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7007-0631-0}}</ref> Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to regain control of the [[Chagatai khans|Chagatayid]] and [[House of Ögedei|Ögedeid]] families.

[[File:LetterOljeituToPhilipLeBel.jpg|thumb|Letter from the Mongolian-Persian [[Ilkhanate]] to France, 1305. The Chinese style stamp was used outside China as the official symbol of the Khans and their messengers|alt=]]The [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in 1260 marked the high-water point of the [[Mongol conquests]] and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. Though the Mongols launched many more invasions into the Levant, briefly occupying it and raiding as far as Gaza after a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar]] in 1299, they withdrew due to various geopolitical factors.

By the time of Kublai's death in 1294, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires, each pursuing its own separate interests and objectives: the [[Golden Horde]] khanate in the northwest; the [[Chagatai Khanate]] in the west; the [[Ilkhanate]] in the southwest; and the [[Yuan dynasty]] based in modern-day [[Beijing]].<ref name="China p413">''The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States''. p. 413.</ref> In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the nominal suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty,<ref>Jackson. ''Mongols and the West''. p. 127.</ref><ref>Allsen. ''Culture and Conquest''. pp. xiii, 235.</ref> but it was later overthrown by the [[Han Chinese]] [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Chronicle of world history.|date=2008|publisher=Konecky & Konecky|isbn=978-1-56852-680-5|location=Old Saybrook, CT|page=233|oclc=298782520}}</ref> The Genghisid rulers returned to Mongolia homeland and continued rule in the [[Northern Yuan dynasty]].<ref name=":6" /> All of the original Mongol Khanates collapsed by 1500, but smaller successor states remained independent until the 1700s. Descendants of [[Chagatai Khan]] created the [[Mughal Empire]] that ruled much of India in [[Early modern period|early modern]] times.<ref name=":6" />

=== The Silk Road ===
{{main|History of Central Asia|History of Siberia|Silk Road}}
[[File:Central Asian Buddhist Monks.jpeg|left|thumb|Central Asian Buddhist Monks, the Silk Road allowed for the exchange for ideas as well as goods. A Caucasian looking [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] teacher possibly [[Sogdia]]n instructs an East-Asian monk. Dated from the 9th century near [[Turpan|Turfan, Xinxiang, China]] |214x214px]]
The Silk Road was a Eurasian trade route that played a large role in global communication and interaction. It stimulated cultural exchange; encouraged the learning of new languages; resulted in the trade of many goods, such as silk, gold, and spices; and also spread religion and disease.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} It is even claimed by some historians – such as [[Andre Gunder Frank]], [[William Hardy McNeill]], [[Jerry H. Bentley]], and [[Marshall Hodgson]] – that the Afro-Eurasian world was loosely united culturally, and that the Silk Road was fundamental to this unity.{{sfn|Christian|2000|pages=1–21}} This major trade route began with the [[Han dynasty]] of China, connecting it to the Roman Empire and any regions in between or nearby. At this time, Central Asia exported horses, [[wool]], and [[jade]] into China for the latter's silk; the Romans would trade for the Chinese commodity as well, offering wine in return.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=101}} The Silk Road would often decline and rise again in trade from the Iron Age to the Postclassical Era. Following one such decline, it was reopened in Central Asia by [[Han Dynasty]] General [[Ban Chao]] during the 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The Silk Road was also a major factor in spreading religion across Afro-Eurasia. Muslim teachings from Arabia and [[Persia]] reached East Asia. Buddhism spread from India, to China, to Central Asia. One significant development in the spread of Buddhism was the carving of the [[Gandhara]] School in the cities of [[Taxila (ancient)|ancient Taxila]] and the [[Peshwar]], allegedly in the mid 1st century.{{sfn|Bowman|2000|page=568}}

The route was vulnerable to spreading plague. The [[Plague of Justinian]] originated in East Asia and had a major outbreak in Europe in 542 causing the deaths of a quarter of the Mediterranean's population. Trade between Europe, Africa and Asia along the route was at least partially responsible for spreading the plague.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|title=Justinian's Plague (541–542 CE)|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-10|date=|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418160219/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is a popular theory that the Black Death was caused by the Mongol conquests. The claim is that the direct link that it opened between the East and West provided the path for rats and fleas that carried the disease.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-691-13589-2|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=195}}</ref> Although there is no concrete historical evidence to this theory, the plague is considered endemic on the steppe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction|last=Milward|first=James|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-978286-4|location=Oxford|pages=46}}</ref>

There were vulnerabilities as well to changing political situations. The rise of Islam changed the Silk Road, because Muslim rulers generally closed the Silk Road to [[Christendom|Christian Europe]] to an extent Europe would be cut off from Asia for centuries. Specifically, the political developments that affected the Silk Road included the emergence of the Turks, the political movements of the Sasanian and Byzantine empires, and the rise of the Arabs, among others.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith|last1=Whitfield|first1=Susan|last2=Sims-Williams|first2=Ursula|publisher=Serindia Publications, Inc.|year=2004|isbn=978-1-932476-12-5|location=Chicago, IL|pages=30}}</ref>
[[File:Song Tapestry.jpg|thumb|Chinese-Song-era tapestry, Chinese Silk was carried west over large distances and sold for large profits.|alt=Chinese-Song era tapestry|264x264px]]

The Silk Road flourished again in the 13th century during the reign of the Mongol Empire, which through conquest had brought stability in Central Asia comparable to the [[Pax Romana]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} It was claimed by a Muslim historian that Central Asia was peaceful and safe to transverse <blockquote>"(Central Asia) enjoyed such a peace that a man might have journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset with a golden platter upon his head without suffering the least violence from anyone."{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}} </blockquote>

As such, trade and communication between Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East required little effort. Handicraft production, art, and scholarship prospered, and wealthy merchants enjoyed cosmopolitan cities.{{sfn|Stearns|Adas|Schwartz|Gilbert|2011|page=321}}

The Silk Road trade played a role in spreading the infamous [[Black Death]]. Originating in China, the [[bubonic plague]] was spread by Mongol warriors catapulting diseased corpses into enemy towns in the [[Crimea]]. The disease, spread by rats, was carried by merchant ships sailing across the Mediterranean that brought the plague back to Sicily, causing an [[epidemic]] in 1347.{{sfn|Thompson|O'Toole|Patrick|Pruneski|2009|page=310}} Nevertheless, after the 15th century, the Silk Road disappeared from regular use.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}} This was primarily a result from the growing sea travel pioneered by Europeans, which allowed the trade of goods by sailing around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=146}}

=== Science ===
{{main|History of Science#Post-classical science|History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent|History of science and technology in China}}
[[File:Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript.jpg|left|thumb|Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript]]
The term ''post-classical science'' is often used in academic circles and in college courses to combine the study of [[European science in the Middle Ages|medieval European science]] and [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic science]] due to their interactions with one another.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|title=Outline – Post-Classical Science – History of Science Study Guide – Dr Robert A. Hatch|last=Hatch|first=Dr Robert A.|website=users.clas.ufl.edu|access-date=2018-07-01|archive-date=2016-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630150105/http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0036_postClassicalScience.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However scientific knowledge also spread westward by trade and war from Eastern Eurasia, particularly from China by Arabs. The Islamic World also benefited from medical knowledge from [[Indian influence on Islamic science|South Asia]].<ref>A History of Medicine: Byzantine and Islamic medicine By Plinio Prioreschi Vol. iv, p. 121, {{ISBN|1-888456-02-7}}</ref>

In the case of the Western World and in Islamic realms much emphasis was placed on preserving the rationalist Greek Tradition of figures such as [[Aristotle]]. In the context of science within Islam there are questions as to whether Islamic Scientists simply preserved accomplishments from [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]] or built upon earlier Greek advances.<ref>[[Bertrand Russell]] (1945) ''[[A History of Western Philosophy|History of Western Philosophy]]'', book 2, part 2, chapter X</ref><ref>[[Abdus Salam]], H.R. Dalafi, Mohamed Hassan (1994). ''Renaissance of Sciences in Islamic Countries'' p. 162. World Scientific, {{ISBN|9971-5-0713-7}}.</ref> Regardless, Classical European Science was brought back to the Christian Kingdoms due to the experience of the [[Crusades]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=451}}

As a result of Persian trade in China, and the battle of the [[Battle of Talas|Talas River]], Chinese innovations entered the Islamic intellectual world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Collins Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=108}}</ref> These include advances in astronomy and in [[History of paper|paper-making]].<ref name="meggs58">Meggs, Philip B. ''A History of Graphic Design.'' John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. (p. 58) {{ISBN|0-471-29198-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Masood|2009|pp=132–135}} Paper-making spread through the Islamic World as far west as [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]], before paper-making was acquired for Europe by the [[Reconquista]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|title=History of paper|website=users.stlcc.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-date=2018-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822144311/http://users.stlcc.edu/nfuller/paper/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is debate about [[History of gunpowder#Spread throughout Eurasia and Africa|transmission of gunpowder]] on whether the Mongols introduced [[Science and technology of the Song dynasty#Gunpowder warfare|Chinese gunpowder weapons]] to Europe or if gunpowder weapons were invented in Europe independently.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chase |first=Kenneth |year=2003 |title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9|page=58}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Morillo |first=Stephen |year=2008 |title=War in World History: Society, Technology, and War from Ancient Times to the Present, Volume 1, To 1500 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-052584-9|page=259}}</ref>

=== Literate culture and arts ===
{{main|History of literature|History of art|History of music}}
[[File:Genji emaki sekiya.jpg|thumb|12th century illustration from the ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'', the world's first novel.]]

[[File:Talaei-tetrachords.ogg|left|thumb|Persian Talaei-tetrachords]]
[[File:Ut Queant Laxis.ogg|left|thumb|Italy, 8th century ''Ut Queant Laxis'']]
Within Eurasia, there were four major civilization groups that had literate cultures and created literature and arts, including Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. Southeast Asia could be a possible fifth category but was influenced heavily from both South and East Asia literal cultures. All four cultures in Post-Classical Times used [[poetry]], [[drama]] and [[prose]]. Throughout the period and until the 19th century poetry was the dominant form of literary expression. In the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and China great poetic works often used figurative language. Examples include, the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Shakuntala (play)|Shakuntala]]'', the [[Arabic]] ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Thousand and one nights]]'', [[Old English]] ''[[Beowulf]] '' and works by the Chinese [[Du Fu]]. In Japan, prose uniquely thrived more than in other geographic areas. The ''[[The Tale of Genji|Tale of Genji]]'' is considered the world's first realistic novel written in the 9th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|title=World Literature and Music {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724230109/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/world-literature-music/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Musically, most regions of the world only used [[Melody|melodies]] as opposed to [[harmony]]. Medieval Europe was the lone exception to this rule, developing harmonic music in the 14th/15th century as musical culture transitioned form sacred music (meant for the church) to secular music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|title=Western Music Timeline {{!}} Essential Humanities|website=www.essential-humanities.net|access-date=2018-07-03|archive-date=2018-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623210258/http://www.essential-humanities.net/art-overview/western-music-timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref> South Asian and Mid-Eastern music were similar to each other for their use of [[Microtonal music|microtone]]. East-Asian music shared some similarities with European Music for using a [[pentatonic scale]].

== The Americas ==
{{main|Pre-Columbian era}}

The Postclassical Era of the Americas can be considered set at a different time span from that of Afro-Eurasia. As the developments of Mesoamerican and Andean civilization differ greatly from that of the Old World, as well as the speed at which it developed, the Postclassical Era in the traditional sense does not take place until near the end of the medieval age in Western Europe. As such, for the purposes of this article, the [[Woodland period]] and [[Classic stage]] of the Americas will be discussed here, which takes place from about 400 to 1400.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willey |first=Gordon R. |year=1989 |chapter=Gordon Willey |title=The Pastmasters: Eleven Modern Pioneers of Archaeology: V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Charles Phillips, Christopher Hawkes, Seton Lloyd, Robert J. Braidwood, Gordon R. Willey, C.J. Becker, Sigfried J. De Laet, J. Desmond Clark, D.J. Mulvaney |editor=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2=Christopher Chippindale |editor-link=Glyn Edmund Daniel |editor2-link=Christopher Chippindale |location=New York |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |isbn=0-500-05051-1 |oclc=19750309}}</ref> For the technical Postclassical stage in American development which took place on the eve of European contact, see [[Post-Classic stage]].

{{Gallery
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|File:North American cultural areas.png
|alt1=Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|Cultural areas of North America prior to European Contact
|File:Áreas Culturales de América.PNG
|alt2= Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
|Cultural areas of South and Central America prior to European contact, (in Spanish).
}}

=== North America ===
As a continent there was little unified trade or communication. Advances in agriculture spread northward from [[Mesoamerica]] indirectly through trade. Major cultural areas however still developed independently of each other.

==== Norse Contact and the Polar Regions ====
{{Main|Norse colonization of North America}}
[[File:Authentic Viking recreation.jpg|thumb|Authentic reconstruction of Norse site at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]]. Photo provided by Dylan Kereluk.]]

While there was little regular contact between the Americas and the Old World the [[Vikings|Norse Vikings]] explored and even colonized [[Greenland]] and [[Canada]] as early as 1000. None of these settlements survived past [[Middle Ages|Medieval Times]]. Outside of Scandinavia knowledge of the discovery of the Americas was interpreted as a [[Vinland#Medieval geographers|remote island]] or the [[North Pole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|title=[Vinland in] Chapter 39|first=Adam of|last=Bremen|date=30 November 1977|website=www.canadianmysteries.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117100208/http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/whereisvinland/writtenclues/4125en.html|archive-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

The Norse arriving from Greenland settled Greenland from approximately 980 to 1450.<ref name=":2" /> The Norse arrived in southern [[Greenland]] prior to the 13th century approach of [[Inuit]] [[Thule people]] in the area. The extent of the interaction between the Norse and Thule is unclear.<ref name=":2" /> Greenland was valuable to the Norse due to trade of ivory that came from the tusks of walruses. The [[Little Ice Age]] adversely affected the colonies and they vanished.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of archaeology|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry W.|last2=Gosden|first2=Chris|last3=Joyce|first3=Rosemary A.|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-927101-6|page=592|oclc=277205272}}</ref> Greenland would be lost to Europeans until [[Danish colonization of the Americas|Danish Colonization]] in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|title=Colonialism in Greenland: An Inuit Perspective|website=arcticcircle.uconn.edu|access-date=2018-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031152005/http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/petersen.html|archive-date=2017-10-31|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Norse also explored and colonized farther south in [[Newfoundland|Newfoundland Canada]] at [[L'Anse aux Meadows]] referred to by the Norse as ''[[Vinland]]''. The colony at most existed for twenty years and resulted in no known transmission of diseases or technology to the [[First Nations]]. To the Norse ''Vinland'' was known for plentiful grape vines to make superior wine. One reason for the colony's failure was constant violence with the native [[Beothuk]] tribe who the Norse referred to as [[Skræling|Skraeling]].

After initial expeditions there is a possibility that the Norse continued to visit modern day Canada. Surviving records from medieval Iceland indicate some sporadic voyages to a land called ''[[Markland]]'', possibly the coast of [[Labrador|Labrador, Canada]], as late as 1347 presumably to collect wood for deforested Greenland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seaver |first=Kristen A. |title=The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, Ca. A.D. 1000–1500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1996 |page=28 |isbn=978-0-8047-3161-4 |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110214/https://books.google.com/books?id=5qonlDkZW3MC&pg=PA28 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Northern Areas ====
{{Main|Indigenous peoples in Canada#Post-Archaic periods|History of Native Americans in the United States#Major cultures}}[[File:Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM.jpg|left|thumb|Mississippi Pipe bowl chunkey player EthnM|133x133px]]In northern [[North America]], many [[hunter-gatherer]] and [[agricultural]] societies thrived in the diverse region. [[Native American in the United States|Native American tribes]] varied greatly in characteristics; some, including the [[Mississippian culture]] and the [[Ancestral Puebloans]] were complex chiefdoms. Other nations which inhabited the states of the modern northern United States and Canada had less complexity and did not follow technological changes as quickly. Approximately around the year 500 during the [[Woodland period]], Native Americans began to transition to bows and arrows from spears for hunting and warfare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|title=American Indian Archery Technology {{!}} The Office of the State Archaeologist|website=archaeology.uiowa.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-05-26|archive-date=2018-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527201628/https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/american-indian-archery-technology-0|url-status=live}}</ref> Technological advancement however was uneven. During the 12th century was the widespread adoption of Corn as a staple crop in the [[Eastern United States]]. Corn would continue to be the staple crop of natives in the Eastern United States and Canada until the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian Exchange]].

[[File:Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado USA.JPG|thumb|Stonework Mesa Verde National Park Colorado|133x133px]]
In the eastern United States, rivers were the medium of trade and communication. [[Cahokia]] located in the modern U.S [[State of Illinois]] was among the most significant within the Mississippi Culture. Focused around [[Monks Mound]] archaeology indicates the population increased exponentially after 1000 because it manufactured important tools for agriculture and cultural attractions.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=393}} Around 1350 Cahokia was abandoned, environmental factors have been proposed for the city's decline.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|title=As the river rises: Cahokia's emergence and decline linked to Mississippi River flooding|website=news.wisc.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-31|archive-date=2018-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213205/https://news.wisc.edu/as-the-river-rises-cahokias-emergence-and-decline-linked-to-mississippi-river-flooding/|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the same time Ancestral Puebloans constructed clusters of buildings in the [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park|Chaco Canyon]] site located in the [[New Mexico|State of New Mexico]]. Individual houses may have been occupied by more than 600 residents at any one time. Chaco Canyon was the only pre-Columbian site in the United States to build paved roads.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carballo|first=David M.|chapter=Trade Routes in the Americas Before Columbus|title=The Great Trade Routes: A History of Cargos and Commerce Over Land and Sea|editor-last=Parker|editor-first=Philip|location=London|publisher=Conway Publishing|url=https://www.academia.edu/4998969|pages=166–170|language=en|access-date=2018-06-19|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.academia.edu/4998969/Trade_Routes_in_the_Americas_Before_Columbus|url-status=live}}</ref> Pottery indicates a society that was becoming more complex, turkeys for the first time in the continental United States were also domesticated. Around 1150 the structures of Chaco Canyon were abandoned, likely as a result of severe drought.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fagan
|first1=B. M.|year=2005|title=Chaco Canyon: Archaeologists Explore the Lives of an Ancient Society|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195170436|pages=18–19}}</ref>{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=391}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drought.memphis.edu/NADA/MapDisplay.aspx|title=Reconstructed JJA PDSI 1150 AD|date=2010|website=North American Drought Atlas}}</ref> There were also other Pueblo complexes in the Southwestern United States. After reaching climaxes native complex societies in the United States declined and did not entirely recover before the arrival of European Explorers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500.|pages=391}}</ref>

==== Mesoamerica ====
{{Main|Mesoamerica}}
[[File:Telamones Tula.jpg|thumb|Toltec [[Atlantean figures]] at the Tula site. The [[Toltec|Toltec Civilization]] inspired the later [[Aztecs]].|alt=|left]]At the beginning of the global Post Classic Period, the city of [[Teotihuacan]] was at its zenith, housing over 125,000 people, at 500 A.D it was the sixth largest city in the world at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|title=Populations of Largest Cities in PMNs from 2000BC to 1988AD|work=Etext Archives|date=2007-09-29|access-date=2019-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110844/http://www.etext.org/Politics/World.Systems/datasets/citypop/civilizations/citypops_2000BC-1988AD|archive-date=2007-09-29}}</ref> The city's residents built the [[Pyramid of the Sun]] the third largest pyramid of the world, oriented to follow astronomical events. Suddenly in the 6th and 7th centuries, the city suddenly declined possibly as a result of severe environmental damage caused by [[extreme weather events of 535–536]]. There is evidence that large parts of the city were burned, possibly in a domestic rebellion.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-06-29|date=|archive-date=2021-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417181631/https://www.worldhistory.org/Teotihuacan/|url-status=live}}</ref> The city's legacy would inspire all future civilizations in the region.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Teotihuacan|encyclopedia=Ancient History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

At the same time was Classic Age of the [[Maya civilization|Mayan Civilization]] clustered in dozens of city states on the [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] and modern day [[Guatemala]].<ref>{{harvnb|Barraclough|2003|page=46}}</ref> The most significant of these cities were [[Chichen Itza]] which often fiercely competed with its neighbors to be the dominant economic influence in the region.

The Mayans had an upper caste of priests, who were well versed in astronomy, mathematics and writing. The Mayan developed the concept of zero, and a 365-day calendar which possibly pre-dates its creation in Old-World societies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|title=HISTORY OF MESOAMERICAN CIVILIZATION|website=www.historyworld.net|access-date=2018-06-29|archive-date=2018-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322045141/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab58|url-status=live}}</ref> After 900, many Mayan cities suddenly declined in a period of drought.[[File:Aztec11 Bloodletting.jpg|thumb|Aztec Bloodletting, priests conduct a heart sacrifice, from the ''Tudela Codex'', 16th century.|197x197px]]

The [[Toltec Empire]] arose from the [[Toltec]] culture, and were remembered as wise and benevolent leaders. One priest-king called [[Ce Acatl Topiltzin]] advocated against human sacrifice.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Henry|date=2001|title=Topiltzin Quetzalcotal. The once and future Lord of the Toltec|journal=Boulder: University Press of Colorado|pages=258}}</ref> After his death in 947, civil wars of religious character broke out between those who supported and opposed Topiltzin's teachings.<ref name=":8" /> Modern historians however are skeptical of the extent of Toltec and influence and believe that much of the information known about the Toltecs was created by the later Aztecs as an inspiration myth.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Aztec kings : the construction of rulership in Mexica history|last=Gillespie|first=Susan D.|date=1989|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=0816510954|location=Tucson|oclc=19353576}}</ref>

In the 1300s, a small band of violent, religious radicals called the [[Aztec]]s began minor raids throughout the area.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Eventually they began to claim connections with the Toltec civilization, and insisted they were the rightful successors.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|title=Traditions and Encounters, AP Edition , 5th Edition|last=Bentley|publisher=McGraw-Hill|chapter=Chapter 20|access-date=2018-06-26|archive-date=2017-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519144625/http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0024122010/899891/Bentley5e_Chapter_20_Intro_Final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> They began to grow in numbers and conquer large areas of land. Fundamental to their conquest, was the use of [[Terrorism|political terror]] in the sense that the Aztec leaders and priests would command the [[human sacrifice]] of their [[Conquest (military)#Subjugation|subjugated]] people as means of humility and coercion.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Most of the Mesoamerican region would eventually fall under the Aztec Empire.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} On the [[Yucatán Peninsula]] most of the [[Maya peoples|Mayan People]] continued to be independent of the Aztecs but their traditional civilization declined.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Aztec developments expanded cultivation, applying the use of [[chinampa]]s, irrigation, and [[terrace agriculture]]; important crops included [[maize]], [[sweet potato]]es, and [[avocado]]s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}

In 1430 the city of [[Tenochtitlan]] allied with other powerful [[Nahuan languages|Nahuatl]] speaking cities- [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]] and [[Tlacopan]] to create the Aztec Empire otherwise known as Triple-Alliance.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=149}} Though referred to as an empire the Aztec Empire functioned as a system of tribute collection with Tenochtitlan at its center. By the turn of the 16th century "[[flower war]]s" between the Aztecs and rival states such as [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]] had continued for over fifty years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |title=Conquistadors – Cortés |publisher=PBS |access-date=2010-10-31 |archive-date=2011-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515182621/http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_d00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== South America ===
{{main|Pre-Columbian era#South America}}

South American civilization was concentrated in the Andean region which had already hosted complex cultures since 2,500 BC. East of the Andean region, the natives were generally semi nomadic. Discoveries on the [[Amazon basin|Amazon River Basin]] indicate the region likely had a pre-contact population of five million people and hosted complex societies.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |date=December 2009 |volume=83 |issue=322 |pages=1084–1095 |title=Pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in the upper Purús: a complex society in western Amazonia |first1=Martti |last1=Pärssinen |first2=Denise |last2=Schaan |first3=Alceu |last3=Ranzi |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00099373 |s2cid=55741813 |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |access-date=2020-01-24 |archive-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110219/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Pre-Columbian-geometric-earthworks-in-the-upper-a-P%C3%A4rssinen-Schaan/488ec85ba2de99fb1429e61f9fc09f6a2846c8a0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Around the continent numerous agricultural peoples from [[History of Colombia|Colombia]] to [[History of Argentina|Argentina]] steadily advanced from 500 AD until European contact.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Atlas of World History|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|pages=47}}</ref>

==== Andean Region ====
{{main|Andean civilizations|}}
[[File:Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru - panoramio (1).jpg|left|thumb|Temple of the Sun, Machu Picchu, Peru, provided by David Broad.|238x238px|alt=]]

During [[Ancient history|Ancient times]] the Andean Region had developed civilizations independent of outside influences including that of [[Mesoamerica]].<ref>Upton, Gary and von Hagen, Adriana (2015), ''Encyclopedia of the Incas'', New York: Rowand & Littlefield, p. 2. Some scholars cite 6 or 7 pristine civilizations.</ref> Through the Post Classical era a cycle of civilizations continued until [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire|Spanish contact]]. Collectively Andean societies lacked currency, a written language and solid draft animals enjoyed by old world civilizations. Instead Andeans developed other methods to foster their growth, including use of the [[quipu]] system to communicate messages, lamas to carry smaller loads and an economy based on [[Reciprocity (social and political philosophy)|reciprocity]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}} Societies were often based on strict social hierarchies and economic redistribution from the ruling class.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=148}}>

In the first half of the Post Classical Period the Andean Region was dominated by two almost equally powerful states. In the North of Peru was the [[Wari Empire]] and in the South of Peru and Bolivia there was the [[Tiwanaku empire]] both of whom were inspired by the earlier [[Moche culture|Moche People]]. While the extent of their relationship to each other is unknown, it is believed that they were in a Cold-War with one another, competing but avoiding direct conflict to avoid [[mutual assured destruction]]. Without war there was prosperity and around the year 700 Tiwanaku city hosted a population of 1.4. million.<ref>Kolata, Alan L. ''Valley of the Spirits: A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara,'' Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 1996</ref> After the 8th century both states declined due to changing environmental conditions, laying the ground work for the Incas to emerge as a distinct culture centuries later.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=387}}

In the 15th century the [[Inca Empire]] rose to annex all other nations in the area. Led by their, sun-god king, [[Sapa Inca]], they slowly conquered what is now [[Peru]], and built their society throughout the Andes cultural region. The Incas spoke the [[Quechua languages]]. The Incas used the advances created by earlier Andean societies. Incas have been known to have used [[abacus]]es to calculate mathematics. The Inca Empire is known for some of its magnificent structures, such as [[Machu Picchu]] in the [[Cusco region]].{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=389}} The empire expanded quickly northwards to Ecuador, Southwards to central Chile. To the north of the Inca Empire remained the independent [[Tairona]] and [[Muisca Confederation|Musica Confederation]] who practiced agriculture and gold metallurgy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Muisca_Civilization/|title=Muisca Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902084340/https://www.ancient.eu/Muisca_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Tairona_Civilization/|title=Tairona Civilization|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-09-02|date=|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902151733/https://www.ancient.eu/Tairona_Civilization/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Oceania ==
{{Gallery
| title = Maps depicting Oceania
| align = center
| footer =
| height = 200
| width = 350

|File:Aboriginal regions.png
|alt1=Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia.
|Map of the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] regions in Australia
|File:Polynesian Migration.svg
|alt2=Polynesian Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
|Colonization of East Polynesia, and dispersal to more remote islands (including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand)
}}

{{Main|History of Oceania}}
[[File:Micronesian navigational chart.jpg|alt=Micronesian navigational chart|thumb|[[Marshall Islands stick chart|Micronesian navigational chart]], these were used by Polynesians to navigate through wind and water currents.]]
Separate from developments in [[Afro-Eurasia]] and the Americas the region of greater [[Oceania]] continued to develop independently of the outside world. In [[History of Australia|Australia]], the society of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aborigines]] and [[Melanesia]] changed little through the Post Classical Period since their arrival in the area from Africa around 50,000 BC. The only outside contact were encounters with fishermen of [[Makassan contact with Australia|Indonesian]] origin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Archaeology of Oceania: Australia and the Pacific Islands|last=Ian|first=Lilley|date=2006|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-23082-3|page=117|oclc=474724373}}</ref> Polynesian and Micronesian Peoples are rooted from [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|Taiwan]] and [[Southeast Asia]] and began their migration into the [[Pacific Ocean]] from 3000 to 1500 BC.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|title=Australia and Oceania: Human Geography|date=2012-01-04|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=2018-09-07|language=en|archive-date=2018-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015753/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/oceania-human-geography/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During Post-classical Times the [[Micronesia]]n and the [[Polynesia]]n peoples constructed cities in some areas such as [[Nan Madol]] and [[Muʻa (Tongatapu)|Mu'a]]. Around 1200 AD the [[Tu'i Tonga Empire]] spread its influence far and wide throughout the South Pacific Islands, being described by academics as a maritime chiefdom which used trade networks to keep power centralized around the king's capital. Polynesians on [[Outrigger canoe|outrigger]] canoes [[Polynesian navigation|discovered]] and colonized some of the last uninhabited islands of earth.<ref name=":5" /> [[Discovery and settlement of Hawaii|Hawaii]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]] and [[History of Easter Island|Easter Island]] were among the final places to be reached, settlers discovering pristine lands. [[Polynesian narrative|Oral Tradition]] claimed that navigator [[Ui-te-Rangiora]] discovered icebergs in the [[Southern Ocean]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Stephenson Percy |author-link=Percy Smith (ethnologist) |title=Hawaiki: the whence of the Maori: with a sketch of Polynesian history, being an introd. to the native history of Rarotonga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |access-date=2013-01-19 |year=1898 |publisher=Whitcombe & Tombs |pages=90–91 |archive-date=2020-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522225616/https://books.google.com/books?id=_BIZAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In exploring and settling, Polynesian settlers did not strike at random but used their knowledge of wind and water currents to reach their destinations.{{sfn|Berger|Israel|Miller|Parkinson|2016|p=9}}

[[File:Book-Hawaii-Vtorov-246.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hale o Keawe]], a restored [[Heiau]] in the U.S [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]], used as sacred temple and sacrificial altar. The statues represent traditional gods.]]
[[File:War canoes (5178916728).jpg|thumb|Authentic [[Māori culture|Maori]] [[Waka (canoe)|Waka]], used for warfare and navigation in [[New Zealand]]]]
On the settled islands some Polynesian groups became distinct from one another. A significant example being the [[Māori people|Maori]] of New Zealand. Other island systems kept in contact with each other, such as [[Hawaii (island)|Hawaii]] and the [[Society Islands]]. Ecologically, Polynesians had the challenge of sustaining themselves within limited environments. Some settlements caused mass extinctions of some native plant and animal species over time by hunting species such as the [[Moa]] and introducing the [[Polynesian Rat]].<ref name=":5" /> Easter Island settlers engaged in complete ecological destruction of their habtiat and their population crashed afterwards possibly due to the construction of the [[Moai|Easter Island Statues]].<ref name=terry_hunt>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1511/2006.61.1002| title = Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island| journal = American Scientist| volume = 94| issue = 5| page = 412| year = 2006| last1 = Hunt | first1 = T. }}</ref><ref>West, Barbara A. (2008) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412174820/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=&dq&hl=en |date=2016-04-12 }}''. Infobase Publishing. p. 684. {{ISBN|0-8160-7109-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Holdaway |first=R.N. |last2=Jacomb |first2=C. |year=2000 |title=Rapid Extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, Test, and Implications |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5461 |pages=2250–2254 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5461.2250 |pmid=10731144 |bibcode=2000Sci...287.2250H}}</ref> Other colonizing groups adapted to accommodate to the ecology of specific islands such as the [[Moriori]] of the [[Chatham Islands]].

Europeans on their voyages visited many Pacific Islands in the 16th and 17th century, but most areas of Oceania were not colonized until after the [[First voyage of James Cook|voyages]] of British explorer [[James Cook]] in the 1780s.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=236}}

==End of the period==
{{Main|Early modern period}}
[[File:Genoese world map 1457. LOC 97690053.jpg|left|thumb|300px|[[Genoese map|Genoese world map]], 1457 it suggests the possibility of sea travel to India from Western Europe though this had not yet been done at the time.]]

As the postclassical era drew to a close in the 15th century, many of the empires established throughout the period were in decline.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}} The [[Byzantine Empire]] would soon be overshadowed in the Mediterranean by Italian city states such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] and the [[Ottoman Turks]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=113}}</ref> The Byzantines faced repeated attacks from eastern and western powers during the [[Fourth Crusade]], and declined further until the loss of [[Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1453.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|pp=138–139}}

The largest change came in terms of trade and technology. The global significance of the fall of the Byzantines was the disruption of overland routes between Asia and Europe.<ref>{{Citation|last=Times Books (Firm), cartographer.|title=Harper Collins atlas of world history|isbn=9780723010258|oclc=41347894|page=144}}</ref> Traditional dominance of [[Nomad]]ism in Eurasia declined and the [[Pax Mongolica|Pax Mongolia]] which had allowed for interactions between different civilizations was no longer available. [[Western Asia]] and [[South Asia]] were conquered by [[gunpowder empires]] which successfully utilized advances in military technology but closed the [[Silk Road]].<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Madeline C.|last=Zilfi|year=1997|title=Halil Inalcik and Donald Quataert, editors. ''An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914''. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1994. pp. xxxi, 1026 |journal=The American Historical Review|language=en|volume=102|issue=2|pages=488–489|doi=10.1086/ahr/102.2.488|issn=1937-5239}}</ref>
[[File:THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ITALY, PROBABLY VENICE, LATE 15THEARLY 16TH CENTURY. Private coll..jpg|thumb|The fall of Constantinople brought the last remnants of the [[Roman Empire|Classical Roman Empire]] to an end. |alt=|200x200px]]

Europeans – specifically the [[Kingdom of Portugal]] and various Italian explorers – intended to replace land travel with sea travel.<ref name=":11" /> Originally European exploration merely looked for new routes to reach known destinations.<ref name=":11">[[Post-classical history#DeLamar 1992|DeLamar 1992]]</ref> Portuguese Explorer [[Vasco da Gama|Vasco De Gama]] traveled to India by sea in 1498 by circumnavigating Africa around the [[Cape of Good Hope]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Northrup|first=David|date=1998|title=Vasco da Gama and Africa: An Era of Mutual Discovery, 1497-1800|journal=Journal of World History|language=en|volume=9|issue=2|pages=189–211|doi=10.1353/jwh.2005.0107|s2cid=144399108|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> India and the coast of Africa were already known to Europeans but none had attempted a large trading mission prior to that time.<ref name=":12" /> Due to navigation advances Portugal would create a [[Portuguese Empire|global colonial empire]] beginning with the conquest of [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]] in modern-day [[Malaysia]] from 1511.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=158}}

Other Explorers such as the Spanish sponsored Italian [[Christopher Columbus]] intended to engage in trade by traveling on unfamiliar routes west from Europe. The subsequent [[European discovery of the Americas]] in 1492 resulted in the [[Columbian Exchange|Colombian exchange]] and the world's first pan-oceanic [[globalization]].{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}} Spanish Explorer [[Ferdinand Magellan]] performed the [[Magellan's circumnavigation|first known circumnavigation]] of Earth in 1521.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=}} The transfer of goods and diseases across [[ocean]]s was unprecedented in creating a more connected world.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=159}} From developments in navigation and trade [[modern history]] began.{{sfn|Barraclough|2003|p=155}}

== See also ==
* [[Age of Empires II]] – A [[PC game|personal computer game]] using Post-classical history as its setting.
* [[Ancient history]] – covers all human history/prehistory preceding the Postclassical Era.
* [[Classical antiquity]] – centered in the [[Mediterranean Basin]], the interlocking civilizations of [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]]
* [[Early modern period]] – succeeding global time period.
* [[Economic history of the world]]
* [[History of cartography]] – Covers history of cartography and includes images of maps from Post-classical times.
* [[History by period]]
* [[Late Antiquity]] (aka: [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]) – mainland Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, transition from Classical Antiquity to the [[Middle Ages]].
* [[List of largest cities throughout history]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|title=HarperCollins atlas of world history|date=2003|last=Barraclough|first=Geoffrey|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Borders Press in association with HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-681-50288-8|oclc=56350180}}
* {{citation|title=World History Cultures, States and Society to 1500|last1=Berger|first1=Eugene|last2=Israel|first2=George|last3=Miller|first3=Charlotte|last4=Parkinson|first4=Brian|last5=Reeves|first5=Andrew|last6=Williams|first6=Nadejda|publisher=University of North Georgia, Press|isbn=978-1-940771-10-6|oclc=961216293|location=Dahlonega, GA|date=2016-09-30}}
* {{citation|last=Birken|first=Lawrence|title=What is Western Civilization?|journal=The History Teacher|year=1992|doi=10.2307/494353|jstor=494353|volume=25|issue=4|pages=451–461|s2cid=141243435|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|access-date=2020-01-24|archive-date=2021-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401110243/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/What-Is-Western-Civilization-Birken/4f7ef5e6c27a698dddaa75eeb812aabcb7e53406|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Bowman|first=John S.|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|year=2000|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C}}
* {{citation|last=Christian|first=David|title=Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History|journal=Journal of World History|year=2000|volume=11|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.1353/jwh.2000.0004|jstor=20078816|s2cid=18008906}}
* {{citation|last=Masood |first=Ehsan |title=Science and Islam: A History |author-link=Ehsan Masood |publisher=Icon Books |year=2009 | isbn=978-1-785-78202-2 }}
* {{citation|last1=Stearns|first1=Peter N.|author-link1=Peter Stearns|last2=Adas|first2=Michael|author-link2=Michael Adas|last3=Schwartz|first3=Stuart B.|author-link3=Stuart B. Schwartz|last4=Gilbert|first4=Marc Jason|title=World Civilizations: The Global Experience|year=2011|publisher=[[Longman]]|location=Upper Saddle River, NJ|isbn=978-0-13-136020-4|edition=6th}}
* {{citation|last1=Thompson|first1=John M.|last2=O'Toole|first2=Dan|last3=Patrick|first3=Bethanne|last4=Pruneski|first4=Lauren|last5=Thompson|first5=Tiffin|title=The Medieval World: An Illustrated Atlas|year=2009|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1-4262-0533-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVud2lVvm_AC&q=The+Medieval+World+John+M.+Thompson}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Bauer|first=Susan Wise|title=The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade}}
* {{citation|last=Butt|first=John J.|title=Daily Life in the Age of Charlemagne|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31668-5|edition=Illustrated}}
* {{citation|last=Fortescue|first=Adrian|title=The Eastern Schism|encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia|volume=13|year=1912|publisher=Robert Appleton Company|location=New York City|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|access-date=2013-05-24|archive-date=2013-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529105320/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13535a.htm|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Esposito|first=John L.|title=The Oxford History of Islam|year=1999|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-19-510799-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imw_KFD5bsQC&q=Abbasid+History&pg=PR7|edition=Illustrated|author-link=John Esposito}}
* {{citation|last=Guzman|first=Gregory|title=Christian Europe and Mongol Asia: First Medieval Intercultural Contact Between East and West|journal=Essays in Medieval Studies|year=1985|volume=2|url=http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|access-date=2013-07-21|archive-date=2012-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413044909/http://www.illinoismedieval.org/EMS/EMSpdf/V2/V2Guzman.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last=Hourani|first=Albert|title=A History of the Arab Peoples|year=2013|publisher=[[Faber and Faber]]|isbn=978-0-571-30249-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|edition=Updated|author-link=Albert Hourani|access-date=2015-10-25|archive-date=2020-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209104042/https://books.google.com/books?id=irtb55WDsjMC|url-status=live}}
* {{citation|last1=Nawwab|first1=Ismail I.|title=Saudi Aramco and Its World: Arabia and the Middle East|chapter-url=http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|publisher=Arabian American Oil Company|edition=1st|year=1980|chapter=Islam and Islamic History|last2=Speers|first2=Peter C.|last3=Hoye|first3=Paul F.|access-date=2013-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528115344/http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/heritage/History_of_Islam_in_the_Middle_East.pdf|archive-date=2011-05-28|url-status=dead}}
* {{citation|last=Procopius|title=History of the Wars|volume=1|year=1914|publisher=Loeb Classical Library|location=London}}
* {{citation|last=Stearns|first=Peter N.|year=2007|title=A Brief History of the World|publisher=[[The Teaching Company]]|author-link=Peter Stearns}}
* {{citation|last=Wawro|first=Geoffrey|title=Historical Atlas: A Comprehensive History of the World|year=2008|publisher=Millennium House|location=Elanora Heights, NSW, Australia|isbn=978-1-921209-23-9|author-link=Geoffrey Wawro}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/pastoral/pastoral.htm Asia for Educators] The Mongols' effects on world history
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml BBC's World Service] Historical summaries of African societies
* [http://www.freeman-pedia.com/early-modern-600-ce-to-1450-ce/ Freemanpedia] A graphical representation of the Post-classical era.
* [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/ Silk Road Seattle] A rich selection of primary sources on the Silk Road and interactions between different cultures in Post-classical times.

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=[[History by period]]|before=[[Ancient history]]|after=[[Early modern period]]|years=5th Century – 15th Century}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Fields of history]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]
[[Category:Civilizations]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]
[[Category:World history]]

Wari Empire

2021-10-08T06:26:06Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Short description|Former country}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name = Wari Empire
|common_name = Wari Empire Wari phenomenon
|era = Middle Horizon
|government_type =
|year_start = 6th century
|year_end = 11th century
|event_pre =
|p1 = Wari culture
|flag_p1 = Map of Wari in Peru.svg
|p2 = Tiwanaku Empire
|flag_p2 = Mapa de expansión de Wari y Tiwanaku (Estados Pre-Incas).jpg
|s1 = Kingdom of Cusco
|flag_s1 = Kigdomofcuscomap.JPG
|s2 = Chimor
|flag_s2 = Mapa Chimor.svg
|s3 = Aymara kingdoms
|flag_s3 = Banner_of_the_Qulla_Suyu.svg
|image_map = Map_of_Wari_and_Tiawaku.svg
|image_map_caption = Expansion and area of cultural influence.
|image_map_size = 250px
|capital = [[Huari (archaeological site)|Huari]]
|common_languages = [[Aymara language|Aymara]]?, others.
|religion = Staff God
|today=[[Peru]]
}}
The '''Wari Empire''' or '''Huari Empire''' was a political formation that emerged around 600 AD in the central highlands of Peru and lasted for about 500 years, to 1100 AD. It operated about the same time as the [[Tiwanaku empire|Tiwanaku]] culture and at one time was thought to have been derived from it. In 2008 [[archeologists]] found a [[prehistoric]] city, the [[Northern Wari ruins]], also called [[Cerro Pátapo]], near modern [[Chiclayo]]. The find was the first to show an extensive settlement related to the Wari culture that far north and demonstrate that they had a long span of influence.<ref name="'Ancient city unearthed' in Peru ">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7787053.stm|title='Ancient city unearthed' in Peru |date=17 December 2008|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref><ref name="Archeologists in Peru unearth ancient Wari city">{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKTRE4BF7NY20081216|title=Archeologists in Peru unearth ancient Wari city|date=16 December 2008|publisher=Reuters|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref>

==Debate on "empire" label==
Some scholars in the field debate whether the Wari communities can be termed an "empire". For instance, the [[archaeologist]] [[Ruth Shady]] has suggested the society could better be considered a loose economic network of Wari centres.

Scholars who contend the society did constitute an empire include William Isbell, Katherine Schreiber and Luis Lumbreras. They note its construction of an extensive network of roadways linking provincial cities, as well as the construction of complex, characteristic architecture in its major centres, some of which were quite extensive. Leaders had to plan projects and organize large amounts of labor to accomplish such projects.<ref name=jrank>[http://www.jrank.org/history/pages/6602/Wari-Empire.html Katharine Schreiber, "Wari Empire - Excavations at Wari, Ayachucho, Peru"], JRank, accessed 3 Nov 2010</ref><ref name="Bergh2012">{{cite book|author=Susan E. Bergh|title=Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lKcuAAACAAJ|access-date=31 August 2013|year=2012|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51656-0}}</ref>

The discovery in early 2013 of an undisturbed, imperial royal tomb, [[El Castillo de Huarmey]], provides evidence of the material wealth and political power exercised by the Wari for centuries. The discovery of three royal women's bodies and their burial wealth plus the accompanying sixty bodies demonstrates a culture with the material wealth, political power, and administrative apparatus to provide extended veneration of the royal dead.<ref name="urlNG First Unlooted Royal Tomb in Peru">{{cite web
|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130627-peru-archaeology-wari-south-america-human-sacrifice-royal-ancient-world
|title=First Unlooted Royal Tomb of Its Kind Unearthed in Peru
|access-date=2013-06-30
}}</ref>

==Political relations==
The Wari Empire was a second-generation state of the Andean region; both it and Tiwanaku had been preceded by the first-generation [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] state. When expanding to engulf new polities, the Wari Empire practiced a policy of allowing the local leaders of the newly acquired territory to retain control of their area if they agreed to join the Wari empire and obey the Wari. The Wari required mit'a labor (non-reciprocal public labor for the state) of its subjects as a form of tribute. Mit'a laborers were involved in the construction of buildings at the Wari capital and in the provinces.

The political relationship between the Wari and [[Tiwanaku]] has been compared by archaeologist [[Joyce Marcus]] to that of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War: the two empires did not go to war with one another for fear of mutual destruction. The two empires met at [[Moquegua]], where the Wari and Tiwanaku populations co-existed without conflicts.

==Administration==
While the Wari likely had significant organizational and administrative power, it remains unclear what the origins of its political and artistic forms were. Emerging evidence suggests that rather than being the result of [[Tiwanaku]] traits diffusing north, the Wari and Tiwanaku ideological formations may be traceable to previous developments at [[Pukara, Puno#Pukara culture|Pukara]], an Early Intermediate Period culture to the north of [[Lake Titicaca]]. The polity seems to have survived until ca. AD 1100, when it collapsed, likely as a result of both environmental change and internal socio-political stresses.

==See also==
*[[Wari culture]]
*[[Tiwanaku empire]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box}}
* Wendell C. Bennett, ''Excavations at Wari, Ayachucho, Peru'' (1953).
* Gordon F. McEwan, ''The Middle Horizon in the Valley of Cuzco, Peru: The Impact of the Wari Occupation of the Lucre Basin'' (1987).
* William H. Isbell and Gordon F. McEwan, eds., ''Huari Administrative Structure: Prehistoric Monumental Architecture and State Government'' (1991).
* Katharina J. Schreiber, ''Wari Imperialism in Middle Horizon Peru'' (1992).
* Justin Jennings and Nathan Craig (2001). Politywide Analysis and Imperial Political Economy: The Relationship between Valley Political Complexity and Administrative Centers in the Wari Empire of the Central Andes. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

[[Category:Andean civilizations]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of South America]]
[[Category:Wari culture]]
[[Category:Former empires in the Americas]]
[[Category:Former countries]]

Elbe Germanic

2021-10-03T15:04:41Z

Huhsunqu: /* Theory */

{{about|the theoretical Germanic protolanguage|the Germanic tribes described by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Tacitus]]|Irminones}}
{{short description|Theoretical Germanic protolanguage}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Elbe Germanic
| altname = Irminonic
| ethnicity = [[Irminones]]
| extinct = Developed into [[High German]] dialects
| familycolor = Indo-European
| fam2 = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3 = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
| map = Germanic dialects ca. AD 1.png
| mapcaption = One proposed theory for approximate distribution of the primary [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] dialect groups in Europe around 1-100 CE:
{{legend|Blue|[[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]]}}
{{legend|Red|[[North Sea Germanic]] (Ingvaeonic)}}
{{legend|Orange|[[Weser-Rhine Germanic]], (Istvaeonic)}}
{{legend|Yellow|Elbe Germanic (Irminonic)}}
{{legend|Green|[[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] †}}
}}

'''[[Elbe]] Germanic''', also called '''Irminonic''', is a term introduced by the German linguist [[Friedrich Maurer (linguist)|Friedrich Maurer]] (1898–1984) in his book, ''Nordgermanen und Alemanen'', to describe the unattested [[proto-language]], or dialectal grouping, ancestral to the later [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]], [[Lombardic language|Lombardic]], [[Thuringian dialect|Thuringian]] and [[Bavarian language|Bavarian]] dialects. During [[Late antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]], its supposed descendants had a profound influence on the neighboring [[West Central German]] dialects and, later, in the form of [[Standard German]], on the [[German language]] as a whole.<ref>[[Friedrich Maurer (linguist)|Friedrich Maurer]] (1942) ''Nordgermanen und Alemannen: Studien zur germanische und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde'', Strasbourg: Hünenburg.</ref>

== Nomenclature ==
The term ''Irminonic'' is derived from the '''[[Irminones]]''', a culturo-linguistic grouping of Germanic tribes that was mentioned by [[Tacitus]] in his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]''.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0083:chapter=2&highlight=suevi Tac. Ger. 2]</ref><nowiki> </nowiki>[[Pliny the Elder]] further specified its meaning by claiming that the Irminones lived "in the interior", meaning not close to the [[Rhine]] or [[North Sea]].<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=4:chapter=28&highlight= Plin. Nat. 4.28]</ref> Maurer used Pliny to refer to the dialects spoken by the [[Suevi]], [[Bavarii]], [[Alemanni]] and [[Lombards]] around the [[Hercynian Forest]] and the [[North European Plain|Northeastern German plain]].<ref>Friedrich Maurer (1942) Nordgermanen und Alemannen: Studien zur germanische und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde, Strasbourg: Hünenburg.</ref>

== Theory ==
{{Main|Friedrich Maurer (linguist)}}
Mauer asserted that the cladistic [[tree model]], which was used ubiquitously in linguistics in the 19th and the early 20th centuries, was too inaccurate to describe the relation between the modern Germanic languages, especially those belonging to its Western branch. Rather than depicting [[Old English]], [[Old Dutch]], [[Old Saxon]], [[Old Frisian]] and [[Old High German]] to have simply 'branched off' a single common 'Proto-West Germanic', which many previous linguists equated to "Old German / Urdeutsch", he assumed that there had been much more distance between certain dialectal groupings and proto-languages.<ref>Johannes Hoops, Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich, [[Heiko Steuer]]: Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde: Band 7; Walter de Gruyter, 1989, {{ISBN|9783110114454}} (pp 113–114).</ref>
[[Image:Einteilung der Germanen nach Maurer.de.svg|thumb|center|500px|Maurer's classification of Germanic dialects]]

== Daughter languages ==
Elbe Germanic is considered to be the predecessor of [[German language|German]] and all of the High German dialects, [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]], [[Bavarian language|Bavarian]], [[Central German]], and [[Langobardic]].<ref name="Fulk2018">{{cite book|author=R.D. Fulk|title=A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO1oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|date=15 September 2018|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=978-90-272-6313-1|pages=17–}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Germanic culture}}
*[[North Sea Germanic]]
*[[Rhine-Weser Germanic]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Grimm, Jacob (1835). ''Deutsche Mythologie'' (German Mythology); From English released version ''Grimm's Teutonic Mythology'' (1888); Available online by Northvegr © 2004–2007:[http://www.northvegr.org/secondary%20sources/mythology/grimms%20teutonic%20mythology/01501.html Chapter 15, page 2]-; [http://www.northvegr.org/secondary%20sources/mythology/grimms%20teutonic%20mythology/01503.html 3]. File retrieved 11-18-2015.
* Tacitus, ''[[wikisource:Germania|Germania]]'' (1st century AD). (in Latin)
* [[Friedrich Maurer (linguist)|Friedrich Maurer]] (1942) ''Nordgermanen und Alemannen: Studien zur germanische und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde'', Strasbourg: Hünenburg.
* {{cite book |first=Edward |last=James |author-link=Edward James (historian) |title=The Franks |series=The Peoples of Europe |location=Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Basil Blackwell |year=1988 |isbn=0-631-17936-4 }}
* {{cite book |author=Gregory of Tours |author-link=Gregory of Tours |translator=Ernst Brehaut |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Halsall |year=1997 |orig-year=1916 |title=History of the Franks: Books I–X (Extended Selections) |work=Medieval Sourcebook |publisher=Columbia University Press; Fordham University |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html }}

{{Maurer}}
{{Germanic languages}}

[[Category:Pre-Roman Iron Age]]
[[Category:Suebi]]
[[Category:Germanic languages]]
[[Category:West Germanic languages]]

Post-war Britain (1945–1979)

2021-02-23T03:27:36Z

Huhsunqu: /* James Callaghan (1976–79) */

{{use British English|date=December 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox historical era|name=Postwar Britain|start=[[Victory in Europe Day|8 May 1945]]|end=[[1979 United Kingdom general election|3 May 1979]]|image=Winston Churchill waves to crowds in Whitehall in London as they celebrate VE Day, 8 May 1945. H41849.jpg|alt=|caption=[[Winston Churchill]] waves to crowds on Whitehall on [[Victory in Europe Day|VE Day, 8 May 1945]], after broadcasting to the nation that the war against Germany had been won. [[Ernest Bevin]] stands to his right.|before=[[Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II|Second World War]]|including=|after=[[Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)| Modern era]]|monarch={{Plainlist|
* [[George VI]]
* [[Elizabeth II]]}}|leaders={{Plainlist|
* [[Winston Churchill|Sir Winston Churchill]]
* [[Clement Attlee]]
* [[Anthony Eden|Sir Anthony Eden]]
* [[Harold Macmillan]]
* [[Alec Douglas-Home|Sir Alec Douglas-Home]]
* [[Harold Wilson]]
* [[Edward Heath]]
* [[James Callaghan]]
}}|year_start=[[Victory in Europe Day|8 May 1945]]|year_end=[[1979 United Kingdom general election|3 May 1979]]}}{{About|British political history from 1945 to 1979|a societal overview|Social history of Postwar Britain (1945–1979)}}{{History of the United Kingdom}}{{Periods in English History}}When Britain emerged victorious from the Second World War, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] under [[Clement Attlee]] came to power and created a comprehensive [[welfare state]], with the establishment of the [[National Health Service]] giving free healthcare to all British citizens, and other reforms to benefits. The [[Bank of England]], railways, heavy industry, and coal mining were all [[Nationalization|nationalised]]. The most controversial issue was nationalisation of steel, which was profitable unlike the others. Economic recovery was slow, housing was in short supply, bread was rationed along with many necessities in short supply. It was an "age of austerity". American loans and [[Marshall Plan]] grants kept the economy afloat. [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Myanmar|Burma]] and [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]] gained independence. Britain was a strong anti-Soviet factor in the [[Cold War]] and helped found [[NATO]] in 1949. Many historians describe this era as the "[[post-war consensus]]" emphasizing how both the Labour and Conservative parties until the 1970s tolerated or encouraged [[nationalisation]], strong [[trade union]]s, heavy [[regulation]], high taxes, and a generous [[welfare state]].<ref>David Dutton, ''British Politics Since 1945: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Consensus'' (2nd ed. Blackwell, 1997).</ref>

The Labour Party introduced charges for NHS dental services and glasses in 1951.<ref>{{cite web|last=Assinder|first=Nick|date=1 July 1998|title=Special report Handle with care|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/nhs_at_50/special_report/121091.stm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902234226/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/nhs_at_50/special_report/121091.stm|archive-date=2017-09-02|access-date=1 February 2018|work=[[BBC Online]]}}</ref><ref>Kenneth O. Morgan, 'Aneurin Bevan' in Kevin Jeffreys (ed.), ''Labour Forces: From Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown'' (I.B. Tauris: London & New York, 2002), pp. 91–92.</ref> The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] returned to power in 1951, accepting most of Labour's postwar reforms, but introduced prescription charges to the NHS in 1952 and denationalized steel in 1953. They presided over 13 years of economic recovery and stability. However the [[Suez Crisis]] of 1956 demonstrated Britain was no longer a [[superpower]]. [[Ghana]], [[British Malaya|Malaya]], [[Nigeria]] and [[Kenya]] were granted independence during this period. Labour returned to power under [[Harold Wilson]] in 1964 and oversaw a series of social reforms including the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and abortion, the relaxing of divorce laws and the end of capital punishment. [[Edward Heath]] returned the Conservatives to power from 1970 to 1974, and oversaw the decimalisation of British currency, the accession of Britain to the [[European Economic Community]], and the height of [[the Troubles]] in [[Northern Ireland]]. In the wake of the [[1973 oil crisis]] and a miner's strike, Heath introduced the three-day working week to conserve power.

Labour made a return to power in 1974 but a series of strikes carried out by trade unions over the winter of 1978/79 (known as the [[Winter of Discontent]]) paralysed the country and as Labour lost its majority in parliament. The general election in 1979 took Conservative [[Margaret Thatcher]] to power effectively ending the post war state interventionist consensus of prior decades despite initial intense Labour opposition.

== Labour Government, 1945–51 ==
{{Further|Attlee ministry}}After the [[Second World War]], the landslide [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 election]] returned the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] to power and [[Clement Attlee]] became Prime Minister of the [[United Kingdom]].{{sfn|Butler|1989|p=5}} The party quickly nationalised critical sectors of the economy, especially declining industries. The [[Bank of England]] was [[Nationalisation|nationalised]] along with railways (see [[Transport Act 1947]]), coal mining, public utilities and heavy industry. The most controversial case was the takeover of the highly profitable{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} iron and steel industry, which was opposed and finally reversed by the Conservatives.<ref>Kenneth O. Morgan, ''Labour in Power, 1945–1951'' (Oxford UP, 1985) pp. 94 – 141.</ref>

=== Welfare state ===
{{See also|History of the National Health Service}}A comprehensive [[welfare state]] was created with the [[National Insurance Act 1946]], in which people in work paid a flat rate of [[national insurance]]. In return, they (and the wives of male contributors) were eligible for flat-rate [[Pension|pensions]], sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, and funeral benefit. Various other pieces of legislation provided for child benefit and support for people with no other source of income.<ref>Morgan, ''Labour in Power, 1945–1951'' (1985) pp. 142–87.</ref>
[[File:Attlee_BW_cropped.jpg|thumb|[[Clement Attlee]]]]
In the estimation of historians, and later politicians of the major parties, the most successful and permanent program was the creation of a [[National Health Service (England)|National Health Service]] which started operations in 1947.<ref>Morgan, ''Labour in Power, 1945–1951'' (1985) pp. 152–63.</ref> It entitled all citizens to healthcare, which, funded by taxation, was free at the point of delivery. The opposition from physicians was bought off by allowing them to keep lucrative private practices on the side. All hospitals were nationalized and brought into the system. John Carrier and Ian Kendall find that the mission for Minister of Health [[Aneurin Bevan]] was resolving "The potential conflict between the aim of providing a universalist, comprehensive health service of a good standard and that of containing health costs to a reasonable level, and how to finance the system in such a way that certainty and sufficiency of funds could be guaranteed."<ref>{{cite book|author=John Carrier and Ian Kendall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9CPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|title=Health and the National Health Service|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2015|isbn=9781135310950|page=61|access-date=2017-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215101600/https://books.google.com/books?id=o9CPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|archive-date=2017-02-15|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Michael Foot]] adds that Bevan had to persuade "the most conservative and respected profession in the country to accept and operate the Labour government's most intrinsically socialist proposition."<ref>Michael Foot, ''Aneurin Bevan'' (1975) 2: 105</ref> In the end historians give Bevan the major credit for the success.<ref>Frank Honigsbaum, ''Health, happiness, and security: the creation of the National Health Service'' (1989).</ref>

One of the main achievements of Attlee's government was the maintenance of near full employment. The government maintained most of the wartime controls over the economy, including control over the allocation of materials and manpower, and unemployment rarely rose above 500,000, or 3% of the total workforce. In fact labour ''shortages'' proved to be more of a problem. One area where the government was not quite as successful was in housing, which was also the responsibility of Aneurin Bevan. The government had a target to build 400,000 new houses a year to replace those which had been destroyed in the war, but shortages of materials and manpower meant that less than half this number were built.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

=== Foreign affairs ===
Despite the heavy American grants of [[Lend Lease]] food oil and munitions (which did not have to be repaid) plus American loans, and a grant of money and loans from Canada at the end of the war Britain was on the verge of bankruptcy. [[John Maynard Keynes]] argued the only solution was to drastically cut back the spending on the British Empire, which amounted to £2,000 million.<ref>Robert Skidelsky, '' John Maynard Keynes, Vol. 3: Fighting for Freedom, 1937–1946'' (2001) pp 403–58.</ref> The postwar overseas deficit was £1,400 million, warned Keynes. and, "it is this expenditure which is wholly responsible for either financial difficulties." Both Churchill and Attlee ignored his advice and kept spending heavily, in part by borrowing from India.<ref>{{cite book|author=Patrick French|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpNbDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT244|title=Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division|year=2016|isbn=9781101973349|page=244|access-date=2019-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216195145/https://books.google.com/books?id=zpNbDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT244|archive-date=2019-12-16|url-status=live}}</ref> The United States provided a large 50-year loan in 1946, and the sudden grant of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947 sharply cut expenses. Marshall Plan money began flowing in 1948, and by the time it ended in 1951 the financial crisis was over.<ref>John Bew, ''Clement Attlee: The man who made modern Britain (2017) pp 371–85.''</ref> The new Labour government knew the expenses of British involvement across the globe were financially crippling. The postwar military cost £200 million a year, to put 1.3 million men (and a few thousand women) in uniform, keep operational combat fleets Stationed in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean as well as Hong Kong, fund bases across the globe, as well as 120 full RAF squadrons.<ref>Victor Sebestyen, ''1946: The making of the modern world''(2014) pp 72–78.</ref> Britain now shed traditional overseas military roles as fast as possible.<ref>Michael Asteris, "British Overseas Military Commitments 1945–47: Making Painful Choices." ''Contemporary British History'' 27.3 (2013): 348–371. [https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/files/1078217/ASTERIS_2013_cright_CBH_British_Overseas_Military_Commitments_1945_47.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923002031/https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/files/1078217/ASTERIS_2013_cright_CBH_British_Overseas_Military_Commitments_1945_47.pdf|date=2017-09-23}}</ref> American financial aid was available on Washington's terms, as seen in the 1945 loan, the convertibility of sterling crisis of 1947, the devaluation of sterling in 1949, and the rearmament programme in support of the U.S. in the Korean war, 1950–53. On the other hand, he had some success in convincing Washington to take over roles that were too expensive for Britain, including the rebuilding of the European economy, and supporting anti-communist governments in Greece and elsewhere.<ref>Martin H. Folly, "‘The impression is growing...that the United States is hard when dealing with us’: Ernest Bevin and Anglo-American relations at the dawn of the cold war." ''Journal of Transatlantic Studies'' 10.2 (2012): 150–166. [https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/9132/5/Fulltext.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811175704/http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/9132/5/Fulltext.pdf|date=2017-08-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rhiannon Vickers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tWHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|title=Manipulating Hegemony: State Power, Labour and the Marshall Plan in Britain|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|year=2000|isbn=9780333981818|pages=45–47|access-date=2019-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514023528/https://books.google.com/books?id=5tWHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|archive-date=2020-05-14|url-status=live}}</ref> Bevin had the firm support of his party, especially Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]], despite a left-wing opposition. Top American diplomats such as [[Dean Acheson]] trusted Bevin and worked through him.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael F. Hopkins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOMlDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA261|title=Dean Acheson and the Obligations of Power|year=2017|isbn=9781538100028|page=261|access-date=2019-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513193839/https://books.google.com/books?id=rOMlDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA261|archive-date=2020-05-13|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== India ====
For decades the Conservatives were split on India between die-hard imperialists (led by Churchill) and moderate elements who tried to provide limited local control.<ref>Arthur Herman, ''Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age'' (2008) pp 321–25.</ref> Meanwhile, the small Labour minority in Parliament was sympathetic to the Congress movement led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and [[Jawaharial Nehru]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Pearce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9mHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT94|title=Attlee's Labour Governments 1945–51|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|isbn=9781134962396|pages=94–95|access-date=2017-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215182203/https://books.google.com/books?id=U9mHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT94|archive-date=2017-02-15|url-status=live}}</ref> Decolonisation was never a major election issue; Labour was not officially in favour of decolonisation when it was elected in 1945. With violence escalating in India after the war, but with British financial power at a low ebb, large-scale military involvement was impossible. The Viceroy of India warned he needed a further seven army divisions to prevent communal violence if independence negotiations failed. None were available, so political restructuring was accelerated.<ref>Chandler, David ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army'' (1994) p. 331</ref> The Labour government gave independence to India and Pakistan in an unexpectedly quick move in 1947. One recent historian and Conservative party sympathiser [[Andrew Roberts (historian)|Andrew Roberts]] says the independence of India was a "national humiliation" but it was necessitated by urgent financial, administrative, strategic and political needs.<ref>Andrew Roberts, ''Eminent Churchillians'' (1994) p 78.</ref> Whereas Churchill in 1940–45 had tightened the hold on India and imprisoned the Congress leadership, Labour had looked forward to making it a fully independent dominion like Canada or Australia. Many of the Congress leaders in India had studied in England, and were highly regarded as fellow idealistic socialists by Labour leaders. Attlee was the Labour expert on India and took special charge of decolonization.<ref>Kenneth Harris, ''Attlee'' (1982) pp 362–87.</ref> Attlee found that Churchill's viceroy, [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Field Marshal Wavell]], was too imperialistic, too keen on military solutions (he wanted seven more Army divisions) and too neglectful of Indian political alignments.<ref>Irial Glynn, "‘An Untouchable in the Presence of Brahmins’ Lord Wavell's Disastrous Relationship with Whitehall During His Time as Viceroy to India, 1943–7." ''Modern Asian Studies'' 41#3 (2007): 639–663.</ref> The new Viceroy was [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]], the dashing war hero and a cousin of the King.<ref>R. J. Moore, "Mountbatten, India, and the Commonwealth" ''Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics'' 19.1 (1981): 5–43.</ref> The boundary between the newly created states of Pakistan and India involved the widespread resettlement of millions of Muslims and Hindus (and many Sikhs). Extreme violence ensued when Punjab and Bengal provinces were split. Historian Yasmin Khan estimates that between a half-million and a million men, women and children were killed.<ref>Yasmin Khan, ''The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan'' (Yale UP, 2005) pp 6, 83–103, 211.</ref><ref>Davis Chandler, ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army'' (1994) p. 331</ref> Gandhi himself was assassinated by a Hindu activist in January 1948.<ref>"Gandhi Is Killed By A Hindu; India Shaken, World Mourns; 15 Die In Rioting In Bombay Three Shots Fired" [https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0130.html ''New York Times'' 30 Jan. 1948] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207115225/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0130.html|date=2017-02-07}}</ref> Popular and elite opinion in Britain at the time did not view Indian independence as a humiliation but as a successful completion of a process long underway, and strongly supported by Labour and indeed most of the conservative party as well. A major reason that Churchill was in the wilderness during the 1930s was his refusal to support the Conservative position in favor of independence for India. Independence strengthened the Commonwealth, and had a valuable impact on the British economy, with large sums transferring back and forth, as well as fresh migrants arriving from India. In sharp contrast, France felt humiliated by its loss of its colonies, especially Algeria and Vietnam. The success in India encouraged and embolden the development programs of ambitious young British colonial officials in Africa and the rest of Asia.<ref>Kenneth O. Morgan, ''The People's Peace: British history 1945 – 1990'' (1992) 44–48.</ref>

In sharp contrast, the British people were disappointed with their humiliation in [[Mandatory Palestine]]. They had managed to alienate both sides. Arabs and Jews had been fighting for years, in nasty conflicts that were still fierce seven decades later. The British decided to get out in 1948 so as not to further alienate their very large clientele in the Arab nations.<ref>Kenneth O. Morgan, ''The People's Peace: British history 1945 – 1990'' (1992) 49=52.</ref><ref>Nicholas E. Roberts, "Re‐Remembering the Mandate: Historiographical Debates and Revisionist History in the Study of British Palestine." ''History Compass'' 9.3 (2011): 215–230. [http://www.academia.edu/download/47387216/Roberts_-_History_Compass_Article.pdf online]</ref>

==== International relations ====
Britain became a founding member of the [[United Nations]] during this time and of [[NATO]] in 1949. Under foreign minister [[Ernest Bevin]], Britain took a strong anti-Soviet position in the emerging [[Cold War]].<ref>Graham Goodlad, "Bevin and Britain's Cold War," History Review (2011), Issue 69, pp 1–6</ref> Cooperation with the United States was good, except in the area of nuclear weapons, where president [[Harry Truman]] [[Quebec Agreement#End of the Quebec Agreement|ended cooperation]]. Britain had to develop its own nuclear arsenal, with [[Operation Hurricane|the first test]] in 1952.<ref>Septimus H. Paul, ''Nuclear Rivals: Anglo-American Atomic Relations, 1941–1952'' (Ohio State Up, 2000).</ref> Mandatory military service continued, as despite the end of WWII, Britain continued to wage numerous small conflicts around the globe: the [[Malayan Emergency]], 1948–1960,<ref>Edgar O'Ballance, ''Malaya: The Communist Insurgent War, 1948–1960'' (Faber, 1966).</ref> in Kenya against the [[Mau Mau Uprising]] (1952–60) and against Egypt in the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]].

==== Finances ====
{{Main|Anglo-American loan}}
International finance was a troublesome issue, as Britain had used up all its reserves and had to borrow large sums from the United States and from the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. provided [[Anglo-American loan|a loan of $3.75 billion (US$57 billion in 2017) at a low 2% interest rate]]; Canada loaned an additional US$1.19 billion (US$16 billion in 2017).<ref>Philip A. Grant Jr., "President Harry S. Truman and the British Loan Act of 1946," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' (1995) 25#3 pp 489–96</ref> Starting in 1948, the United States provided grants of $3.3 billion (about US$33 billion in 2017). These funds came through the [[Marshall Plan]] and did not have to be repaid, however they carried the proviso that Britain modernize the management of its major corporations. The aid permitted Britain to provide consumption at tolerable levels despite the austerity. About 40 per cent of the dollars went for food, drink and tobacco from the U.S. and 40 per cent on raw materials. The remainder went mostly for machinery and oil.<ref>Jim Tomlinson, "Marshall Aid and the ‘Shortage Economy’ in Britain in the 1940s." ''Contemporary European History'' 9#1 (2000): 137–155. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20081735 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203203322/http://www.jstor.org/stable/20081735|date=2017-02-03}}</ref>

By 1950, the [[Korean War]] caused a new heavy drain on the Treasury for military expenses. This caused the bitter split inside the Labour party. The Conservatives made austerity a major issue in the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1950]].<ref>Ina Zweiniger-Barcielowska, "Rationing, austerity and the Conservative Party recovery after 1945." ''Historical Journal'' 37#1 (1994): 173–197.</ref> Labour lost most of its large majority. The swing was 3.6% against it and it lost 78 seats, leaving Attlee with a slim majority in the House.<ref>H. Nicholas, ''The British general election of 1950'' (1951)</ref> However, a year later Labour lost the [[1951 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1951]] despite polling more votes than in the 1945 election, and indeed more votes than the Conservative Party.<ref>David E. Butler, ''The British General Election of 1951'' (1952).</ref><ref>Robert Crowcroft and Kevin Theakston. "The Fall of the Attlee Government, 1951." in Timothy Heppell and Kevin Theakston, eds., ''How Labour Governments Fall'' (2013) pp. 61–82.</ref>

== Conservative Government, 1951–64 ==

=== Winston Churchill (1951–55) ===
{{Further|Third Churchill ministry|Later life of Winston Churchill}}
[[File:Winston_Churchill_cph.3a49758.jpg|thumb|[[Winston Churchill]]]]
[[File:Elizabeth_and_Philip_1953.jpg|thumb|Newly crowned Queen [[Elizabeth II]] and her husband [[Prince Philip]].]]
[[Winston Churchill]] again became Prime Minister. His third government — after the wartime national government and the short caretaker government of 1945 — would last until his resignation in 1955. During this period he renewed what he called the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States, and engaged himself in the formation of the post-war order.

His domestic priorities followed the [[post-war consensus]] with minor adjustments. However foreign policy crises took centre stage. They were partly the result of the continued decline of British military and imperial prestige and power.

In February 1952, [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]] died and was succeeded by his eldest daughter [[Elizabeth II|Elizabeth]]. Her [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|coronation]] on 2 June 1953 gave the British people a renewed sense of national pride and enthusiasm which had been lowered by the war. Elizabeth II has now been the monarch for {{age in years and days|1952|2|6}}. She celebrated her [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II|diamond jubilee]], marking 60 years since her ascension to the throne, in 2012.

==== Anglo-Iranian Oil Dispute ====
In March 1951, the Iranian parliament (the Majlis) voted to nationalise the [[Anglo-Iranian Oil Company]] (AIOC) and its holdings by passing a bill strongly backed by [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]], who was elected Prime Minister the following April by a large majority of the parliament. The International Court of Justice was called in to settle the dispute, but a 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement, with recognition of nationalisation, was rejected by Mossadegh.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jerome B. Elkind|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZf14eBuK10C&pg=PA44|title=Non-Appearance Before the International Court of Justice: Functional and Comparative Analysis|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff|year=1984|isbn=9024729211|pages=44–45|access-date=2019-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514012159/https://books.google.com/books?id=nZf14eBuK10C&pg=PA44|archive-date=2020-05-14|url-status=live}}</ref> Direct negotiations between the British and the Iranian government ceased, and over the course of 1951, the British ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranian government and explored the possibility of a coup against it. U.S. President Harry S. Truman was reluctant to agree, placing a much higher priority on the Korean War. Churchill's return to power and Eisenhower's presidency brought with them a policy of undermining the Mossadegh government.<ref>Steve Marsh, "Continuity and Change Reinterpreting the Policies of the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations toward Iran, 1950–1954." ''Journal of Cold War Studies'' 7.3 (2005): 79–123.</ref> Both sides floated proposals unacceptable to the other, each side believing that time was on its side. Negotiations broke down, and as the blockade's political and economic costs mounted inside Iran, [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|coup plots]] arose from the army and pro-British factions in the Majlis.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter G. Boyle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGnDQrOC-aEC&pg=PA52|title=The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953–1955|publisher=U North Carolina Press|year=1990|isbn=9780807849514|pages=52–54|access-date=2019-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514025356/https://books.google.com/books?id=bGnDQrOC-aEC&pg=PA52|archive-date=2020-05-14|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== The Mau Mau Rebellion ====
{{main|Mau Mau Uprising}}
In 1951, grievances against the colonial distribution of land came to a head with the Kenya Africa Union demanding greater representation and land reform. When these demands were rejected, more radical elements came forward, launching the Mau Mau rebellion in 1952. On 17 August 1952, a state of emergency was declared, and British troops were flown to [[Kenya]] to deal with the rebellion. As both sides increased the ferocity of their attacks, the country moved to full-scale civil war.

==== Malayan Emergency ====
{{main|Malayan Emergency}}
In [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]], a rebellion against British rule had been in progress since 1948, led by Communists based in the local Chinese community. Once again, Churchill's government inherited a crisis, and once again Churchill chose to use direct military action against those in rebellion while attempting to build an alliance with those who were not. He stepped up the implementation of a "hearts and minds" campaign and approved the creation of fortified villages, a tactic that would become a recurring part of Western military strategy in South-East Asia, especially in the American role in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>Richard Stubbs, ''Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency 1948–1960'' (1989).</ref><ref>Karl Hack, (1999) "'Iron claws on Malaya': the historiography of the Malayan Emergency." ''Journal of Southeast Asian Studies'' 30#1 (1999): 99–125.</ref>

=== Anthony Eden (1955–57) ===
{{Further|Eden ministry}}
[[File:Anthony_Eden_(retouched).jpg|thumb|[[Anthony Eden]]]]

==== Suez crisis ====
{{main|Suez crisis}}
In April 1955, Churchill finally retired, and [[Anthony Eden|Sir Anthony Eden]] succeeded him as Prime Minister. Eden was a very popular figure, as a result of his long wartime service and also his famous good looks and charm. On taking office he immediately called a [[1955 United Kingdom general election|general election]], at which the Conservatives were returned with an increased majority. He left domestic issues to his lieutenants such as [[Rab Butler]], and concentrated largely on foreign policy, forming a close alliance with US President [[Dwight Eisenhower]].<ref>Kevin Ruane, "Anglo-American relations, the cold war and Middle East defence, 1953–1955." ''Journal of Transatlantic Studies'' 4#1 (2006): 1–25.</ref>

On 26 July 1956 [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], President of Egypt, nationalised the [[Suez Canal]] company, in violation of the international agreement he had signed with the UK in 1954. It had been owned and controlled by Britain since 1875 and was seen as essential to national defence and access to the Far East. Eden drawing on his experience in the 1930s, saw Nasser as another [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] who had to be stopped. In November 1956, after months of negotiation and attempts at mediation had failed to dissuade Nasser, Britain and France, in conjunction with Israel, invaded Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal Zone.

Eisenhower had warned Eden not to do it, saying the American people would never approve of a military solution to the crisis.<ref>Jonathan Pearson, ''Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis: Reluctant Gamble'' (Springer, 2002). [http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/jonathan_pearson_sir_anthony_eden_and_the_suez_cbook4you.org_.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516151125/http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/jonathan_pearson_sir_anthony_eden_and_the_suez_cbook4you.org_.pdf|date=2018-05-16}}</ref> He threatened to use financial pressure unless the British withdrew from Egypt. Eden had ignored Britain's financial dependence on the US in the wake of World War II, and was forced to bow to American pressure to withdraw. Eden had poor staff support because the Foreign Office, Commonwealth Relations Office, and Colonial Office had been slow to realize the need for change in Britain's world role. After Suez they started to heed Treasury warnings about the effect of high defence expenditure on the economy, and the slow growth of the British population compared with the United States and the Soviet Union. Historians often use the crisis to mark the end of Britain's status as a superpower, being able to act and control international affairs without assistance or coalition.<ref>G.C. Peden, "Suez and Britain's Decline as a World Power." ''Historical Journal'' 55.4 (2012): 1073–96 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/div-classtitlesuez-and-britainandaposs-decline-as-a-world-powera-hreffns01-ref-typefnadiv/8C2895C3991DA5FA44E67E96BF180287 excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202114456/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/div-classtitlesuez-and-britainandaposs-decline-as-a-world-powera-hreffns01-ref-typefnadiv/8C2895C3991DA5FA44E67E96BF180287|date=2017-02-02}}.</ref>

=== Harold Macmillan (1957–63) ===
{{Further|Conservative government 1957–64}}
[[File:The_National_Archives_UK_-_CO_1069-1-17(cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Harold Macmillan]]]]
Eden resigned in the wake of the Suez Crisis, and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, [[Harold Macmillan]] succeeded him as Prime Minister on 10 January. He brought the economic concerns of the exchequer into the premiership, but his approach to the economy was to seek high employment; whereas his treasury ministers argued that to support the Bretton-Wood's requirement on the pound sterling would require strict control of the money base, and hence a rise in unemployment. Their advice was rejected and in January 1958, all the Treasury ministers resigned. Macmillan brushed aside this incident as 'a little local difficulty'.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bogdanor|first=Vernon|date=1 July 2005|title=Harold Macmillan {{!}} Obituary|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1986/dec/30/obituaries|url-status=live|access-date=28 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406191618/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1986/dec/30/obituaries|archive-date=2018-04-06}}</ref>

Macmillan wanted the new National Incomes Commission to institute controls on income as part of his growth without inflation policy; it failed when the unions boycotted it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jeremy Black|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9mqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA343|title=The Tory World: Deep History and the Tory Theme in British Foreign Policy, 1679–2014|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781317013785|page=343|access-date=2017-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514045124/https://books.google.com/books?id=n9mqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA343|archive-date=2020-05-14|url-status=live}}</ref>

One of Macmillan's more noteworthy actions was the [[Conscription in the United Kingdom#After 1945|end of conscription]]. National Service ended gradually from 1957; in November 1960 the last men entered service. With British youth no longer subject to military service and with postwar rationing and reconstruction ended, the stage was set for the social uprisings of the 1960s to commence.

Macmillan took close control of foreign policy. He worked to narrow the post-Suez rift with the US, where his wartime friendship with [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] was useful, and the two had a pleasant conference in Bermuda as early as March 1957.<ref>Nigel J. Ashton, "Harold Macmillan and the “golden days” of Anglo-American relations revisited, 1957–63." ''Diplomatic History'' 29.4 (2005): 691–723.</ref> The amiable relationship continued with President John F. Kennedy after 1960.<ref>E. Bruce Geelhoed, Anthony O. Edmonds (2003): ''Eisenhower, Macmillan and Allied Unity, 1957–1961.'' Palgrave Macmillan, {{ISBN|978-0-333-64227-6}}. ([http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10239 Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041119/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10239|date=2015-09-24}}</ref> Macmillan also saw the value of a rapprochement with Europe and sought entry to the Common Market. In terms of the Empire, Macmillan continued [[Decolonization#Decolonization after 1945|decolonisation]], his [[Wind of Change speech]] in February 1960 indicating his policy. [[Ghana]] and [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]] were granted independence in 1957, [[Nigeria]] in 1960 and [[Kenya]] in 1963. However, in the Middle East Macmillan ensured Britain remained a force — intervening over [[Iraq]] in 1958 ([[14 July Revolution]]) and 1960 and becoming involved in [[Oman]]. Immigrants from the Commonwealth flocked to England after The British Government posted invitations in the [[British West Indies]], for Workers to come to England to "help the mother Country".

He led the Tories to victory in the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|October 1959 general election]], increasing his party's majority from 67 to 107 seats.

Following the technical failures of a British independent nuclear deterrent with the [[Blue Streak missile|Blue Streak]] and the [[Blue Steel missile|Blue Steel]] projects, Macmillan negotiated the supply of American [[Polaris missile|Polaris missiles]] under the [[Nassau agreement]] in December 1962. Previously he had agreed to base sixty [[Thor missile|Thor missiles]] in Britain under joint control, and since late 1957 the American [[McMahon Act]] had been eased to allow Britain more access to nuclear technology. Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union signed the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty]] in autumn 1963. Britain's application to join the Common Market was vetoed by French President [[Charles de Gaulle]] on 29 January 1963, in due to his fear that 'the end would be a colossal Atlantic Community dependent on America', and personal anger at the Anglo-American nuclear deal.<ref>Peter Mangold, ''Almost Impossible Ally: Harold Macmillan & Charles de Gaulle'' (2006).</ref>

Britain's [[balance of payments]] problems led to the imposition of a seven-month [[wage freeze]] in 1961.<ref name="papers">http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010031337/http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/|date=2010-10-10}}: [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/strained-consensus-labour.htm Cabinet Papers – Strained consensus and Labour] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717042338/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/|date=2017-07-17}}</ref> This caused the government to lose popularity and led to a series of [[by-election]] defeats. He organised [[Conservative Government 1957–64#July 1962 %E2%80%93 October 1963|a major Cabinet change in July 1962]] but he continued to lose support from within his party.

He [[Harold Macmillan#Resignation|resigned on 18 October 1963]] after he had been admitted to hospital for [[prostate]] trouble. He died 23 years later, in 1986.

=== Alec Douglas-Home (1963–64) ===
[[File:Alec_Douglas-Home_(c1963).jpg|thumb|[[Alec Douglas-Home]]]]
Macmillan's successor was the [[Earl of Home]], [[Alec Douglas-Home]]. However, as no prime minister had led from the House of Lords since the [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Marquess of Salisbury]] in 1902, Home chose to become a member of parliament so he could enter the House of Commons. He disclaimed his earldom and, as "Sir Alec Douglas-Home", contested a [[by-election]] in the safe seat of [[Kinross and Western Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Kinross & West Perthshire]]. He won and is the only prime minister to resign the Lords to enter the Commons. His demeanor and appearance remained aristocratic and old-fashioned, however. His understanding of economics was primitive, and he gave his chancellor [[Reginald Maudling]] [[Rein|free rein]] to handle financial affairs. Home's few domestic policies were not well received, but he did abolish retail price maintenance, which allowed consumers to find more bargains on sale. He enjoyed dealing with foreign policy, but there were no major crises or issues to resolve. His Foreign Minister [[Rab Butler]] was not especially energetic. Britain's application to join Europe had already been vetoed by de Gaulle, the Cuban missile crisis had been resolved, and Berlin was again on the back burner. Decolonization issues were largely routine, and the Rhodesia and South African crises lay in the future.<ref>Andrew Holt, ''The Foreign Policy of the Douglas-Home Government: Britain, the United States and the End of Empire'' (Springer, 2014).</ref>

In the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]], the Labour Party was returned to power under [[Harold Wilson]]. Douglas-Home became Leader of the Opposition. In July 1965, [[Edward Heath]] defeated Reginald Maudling and [[Enoch Powell]] to succeed him as Conservative Party leader. Enoch Powell was given the post of Shadow Defence Secretary and became a figure of national prominence when he made the controversial [[Rivers of Blood speech]] in 1968, warning on the dangers of mass [[Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922|immigration from Commonwealth nations]]. It is possible that the Conservatives' success in the 1970 general election was a result of the large public following Powell attained, even as he was sacked from the shadow cabinet.

=== "Thirteen Wasted Years!" ===
"Thirteen Wasted Years!" was a popular slogan attacking the Conservative record 1951–1964. Criticism came primarily from Labour. In addition there were attacks by the right wing of the Conservative Party itself for its tolerance of socialist policies. The critics contend that Britain was overtaken by its economic competitors, and was unable to prevent a troublesome wage-price upward spiral. Historian Graham Goodlad calls for taking a longer perspective. He argues that there were significant advances in transport, healthcare, and higher education. It is unrealistic to expect that Britain could have continued as a world power after the huge expense of the Second World War, and the independence of India and other colonies. Goodlad says the Conservative foreign-policy leadership properly adjusted Britain's world role by building an independent nuclear capacity and maintaining a leading role in world affairs, and anyway successive governments seldom did a better job.<ref>Graham Goodlad, "Thirteen Wasted Years: Do the Conservative governments of 1951–64 deserve this label" ''Modern History Review'' (2001) 13#2 pp 2–5.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Clements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YDMaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT13|title=My Revision Notes: AQA AS/A-level History: The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007|publisher=Hodder Education|year=2017|isbn=9781471876295|page=13|access-date=2019-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514075207/https://books.google.com/books?id=YDMaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT13|archive-date=2020-05-14|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Labour Government, 1964–70 ==
{{Further|First Wilson ministry}}
[[File:Harold_Wilson_(1967).jpg|thumb|[[Harold Wilson]]]]

=== Harold Wilson ===
In 1964, Labour regained the premiership, as [[Harold Wilson]] narrowly won the general election with a majority of five. This was not sufficient to last for a full term and, after a short period of competent government, in March 1966, he won re-election with a landslide majority of 99. As Prime Minister, his opponents accused him of deviousness, especially over the matter of devaluation of the pound in November 1967. Wilson had rejected devaluation for many years, yet in his broadcast had seemed to present it as a triumph.

==== Open University ====
Wilson regarded with special pride setting up the [[Open University]] as a model for Europe. Plans were drafted by Jennie Lee, the Minister for the Arts; she had Wilson's full support. He saw the Open University as a major marker of the Labour Party's commitment to modernisation. He emphasized that it would strengthen a more competitive economy while also fostering greater equality of opportunity and social mobility. He especially favoured heavy use of technology, such as television and radio broadcast of its courses. There were strong doubters and opponents in the government and in commercial broadcasting; Wilson outmaneuvered them to get the budget approved, even though its sums proved far too small.<ref>Pete Dorey, "‘Well, Harold Insists on Having It!’—The Political Struggle to Establish The Open University, 1965–67." ''Contemporary British History'' 29.2 (2015): 241–272.</ref>

==== Vietnam War ====
Overseas, Wilson was troubled by crises in [[Rhodesia]] and [[South Africa]]. The Vietnam War was a delicate issue, as President Lyndon Johnson urgently needed a symbolic British military presence. "Lyndon Johnson is begging me even to send a bagpipe band to Vietnam," Wilson told his Cabinet in December 1964. Labour decided not to antagonize its strong antiwar element and refused Johnson's pleas.<ref>Sylvia A. Ellis, "Promoting solidarity at home and abroad: the goals and tactics of the anti-Vietnam War movement in Britain." ''European Review of History: Revue européenne d’histoire 21.4'' (2014): 557–576.</ref> However, Wilson provided the Americans with intelligence, military weapons, and jungle training, and allowed some 2000 British soldiers to volunteer for service in Vietnam.<ref>Marc Tiley, "Britain, Vietnam and the Special Relationship," ''History Today'' 63#12 (2013) pp 1–4.</ref>

==== Industrial strike ====
{{See also|In Place of Strife}}In addition to the damage done to its reputation by devaluation, Wilson's Government suffered from the perception that its response to industrial relations problems was inadequate. A six-week strike of members of the [[National Union of Seamen]], which began shortly after Wilson' re-election in 1966, did much to reinforce this perception, along with Wilson's own sense of insecurity in office.

== Conservative Government, 1970–74 ==
{{Further|Heath ministry}}
[[File:Heathdod.JPG|thumb|[[Edward Heath]]]]

=== Edward Heath ===
The premiership of his successor, [[Edward Heath|Sir Edward Heath]] was the bloodiest in the history of the [[Northern Ireland]] [[Troubles]]. He was prime minister at the time of [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]] in 1972 when 14 unarmed men were killed by British soldiers during a banned [[civil rights]] march in [[Derry]]. In 2003, he gave evidence to the Saville Inquiry and claimed that he never promoted or agreed to the use of unlawful lethal force in Northern Ireland. In July 1972, he permitted his [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]] [[William Whitelaw]] to hold unofficial talks in London with a [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] delegation by [[Seán Mac Stiofáin]]. In the aftermath of these unsuccessful talks, the Heath government pushed for a peaceful settlement with the democratic political parties. In 1974, the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] was produced but fiercely repudiated by many Unionists and the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] ceased to support the Conservatives at Westminster.

Heath took the United Kingdom into the [[European Communities]], widely known at the time as the "Common Market" (later renamed The European Union) on 1 January 1973 after winning a decisive vote on membership in the House by 336–244, a majority of 112. It was, says biographer John Campbell, "Heath's finest hour."<ref>John Campbell, ''Edward Heath'' (1993) p 404-5.</ref> Meanwhile, on the domestic front, galloping inflation led him into confrontation with some of the most powerful trade unions. Energy shortages related to the [[1973 oil crisis|oil shock]] resulted in much of the country's industry working a [[Three-Day Week]] to conserve power. In an attempt to bolster his government, Heath called an election for 28 February 1974. The result was inconclusive: the Conservative Party received a plurality of votes cast, but the Labour Party gained a plurality of seats due to the [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] MPs refusing to support the Conservatives. Heath began negotiations with leaders of the Liberal Party to form a coalition, but, when these failed, resigned as Prime Minister.

== Labour Government, 1974–79 ==
{{Main|Labour government 1974–79}}

=== Harold Wilson (1974–76) ===
Heath was replaced by Harold Wilson, who returned on 4 March 1974 to form a minority government. Wilson was confirmed in office, with a three-seat majority, in a [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|second election in October of the same year]].<ref>Philip Ziegler, ''Wilson: The Authorised Life'' (1993).</ref> It was a manifesto pledge in the general election of February 1974 for a Labour government to re-negotiate better terms for Britain in the EEC, and then hold a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EEC on the new terms. After the House of Commons voted in favour of retaining the Common Market on the renegotiated terms, a [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|referendum]] was held on 5 June 1975. A majority were in favour of retaining the Common Market.<ref>Roy Pierce, Henry Valen, and Ola Listhaug. "Referendum voting behaviour: The Norwegian and British referenda on membership in the European Community." ''American Journal of Political Science'' (1983): 43–63. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2111052 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005124911/http://www.jstor.org/stable/2111052|date=2016-10-05}}</ref> But Wilson was not able to end the economic crisis. Unemployment remained well in excess of 1,000,000, inflation peaked at 24% in 1975, and the national debt was increasing. The rise of punk rock bands such as the [[Sex Pistols]] and [[The Clash]] were a reflection of the discontent felt by British youth during the difficulties of the late 1970s.

=== James Callaghan (1976–79) ===
[[File:James_Callaghan.JPG|right|thumb|[[James Callaghan]]]]
Wilson announced his surprise resignation on 16 March 1976 and unofficially endorsed his Foreign Secretary [[James Callaghan]] as his successor. His broad popularity in many parts of the Labour movement saw him through [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|three ballots]] of Labour MPs, defeating the arch-Bevanite [[Michael Foot]], the main left-wing candidate. Callaghan was the first Prime Minister to have held all three leading Cabinet positions — Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary — prior to becoming Prime Minister.<ref>[[Kenneth O. Morgan]], ''Callaghan: A Life'' (Oxford UP, 1997).</ref>

Callaghan's support for and from the union movement should not be mistaken for a left wing position. Callaghan continued Wilson's policy of a balanced Cabinet and relied heavily on Michael Foot. Foot was made [[Leader of the House of Commons]] and given the task of steering through the government's legislative programme.

Callaghan's time as Prime Minister was dominated by the troubles in running a Government with a minority in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]; by-election defeats had wiped out Labour's three-seat majority by early 1977. Callaghan was forced to make deals with minor parties in order to survive, including the [[Lib-Lab pact]]. He had been forced to accept referendums on devolution in Scotland and Wales (the first went in favour but did not reach the required majority, and the second went heavily against).

However, by the autumn of 1978 the economy was showing signs of recovery – although unemployment now stood at 1,500,000, economic growth was strong and inflation had fallen below 10%.<ref>biz/ed{{clarify|date=February 2018}}</ref> Most opinion polls were showing Labour ahead and he was expected to call an election before the end of the year. His decision not to has been described as the biggest mistake of his premiership.

Callaghan's way of dealing with the long-term economic difficulties involved pay restraint which had been operating for four years with reasonable success. He gambled that a fifth year would further improve the economy and allow him to be re-elected in 1979, and so attempted to hold pay rises to 5% or less. The Trade Unions rejected continued pay restraint and in a succession of strikes over the winter of 1978/79 (known as the [[Winter of Discontent]]) secured higher pay, although it had virtually paralysed the country, tarnished Britain's political reputation and seen the Conservatives surge ahead in the opinion polls.<ref>John Shepherd, ''Crisis? What Crisis?: The Callaghan Government and the British 'winter of Discontent'. '' (Manchester University Press, 2013).</ref><ref>Colin Hay, "The winter of discontent thirty years on." ''The Political Quarterly'' 80.4 (2009): 545–552.</ref>

He was forced to call an election when the House of Commons passed a [[Motion of No Confidence]] by one vote on 28 March 1979. The Conservatives, with advertising consultants [[Saatchi and Saatchi]], ran a campaign on the slogan "[[Labour Isn't Working|Labour isn't working]]." As expected, [[Margaret Thatcher]] (who had succeeded Edward Heath as Conservative leader in [[1975 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election|February 1975]]) won the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|general election]] held on 3 May, becoming Britain's first female prime minister.

Historian [[Kenneth O. Morgan]] states:
{{quote|The fall of James Callahan in the summer of 1979 meant, according to most commentators across the political spectrum, the end of an ''ancien régime,'' a system of corporatism, Keynesian spending programmes, subsidized welfare, and trade union power.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth O. Morgan|author-link=Kenneth O. Morgan|title=Britain Since 1945: The People's Peace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tKwGaWWKzNAC&pg=PA437|year=2001|page=437|isbn=9780191587993|access-date=2016-11-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128093546/https://books.google.com/books?id=tKwGaWWKzNAC&pg=PA437|archive-date=2020-01-28|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
Historians Alan Sked and Chris Cook have summarised the general consensus of historians regarding Labour in power in the 1970s:

{{quote|If Wilson's record as prime minister was soon felt to have been one of failure, that sense of failure was powerfully reinforced by Callahan's term as premier. Labour, it seemed, was incapable of positive achievements. It was unable to control inflation, unable to control the unions, unable to solve the Irish problem, unable to solve the Rhodesian question, unable to secure its proposals for Welsh and Scottish devolution, unable to reach a popular ''modus vivendi'' with the Common Market, unable even to maintain itself in power until it could go to the country and the date of its own choosing. It was little wonder, therefore, that Mrs. Thatcher resoundingly defeated it in 1979.<ref>Alan Sked and Chris Cook, ''Post-War Britain: A Political History'' (4th ed. 1993) p324.</ref>}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book|author=Barnett, C.|title=The Collapse of British Power|publisher=Pan Books|year=1972|isbn=978-0-330-49181-5|location=London|author-link=Correlli Barnett}}
* Beckett, Andy. ''When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the 1970s'' (2009) 576pp [https://www.amazon.com/When-Lights-Went-Out-Seventies/dp/057122136X/ excerpt and textsearch]
* {{cite book|author=Bernstein, G.|title=The Myth of Decline: The Rise of Britain Since 1945|publisher=Harvill Press|year=2004|isbn=978-1-84413-102-0|location=London}}
* Bew, John. ''Clement Attlee: The Man Who Made Modern Britain'' (2017).
* {{cite book|last=Butler|first=David|url=https://archive.org/details/britishgeneralel0000butl_y9r8|title=British General Elections since 1945|publisher=Blackwell|year=1989|isbn=978-0-631-16053-3|location=London|author-link=David Butler (academic)|url-access=registration}}
* Campbell, John and David Freeman. ''The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, from Grocer's Daughter to Prime Minister'' (2011), 564pp; abridged version of Campbell's two-volume biography
* Carter, Neil. "The party politicisation of the environment in Britain" ''Party Politics, 12#6 (2006), pp. 747–67.''
* {{cite book|author1=Garnett, Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Hc2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT154|title=British Foreign Policy since 1945|author2=Simon Mabon|author3=Robert Smith|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2017|isbn=9781317588993}}
* Haq, Gary and Alistair Paul. ''Environmentalism since 1945'' (2011)
* Harris, Kenneth, ''Attlee'' (1982), scholarly biography
* Harrison, Brian. ''Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom, 1951–1970'' (New Oxford History of England) (2011) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199605130/ excerpt and text search]; [http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199605132.001.0001/acprof-9780199605132-miscMatter-1 online]
** Harrison, Brian. ''Finding a Role?: The United Kingdom 1970–1990'' (New Oxford History of England) (2011) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199606129/ excerpt and text search]; [http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199606122.001.0001/acprof-9780199606122-miscMatter-1 online] major scholarly survey
* Hennessy, Peter. ''Never Again! Britain, 1945–1951'' (1994).
* Hennessy, Peter. ''Having It So Good: Britain in the 1950s'' (2008).
* Leventhal, Fred M., ed. ''Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopedia'' (Peter Lang Pub Inc, 2002); 910pp.
* {{cite book|author=Marr, Andrew|title=A History of Modern Britain|publisher=Macmillan|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4050-0538-8|location=London}}
* Marr, Andrew. ''Elizabethans: How Modern Britain Was Forged'' (2021).
* {{cite book|author=Morgan, Kenneth O.|title=Labour in Power, 1945–1951|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-19-285150-5|location=Oxford}}
* Morgan, Kenneth O. ''Britain since 1945: The People's Peace'' (2001).
* Northedge, F.S. ''Desent From Power British Foreign Policy 1945-1973'' (1974) [[iarchive:in.ernet.dli.2015.117738|online]]
* Panton, Kenneth J. and Keith A. Cowlard, eds. ''Historical Dictionary of the Contemporary United Kingdom'' (2008) 640 pp; biographies of people active 1979–2007
* Richards, David, Martin Smith, and Colin Hay, eds. ''Institutional Crisis in 21st Century Britain'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014)
* Sampson, Anthony. ''Anatomy of Britain'' (1962) [[iarchive:anatomyofbritain00samp|online free]]; first of five versions
* Sampson, Anthony. ''The Essential Anatomy of Britain: Democracy in Crisis'' (1992) [[iarchive:essentialanatomy00samp|online free]]
* Savage Mike. ''Identities and Social Change in Britain since 1940: The Politics of Method'' (Oxford UP, 2010)
* Sims, Paul David. "The Development of Environmental Politics in Inter-War and Post-War Britain" (PhD Dissertation, Queen Mary University of London, 2016) [https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/23653/Sims_P_PhD_final_150816.pdf?sequence=1 online]; Bibliography of secondary sources, PP 312–26.
* {{cite book|author1=Sissons, M.|title=Age of Austerity|author2=French, P.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1963|isbn=978-0-19-281949-9|location=Oxford|pages=255–75}}
* {{cite book|last1=Sked|first1=Alan|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=D1QwAAAAIAAJ}}|title=Post-war Britain: a political history|last2=Cook|first2=Chris|publisher=Harvester Press|year=1979|isbn=978-0-06-496322-0}}
* {{cite book|author=Stephens, P.|title=Politics and the Pound: The Tories, the Economy and Europe|publisher=Macmillan|year=1997|isbn=978-0-333-63297-0|location=London}}
* {{cite book|last=Tomlinson|first=Jim|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Politics_of_Decline.html?id=aHdnAAAAMAAJ|title=The Politics of Decline: Understanding Postwar Britain|publisher=Longman|year=2000|isbn=9780582423688}}
* Turner, Alwyn W. ''Crisis? What Crisis?: Britain in the 1970s'' (2009) 336pp [https://www.amazon.com/Crisis-What-Britain-1970s/dp/1845134257/ excerpt and text search]

=== Historiography ===

* {{cite journal|last1=Black|first1=Lawrence|year=2012|title=An Enlightening Decade? New Histories of 1970s' Britain|journal=International Labor and Working-Class History|volume=82|pages=174–186|doi=10.1017/s0147547912000506}}
* {{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Harriet|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=oEWuCwAAQBAJ}}|title=The Myth of Consensus: New Views on British History, 1945–64|last2=Kandiah|first2=Michael D.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|year=1996|isbn=978-1-349-24942-8}}

* Soffer, Reba. ''History, historians, and conservatism in Britain and America: from the Great War to Thatcher and Reagan.. (Oxford UP, 2009).''

=== Newspapers and primary sources ===

* {{cite web|title=1970s Key Facts|url=http://www.bized.co.uk/dataserv/chron/kf70.htm|access-date=12 December 2010|publisher=Biz/ed}}
* {{cite news|date=11 October 1974|title=BBC On This Day-11 October 1974: Labour Scrapes Working Majority|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/11/newsid_2542000/2542567.stm|access-date=12 December 2010}}
* {{cite book|author=Pimlott, B. (ed.)|url=https://archive.org/details/politicaldiaryof0000dalt|title=The Political Diary of Hugh Dalton, 1918–1940, 1945–1960|publisher=Jonathan Cape|year=1986|isbn=978-0-224-01912-5|location=London|url-access=registration}}
{{United Kingdom topics}}

[[Category:20th century in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Contemporary history by country]]

Fall of Constantinople

2020-07-24T01:53:05Z

Huhsunqu: /* Renaming of the city */

{{short description|1453 capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire}}
{{For|other sieges of the city|List of sieges of Constantinople}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Conquest of Constantinople
| width =
| partof = the [[Byzantine–Ottoman Wars]] and [[Ottoman wars in Europe]]
| image = [[File:Le_siège_de_Constantinople_(1453)_by_Jean_Le_Tavernier_after_1455.jpg|300 px]]
| image_size = 300 px
| alt =
| caption = Siege of Constantinople, by Jean Le Tavernier, after 1455.
| date = 6 April – 29 May 1453 (53 days)
| place = [[Constantinople]] (present-day [[Istanbul]])
| coordinates = {{Coord|41.0167|N|28.9769|E|source:wikidata|display=inline,title}}
| territory = * Ottoman Empire annexes the remaining Byzantine territories; Constantinople becomes its [[Istanbul|new capital]]
* [[Despotate of the Morea|The Morea]] and [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] continue as Byzantine [[rump state]]s, until their conquest in 1460 and [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|1461]] respectively
| result = Decisive Ottoman victory
* Fall of the [[Byzantine Empire]]
| combatant1 = {{plainlist}}
{{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} [[Ottoman Empire]]
{{endplainlist}}
| combatant2 = {{plainlist}}
* {{flagicon image|Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg}} [[Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty|Byzantine Empire]]
* {{flag|Republic of Genoa}}
* {{flag|Republic of Venice}}
* {{flag|Kingdom of Sicily}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Papal States (pre 1808).svg}} [[Papal States]]
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} Ottoman defectors
{{endplainlist}}
| commander1 = {{plainlist}}
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} '''[[Mehmed the Conqueror|Mehmed II]]'''
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} [[Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger|Çandarlı Halil Pasha]]
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} [[Zagan Pasha]]
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} [[Suleiman Baltoghlu]]
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} [[Hamza Bey]]
{{endplainlist}}
| commander2 = {{plainlist}}
* {{flagicon image|Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg}} [[Constantine XI Palaiologos|'''Konstantinos XI Palaiologos''']]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon image|Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg}} [[Loukas Notaras]]{{POW}}
* {{flagicon image|Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century.svg}} [[Theophilos Palaiologos]]{{KIA}}
* {{flagicon|Republic of Genoa}} [[Giovanni Giustiniani Longo]]{{DOW}}
* {{flagicon|Republic of Venice}} [[Gabriele Trevisano]]{{POW}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Papal States (pre 1808).svg}} [[Isidore of Kiev|Cardinal Isidore]]{{POW}}
* [[Jakša]]
* {{flagicon image|Ottoman red flag.svg}} [[Orhan Çelebi]]{{Executed}}
* {{flagicon image|Royal Banner of the Crown of Castile (Early Style)-Variant.svg}} Don Francisco de Toledo {{KIA}}
{{endplainlist}}
| strength1 = Land forces: 50,000–80,000{{NoteTag|"Exaggerated" western estimates ranged between 160,000 and 300,000.}} • 5,000–10,000 [[Janissaries]] 
• 1,500 Serbian cavalry 
• 600 Serbian sappers
• Various cannon and [[Bombard (weapon)|bombards]] • 20 horse transports Naval forces: • 31 [[galley]]s • 75 large row boats
| strength2 = Land forces: 3,000–8,000 • 600 Ottoman defectors<ref name="osmanaras600askeri" /> Naval forces: 26 ships
| casualties1 = unknown but heavy{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}
| casualties2 = • 4,000 soldiers and civilians killed{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} • 30,000 enslaved<ref name="iK51W" />
| map_type =
| map_relief =
| map_size =
| map_marksize =
| map_caption =
| map_label =
}}
{{Campaignbox Byzantine–Ottoman Wars}}

The '''Fall of Constantinople''' ({{lang-grc-x-byzant|Ἅλωσις τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως|translit=Hálōsis tē̂s Kōnstantinoupóleōs}}; {{lang-tr|{{italics correction|İstanbul'un Fethi}}|lit= Conquest of Istanbul}}) was the capture of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire's]] [[Capital city|capital]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Conquest of the city took place on 29 May 1453, the culmination of a 53-day [[siege]] which had begun on 6 April 1453.

The attacking [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman army]], which significantly outnumbered Constantinople's defenders, was commanded by the 21-year-old [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan]] [[Mehmed the Conqueror|Mehmed II]] (later called "the Conqueror"), while the Byzantine army was led by [[List of Byzantine emperors|Emperor]] [[Constantine XI Palaiologos]]. After conquering the city, Mehmed II made Constantinople the new Ottoman capital, replacing [[Adrianople]].

The Fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, and effectively the end of the [[Roman Empire]], a state which dated back to 27 BC and lasted nearly 1,500 years.<ref name="ms97" /> The capture of Constantinople, a city which marked the divide between Europe and [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], also allowed the Ottomans to more effectively [[Ottoman wars in Europe|invade mainland Europe]], eventually leading to Ottoman control of much of the [[Balkans|Balkan peninsula]].

The conquest of Constantinople and the fall of the Byzantine Empire<ref name="ealoipolis" /> was a key event of the [[Late Middle Ages]] and is sometimes considered the end of the [[Middle Ages|Medieval period]].<ref name="GpAG8" /> The city's fall also stood as a turning point in military history. Since ancient times, cities and castles had depended upon [[Rampart (fortification)|ramparts]] and walls to repel invaders. However, Constantinople's substantial fortifications were overcome with the use of [[gunpowder]], specifically in the form of large cannons and [[Bombard (weapon)|bombards]].<ref name="econfallmill" />

==State of the Byzantine Empire==
[[Constantinople]] had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman emperor [[Constantine the Great]]. In the following eleven centuries, the city had been [[List of sieges of Constantinople|besieged many times]] but was captured only once before: the [[Sack of Constantinople]] during the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|304}} The crusaders established an unstable [[Latin Empire|Latin state]] in and around Constantinople while the remainder of the Byzantine empire splintered into a number of successor states, notably [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicaea]], [[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]] and [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]]. They fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne.

The Nicaeans eventually [[Reconquest of Constantinople|reconquered Constantinople]] from the Latins in 1261, reestablishing the Byzantine Empire under the [[Palaiologos dynasty]]. Thereafter, there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, [[Serbs]], [[Bulgaria]]ns and [[Ottoman Turks]].<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{page needed|date=May 2020}}<ref name="O2kxx" /><ref name="ospbyzwar6001453" /><ref name="oxhistbyzmango" />

Between 1346 and 1349 the [[Black Death]] killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople.<ref name="rCeS6" /> The city was further depopulated by the general economic and territorial decline of the empire, and by 1453, it consisted of a series of walled villages separated by vast fields encircled by the fifth-century [[Theodosian Walls]].

By 1450, the empire was exhausted and had shrunk to a few square kilometers outside the city of Constantinople itself, the [[Princes' Islands]] in the [[Sea of Marmara]] and the [[Peloponnese]] with its cultural center at [[Mystras]]. The [[Empire of Trebizond]], an independent [[successor state]] that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, was also present at the time on the coast of the [[Black Sea]].

==Preparations==
When [[Mehmed II]] succeeded his father in 1451, he was just nineteen years old. Many European courts assumed that the young Ottoman ruler would not seriously challenge Christian hegemony in the [[Balkans]] and the Aegean.<ref name="nbpyu" /> This calculation was boosted by Mehmed's friendly overtures to the European envoys at his new court.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|373}} But Mehmed's mild words were not matched by his actions. By early 1452, work began on the construction of a second [[fortress]] (''[[Rumelihisarı|Rumeli hisarı]]'') on the European side of the [[Bosphorus]],<ref name="WDL" /> several miles north of Constantinople. The new fortress sat directly across the strait from the ''[[Anadoluhisarı|Anadolu Hisarı]]'' fortress, built by Mehmed's great-grandfather [[Bayezid I]]. This pair of fortresses ensured complete control of sea traffic on the Bosphorus<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|373}} and defended against attack by the [[Genoa|Genoese]] colonies on the Black Sea coast to the north. In fact, the new fortress was called ''Boğazkesen'', which means "strait-blocker" or "throat-cutter", to emphasize its strategic position. In October 1452, Mehmed ordered [[Turakhan Beg]] to station a large garrison force in the [[Peloponnese]] to block [[Thomas Palaiologos|Thomas]] and [[Demetrios Palaiologos|Demetrios]] ([[despotes]] in Southern Greece) from providing aid to their brother [[Constantine XI Palaiologos]] during the impending siege of Constantinople.{{NoteTag|While Mehmed II had been steadily preparing for the siege of Constantinople, he had sent the old general Turakhan and the latter's two sons, Ahmed Beg and Omar Beg, to invade the [[Morea]] and to remain there all winter also to prevent the despots Thomas and Demetrius from giving aid to Constantine XI.<ref name="setpapacylevant" />{{rp|146}}}} The Greek historian [[Michael Critobulus]] quotes Mehmed II's speech to his soldiers before the siege:<ref name="OBWWf" />{{rp|23}}

{{quote | My friends and men of my empire! You all know very well that our forefathers secured this kingdom that we now hold at the cost of many struggles and very great dangers and that, having passed it along in succession from their fathers, from father to son, they handed it down to me. For some of the oldest of you were sharers in many of the exploits carried through by them—those at least of you who are of maturer years—and the younger of you have heard of these deeds from your fathers. They are not such very ancient events nor of such a sort as to be forgotten through the lapse of time. Still, the eyewitness of those who have seen testifies better than does the hearing of deeds that happened but yesterday or the day before.
}}

===European support===
[[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine Emperor]] [[Constantine XI]] swiftly understood Mehmed's true intentions and turned to [[Western Europe]] for help; but now the price of centuries of war and enmity between the [[Eastern Christianity|eastern]] and [[Western Christianity|western churches]] had to be paid. Since the [[East–West Schism|mutual excommunications]] of 1054, the [[Pope]] in Rome was committed to establishing authority over [[Eastern Orthodox Church|the eastern church]]. The union was agreed by the Byzantine Emperor [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] in 1274, at the [[Second Council of Lyon]], and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the [[Latin Church]]. Emperor [[John VIII Palaiologos]] had also recently negotiated union with [[Pope Eugene IV]], with the [[Council of Florence#Eugene IV's eastern strategy|Council of Florence]] of 1439 proclaiming a ''Bull of Union''. The imperial efforts to impose union were met with strong resistance in Constantinople. A [[Propaganda|propaganda initiative]] was stimulated by anti-unionist [[Greek Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] partisans in Constantinople; the population, as well as the laity and leadership of the Byzantine Church, became bitterly divided. Latent [[ethnic hatred]] between Greeks and Italians, stemming from the events of the [[Massacre of the Latins]] in 1182 by the Greeks and the [[Sack of Constantinople]] in 1204 by the Latins, played a significant role. Ultimately, the attempted union between east and west failed, greatly annoying [[Pope Nicholas V]] and the hierarchy of the Roman church.

[[File:Eastern Mediterranean 1450 .svg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|The Byzantine Empire in the first half of the 15th century. [[Thessaloniki]] was captured by the Ottomans in 1430. A few islands in the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] and the [[Propontis]] remained under Byzantine rule until 1453 (not shown on the map).]]

In the summer of 1452, when [[Rumelihisarı|Rumelı Hisari]] was completed and the threat of the Ottomans had become imminent, Constantine wrote to the Pope, promising to implement the union, which was declared valid by a half-hearted imperial court on 12 December 1452.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|373}} Although he was eager for an advantage, Pope Nicholas V did not have the influence the Byzantines thought he had over the Western kings and princes, some of whom were wary of increasing papal control. Furthermore, these Western rulers did not have the wherewithal to contribute to the effort, especially in light of the weakened state of France and England from the [[Hundred Years' War]], Spain's involvement in the [[Reconquista]], the internecine fighting in the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and Hungary and Poland's defeat at the [[Battle of Varna]] of 1444. Although some troops did arrive from the mercantile city-states in northern Italy, the Western contribution was not adequate to counterbalance Ottoman strength. Some Western individuals, however, came to help defend the city on their own account. [[Isidore of Kiev|Cardinal Isidore]], funded by the Pope, arrived in 1452 with 200 archers.<ref name="qGd6u" /> An accomplished soldier from [[Genoa]], [[Giovanni Giustiniani]], arrived in January 1453 with 400 men from Genoa and 300 men from Genoese [[Chios]].<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|83–84}} As a specialist in defending walled cities, Giustiniani was immediately given the overall command of the defence of the land walls by the Emperor. Around the same time, the captains of the Venetian ships that happened to be present in the [[Golden Horn]] offered their services to the Emperor, barring contrary orders from [[Venice]], and Pope Nicholas undertook to send three ships laden with provisions, which set sail near the end of March.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|81}}

Meanwhile in Venice, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople. The [[Venetian Senate|Senate]] decided upon sending a fleet in February 1453, but the fleet's departure was delayed until April, when it was already too late for ships to assist in battle.<ref name="nicollastcenbyz" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|85}} Further undermining Byzantine morale, seven Italian ships with around 700 men, despite having sworn to defend Constantinople, slipped out of the capital the moment when Giustiniani arrived. At the same time, Constantine's attempts to appease the Sultan with gifts ended with the execution of the Emperor's ambassadors.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|373}}<ref name="ThackerayFindling2012" /><ref name="Norwich1998" /><ref name="Somerwil-Ayrton2007" /><ref name="Roberts1973" /><ref name="Brownworth2009" /><ref name="Norwich v.3" />

[[File:Walls of Constantinople.JPG|right|thumb|upright=1|Restored Walls of Constantinople]]
[[File:Haliç zinciri (2).jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|The [[boom (navigational barrier)|chain]] that closed off the entrance to the Golden Horn in 1453, now on display in the [[İstanbul Archaeology Museums]].]]

Fearing a possible naval attack along the shores of the Golden Horn, Emperor Constantine XI ordered that a [[boom (navigational barrier)|defensive chain]] be placed at the mouth of the harbour. This chain, which floated on logs, was strong enough to prevent any Turkish ship from entering the harbour. This device was one of two that gave the Byzantines some hope of extending the siege until the possible arrival of foreign help.<ref name="nicollastcenbyz" />{{rp|380}} This strategy was enforced because in 1204, the armies of the Fourth Crusade successfully circumvented Constantinople's land defences by breaching the Golden Horn Wall. Another strategy employed by the Byzantines was the repair and fortification of the Land Wall (Theodosian Walls). Emperor Constantine deemed it necessary to ensure that the [[Blachernae]] district's wall was the most fortified because that section of the wall protruded northwards. The land fortifications consisted of a {{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide moat fronting inner and outer [[Battlement|crenellated walls]] studded with towers every 45–55 metres.<ref name="f6GY9" />

===Strength===
[[File:Siege of Constantinople 1453 map-fr.svg|thumb|left|Map of Constantinople and the dispositions of the defenders and the besiegers]]

The army defending Constantinople was relatively small, totalling about 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreigners.{{NoteTag|According to Sphrantzes, whom Constantine had ordered to make a census, the Emperor was appalled when the number of native men capable of bearing arms turned out to be only 4,983. Leonardo di Chio gave a number of 6,000 Greeks.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|85}}}} At the onset of the siege, probably fewer than 50,000 people were living within the walls, including the refugees from the surrounding area.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{rp|32}} {{NoteTag|The Spanish [[Cristóbal de Villalón]] claims there were ' 60,000 Turkish households, 40,000 Greek and Armenian, 10,000 Jewish.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|85}}}} Turkish commander Dorgano, who was in Constantinople working for the Emperor, was also guarding one of the quarters of the city on the seaward side with the Turks in his pay. These Turks kept loyal to the Emperor and perished in the ensuing battle. The defending army's Genoese corps were well trained and equipped, while the rest of the army consisted of small numbers of well-trained soldiers, armed civilians, sailors and volunteer forces from foreign communities, and finally [[monks]]. The garrison used a few small-calibre artillery pieces, which in the end proved ineffective. The rest of the citizens repaired walls, stood guard on observation posts, collected and distributed food provisions, and collected gold and silver objects from churches to melt down into coins to pay the foreign soldiers.

The Ottomans had a much larger force. Recent studies and Ottoman archival data state that there were some 50,000–80,000 Ottoman soldiers, including between 5,000 and 10,000 [[Janissary|Janissaries]],<ref name="pertusicadvol1" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}, 70 [[cannon]]s<ref name="battle100" />{{rp|139–140}}<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}<ref name="halilosmanimpklas" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}, an elite infantry corps, and thousands of Christian troops, notably 1,500 Serbian cavalry{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} that [[Đurađ Branković]] was forced to supply as part of his obligation to the Ottoman sultan—just a few months before, Branković had supplied the money for the reconstruction of the walls of Constantinople. Contemporaneous Western witnesses of the siege, who tend to exaggerate the military power of the Sultan, provide disparate and higher numbers ranging from 160,000 to 300,000<ref name="pertusicadvol1" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}([[Niccolò Barbaro]]:<ref name="Barbaro" /> 160,000; the Florentine merchant Jacopo Tedaldi<ref name="Tedaldi" /> and the Great Logothete [[George Sphrantzes]]:<ref name="sphrantzchron" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}} 200,000; the Cardinal [[Isidore of Kiev]]<ref name="isbesepistle" /> and the Archbishop of [[Mytilene]] Leonardo di Chio:<ref name="LeonardoChio" /> 300,000).<ref name="Ref-1" />

====Ottoman dispositions and strategies====
[[File:Dardanelles Gun Turkish Bronze 15c.png|thumb|The [[Dardanelles Gun]], cast by Munir Ali in 1464, is similar to [[bombard (weapon)|bombards]] used by the Ottoman besiegers of Constantinople in 1453 (British [[Royal Armouries]] collection).]]

Mehmed built a fleet (partially manned by Spanish sailors from [[Gallipoli]]) to besiege the city from the sea.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}} Contemporary estimates of the strength of the Ottoman fleet span from 110 ships to 430. (Tedaldi:<ref name="Tedaldi" /> 110; Barbaro:<ref name="Barbaro" /> 145; Ubertino Pusculo:<ref name="Pusculo" /> 160, Isidore of Kiev<ref name="isbesepistle" /> and Leonardo di Chio:<ref name="sQMpP" /> 200–250; (Sphrantzes):<ref name="sphrantzchron" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}} 430) A more realistic modern estimate predicts a fleet strength of 110 ships comprising 70 large [[galley]]s, 5 ordinary galleys, 10 smaller galleys, 25 large rowing boats, and 75 horse-transports.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{rp|44}}

Before the siege of Constantinople, it was known that the Ottomans had the ability to cast medium-sized [[cannon]]s, but the range of some pieces they were able to field far surpassed the defenders' expectations.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|374}} The Ottomans deployed a number of cannons, anywhere from 50 cannons to 200. They were built at [[foundries]] that employed Turkish cannon founders and technicians, most notably Saruca, in addition to at least one foreign cannon founder, [[Orban]] (also called Urban). Most of the cannons at the siege were built by Turkish engineers, including a large bombard by Saruca, while one cannon was built by Orban, who also contributed a large bombard.<ref name="Steele" /><ref name="Hammer" />

Orban, a Hungarian (though some suggest he was German), was a somewhat mysterious figure.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|374}} His {{convert|27|ft|m}} long cannon was named "[[Basilic (cannon)|Basilica]]" and was able to hurl a {{convert|600|lb|kg|abbr=on}} stone ball over a mile (1.6 km).<ref name="q6rsq" /> Orban initially tried to sell his services to the Byzantines, but they were unable to secure the funds needed to hire him. Orban then left Constantinople and approached Mehmed II, claiming that his weapon could blast "the walls of [[Babylon]] itself". Given abundant funds and materials, the Hungarian engineer built the gun within three months at [[Edirne]].<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|77–78}} However, this was the only cannon that Orban built for the Ottoman forces at Constantinople,<ref name="Steele" /><ref name="Hammer" /> and it had several drawbacks: it took three hours to reload; cannonballs were in very short supply; and the cannon is said to have collapsed under its own recoil after six weeks. The account of the cannon's collapse is disputed,<ref name="pertusicadvol1" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}} given that it was only reported in the letter of Archbishop [[Leonard of Chios|Leonardo di Chio]]<ref name="LeonardoChio" /> and in the later, and often unreliable, Russian chronicle of [[Nestor Iskander]].{{NoteTag|Another expert who was employed by the Ottomans was [[Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli]], also known as Ciriaco of [[Ancona]], a traveler and collector of antiquities.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}}}

[[File:Conquest_of_Constantinople,_Zonaro.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Modern painting of Mehmed and the Ottoman Army approaching Constantinople with a giant bombard, by [[Fausto Zonaro]].]]

Having previously established a large foundry about {{convert|150|mi|km}} away, Mehmed now had to undertake the painstaking process of transporting his massive artillery pieces. In preparation for the final assault, Mehmed had an artillery train of 70 large pieces dragged from his headquarters at Edirne, in addition to the bombards cast on the spot.<ref name="n61Q6" /> This train included Orban's enormous cannon, which was said to have been dragged from Edrine by a crew of 60 oxen and over 400 men.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|374}}<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|77–78}} There was another large bombard, independently built by Turkish engineer Saruca, that was also used in the battle.<ref name="Steele" /><ref name="Hammer" />

Mehmed planned to attack the Theodosian Walls, the intricate series of walls and ditches protecting Constantinople from an attack from the West and the only part of the city not surrounded by water. His army encamped outside the city on 2 April 1453, the Monday after [[Easter]].

The bulk of the Ottoman army was encamped south of the Golden Horn. The regular European troops, stretched out along the entire length of the walls, were commanded by Karadja Pasha. The regular troops from [[Anatolia]] under [[Ishak Pasha]] were stationed south of the Lycus down to the [[Sea of Marmara]]. Mehmed himself erected his red-and-gold tent near the ''Mesoteichion'', where the guns and the elite Janissary regiments were positioned. The [[Bashi-bazouk]]s were spread out behind the front lines. Other troops under [[Zagan Pasha]] were employed north of the Golden Horn. Communication was maintained by a road that had been destroyed over the marshy head of the Horn.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|94–95}}

====Byzantine dispositions and strategies====
[[File:Fall-of-constantinople-22.jpg|thumb|Painting of the Fall of Constantinople, by [[Theophilos Hatzimihail]]]]

The city had about 20 km of walls ([[Theodosian Walls|land walls]]: 5.5 km; sea walls along the Golden Horn: 7 km; sea walls along the Sea of Marmara: 7.5 km), one of the strongest sets of fortified walls in existence. The walls had recently been repaired (under [[John VIII Palaiologos|John VIII]]) and were in fairly good shape, giving the defenders sufficient reason to believe that they could hold out until help from the West arrived.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{rp|39}} In addition, the defenders were relatively well-equipped with a fleet of 26 ships: 5 from [[Genoa]], 5 from [[Venice]], 3 from Venetian [[Crete]], 1 from [[Ancona]], 1 from [[Aragon]], 1 from France, and about 10 from the empire itself.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{rp|45}}

On 5 April, the Sultan himself arrived with his last troops, and the defenders took up their positions. As Byzantine numbers were insufficient to occupy the walls in their entirety, it had been decided that only the outer walls would be manned. Constantine and his Greek troops guarded the ''Mesoteichion'', the middle section of the land walls, where they were crossed by the river Lycus. This section was considered the weakest spot in the walls and an attack was feared here most. Giustiniani was stationed to the north of the emperor, at the [[Walls of Constantinople#Gate of Charisius|Charisian Gate]] (''Myriandrion''); later during the siege, he was shifted to the ''Mesoteichion'' to join Constantine, leaving the ''Myriandrion'' to the charge of the Bocchiardi brothers. Minotto and his Venetians were stationed in the [[Blachernae Palace]], together with Teodoro Caristo, the Langasco brothers, and Archbishop Leonardo of Chios.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|92}}

To the left of the emperor, further south, were the commanders Cataneo, who led Genoese troops, and Theophilus Palaeologus, who guarded the [[Walls of Constantinople#Gate of the Spring|Pegae Gate]] with Greek soldiers. The section of the land walls from the Pegae Gate to the Golden Gate (itself guarded by a Genoese called Manuel) was defended by the Venetian Filippo Contarini, while Demetrius Cantacuzenus had taken position on the southernmost part of the Theodosian wall.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|92}}

The sea walls were manned more sparsely, with Jacobo Contarini at [[Stoudion]], a makeshift defence force of Greek monks to his left hand, and [[Orhan Çelebi|Prince Orhan]] at the [[Harbour of Eleutherios]]. Pere Julià was stationed at the [[Great Palace of Constantinople|Great Palace]] with Genoese and Catalan troops; Cardinal Isidore of Kiev guarded the tip of the peninsula near the boom. Finally, the sea walls at the southern shore of the [[Golden Horn]] were defended by Venetian and Genoese sailors under [[Gabriele Trevisano]].<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|93}}

Two tactical reserves were kept behind in the city: one in the Petra district just behind the land walls and one near the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], under the command of [[Loukas Notaras]] and Nicephorus Palaeologus, respectively. The Venetian Alviso Diedo commanded the ships in the harbour.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|94}}

Although the Byzantines also had cannons, the weapons were much smaller than those of the Ottomans, and the [[recoil]] tended to damage their own walls.<ref name="LeonardoChio" />

According to [[David Nicolle]], despite many odds, the idea that Constantinople was inevitably doomed is incorrect, and the overall situation was not as one-sided as a simple glance at a map might suggest.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{rp|40}} It has also been claimed that Constantinople was "the best-defended city in Europe" at that time.<ref name="bZgqW" />

==Siege==
At the beginning of the siege, Mehmed sent out some of his best troops to reduce the remaining Byzantine strongholds outside the city of Constantinople. The fortress of Therapia on the Bosphorus and a smaller castle at the village of Studius near the Sea of Marmara were taken within a few days. The [[Princes' Islands]] in the Sea of Marmara were taken by [[Suleiman Baltoghlu|Admiral Baltoghlu]]'s fleet.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|96–97}} Mehmed's massive cannon fired on the walls for weeks, but due to its imprecision and extremely slow rate of reloading, the Byzantines were able to repair most of the damage after each shot, mitigating the cannon's effect.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|376}}

[[File:Kusatma Zonaro.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Ottoman Turks transport their fleet overland into the [[Golden Horn]].]]

Meanwhile, despite some probing attacks, the Ottoman fleet under Baltoghlu could not enter the Golden Horn due to the chain the Byzantines had previously stretched across the entrance. Although one of the fleet's main tasks was to prevent any foreign ships from entering the Golden Horn, on 20 April, a small flotilla of four Christian ships{{NoteTag|These were the three Genoese ships sent by the Pope, joined by a large Imperial transport ship which had been sent on a foraging mission to Sicily previous to the siege and was on its way back to Constantinople.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|100}}}} managed to slip in after some heavy fighting, an event which strengthened the morale of the defenders and caused embarrassment to the Sultan.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|376}} Baltoghlu's life was spared after his subordinates testified to his bravery during the conflict.

Mehmed ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across [[Galata]] on the north side of the Golden Horn, and dragged his ships over the hill, directly into the Golden Horn on 22 April, bypassing the chain barrier.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|376}} This action seriously threatened the flow of supplies from Genoese ships from the nominally neutral colony of [[Beyoğlu|Pera]], and it demoralized the Byzantine defenders. On the night of 28 April, an attempt was made to destroy the Ottoman ships already in the Golden Horn using [[fire ship]]s, but the Ottomans forced the Christians to retreat with heavy losses. 40 Italians escaped their sinking ships and swam to the northern shore. On orders of Mehmed, they were [[Impalement|impaled]] on stakes, in sight of the city's defenders on the sea walls across the Golden Horn. In retaliation, the defenders brought their Ottoman prisoners, 260 in all, to the walls, where they were executed, one by one, before the eyes of the Ottomans.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|108}}<ref name="MoRBA" /> With the failure of their attack on the Ottoman vessels, the defenders were forced to disperse part of their forces to defend the sea walls along the Golden Horn.

The Ottoman army had made several frontal assaults on the land wall of Constantinople, but they were always repelled with heavy losses.<ref name="FdrIR" /> Venetian surgeon [[Niccolò Barbaro]], describing in his diary one such land attack by the Janissaries, wrote:

{{quote|They found the Turks coming right up under the walls and seeking battle, particularly the Janissaries ... and when one or two of them were killed, at once more Turks came and took away the dead ones ... without caring how near they came to the city walls. Our men shot at them with guns and crossbows, aiming at the Turk who was carrying away his dead countryman, and both of them would fall to the ground dead, and then there came other Turks and took them away, none fearing death, but being willing to let ten of themselves be killed rather than suffer the shame of leaving a single Turkish corpse by the walls.<ref name="Barbaro" />}}

[[File:Siege constantinople bnf fr2691.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Siege of Constantinople as depicted between 1453 and 1475<ref name="JRaLV" />]]

After these inconclusive frontal offensives, the Ottomans sought to break through the walls by constructing tunnels in an effort to [[mining (military)|mine]] them from mid-May to 25 May. Many of the sappers were miners of Serbian origin sent from [[Novo Brdo]]<ref>Marios Philippides, ''Mehmed II the Conqueror and the Fall of the Franco-Byzantine Levant to the Ottoman Turks: Some Western Views and Testimonies'', (ACMRS/Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2007), 83.</ref> and were under the command of [[Zagan Pasha]]. However, an engineer named [[Johannes Grant]], a German{{NoteTag|[[Steven Runciman|Runciman]] speculates that he may have been Scottish<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|84}}}} who came with the Genoese contingent, had counter-mines dug, allowing Byzantine troops to enter the mines and kill the workers. The Byzantines intercepted the first tunnel on the night of 16 May. Subsequent tunnels were interrupted on 21, 23, and 25 May, and destroyed with [[Greek fire]] and vigorous combat. On 23 May, the Byzantines captured and [[torture]]d two Turkish officers, who revealed the location of all the Turkish tunnels, which were subsequently destroyed.<ref name="TQ2Lp" />

On 21 May, Mehmed sent an ambassador to Constantinople and offered to lift the siege if they gave him the city. He promised he would allow the Emperor and any other inhabitants to leave with their possessions. Moreover, he would recognize the Emperor as governor of the Peloponnese. Lastly, he guaranteed the safety of the population that might choose to remain in the city. Constantine XI only agreed to pay higher tributes to the sultan and recognized the status of all the conquered castles and lands in the hands of the Turks as Ottoman possession. However, the Emperor was not willing to leave the city without a fight:

{{quote|As to surrendering the city to you, it is not for me to decide or for anyone else of its citizens; for all of us have reached the mutual decision to die of our own free will, without any regard for our lives.{{NoteTag|Original text: Τὸ δὲ τὴν πόλιν σοῖ δοῦναι οὔτ' ἐμὸν ἐστίν οὔτ' ἄλλου τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν ταύτῃ• κοινῇ γὰρ γνώμῃ πάντες αὐτοπροαιρέτως ἀποθανοῦμεν καὶ οὐ φεισόμεθα τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν.<ref name="29maiouiefemerida" />}}}}

Around this time, Mehmed had a final council with his senior officers. Here he encountered some resistance; one of his Viziers, the veteran [[Çandarlı Halil Pasha|Halil Pasha]], who had always disapproved of Mehmed's plans to conquer the city, now admonished him to abandon the siege in the face of recent adversity. [[Zagan Pasha]] argued against Halil Pasha and insisted on an immediate attack. Believing that the beleaguered Byzantine defence was already weakened sufficiently, Mehmed planned to overpower the walls by sheer force and started preparations for a final all-out offensive.

===Final assault===
[[File:Theofilos Palaiologos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Painting by the Greek folk painter [[Theophilos Hatzimihail]] showing the battle inside the city, Constantine is visible on a white horse]]

Preparations for the final assault began in the evening of 26 May and continued to the next day.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|378}} For 36 hours after the war council decided to attack, the Ottomans extensively mobilized their manpower in order to prepare for the general offensive.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|378}} Prayer and resting was then granted to the soldiers on the 28th before the final assault would be launched. On the Byzantine side, a small Venetian fleet of 12 ships, after having searched the Aegean, reached the Capital on 27 May and reported to the Emperor that no large Venetian relief fleet was on its way.<ref name="norwichshortbyzhist" />{{rp|377}} On 28 May, as the Ottoman army prepared for the final assault, large-scale religious processions were held in the city. In the evening, a solemn last ceremony was held in the [[Hagia Sophia]], in which the Emperor with representatives and nobility of both the Latin and Greek churches partook.<ref name="vasilievhistbyz2" />{{rp|651–652}}

Shortly after midnight on 29 May, the all-out offensive began. The Christian troops of the Ottoman Empire attacked first, followed by successive waves of the irregular [[azap]]s, who were poorly trained and equipped, and [[Anatolia]]ns who focused on a section of the damaged [[Blachernae]] walls in the north-west part of the city. This section of the walls had been built earlier, in the eleventh century, and was much weaker. The [[Anatolians]] managed to breach this section of walls and entered the city, but they were just as quickly pushed back by the defenders. Finally, the last wave consisting of elite Janissaries, attacked the city walls. The Genoese general in charge of the land troops,<ref name="pertusicadvol1" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}<ref name="isbesepistle" /><ref name="LeonardoChio" /> [[Giovanni Giustiniani]], was grievously wounded during the attack, and his evacuation from the ramparts caused a panic in the ranks of the defenders.{{NoteTag|Sources hostile towards the Genoese (such as the Venetian Nicolò Barbaro), however, report that Longo was only lightly wounded or not wounded at all, but, overwhelmed by fear, simulated the wound to abandon the battlefield, determining the fall of the city. These charges of cowardice and treason were so widespread that the Republic of Genoa had to deny them by sending diplomatic letters to the Chancelleries of England, France, the Duchy of Burgundy and others.<ref name="attidella10" />{{rp|296–297}} Giustiniani was carried to [[Chios]], where he succumbed to his wounds a few days later.}}

[[File:Le siège de Constantinople (1453) by Jean Le Tavernier after 1455.jpg|thumb|left|''The Last Siege'', French miniature by Jean Le Tavernier sometime after 1455]]

With Giustiniani's Genoese troops retreating into the city and towards the harbour, Constantine and his men, now left to their own devices, continued to hold their ground against the Janissaries. However, Constantine's men eventually could not prevent the Ottomans from entering the city, and the defenders were overwhelmed at several points along the wall. When Turkish flags were seen flying above the Kerkoporta, small postern gate that was left open, panic ensued, and the defence collapsed. Meanwhile, Janissary soldiers, led by [[Ulubatlı Hasan]], pressed forward. Many Greek soldiers ran back home to protect their families, the Venetians retreated to their ships, and a few of the Genoese escaped to Galata. The rest surrendered or committed suicide by jumping off the city walls.<ref name="nicollastcenbyz" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}} The Greek houses nearest to the walls were the first to suffer from the Ottomans. It is said that Constantine, throwing aside his purple regalia, led the final charge against the incoming Ottomans, perishing in the ensuing battle in the streets alongside his soldiers. On the other hand, the Venetian Nicolò Barbaro wrote in his diary that Constantine hanged himself at the moment when the Turks broke in at the San Romano gate, although his ultimate fate remains unknown.{{NoteTag|Barbaro added the description of the emperor's heroic last moments to his diary based on information he received afterward. According to some Ottoman sources Constantine was killed in an accidental encounter with Turkish marines a little further to the south, presumably while making his way to the Sea of Marmara in order to escape by sea.<ref name="nicolleendbyz" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}}}

After the initial assault, the Ottoman army fanned out along the main thoroughfare of the city, the Mese, past the great forums and the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]], which Mehmed II wanted to provide a seat for his newly appointed patriarch to better control his Christian subjects. Mehmed II had sent an advance guard to protect these key buildings.

A small few lucky civilians managed to escape. When the Venetians retreated over to their ships, the Ottomans had already taken the walls of the Golden Horn. Luckily for the occupants of the city, the Ottomans were not interested in killing potentially valuable slaves, but rather in the loot they could get from raiding the city's houses, so they decided to attack the city instead. The Venetian captain ordered his men to break open the gate of the Golden Horn. Having done so, the Venetians left in ships filled with soldiers and refugees. Shortly after the Venetians left, a few Genoese ships and even the Emperor's ships followed them out of the Golden Horn. This fleet narrowly escaped prior to the Ottoman navy assuming control over the Golden Horn, which was accomplished by midday.<ref name="nicollastcenbyz" />{{page needed|date=June 2017}}
The army converged upon the [[Augusteum]], the vast square that fronted the great church of Hagia Sophia whose bronze gates were barred by a huge throng of civilians inside the building, hoping for divine protection. After the doors were breached, the troops separated the congregation according to what price they might bring in the slave markets.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

Ottoman casualties are unknown but they are believed by most historians to be very heavy due to several unsuccessful Ottoman attacks made during the siege and final assault.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} The Venetian Barbaro observed that blood flowed in the city "like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm" and that bodies of Turks and Christians floated in the sea "like melons along a canal".<ref name="Barbaro" />

===Plundering phase===
Mehmed II granted his soldiers three days to plunder the city, as he had promised them and in accordance with the custom of the time.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|145}}<ref name="mCj01" /> Soldiers fought over the possession of some of the [[War looting|spoils of war]].<ref name="histbyzoxon" />{{rp|283}} The women of Constantinople also suffered from rape at the hands of Ottoman forces.<ref name="hRhtW" /> According to Barbaro, "all through the day the Turks made a great slaughter of Christians through the city". According to historian [[Philip Mansel]], widespread persecution of the city's civilian inhabitants took place, resulting in thousands of murders and rapes and 30,000 civilians being enslaved or forcibly deported.<ref name="iK51W" />

The looting was extremely thorough in certain parts of the city. On 2 June, the Sultan would find the city largely deserted and half in ruins; churches had been desecrated and stripped, houses were no longer habitable, and stores and shops were emptied. He is famously reported to have been moved to tears by this, saying, "What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction."<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|152}}

== Aftermath ==

On the third day of the conquest, [[Mehmed II]] ordered all [[looting]] to stop and issued a proclamation that all Christians who had avoided capture or who had been ransomed could return to their homes without further molestation, although many had no homes to return to, and many more had been taken captive and not ransomed.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|150–51}} Byzantine historian [[George Sphrantzes]], an eyewitness to the fall of Constantinople, described the Sultan's actions:<ref name="ttHMm" /><ref name="vCvPQ" />

{{quote | On the third day after the fall of our city, the Sultan celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed to escape detection were to leave their hiding places throughout the city and come out into the open, as they were to remain free and no question would be asked. He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned our city before the siege. If they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed. | George Sphrantzes}}

The ''Hagia Sophia'' was converted into a mosque, but the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Greek Orthodox Church]] was allowed to remain intact and [[Gennadius Scholarius]] was appointed [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]]. This was once thought to be the origin of the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|Ottoman ''millet'' system]]; however, it is now considered a myth and no such system existed in the fifteenth century.<ref name="aMn4U" /><ref name="AIhgF" />

[[File:Hagia-Sophia-Laengsschnitt.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Following the city's conquest, the Church of the [[Holy Wisdom]] (the ''[[Hagia Sophia]]'') was converted into a [[mosque]].]]

The fall of Constantinople shocked many Europeans, who viewed it as a catastrophic event for their civilization.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Hyslop |first1=Stephen Garrison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KK2TikRZJpsC |title=Great Empires: An Illustrated Atlas |last2=Daniels |first2=Patricia |last3=Society (U.S.) |first3=National Geographic |date=2011 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=978-1-4262-0829-4 |pages=284 |language=en}}</ref> Many feared other European Christian kingdoms would suffer the same fate as Constantinople. Two possible responses emerged amongst the [[Renaissance humanism|humanists]] and churchmen of that era: [[Crusade]] or dialogue. [[Pope Pius II]] strongly advocated for another Crusade, while the German [[Nicholas of Cusa]] supported engaging in a dialogue with the Ottomans.<ref name="NqTxI" />

The [[Morea]]n (Peloponnesian) fortress of Mystras, where Constantine's brothers [[Thomas Palaiologos|Thomas]] and [[Demetrios Palaiologos|Demetrius]] ruled, constantly in conflict with each other and knowing that Mehmed would eventually invade them as well, held out until 1460. Long before the fall of Constantinople, Demetrius had fought for the throne with Thomas, Constantine, and their other brothers [[John VIII Palaiologos|John]] and [[Theodore II Palaiologos, Lord of Morea|Theodore]].<ref name="norwichdeclinefall" />{{rp|446}} Thomas escaped to Rome when the Ottomans invaded Morea while Demetrius expected to rule a puppet state, but instead was imprisoned and remained there for the rest of his life. In Rome, Thomas and his family received some monetary support from the Pope and other Western rulers as Byzantine emperor in exile, until 1503. In 1461 the independent Byzantine state in [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] fell to Mehmed.<ref name="norwichdeclinefall" />{{rp|446}}

[[Constantine XI]] had died without producing an heir, and had Constantinople not fallen he likely would have been succeeded by the sons of his deceased elder brother, who were taken into the palace service of Mehmed after the fall of Constantinople. The oldest boy, renamed to Murad, became a personal favourite of Mehmed and served as [[Beylerbey]] (Governor-General) of [[Rumeli]] (the Balkans). The younger son, renamed [[Mesih Pasha]], became Admiral of the Ottoman fleet and Sancak Beg (Governor) of the Province of Gallipoli. He eventually served twice as Grand Vizier under Mehmed's son, [[Bayezid II]].<ref name="nsxzN" />

With the capture of Constantinople, Mehmed II had acquired the "natural" capital of its kingdom, albeit one in decline due to years of war. The loss of the city was a crippling blow to Christendom, and it exposed the Christian west to a vigorous and aggressive foe in the east. The Christian re-conquest of Constantinople remained a goal in Western Europe for many years after its fall to the [[House of Osman]]. Rumours of Constantine XI's survival and subsequent rescue by an angel led many to hope that the city would one day return to Christian hands. [[Pope Nicholas V]] called for an immediate counter-attack in the form of a crusade.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} When no European monarch was willing to lead the crusade, the Pope himself decided to go, but his early death stopped this plan. As Western Europe entered the 16th century, the [[Crusades|age of Crusading]] began to come to an end.

For some time Greek scholars had gone to [[Italian city-states]], a cultural exchange begun in 1396 by [[Coluccio Salutati]], chancellor of Florence, who had invited [[Manuel Chrysoloras]], a Byzantine scholar to lecture at the [[University of Florence]].<ref name="Mw3eQ" /> After the conquest many Greeks, such as [[John Argyropoulos]] and [[Constantine Lascaris]], fled the city and found refuge in the Latin West, [[Greek scholars in the Renaissance|bringing with them knowledge and documents from the Greco-Roman tradition to Italy]] and other regions that further propelled the [[Renaissance]].<ref name="J2i2B" /><ref name="Byzantines in Renaissance Italy" /> Those Greeks who stayed behind in Constantinople mostly lived in the [[Phanar]] and [[Galata]] districts of the city. The [[Phanariotes]], as they were called, provided many capable advisers to the Ottoman rulers.

===Third Rome===
{{Main|Third Rome}}

[[File:Gentile Bellini 003.jpg|thumb|''Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror'', by [[Gentile Bellini]]]]

[[Byzantium]] is a term used by modern historians to refer to the later Roman Empire. In its own time, the Empire ruled from Constantinople (or "New Rome" as some people call it, although this was a laudatory expression that was never an official title) was considered simply as "the Roman Empire." The fall of Constantinople led competing factions to lay claim to being the inheritors of the Imperial mantle. Russian claims to Byzantine heritage clashed with those of the Ottoman Empire's own claim. In Mehmed's view, he was the successor to the [[Roman Emperor]], declaring himself ''Kayser-i Rum'', literally "[[Caesar (title)|Caesar of Rome]]", that is, of the Roman Empire, though he was remembered as "the Conqueror". He founded a political system that survived until 1922 with the establishment of the [[Republic of Turkey]].

[[Stefan Dušan]], Tsar of [[Serbian Empire|Serbia]], and [[Ivan Alexander]], Tsar of [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], both made similar claims, regarding themselves as legitimate heirs to the Roman Empire. Other potential claimants, such as the [[Republic of Venice]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] have disintegrated into history.<ref name="W8pk7" />

===Impact on the Churches===
Pope Pius II believed that the Ottomans would persecute Greek Orthodox Christians and advocated for another crusade at the [[Council of Mantua (1459)|Council of Mantua]] in 1459.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Florescu, McNally, ''Dracula'', p. 129</ref> However, [[Vlad the Impaler]] was the only Christian ruler who showed enthusiasm for this suggestion.

In 17th-century Russia, the fall of Constantinople had a role in the fierce theological and political controversy between adherents and opponents of the [[Raskol|reforms]] in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] carried out by [[Patriarch Nikon]], which he intended to bring the Russian Church closer to the norms and practices of other Orthodox churches. [[Avvakum]] and other "[[Old Believers]]" saw these reforms as a [[corruption (philosophical concept)|corruption]] of the Russian Church, which they considered to be the "true" Church of God. As the other Churches were more closely related to Constantinople in their liturgies, Avvakum argued that Constantinople fell to the Turks because of these [[heresy|heretical]] beliefs and practices.

The fall of Constantinople has a profound impact on the ancient [[Pentarchy]] of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|the Orthodox Church]]. Today, the four ancient sees of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople have relatively few followers and believers locally, although migration has created a body of followers in Western Europe and the United States, {{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} because of Islamization and the ''[[Dhimma]]'' system to which Christians have been subjected since the earliest days of Islam. As a result of this process, the centre of influence in the Orthodox Church changed and migrated to Eastern Europe (e.g., [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russia]]) rather than remaining in the former Byzantine Near East.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

==Cultural references==
===Legends===
There are many legends in Greece surrounding the Fall of Constantinople. It was said that [[May 1453 lunar eclipse|the partial lunar eclipse]] that occurred on 22 May 1453 represented a fulfilment of a prophecy of the city's demise.<ref name="L0Kni" /> Four days later, the whole city was blotted out by a thick [[fog]], a condition unknown in that part of the world in May. When the fog lifted that evening, a strange light was seen playing about the dome of the Hagia Sophia, which some interpreted as the [[Holy Spirit]] departing from the city. "This evidently indicated the departure of the Divine Presence, and its leaving the City in total abandonment and desertion, for the Divinity conceals itself in cloud and appears and again disappears."<ref name="OBWWf" />{{rp|59}} For others, there was still a distant hope that the lights were the campfires of the troops of [[John Hunyadi]] who had come to relieve the city.{{NoteTag|It is possible that all these phenomena were local effects of the cataclysmic [[Kuwae]] volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean. The "fire" seen may have been an optical illusion due to the reflection of intensely red twilight glow by clouds of volcanic ash high in the atmosphere.<ref name="nasakuwae" />}}

Another legend holds that two priests saying [[divine liturgy]] over the crowd disappeared into the cathedral's walls as the first Turkish soldiers entered. According to the legend, the priests will appear again on the day that Constantinople returns to Christian hands.<ref name="runcimanfall" />{{rp|147}} Another legend refers to the ''Marble Emperor'' (Constantine XI), holding that an angel rescued the emperor when the Ottomans entered the city, turning him into marble and placing him in a cave under the earth near the Golden Gate, where he waits to be brought to life again (a variant of the [[sleeping hero]] legend).<ref name="3otvo" /><ref name="hatzfallhec" /> However many of the myths surrounding the disappearance of the Constantine were developed later and little evidence can be found to support them even in friendly primary accounts of the siege.

===Cultural impact===
[[Guillaume Dufay]] composed several songs lamenting the fall of the Eastern church, and the duke of Burgundy, [[Philip the Good]], [[Feast of the Pheasant|avowed]] to take up arms against the Turks. However, as the growing Ottoman power from this date on coincided with the [[Protestant Reformation]] and subsequent [[Counter-Reformation]], the recapture of Constantinople became an ever-distant dream. Even France, once a fervent participant in the Crusades, became an ally of the Ottomans.

Nonetheless, depictions of Christian coalitions taking the city and of the late Emperor's resurrection by [[Leo the Wise]] persisted.<ref name="oxhistbyzmango" />{{rp|280}}

29 May 1453, the day of the fall of Constantinople, fell on a Tuesday, and since then Tuesday has been considered an unlucky day by Greeks generally.<ref name="QMrK6" />

===Impact on the Renaissance===
{{Main|Greek scholars in the Renaissance}}
The migration waves of [[Byzantine]] scholars and émigrés in the period following the [[Siege of Constantinople|sacking of Constantinople]] and the fall of Constantinople in 1453 is considered by many scholars key to the revival of [[ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[ancient Rome|Roman]] studies that led to the development of the [[Renaissance humanism]]<ref name="Byzantines in Renaissance Italy" />{{dead link|date=November 2016}}{{better source|reason=Tall claim requires high-quality academic citation, not a website|date=November 2016}} and [[History of science in the Renaissance|science]]. These émigrés were grammarians, humanists, poets, writers, printers, lecturers, musicians, astronomers, architects, academics, artists, scribes, philosophers, scientists, politicians and theologians.<ref name="v5gnl" />{{better source|date=November 2016}} They brought to Western Europe the far greater preserved and accumulated knowledge of their own (Greek) civilization.

===Renaming of the city===

Ottomans used the Arabic transliteration of the city's name "Qosṭanṭīniyye," (القسطنطينية), as can be seen in numerous Ottoman documents. ''Islambol'' ({{lang|ota| اسلامبول}}, ''Full of Islam'') or ''Islambul'' (''find Islam'') or ''Islam(b)ol'' (''old [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]: be Islam''), both in Turkish Language, were [[folk etymology|folk-etymological]] adaptations of ''Istanbul'' created after the Ottoman conquest of 1453 to express the city's new role as the capital of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. It is first attested shortly after the conquest, and its invention was ascribed by some contemporary writers to [[Mehmed II]] himself.<ref name="istanbulunadlari" />

The [[Names of Istanbul|name of Istanbul]] is thought to be derived from the Greek phrase ''īs tīmbolī(n)'' ({{lang-el|εἰς τὴν πόλιν}}, [[transliteration|translit.]] ''eis tēn pólin'', "to the City"), and it is claimed that it had already spread among the Turkish populace of the Ottoman Empire before the conquest. However, Istanbul only became the official name of the city in 1930 by the revised Turkish Postal Law as part of [[Atatürk]]'s reforms.<ref name="ZooPt" /><ref name="DwbQb" /><ref name="YEruk" />

===In historical fiction===
* [[Lew Wallace]], ''The Prince of India; or, Why Constantinople Fell''. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1893. 2 volumes
* [[Mika Waltari]], [[The Dark Angel (Waltari)|''The Dark Angel'']] (Original title ''Johannes Angelos'') 1952. Translated from the Finnish by Naomi Walford and pub. in English edition, New York: Putnam, 1953
* Peter Sandham, ''Porphyry and Ash''. Hong Kong: Johnston Fleming, 2019
* Muharem Bazdulj, ''The Bridge on Landz'' from The Second Book, 2000. Translated from Bosnian by Oleg Andric and Andrew Wachtel and pub. in English edition, Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2005
* Andrew Novo, ''Queen of Cities'', Seattle: Coffeetown Press, 2009
* [[Jack Hight]],'' Siege''. London: John Murray Publisher Ltd, 2010
* James Shipman, ''Constantinopolis'', Amazon Digital Services, 2013
* [[Chris Humphreys|C.C. Humphreys]], ''A Place called Armageddon''. London: Orion, 2011
* Emanuele Rizzardi, ''L'ultimo Paleologo''. PubMe Editore, 2018
* [[John Bellairs]], ''The Trolley to Yesterday'' Dial, 1989
* [[Kiersten White]], "The Conqueror's Saga", 2016
* [[Stefan Zweig]], "Die Eroberung von Byzanz (Conquest of Byzantium)" in "Sternstunden der Menschheit ([[Decisive Moments in History]])", 1927

==See also==
{{Portal|Byzantine Empire|War}}
* [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]]
* [[Timeline of the Ottoman Empire]]
* "[[How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?]]", question linked to the imagery of pointless debate while the city was falling.
* [[Military of the Ottoman Empire]]
* [[Tursun Beg|Tursun Beg (Turkish historian)]]
* [[Dolfin Dolfin]], [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]], naval commander during the siege

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
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<ref name="Somerwil-Ayrton2007">{{Cite book |last=Kathie Somerwil-Ayrton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAtXAAAAYAAJ |title=The Train that Disappeared into History: The Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway and how it Led to the Great War |publisher=Uitgeverij Aspekt |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-5911-573-6 |page=117 |quote=The Byzantine emperor, then Constantine XI, sent his ambassadors in an attempt to conciliate: they were executed on ...}}</ref>
<ref name="Roberts1973">{{Cite book |last=John Roberts |url=https://archive.org/details/civilization01robe |title=Civilization: The emergence of man in society |publisher=CRM Books |year=1973 |page=[https://archive.org/details/civilization01robe/page/391 391] |quote=It became obvious that Mehmed's messages of peace were false, when he had the Byzantine ambassador executed. |url-access=registration}}</ref>
<ref name="Brownworth2009">{{Cite book |last=Lars Brownworth |url=https://archive.org/details/losttowestforgot00brow |title=Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization |date=15 September 2009 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-307-46241-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/losttowestforgot00brow/page/291 291] |quote=When Constantine sent emissaries to remind Mehmed that he was breaking his oath and to implore him to at least spare the neighboring villages, Mehmed had the ambassadors executed. |url-access=registration}}</ref>
<ref name="Norwich v.3">{{Cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |url=https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9780670823772 |title=Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3 |date=1995 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |isbn=9780670823772 |edition=First |page=415}}</ref>
<ref name="nicollastcenbyz">{{Cite book |last=Nicol |first=Donald M. |title=The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 |date=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge}}</ref>
<ref name="nicolleendbyz">{{Cite book |last=Nicolle |first=David |title=Constantinople 1453: The End of Byzantium (Campaign) |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=1-84176-091-9 |volume=78 |location=Oxford |author-link=David Nicolle}}</ref>
<ref name="pertusicadvol1">{{Cite book |title=La Caduta di Costantinopoli, I: Le testimonianze dei contemporanei scrittori greci e latini |publisher=Fondazione Lorenzo Valla |year=1976 |editor-last=Pertusi |editor-first=Agostino |volume=I |location=Verona |language=it |trans-title=The Fall of Constantinople, I: The Testimony of the Contemporary Greek and Latin Writers}}</ref>
<ref name="battle100">{{Cite book |last=Lanning |first=Michael Lee |title=The Battle 100: The Stories Behind History's Most Influential Battles |publisher=Sourcebooks, Inc. |year=2005 |isbn=1-4022-2475-3}}</ref>
<ref name="halilosmanimpklas">{{Cite book |last=İnalcıkt |first=Halil |title=Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Klasik Çağ (1300–1600) |publisher=Orion |year=2001 |location=London |translator-last=Itzkouritz |translator-first=Norman |trans-title=The Ottoman Empire, The Classical Age, 1300–1600 |translator-last2=Imber |translator-first2=Colin}}</ref>
<ref name="Barbaro">Nicolò Barbaro, ''Giornale dell'Assedio di Costantinopoli'', 1453. The autograph copy is conserved in the [[Biblioteca Marciana]] in Venice. Barbaro's diary has been translated into English by John Melville-Jones (New York: Exposition Press, 1969)</ref>
<ref name="Tedaldi">{{in lang|fr}} Concasty, M.-L., ''Les "Informations" de Jacques Tedaldi sur le siège et la prise de Constantinople''</ref>
<ref name="sphrantzchron">{{Cite book |last=Sphrantzes |first=George |language=el |script-title=el:Οικτρός Γεώργιος ο Φραντζής ο και Πρωτοβεσιαρίτης Γρηγόριος τάχα μοναχός ταύτα έγραψεν υπέρ των καθ' αυτών και τινων μερικών γεγονότων εν τώ της αθλίας ζωής αυτε χρόνω |trans-title=The Pitiful George Frantzes Who was Protovestiaros, Now a Monk, Wrote This for the Βetterment of Others and as Recompense for Some Deeds in His Miserable Life, This Chronicle |author-link=George Sphrantzes}}</ref>
<ref name="isbesepistle">{{cite letter |first=Isidorus|last=Rutheniae|recipient=Bisarion|subject=Epistola reverendissimi patris domini Isidori cardinalis Ruteni scripta ad reverendissimum dominum Bisarionem episcopum Tusculanum ac cardinalem Nicenum Bononiaeque legatum [Letter of the Most Reverend Lord Father [[Isidore of Kiev|Isidore of Ruthenia]], Cardinal, Written to the Most Reverend Lord [[Basilios Bessarion|Bessarion]] [[Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Frascati|Bishop of Tusculum]] and Cardinal of [[Nicaea]] and [[Bologna]]]|language=la|date=6 July 1453}}</ref>
<ref name="LeonardoChio">{{in lang|la}} Leonardo di Chio, ''Letter to [[Pope Nicholas V]]'', dated 16 August 1453, edited by J.-P. Migne, ''[[Patrologia Graeca]]'', 159, 923A–944B.</ref>
<ref name="Ref-1">Leonardo di Chio, ''Letter'',927B: "three hundred thousand and more".</ref>
<ref name="Pusculo">Ubertino Pusculo, ''Constantinopolis'', 1464</ref>
<ref name="Steele">{{Cite book |last=Steele |first=Brett D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBapOB93lE0C&pg=PA106 |title=The Heirs of Archimedes: Science and the Art of War Through the Age of Enlightenment |date=2005 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=9780262195164 |page=106}}</ref>
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<ref name="norwichdeclinefall">{{Cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |title=Byzantium: The Decline and Fall |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-41650-1 |location=New York |author-link=John Julius Norwich}}</ref>
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<ref name="hatzfallhec">{{Cite web |title=Fall of Constantinople, 1453 |url=http://www.greece.org/romiosini/fall.html |last=Hatzopoulos |first=Dionysios |publisher=Hellenic Electronic Center |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304151602/http://www.greece.org/Romiosini/fall.html |archive-date=4 March 2009 |access-date=25 July 2014}}</ref>
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<ref name="iK51W">Mansel, Philip (1995). Constantinople: City of the World's Desire. Hachette UK. p. 79. {{ISBN|0-7195-5076-9}}.</ref>
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<ref name="nbpyu">Runciman Fall. p. 60</ref>
<ref name="qGd6u">{{Cite book |last=Crowley |first=Roger |title=1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West |publisher=Hachette Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4013-0558-1}}</ref>
<ref name="f6GY9">Michael Spilling, ed., Battles That Changed History: Key Battles That Decided the Fate of Nations ( London, Amber Books Ltd. 2010) p. 187.</ref>
<ref name="sQMpP">Leonardo di Chio, ''Letter'', 930C.</ref>
<ref name="q6rsq">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Paul |title=100 Decisive Battles |publisher=Oxford |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-514366-9 |page=166}}</ref>
<ref name="n61Q6">Arnold (2001) p. 111</ref>
<ref name="bZgqW">{{Cite journal |title=The fall of Constantinople |url=http://www.economist.com/node/346800?story_id=346800 |date=23 December 1999 |journal=The Economist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214149/http://www.economist.com/node/346800?story_id=346800 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="MoRBA">Crowley (2005), pp. 150–154</ref>
<ref name="FdrIR">Marios Philippides and Walter K. Hanak, ''The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453'', (Ashgate Publishing, 2011), 520.</ref>
<ref name="JRaLV">From Jean Chartier, ''Chronicle of Charles VII, king of France'', MS Bnf Français 2691, f. 246v [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9007428x/f304.item.zoom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417173235/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9007428x/f304.item.zoom |date=17 April 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="TQ2Lp">Crowley, Roger. ''1453: the holy war for Constantinople and the clash of Islam and the West.'' New York: Hyperion, 2005. pp. 168–171. {{ISBN|1-4013-0850-3}}.</ref>
<ref name="mCj01">Smith, Michael Llewellyn, ''The Fall of Constantinople'', History Makers magazine No. 5, Marshall Cavendish, Sidgwick & Jackson (London).</ref>
<ref name="hRhtW">{{Cite magazine |last=Smith |first=Cyril J. |year=1974 |title=History of Rape and Rape Laws |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/wolj60&div=31&id=&page= |magazine=Women Law Journal |issue=60 |page=188}}</ref>
<ref name="ttHMm">George Sphrantzes. ''The Fall of the [[Byzantine Empire]]: A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes 1401–1477''. Translated by Marios Philippides. [[University of Massachusetts Press]], 1980. {{ISBN|978-0-87023-290-9}}.</ref>
<ref name="vCvPQ">[[Michael Critobulus|Kritovoulos]] (or Kritoboulos). ''History of Mehmed the Conqueror''. Translated by Charles T. Riggs. Greenwood Press Reprint, 1970. {{ISBN|978-0-8371-3119-1}}.</ref>
<ref name="aMn4U">{{Cite book |last=Braude |first=Benjamin |title=Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Holmes & Meier |year=1982 |isbn=0841905193 |editor-last=Braude |editor-first=Benjamin |volume=1 |location=New York |pages=69–90 |chapter=Foundation Myths of the Millet System |editor-last2=Lewis |editor-first2=Bernard}}</ref>
<ref name="AIhgF">{{Cite book |last=Masters |first=Bruce |title=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaotto00agos |url-access=limited |date=2009 |editor-last=Ágoston |editor-first=Gábor |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaotto00agos/page/n421 383]–384 |chapter=Millet |editor-last2=Bruce Masters}}</ref>
<ref name="NqTxI">{{Cite journal |last=Volf |first=Miroslav |year=2010 |title=Body counts: the dark side of Christian history |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA225073188&asid=45204f2e18425083334ee2745375488d |journal=The Christian Century |volume=127 |issue=Journal Article |pages=11– |issn=0009-5281}}</ref>
<ref name="nsxzN">Lowry, Heath W. (2003). ''The Nature of the Early Ottoman State''. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. pp. 115–116.</ref>
<ref name="Mw3eQ">N.G. Wilson, ''From Byzantium to Italy. Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance'', London, 1992. {{ISBN|0-7156-2418-0}}</ref>
<ref name="J2i2B">{{Cite web |title=John Argyropoulos |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34066/John-Argyropoulos |publisher=britannica.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426183636/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34066/John-Argyropoulos |archive-date=26 April 2008 |access-date=2 October 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="W8pk7">{{Cite web |title=Saving the Third Rome. "Fall of the Empire", Byzantium and Putin's Russia |url=http://www.iwm.at/publications/5-junior-visiting-fellows-conferences/vol-xxiv/saving-the-third-rome/ |website=IWM |date=9 November 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727180130/http://www.iwm.at/publications/5-junior-visiting-fellows-conferences/vol-xxiv/saving-the-third-rome/ |archive-date=27 July 2014 |access-date=2016-02-13}}</ref>
<ref name="L0Kni">{{Cite book |last1=Guillermier |first1=Pierre |url=https://archive.org/details/totaleclipsessci0000guil |title=Total Eclipses: Science, Observations, Myths, and Legends |last2=Koutchmy |first2=Serge |publisher=Springer |year=1999 |isbn=1-85233-160-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/totaleclipsessci0000guil/page/85 85] |access-date=27 February 2008 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
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<ref name="3otvo">[http://www.aegean.gr/agios-therapontas/magazine/special/1453/Palaiologos.html The Marble King]{{in lang|el}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213125432/http://www.aegean.gr/agios-therapontas/magazine/special/1453/Palaiologos.html |date=13 December 2012}}</ref>
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<ref name="v5gnl">[http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/polyglots/greeks-in-italy.html Greeks in Italy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607223345/http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/polyglots/greeks-in-italy.html |date=7 June 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="ZooPt">Robinson, Richard D. (1965). ''The First Turkish Republic: A Case Study in National Development''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref>
<ref name="DwbQb">Room, Adrian, (1993), ''Place Name changes 1900–1991'', (Metuchen, N.J., & London:The Scarecrow Press, Inc.), {{ISBN|0-8108-2600-3}} pp. 46, 86.</ref>
<ref name="YEruk">{{Cite news |date=10 December 2009 |title=Timeline: Turkey |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1023189.stm |url-status=live |access-date=18 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604170951/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1023189.stm |archive-date=4 June 2010}}</ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Franz Babinger|Babinger, Franz]] (1992): ''Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-01078-1}}
* Crowley, Roger (2005): ''1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West''. Hyperion. {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0558-1}}
* [[Richard A. Fletcher|Fletcher, Richard A.]]: ''The Cross and the Crescent'' (2005) Penguin Group {{ISBN|0-14-303481-2}}
* Harris, Jonathan (2007): ''Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium''. Hambledon/Continuum. {{ISBN|978-1-84725-179-4}}
* Harris, Jonathan (2010): ''The End of Byzantium''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-11786-8}}
* Melville Jones, John, The Siege of Constantinople 1453: Seven Contemporary Accounts, Amsterdam 1972
* {{Cite book |last1=Momigliano |first1=Arnaldo |title=Storia di Roma, 1 |last2=Schiavone |first2=Aldo |publisher=Einaudi |year=1997 |isbn=88-06-11396-8 |location=Turin |language=it |author-link=Arnaldo Momigliano}}
* {{Cite book |last=Murr Nehme |first=Lina |title=1453: The Conquest of Constantinople |publisher=Aleph Et Taw |year=2003 |isbn=2-86839-816-2 |author-link=Lina Murr Nehme}}
* {{Cite book |title=La Caduta di Costantinopoli, II: L'eco nel mondo |publisher=Fondazione Lorenzo Valla |year=1976 |editor-last=Pertusi |editor-first=Agostino |volume=II |location=Verona |language=it |trans-title=The Fall of Constantinople, II: The Echo in the World}}
* Philippides, Marios and Walter K. Hanak, The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ashgate, Farnham and Burlington 2011.
* Smith, Michael Llewellyn, "The Fall of Constantinople", in ''History Makers magazine'' No. 5 (London, Marshall Cavendish, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1969) p. 192.
* Wheatcroft, Andrew (2003): ''The Infidels: The Conflict Between Christendom and Islam, 638–2002''. Viking Publishing {{ISBN|0-670-86942-2}}
* [[Justin Wintle|Wintle, Justin]] (2003): ''The Rough Guide History of Islam''. Rough Guides. {{ISBN|1-84353-018-X}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Fall of Constantinople
|viaf= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://materiaislamica.com/index.php/Siege_of_Constantinople_(1453) ''The Siege of Constantinople'' As The Islamic World Sees it]
* [https://www.ancient.eu/article/1180/1453-the-fall-of-constantinople/ Ancient History Encyclopedia – 1453: The Fall of Constantinople]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038xbd Constantinople Siege & Fall], BBC Radio 4 discussion with Roger Crowley, Judith Herrin & Colin Imber (''In Our Time'', 28 Dec. 2006)

{{-}}
{{Byzantine Empire topics}} {{Major Ottoman sieges}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Fall of Constantinople| ]]
[[Category:1453 in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1450s in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Battles of the Byzantine–Ottoman wars|Constantinople 1453]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1453]]
[[Category:East–West Schism]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Byzantine Empire|Constantinople 1453]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire|Constantinople 1453]]
[[Category:Sieges of Constantinople|1453]]
[[Category:Battles of Mehmed the Conqueror|Constantinople]]
[[Category:History of Istanbul]]
[[Category:Massacres in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Last stand battles|Constantinople]]
[[Category:Looting]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire]]

Sofrito

2020-07-22T13:43:30Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Distinguish|soffritto|sofritas}}{{for|the Sephardic Jewish stew|Sofrito (stew)}}{{italic title}}
[[File:Sofrito.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Sofrito being prepared in Spain]]
'''{{lang|es|Sofrito}}''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]], {{IPA-es|soˈfɾito|pron}}), '''{{lang|ca|sofregit}}''' ([[Catalan language|Catalan]]), '''{{lang|it|soffritto}}''' ([[Italian language|Italian]], {{IPA-it|sofˈfritto|pron}}), or '''{{lang|pt|refogado}}''' ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{IPA-pt|χɨfuˈgadu|pron}}/{{IPA-pt|ʁefuˈɡadu|}}) is a [[sauce]] used as a base in [[Latin American cuisine|Latin American]], [[Spanish cuisine|Spanish]], [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] and [[Portuguese cuisine|Portuguese]] cooking. Preparations may vary, but it typically consists of aromatic ingredients cut into small pieces and [[Sautéing|sautéed]] or [[Braising|braised]] in [[cooking oil]].

In modern-day Spanish cuisine, {{lang|es|sofrito}} consists of [[garlic]], [[onion]], [[capsicum|peppers]], and [[tomato]]es cooked in [[olive oil]]. This is known as {{lang|pt|refogado, sufrito}}, or sometimes as {{lang|pt|estrugido}} in [[Lusosphere|Portuguese-speaking]] nations, where only onions and olive oil are often essential, tomato, garlic and [[Bay Laurel|bay laurel leaves]] being the other most common ingredients.{{fact|date=August 2018}}

==Mediterranean==
In [[Mediterranean cuisine]], olive oil is heavily emphasized as the third critical component in the base along with tomatoes and onions. Garlic is optional, as it is not considered an integral part of the standard {{lang|ca|sofregit}} recipe.<ref name="Catalan">{{cite book|author=Colman Andrews|title=Catalan Cuisine: Vivid Flavors from Spain's Mediterranean Coast|publisher=Harvard Common Press|year=2005|pages=332|chapter=Part Two: SAUCES (Sofregit)|isbn=978-1-5583-2329-2}}</ref> The earliest mentioned recipe of ''sofregit,'' from around the middle of the 14th century, is made with onion and oil only as tomatoes or peppers did not arrive in Europe until long after the discovery of the Americas.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The book of Sent Soví : medieval recipes from Catalonia|date=2008|publisher=Tamesis|others=Santanach i Suñol, Joan., Vogelzang, Robin M.|isbn=978-1-85566-164-6|location=Woodbridge, Suffolk|oclc=183149198}}</ref> Some {{lang|ca|sofregit}} recipes do not contain tomatoes at all, but are made more complex with the addition of diced vegetables such as [[Leek|leeks]] or [[Bell pepper|bell peppers]]. {{fact|date=August 2018}}

In [[Italian cuisine]], chopped onions, carrots and [[celery]] is {{lang|it|battuto}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italiana.co.uk/onionscarrotandcelery.html|title=Onions, Carrot and Celery|author=|date=|website=www.italiana.co.uk|accessdate=13 October 2018}}</ref> and then, slowly cooked<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/soffritto-italian-secret-ingredient-cooking-base-need-to-know|title=The Secret Weapon in Italian Cooking|author=|date=5 July 2016|website=tastingtable.com|accessdate=13 October 2018}}</ref> in olive oil, becomes {{lang|it|[[soffritto]]}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/all-about-mirepoix.html|title=All About Mirepoix, Sofrito, Battuto, and Other Humble Beginnings|first=Serious|last=Eats|date=|website=www.seriouseats.com|accessdate=13 October 2018}}</ref> It is used as the base for most pasta sauces, such as [[bolognese sauce]], but occasionally it can be used as the base of other dishes, such as sauteed vegetables. For this reason, it is a fundamental component in Italian cuisine. It may also contain garlic,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cookingwineandtravel.com/recipe/Marinara_Sauce__Soffritto_Style|title=Marinara Sauce - Soffritto Style|author=|date=|website=CookingWineandTravel.com|accessdate=13 October 2018}}</ref> [[shallot]], or leek.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.seattlemag.com/article/chef-jerry-corso-gets-cooking-soffritto|title=Chef Jerry Corso Gets Cooking with Soffritto|author=|date=15 March 2016|website=seattlemag.com|accessdate=13 October 2018}}</ref>

In [[Greek cuisine]], the term {{lang|el|sofrito}} refers to a specific dish native to, and almost exclusively to be found on, the island of [[Corfu]]. {{lang|el|Sofrito}} is a [[veal]] steak slow-cooked in a white wine, garlic, and herb sauce, and is usually served with rice.{{fact|date=August 2018}}

==Latin America==
In [[Brazilian cuisine]], the verb {{lang|pt|refogar}} also encompasses dishes that are fried in vegetable oil before being boiled or steamed, even when the actual fried seasoning is not there. Similarly, rice that has been toasted in vegetable oil before it is boiled is technically {{lang|pt|refogado}}.

In [[Colombian cuisine]], {{lang|es|sofrito}} is called {{lang|es|[[hogao]]}} which is made with only long green onion and tomato, or {{lang|es|guiso}} is made mostly of tomato, onion, coriander, cumin and sometimes garlic; it is used when cooking stews, meats, rice, as a dip or spread for arepas or other street foods and other dishes.{{fact|date=August 2018}}

In [[Cuban cuisine]], {{lang|es|sofrito}} is prepared in a similar fashion, but the main components are Spanish onions, garlic, and green bell peppers. It is a base for beans, stews, rices, and other dishes, including {{lang|es|[[ropa vieja]]}} and {{lang|es|[[picadillo]]}}. Other secondary components include tomato sauce, dry white wine, cumin, bay leaf, and cilantro. {{lang|es|[[Chorizo]]}} (kind of spicy, cured sausage), {{lang|es|tocino}} ([[salt pork]]) and [[ham]] are added for specific recipes, such as beans.<ref>Rodriguez, Hector (October 16, 2017). [http://latinfood.about.com/od/seasoningmarinade/p/What-Is-Sofrito.htm "All About Sofrito: Origins, History, and Variations"]. The Spruce Eats.</ref>

In [[Cuisine of the Dominican Republic|Dominican cuisine]], {{lang|es|sofrito}} is also called {{lang|es|sazón}}, and is a liquid mixture containing vinegar, water, and sometimes tomato juice. A {{lang|es|sofrito}} or {{lang|es|sazón}} is used for rice, stews, beans, and other dishes. A typical [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] {{lang|es|sofrito}} is made up of very finely chopped green, red, and yellow bell peppers, [[red onion]]s, garlic, ground oregano, [[apple cider vinegar]], [[tomato paste]], water, and cilantro. Ingredients vary and can change, for instance [[cubanelle]] peppers can substitute for bell peppers, celery can replace onions, and parsley or [[culantro]] can be used in place of cilantro.<ref>[http://www.dominicancooking.com/1095-sofrito-sazones-dominicanos-4-versions.html "Dominican Sofrito & Sazón – 4 Versions"]. DominicanCooking.com, January 1, 2011.</ref>

In [[Ecuadorian cuisine]], {{lang|es|sofrito}} is called {{lang|es|refrito}}, and it is made of Spanish onions, cubanelle peppers, fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic, cilantro, and ground toasted cumin.{{fact|date=August 2018}}

In the Mexican state of [[Yucatán (state)|Yucatán]], [[habanero]] chiles are essential to the local variation of {{lang|es|sofrito}}.{{fact|date=August 2018}}

In Peruvian cuisine, sofrito is called aderezo, and it is made of red onion, garlic, one or more [[Chili pepper|chili]] paste (ají), according to recipe, salt and black pepper. Aderezo could also incorporate [[tomato]] or [[Bixa orellana|achiote]]. Some regional variation is known, as the inclusion of loche squash in North Coast Peru.

In [[Puerto Rican cuisine]], {{lang|es|sofrito}} is mostly used when cooking rice dishes, sauces, and soups. {{lang|es|Sofrito}} is closely related to {{lang|es|[[recaíto]]}}. The two main ingredients that give Puerto Rican {{lang|es|sofrito}} its characteristic flavor are {{lang|es|recao}} (culantro) and {{lang|es|[[ají dulce]]}}, but red and green cubanelle peppers, red bell peppers, [[pimiento]]s, [[yellow onion]]s, garlic, [[plum tomato]]es, and cilantro are also added. All red peppers are roasted, seeded, and then added to the {{lang|es|sofrito}}. {{lang|es|Sofrito}} is traditionally cooked with olive oil or annatto oil, {{lang|es|tocino}} (bacon), salted [[pork]] and [[Curing (food preservation)|cured]] ham. A mix of stuffed [[olive (fruit)|olives]] and [[caper]]s called {{lang|es|alcaparrado}} is usually added with spices such as [[bay leaf]], {{lang|es|[[bixa orellana|sazón]]}} and {{lang|es|[[adobo]]}}.<ref>S, Lucille (January 26, 2014). [http://www.food.com/recipe/sofrito-daisy-martinez-444676 "Sofrito (Daisy Martinez)"]. [[Genius Kitchen]].</ref>

In [[Caribbean cuisine|some Caribbean cuisine]], {{lang|es|sofrito}} is seasoned lard and functions as a base for many traditional dishes, but prepared differently from the method described above. Lard (acquired from [[Rendering (animals)|rendering]] [[Lard|pork fat]]) is strained, and [[Annatto|annatto seeds]] are added to colour it yellow, and later strained out. To the colored lard is added a ground mixture of cured [[ham]], [[bell pepper]], [[chile pepper]], and [[onion]]; after this, mashed [[coriander]] leaves ([[cilantro]]) and [[oregano]] leaves are added. [[Garlic]] cloves are added in a tea ball, and the sauce is simmered for half an hour.<ref name="joy">{{cite book|last=Rombauer|first=Irma S.|author2=Marion Rombauer Becker|author3=Ethan Becker|title=Joy of Cooking|publisher=Scribner|year=2006|pages=[https://archive.org/details/joyofcooking00romb_0/page/1013 1013]|chapter=Sofrito (Seasoned Lard)|isbn=978-0-7432-4626-2|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/joyofcooking00romb_0/page/1013}}</ref> The term also refers to a number of related sauces and seasonings in the Caribbean and Central and Latin America.

==Asia==
In [[Cuisine of the Philippines|Filipino cuisine]], {{lang|fil|ginisá}} is a culinary term that refers to a base of garlic, onions, and tomatoes sautéed together with cooking oil. It is essentially similar to the Spanish {{lang|es|sofrito}}.<ref name="Filipino">{{cite web|url=http://www.glorious-food-glossary.com/cms/glossary-lexicon/glossary-g/805-ginisa.html|title=Ginisa|accessdate=2008-05-22|date=December 2003}}</ref><ref name="Manila">{{cite web|url=http://www.manilaspoon.com/2012/05/giniling-guisadoginisang-giniling.html|title=Giniling Guisado/Ginisa - Basic Recipe|accessdate=2014-03-28|date=2012-05-02}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Tempering (spices)]]
* {{lang|fr|[[Mirepoix (cuisine)|Mirepoix]]}}
* [[Sauce]]
* [[Salsa (sauce)|Salsa]]
* [[Holy trinity (cuisine)|Holy trinity]]
* [[Sofrito (stew)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Roden, Claudia, ''A New Book of Middle Eastern Food'': London 1986 {{ISBN|0-14-046588-X}}
*Roden, Claudia, ''The Book of Jewish Food'': New York 1997, London 1999 {{ISBN|0-14-046609-6}}

== External links ==
{{Cookbook|Sofrito}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/sofrito|title=Sofrito - Recipe|author=[[Thomas Keller]]|date=|website=finecooking.com}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/how-to-soffritto|title=How-To: Soffritto|author=[[Thomas Keller]]|date=|website=The Paupered Chef}}

[[Category:Food ingredients]]
[[Category:Tomato sauces]]
[[Category:Caribbean cuisine]]
[[Category:Colombian cuisine]]
[[Category:Cuban cuisine]]
[[Category:Dominican Republic cuisine]]
[[Category:Ecuadorian cuisine]]
[[Category:Philippine cuisine]]
[[Category:Cuisine of the Ionian Islands]]
[[Category:Italian cuisine]]
[[Category:Latin American cuisine]]
[[Category:Mexican cuisine]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican cuisine]]
[[Category:Sephardi Jewish cuisine]]

Ají de gallina

2020-07-22T13:33:53Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Infobox food
| name = Ají de gallina
| image = Ají de gallina - Tradicional.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| alternate_name =
| type = [[Stew]]
| course = Main course
| country = [[Peru]]
| region =
| national_cuisine = [[Peruvian cuisine|Peruvian]]
| creator = 
| year = 16th century<ref name="Scattergood"/>
| mintime =
| maxtime =
| served =
| main_ingredient = [[Chicken]]
| minor_ingredient = [[Turmeric]]
| variations = Turkey<ref name="Scattergood">{{cite web |last1=Scattergood |first1=Amy |title=A Recipe From the Chef: Ricardo Zarate's Aji de Gallina |url=https://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/a-recipe-from-the-chef-ricardo-zarates-aji-de-gallina-2383259 |website=L.A. Weekly |accessdate=2 December 2018 |date=24 June 2010}}</ref> Canned tuna<ref name="Scattergood"/>
| serving_size =
| calories =
| calories_ref =
| protein =
| fat =
| carbohydrate =
| glycemic_index =
| similar_dish =
| cookbook =
| other =
}}
'''Ají de gallina''' is a [[Peruvian cuisine|Peruvian]] chicken [[stew]]. The dish is considered a type of Peruvian [[comfort food]], composed of a red [[onion]], [[garlic]] and [[ají amarillo]] [[sofrito]] base (''aderezo'') on which shredded boiled [[poultry]], bread simmered in [[milk]], and [[pecan]] nuts are cooked. Ají amarillo are mildly spicy peppers, basic to many [[Peruvian cuisine]] dishes. It's served with boiled potatoes, rice and black olives.<ref name="Spruce">{{cite web|url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/spicy-creamed-chicken-aji-de-gallina-3029517|title=Aji de Gallina: Peruvian Spicy Creamed Chicken|website=The Spruce Eats|accessdate=2 December 2018}}</ref>

It is believed to have evolved from [[Moors|Moorish]] dishes in 16th century Peru. It was created using leftover chicken and potatoes.<ref name="Scattergood" /> Other variants include using turkey or canned tuna.<ref name="Scattergood"/>

==See also==
* [[List of chicken dishes]]
* [[List of stews]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons-inline}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aji de gallina}}
[[Category:Peruvian chicken dishes]]
[[Category:Stews]]

{{Peru-stub}}
{{food-stub}}

Peru

2020-07-16T23:01:25Z

Huhsunqu:

{{about|the country in South America}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{short description|Country in South America}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Coord|10|S|76|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Republic of Peru
| native_name = {{nobold|{{native name|es|República del Perú}}}}
| common_name = Peru
| name = {{collapsible list
|titlestyle = background:transparent;line-height:normal;text-align:center;font-size:84%;
|title = {{resize|1.0 em|Co-official names}}{{efn|name=a|In Peru, [[Languages of Peru|other languages]] have been officially recognised as legitimate [[Indigenous language|autochthonous languages]]. In each of these,
Peru's official name ({{lang-es|República del Perú|links=no}}, pronounced: {{IPA-es|reˈpuβlika ðel peˈɾu|}}) is as follows:
* {{lang-qu|Piruw Republika}}
* {{lang-ay|Piruw Suyu}}}}
|{{Infobox
|subbox=yes
|bodystyle=font-size:80%;font-weight:normal;
|rowclass1 = mergedrow
|label1=[[Quechua language|Quechua]]:
|data1={{lang|qu|Piruw Republika}}
|rowclass2 = mergedrow
|label2=[[Aymara language|Aymara]]:
|data2={{lang|ay|Piruw Suyu}}
}}
}}
| image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
| image_coat = Escudo_nacional_del_Perú.svg
| national_motto = {{native name|es|"[[Firme y feliz por la unión]]"|nolink=on}} "Firm and Happy for the Union"
| national_anthem = {{native name|es|"[[National Anthem of Peru|Himno Nacional del Perú]]"|nolink=on}} "National Anthem of Peru" {{center|[[File:United States Navy Band - Marcha Nacional del Perú.ogg]]}}
----
{{vunblist |'''March:''' {{native name|es|"[[Marcha de Banderas]]"|nolink=on}} "March of Flags" <center>[[File:Marcha_de_banderas_(José_Sabas_Libornio_Ibarra,_1895).ogg]]</center>}}
| image_map = PER_orthographic.svg
| map_caption =
| image_map2 =
| capital = [[Lima]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|12|2.6|S|77|1.7|W|type:city}}
| largest_city = capital
| languages_type = [[Official language]]
| languages = [[Peruvian Spanish|Spanish]]
| languages2_type = Co-official languages{{efn|name=a}}
| languages2 = {{unbulleted list
| [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]]
| [[Aymara language|Aymara]]
| [[Languages of Peru|Other indigenous languages]]
}}
| ethnic_groups = {{Collapsible list
|titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-size:100%;
|title = List of [[Demographics of Peru#Ethnic groups|ethnic groups]]|
{{plainlist|
* {{percent|13,965,254|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Mestizo]]
* {{percent|5,985,491|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Indigenous peoples in Peru|Amerindian]]
* —{{percent|5,774,879|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas#Anded|Andean]]
* ——{{percent|5,176,809|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Quechua people|Quechua]]
* ——{{percent|548,232|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Aymara people|Aymara]]
* ——{{percent|49,838|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} Other
* —{{percent|210,612|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas#Amazon|Amazonian]]
* ——{{percent|55,489|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Asháninka]]
* ——{{percent|37,690|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Aguaruna people|Aguaruna]]
* ——{{percent|25,222|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Shipibo-Conibo people|Shipibo]]
* ——{{percent|12,945|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Chayahuita language|Chayahuita]]
* ——{{percent|79,266|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} Other
* {{percent|1366931|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Peruvians of European descent|White]]
* {{percent|828,841|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Afro-Peruvian|Black]]
* {{percent|36,841|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Asian Peruvians|Asian]]
* —{{percent|22,534|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Japanese Peruvians|Nikkei]]
* —{{percent|14,307|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Chinese Peruvians|Tusan]]
* {{percent|241,947|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} Other
* {{percent|771,026|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} No answer
}}}}
| ethnic_groups_year = [[2017 Peru Census|2017]]{{efn|name=b|The [[2017 Peru Census|2017 National Census]] included, for the first time, a question of [[Ethnic identity|ethnic self-identification]] that was addressed to people aged 12 and over considering elements such as their ancestry, their customs and their family origin in order to visualize and better understand the cultural reality of the country.}}
| demonym = Peruvian
| government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]]<ref name="Draft">{{cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |author-link= |date=September 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns |url=http://dss.ucsd.edu/~mshugart/semi-presidentialism.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819200307/http://dss.ucsd.edu/~mshugart/semi-presidentialism.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2008 |access-date=31 August 2017 |ref=harv}}</ref><ref name="Dual">{{cite journal |last=Shugart |first=Matthew Søberg |author-link=Matthew Søberg Shugart |date=December 2005 |title=Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns |journal=French Politics |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=323–351 |issn=1476-3427 |oclc=6895745903 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087 |doi-access=free |quote=Only in Latin America have all new democracies retained a pure presidential form, except for Peru (president-parliamentary) and Bolivia (assembly-independent). |ref=harv}}</ref>
| leader_title1 = [[President of Peru|President]]
| leader_name1 = [[Martín Vizcarra]]
| leader_title2 = [[Vice President of Peru|Vice President]]
| leader_name2 = Vacant
| leader_title4 = [[Prime Minister of Peru|Prime Minister]]
| leader_name4 = [[Pedro Cateriano]]
| legislature = [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of the Republic]]{{refn|name=d|Constitutionally dissolved until a new election in 26 January 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/world/americas/peru-vizcarra-congress.html|title=Peru's President Dissolves Congress, and Lawmakers Suspend Him|work=The New York Times|first1=Anatoly|last1=Kurmanaev|first2=Andrea|last2=Andrea Zarate|date=30 September 2019|accessdate=2 October 2019}}</ref>}}
| sovereignty_type = [[Peruvian War of Independence|Independence]]
| sovereignty_note = from the [[History of Spain (1814-1873)|Kingdom of Spain]]
| established_event1 = [[Peruvian War of Independence|Declared]]
| established_date1 = 28 July 1821
| established_event2 = [[Battle of Ayacucho|Consolidated]]
| established_date2 = 9 December 1824
| established_event3 = Recognized
| established_date3 = 14 August 1879
| area_km2 = 1,285,216
| area_rank = 19th
| area_sq_mi = 496,225 
| percent_water = 0.41 
| population_estimate = {{increase}} 32,824,358 <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/principales_indicadores/libro_1.pdf|title=Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población Total, por Años Calendario y Edades Simples, 1950–2050|trans-title=Peru: Estimates and Projections of Total Population, by Calendar Years and Simple Ages, 1950-2050|publisher=National Institute of Statistics and Informatics|date=September 2009|language=Spanish}}</ref>
| population_census = 31,237,385
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| population_estimate_rank = 42nd
| population_census_year = 2017
| population_density_km2 = 23 
| population_density_sq_mi = 57 
| population_density_rank = 198th
| GDP_PPP = {{increase}} $505.450 billion<ref name="imf2">{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=31&pr.y=8&sy=2017&ey=2024&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=293&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=|title=Peru |publisher=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year = 2020
| GDP_PPP_rank = 36th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = {{increase}} $15,399<ref name="imf2" />
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 85th
| GDP_nominal = {{increase}} $240.175 billion<ref name="imf2" />
| GDP_nominal_year = 2020
| GDP_nominal_rank = 41st
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $7,317<ref name="imf2" />
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 80th
| Gini = 43.3 
| Gini_year = 2017
| Gini_change = decrease 
| Gini_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=PE |title=Gini Index |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref>
| Gini_rank =
| HDI = 0.763 
| HDI_year = 2018 
| HDI_change = increase 
| HDI_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2019.pdf |title=2019 Human Development Report |year=2019 |accessdate=9 December 2019 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme}}</ref>
| HDI_rank = 82th
| currency = [[Peruvian sol|Sol]]
| currency_code = PEN
| time_zone = [[Time in Peru|PET]]
| utc_offset = −5
| date_format = dd.mm.yyyy ([[Common Era|CE]])
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = [[+51]]
| iso3166code = PE
| cctld = [[.pe]]
| religion = {{Collapsible list
|titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-size:100%;
|title = List of [[Religion in Peru|religions]]|{{plainlist|
* {{percent|17,635,339|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]]
* {{percent|4,286,541|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Protestantism|Protestant]]
* —{{percent|3,264,819|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]]
* —{{percent|381,031|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Nondenominational Christianity|Non-denominational Christian]]
* —{{percent|353,430|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Adventism|Adventist]]
* —{{percent|173,602|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Jehovah's Witnesses|Jehovah's Witness]]
* —{{percent|113,659|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Mormonism|Mormon]]
* {{percent|1,180,362|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} [[Irreligion|Non-religious]]
* {{percent|94,150|23,196,391|2|pad=yes}} Others
}}}}
| religion_year = [[2017 Peru Census|2017]]{{efn|name=c| The question about [[religion]] included in the [[2017 Peru Census|2017 National Census]] was addressed to people aged 12 and over.}}
| today =
}}

'''Peru''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Peru.ogg|p|ə|ˈ|r|uː}}; {{lang-es|link=no|Perú}} {{IPA-es|peˈɾu|}}; {{lang-qu|Piruw}} {{IPA-qu|pɪɾʊw|}};<ref>Quechua name used by government of Peru is ''Perú'' (see Quechua-language version of Peru Parliament [http://www.congreso.gob.pe/_quechua/index.htm website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730230845/http://www.congreso.gob.pe/_quechua/index.htm |date=30 July 2010}} and Quechua-language version of Peru Constitution [https://www.webcitation.org/5t0I85Zv3?url=http://www.congreso.gob.pe/_quechua/Constitucion.pdf) but common Quechua name is ''Piruw'']</ref> {{lang-ay|Piruw}} {{IPA-all|pɪɾʊw|}}), officially the '''Republic of Peru''' ({{Audio-es|República del Perú|ES-pe - República del Perú.ogg}}), is a country in western [[South America]]. It is bordered in the north by [[Ecuador]] and [[Colombia]], in the east by [[Brazil]], in the southeast by [[Bolivia]], in the south by [[Chile]], and in the west by the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Peru is a [[megadiverse country]] with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the [[Andes mountains]] vertically extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical [[Amazon Basin]] rainforest in the east with the [[Amazon river]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/archivos/imagenes/vida/Peru-%20Pais%20Megadiverso.pdf |title=Perú: País megadiverso |trans-title=Peru: Megadiverse country |publisher=Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas |language=Spanish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622152015/http://www.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/archivos/imagenes/vida/Peru-%20Pais%20Megadiverso.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2014}}</ref> At 1.28 million km2 (0.5 million mi2), Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and the third largest in South America.

[[Pre-Columbian Peru|Peruvian territory]] was home to several [[Ancient Peru|ancient cultures]]. Ranging from the [[Norte Chico civilization]] starting in 3500 BC, the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the five [[cradles of civilization]], to the [[Inca Empire]], the largest state in [[pre-Columbian]] America, the territory now including Peru has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 4th millennia BCE.

The [[Spanish Empire]] conquered the region in the 16th century and [[Viceroyalty of Peru|established a viceroyalty]] that encompassed most of its South American territories, with its capital in [[Lima]]. Peru formally proclaimed independence in 1821, and following the foreign military campaigns of [[José de San Martín]] and [[Simón Bolívar]], and the decisive [[battle of Ayacucho]], Peru [[Peruvian War of Independence|completed its independence in 1824]]. In the ensuing years, the country enjoyed relative [[Guano Era|economic and political stability]], which ended shortly before the [[War of the Pacific]] (1879-1884) with Chile.

Throughout the 20th century, Peru endured armed territorial disputes, coups, social unrest, and [[Internal conflict in Peru|internal conflicts]], as well as periods of stability and economic upswing. [[Alberto Fujimori]] was elected to the presidency in 1990; his government was credited with economically stabilizing Peru and successfully ending the [[Shining Path]] insurgency, though he was widely accused of [[human rights violations]] and suppression of political dissent. Fujimori left the presidency in 2000 and was charged with human rights violations and imprisoned until his pardon by President [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] in 2017. Even after the president's regime, Fujimori's followers, called ''[[Fujimorism|Fujimoristas]]'', have caused political turmoil for any opposing faction in power, even causing Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to resign in March 2018.

The [[sovereign state]] of Peru is a [[Representative democracy|representative democratic]] republic divided into [[Administrative divisions of Peru|25 regions]]. Peru is a [[developing country]], ranking 82nd on the [[Human Development Index]],<ref>{{cite web |title=World Economic and Financial Surveys, World Economic Outlook October 2015 |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/02/pdf/text.pdf |website=www.imf.org}}</ref> with a high level of [[Human development index|human development]]<ref name="UNDP" /> with an upper middle income level<ref name="WBdata" /> and a poverty rate around 19 percent.<ref name="WBoverview">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/peru/overview |title=Peru Overview |publisher=[[World Bank]] |access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref> It is one of the region's most prosperous economies with an average growth rate of 5.9%<ref name="WBoverview" /> and it has one of the world's fastest industrial growth rates at an average of 9.6%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2089.html#pe |title=Peru |work=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=8 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707010810/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2089.html#pe |archive-date=7 July 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing; along with other growing sectors such as telecommunications and [[biotechnology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://biocanperu.minam.gob.pe/ciisbPeru/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2-MD-AQP-Biotecnologia-moderna-y-bioseg.pdf |title=Módulo de capacitación en recursos genéticos y bioseguridad |trans-title=Training module on genetic resources and biosafety |publisher=[[Ministry of Environment (Peru)|Ministerio de Ambiente de la República de Perú]] |author=David E. Castro Garro |language=Spanish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424072625/http://biocanperu.minam.gob.pe/ciisbPeru/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2-MD-AQP-Biotecnologia-moderna-y-bioseg.pdf |archive-date=24 April 2018}}</ref> The country forms part of [[The Pacific Pumas]], a political and economic grouping of countries along Latin America's Pacific coast that share common trends of positive growth, stable macroeconomic foundations, improved governance and an openness to global integration. Peru ranks high in [[Freedom in the world|social freedom]];<ref>[https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FH_FIW_2017_Report_Final.pdf "Freedom in the World 2017 – Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy"] by [[Freedom House]], 31 January 2017</ref> it is an active member of the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]], the [[Pacific Alliance]], the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]] and the [[World Trade Organization]]; and is considered as a [[middle power]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKercher|first1=B. J. C. |title=Routledge Handbook of Diplomacy and Statecraft |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136664366|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtCoAgAAQBAJ |language=en|quote=a Middle Power like Peru lack the diplomatic and other resources...}}</ref>

Peru has a population of 32 million,<ref name="INEI est" /> which includes [[Indigenous Peoples in Peru|Amerindians]], [[White Latin American|Europeans]], [[African Latin American|Africans]] and [[Asian Latin American|Asians]]. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak [[Quechua languages|Quechua]] or other [[Languages of Peru|indigenous languages]]. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

{{TOC limit|3}}

== Etymology ==
The name of the country may be derived from ''Birú'', the name of a local ruler who lived near the [[Bay of San Miguel]], [[Panama City]], in the early 16th century.<ref>Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. ''El nombre del Perú''. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968, p. 83.</ref> When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the [[New World]] yet known to Europeans.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 84.</ref> Thus, when [[Francisco Pizarro]] explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated ''Birú'' or ''Perú''.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 86.</ref>

An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]], son of an Inca princess and a [[conquistador]]. He said the name ''Birú'' was that of a common Indian happened upon by the crew of a ship on an exploratory mission for governor [[Pedro Arias de Ávila]], and went on to relate more instances of misunderstandings due to the lack of a common language.<ref>Vega, Garcilasco, ''Commentarios Reales de los Incas'', Editorial Mantaro, Lima, ed. 1998. pp. 14–15. First published in Lisbon in 1609.</ref>

The [[Spanish Empire|Spanish Crown]] gave the name legal status with the 1529 ''[[Francisco Pizarro#Capitulación de Toledo|Capitulación de Toledo]]'', which designated the newly encountered [[Inca Empire]] as the province of Peru.<ref>Raúl Porras Barrenechea, ''El nombre del Perú'', p. 87.</ref> Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination [[Viceroyalty of Peru]], which became Republic of Peru after [[Peruvian War of Independence|independence]].

== History ==
{{main|History of Peru}}
{{see also|Cultural periods of Peru|Agricultural history of Peru|Economic history of Peru }}

===Prehistory and Pre-Columbian Peru===
{{main|Pre-Columbian Peru|Andean civilizations}}
[[File:PeruCaral01.jpg|thumb|left|Remains of the two main [[Norte Chico civilization|Norte Chico]] pyramids in the arid Supe Valley]]
[[File:Nazca colibri.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|The Hummingbird of the [[Nazca Lines]]]]
The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 12,500 [[Common Era|BC]] in the [[Huaca Prieta]] settlement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dillehay |first=Tom D. |date=August 2017 |title=Where the Land Meets the Sea |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Where_the_Land_Meets_the_Sea/GIIlDwAAQBAJ |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=4 |isbn=9781477311493}}</ref>
Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as [[irrigation]] and [[Terrace (agriculture)|terracing]]; [[camelid]] husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on [[reciprocity (cultural anthropology)|reciprocity]] and [[redistribution (cultural anthropology)|redistribution]] because these societies had no notion of market or money.<ref name="Mayer" /> The oldest known complex society in Peru, the [[Norte Chico civilization]], flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BC.<ref name="Haas" /> These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal and Andean regions throughout Peru. The [[Cupisnique]] culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BC<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/971715|jstor=971715|title=Archaism or Tradition?: The Decapitation Theme in Cupisnique and Moche Iconography|author=Cordy-Collins, Alana |volume =3|issue =3|date= 1992|pages= 206–220|journal=Latin American Antiquity}}</ref> along what is now Peru's Pacific Coast was an example of early pre-Incan culture.
[[File:Moche portrait ceramic Quai Branly 71.1930.19.162 n2.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Moche culture|Moche]] ceramic vessel from the 5th century depicting a man's head.]]
[[File:Machu Picchu, Peru.jpg|thumb|The sanctuary of [[Machu Picchu]], an iconic symbol of pre-Columbian Peru.]]
The [[Chavín culture]] that developed from 1500 to 300 BC was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, with their religious centre in [[Chavín de Huantar]].<ref>UNESCO [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330 Chavin (Archaeological Site)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508102511/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330 |date=8 May 2016}}. Retrieved 27 July 2014</ref> After the decline of the Chavin culture around the beginning of the 1st century AD, a series of localized and specialized cultures rose and fell, both on the coast and in the highlands, during the next thousand years. On the coast, these included the civilizations of the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]], [[Nazca culture|Nazca]], [[Wari culture|Wari]], and the more outstanding [[Chimú culture|Chimu]] and [[Mochica Culture|Mochica]]. The Mochica, who reached their apogee in the first millennium AD, were renowned for their irrigation system which fertilized their arid terrain, their sophisticated ceramic pottery, their lofty buildings, and clever metalwork. The Chimu were the great city builders of pre-Inca civilization; as loose confederation of cities scattered along the coast of northern Peru, the Chimu flourished from about 1140 to 1450. Their capital was at [[Chan Chan]] outside of modern-day [[Trujillo, Peru|Trujillo]]. In the highlands, both the [[Tiwanaku|Tiahuanaco]] culture, near [[Lake Titicaca]] in both Peru and [[Bolivia]], and the Wari culture, near the present-day city of [[Ayacucho]], developed large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 AD.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/peru/2.htm Pre-Inca Cultures] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012150/http://countrystudies.us/peru/2.htm |date=3 November 2016}}. countrystudies.us.</ref>

In the 15th century, the [[Incas]] emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the [[Inca empire|largest empire]] in [[pre-Columbian America]] with their capital in [[Cusco]].<ref name="Altroy" /> The Incas of Cusco originally represented one of the small and relatively minor ethnic groups, the [[Quechua people|Quechuas]]. Gradually, as early as the thirteenth century, they began to expand and incorporate their neighbors. Inca expansion was slow until about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the pace of conquest began to accelerate, particularly under the rule of the emperor [[Pachacuti]]. Under his rule and that of his son, [[Topa Inca Yupanqui]], the Incas came to control most of the Andean region, with a population of 9 to 16 million inhabitants under their rule. Pachacuti also promulgated a comprehensive code of laws to govern his far-flung empire, while consolidating his absolute temporal and spiritual authority as the God of the Sun who ruled from a magnificently rebuilt Cusco.<ref>Peru [http://countrystudies.us/peru/3.htm The Incas] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012145/http://countrystudies.us/peru/3.htm |date=3 November 2016}}</ref> From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the [[Andes|Andean]] mountain ranges, from southern [[Colombia]] to northern [[Chile]], between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east. The official language of the empire was [[Quechua languages|Quechua]], although hundreds of local languages and dialects were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as ''Tawantinsuyu'' which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces." Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred ''[[Huaca]]s'', but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of [[Inti]], the sun god and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of [[Pachamama]].<ref>[http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=inca The Inca – All Empires] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120164828/http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=inca |date=20 January 2012}}</ref> The Incas considered their King, the [[Sapa Inca]], to be the "[[Sun worship|child of the sun]]."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091110041802/http://www.nflc.org/Reach/7ca/enCAInca.htm "The Inca"] at the [[Wayback Machine]] (archived 10 November 2009) ''The National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland.'' 29 May 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2014.</ref>

===Conquest and colonial period===
{{main|Spanish conquest of Peru|Viceroyalty of Peru}}Atahualpa (also Atahuallpa), the last [[Sapa Inca]], became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother [[Huáscar]] in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac. In December 1532, a party of ''[[conquistador]]s'' (supported by the [[Chanka people|Chankas]], [[Huanca people|Huancas]], [[Cañari]]s and [[Chachapoyas culture|Chachapoyas]] as [[Indian auxiliaries]]) led by [[Francisco Pizarro]] defeated and captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa in the [[Battle of Cajamarca]]. The Spanish conquest of Peru was one of the most important campaigns in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]]. After years of preliminary exploration and military conflicts, it was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory and colonization of the region known as the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] with its capital at [[Lima]], which was then known as "La Ciudad de los Reyes" (The City of Kings). The conquest of Peru led to spin-off campaigns throughout the viceroyalty as well as expeditions towards the Amazon Basin as in the case of Spanish efforts to quell Amerindian resistance. The last Inca resistance was suppressed when the Spaniards annihilated the [[Neo-Inca State]] in [[Vilcabamba, Peru|Vilcabamba]] in 1572.

The indigenous population dramatically collapsed overwhelmingly due to epidemic diseases introduced by the Spanish as well as exploitation and socioeconomic change.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01968.x|jstor=2563354|author=Lovell, W. George |year=1992|title='Heavy Shadows and Black Night': Disease and Depopulation in Colonial Spanish America|journal= Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=82 |issue=3|pages= 426–443}}</ref> Viceroy [[Francisco de Toledo]] reorganized the country in the 1570s with gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian [[Mita (Inca)|forced labor]] as its primary workforce.<ref name="Bakewell" /> With the discovery of the great silver and gold lodes at [[Potosí]] (present-day Bolivia) and [[Huancavelica]], the viceroyalty flourished as an important provider of mineral resources. Peruvian [[bullion]] provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the [[Philippines]].<ref name="Suarez" /> Because of lack of available work force, [[Slavery in south america|African slaves]] were added to the labor population. The expansion of a colonial administrative apparatus and bureaucracy paralleled the economic reorganization. With the conquest started the spread of [[Christianity]] in South America; most people were forcefully converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], taking only a generation to convert the population. They built churches in every city and replaced some of the Inca temples with churches, such as the [[Coricancha]] in the city of Cusco. The church employed the [[Inquisition]], making use of torture to ensure that newly converted Catholics did not stray to other religions or beliefs. Peruvian Catholicism follows the [[syncretism]] found in many Latin American countries, in which religious native rituals have been integrated with Christian celebrations.<ref name="discover-peru.org">Conquest and Colony of Peru.{{cite web|url=http://www.discover-peru.org/conquest-and-colony-of-peru/ |title=Archived copy |accessdate=28 July 2014 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818164503/http://www.discover-peru.org/conquest-and-colony-of-peru/ |archivedate=18 August 2016}}. Retrieved 28 July 2014</ref> In this endeavor, the church came to play an important role in the [[acculturation]] of the natives, drawing them into the cultural orbit of the Spanish settlers.
[[File:Exploring Cusco…Plaza de armas, Centro Historico (8443408703).jpg|left|thumb|[[Cusco]], capital of the Incan Empire.]]
By the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income.<ref name="Andrien" /> In response, the Crown enacted the [[Bourbon Reforms]], a series of [[edict]]s that increased taxes and partitioned the [[Viceroyalty]].<ref name="Burkholder" /> The new laws provoked [[Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II|Túpac Amaru II's rebellion]] and other revolts, all of which were suppressed.<ref name="Phelan" /> As a result of these and other changes, the Spaniards and their [[Creole peoples|creole]] successors came to monopolize control over the land, seizing many of the best lands abandoned by the massive native depopulation. However, the Spanish did not resist the [[Portuguese colonization of the Americas|Portuguese expansion of Brazil]] across the meridian. The [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] was rendered meaningless between 1580 and 1640 while [[Iberian Union|Spain controlled Portugal]]. The need to ease communication and trade with Spain led to the split of the viceroyalty and the creation of new viceroyalties of [[Viceroyalty of New Granada|New Granada]] and [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata|Rio de la Plata]] at the expense of the territories that formed the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]]; this reduced the power, prominence and importance of Lima as the viceroyal capital and shifted the lucrative [[Andean]] trade to [[Buenos Aires]] and [[Bogotá]], while the fall of the mining and textile production accelerated the progressive decay of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

[[File:Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de Lima.jpg|thumb|Main façade of the [[Cathedral of Lima]] and the [[Archbishop's Palace of Lima|Archbishop's palace]].|alt=]]
Eventually, the viceroyalty would dissolve, as with much of the Spanish empire, when challenged by national independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century. These movements led to the formation of the majority of modern-day countries of South America in the territories that at one point or another had constituted the Viceroyalty of Peru.<ref>Peru [http://countrystudies.us/peru/ Peru] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103011538/http://countrystudies.us/peru/ |date=3 November 2016}}. Retrieved 27 July 2014.</ref> The conquest and colony brought a mix of cultures and ethnicities that did not exist before the Spanish conquered the Peruvian territory. Even though many of the Inca traditions were lost or diluted, new customs, traditions and knowledge were added, creating a rich mixed Peruvian culture.<ref name="discover-peru.org" /> Two of the most important indigenous rebellions against the Spanish were that of [[Juan Santos Atahualpa]] in 1742, and Rebellion of [[Túpac Amaru II]] in 1780 around the highlands near Cuzco.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Túpac Amaru II |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

===Independence===
{{main|Peruvian War of Independence}}
[[File:BattleofAyacucho.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Ayacucho]] was decisive in ensuring Peruvian independence.|alt=|220x220px]]
In the early 19th century, while most [[South America|South American nations]] were swept by [[South American wars of independence|wars of independence]], Peru remained a [[Royalist (Spanish American Revolution)|royalist]] stronghold. As the elite vacillated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy, [[independence of Peru|independence]] was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of [[José de San Martín]] and [[Simón Bolívar]].

The economic crises, the loss of power of Spain in Europe, the [[American Revolutionary War|war of independence in North America]] and native uprisings all contributed to a favorable climate to the development of emancipating ideas among the [[Criollo people|C''riollo'']] population in South America. However, the Criollo oligarchy in Peru enjoyed privileges and remained loyal to the Spanish Crown. The liberation movement started in [[Argentina]] where autonomous juntas were created as a result of the loss of authority of the Spanish government over its colonies.

After fighting for the independence of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata, [[José de San Martín]] created the [[Army of the Andes]] and [[Crossing of the Andes|crossed the Andes in 21 days]]. Once in Chile he joined forces with Chilean army General [[Bernardo O'Higgins]] and liberated the country in the battles of [[Battle of Chacabuco|Chacabuco]] and [[Battle of Maipú|Maipú]] in 1818.<ref>Scheina, 2003, ''Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899'', p. 58.</ref> On 7 September 1820, a fleet of eight warships arrived in the port of [[Paracas (municipality)|Paracas]] under the command of general José de San Martin and [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]], who was serving in the Chilean Navy. Immediately on 26 October they took control of the town of [[Pisco, Peru|Pisco]]. San Martin settled in [[Huacho]] on 12 November, where he established his headquarters while Cochrane sailed north blockading the port of [[Callao]] in [[Lima]]. At the same time in the north, [[Guayaquil]] was occupied by rebel forces under the command of Gregorio Escobedo. Because Peru was the stronghold of the Spanish government in South America, San Martin's strategy to liberate Peru was to use diplomacy. He sent representatives to Lima urging the [[Viceroy]] that Peru be granted independence, however all negotiations proved unsuccessful.

[[File:Congreso 1822.jpg|thumb|left|[[Constituent Congress of Peru, 1822|First Constituent Congress of Peru]] in the chapel of the [[National University of San Marcos]] on 22 September 1822]]

The Viceroy of Peru, [[Joaquín de la Pezuela, 1st Marquess of Viluma|Joaquín de la Pazuela]] named [[José de la Serna e Hinojosa|José de la Serna]] commander-in-chief of the loyalist army to protect Lima from the threatened invasion of San Martin. On 29 January, de la Serna organized a [[Coup d'état|coup]] against de la Pazuela which was recognized by Spain and he was named Viceroy of Peru. This internal power struggle contributed to the success of the liberating army. In order to avoid a military confrontation San Martin met the newly appointed viceroy, José de la Serna, and proposed to create a [[constitutional monarchy]], a proposal that was turned down. De la Serna abandoned the city and on 12 July 1821 San Martin occupied Lima and declared Peruvian independence on 28 July 1821. He created the first Peruvian flag. [[Alto Peru]] (Bolivia) remained as a Spanish stronghold until the army of [[Simón Bolívar]] liberated it three years later. José de San Martin was declared Protector of Peru. Peruvian national identity was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a [[Congress of Panama|Latin American Confederation]] floundered and a [[Peru-Bolivian Confederation|union with Bolivia]] proved ephemeral.<ref>Gootenberg (1991) p. 12.</ref>

[[File:La Independencia del Perú.jpg|thumb|San Martín proclaiming the independence of Peru. Painting by [[Juan Lepiani]].|alt=|220x220px]]Simon Bolivar launched his campaign from the north liberating the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] in the Battles of [[Battle of Carabobo|Carabobo]] in 1821 and [[Battle of Pichincha|Pichincha]] a year later. In July 1822 Bolivar and San Martin gathered in the [[Guayaquil Conference]]. Bolivar was left in charge of fully liberating Peru while San Martin retired from politics after the first parliament was assembled. The newly founded [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Peruvian Congress]] named Bolivar dictator of Peru giving him the power to organize the military.

With the help of [[Antonio José de Sucre]] they defeated the larger Spanish army in the [[Battle of Junín]] on 6 August 1824 and the decisive [[Battle of Ayacucho]] on 9 December of the same year, consolidating the independence of Peru and Alto Peru. Alto Peru was later established as [[Bolivia]]. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability.<ref>Discover Peru (Peru cultural society). [http://www.discover-peru.org/peru-history-independence/ War of Independence] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021143330/http://www.discover-peru.org/peru-history-independence/ |date=21 October 2016}}. Retrieved 28 July 2014</ref>

===19th century===
[[File:Angamos2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Battle of Angamos]], during the [[War of the Pacific]].|left|alt=]]

From the 1840s to the 1860s, Peru enjoyed [[Guano Era (Peru)|a period of stability]] under the presidency of [[Ramón Castilla]], through increased state revenues from [[guano]] exports.<ref>Gootenberg (1993) pp. 5–6.</ref> However, by the 1870s, these resources had been depleted, the country was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise.<ref>Gootenberg (1993) p. 9.</ref> Peru embarked on a railroad-building program that helped but also bankrupted the country.

In 1879, Peru entered the [[War of the Pacific]] which lasted until 1884. Bolivia invoked its alliance with Peru against Chile. The [[Peruvian Government]] tried to mediate the dispute by sending a diplomatic team to negotiate with the Chilean government, but the committee concluded that war was inevitable. Chile declared war on 5 April 1879. Almost five years of war ended with the loss of the [[Tarapacá Department (Peru)|department of Tarapacá]] and the provinces of [[Tacna Province|Tacna]] and [[Arica Province (Peru)|Arica]], in the Atacama region. Two outstanding military leaders throughout the war were [[Francisco Bolognesi]] and [[Miguel Grau Seminario|Miguel Grau]]. Originally Chile committed to a referendum for the cities of Arica and Tacna to be held years later, in order to self determine their national affiliation. However, Chile refused to apply the Treaty, and neither of the countries could determine the statutory framework. After the War of the Pacific, an extraordinary effort of rebuilding began. The government started to initiate a number of social and economic reforms in order to recover from the damage of the war. Political stability was achieved only in the early 1900s.

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Protocolo de Río.jpg|thumb|The signing of the [[Rio Protocol]] in January 1942]]
Internal struggles after the war were followed by a period of stability under the [[Civilista Party]], which lasted until the onset of the authoritarian regime of [[Augusto B. Leguía]]. The [[Great Depression]] caused the downfall of Leguía, renewed political turmoil, and the emergence of the [[American Popular Revolutionary Alliance]] (APRA).<ref>Klarén, Peter (2000). ''Peru: society and nationhood in the Andes''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 262–276, {{ISBN|0195069285}}.</ref> The rivalry between this organization and a coalition of the elite and the military defined Peruvian politics for the following three decades. A final peace treaty in 1929, signed between Peru and Chile called the [[Treaty of Lima]], returned [[Tacna]] to Peru. Between 1932 and 1933, Peru was engulfed in a [[Leticia Incident|year-long war with Colombia]] over a territorial dispute involving the [[Amazonas department]] and its capital [[Leticia, Amazonas|Leticia]].

Later, in 1941, Peru and [[Ecuador]] fought the [[Ecuadorian–Peruvian War]], after which the [[Rio Protocol]] sought to formalize the boundary between those two countries. In a military coup on 29 October 1948, General [[Manuel A. Odría]] became president. Odría's presidency was known as the ''Ochenio''. Momentarily pleasing the oligarchy and all others on the right, but followed a [[Populism|populist]] course that won him great favor with the poor and lower classes. A thriving economy allowed him to indulge in expensive but crowd-pleasing social policies. At the same time, however, [[civil rights]] were severely restricted and [[political corruption|corruption]] was rampant throughout his regime. Odría was succeeded by [[Manuel Prado Ugarteche]]. However, widespread allegations of fraud prompted the Peruvian military to depose Prado and install a military junta, led by [[Ricardo Pérez Godoy]]. Godoy ran a short transitional government and held new elections in 1963, which were won by [[Fernando Belaúnde Terry]] who assumed presidency until 1968. Belaúnde was recognized for his commitment to the [[democracy|democratic]] process. In 1968, the Armed Forces, led by General [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]], staged a coup against Belaúnde. Alvarado's regime undertook radical reforms aimed at fostering development, but failed to gain widespread support. In 1975, General [[Francisco Morales-Bermúdez]] forcefully replaced Velasco, paralyzed reforms, and oversaw the reestablishment of democracy.

[[File:Zonas donde se ha registrado actividad de Sendero Luminoso.png|thumb|left|Areas where the [[Shining Path]] was active in Peru]]

Peru engaged in a brief successful conflict with Ecuador in the [[Paquisha War]] as a result of territorial dispute between the two countries. After the country experienced [[chronic inflation]], the Peruvian currency, the [[Peruvian sol (1863–1985)|sol]], was replaced by the ''[[Inti (currency)|Inti]]'' in mid-1985, which itself was replaced by the [[Peruvian nuevo sol|nuevo sol]] in July 1991, at which time the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion old soles. The per capita annual income of Peruvians fell to $720 (below the level of 1960) and Peru's [[Gross Domestic Product|GDP]] dropped 20% at which national reserves were a negative $900 million. The economic turbulence of the time acerbated social tensions in Peru and partly contributed to the rise of violent rebel rural insurgent movements, like [[Shining Path|Sendero Luminoso]] (Shining Path) and [[Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement|MRTA]], which caused [[Internal conflict in Peru|great havoc]] throughout the country. Concerned about the economy, the increasing terrorist threat from Sendero Luminoso and MRTA, and allegations of official corruption, [[Alberto Fujimori]] assumed presidency in 1990. Fujimori implemented drastic measures that caused inflation to drop from 7,650% in 1990 to 139% in 1991.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Faced with opposition to his reform efforts, Fujimori dissolved Congress in the ''[[auto-golpe]]'' ("self-coup") of 5 April 1992. He then revised the constitution; called new congressional elections; and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy. Fujimori's administration was dogged by [[Insurgency|insurgent]] groups, most notably the Sendero Luminoso, who carried out terrorist campaigns across the country throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Fujimori cracked down on the insurgents and was successful in largely quelling them by the late 1990s, but the fight was marred by atrocities committed by both the Peruvian security forces and the insurgents: the [[Barrios Altos massacre]] and [[La Cantuta massacre]] by Government paramilitary groups, and the bombings of [[Tarata bombing|Tarata]] and [[Frecuencia Latina bombing|Frecuencia Latina]] by Sendero Luminoso. Those incidents subsequently came to symbolize the [[Human rights in Peru|human rights]] violations committed in the last years of violence.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

During early 1995, once again Peru and Ecuador clashed in the [[Cenepa War]], but in 1998 the governments of both nations signed a peace treaty that clearly demarcated the international boundary between them. In November 2000, Fujimori resigned from office and went into a self-imposed [[exile]], avoiding prosecution for human rights violations and corruption charges by the new Peruvian authorities.<ref name=":0" />

=== 21st century, Odebrecht Scandal, and political issues===
{{Main|Operation Car Wash|2017-20 Peruvian political crisis|2019 Peruvian constitutional crisis}}
Since the end of the Fujimori regime, Peru has tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth.<ref name=":0">''The Economist'' (17 October 2007), ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080410185845/http://www.economist.com/research/backgrounders/displaybackgrounder.cfm?bg=709221 Peru].''</ref> In spite of human rights progress since the time of insurgency, many problems are still visible and show the continued marginalization of those who suffered through the violence of the Peruvian conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=White |first=Gavin David |date=2009 |title=Displacement, decentralisation and reparation in post-conflict Peru |url=http://www.fmreview.org/protracted/white.html |journal=Forced Migration Review |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015013756/http://www.fmreview.org/protracted/white.html |archive-date=15 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A caretaker government presided over by [[Valentín Paniagua]] took on the responsibility of conducting new presidential and congressional elections. Afterwards [[Alejandro Toledo]] became president in 2001 to 2006.

On 28 July 2006, former president [[Alan García]] became President of Peru after winning the [[2006 Peruvian general election|2006 elections]]. In May 2008, Peru became a member of the [[Union of South American Nations]]. In April 2009, former president [[Alberto Fujimori]] was convicted of human rights violations and [[Alberto Fujimori's arrest and trial|sentenced]] to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the [[Grupo Colina]] [[death squad]] during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|title=Peru's Fujimori sentenced to 25 years prison|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0746237820090407|work=[[Reuters]]|date=7 April 2009}}</ref> On 5 June 2011, [[Ollanta Humala]] was elected president. During his presidency, Prime Minister [[Ana Jara]] and her cabinet were [[Motion of no confidence|successfully censured]], which was the first time in 50 years that a cabinet had been forced to resign from the Peruvian legislature.<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer |date=31 March 2015 |title=Peru's Prime Minister Ana Jara deposed over spy row |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32129407 |work=BBC |agency=BBC News |access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref> In 2016, [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] was elected, though his government was short lived as he [[Resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski|resigned]] in 2018 amid various controversies surrounding his administration. Vice president [[Martín Vizcarra]] then assumed office in March 2018 with generally favorable approval ratings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-04-15/perus-vizcarra-begins-presidency-with-57-pct-approval-rating|title=Peru's Vizcarra Begins Presidency With 57 Pct Approval Rating|date=15 April 2018|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|accessdate=16 April 2018}}</ref> Alan García was involved in the Operation Car Wash scandal and as police tried to arrest him, he committed suicide on 17 April 2019. Later that year, in July, police arrested Alejandro Toledo in California. Amid the crisis, on 30 September, 2019, President Vizcarra dissolved the congress, and elections were held on 26 January, 2020.

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Peru]], most Peruvians were under a [[stay-at-home order]].

==Government and politics==
{{main|Government of Peru|Politics of Peru}}
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| caption1 = [[Martín Vizcarra]], President of the Republic of Peru
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| caption2 = [[Congress of Peru|Manuel Merino]], President of Congress
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Peru is a [[Unitary state|unitary]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[representative democracy|representative democratic]] [[republic]] with a [[multi-party system]].<ref name="Draft" /><ref name="Dual" /> The country has maintained a [[Liberal democracy|liberal democratic]] system under its [[1993 Peruvian constitutional referendum|1993 Constitution]], which replaced a [[Constitution of Peru|constitution]] that leaned the government to a [[federation]] to authorize more power to the President.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/peru/government|title=Peru: Government|website=globaledge.msu.edu|language=en-us|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Andrade|first=Guilherme Trivellato|date=2017-04-21|title=From Promise to Delivery: Organizing the Government of Peru to Improve Public Health Outcomes|url=https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/38811936|language=en}}</ref> It is also a [[Unitary state|unitary republic]], in which the [[central government]] holds the most power and can create [[administrative division]]s. The Peruvian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the [[United States]] (a [[Constitution|written constitution]], an autonomous [[Supreme court|Supreme Court]], a [[presidential system]]) and the [[Government of China|People's Republic of China]] (a [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] congress, a [[premier]] and [[Minister (government)|ministry system]], and a strong [[Executive (government)|executive]]).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fernandini|first1=Patrick Wieland|last2=Sousa|first2=Ronnie Farfan|date=2015|title=Overview of the different levels of government|journal=The Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities Affecting Forests, Land Use, and Redd+ Across Levels and Sectors in Peru|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02240.5|pages=1–12}}</ref>

The federal government is [[Separation of powers|separated]] into three branches:

* Legislature: the [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of Peru]], consisting of 130 [[Member of Congress|members of Congress]] (on a basis of population), the [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|President of Congress]], and the Permanent Commission;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Serra|first=Diego|date=2019-08-30|title=Defending bicameralism and equalising powers: The case of Peru|url=https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788978637/9781788978637.00016.xml|journal=Constitutional Reform of National Legislatures|pages=142–162|doi=10.4337/9781788978644.00016|isbn=9781788978644|language=en-US}}</ref>
* Executive: the [[President of Peru|President]], the [[Cabinet of Peru|Council of Ministers]], which in practice controls [[Legislation|domestic legislation]] and serve as a Cabinet to the President, consisting of the [[President of the Council of Ministers of Peru|Prime Minister]] and 18 ministers of the state;
* Judiciary: the [[Supreme Court of Peru]], also known as the [[Real Audiencia of Lima|Royal Audencia of Lima]], composed of 18 [[Judge|justices]] including a [[Supreme justice|Supreme Justice]], along with 28 [[Superior Courts of Justice of Peru|superior courts]], 195 [[trial court]]s, and 1,838 [[district court]]s.

Under its constitution, the [[Presidential system|President]] is both [[head of state]] and [[head of government|government]] and is elected to a five-year term without immediate reelection.<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 112.</ref> The President appoints [[Council of Ministers of Peru|ministers]] who oversee the 18 [[Cabinet of Peru|ministries of the state]], including the [[Prime Minister of Peru|Prime Minister]], into the [[Cabinet of Peru|Cabinet]].<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 122.</ref> The constitution designates minimal authority to the Prime Minister, who presides over [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet meetings]] in which ministers advise the President and acts as a [[spokesperson]] on behalf of the [[Executive (government)|executive branch]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hildebrancht|first=Martha|title=El Habla Culta (o lo que debiera serlo)|publisher=|year=2003|isbn=|location=Lima, Peru|pages=37}}</ref> The President is also able to pose [[Motion of confidence|questions of confidence]] to the Congress of Peru, and consequently order the [[Dissolution of parliament|dissolution of congress]], done in [[1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis|1992]] by [[Alberto Fujimori]] and in [[2019–20 Peruvian constitutional crisis|2019]] by [[Martín Vizcarra]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/perus-president-dissolved-congress-then-congress-suspended-the-president/2019/10/01/7b404cd6-e451-11e9-b0a6-3d03721b85ef_story.html|title=Peru's president dissolved Congress. Then Congress suspended the president.|last=Tegel|first=Simeon|website=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2020-04-02}}</ref>
[[File:Lima Peru - City of kings - Congress.jpg|thumb|228x228px|The [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of Peru]], in [[Lima]]|alt=|left]]
In the [[Congress of the Republic of Peru|Congress of Peru]], there are 130 Members of Congress from 25 [[administrative division]]s, determined by respective population, elected to five-year terms.<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 90.</ref> Bills are proposed by the [[Executive (government)|executive]] and [[Legislature|legislative]] powers and become law by through a [[Plurality voting|plurality]] vote in Congress.<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Articles No. 107–108.</ref> The judiciary is nominally independent,<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 146.</ref> though political intervention into judicial matters has been common throughout history.<ref>Clark, Jeffrey. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813232240/http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/pubs/descriptions/perubuilding.htm ''Building on quicksand'']. Retrieved 24 July 2007.</ref> The Congress of Peru can also pass a [[motion of no confidence]], [[censure]] ministers, as well as initiate [[impeachment]]s and [[convict]] executives, in an effort to balance power between the [[Executive (government)|executive]] and [[Legislature|legislative]] branches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/RelatAgenda/reglamento.nsf/033ee8fa0e1a44f40525729300229e8b/b362ef2a104cc2780525672b007856e1?OpenDocument|website=www2.congreso.gob.pe|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Sang Hoon|last2=Magallanes|first2=José Manuel|last3=Porter|first3=Mason A.|date=2017-03-01|title=Time-dependent community structure in legislation cosponsorship networks in the Congress of the Republic of Peru|url=https://academic.oup.com/comnet/article/5/1/127/2909061|journal=Journal of Complex Networks|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|pages=127–144|doi=10.1093/comnet/cnw004|arxiv=1510.01002|issn=2051-1310}}</ref> The [[Legislature|legislative body]] in recent times has passed semi-successful impeachments, including that of [[Alberto Fujimori]] in 2000 and [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] in 2018, causing Kuczynski to [[Resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski|resign]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-43492421|title=Under fire Peru president resigns|date=2018-03-22|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-03-11|language=en-GB}}</ref>
[[File:Palacio de Gobierno, Lima, Perú, 2015-07-28, DD 109.JPG|thumb|[[Government Palace (Peru)|Palacio de Gobierno]], in [[Lima]]]]
Peru's [[electoral system]] uses [[compulsory voting]] for citizens from the age of 18 to 70, including [[Multiple citizenship|dual-citizens]] and [[Peruvians|Peruvians abroad]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Brennan|first1=Jason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRpvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116|title=Compulsory Voting: For and Against|last2=Hill|first2=Lisa|date=2014-06-12|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-04151-6|language=en}}</ref> Members of Congress are [[directly elected]] by [[Constituent state|constituents]] in respective districts through [[Proportional representation|proportional voting]]. The [[President of Peru|President]] is elected in a general election, along with the [[Vice President of Peru|Vice President]], through a majority in a [[two-round system]].<ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 31.</ref> Elections are observed and organized by the [[National Jury of Elections]], [[National Office of Electoral Processes]], and the [[National Registry of Identification and Civil Status]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/ElecSys/Peru/peru.html|title=Peru: Sistemas Electorales / Electoral Systems|website=pdba.georgetown.edu|access-date=2020-04-02}}</ref>

Peru uses a [[multi-party system]] for [[congress]]ional and [[general election]]s. Major groups that have formed governments, both on a federal and legislative level, are parties that have historically adopted [[economic liberalism]], [[progressivism]], [[right-wing populism]] (specifically [[Fujimorism]]), [[nationalism]], and [[reformism]].<ref>{{in lang|es}} Congreso de la República del Perú, [http://www.congreso.gob.pe/organizacion/grupos.asp ''Grupos Parlamentarios''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229061528/http://www.congreso.gob.pe/organizacion/grupos.asp |date=29 December 2007}}. Retrieved 27 August 2011.</ref>

The [[2016 Peruvian general election|most recent general election]] was held on 5 June 2016 and resulted in the election of [[Pedro Pablo Kuczynski]] as President and [[Martín Vizcarra]] as Vice President.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36505027|title=Peru's Fujimori admits election defeat|date=2016-06-10|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-03-11|language=en-GB}}</ref> The [[2020 Peruvian parliamentary election|most recent congressional election]] was a [[snap election]] held on 26 January 2020 in response to the [[2019–20 Peruvian constitutional crisis|dissolution of congress]], in which [[Popular Action (Peru)|Popular Action]], [[Alliance for Progress (Peru)|Alliance for Progress]], and [[Agricultural People's Front of Peru|FREPAP]] secured a majority in congress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://resultados.eleccionescongresales2020.pe/PRECE2020/EleccionesCongresales/ReCng/D40015|title=Presentación de Resultados 2020|website=resultados.eleccionescongresales2020.pe|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref>

=== Regions and territories ===
{{main|Administrative divisions of Peru}}
[[File:Peru - Regions and departments (labeled).svg|thumb|346x346px|A map of Peru's region and departments]]
Peru is divided into [[Regions of Peru|24 departments]] and one autonomous province— the [[Lima Province|Province of Lima]] (LIM) — which is independent of any region and serves as the [[Capital city|country's capital]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pozo Díaz|first=Hildebrando Castro|date=August 2008|title=Existen regiones en nuestro pais|url=http://www2.congreso.gob.pe/sicr/cendocbib/con_uibd.nsf/9F70BD4F97DA0D27052574B800766BBB/$FILE/EXISTENREGIONES.pdf|journal=Congreso de la Republica de Peru|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> Under the constitution, departments have an elected "regional"{{Note|The government in each department is referred to as "regional" governments despite being departments.}} government composed of two entities: the regional [[governor]] and the [[Regions of Peru|regional council]].<ref>''Ley N° 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'', Article No. 11.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gob.pe/estado/gobiernos-regionales|title=Gobierno del Perú|website=www.gob.pe|language=es|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref>

The Governor constitutes the [[Executive (government)|executive body]], proposes [[budget]]s, and creates [[Decree|decrees, resolutions]], and regional programs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dickovick|first=J. Tyler|date=2007-01-01|title=Municipalization as Central Government Strategy: Central-Regional–Local Politics in Peru, Brazil, and South Africa|url=https://academic.oup.com/publius/article/37/1/1/1940139|journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism|language=en|volume=37|issue=1|pages=1–25|doi=10.1093/publius/pjl012|issn=0048-5950}}</ref> The Regional Council, the region's [[Legislature|legislative body]], debates and votes on budgets, supervises regional officials, and can vote to remove the governor, deputy governor, or any member of the council from office. The Regional Governor and the Regional Council serve a term of four years, without immediate reelection. These governments plan regional development, execute public investment projects, promote economic activities, and manage public property.<ref>''Ley N° 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'', Article No. 10.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schönwälder|first=Gerd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40GaCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1&dq=peru+government#v=onepage|title=Linking Civil Society and the State: Urban Popular Movements, the Left, and Local Government in Peru, 1980–1992|date=2002-05-01|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-02379-3|language=en}}</ref>

Provinces, such as the province of [[Lima]], are administered by a [[municipal council]], headed by a [[mayor]].<ref>''Ley N° 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'', Article No. 66.</ref> The goal of devolving power to regional and municipal governments was among others to improve popular participation. [[NGO]]s played an important role in the [[decentralization]] process and still influence local politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/perus-ngos-want-government-decentralisation-serve-social-goals-and-public-participation|title=Mixed Feelings|author1=Monika Huber|author2=Wolfgang Kaiser|date=February 2013|publisher=dandc.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pique|first=Ricardo|date=2019-05-01|title=Higher pay, worse outcomes? The impact of mayoral wages on local government quality in Peru|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272719300064|journal=Journal of Public Economics|language=en|volume=173|pages=1–20|doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2019.01.005|issn=0047-2727}}</ref>

Some areas of Peru are defined as [[List of metropolitan areas of Peru|metropolitan areas]] which overlap district areas. The largest of them, the [[Lima metropolitan area]], is the seventh-[[List of metropolitan areas in the Americas|largest metropolis in the Americas]].

===Foreign relations===
{{main|Foreign relations of Peru}} [[File:Ronald Reagan and Javier Perez de Cuellar in the Oval Office.jpg|thumb|[[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] with [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary General]] [[Javier Pérez de Cuéllar|Javier Pérez de Cuellar]] in the [[Oval Office]] |284x284px]]
Over recent decades, [[Foreign relations of Peru|Peru's foreign relations]] has historically been dominated by close ties with the [[United States]] and [[Asia]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Costa|first=Eduardo Ferrero|date=1987|title=Peruvian Foreign Policy: Current Trends, Constraints and Opportunities|journal=Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs|volume=29|issue=2|pages=55–78|doi=10.2307/166073|jstor=166073|issn=0022-1937}}</ref> particularly through the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] (APEC), the [[World Trade Organization]], the [[Pacific Alliance]], [[Mercosur]], and the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS).<ref name="John" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lincoln|first1=Jennie K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAiiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT150&dq=peru++%22foreign+policy%22#v=onepage|title=The Dynamics Of Latin American Foreign Policies: Challenges For The 1980s|last2=Ferris|first2=Elizabeth G.|date=2019-07-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-31605-6|language=en}}</ref>
Peru is an active member of several [[Trade bloc|regional trade blocs]] and is one of the founding members of the [[Andean Community of Nations]]. It is also a member of international organizations such as the [[Organization of American States|OAS]] and the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Blanco-Jiménez, M., Parra-Irineo, G., González-González, N. and Tavizon-Salazar, A.|date=30 May 2019|title=Pacific Alliance: Political, Economic, and Commercial Implications|journal=Regional Integration in Latin America|volume=1|pages=1–12|doi=10.1108/978-1-78973-159-020191001|isbn=978-1-78973-160-6}}</ref> [[Javier Pérez de Cuéllar]], a celebrated Peruvian diplomat, served as [[UN Secretary General|United Nations Secretary General]] from 1981 to 1991.

Peru has planned to be fully integrated into the [[OECD|Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) by 2021, attributing its economic success and efforts to strengthen institutions as meeting factors to be a part of the OECD.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2018/01/25/productivity-provides-the-key-to-perus-bid-for-oecd-membership/|title=Productivity provides the key to Peru's bid for OECD membership|last=says|first=Christian|date=2018-01-25|website=LSE Latin America and Caribbean|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://andina.pe/ingles/noticia-perus-oecd-member-status-bid-likely-to-succeed-512879.aspx|title=Peru's OECD member status bid likely to succeed|last=PERÚ|first=Empresa Peruana de Servicios Editoriales S. A. EDITORA|website=andina.pe|language=es|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref> Peru is a member of the [[World Trade Organization]], and has pursued multiple major free trade agreements, most recently the [[United States - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement|Peru—United States Free Trade Agreement]], the [[China–Peru Free Trade Agreement|China—Peru Free Trade Agreement]], the [[European Union free trade agreements|European Union Free Trade Agreement]], free trade agreements with [[Japan]], and many others.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2019|title=The treaties of free trade (FTA) and exports of aggro-industrial products in Peru|url=http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:soct&volume=7&issue=1and2&article=004|journal=Socrates|volume=7|issue=1and2|issn=2347-2146}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shaffer|first1=Gregory|last2=Winters|first2=L. Alan|date=April 2017|title=FTA Law in WTO Dispute Settlement: Peru–Additional Duty and the Fragmentation of Trade Law|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-trade-review/article/fta-law-in-wto-dispute-settlement-peruadditional-duty-and-the-fragmentation-of-trade-law/7E4E8847CDDC2F5FE720880A1634AC0A|journal=World Trade Review|language=en|volume=16|issue=2|pages=303–326|doi=10.1017/S1474745616000550|issn=1474-7456|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Peru maintains an integrated relationship with other South American nations, and is a member of various South American intergovernmental agreements, more recently the [[Organization of American States]], [[Mercosur]], the [[Andean Community|Andean Community of Nations]], the [[Pacific Alliance]], and the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]]. Peru has historically experienced [[Chile–Peru relations|stressed relations with Chile]], including the [[Peru v Chile]] international court resolution and the [[Chilean–Peruvian maritime dispute|Chilean-Peruvian maritime dispute]], but the two countries have agreed to work in improving relations.<ref>BBC News (4 November 2005), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4405402.stm ''Peru–Chile border row escalates''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115142819/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4405402.stm |date=15 January 2009}}. Retrieved 16 May 2007.</ref>

Additionally, Peru has participated in taking a leading role in addressing the [[crisis in Venezuela]] through the establishment of the [[Lima Group]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/latin_america-amerique_latine/2020-01-05-lima_group-groupe_lima.aspx?lang=eng|title=Lima Group statement|last=Canada|first=Global Affairs Canada-Affaires mondiales|date=2019-08-29|website=GAC|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref>

===Military and law enforcement===
{{main|Peruvian Armed Forces}}
[[File:MINISTRO DE DEFENSA ACOMPAÑÓ AL PRESIDENTE OLLANTA HUMALA EN LA GRAN PARADA MILITAR Y DESFILE CÍVICO 19503317974.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|281x281px|Annual [[Military parade|national military parade]] commemorating the [[Fiestas Patrias (Peru)|Republic's founding]] on July 28]]
Peru has the fourth largest military in South America. Peru's armed forces—the [[Peruvian Armed Forces|Armed Forces of Peru]]—comprise the [[Peruvian Navy]] (MGP), the [[Peruvian Army]] (EP), and the [[Peruvian Air Force]] (FAP), in total numbering 392,660 personnel (including 120,660 regulars and 272,000 reservists) as of 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rpp.pe/mundo/latinoamerica/ranking-ubica-al-peru-como-la-cuarta-fuerza-armada-mas-poderosa-de-latinoamerica-noticia-1061135|title=Ránking ubica al Perú como la cuarta Fuerza Armada más poderosa de Latinoamérica|website=RPP|language=es|access-date=2020-03-31}}</ref> Their primary mission is to safeguard the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.<ref name="Williams 1972 43–60">{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=James L.|title=Revolution from Within: Changing Military Perspectives in Peru|date=1972|journal=Naval War College Review|volume=25|issue=2|pages=43–60|jstor=44639763|issn=0028-1484}}</ref>

Their functions are separated by branch:

* The [[Peruvian Army]] is made up of the Chief of Staff, two Control Bodies, two Support Bodies, five Military Regions and six Command Rooms.
* The [[Peruvian Air Force]] was officially created on May 20, 1929 with the name of Peruvian Aviation Corps. Its main function is to serve as the country's [[air defense]]. It also participates in [[Peace movement|social support campaigns]] for hard-to-reach populations, organizes air bridges during disasters, and participates in [[Peacekeeping|international peace missions]]. Its four major [[air base]]s are located in the cities of [[Piura]], [[Callao]], [[Arequipa]] and [[Iquitos]].
*The [[Peruvian Navy]] is in charge of the country's maritime, river, and lake defense. It is made up of 26,000 sailors. Personnel are divided into three levels: superior personnel, junior personnel and seafarers.

The military is governed by both the [[President of Peru|Commander in Chief]], [[Ministry of Defense (Peru)|Ministry of Defense]], and [[Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Peru|Joint Command of the Armed Forces]] (CCFFAA). The CCFFAA has subordinates to the Operational Commands and Special Commands, with which it carries out the military operations that are required for the defense and the fulfillment of the tasks that the executive power provides.<ref>Ministerio de Defensa, ''Libro Blanco de la Defensa Nacional''. Ministerio de Defensa, 2005, 90.</ref> [[Conscription]] was abolished in 1999 and replaced by [[voluntary military service]].<ref>''Ley N° 27178, Ley del Servicio Militar'', Articles No. 29, 42 and 45.</ref> The [[National Police of Peru]] is often classified as a part of the armed forces. Although in fact it has a different organization and a wholly civil mission, its training and activities over more than two decades as an [[anti-terrorist]] force have produced markedly [[military]] characteristics, giving it the appearance of a virtual fourth military service with significant land, sea and air capabilities and approximately 140,000 personnel. The Peruvian armed forces report through the Ministry of Defense, while the National Police of Peru reports through the Ministry of Interior.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vásquez|first=George L.|title=The Peruvian Army in War and Peace: 1980-1992|date=1994|journal=Journal of Third World Studies|volume=11|issue=2|pages=100–116|jstor=45197485|issn=8755-3449}}</ref><ref name="Williams 1972 43–60"/>

Since the end of the [[Internal conflict in Peru|crisis in Peru]] in 2000, the federal government has significantly reduced annual spending in defense.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weber|first=Cynthia|date=1990|title=Representing Debt: Peruvian Presidents Belaunde's and Garcia's Reading/Writing of Peruvian Debt|journal=International Studies Quarterly|volume=34|issue=3|pages=353–365|doi=10.2307/2600575|jstor=2600575|issn=0020-8833}}</ref> In the 2016—2017 budget, defense spending has constituted 1.1% of GDP ($2.3 billion), the second lowest spending relative to GDP in South America following [[Argentina]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?locations=PE|title=Military expenditure (% of GDP) - Peru {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=2020-03-31}}</ref> More recently, the Armed Forces of Peru have been used in [[civil defense]]. In 2020, Peru used its military personnel and even reservists to enforce the strict [[quarantine]] measures placed during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-peru-army-idUSKBN21J69A|title=Peru calls up 10,000 army reserves to enforce quarantine|date=2020-04-01|work=Reuters|access-date=2020-04-02|language=en}}</ref>

== Geography ==
{{main|Geography of Peru}}
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| image3 = Paracas National Reserve. Ica, Peru.jpg
| caption3 = [[Manú National Park]] in the [[Peruvian Amazon|Amazon]], the mountain peak [[Alpamayo]] and [[Paracas National Reserve]].
}}
Peru is located on the central western coast of [[South America]] facing the [[Pacific Ocean]]. It lies wholly in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or about 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) south of the [[equator]], covers {{convert|1285216|km²|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} of western South America. It borders [[Ecuador]] and [[Colombia]] to the north, [[Brazil]] to the east, [[Bolivia]] to the southeast, [[Chile]] to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The [[Andes]] mountains run parallel to the Pacific Ocean; they define the three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically.

The ''costa'' (coast), to the west, is a narrow plain, largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The ''sierra'' (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the ''[[Altiplano]]'' plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the {{convert|6768|m|ft|0|abbr=on|adj=on}} [[Huascarán]].<ref>Andes Handbook, [http://www.andeshandbook.cl/eng/default.asp?main=cerro.asp?codigo=54 ''Huascarán''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008051103/http://www.andeshandbook.cl/eng/default.asp?main=cerro.asp%3Fcodigo%3D54 |date=8 October 2016}}. 2 June 2002.</ref> The third region is the ''selva'' (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the [[Amazon rainforest]] that extends east. Almost 60 percent of the country's area is located within this region.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', p. 16.</ref> The country has fifty-four hydrographic basins, fifty-two of which are small coastal basins that discharge their waters into the Pacific Ocean. The other two are the Amazon basin, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean, and the [[Endorheic basin|endorheic]] basin of Lake Titicaca, both delimited by the Andes mountain range. In the second of these basins, the giant Amazon River begins, which, with its 6872 km, is the longest river in the world, with 75% of the Peruvian territory. Peru contains 4% of the planet's fresh water.

Most Peruvian rivers originate in the peaks of the Andes and drain into one of three [[drainage basin|basins]]. Those that drain toward the Pacific Ocean are steep and short, flowing only intermittently. Tributaries of the [[Amazon River]] have a much larger flow, and are longer and less steep once they exit the ''sierra''. Rivers that drain into [[Lake Titicaca]] are generally short and have a large flow.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', p. 31.</ref> Peru's longest rivers are the [[Ucayali]], the [[Marañón River (Peru)|Marañón]], the [[Içá|Putumayo]], the [[Yavarí River|Yavarí]], the [[Huallaga River|Huallaga]], the [[Urubamba River|Urubamba]], the [[Mantaro River|Mantaro]], and the Amazon.<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005'', p. 21.</ref>

The largest [[List of lakes of Peru|lake in Peru]], Lake Titicaca between Peru and [[Bolivia]] high in the Andes, is also the largest of [[South America]].<ref>{{cite journal|year= 2003|title= Application of Strontium Isotopes to Understanding the Hydrology and Paleohydrology of the Altiplano, Bolivia-Peru|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume= 194|pages=281–297|doi=10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00282-7|last1= Grove|first1= Matthew J|last2= Baker|first2= Paul A|last3= Cross|first3= Scott L|last4= Rigsby|first4= Catherine A|last5= Seltzer|first5= Geoffrey O|issue= 1–3|bibcode= 2003PPP...194..281G}}</ref>
The largest [[Water resources management in Peru|reservoirs]], all in the coastal region of Peru, are the [[Poechos Reservoir|Poechos]], Tinajones, San Lorenzo, and El Fraile reservoirs.<ref>{{cite web|author=Oficina nacional de evaluación de recursos naturales (previous INRENA) |title=Inventario nacional de lagunas y represamientos |website=INRENA |url=http://www.inrena.gob.pe/irh/inv_nac_lagunas_represas/inv_nac_lag_rep.pdf |accessdate=3 March 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625070846/http://www.inrena.gob.pe/irh/inv_nac_lagunas_represas/inv_nac_lag_rep.pdf |archivedate=25 June 2007}}</ref>

=== Climate ===
{{main|Climate of Peru}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map PER present.svg|thumb|Map of [[Köppen climate classification]] zones in Peru]]The combination of tropical latitude, mountain ranges, topography variations, and two ocean currents ([[Humboldt Current|Humboldt]] and [[El Niño Southern Oscillation|El Niño]]) gives Peru a large diversity of climates. The coastal region has moderate temperatures, low precipitation, and high humidity, except for its warmer, wetter northern reaches.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', pp. 24–25.</ref> In the mountain region, rain is frequent in summer, and temperature and humidity diminish with altitude up to the frozen peaks of the Andes.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', pp. 25–26.</ref> The [[Peruvian Amazon]] is characterized by heavy rainfall and high temperatures, except for its southernmost part, which has cold winters and seasonal rainfall.<ref>Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú, ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico'', pp. 26–27.</ref>

===Wildlife===
{{main|Wildlife of Peru}}Because of its varied geography and climate, Peru has a high biodiversity with 21,462 species of plants and animals reported as of 2003, 5,855 of them [[endemism|endemic]],<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005'', p. 50.</ref> and is one of the [[megadiverse]] countries.

Peru has over 1,800 [[species]] of birds (120 [[Endemism|endemic]]), and 500 species of [[mammal]]s and over 300 species of [[reptile]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peruwildlife.info/|title=Peru Wildlife Information}}</ref> The hundreds of mammals include rare species like the [[Puma (genus)|puma]], [[jaguar]] and [[spectacled bear]]. The [[Bird]]s of Peru produce large amounts of [[guano]], an economically important export. The [[Pacific]] holds large quantities of [[bass (fish)|sea bass]], [[flounder]], [[anchovies]], [[tuna]], [[crustacean]]s, and [[shellfish]], and is home to many [[shark]]s, [[sperm whale]]s, and [[whale]]s.<ref name="selectlatam">{{cite web | url=http://www.selectlatinamerica.co.uk/destinations/peru/wildlife | title=Peru: Wildlife | publisher=Select Latin America | accessdate=16 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226200532/http://www.selectlatinamerica.co.uk/destinations/peru/wildlife | archive-date=26 February 2010}}</ref>

Peru also has an equally diverse [[Flora of Peru|flora]]. The coastal deserts produce little more than [[cacti]], apart from hilly [[lomas|fog oases]] and river valleys that contain unique plant life.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dillon|first1=Michael O.|title=The solanaceae of the lomas formations of coastal Peru and Chile|url=http://www.sacha.org/solanaceae/lomas_solanaceae.pdf|website=sacha.org|accessdate=28 November 2016}}</ref>
The Highlands above the tree-line known as [[Puna grassland|puna]] is home to bushes, [[cactus]], drought-resistant plants such as [[Jarava ichu|ichu]], and the largest species of [[bromeliad]] – the spectacular [[Puya raimondii]].

The cloud-forest slopes of the Andes sustain [[moss]], [[orchid]]s, and bromeliads, and the [[Amazon rainforest]] is known for its variety of trees and canopy plants.<ref name="selectlatam" />
{{Clear}}

==Economy and infrastructure==
{{Main|Economy of Peru}}
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = Buildings in Lima's financial district of [[San Isidro, Peru|San Isidro]].
| caption2 = The [[Callao]] seaport, Peru's main export outlet.
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The economy of Peru is the 48th largest in the world (ranked by [[Purchasing power parity|Purchasing Power Parity]]),<ref name="cia">[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pe.html Peru] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105025708/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pe.html |date=5 November 2016}}. CIA, The World Factbook</ref> and the income level is classified as ''upper middle'' by the World Bank.<ref name="WBdata">The World Bank, [http://data.worldbank.org/country/peru ''Data by country: Peru''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108042430/http://data.worldbank.org/country/peru |date=8 November 2016}}. Retrieved on 1 October 2011.</ref> Peru is, {{As of|2011|lc=y}}, one of the world's fastest-growing economies owing to an economic boom experienced during the 2000s.<ref>BBC (31 July 2012), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1224656.stm ''Peru country profile''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105050541/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1224656.stm |date=5 November 2016}}.</ref> It has an above-average [[Human Development Index]] of 0.74 which has seen steady improvement over {{clarify span|the last 25 years.|reason=Which 25 years? The precise time period must be specified, because readers don't know when this statement was added to the article.|date=July 2019}}<ref name="UNDP">{{cite web|title=Human Development Reports, Peru|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PER|website=hdr.undp.org|publisher=United Nations|language=en|date=2016}}</ref> Historically, the country's economic performance has been tied to exports, which provide [[hard currency]] to finance imports and external debt payments.<ref>Thorp, p. 4.</ref> Although they have provided substantial revenue, self-sustained growth and a more egalitarian [[distribution of income]] have proven elusive.<ref>Thorp, p. 321.</ref> According to 2015 data, 19.3% of its total population is poor, including 9% that lives in extreme poverty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/peru/overview|title=Overview|publisher=}}</ref> [[Inflation]] in 2012 was the lowest in [[Latin America]] at only 1.8%, but increased in 2013 as oil and commodity prices rose; {{As of|2014|lc=y}} it stands at 2.5%.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.imf.org/external/country/PER/index.htm?pn=2 | title = Peru and the IMF | publisher = [[International Monetary Fund]]}}</ref> The unemployment rate has fallen steadily {{clarify span|in recent years,|must specify exactly which years are meant, since readers don't know when this statement was added to the article|date=July 2019}} and {{As of|2012|lc=y}} stands at 3.6%.

Peruvian economic policy has varied widely over {{clarify span|the past decades.|must specify exactly which decades are meant, since readers don't know when this statement was added to the article|date=July 2019}} The 1968–1975 government of [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] introduced radical reforms, which included [[agrarian reform]], the expropriation of foreign companies, the introduction of an [[economic interventionism|economic planning system]], and the creation of a large state-owned sector. These measures failed to achieve their objectives of [[income redistribution]] and the end of [[dependency theory|economic dependence on developed nations]].<ref>Thorp, pp. 318–319.</ref>

Despite these results, most reforms were not reversed until the 1990s, when the [[liberalization|liberalizing]] government of [[Alberto Fujimori]] ended [[price controls]], [[protectionism]], restrictions on [[foreign direct investment]], and most state ownership of companies.<ref name="Sheahan" /> Reforms have permitted sustained economic growth since 1993, except for a slump after the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]].<ref>{{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/docs/Estadisticas/Cuadros-Anuales/ACuadro_06.xls ''Producto bruto interno por sectores productivos 1951–2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909085826/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/docs/Estadisticas/Cuadros-Anuales/ACuadro_06.xls |date=9 September 2016}}. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref>

[[Tertiary sector of industry|Services]] account for 53% of Peruvian [[gross domestic product]], followed by [[secondary sector of industry|manufacturing]] (22.3%), [[primary sector of industry|extractive industries]] (15%), and taxes (9.7%).<ref>2006 figures. {{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html ''Memoria 2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909090819/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html |date=9 September 2016}}, p. 204. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Recent economic growth has been fueled by [[Macroeconomics|macroeconomic]] stability, improved [[terms of trade]], and rising investment and consumption.<ref>{{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html ''Memoria 2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909090819/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html |date=9 September 2016}}, pp. 15, 203. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Trade is expected to increase further after the implementation of a [[United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement|free trade agreement with the United States]] signed on 12 April 2006.<ref>Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501000640/http://ustraderep.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2006/April/United_States_Peru_Sign_Trade_Promotion_Agreement.html ''United States and Peru Sign Trade Promotion Agreement''], 12 April 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref> Peru's main exports are copper, gold, zinc, textiles, and fish meal; its major trade partners are the [[United States]], [[China]], [[Brazil]], and [[Chile]].<ref>2006 figures. {{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva, [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html ''Memoria 2006''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909090819/http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/publicaciones/memoria-anual/memoria-2006.html |date=9 September 2016}}, pp. 60–61. Retrieved 27 December 2010.</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{main|Demographics of Peru|Peruvian people}}

===Urbanization===

{{Largest cities of Peru}}

===Ethnic groups===
{{bar box
|title=Ethnic Groups in Peru (2017 Census)<ref name="q32pL">{{cite web|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page = 214 |website = Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Ethnic Groups
|right1=percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|Mestizo|darkgreen|60.2}}
{{bar percent|Quechua|purple|22.3}}
{{bar percent|White|red|5.9}}
{{bar percent|Afro-Peruvian|black|3.6}}
{{bar percent|Aymara|orange|2.4}}
{{bar percent|Other|darkblue|2.3}}{{bar percent|Not Stated|white|3.3}}
}}
[[File:Juan Mauricio Rugendas - Study for Lima’s Main Square - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Lima's main square, c. 1843. Throughout its history, Peruvian society has been diverse.]]
Peru is a [[multiethnic society|multiethnic nation]] formed by successive waves of different peoples over five centuries. [[Indigenous Peoples in Peru|Amerindians]] inhabited Peruvian territory for several millennia before the [[Spanish conquest of Peru|Spanish Conquest]] in the 16th century; according to historian Noble David Cook, their population decreased from nearly 5–9 million in the 1520s to around 600,000 in 1620 mainly because of [[infectious disease]]s.<ref>Cook, Noble David (1982) ''Demographic collapse: Indian Peru, 1520–1620''. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. {{ISBN|0521239958}}.</ref>

The 2017 census for the first time included a question on ethnic self-identification. According to the results, 60.2% of the people identified themselves as [[Mestizo]], 22.3% identified themselves as [[Quechua people|Quechua]], 5.9% identified themselves as [[White Peruvians|White]], 3.6% identified themselves as [[Afro-Peruvians|Black]], 2.4% identified themselves as [[Aymara people|Aymara]], 2.3% identified themselves as other ethnic groups, and 3.3% didn't declare their ethnicity.<ref name="q32pL" />

Spaniards and Africans arrived in large numbers under colonial rule, mixing widely with each other and with indigenous peoples. After independence, there was gradual immigration from England, France, Germany, and Italy.<ref>Vázquez, Mario (1970) "Immigration and mestizaje in nineteenth-century Peru", pp. 79–81 in ''Race and class in Latin America''. Columbia Univ. Press. {{ISBN|0-231-03295-1}}</ref> Peru freed its black slaves in 1854.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8384853.stm Peru apologises for abuse of African-origin citizens]". BBC News. 29 November 2009</ref> Chinese and Japanese arrived in the 1850s as laborers following the end of slavery, and have since become a major influence in Peruvian society, forming one of the [[Asian Peruvians|largest populations of Asians]] in Latin America.<ref>Mörner, Magnus (1967), ''Race mixture in the history of Latin America'', p. 131.</ref>

===Population===
With about 31.2 million inhabitants, Peru is the [[List of South American countries by population|fourth most populous country in South America]].<ref name="INEI est">{{cite web|title=El Perú tiene una población de 31 millones 488 mil 625 habitantes|trans-title=Peru has a population of 31 million 488 thousand 625 inhabitants|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/prensa/noticias/el-peru-tiene-una-poblacion-de-31-millones-488-mil-625-habitantes-9196/|website=www.inei.gob.pe|publisher=INEI|language=Spanish|date=11 July 2016}}</ref> The demographic growth rate of Peru declined from 2.6% to 1.6% between 1950 and 2000; with the population being expected to reach approximately 42 million in 2050.<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población, 1950–2050'', pp. 37–38, 40.</ref> According to the 1940 Peruvian census, Peru had a population at the time of seven million residents.<ref>{{cite news |title=First results of the Peruvian population census conducted last year |url=https://www.perutelegraph.com/news/peru-living-lifestyle/first-results-of-the-peruvian-population-census-conducted-last-year |work=The Peru Telegraph |date=26 June 2018}}</ref>

{{As of|2017}}, 79.3% lived in urban areas and 20.7% in rural areas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page = 16 |website = Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática}}</ref> Major cities include the [[Lima metropolitan area]] (home to over 9.8 million people), [[Arequipa]], [[Trujillo, Peru|Trujillo]], [[Chiclayo]], [[Piura]], [[Iquitos]], [[Cusco]], [[Chimbote]], and [[Huancayo]]; all reported more than 250,000 inhabitants in the [[2007 Peru Census|2007 census]].<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú'', p. 24.</ref> There are 15 [[Uncontacted peoples|uncontacted]] Amerindian tribes in Peru.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305101828/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-01-31/isolated-peru-tribe/52903966/1 Isolated Peru tribe threatened by outsiders]. USATODAY.com. 31 January 2012</ref>

===Language===
{{main|Languages of Peru}}
{{bar box
|title=Languages in Peru (2017 Census)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page = 198 |website = Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|left1=Languages
|right1=percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|Spanish|darkgreen|82.6}}
{{bar percent|Quechua|purple|13.9}}
{{bar percent|Aymara|red|1.7}}
{{bar percent|Other Indigenous|black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|Foreign|orange|0.2}}
{{bar percent|None|green|0.1}}
{{bar percent|Not Stated|darkblue|0.8}}
}}

[[File:Downtown Lima (3913099716).jpg|thumb|
[[Casa de Osambela]], headquarters of the [[Academia Peruana de la Lengua]] (APL) in [[Lima]]]]
According to the Peruvian Constitution of 1993, Peru's official [[language]]s are [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]], and other indigenous languages in areas where they are predominant. Spanish is spoken natively by 82.6% of the population and Quechua by 13.9%, Aymara by 1.7% while other languages are spoken by the remaining 1.8%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page = 198 |website = Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática}}</ref>

Spanish is used by the government and is the mainstream language of the country, which is used by the media and in educational systems and commerce. Amerindians who live in the Andean highlands speak Quechua and Aymara and are ethnically distinct from the diverse indigenous groups who live on the eastern side of the Andes and in the tropical lowlands adjacent to the [[Amazon basin]]. Peru's distinct geographical regions are mirrored in a language divide between the coast where Spanish is more predominant over the Amerindian languages, and the more diverse traditional Andean cultures of the mountains and highlands. The indigenous populations east of the Andes speak various languages and dialects. Some of these groups still adhere to traditional indigenous languages, while others have been almost completely assimilated into the Spanish language. There has been an increasing and organized effort to teach Quechua in public schools in the areas where Quechua is spoken. In the Peruvian Amazon, numerous indigenous languages are spoken, including [[Asháninka language|Asháninka]], [[Bora language|Bora]], and [[Aguaruna language|Aguaruna]].<ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://www.resonancias.org/content/read/355/ Resonancias.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007040234/http://www.resonancias.org/content/read/355/ |date=7 October 2016}} – Aboriginal languages of Peru</ref>

===Religion===
{{main|Religion in Peru}}
[[File:Catedral de Arequipa.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Arequipa Cathedral]], [[Arequipa]]]]
[[File:Coricancha, Cusco, Perú, 2015-07-31, DD 68.JPG|thumb|[[Coricancha|Quri Kancha]] and the Convent of Santo Domingo, [[Cusco]]]]
Roman Catholicism has been the predominant faith in Peru for centuries, albeit with a high degree of [[syncretism]] with indigenous traditions. As of the 2017 census, 76% of the population over 12 years old described themselves as [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], 14.1% as [[Evangelical Protestant|Evangelical]], 4.8% as [[Protestant]], [[Jewish]], [[Latter-day Saints]], and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], and 5.1% as nonreligious.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1539/libro.pdf |title=Perú: Perfil Sociodemográfico |page = 231 |website = Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática}}</ref>

Amerindian religious traditions continue to play a major role in the beliefs of Peruvians. Catholic festivities like [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]], [[Holy Week]] and [[Christmas]] sometimes blend with Amerindian traditions. Amerindian festivities from pre-Columbian remain widespread; [[Inti Raymi]], an ancient Inca festival, is still celebrated, especially in rural communities.

The majority of towns, cities, and villages have their own official church or cathedral and [[patron saint]].

===Education===
[[File:CCSM-UNMSM Casona de San Marcos y Parque Univesitario.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[National University of San Marcos]], [[Lima]]]]
Peru's literacy rate is estimated at 92.9% as of 2007; this rate is lower in rural areas (80.3%) than in urban areas (96.3%).<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú'', p. 93.</ref> Primary and secondary education are [[compulsory education|compulsory]] and free in public schools.<ref name="cia" /><ref>''Constitución Política del Perú'', Article No. 17.</ref>

Peru is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The [[National University of San Marcos]], founded on 12 May 1551, during the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]], is the first officially established and the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.

=== Health ===
Peru has a [[life expectancy]] of 75.0 years (72.4 for males and 77.7 for females) according to the latest data for the year 2016 from the [[World Bank]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=PE&year_high_desc=true|title=Life expectancy at birth, total (years) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|language=en-us|access-date=25 August 2018}}</ref>

{{Clear}}

{{Clear}}

== Toponyms ==
Many of the Peruvian [[toponym]]s have [[Indigenous language|indigenous]] sources. In the Andes communities of [[Áncash Region|Áncash]], [[Cusco Region|Cusco]] and [[Puno Region|Puno]], Quechua or Aymara names are overwhelmingly predominant. Their Spanish-based orthography, however, is in conflict with the normalized alphabets of these languages. According to Article 20 of ''Decreto Supremo No 004-2016-MC'' (Supreme Decree) which approves the Regulations to Law 29735, published in the official newspaper El Peruano on 22 July 2016, adequate spellings of the [[toponym]]s in the normalized alphabets of the indigenous languages must progressively be proposed with the aim of standardizing the naming used by the National Geographic Institute ''(Instituto Geográfico Nacional, IGN)''. The National Geographic Institute realizes the necessary changes in the official maps of Peru.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://busquedas.elperuano.com.pe/normaslegales/decreto-supremo-que-aprueba-el-reglamento-de-la-ley-n-29735-decreto-supremo-n-004-2016-mc-1407753-5/|title=Decreto Supremo que aprueba el Reglamento de la Ley N° 29735, Ley que regula el uso, preservación, desarrollo, recuperación, fomento y difusión de las lenguas originarias del Perú, Decreto Supremo N° 004-2016-MC|last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher= |access-date=10 July 2017|quote=}}</ref>

== Culture ==

{{main|Culture of Peru}}

Peruvian culture is primarily rooted in Amerindian traditions,<ref name="Belaunde" /> though it has also been influenced by various Asian, African, and European ethnic groups. [[Peruvian arts|Peruvian artistic traditions]] date back to the elaborate pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture of [[Pre-Inca cultures]]. The Incas maintained these crafts and made [[Architecture of Peru|architectural]] achievements including the construction of [[Machu Picchu]]. [[Baroque]] dominated colonial art, though modified by native traditions.<ref>Bailey, pp. 72–74.</ref>

During this period, most art focused on religious subjects; the numerous churches of the era and the paintings of the [[Cusco School]] are representative.<ref>Bailey, p. 263.</ref> Arts stagnated after independence until the emergence of ''[[Indigenismo]]'' in the early 20th century.<ref name="Lucie" /> Since the 1950s, Peruvian art has been [[Eclecticism in art|eclectic]] and shaped by both foreign and local art currents.

===Visual Arts===
{{Main|Peruvian art}}
Peruvian art has its origin in the [[Peruvian Ancient Cultures|Andean civilizations]]. These [[Peruvian Ancient Cultures|civilizations]] rose in the territory of modern Peru before the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|arrival of the Spanish]]. Peruvian art incorporated European elements after the Spanish conquest and continued to evolve throughout the centuries up on to the modern day.

==== Pre-Columbian art ====

[[File:A detail of the Raimondi Stela.png|thumb|left|A detail of the [[Raimondi Stela]]. This stela was found out of its original placement at the ceremonial complex, Chavín de Huantar]]

[[File:Nariguera Moche2.JPG|thumb|Moche ''Nariguera'' depicting the Decapitator, gold with turquoise and [[chrysocolla]] inlays. Museo Oro del Peru, Lima]]

Peru's earliest artwork came from the [[Cupisnique]] culture, which was concentrated on the Pacific coast, and the Chavín culture, which was largely north of [[Lima]] between the Andean mountain ranges of the [[Cordillera Negra]] and the [[Cordillera Blanca]]. Decorative work from this era, approximately the 9th century BCE, was symbolic and religious in nature. The artists worked with gold, silver and [[Ceramics (art)|ceramics]] to create a variety of sculpture and relief carvings. These civilizations were also known for their [[architecture]] and wood sculpture.

Between the 9th century BC and the 2nd century CE, the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]] Cavernas and Paracas [[Necropolis]] cultures developed on the south coast of Peru. Paracas Cavernas produced complex polychrome and monochrome ceramics with religious representations. Burials from the Paracas Necropolis also yielded [https://web.archive.org/web/20080120151305/http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/1peru/sect1.htm complex textiles], many produced with sophisticated geometric patterns.

The 3rd century BCE saw the flowering of the urban culture, [[Moche (culture)|Moche]], in the [[Lambayeque (Department of Peru)|Lambayeque]] region. The Mochica culture produced impressive architectural works, such as the [[Huaca del Sol|Huacas del Sol y de la Luna]] and the [[Huaca Rajada]] of [[Sipán]]. They were experts at [[Terrace (agriculture)|cultivation in terraces]] and [[hydraulic engineering]] and produced original ceramics, textiles, pictorial and sculptural works.

Another urban culture, the [[Huari Culture|Wari civilization]], flourished between the 8th and 12th centuries in [[Ayacucho (Department of Peru)|Ayacucho]]. Their centralized town planning was extended to other areas, such as [[Pachacamac]], [[Cajamarquilla]] and [[Wari Willka]].

[[File:Inca Quipu.jpg|thumb|left|250px|'Quipus' were recording devices fashioned from [[String (structure)|strings]] historically used by a number of cultures in the region of [[Andes|Andean]] [[South America]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Neuman |first=William |title=Untangling an Accounting Tool and an Ancient Inca Mystery|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/americas/untangling-an-accounting-tool-and-an-ancient-incan-mystery.html |date=2 January 2016 |work=[[New York Times]] |accessdate=8 January 2016}}</ref>]]

Between the 9th and 13th centuries CE, the military urban [[Tiwanaku]] empire rose by the borders of [[Lake Titicaca]]. Centered around a city of the same name in modern-day Bolivia, the Tiwanaku introduced stone architecture and sculpture of a monumental type. These works of [[architecture]] and art were made possible by the Tiwanaku's developing [[bronze]], which enabled them to make the necessary tools.

Urban architecture reached a new height between the 14th and 15th centuries in the [[Chimú Culture]]. The Chimú built the city of [[Chan Chan]] in the valley of the [[Moche River]], in [[La Libertad (Department of Peru)|La Libertad]]. The Chimú were skilled [[goldsmith]]s and created remarkable works of [[hydraulic engineering]].

The [[Inca Empire|Inca Civilization]], which united Peru under its hegemony in the centuries immediately preceding the Spanish conquest, incorporated into their own works a great part of the cultural legacy of the civilizations which preceded it. Important relics of their artwork and architecture can be seen in cities like [[Cusco (Department of Peru)|Cusco]], architectural remains like [[Sacsayhuamán|Sacsahuamán]] and [[Machu Picchu]] and stone pavements that united Cusco with the rest of the Inca Empire.

==== Colonial art ====
{{Main|Peruvian colonial architecture|Cusco School}}
[[File:Anonymous, Cuzco School, Peru - The Virgin of the Pilgrims and Child - Google Art Project.jpg|upright|thumb|''The Virgin of the [[Christian pilgrimage|Pilgrims]] and Child'', Anonymous [[Cusco School|Colonial Cusco School]] painting, 18th century]]
Peruvian [[sculpture]] and [[painting]] began to define themselves from the [[Studio|ateliers]] founded by [[monk]]s, who were strongly influenced by the Sevillian Baroque School. In this context, the stalls of the [[Lima Cathedral|Cathedral]] choir, the fountain of the Main Square of [[Lima District|Lima]] both by [[Pedro de Noguera]], and a great part of the colonial production were registered. The first center of art established by the Spanish was the [[Cuzco School]] that taught [[Quechua languages|Quechua]] artists European painting styles. [[Diego Quispe Tito]] (1611–1681) was one of the first members of the Cuzco school and [[Marcos Zapata]] (1710–1773) was one of the last.<ref name="Bayon" />

Painting of this time reflected a synthesis of European and indigenous influences, as is evident in the portrait of prisoner Atahualpa, by D. de Mora or in the canvases of the Italians [[Mateo Pérez de Alesio]] and Angelino Medoro, the Spaniards Francisco Bejarano and J. de Illescas and the Creole J. Rodriguez.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the [[Baroque]] Style also dominated the field of [[plastic arts]].

=== Literature ===
{{main|Peruvian literature}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
| total_width = 220
| image1 = Mario Vargas Llosa (crop 2).jpg
| caption1 = [[Mario Vargas Llosa]]
| image2 = Retrato del Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (10949628505).jpg
| caption2 = [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]]
}}
The term Peruvian literature not only refers to literature produced in the independent Republic of Peru, but also to literature produced in the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] during the country's colonial period, and to [[Oral tradition|oral]] artistic forms created by diverse ethnic groups that existed in the area during the [[Prehispanic#South America|prehispanic period]], such as the [[Quechua people|Quechua]], the [[Aymara people|Aymara]] and the [[Chanka]] people.

Peruvian literature is rooted in the oral traditions of [[pre-Columbian]] civilizations. Spaniards introduced writing in the 16th century; colonial literary expression included [[chronicle]]s and [[Christian literature|religious literature]]. After independence, [[Costumbrism]] and [[Romanticism]] became the most common literary genres, as exemplified in the works of [[Ricardo Palma]].<ref>Martin, "Literature, music and the visual arts, c. 1820–1870", pp. 37–39.</ref> The early 20th century's ''Indigenismo'' movement was led by such writers as [[Ciro Alegría]]<ref>Martin, "Narrative since c. 1920", pp. 151–152.</ref> and [[José María Arguedas]].<ref>Martin, "Narrative since c. 1920", pp. 178–179.</ref> [[César Vallejo]] wrote modernist and often politically engaged verse. Modern Peruvian literature is recognized thanks to authors such as [[List of Nobel laureates in Literature|Nobel laureate]] [[Mario Vargas Llosa]], a leading member of the [[Latin American Boom]].<ref>Martin, "Narrative since c. 1920", pp. 186–188.</ref>[[File:Ceviche de caballa.JPG|alt=|thumb|''[[Ceviche]]'' is a popular lime marinated seafood dish which originated in Peru.]]

=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Peruvian cuisine}}
Due to the Spanish expedition and discovery of the Americas, the explorers started the [[Columbian exchange|Columbian Exchange]] which included food unheard of in the Old World, such as [[potato]], [[tomato]], and [[maize]]. Modern indigenous Peruvian food mainly consists of corn, potatoes, and [[Chili pepper|chilies]]. There are now more than 3,000 kinds of potatoes grown on Peruvian terrain, according to Peru's Instituto Peruano de la Papa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://guide.michelin.com/sg/features/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-peruvian-cuisine/news|title=7 Things You Need to Know about Peruvian Cuisine|website=MICHELIN Guide}}</ref>
Modern [[Peruvian cuisine]] blends [[Native American cuisine#Native American cuisine of South America|Amerindian]] and [[Spanish food]] with strong influences from Chinese, African, Arab, Italian, and Japanese cooking.<ref>Custer, pp. 17–22.</ref> Common dishes include ''[[anticuchos]]'', ''[[ceviche]]'', and ''[[pachamanca]]''. Peru's varied climate allows the growth of diverse plants and animals good for cooking.<ref>Custer, pp. 25–38.</ref> Peru's diversity of ingredients and cooking techniques is receiving worldwide acclaim.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120118164339/http://www.peruvianembassy.us/do.php?p=507 Embassy of Peru in the United States, ''The Peruvian Gastronomy''].peruvianembassy.us.</ref>

Peruvian cuisine reflects local practices and ingredients—including influences from the indigenous population including the [[Quechua people|Inca]] and cuisines brought in with colonizers and immigrants. Without the familiar ingredients from their home countries, immigrants modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available in Peru. The four traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine are [[Maize|corn]], [[potato]]es and other [[tuber]]s, [[Amaranthaceae]]s ([[quinoa]], [[kañiwa]] and [[kiwicha]]) and [[legume]]s ([[beans]] and [[lupins]]). Staples brought by the Spanish include [[rice]], [[wheat]] and meats (beef, pork and chicken). Many traditional foods—such as [[quinoa]], [[kiwicha]], [[chili pepper]]s, and several roots and [[tuber]]s have increased in popularity in recent decades, reflecting a revival of interest in native Peruvian foods and culinary techniques. It is also common to see traditional cuisines being served with a modern flair in towns like [[Cusco]], where tourists come to visit. Chef [[Gaston Acurio]] has become well known for raising awareness of local ingredients.

=== Music ===
{{main|Peruvian music}}
[[File:Marinera Norteña.jpg|thumb|[[Marinera]] Norteña]]
Peruvian music has [[Andean music|Andean]], [[Music of Spain|Spanish]], and [[African Music|African]] roots.<ref>Romero, Raúl (1999). "Andean Peru". In: John Schechter (ed.), ''Music in Latin American culture: regional tradition''. New York: Schirmer Books, pp. 385–386.</ref> In pre-Hispanic times, musical expressions varied widely in each region; the ''[[quena]]'' and the ''[[tinya]]'' were two common instruments.<ref name="Olsen" /> Spaniards introduced new instruments, such as the guitar and the harp, which led to the development of crossbred instruments like the ''[[charango]]''.<ref name="Turino" /> African contributions to Peruvian music include its rhythms and the ''[[Cajon|cajón]]'', a percussion instrument. [[Peruvian folk dances]] include [[marinera]], [[tondero]], [[zamacueca]], [[diablada]] and [[huayno]].<ref>Romero, Raúl (1985). "La música tradicional y popular". In: Patronato Popular y Porvenir, ''La música en el Perú''. Lima: Industrial Gráfica, pp. pp. 243–245, 261–265.</ref>

Peruvian music is dominated by the national [[Musical instrument|instrument]], the [[charango]]. The charango is member of the [[lute]] family of instruments and was invented during [[Viceroyalty of Peru|colonial times]] by musicians imitating the [[Spain|Spanish]] [[vihuela]]. In the Canas and [[Titicaca]] regions, the charango is used in courtship rituals, symbolically invoking [[mermaid]]s with the instrument to lure the woman to the male performers. Until the 1960s, the charango was denigrated as an instrument of the rural poor. After the revolution in 1959, which built upon the [[Indigenismo]] movement (1910–1940), the charango was popularized among other performers. Variants include the [[walaycho]], [[chillador]], [[chinlili]], and the larger and lower-tuned [[charangon]].

While the Spanish [[guitar]] is widely played, so too is the Spanish-in-origin [[bandurria]]. Unlike the guitar, it has been transformed by Peruvian players over the years, changing from a 12-string, 6-course instrument to one having 12 to 16 strings in a mere four courses. [[Violins]] and [[harps]], also of European origin, are also played.

=== Cinema ===
While the Peruvian film industry has not been nearly as prolific as that of some other Latin American countries, some Peruvian movies produced enjoyed regional success. Historically, the cinema of Peru [[Cinema of Iquitos|began in Iquitos]] in 1932 by Antonio Wong Rengifo (with a momentous, initial [[Movie theater|film billboard]] from 1900) because the [[rubber boom]] and the intense arrival of foreigners with technology to the city, and thus continued an extensive, unique filmography, with a different style than the films made in the capital, Lima.

Peru also produced the first animated 3-D film in [[Latin America]], ''[[Piratas en el Callao]]''. This film is set in the historical port city of [[Callao]], which during colonial times had to defend itself against attacks by Dutch and British privateers seeking to undercut Spain's trade with its colonies. The film was produced by the [[Peruvians|Peruvian]] company Alpamayo Entertainment, which made a second 3-D film one year later: ''Dragones: Destino de Fuego''.

In February 2006, the film ''[[Madeinusa]]'', produced as a joint venture between Peru and Spain and directed by [[Claudia Llosa]], was set in an imaginary Andean village and describes the stagnating life of Madeinusa performed by [[Magaly Solier]] and the traumas of post-civil war Peru.

Llosa, who shared elements of [[Gabriel García Márquez]]'s [[magic realism]], won an award at the [[Rotterdam Film Festival]]. Llosa's second feature, [[The Milk of Sorrow]] ("La Teta Asustada"), was nominated for the [[82nd Academy Awards]] for Best Foreign Language Picture, the first Peruvian film in the Academy's history to be nominated. [[The Milk of Sorrow]] ("La Teta Asustada"), won the Golden Bear award at the 2009 Berlinale.

==See also==
{{Portal|Peru}}
*[[Outline of Peru]]

==Notes and references==
;Notes
{{notelist}}
;Citations
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Altroy">D'Altroy, Terence (2002). ''The Incas''. Malden: Blackwell, {{ISBN|1405116765}}, pp. 2–3.</ref>
<ref name="Andrien">Andrien, Kenneth (1985). ''Crisis and decline: the Viceroyalty of Peru in the seventeenth century''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, {{ISBN|1597403237}}, pp. 200–202.</ref>
<ref name="Bakewell">Bakewell, Peter (1984). ''Miners of the Red Mountain: Indian labor in Potosi 1545–1650''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, {{ISBN|0826307698}}, p. 181.</ref>
<ref name="Bayon">Bayón, Damián (1998). "Art, c. 1920–c. 1980". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, {{ISBN|0521626269}}, pp. 425–428.</ref>
<ref name="Belaunde">Belaunde, Víctor Andrés (1983). ''Peruanidad''. Lima: BCR, p. 472.</ref>
<ref name="Burkholder">Burkholder, Mark (1977). ''From impotence to authority: the Spanish Crown and the American audiencias, 1687–1808''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, {{ISBN|0826202195}}, pp. 83–87.</ref>
<ref name="John">St John, Ronald Bruce (1992). ''The foreign policy of Peru''. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, {{ISBN|1555873049}}, pp. 223–224.</ref>
<ref name="Haas">{{cite journal|author=Haas, Jonathan, Creamer, Winifred and Ruiz, Alvaro |title=Dating the Late Archaic occupation of the Norte Chico region in Peru|pmid=15616561|doi=10.1038/nature03146|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/93993434/HAAS-Et-Al-2004-Dating-the-Late-Archaic-Occupation-of-the-Norte-Chico-Region-in-Peru|journal=Nature|volume= 432|issue=7020|pages=1020–1023|year=2004|bibcode=2004Natur.432.1020H}}</ref>
<ref name="Lucie">Lucie-Smith, Edward (1993). [https://archive.org/details/latinamericanart00luci ''Latin American art of the 20th century''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820094958/https://archive.org/details/latinamericanart00luci |date=20 August 2016}}. London: Thames and Hudson, {{ISBN|0500203563}}, pp. 76–77, 145–146.</ref>
<ref name="Mayer">Mayer, Enrique (2002). ''The articulated peasant: household economies in the Andes''. Boulder: Westview, {{ISBN|081333716X}}, pp. 47–68</ref>
<ref name="Olsen">Olsen, Dale (2002). ''Music of El Dorado: the ethnomusicology of ancient South American cultures''. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, {{ISBN|0813029201}}, pp. 17–22.</ref>
<ref name="Phelan">O'Phelan, Scarlett (1985). ''Rebellions and revolts in eighteenth century Peru and Upper Peru''. Cologne: Böhlau, {{ISBN|3412010855}}, 9783412010850, p. 276.</ref>
<ref name="Sheahan">Sheahan, John. ''Searching for a better society: the Peruvian economy from 1950''. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0271018720}}, p. 157.</ref>
<ref name="Suarez">{{in lang|es}} Suárez, Margarita. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130510035907/http://books.google.com/books/about/Desaf%C3%ADos_transatl%C3%A1nticos.html?id=gzWGAAAAIAAJ ''Desafíos transatlánticos'']. Lima: FCE/IFEA/PUCP, 2001, pp. 252–253.</ref>
<ref name="Turino">[[Thomas Turino|Turino, Thomas]] (1993). "Charango". In: Stanley Sadie (ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments''. New York: MacMillan Press Limited, vol. I, {{ISBN|0333378784}}, p. 340.</ref>
}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* Bailey, Gauvin Alexander. ''Art of colonial Latin America''. London: Phaidon, 2005, {{ISBN|0714841579}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070324043856/http://www.tc.gob.pe/legconperu/constitucion.html ''Constitución Política del Perú'']. 29 December 1993.
* Custer, Tony. ''The Art of Peruvian Cuisine''. Lima: Ediciones Ganesha, 2003, {{ISBN|9972920305}}.
* [[Gonzalo Garland|Garland, Gonzalo]]. "Perú Siglo XXI", series of 11 working papers describing sectorial long-term forecasts, Grade, Lima, Peru, 1986–1987.
* Garland, Gonzalo. Peru in the 21st Century: Challenges and Possibilities in ''Futures: the Journal of Forecasting, Planning and Policy'', Volume 22, No. 4, Butterworth-Heinemann, London, England, May 1990.
* Gootenberg, Paul. (1991) ''Between silver and guano: commercial policy and the state in postindependence Peru''. Princeton: Princeton University Press {{ISBN|0691023425}}.
* Gootenberg, Paul. (1993) ''Imagining development: economic ideas in Peru's "fictitious prosperity" of Guano, 1840–1880''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993, 0520082907.
* Higgins, James (editor). ''The Emancipation of Peru: British Eyewitness Accounts'', 2014. Online at https://sites.google.com/site/jhemanperu
* Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú. ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico''. Lima: Auge, 1996.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. {{cite web|url= http://www.inei.gob.pe/biblioineipub/bancopub/Est/Lib0638/Libro.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070307225725/http://www.inei.gob.pe/biblioineipub/bancopub/Est/Lib0638/Libro.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date= 7 March 2007 |title=''Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005'' }} {{small|(8.31 MB)}}. Lima: INEI, 2005.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú''. Lima: INEI, 2008.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población, 1950–2050''. Lima: INEI, 2001.
* {{DOClink|[https://web.archive.org/web/20070614010900/http://www.ccffaa.mil.pe/INFORMACION/Ley27178_Ley__ServicioMilitar.doc ''Ley N° 27178, Ley del Servicio Militar'']}}. 28 September 1999.
* Ley N° 27867, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070702195833/http://www.pmde.gob.pe/taller/Compilacion%20normativa/DESCENTRALIZACI%C3%93N/LEY%20N%C2%BA%2027867_LEY%20ORG%C3%81NICA%20DE%20GOBIERNOS%20LOCALES.pdf ''Ley Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'']. 16 November 2002.
* Martin, Gerald. "Literature, music and the visual arts, c. 1820–1870". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 3–45.
* Martin, Gerald. "Narrative since c. 1920". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 133–225.
* Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. ''El nombre del Perú''. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968.
* {{citation
| title = Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899
| first = Robert
| last = Scheina
| location =
| publisher = Brassey’s
| year = 2003
| isbn = 978-1-57488-450-0 }}
* Thorp, Rosemary and Geoffrey Bertram. ''Peru 1890–1977: growth and policy in an open economy''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978, {{ISBN|0231034334}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
;Economy
* {{in lang|es}} Banco Central de Reserva. [http://www.bcrp.gob.pe/estadisticas/cuadros-anuales-historicos.html ''Cuadros Anuales Históricos''].
* {{in lang|es}} Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perú: Perfil de la pobreza por departamentos, 2004–2008''. Lima: INEI, 2009.
* Concha, Jaime. "Poetry, c. 1920–1950". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 227–260.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links}}
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1224656.stm Country Profile] from [[BBC News]]
* {{CIA World Factbook link|pe|Peru}}
*[http://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/Country/PER/Year/2012/Summary World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Peru]
* [http://www.perulinks.com/pages/english/ PeruLinks] web directory
* {{Wikiatlas|Peru}}
* {{Wikivoyage-inline|Peru}}
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.peru.gob.pe/ Web portal] of the Peruvian Government
* {{OSM relation|288247|bullet=no}}






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Department of Junín

2020-05-22T03:01:25Z

Huhsunqu: /* Languages */

{{About|the region|the Peruvian province|Junín Province|other uses|Junín (disambiguation)}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2013}}
{{Short description|Departments of Peru}}
{{Infobox settlement

| name = Department of Junín
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| settlement_type = [[Regions of Peru|Region]]
| image_skyline = Lago de Junin-Juni Peru.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Partial view of [[Lake Junin]]
| image_flag = Bandera_Junín.png
| flag_alt =
| image_seal = Escudo_regional_Junín.png
| seal_alt =
| image_shield =
| shield_alt =
| nickname =
| motto =
| image_map = Peru - Junín Department (locator map).svg
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location of the Junín Region in Peru
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|-11.48|-74.98|type:adm1st_region:PE|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint =
| coordinates_footnotes =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = [[Peru]]
| subdivision_type1 = Subdivisions
| subdivision_name1 = 9 provinces and 123 districts
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| established_title =
| established_date =
| founder =
| seat_type = Capital
| seat = [[Huancayo]]
| government_footnotes =
| leader_party =
| leader_title = Governor
| leader_name =Vladimir Cerrón Rojas (2019–2022)
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 44197.23
| area_land_km2 =
| area_water_km2 =
| area_water_percent =
| area_note =
| elevation_footnotes = (Capital)
| elevation_m =
| elevation_max_m = 4818
| elevation_min_m =
| population_footnotes =
| population_total = 1246038
| population_as_of = 2017
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_note =
| timezone1 =
| utc_offset1 =
| timezone1_DST =
| utc_offset1_DST =
| postal_code_type = [[UBIGEO]]
| postal_code = 12
| area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in Peru|Dialing code]]
| area_code = 064
| iso_code = PE-JUN
| website = [http://www.regionjunin.gob.pe www.regionjunin.gob.pe]
| footnotes =
| blank_name_sec1 = Principal resources
| blank_info_sec1 = Potato, coffee, fruit, silver, zinc, lead.
| blank2_name_sec1 =
| blank2_info_sec1 =
| blank3_name_sec1 =
| blank3_info_sec1 =
}}
'''Junín''' ({{IPA-es|xuˈnin}}) is a [[Political division of Peru|region]] in the central [[highland (geography)|highlands]] and westernmost [[Peruvian Amazon]]. Its capital is [[Huancayo]].

==Geography==
[[File:Imagen 511.jpg|thumb|Mantaro Valley.]]
[[File:Tarma iglesia santa ana.JPG|thumb|Santa Ana de Tarma church.]]
[[File:Papa a la huancaina.jpg|thumb|''Papas a la huancaína''.]]

The region has a very heterogeneous [[topography]]. The western [[cordillera|range]] located near the border with the [[Lima Region]], has snowy and ice-covered peaks. On the east, there are high glacier valleys which end up in high [[plateau]]s (''[[Altiplano]]''). Among them is the [[Junín Plateau]] that is located between the cities of [[La Oroya]] and [[Cerro de Pasco]].

The [[Mantaro Valley]] becomes wider before Jauja up to the limit with the [[Huancavelica Region]]. This area concentrates a large share of the region's population. Towards the east, near the [[jungle]], there is an abundance of narrow and deep [[canyon]]s, with highly inclined hillsides, covered by woods under low-lying clouds.

The [[Waytapallana mountain range|Waytapallana]] mountain range is located in the south central area of the region. This range holds a great fault which is the reason earthquakes happen in the area. The upper [[jungle]], with valleys of great length, modelled by the Tulumayu, Pawqartampu, [[Perené River|Perené]] and [[Ene River|Ene]] rivers, is located on the eastern side of the region.

[[Lake Junin]], the largest [[lake]] entirely within Peru, is located in the region, except for its northernmost tip which belongs to the [[Pasco Region]].

Junín Region is also home to [[Mount Toromocho]].

===Boundaries===
The Junín Region borders the regions of [[Pasco Region|Pasco]] in the north, [[Ucayali Region|Ucayali]] in the northeast and [[Cusco Region|Cusco]] in the east. The [[Mantaro River]] marks the border of the region with the [[Ayacucho Region|Ayacucho]] and [[Huancavelica Region|Huancavelica]] regions in the south and in the west it is bordered by the [[Lima Region]].

==Climate==
The Junín Region has an average annual temperature of 13.1 °C (56 °F), a maximum high of 17 °C (62 °F) and a minimum low of 0 °C (32 °F).

The [[rainy season]] runs from November to April, and from December to March in [[tropical]] areas.

==Political division==
The region is divided into nine provinces ({{lang-es|provincias}}, singular: {{lang|es|provincia}}), which are composed of 123 districts (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito''). The provinces and their capitals are:

{|class="wikitable"
|-bgcolor=white
!Province
!Seat
!rowspan=17|[[File:ProvinciasDeJunín.JPG|center|250px]]
|-
|[[Chanchamayo Province|Chanchamayo]]
|[[La Merced, Junín|Chanchamayo]]
|-
|[[Chupaca Province|Chupaca]]
|[[Chupaca]]
|-
|[[Concepción Province, Peru|Concepción]]
|[[Concepción, Junín|Concepción]]
|-
|[[Huancayo Province|Huancayo]]
|[[Huancayo]]
|-
|[[Jauja Province|Jauja]]
|[[Jauja]]
|-
|[[Junín Province|Junín]]
|[[Junín, Peru|Junín]]
|-
|[[Satipo Province|Satipo]]
|[[Satipo (town)|Satipo]]
|-
|[[Tarma Province|Tarma]]
|[[Tarma]]
|-
|[[Yauli Province|Yauli]]
|[[La Oroya]]
|-
|}

== The People ==

=== Languages ===
According to the [[2007 Peru Census]], the language learnt first by most of the residents was [[Spanish language|Spanish]] (86.63%) followed by [[Quechua language|Quechua]] (9.29%). The Quechua varieties spoken in Junín are [[Huanca Quechua]] (in the Southwest), [[Yaru Quechua]] (in the Northwest, especially in [[Tarma Province]]). The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the Junín Region by province:<ref>[http://iinei.inei.gob.pe/iinei/RedatamCpv2007.asp?id=ResultadosCensales?ori=C inei.gob.pe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127005551/http://iinei.inei.gob.pe/iinei/RedatamCpv2007.asp?id=ResultadosCensales%3Fori%3DC |date=2013-01-27 }} INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007</ref>

{|class="wikitable" border="1" style="width:35%;" border="1"
|-bgcolor=#EFEFEF
! Province
! Quechua
! [[Aymara language|Aymara]]
! [[Asháninka language|Asháninka]]
! Another native language
! Spanish
! Foreign language
! Deaf or mute
! Total
|-
|Chupaca
|align="right" |3,162
|align="right" |17
|align="right" |9
|align="right" |135
|align="right" |45,616
|align="right" |2
|align="right" |80
|align="right" |49,021
|-
|Concepción
|align="right" |3,986
|align="right" |18
|align="right" |8
|align="right" |47
|align="right" |52,293
|align="right" |5
|align="right" |113
|align="right" |56,470
|-
|Chanchamayo
|align="right" |14,723
|align="right" |131
|align="right" |5,965
|align="right" |729
|align="right" |136,580
|align="right" |17
|align="right" |201
|align="right" |158,346
|-
|Huancayo
|align="right" |52,904
|align="right" |286
|align="right" |119
|align="right" |494
|align="right" |386,622
|align="right" |84
|align="right" |428
|align="right" |440,937
|-
|Jauja
|align="right" |1,903
|align="right" |33
|align="right" |11
|align="right" |10
|align="right" |84,776
|align="right" |3
|align="right" |170
|align="right" |86,906
|-
|Junín
|align="right" |4,418
|align="right" |24
|align="right" |2
|align="right" |6
|align="right" |24,254
|align="right" |-
|align="right" |20
|align="right" |28,724
|-
|Satipo
|align="right" |18,433
|align="right" |264
|align="right" |30,945
|align="right" |6,148
|align="right" |122,661
|align="right" |19
|align="right" |186
|align="right" |178,656
|-
|Tarma
|align="right" |5,657
|align="right" |24
|align="right" |9
|align="right" |57
|align="right" |100,309
|align="right" |11
|align="right" |150
|align="right" |106,217
|-
|Yauli
|align="right" |1,826
|align="right" |21
|align="right" |4
|align="right" |37
|align="right" |45,050
|align="right" |6
|align="right" |36
|align="right" |46,980
|-
|'''Total'''
|align="right" |107,012
|align="right" |818
|align="right" |37,072
|align="right" |7,663
|align="right" |998,161
|align="right" |147
|align="right" |1,384
|align="right" |1,152,257
|-
|'''%'''
|align="right" |9.29
|align="right" |0.07
|align="right" |3.22
|align="right" |0.67
|align="right" |86.63
|align="right" |0.01
|align="right" |0.12
|align="right" |100.00
|-
|}

== History ==
Until the arrival of the [[Inca]]s the plains of Junin region known as the Pampas were inhabited by a semi-wild, rowdy group of people whose rivals were the Tarumas. Meanwhile, the Mantaro Valley was inhabited by the [[Huanca people|Huancas]]. Inca [[Pachacuti]] won all these races in 1460, which later became part of the [[Inca Empire]]. [[Huancayo]] became the region's main highway rest stop on the Inca Trail.

Woolen mills (known in Spanish as "obrajes" or "mills") were created during the viceroyalty, when the tissue and the tissue became a tradition that continues today. On September 13, 1825, [[Simón Bolívar]] issued a decree creating what is now the Junín Region, to commemorate his victory in the [[Battle of Junín]], the last real cavalry charge in the Western world where no shot was fired, but knowing only used. Major events of national importance occurred during this period: Huancayo hosted the Assembly that issued the 1839 Constitution and in December 3, 1854, [[Ramón Castilla]] signed a decree that granted freedom to [[Afro-Peruvian]] slaves.

== Places of interest ==
* [[Asháninka Communal Reserve]]
* [[Chacamarca Historical Sanctuary]]
* [[Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve]]
* [[Otishi National Park]]
* [[Pampa Hermosa Reserved Zone]]

== Sources ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.regionjunin.gob.pe Gobierno Regional Junín] – Junín Regional Government official website

{{Regions of Peru}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junin Region}}
[[Category:Regions of Peru]]
[[Category:Junín Region| ]]

Huaylas Quechua

2020-05-20T13:07:22Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Infobox language
|name=Huaylas Quechua
|nativename=Nunashimi , Qichwa
|states=[[Perú]]
|speakers={{sigfig|336,000|2}}
|date=2000
|ref=<ref>{{e20|qwh|Quechua, Huaylas Ancash}}</ref>
|familycolor=American
|fam1=[[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
|fam2=[[Quechua I|Central]] (Quechua I)
|fam3 = [[Ancash Quechua]]
languages
| dia1 = [[Huarás Quechua (dialect)|Huarás]]
|iso3 = qwh
|glotto=huay1240
|glottorefname=Huaylas Ancash Quechua
|map = Extensión del quechua de waylas.png
|mapcaption=Huaylas quechua in [[Ancash Region|Ancash]]
}}
'''Huaylas Quechua''' is an [[Ancash Quechua]] dialect spoken in the [[Callejón de Huaylas]] and in the western slope of the [[Cordillera Negra]].

The main peculiarities of this variety are phonetic. In Quechua Ancash-Huailas a phenomenon of [[monophthong]]ation of syllables with semiconsonants in [[Coda (linguistics)|coda]] is present: "aw" is often pronounced as [o:] elongated, likewise "ay" as [e:]. For example, 'awmi' is pronounced [o: mi], '' chawpi '' (center) [t͡ʃo: pi] and '' aywan '' (walks) as [e: wan]. In grammatical terms, Huaylas lacks the suffix '' -ski ''.

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book|url=http://www.illa-a.org/wp/diccionarios/|title=Yachakuqkunapa Shimi Qullqa: Anqash Qichwa Shimichaw|last=Menacho López|first=Leonel Alexander|publisher=Ministerio de Educación de Perú|year=2005|isbn=9972-881-30-X|location=Lima|pages=}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Incubator|code=qwh}}
{{Quechuan languages}}

{{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}
[[Category:Quechuan languages]]

Talk:Huaraz Quechua

2020-05-20T13:05:55Z

Huhsunqu: /* Fusion with Huaylas Quechua */ new section

{{WikiProject Peru}}

== Fusion with [[Huaylas Quechua]] ==

This supposed dialect is not different than Huaylas Quechua. [[User:Huhsunqu|Huhsunqu]] ([[User talk:Huhsunqu|talk]]) 13:05, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

Huaylas Quechua

2020-05-20T13:02:59Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Infobox language
|name=Huaylas Quechua
|nativename=Nunashimi , Qichwa
|states=[[Perú]]
|speakers={{sigfig|336,000|2}}
|date=2000
|ref=<ref>{{e20|qwh|Quechua, Huaylas Ancash}}</ref>
|familycolor=American
|fam1=[[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
|fam2=[[Quechua I|Central]] (Quechua I)
|fam3 = [[Ancash Quechua]]
languages
| dia1 = [[Huarás Quechua (dialect)|Huarás]] 
| dia2 = ''[[Yungay quechua |Yungay]]'' 
| dia3= [[Huaylas Quechua(dialect of Huaylas Quechua)|Huaylas Quechua]] 
|iso3 = qwh
|glotto=huay1240
|glottorefname=Huaylas Ancash Quechua
|map = Extensión del quechua de waylas.png
|mapcaption=Huaylas quechua in [[Ancash Region|Ancash]]
}}
'''Huaylas Quechua''' is an [[Ancash Quechua]] dialect spoken in the [[Callejón de Huaylas]] and in the western slope of the [[Cordillera Negra]].

The main peculiarities of this variety are phonetic. In Quechua Ancash-Huailas a phenomenon of [[monophthong]]ation of syllables with semiconsonants in [[Coda (linguistics)|coda]] is present: "aw" is often pronounced as [o:] elongated, likewise "ay" as [e:]. For example, 'awmi' is pronounced [o: mi], '' chawpi '' (center) [t͡ʃo: pi] and '' aywan '' (walks) as [e: wan]. In grammatical terms, Huaylas lacks the suffix '' -ski ''.

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book|url=http://www.illa-a.org/wp/diccionarios/|title=Yachakuqkunapa Shimi Qullqa: Anqash Qichwa Shimichaw|last=Menacho López|first=Leonel Alexander|publisher=Ministerio de Educación de Perú|year=2005|isbn=9972-881-30-X|location=Lima|pages=}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Incubator|code=qwh}}
{{Quechuan languages}}

{{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}
[[Category:Quechuan languages]]

Huaylas Quechua

2020-05-20T13:02:36Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Infobox language
|name=Huaylas Quechua
|nativename=Nunashimi , Qichwa
|states=[[Perú]]
|speakers={{sigfig|336,000|2}}
|date=2000
|ref=<ref>{{e20|qwh|Quechua, Huaylas Ancash}}</ref>
|familycolor=American
|fam1=[[Quechua languages|Quechua]]
|fam2=[[Quechua I|Central]] (Quechua I)
|fam3 = [[Ancash Quechua]]
languages
| dia1 = [[Huarás Quechua (dialect)|Huarás]] 
| dia2 = ''[[Yungay quechua |Yungay]]'' 
| dia3= [[Huaylas Quechua(dialect of Huaylas Quechua)|Huaylas Quechua]] 
|iso3 = qwh
|glotto=huay1240
|glottorefname=Huaylas Ancash Quechua
|map = Extensión del quechua de waylas.png
|mapcaption=Huaylas quechua in [[Ancash Region|Ancash]]
}}
'''Huaylas Quechua''' is an [[Áncash Quechua]] dialect spoken in the [[Callejón de Huaylas]] and in the western slope of the [[Cordillera Negra]].

The main peculiarities of this variety are phonetic. In Quechua Ancash-Huailas a phenomenon of [[monophthong]]ation of syllables with semiconsonants in [[Coda (linguistics)|coda]] is present: "aw" is often pronounced as [o:] elongated, likewise "ay" as [e:]. For example, 'awmi' is pronounced [o: mi], '' chawpi '' (center) [t͡ʃo: pi] and '' aywan '' (walks) as [e: wan]. In grammatical terms, Huaylas lacks the suffix '' -ski ''.

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book|url=http://www.illa-a.org/wp/diccionarios/|title=Yachakuqkunapa Shimi Qullqa: Anqash Qichwa Shimichaw|last=Menacho López|first=Leonel Alexander|publisher=Ministerio de Educación de Perú|year=2005|isbn=9972-881-30-X|location=Lima|pages=}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Incubator|code=qwh}}
{{Quechuan languages}}

{{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}
[[Category:Quechuan languages]]

List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical)

2020-05-17T02:13:21Z

Huhsunqu: /* A */

{{cleanup reorganize|date=April 2012}}
This is a growing '''list of territorial [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[diocese]]s and ordinariates''' in communion with the [[Holy See]]. There are approximately 3,000 actual (i.e., non-titular) dioceses in the Catholic Church (including the eparchies of the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]).
:''For a structural overview, see [[List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)]]''

* Those dioceses which are (metropolitan or nominal) [[archdioceses]] (including archeparchies) are marked in '''bold type''' and are also listed at [[List of Catholic archdioceses]].
* Those dioceses which belong to Eastern Catholic Churches (often called "eparchies") are ''italicized'' and their [[particular Church]]es and proper episcopal titulature are specified after the see name.
* Missionary and other special types of circumscriptions (e.g., apostolic prefectures) are also specified before the country name.
* ''For the over 2000 '''titular dioceses''', which no longer constitute actual jurisdictions, see [[List of Catholic titular sees]].''
{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

== Alphabetical list of geographic dioceses ==
{{compact ToC|top=yes|seealso=yes|extlinks=yes}}
{|class=wikitable
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===A===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen|Aachen (Aix-la-chapelle)]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aba|Aba]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Abaetetuba|Abaetetuba]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki|Abakaliki]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Abancay|Abancay]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Abengourou|Abengourou]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta|Abeokuta]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen|Aberdeen]], Scotland, United Kingdom
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abidjan|Abidjan]], Côte d'Ivoire'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Abomey|Abomey]], Benin
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja|Abuja]], Nigeria'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Acapulco|Acapulco]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Acarigua-Araure|Acarigua-Araure]], Venezuela
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Accra|Accra]], Ghana'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Acerenza|Acerenza]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Acerra|Acerra]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Achonry|Achonry]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Acireale|Acireale]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Acqui|Acqui]], Italy
*'''''[[Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba|Addis Abeba]], Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy, Ethiopia'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide|Adelaide]], Australia'''
*[[Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat|Adigrat]], Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Adilabad|Adilabad]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Adria-Rovigo|Adria-Rovigo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Afogados da Ingazeira|Afogados da Ingazeira]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña|Agaña]], Guam'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Agartala|Agartala]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Agats|Agats]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Agboville|Agboville]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Agen|Agen]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra|Agra]], India'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agrigento|Agrigento]], Italy'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Aguarico|Aguarico]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aguascalientes|Aguascalientes]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahiara|Ahiara]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahmedabad|Ahmedabad]], India
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Ahvaz|Ahvaz (Ahwaz)]], Chaldean Catholic, Iran''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Aiquile|Aiquile]], Territorial Prelature, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aire|Aire-et-Dax]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aitape|Aitape]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aix|Aix-Arles-Embrun]], France
*Aix-la-chapelle: see Aachen
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aizawl|Aizawl]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajaccio|Ajaccio]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajmer|Ajmer]], India
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Akka]], Melkite Archeparchy, Israel'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alagoinhas|Alagoinhas]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alajuela|Alajuela]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alaminos|Alaminos]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alba Pompeia|Alba Pompeia]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia|Alba Iulia]], Romania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Albacete|Albacete]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano|Albano]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany|Albany]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Albenga-Imperia|Albenga-Imperia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Albi|Albi]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alcalá de Henares|Alcalá de Henares]], Spain
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Alep (Melkite)]]*, Syria'''''
*'''''[[Syriac Catholic Church|Aleppo (Syrian Catholic)]],*, Syria'''''
*'''''[[Maronite Church#Population|Aleppo (Maronite)]],*, Syria'''''
*'''''[[Armenian Catholic Church#Structure|Aleppo (Armenian)]],*, Syria'''''
*''[[List of Chaldean dioceses|Aleppo]], Chaldean Catholic*, Syria''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo|Alep(po)]], Apostolic Vicariate (Roman Catholic), Syria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alessandria della Paglia|Alessandria]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ales-Terralba|Ales-Terralba]], Italy
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt|Alexandria of Egypt(-Heliopolis-Port Said)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Egypt
*''[[Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Iskanderiya|Alexandria (Iskanderiya)]], Armenian Catholic Eparchy, Egypt''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall|Alexandria-Cornwall]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana|Alexandria in Louisiana]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Algiers|Algiers]], Algeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alghero-Bosa|Alghero-Bosa]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alife-Caiazzo|Alife-Caiazzo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alindao|Alindao]], Central African Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aliwal|Aliwal]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Allahabad|Allahabad]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown|Allentown]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alleppey|Alleppey]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Almenara|Almenara]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Almería|Almería]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alotau-Sideia|Alotau-Sideia]], Papua New Guinea
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Alquoch|Alquoch]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, Iraq''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti|Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alto Solimões|Alto Solimões]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Alto Valle del Río Negro|Alto Valle del Río Negro]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown|Altoona-Johnstown]], United States
*''[[Amadiya (Chaldean Diocese)|Amadiyah]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, Iraq''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amalfi-Cava de' Tirreni|Amalfi-Cava de' Tirreni]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amargosa|Amargosa]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo|Amarillo]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambanja|Ambanja]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambato|Ambato]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambatondrazaka|Ambatondrazaka]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambikapur|Ambikapur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amboina|Amboina]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ambositra|Ambositra]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amiens|Amiens]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amos|Amos]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amparo|Amparo]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Amravati|Amravati]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Anagni-Alatri|Anagni-Alatri]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Anápolis|Anápolis]], Brazil
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia|Anatolia]], Apostolic Vicariate, (Asian) Turkey
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Añatuya|Añatuya]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage|Anchorage]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo|Ancona-Osimo]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Andong|Andong]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Andria|Andria]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aného|Aného]], Togo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers|Angers]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Angoulême|Angoulême]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Angra|Angra]], Portugal
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anking|Anking]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ankwo|Ankwo]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Annecy|Annecy]], France
*''[[Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Annunciation of Ibadan|Annunciation of Ibadan]], Maronite Catholic Eparchy, Nigeria''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Anse-à-Veau and Miragoâne|Anse-à-Veau and Miragoâne]], Haiti
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antananarivo|Antananarivo]], Madagascar'''
*'''[https://archive.is/20130415141336/http://www.ourladyoflebanon.org/History.asp Antélias], Lebanon'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antequera, Oaxaca|Antequera]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish|Antigonish]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo|Antipolo]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antofagasta|Antofagasta]], Chile'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Antsirabé|Antsirabé]], Madagascar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antsiranana|Antsiranana]], Madagascar'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Antwerp|Antwerp]], Belgium
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Anuradhapura|Anuradhapura]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aosta|Aosta]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aparecida|Aparecida]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Apartadó|Apartadó]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Apatzingan|Apatzingan]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Apucarana|Apucarana]], Brazil
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Aqra|Aqra]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, Iraq''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aracajú|Aracajú]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Araçatuba|Araçatuba]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Araçuaí|Araçuaí]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arauca|Arauca]], Colombia
*'''Arbil, see Erbil, Iraq'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Archipelago of the Comores|Archipelago of the Comores (Archipel des Comores)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Comoros (& Mayotte)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise|Ardagh]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arecibo|Arecibo]], Puerto Rico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Arequipa|Arequipa]], Peru'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro|Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles|Argyll and the Isles]], Scotland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia|Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arica|Arica]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington|Arlington]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh|Armagh]], Northern Ireland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Armenia|Armenia]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Armidale|Armidale]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras|Arras]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arua|Arua]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton|Arundel and Brighton]], United Kingdom
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Arusha|Arusha]], Tanzania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Asansol|Asansol]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ascoli Piceno|Ascoli Piceno]], Italy
*'''''[[Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara|Asmara]], Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy, Eritrea'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Assis|Assis]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino|Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Taldino]], Italy
*''[http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/assi2.htm Assiut], Coptic Catholic suffragan, Egypt''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Asti|Asti]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Astorga|Astorga]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Asunción|Asunción]], Paraguay'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Atakpamé|Atakpamé]], Togo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Atambua|Atambua]], Indonesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Athens|Athens]], Greece'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Atlacomulco|Atlacomulco]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta|Atlanta]], United States'''
*[[Apostolic Administration of Atyrau|Atyrau]], Apostolic Administration, Kazakhstan
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Auch|Auch]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Auchi|Auchi]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland|Auckland]], New Zealand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg|Augsburg]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Auki|Auki]], Solomon Islands
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aurangabad|Aurangabad]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin|Austin]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Autlán|Autlán]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun|Autun]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aveiro|Aveiro]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Avellaneda-Lanús|Avellaneda-Lanús]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Avellino|Avellino]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Aversa|Aversa]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Avezzano|Avezzano]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon|Avignon]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Avila|Avila]], Spain
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa|Awasa (Hawassa)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Awgu|Awgu]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Awka|Awka]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ayacucho|Ayacucho]], Peru'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Ayaviri|Ayaviri]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Aysén|Aysén]], Apostolic Vicariate, Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Azogues|Azogues]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Azul|Azul]], Argentina

===B===
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Baalbek]], Melkite*, Lebanon'''''
*''[[Maronite Catholic Church|Baalbek - Deir El-Ahmar]], Maronite*, Lebanon''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bà Rịa|Bà Rịa]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Babahoyo|Babahoyo]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacabal|Bacabal]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bắc Ninh|Bắc Ninh]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacolod|Bacolod]], Philippines
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Baku|Baku]], Apostolic prefecture, (for all) Azerbaijan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Badulla|Badulla]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bafang|Bafang]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bafatá|Bafatá]], Guinea-Bissau
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bafia|Bafia]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bafoussam|Bafoussam]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bagdogra|Bagdogra]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bagé|Bagé]], Brazil
*'''''[[Armenian Catholic Church#Structure|Baghdad (Armenian)]], Iraq'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baghdad|Baghdad (Latin)]], Iraq'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baguio|Baguio]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca|Bahía Blanca]], Argentina'''
*''[[Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Bahir Dar-Dessie|Bahir Dar-Dessie]], Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy, Ethiopia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baie-Comeau|Baie-Comeau]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker|Baker]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga|Balanga]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Balasore|Balasore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ballarat|Ballarat]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Balsas|Balsas]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore|Baltimore]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamako|Bamako]], Mali'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bambari|Bambari]], Central African Republic
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg|Bamberg]], Germany'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda|Bamenda]], Cameroon'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bandung|Bandung]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Banfora|Banfora]], Burkina Faso
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore|Bangalore]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bangassou|Bangassou]], Central African Republic
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangkok|Bangkok]], Thailand'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bangued|Bangued]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui|Bangui]], Central African Republic'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baní|Baní]], Dominican Republic
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Baniyas]], Melkite Catholic ?ArchEparchy, Lebanon'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Banja Luka|Banja Luka]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Banjarmasin|Banjarmasin]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Banjul|Banjul]], Gambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Banmaw|Banmaw]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ban Mê Thuôt|Ban Mê Thuôt]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica|Banská Bystrica]], Slovakia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baoding|Baoding]], China PR
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Baoqing|Baoqing]] (Paoking, Shaoyang), Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar|Bar]], Montenegro'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barahona|Barahona]], Dominican Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barbastro–Monzón|Barbastro–Monzón]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barcelona|Barcelona]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barcelona in Venezuela|Barcelona]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bareilly|Bareilly]], India
*[[Eritrean Catholic Eparchy of Barentu|Barentu]], Eritrea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto|Bari-Bitonto]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barinas|Barinas]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baroda|Baroda]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barquisimeto|Barquisimeto]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barra|Barra]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barra do Garças|Barra do Garças]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barra do Piraí–Volta Redonda|Barra do Piraí–Volta Redonda]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barrancabermeja|Barrancabermeja]], Colombia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barranquilla|Barranquilla]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barreiras|Barreiras]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Barretos|Barretos]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baruipur|Baruipur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Basankusu|Basankusu]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Basel|Basel]], Switzerland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Basse-Terre|Basse-Terre(-Pointe-à-Pitre)]], Guadeloupe (French)
*'''''[[Chaldean Catholic Church|Bassorah, Basra]], Chaldean Catholic ?Archeparchy, Iraq'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bata|Bata]], Equatorial Guinea
*[[Territorial Prelature of Batanes|Batanes]], Territorial Prelature, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathery|Bathery]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst in Australia|Bathurst (in Australia)]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst in Canada|Bathurst (in Canada)]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge|Baton Rouge]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Batouri|Batouri]], Cameroon
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang|Battambang]], Apostolic Prefecture, Cambodia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Batticaloa|Batticaloa]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Baucau|Baucau]], Timor-Leste
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bauchi|Bauchi]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bauru|Bauru]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux|Bayeux]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayombong|Bayombong]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayonne|Bayonne]], France
*[[Territorial Prelature of Pompei o Beatissima Vergine Maria del SS.mo Rosario|Beatissima Vergine Maria del SS.mo Rosario (Blessed Virgin of the Most Sacred Rosary) aka Pompei]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont|Beaumont]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Beauvais|Beauvais-Noyons-Senlis]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Beihai|Beihai]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Beijing|Beijing]], China'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Beira|Beira]], Mozambique'''
*'''''[[Armenian Catholic Church#Structure|Beirut (Armenian)]], Armenian Catholic ?Archeparchy, Lebanon'''''
*''[[List of Chaldean dioceses|Beirut]], Chaldean Catholic, Lebanon''
*'''''[[Maronite Catholic Church|Beirut (Maronite)]], ?Archeparchy, Lebanon'''''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut|Beirut]], Apostolic Vicariate, Latin, Lebanon
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Beirut and Byblos (Melkite)]], ?Archeparchy, Lebanon'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Beja|Beja]], Portugal
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belém do Pará|Belém do Pará]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Belfort-Montbéliard|Belfort-Montbéliard]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Belgaum|Belgaum]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan|Belize City-Belmopan]], Belize
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bellary|Bellary]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville|Belleville]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Belley-Ars|Belley-Ars]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Belluno-Feltre|Belluno-Feltre]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte|Belo Horizonte]], Brazil'''
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Belthangady|Belthangady]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, India''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benevento|Benevento]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bengbu|Bengbu]], China
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Benghazi|Benghazi]], Apostolic Vicariate, Libya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Benguela|Benguela]], Angola
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City|Benin City]], Nigeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Benjamín Aceval|Benjamín Aceval]], Paraguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Beograd|Beograd]], Serbia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Berbérati|Berbérati]], Central African Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bereine|Bereina]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bergamo|Bergamo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Berhampur|Berhampur]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin|Berlin]], Germany'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bertoua|Bertoua]], Cameroon'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Besançon|Besançon]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bethlehem in South Africa|Bethlehem]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bettiah|Bettiah]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bhadravathi|Bhadravathi]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bhagalpur|Bhagalpur]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bhopal|Bhopal]], India'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Białystok|Białystok]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Biella|Biella]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bielsko–Żywiec|Bielsko–Żywiec]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bijnor|Bijnor]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao|Bilbao]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Biloxi|Biloxi]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham|Birmingham]], United Kingdom'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama|Birmingham]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck|Bismarck]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bissau|Bissau]], Guinea-Bissau
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto|Bari-Bitonto]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci|Bjelovar-Križevci]], Croatia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre|Blantyre]], Malawi'''
*''[[Macedonian Catholic Eparchy of the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed in Strumica-Skopje|Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed in Strumica-Skopje]], Macedonian Catholic Eparchy, Macedonia''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Pompei o Beatissima Vergine Maria del SS.mo Rosario|Blessed Virgin of the Most Sacred Rosary (Beatissima Vergine Maria del SS.mo Rosario) aka Pompei]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bloemfontein|Bloemfontein]], South Africa'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Blois|Blois]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bluefields|Bluefields]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Blumenau|Blumenau]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bo|Bo]], Sierra Leone
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Boac|Boac]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bobo-Dioulasso|Bobo-Dioulasso]], Burkina Faso'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Bocas del Toro|Bocas del Toro]], Territorial Prelature, Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bogor|Bogor]], Indonesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá|Bogotá]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise|Boise]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bokungu–Ikela|Bokungu–Ikela]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bologna|Bologna]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen|Bolzano-Brixen]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Boma|Boma]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bomadi|Bomadi]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay|Bombay]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bom Jesus da Lapa|Bom Jesus da Lapa]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bom Jesus do Gurguéia|Bom Jesus do Gurguéia]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bondo|Bondo]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bondoukou|Bondoukou]], Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bonfim|Bonfim]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bongaigaon|Bongaigaon]], India
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe|Bontoc-Lagawe]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*[[Territorial Prelature of Borba|Borba]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bordeaux|Bordeaux]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Borongan|Borongan]], Philippines
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Bostra and Hauran]], Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy, Syria'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bossangoa|Bossangoa]], Central African Republic
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston|Boston]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Botucatu|Botucatu]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bouaké|Bouaké]], Côte d'Ivoire'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bouar|Bouar]], Central African Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bougainville|Bougainville]], Papua New Guinea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bourges|Bourges]],''' France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Braga|Braga]], Portugal'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bragança do Pará|Bragança do Pará]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bragança–Miranda|Bragança–Miranda]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bragança Paulista|Bragança Paulista]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brasília|Brasília]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bratislava|Bratislava]], Slovakia'''
*''[[Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Bratislava|Bratislava]], Slovak Catholic Eparchy, Slovakia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brazzaville|Brazzaville]], Republic of the Congo'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Breda|Breda]], Netherlands
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brejo|Brejo]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood|Brentwood]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia|Brescia]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport|Bridgeport]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown|Bridgetown]], Barbados
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brindisi–Ostuni|Brindisi–Ostuni]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane|Brisbane]], Australia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brno|Brno]], Czech Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay|Broken Bay]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn|Brooklyn]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Broome|Broome]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville|Brownsville]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bruges|Bruges (Brugge)]], Belgium
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Brunei Darussalam|Brunei Darussalam]], Apostolic Vicariate, Brunei
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bubanza|Bubanza]], Burundi
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucaramanga|Bucaramanga]], Colombia'''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Buchach|Buchach]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucureşti|Bucureşti (Bucharest)]], Romania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Budjala|Budjala]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Buéa|Buéa]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Buenaventura|Buenaventura]], Colombia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo|Buffalo]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Buga|Buga]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bùi Chu|Bùi Chu]], Vietnam
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bujumbura|Bujumbura]], Burundi'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bukavu|Bukavu]], Democratic Republic of the Congo'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bukoba|Bukoba]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bulawayo|Bulawayo]], Zimbabwe'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bunbury|Bunbury]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bunda|Bunda]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bungoma|Bungoma]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bunia|Bunia]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Burgos|Burgos]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington|Burlington]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bururi|Bururi]], Burundi
*Busan: see Pusan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Buta|Buta]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Butare|Butare]], Rwanda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Butembo-Beni|Butembo-Beni]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Butuan|Butuan]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Buxar|Buxar]], India
*''[[Maronite Church#Eparchies|Byblos]], Maronite*, Lebanon''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bydgoszcz|Bydgoszcz]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Byumba|Byumba]], Rwanda

===C===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caacupé|Caacupé]], Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cabanatuan|Cabanatuan]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cabimas|Cabimas]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cabinda|Cabinda]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caçador|Caçador]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres|Caceres]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cachoeira do Sul|Cachoeira do Sul]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim|Cachoeiro de Itapemirim]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta|Cádiz y Ceuta]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caetité|Caetité]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Cafayate|Cafayate]], Territorial Prelature, Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro|Cagayan de Oro]], Philippines'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagliari|Cagliari]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas|Caguas]], Puerto Rico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cahors|Cahors]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caicó|Caicó]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns|Cairns]], Australia
*''[[Maronite Church#Eparchies|Cairo (Maronites)]], Egypt''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Cairo|Cairo (Chaldean Catholic)]], Egypt''
*''[[Syriac Catholic Church#Organization|Cairo (Syrians)]], Egypt''
*''[[Melkite Territory Dependent on the Patriarch of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan|Cairo (Melkite)]], Territory Dependent on the Patriarch, Egypt''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cajamarca|Cajamarca]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cajazeiras|Cajazeiras]], Brazil
*Cajenna: see Cayenne
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calabar|Calabar]], Nigeria'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calabozo|Calabozo]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Calahorra y La Calzada–Logroño|Calahorra y La Calzada–Logroño]], Spain
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan|Calapan]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Calbayog|Calbayog]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta|Calcutta]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caldas|Caldas]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary|Calgary]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali|Cali]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Calicut|Calicut]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Callao|Callao]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caltagirone|Caltagirone]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caltanissetta|Caltanissetta]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Camaçari|Camaçari]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Camagüey|Camagüey]], Cuba'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai|Cambrai]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden|Camden]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Camerino–San Severino Marche|Camerino–San Severino Marche]], Italy'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Camiri|Camiri]], Apostolic Vicariate, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campanha|Campanha]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campeche|Campeche]], Mexico
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Camiri|Camiri]], Apostolic Vicariate, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campina Grande|Campina Grande]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Campinas|Campinas]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Campobasso–Boiano|Campobasso–Boiano]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Campo Grande|Campo Grande]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campo Limpo|Campo Limpo]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campo Maior|Campo Maior]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campo Mourão|Campo Mourão]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Campos|Campos]], Brazil
*''[[Syrian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate for Canada|Canada]], Syrian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate, for all Canada''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn|Canberra and Goulburn]], Australia'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Cancun-Chetumal|Cancun-Chetumal]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Candia|Candia]], Greece
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Canelones|Canelones]], Uruguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cân Tho|Cân Tho]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caozhou|Caozhou]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast|Cape Coast]], Ghana'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas|Cape Palmas]], Liberia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town|Cape Town]], South Africa'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cap-Haïtien|Cap-Haïtien]], Haiti'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Capiz|Capiz]], Philippines'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Capua|Capua]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carabayllo|Carabayllo]], Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas|Caracas]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caraguatatuba|Caraguatatuba]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carapeguá|Carapeguá]], Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caratinga|Caratinga]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Caravelí|Caravelí]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carcassonne|Carcassonne et Narbonne]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cardiff|Cardiff]], United Kingdom'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina|Carolina]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caroline Islands|Caroline Islands]], Federated States of Micronesia & Palau
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Caroní|Caroní]], Apostolic Vicariate, Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carora|Carora]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi|Carpi]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cartagena|Cartagena]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cartagena|Cartagena]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cartago in Colombia|Cartago]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cartago in Costa Rica|Cartago]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caruaru|Caruaru]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Carúpano|Carúpano]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Casale Monferrato|Casale Monferrato]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cascavel|Cascavel]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caserta|Caserta]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly|Cashel and Emly]], Ireland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cassano all’Jonio|Cassano all’Jonio]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Castanhal|Castanhal]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Castellaneta|Castellaneta]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Castries|Castries]], Saint Lucia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Catamarca|Catamarca]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Castanhal|Catanduva]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Catania|Catania]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Catanzaro–Squillace|Catanzaro–Squillace]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Catarman|Catarman]], Philippines
*[[Apostolic Administration of the Caucasus|Caucasus]], Apostolic Administration at Tiblisi, Georgia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caxias do Maranhão|Caxias do Maranhão]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caxias do Sul|Caxias do Sul]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Caxito|Caxito]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cayenne|Cayenne (Cajenna)]], French Guiana
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu|Cebu]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cefalù|Cefalù]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Celaya|Celaya]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Celje|Celje]], Slovenia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cerignola–Ascoli Satriano|Cerignola–Ascoli Satriano]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cerreto Sannita–Telese–Sant’Agata de’ Goti|Cerreto Sannita–Telese–Sant’Agata de’ Goti]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cesena-Sarsina|Cesena-Sarsina]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice|České Budějovice]], Czech Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chachapoyas|Chachapoyas]], Peru
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Chaco Paraguayo|Chaco Paraguayo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chalan Kanoa|Chalan Kanoa]], Northern Mariana Islands
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chalatenango|Chalatenango]], El Salvador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Châlons|Châlons]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chambéry|Chambéry–Saint-Jean-de Maurienne–Tarentaise]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chanda|Chanda]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Changanacherry|Changanacherry]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Changde|Changde]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Changsha|Changsha]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chanthaburi|Chanthaburi]], Thailand
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Zhaotong|Chaotung (Zhaotong)]], Apostolic Prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chapecó|Chapecó]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston|Charleston]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte|Charlotte]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown|Charlottetown]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chartres|Chartres]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chascomús|Chascomús]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheju|Cheju (Jeju)]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengde|Chengde]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengdu|Chengdu]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheongju|Cheongju (Ch’ŏngju)]], South Korea
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chernivtsi|Chernivtsi]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne|Cheyenne]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiang Mai|Chiang Mai]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiang Rai|Chiang Rai]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiavari|Chiavari]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago|Chicago]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiclayo|Chiclayo]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicoutimi|Chicoutimi]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto|Chieti-Vasto]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chifeng|Chifeng]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chihuahua|Chihuahua]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chikmagalur|Chikmagalur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chikwawa|Chikwawa]], Malawi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilaw|Chilaw]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chillán|Chillán]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilpancingo–Chilapa|Chilpancingo–Chilapa]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chimbote|Chimbote]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chimoio|Chimoio]], Mozambique
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chingleput|Chingleput]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chinhoyi|Chinhoyi]], Zimbabwe
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chioggia|Chioggia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chios|Chios]], Greece
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chipata|Chipata]], Zambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiquinquirá|Chiquinquirá]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chişinău|Chişinău]], Moldova
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chitré|Chitré]], Panama
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong|Chittagong]], Bangladesh'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Choluteca|Choluteca]], Honduras
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chongqing|Chongqing]], China'''
*Chŏnju: see Jeonju
*Ch’ŏngju: see Cheongju
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chosica|Chosica]], Panama
*[[Territorial Prelature of Chota|Chota]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch|Christchurch]], New Zealand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chulucanas|Chulucanas]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chunchun|Chunchun (Ch’unch’on/ Chuncheon/ Chunchon)]], North & South Korea
*[[Territorial Prelature of Chuquibamba|Chuquibamba]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Territorial Prelature of Chuquibambilla|Chuquibambilla]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur|Chur]], Switzerland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson|Churchill-Baie d'Hudson]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciego de Avila|Ciego de Avila]], Cuba
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cienfuegos|Cienfuegos]], Cuba
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati|Cincinnati]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Città di Castello|Città di Castello]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano|Ciudad Altamirano]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ciudad Bolívar|Ciudad Bolívar]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad del Este|Ciudad del Este]], Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Guayana|Ciudad Guayana]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Guzmán|Ciudad Guzmán]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Juárez|Ciudad Juárez]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas|Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Obregón|Ciudad Obregón]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Quesada|Ciudad Quesada]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Real|Ciudad Real]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo|Ciudad Rodrigo]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Valles|Ciudad Valles]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Victoria|Ciudad Victoria]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Civita Castellana|Civita Castellana]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Civitavecchia–Tarquinia|Civitavecchia–Tarquinia]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont|Clermont]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland|Cleveland]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton|Clifton]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher|Clogher]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert|Clonfert]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne|Cloyne]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cluj-Gherla|Cluj-Gherla]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coatzacoalcos|Coatzacoalcos]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cochabamba|Cochabamba]], Bolivia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cochin|Cochin]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coimbatore|Coimbatore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coimbra|Coimbra]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Colatina|Colatina]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne|Cologne]], Germany'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Colima|Colima]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo|Colombo]], Sri Lanka & Maldives'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Colón–Kuna Yala|Colón–Kuna Yala]], Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs|Colorado Springs]], United States
*''[[Maronite Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Colombia|Colombia]], Maronite Catholic Apostolic Exarchate, for all Colombia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus|Columbus]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Comayagua|Comayagua]], Honduras
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Como|Como]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Comodoro Rivadavia|Comodoro Rivadavia]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry|Conakry]], Guinea'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción|Concepción]], Chile'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Concepción|Concepción]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Concepción in Paraguay|Concepción]], Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Concordia in Argentina|Concordia]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone|Concordia-Pordenone]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Constantine|Constantine]], Algeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Conversano-Monopoli|Conversano-Monopoli]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen|Copenhagen]], Denmark
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Copiapó|Copiapó]], Chile
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Córdoba|Córdoba]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Córdoba|Córdoba]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Córdoba (Mexico)|Córdoba]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfù–Zante–Cefalonia|Corfù–Zante–Cefalonia]], Greece'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coria–Cáceres|Coria–Cáceres]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross|Cork and Ross]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cornélio Procópio|Cornélio Procópio]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador|Corner Brook and Labrador]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Coro|Coro]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coroatá|Coroatá]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Corocoro|Corocoro]], Territorial Prelature, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coroico|Coroico]], Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coronel Oviedo|Coronel Oviedo]], Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi|Corpus Christi]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corrientes|Corrientes]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Corumbá|Corumbá]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cosenza–Bisignano|Cosenza–Bisignano]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cotabato|Cotabato]], Philippines'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cotonou|Cotonou]], Benin'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances|Coutances]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington|Covington]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Coxim|Coxim]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Crateús|Crateús]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Crato|Crato]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Crema|Crema]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cremona|Cremona]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Créteil|Créteil]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Criciúma|Criciúma]], Brazil
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Krym|Crimea (Krym), at Simferopol]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine ''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cristalândia|Cristalândia]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston|Crookston]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Crotone–Santa Severina|Crotone–Santa Severina]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cruz Alta|Cruz Alta]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cruz das Almas|Cruz das Almas]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cruz del Eje|Cruz del Eje]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cruzeiro do Sul|Cruzeiro do Sul]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera|Cuauhtémoc-Madera]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuautitlán|Cuautitlán]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao|Cubao]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cúcuta|Cúcuta]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuddapah|Cuddapah]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca|Cuenca]], Ecuador'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuenca|Cuenca]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuernavaca|Cuernavaca]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuiabá|Cuiabá]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Culiacán|Culiacán]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cumaná|Cumaná]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuneo|Cuneo]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Curitiba|Curitiba]], Brazil'''
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of São João Batista em Curitiba|Curitiba, São João Batista em(=in) - (Ukrainian)]], Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy, Brazil'''''
*Curitiba, São João Batista em/in - (Latin): see São João Batista em Curitiba
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar|Cuttack-Bhubaneswar]], India'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuzco|Cuzco]], Peru'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cyangugu|Cyangugu]], Rwanda
*'''''[[Cypriot Maronite Arabic|Cyprus (Maronite)]], at *, Cyprus'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Częstochowa|Częstochowa]], Poland'''

===D===
*Daegu: see Taegu
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Daejeon|Daejeon (Taejŏn)]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Daet|Daet]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar|Dakar]], Senegal'''
*[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Djakovo-Osijek|Đakovo-Osijek]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dali|Dali]], China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Đà Lạt|Đà Lạt]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas|Dallas]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Daloa|Daloa]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Daltonganj|Daltonganj]], India
*''[[Syriac Catholic Church|Damascus (Syriac)]]*, Syria''
*'''''[[Maronite Church|Damascus (Maronite)]], Syria'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Daming|Daming]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Damongo|Damongo]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Đà Nẵng|Đà Nẵng]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Danlí|Danlí]], Honduras
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dapaong|Dapaong]], Togo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam|Dar es Salaam]], Tanzania'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Darién|Darién]], Apostolic Vicariate, Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling|Darjeeling]], India & Bhutan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Daru-Kiunga|Daru-Kiunga]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Darwin|Darwin]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dassa-Zoumé|Dassa-Zoumé]], Benin
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Datong|Datong]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Davao|Davao]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport|Davenport]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of David|David]], Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of De Aar|De Aar]], South Africa
*[[Territorial Prelature of Deán Funes|Deán Funes]], Territorial Prelature, Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza|Debrecen-Nyíregyháza]], Hungary
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dédougou|Dédougou]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dedza|Dedza]], Malawi
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi|Delhi]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Denpasar|Denpasar]], Indonesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver|Denver]], United States'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Derna|Derna]], Apostolic Vicariate, Libya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry|Derry]], Northern Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines|Des Moines]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit|Detroit]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka|Dhaka]], Bangladesh'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dharmapuri|Dharmapuri]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Diamantina|Diamantina]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Diamantino|Diamantino]], Brazil
*'''''[[Archeparchy of Diyarbakir|Diarbekir]], Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy, Turkey'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dibrugarh|Dibrugarh]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Diébougou|Diébougou]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Digne|Digne]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Digos|Digos]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dijon|Dijon]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Díli|Díli]], East Timor (Timor-Leste)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dinajpur|Dinajpur]], Bangladesh
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dindigul|Dindigul]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Diphu|Diphu]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dipolog|Dipolog]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Divinópolis|Divinópolis]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Djibouti|Djibouti]], Djibouti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Djougou|Djougou]], Benin
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Doba|Doba]], Chad
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dodoma|Dodoma]], Tanzania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City|Dodge City]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dolisie|Dolisie]], Republic of the Congo
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Haizhou|Donghai (Haichow / Haizhou)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk|Donetsk]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine ''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Donkorkrom|Donkorkrom]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dori|Dori]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Doruma–Dungu|Doruma–Dungu]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Douala|Douala]], Cameroon'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Doumé–Abong’ Mbang|Doumé–Abong’ Mbang]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dourados|Dourados]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor|Down and Connor]], Northern Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen|Dresden-Meißen]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Drohiczyn|Drohiczyn]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore|Dromore]], Northern Ireland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin|Dublin]], Ireland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dubrovnik|Dubrovnik]], Croatia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque|Dubuque]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Duitama-Sogamoso|Duitama-Sogamoso]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth|Duluth]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumaguete|Dumaguete]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dumka|Dumka]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dundee|Dundee]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dundo|Dundo]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunedin|Dunedin]], New Zealand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld|Dunkeld]], Scotland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Duque de Caxias|Duque de Caxias]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Durango|Durango]], Mexico'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Durban|Durban]], South Africa'''

===E===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia|East Anglia]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ebebiyin|Ebebiyin]], Equatorial Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ebolowa-Kribi|Ebolowa-Kribi]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ecatepec|Ecatepec]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Edéa|Edéa]], Cameroon
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton|Edmonton]]''', Canada
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton|Edmonton]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Edmundston|Edmundston]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Eger|Eger]], Hungary'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt|Eichstätt]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eisenstadt|Eisenstadt]], Austria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ekiti|Ekiti]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of El Alto|El Alto]], Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of El Banco|El Banco]], Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni|El Beni]], Apostolic Vicariate, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Elbląg|Elbląg]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eldoret|Eldoret]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ełk|Ełk]], Poland
*[[Territorial Prelature of Jesús María del Nayar|El Nayar (Jesús María d')]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of El Obeid|El Obeid]], Sudan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso|El Paso]], United States
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of El Petén|El Petén]], Apostolic Vicariate, Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Elphin|Elphin]], Ireland
*[[Territorial Prelature of El Salto|El Salto]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of El Tigre|El Tigre]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eluru|Eluru]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of El Vigia–San Carlos del Zulia|El Vigia–San Carlos del Zulia]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Embu|Embu]], Kenya
*''[[Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Emdeber|Emdeber]], Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy, Ethiopia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Encarnación|Encarnación]], Paraguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ende|Ende]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Engativá|Engativá]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ensenada|Ensenada]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Enugu|Enugu]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Erexim|Erexim]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Erfurt|Erfurt]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie|Erie]], United States
*'''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly|Ernakulam-Angamaly]]''', Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy, India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Escuintla|Escuintla]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eséka|Eséka]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eshowe|Eshowe]], South Africa
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Esmeraldas|Esmeraldas]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Espinal|Espinal]], Colombia
*[[Territorial Prelature of Esquel|Esquel]], Territorial Prelature, Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Essen|Essen]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Estância|Estância]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Estelí|Estelí]], Nicaragua
*[[Apostolic Administration of Estonia|Estonia]], Apostolic Administration, at [[Tallinn]], in and for all Estonia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest|Esztergom-Budapest]], Hungary'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Eunápolis|Eunápolis]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Evansville|Evansville]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Evinayong|Evinayong]], Equatorial Guinea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Évora|Évora]], Portugal'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Évreux|Évreux]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes|Évry-Corbeil-Essonnes]], France

|

===F===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Facatativá|Facatativá]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fada N’Gourma|Fada N’Gourma]], Burkina Faso
*'''''[[Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia|Făgăraş (and Alba Iulia)]], Romanian 'Greek' Catholic Archeparchy, Romania'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Faenza–Modigliana|Faenza–Modigliana]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks|Fairbanks]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad|Faisalabad]], Pakistan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao|Fajardo-Humacao]], Puerto Rico
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Falkland Islands|Falkland Islands]], Apostolic Prefecture, Falkland Islands (UK)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River|Fall River]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fano–Fossombrone–Cagli–Pergola|Fano–Fossombrone–Cagli–Pergola]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Farafangana|Farafangana]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fabriano–Matelica|Fabriano–Matelica]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo|Fargo]], United States
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Faridabad|Faridabad]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Faro|Faro]], Portugal
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Feira de Santana|Feira de Santana]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Feldkirch|Feldkirch]], Austria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fengxian|Fengxian]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fenoarivo Atsinanana|Fenoarivo Atsinanana]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fengyang|Fengyang]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fermo|Fermo]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns|Ferns]], Ireland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio|Ferrara-Comacchio]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa|Fianarantsoa]], Madagascar'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fidenza|Fidenza]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fiesole|Fiesole]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence|Florence]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florencia|Florencia]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Floresta|Floresta]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Floriano|Floriano]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florianópolis|Florianópolis]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Florida|Florida]], Uruguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Foggia-Bovino|Foggia-Bovino]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Foligno|Foligno]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fontibón|Fontibón]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Forlì–Bertinoro|Forlì–Bertinoro]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Formosa, Argentina|Formosa(e)]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Formosa, Brazil|Formosa (Formosensis)]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fortaleza|Fortaleza]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fort-de-France|Fort-de-France]], Martinique'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort-Liberté|Fort-Liberté]], Haiti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Portal|Fort Portal]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend|Fort Wayne-South Bend]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth|Fort Worth]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fossano|Fossano]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Foz do Iguaçu|Foz do Iguaçu]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Franca|Franca]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Franceville|Franceville]], Gabon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Francistown|Francistown]], Botswana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Frascati|Frascati]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Frederico Westphalen|Frederico Westphalen]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown|Freetown]], Sierra Leone'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau|Freiburg im Breisgau]], Germany'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon|Fréjus-Toulon]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno|Fresno]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Frosinone–Veroli–Ferentino|Frosinone–Veroli–Ferentino]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fukuoka|Fukuoka]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fulda|Fulda]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Funchal|Funchal]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Funing|Funing]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Fushun|Fushun]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fuzhou|Fuzhou]], China'''

===G===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaborone|Gaborone]], Botswana
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gaeta|Gaeta]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gagnoa|Gagnoa]], Côte d'Ivoire'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Galápagos|Galápagos]], Apostolic Vicariate, Botswana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Galle|Galle]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway|Galloway]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup|Gallup]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston|Galveston-Houston]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh|Galway and Kilmacduagh]], Ireland
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Gambella|Gambella]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gamboma|Gamboma]], Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gandhinagar|Gandhinagar]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ganzhou|Ganzhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaoua|Gaoua]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gap|Gap]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Garagoa|Garagoa]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Garanhuns|Garanhuns]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Garissa|Garissa]], Kenya
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Garoua|Garoua]], Cameroon'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary|Gary]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Garzón|Garzón]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaspé|Gaspé]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gatineau|Gatineau]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gaylord|Gaylord]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gbarnga|Gbarnga]], Liberia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gdańsk|Gdańsk]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Geita|Geita]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Genova|Genova]], Italy'''
*Gent: see Ghent
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Georgetown|Georgetown]], Guyana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Geraldton|Geraldton]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Getafe|Getafe]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ghent|Ghent (Gent)]], Belgium
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar|Gibraltar]], Gibraltar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gikongoro|Gikongoro]], Rwanda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Girardot|Girardot]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Girardota|Girardota]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Girona|Girona]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gitega|Gitega]], Burundi'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gizo|Gizo]], Solomon Islands
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow|Glasgow]], United Kingdom'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gliwice|Gliwice]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno|Gniezno]], Poland'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman|Goa and Daman]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Goaso|Goaso]], Ghana
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goiânia|Goiânia]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Goiás|Goiás]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gokwe|Gokwe]], Zimbabwe
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Goma|Goma]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Gorakhpur|Gorakhpur]], Syro-Malabar Eparchu, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Goré|Goré]], Chad
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gorizia|Gorizia]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Görlitz|Görlitz]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Goroka|Goroka]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gospić–Senj|Gospić–Senj]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Governador Valadares|Governador Valadares]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Goya|Goya]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gozo|Gozo]], Malta
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grajaú|Grajaú]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Granada|Granada]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Granada in Colombia|Granada in Colombia]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Granada|Granada]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand-Bassam|Grand-Bassam]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Falls|Grand Falls]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Island|Grand Island]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids|Grand Rapids]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Graz-Seckau|Graz-Seckau]], Austria
*[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain|Great Britain]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, England, Scotland & Wales (UK)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings|Great Falls-Billings]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay|Green Bay]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg|Greensburg]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gregorio de Laferrere|Gregorio de Laferrere]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grenoble|Grenoble–Vienne]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grodno|Grodno]], Belarus
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden|Groningen-Leeuwarden]], Netherlands
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Grosseto|Grosseto]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan|Grouard-McLennan]], Canada'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guadalajara|Guadalajara]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guadix|Guadix]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guajará-Mirim|Guajará-Mirim]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gualeguaychú|Gualeguaychú]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guanare|Guanare]], Venezuela
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guangzhou|Guangzhou]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guanhães|Guanhães]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guantánamo–Baracoa|Guantánamo–Baracoa]], Cuba
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Guapi|Guapi]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarabira|Guarabira]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guaranda|Guaranda]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarapuava|Guarapuava]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarda|Guarda]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarenas|Guarenas]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarulhos|Guarulhos]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala|Guatemala]], Guatemala'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guaxupé|Guaxupé]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guayaquil|Guayaquil]], Ecuador'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gubbio|Gubbio]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guide|Guide]], China
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Guilin|Guilian]] (Kweilin), Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guiratinga|Guiratinga]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guiyang|Guiyang]], China
*''[[Coptic Catholic Church|Guizeh]], Coptic Catholic suffragan Eparchy, Egypt''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gulbarga|Gulbarga]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu|Gulu]], Uganda'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gumaca|Gumaca]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gumla|Gumla]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Guntur|Guntur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk|Gurk]], Austria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurué|Gurué]], Mozambique
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guwahati|Guwahati]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gwalior|Gwalior]], India
*Gwanju: see Kwanju
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gweru|Gweru]], Zimbabwe
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Győr|Győr]], Hungary

===H===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam|Haarlem-Amsterdam]], Netherlands
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana|La Habana, San Cristóbal de]], Cuba'''
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Haizhou|Haichow (Donghai/ Haizhou)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*''[[Maronite Church#Diocese|Haifa]], Maronite, Israel''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Haimen|Haimen]], China
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Hainan|Hainan]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hai Phòng|Hai Phòng]], Vietnam
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Haizhou|Haizhou (Donghai/ Haichow)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*'''''[[Hungarian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Hajdúdorog|Hajdúdorog]], Hungarian Greek Catholic Archeparchy, Hungary'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hakha|Hakha]], Myanmar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax|Halifax]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam|Hallam]], United Kingdom
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg|Hamburg]], Germany'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamhung|Hamhung (Hamhŭng)]], North Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda|Hamilton (in Bermuda)]], Bermuda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton in New Zealand|Hamilton]], New Zealand
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hangzhou|Hangzhou]], China'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou|Hankou]], China'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi|Hà Nôi]], Vietnam'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hanyang|Hanyang]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hanzhong|Hanzhong]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hpa-an|Hap-an]], Myanmar
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Harar|Harar]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Harare|Harare]], Zimbabwe'''
*[[Apostolic Administration of Harbian|Harbin]], Apostolic Administration, China PR
*''[[Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Harbin|Harbin]], Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate, China PR''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg|Harrisburg]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford|Hartford]], United States'''
*'''''[[Syriac Catholic Church#Organization|Hassaké-Nisibi]], Syrian Catholic ?Archeparchy, Syria'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hasselt|Hasselt]], Belgium
* Havana: see (San Cristóbal de) La Habana
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa|Hawassa (Awasa)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hazaribag|Hazaribag]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hearst–Moosonee|Hearst–Moosonee]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena|Helena]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Helsinki|Helsinki]], Finland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hengzhou|Hengzhou]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hermosillo|Hermosillo]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle|Hexham and Newcastle]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim|Hildesheim]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hinche|Hinche]], Haiti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hiroshima|Hiroshima]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ho|Ho]], Ghana
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City|Ho Chi Minh City]], Vietnam'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart|Hobart]], Australia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hoima|Hoima]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Holguín|Holguín]], Cuba
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of the Holy Family of London|Holy Family of London]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy for all Great Britain, UK''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay|Homa Bay]], Kenya
*'''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Homs (Melkite)]]*, Syria'''
*'''[[Syriac Catholic Church#Organization|Homs (Syriac)]]*, Syria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hongdong|Hongdong]], China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], China PR (autonomous status)
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Honiara|Honiara]], Solomon Islands'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu|Honolulu]], United States
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Hosanna|Hosanna]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Hosur|Hosur (Syro-Malabar)]], India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux|Houma-Thibodaux]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hradec Králové|Hradec Králové]], Czech Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hsinchu|Hsinchu]], Taiwan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huacho|Huacho]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huajuapan de León|Huajuapan de León]], Mexico
*[[Territorial Prelature of Huamachuco|Huamachuco]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Huambo|Huambo]], Angola'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huancavélica|Huancavélica]], Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Huancayo|Huancayo]], Peru'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huánuco|Huánuco]], Peru
*[[Territorial Prelature of Huautla|Huautla]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huaraz|Huaraz]], Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Huế|Huế]], Vietnam'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huehuetenango|Huehuetenango]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huejutla|Huejutla]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huelva|Huelva]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Huesca|Huesca]], Spain
*[[Territorial Prelature of Humahuaca|Humahuaca]], Territorial Prelature, Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Humaitá|Humaitá]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hưng Hóa|Hưng Hóa]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hvar-Brac-Vis|HHvar-Brac-Vis]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hwalien|Hwalien]], Taiwan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hwange|Hwange]], Zimbabwe
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hyderabad|Hyderabad]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hyderabad|Hyderabad]], Pakistan

===I===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iaşi|Iaşi]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iba|Iba]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ibidan|Ibadan]], Nigeria'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ibagué|Ibagué]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ibarra|Ibarra]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ibiza|Ibiza]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ica|Ica]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Idah|Idah]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Idiofa|Idiofa]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Idukki|Idukki]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ifakara|Ifakara]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iglesias|Iglesias]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iguatu|Iguatu]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ihosy|Ihosy]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ijebu-Ode|Ijebu-Ode]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene|Ikot Ekpene]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilagan|Ilagan]], Philippines
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Iles Saint-Pierre et Miquelon|(Iles) Saint-Pierre et Miquelon]], Apostolic Vicariate, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (French)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilhéus|Ilhéus]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iligan|Iligan]], Philippines
*[[Territorial Prelature of Illapel|Illapel]], Territorial Prelature, Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilorin|Ilorin]], Nigeria
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Imaculada Conceição in Prudentópolis|Imaculada Conceição in Prudentópolis]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Brazil''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Imola|Imola]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Imperatriz|Imperatriz]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Impfondo|Impfondo]], Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Imphal|Imphal]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Imus|Imus]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Incheon|Incheon (Inch’ŏn)]], South Korea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis|Indianapolis]], United States'''
*'''[[Titular Patriarchal See of Indias Occidentales|Indias Occidentales]], Titular Patriarchal See of the East Indies, vested in Goa and Daman, at the primatial see of Goa, India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Indore|Indore]], India
*[[Territorial Prelature of Infanta|Infanta]], Territorial Prelature, Philippines
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Ingwavuma|Ingwavuma]], Apostolic Vicariate, South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Inhambane|Inhambane]], Mozambique
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Inírida|Inírida]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Innsbruck|Innsbruck]], Austria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Inongo|Inongo]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ipameri|Ipameri]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ipiales|Ipiales]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ipil|Ipil]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iquique|Iquique]], Chile
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos|Iquitos]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Irapuato|Irapuato]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Irecê|Irecê]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Iringa|Iringa]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Irinjalakuda|Irinjalakuda]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Isangi|Isangi]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Territorial Prelature of Isabela|Isabela]], Territorial Prelature, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ischia|Ischia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Isernia-Venafro|Isernia-Venafro]], Italy
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Isiolo|Isiolo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Isiro–Niangara|Isiro–Niangara]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*''Iskanderiya: see Alexandria, Egypt''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad–Rawalpindi|Islamabad–Rawalpindi]], Pakistan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Islas Canarias|Islas Canarias]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ispahan|Ispahan]], Iran'''
*''[[Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Ispahan|Ispahan]], Armenian Catholic Eparchy, Iran''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Issele-Uku|Issele-Uku]], Nigeria
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul|Istanbul (Latin) (formerly Constantinople)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Turkey
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Istmina–Tadó|Istmina–Tadó]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itabira–Fabriciano|Itabira–Fabriciano]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itabuna|Itabuna]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Itacoatiara|Itacoatiara]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itaguaí|Itaguaí]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Itaituba|Itaituba]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itanagar|Itanagar]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itapetininga|Itapetininga]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itapeva|Itapeva]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itapipoca|Itapipoca]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ituiutaba|Ituiutaba]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Itumbiara|Itumbiara]], Brazil
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ivano-Frankivsk|Ivano-Frankivsk]], Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Archeparchy, Ukraine'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ivrea|Ivrea]], Italy
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Izabal|Izabal]], Apostolic Vicariate, Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Izcalli|Izcalli]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Izmir|Izmir]], Turkey'''

===J===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jabalpur|Jabalpur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaboticabal|Jaboticabal]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaca|Jaca]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jacarezinho|Jacarezinho]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson|Jackson]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jacmel|Jacmel]], Haiti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaén|Jaén]], Spain
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Jaén en Perú|Jaén en Perú (San Francisco Javier)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna|Jaffna]], Sri Lanka
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church#Eparchies|Jagdalpur]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaipur|Jaipur]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jakarta|Jakarta]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalapa|Jalapa]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jales|Jales]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalingo|Jalingo]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalpaiguri|Jalpaiguri]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jammu-Srinagar|Jammu-Srinagar]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jamshedpur|Jamshedpur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Janaúba|Janaúba]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Januária|Januária]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jardim|Jardim]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro|Jaro]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jashpur|Jashpur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jasikan|Jasikan]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jataí|Jataí]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jayapura|Jayapura]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City|Jefferson City]], United States
*Jeju: Cheju
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jelgava|Jelgava]], Latvia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jeonju|Jeonju (Chŏnju)]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jequié|Jequié]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jérémie|Jérémie]], Haiti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jerez de la Frontera|Jerez de la Frontera]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jericó|Jericó]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jesi|Jesi]], Italy
*[[Territorial Prelature of Jesús María del Nayar|Jesús María ((d)El Nayar)]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jhabua|Jhabua]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jhansi|Jhansi]], India
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Jiamusi|Jiamusi (Kiamusze)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jiangmen|Jiangmen]], China
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Jian'ou|Jian'ou (Jianning/ Kienning / Kienow)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jilin|Jilin]], China
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Jimma–Bonga|Jimma–Bonga]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jinan|Jinan]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jinja|Jinja]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jinotega|Jinotega]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ji-Paraná|Ji-Paraná]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jinzhou|Jinzhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Joaçaba|Joaçaba]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg|Johannesburg]], South Africa'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Joinville|Joinville]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois|Joliet in Illinois]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliette|Joliette]], Canada
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo|Jolo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jos|Jos]], Nigeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jowai|Jowai]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Juazeiro|Juazeiro]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Juba|Juba]], Sudan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Juigalpa|Juigalpa]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Juína|Juína]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Juiz de Fora|Juiz de Fora]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jujuy|Jujuy]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar|Jalandhar]], India
*[[Territorial Prelature of Juli|Juli]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jundiaí|Jundiaí]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Juneau|Juneau]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco de Asís de Jutiapa|(San Francisco de Asís de) Jutiapa]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Juticalpa|Juticalpa]], Honduras

===K===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabale|Kabale]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabankalan|Kabankalan]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabgayi|Kabgayi]], Rwanda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabinda|Kabinda]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabwe|Kabwe]], Zambia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna|Kaduna]], Nigeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan|Kafanchan]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaga–Bandoro|Kaga–Bandoro]], Central African Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kagoshima|Kagoshima]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kahama|Kahama]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaifeng|Kaifeng]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaišiadorys|Kaišiadorys]], Lithuania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kakamega|Kakamega]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo|Kalamazoo]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalay|Kalay]], Burma
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalemie–Kirungu|Kalemie–Kirungu]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalibo|Kalibo]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalisz|Kalisz]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kalocsa–Kecskemét|Kalocsa–Kecskemét]], Hungary'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalookan|Kalookan]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalyan|Kalyan]], India
*''[[Armenian Catholic Church#Structure|Kamichlié]], Armenian Catholic Eparchy at Qamishli, Syria''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamina|Kamina]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamloops|Kamloops]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala|Kampala]], Uganda'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyi|Kamyanets-Podilsky]], Ukraine
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Kamyanets-Podilskyi|Kamyanets-Podilskyi]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kananga|Kananga]], Democratic Republic of the Congo'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandi|Kandi]], Benin
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kandy|Kandy]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Kangding]], China
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Kanjirappally|Kanjirapally]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kankan|Kankan]], Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kannur|Kannur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kano|Kano]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City|Kansas City]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph|Kansas City-Saint Joseph]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaohsiung|Kaohsiung]], Taiwan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaolack|Kaolack]], Senegal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaposvár|Kaposvár]], Hungary
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kara|Kara]], Togo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi|Karachi]], Pakistan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Karaganda|Karaganda]], Kazakhstan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Karonga|Karonga]], Malawi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Karwar|Karwar]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kasama|Kasama]], Zambia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kasana–Luweero|Kasana–Luweero]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kasese|Kasese]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kasongo|Kasongo]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Katiola|Katiola]], Côte d'Ivoire
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Katowice|Katowice]], Poland'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas|Kaunas]], Lithuania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kavieng|Kavieng]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaya|Kaya]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kayes|Kayes]], Mali
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Keetmanshoop|Keetmanshoop]], Namibia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas|Keewatin-Le Pas]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Keimoes–Upington|Keimoes–Upington]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kenema|Kenema]], Sierra Leone
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kenge|Kenge]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kengtung|Kengtung]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Keningau|Keningau]], Malaysia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerema|Kerema]], Papua New Guinea
*''[[Eritrean Catholic Eparchy of Keren|Keren (Eritrean Catholic epearchy)]], Eritrea''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kericho|Kericho]], Kenya
*'''''[[Kirkuk (Chaldean Archeparchy)|Kerkūk (Chaldean archeparchy)]], Iraq'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry|Kerry]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Keta-Akatsi|Keta-Akatsi]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ketapang|Ketapang]], Indonesia
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate of Khadki|Khadki, Saint Ephrem of -]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Khammam|Khammam]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Khandwa|Khandwa]], India
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Kharkiv|Kharkiv]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine ''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kharkiv–Zaporizhia|Kharkiv–Zaporizhia]], Ukraine
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum|Khartoum]], Sudan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Khulna|Khulna]], Bangladesh
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Khunti|Khunti]], India
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Jiamusi|Kiamusze (Jiamusi)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kiayi|Kiayi]], Taiwan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kibungo|Kibungo]], Rwanda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kidapawan|Kidapawan]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kielce|Kielce]], Poland
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Jian'ou|Kienning (Jianning/ Jian'ou / Kienow)]], Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*(Kiev, Kiew: see Kyiv, Ukraine)
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali|Kigali]], Rwanda'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kigoma|Kigoma]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kikwit|Kikwit]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin|Kildare and Leighlin]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Killala|Killala]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe|Killaloe]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore|Kilmore]], Ireland & United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilwa–Kasenga|Kilwa–Kasenga]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimbe|Kimbe]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley|Kimberley]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kindu|Kindu]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston in Canada|Kingston]], Canada'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica|Kingston in Jamaica]], Jamaica'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kingstown|Kingstown]], Saint Vincent and Grenadines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kinkala|Kinkala]], Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa|Kinshasa]], Democratic Republic of the Congo'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kisangani|Kisangani]], Democratic Republic of the Congo'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kisantu|Kisantu]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kisii|Kisii]], Kenya
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kisumu|Kisumu]], Kenya'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kitale|Kitale]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kitui|Kitui]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kiyinda–Mityana|Kiyinda–Mityana]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Klerksdorp|Klerksdorp]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville|Knoxville]], United States
*København: see Copenhagen
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Koforidua|Koforidua]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kohima|Kohima]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kokstad|Kokstad]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kolda|Kolda]], Senegal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kole|Kole]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Kolomyia|Kolomyia]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kolwezi|Kolwezi]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Kompong Cham|Kompong Cham]], Apostolic prefecture, Cambodia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kondoa|Kondoa]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kongolo|Kongolo]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Konongo–Mampong|Konongo–Mampong]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kontagora|Kontagora]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kontum|Kontum]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper|Koper]], Slovenia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Korhogo|Korhogo]], Côte d'Ivoire'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Košice|Košice]], Slovakia'''
*''[[Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Košice|Košice]], Slovak Catholic Eparchy, Slovakia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg|Koszalin-Kołobrzeg]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu|Kota Kinabalu]], Malaysia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam|Kothamangalam]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kotido|Kotido]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kotor|Kotor]], Montenegro
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottapuram|Kottapuram]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar|Kottar]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kottayam|Kottayam]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Koudougou|Koudougou]], Burkina Faso
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Koupéla|Koupéla]], Burkina Faso'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kpalimé|Kpalimé]], Togo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kraków|Kraków]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Krishnagar|Krishnagar]], India
*''[[Eparchy of Križevci|Križevci (Croatian Catholic eparchy)]], Croatia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Krk|Krk]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kroonstad|Kroonstad]], South Africa
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Krym|Krym (Crimea), at Simferopol]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur|Kuala Lumpur]], Malaysia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching|Kuching]], Malaysia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi|Kumasi]], Ghana'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumbakonam|Kumbakonam]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumba|Kumba]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kundiawa|Kundiawa]], Papua New Guinea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kunming|Kunming]], China'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kupang|Kupang]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kurnool|Kurnool]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kurunegala|Kurunegala]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kuzhithurai|Kuzhithurai]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kwangju|Kwangju (Gwanju)]], South Korea'''
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Guilin|Kweilin]] (Guilian), Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kwito-Bié|Kwito-Bié]], Angola
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Kyiv|Kyiv (Kiev, Kiew)]], Ukrainian Catholic (proper Metropolitanate of the Major Archdiocese), Ukraine'''''
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Major Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych|Kyiv–Halych (at Kiev, Kiew)]], the Ukrainian Catholic Major Archdiocese, Ukraine'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr|Kyiv–Zhytomyr]], Ukraine
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kyoto|Kyoto]], Japan
*[[Apostolic Administration of Kyrgyzstan|Kyrgyzstan]], Apostolic Administration, at Bishkek, in and for all [[Kyrgyzstan]]

===L===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse|La Crosse]], United States
*[[Territorial Prelature of Lábrea|Lábrea]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Dorada-Guaduas|La Dorada-Guaduas]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lae|Lae]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana|Lafayette in Indiana]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana|Lafayette in Louisiana]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafia|Lafia]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lages|Lages]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Laghouat|Laghouat]], Algeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos|Lagos]], Nigeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Guaira|La Guaira]], Venezuela
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore|Lahore]], Pakistan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lai|Lai]], Chad
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles|Lake Charles]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lamego|Lamego]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lamezia Terme|Lamezia Terme]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster|Lancaster]], United Kingdom
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lanciano-Ortona|Lanciano-Ortona]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng|Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Langres|Langres]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing|Lansing]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lanusei|Lanusei]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lanzhou|Lanzhou]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Laoag|Laoag]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Laohekou|Laohekou]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Paz|La Paz]], Bolivia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Paz en la Baja California Sur|La Paz en la Baja California Sur]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Plata in Argentina|La Plata]], Argentina'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of L'Aquila|L'Aquila]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Larantuka|Larantuka]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Laredo|Laredo]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Rioja|La Rioja]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Rochelle|La Rochelle]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces|Las Cruces]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Serena|La Serena]], Chile'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lashio|Lashio]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Spezia–Sarzana–Brugnato|La Spezia–Sarzana–Brugnato]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas|Las Vegas]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Latacunga|Latacunga]], Ecuador
*''[[Maronite Eparchy of Latakia|Latakia]], Maronite Eparchy, Syria''
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Latakia (Melkites)]]''''', Syria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Latina–Terracina–Sezze–Priverno|Latina–Terracina–Sezze–Priverno]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg|Lausanne, Genève et Fribourg]], Switzerland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Laval|Laval]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of La Vega|La Vega]], Dominican Republic
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lecce|Lecce]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds|Leeds]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Legazpi|Legazpi]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Legnica|Legnica]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Havre|Le Havre]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Leiria–Fátima|Leiria–Fátima]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Mans|Le Mans]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of León in Spain|León]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of León|León]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of León in Nicaragua|León]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Leopoldina|Leopoldina]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Le Puy-en-Velay|Le Puy-en-Velay]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Leribe|Leribe]], Lesotho
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Les Cayes|Les Cayes]], Haiti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Les Gonaïves|Les Gonaïves]], Haiti
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Leticia|Leticia]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington|Lexington]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lezhë|Lezhë]], Albania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Líbano-Honda|Líbano-Honda]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Libmanan|Libmanan]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Libreville|Libreville]], Gabon'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lichinga|Lichinga]], Mozambique
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège|Liège]], Belgium
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Liepāja|Liepāja]], Latvia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lille|Lille]], France'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe|Lilongwe]], Malawi'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima|Lima]], Peru'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg|Limburg]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limeira|Limeira]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick|Limerick]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte|Limoeiro do Norte]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoges|Limoges]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limón|Limón]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Linares (Mexico)|Linares]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Linares|Linares]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln|Lincoln]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lindi|Lindi]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan|Lingayen-Dagupan]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lins|Lins]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz|Linz]], Austria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa|Lipa]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lira|Lira]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lisala|Lisala]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lisbon|Lisbon]], Portugal'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lishui|Lishui]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lismore|Lismore]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Litoměřice|Litoměřice]], Czech Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock|Little Rock]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool|Liverpool]], United Kingdom & Isle of Man'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Livingstone|Livingstone]], Zambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Livorno|Livorno]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Livramento de Nossa Senhora|Livramento de Nossa Senhora]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana|Ljubljana]], Slovenia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lleida|Lleida]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Locri-Gerace|Locri-Gerace]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lodi|Lodi]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lodwar|Lodwar]], Kenya
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Łódź|Łódź]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Loikaw|Loikaw]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Loja|Loja]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lokoja|Lokoja]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lokossa|Lokossa]], Benin
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lolo|Lolo]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lomas de Zamora|Lomas de Zamora]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lomé|Lomé]], Togo'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Łomża|Łomża]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ontario|London]], Canada
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of the Holy Family of London|London, Holy Family of]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy for all Great Britain, UK''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Londrina|Londrina]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Long Xuyên|Long Xuyên]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lorena|Lorena]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Loreto|Loreto]], Territorial Prelature, Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Altos, Quetzaltenango–Totonicapán|Los Altos, Quetzaltenango–Totonicapán]], Guatemala'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Ángeles|Los Ángeles]], Chile
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles|Los Angeles]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Teques|Los Teques]], Chile
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville|Louisville]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Łowicz|Łowicz]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luoyang|Luoyang]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lu'an|Lu'an]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Luanda|Luanda]], Angola'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Luang Prabang|Luang Prabang]], Apostolic Vicariate, Laos
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lubango|Lubango]], Angola'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lubbock|Lubbock]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lublin|Lublin]], Poland'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lubumbashi|Lubumbashi]], Democratic Republic of the Congo'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lucca|Lucca]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucena|Lucena]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucera-Troia|Lucera-Troia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucknow|Lucknow]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luçon|Luçon]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luebo|Luebo]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugano|Lugano]], Switzerland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugazi|Lugazi]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugo|Lugo]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugoj|Lugoj]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luiza|Luiza]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lulong|Lulong]], China
*''[[Italo-Albanese Eparchy of Lungro|Lungro]], Italo-Albanese Eparchy, Italy''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luoyang|Luoyang]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lurín|Lurín]], Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka|Lusaka]], Zambia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lutsk|Lutsk (Latin)]], Ukraine
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk|Lutsk]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine ''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], Luxembourg'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luz|Luz]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Luziânia|Luziânia]], Brazil
*'''''[[Armenian Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv|Lviv (Armenian)]], Ukraine'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv of the Latins|Lviv (Latin)]], Ukraine'''
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv|Lviv]], Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitanate, Ukraine'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lwena|Lwena]], Angola
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lyon|Lyon]], France'''

|

===M===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maasin|Maasin]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau|Macau]], Macao
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Macapá|Macapá]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maceió|Maceió]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Macerata–Tolentino–Recanati–Cingoli–Treia|Macerata–Tolentino–Recanati–Cingoli–Treia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Machakos|Machakos]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Machala|Machala]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Machiques|Machiques]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith|Mackenzie-Fort Smith]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madang|Madang]], Papua New Guinea'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison|Madison]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore|Madras and Mylapore]], India'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid|Madrid]], Spain'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai|Madurai]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Magangué|Magangué]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg|Magdeburg]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mahagi-Nioka|Mahagi-Nioka]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mahajanga|Mahajanga]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mahenge|Mahenge]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri|Maiduguri]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz|Mainz]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle|Maitland-Newcastle]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Majorca|Majorca]], Spain
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Makokou|Makokou]], Apostolic Vicariate, Gabon
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Makassar|Makassar]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Makeni|Makeni]], Sierra Leone
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Makurdi|Makurdi]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malabo|Malabo]], Equatorial Guinea'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Málaga|Málaga]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Málaga-Soatá|Málaga-Soatá]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Malakal|Malakal]], Sudan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Malang|Malang]], Indonesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malanje|Malanje]], Angola'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Malaybalay|Malabalay]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maldonado-Punta del Este|Maldonado-Punta del Este]], Uruguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maliana|Maliana]], Timor-Leste
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Malindi|Malindi]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos|Malolos]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta|Malta]], Malta'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mamfe|Mamfe]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Man|Man]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manado|Manado]], Indonesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Managua|Managua]], Nicaragua'''
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Mananthavady|Mananthavady (Syro-Malabar)]], India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mananjary|Mananjary]], Madagascar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manaus|Manaus]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester|Manchester]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mandalay|Mandalay]], Myanmar'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mandeville|Mandeville]], Jamaica
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Mandya|Mandya (Syro-Malabar)]], India''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manfredonia–Vieste–San Giovanni Rotondo|Manfredonia–Vieste–San Giovanni Rotondo]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manga|Manga]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangochi|Mangochi]], Malawi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore|Mangalore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangochi|Mangochi]], Malawi
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila|Manila]], Philippines'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manizales|Manizales]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mannar|Mannar]], Sri Lanka
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong|Manokwari-Sorong]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manono|Manono]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mansa|Mansa]], Zambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mantova|Mantova]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manzini|Manzini]], Swaziland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mao-Monte Cristi|Mao-Monte Cristi]], Dominican Republic
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maputo|Maputo]], Mozambique'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Marabá|Marabá]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maracaibo|Maracaibo]], Venezuela'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maracay|Maracay]], Venezuela
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Church#Structure|Mar Addai of Toronto]], Chaldean Catholic eparchy, Canada''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maradi|Maradi]], Niger
*[[Territorial Prelature of Marajó|Marajó]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maralal|Maralal]], Kenya
*[[Greek Catholic Diocese of Maramureş|Maramureş]], Romania
*[[Territorial Prelature of Marawi|Marawi]], Territorial Prelature, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Marbel|Marbel]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mar del Plata|Mar del Plata]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor|Maribor]], Slovenia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Margarita|Margarita]], Venezuela
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mariana|Mariana]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mariannhill|Mariannhill]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Marília|Marília]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maringá|Maringá]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maroua-Mokolo|Maroua-Mokolo]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette|Marquette]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Marsabit|Marsabit]], Kenya
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Marseille|Marseille]], France'''
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands|Marshall Islands]], Apostolic prefecture, Marshall Islands
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Marthandom|Marthandom (Syro-Malankara)]], India''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana|Mary Most Holy in Astana]], Kazakhstan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Masaka|Masaka]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Masan|Masan]], South Korea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maseru|Maseru]], Lesotho'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli|Massa Carrara-Pontremoli]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Massa Marittima-Piombino|Massa Marittima-Piombino]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Masvingo|Masvingo]], Zimbabwe
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Matadi|Matadi]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Matagalpa|Matagalpa]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Matamoros|Matamoros]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Matanzas|Matanzas]], Cuba
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Matehuala|Matehuala]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina|Matera-Irsina]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mati|Mati]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maturín|Maturín]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Maumere|Maumere]], Indonesia
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church#Eparchies|Mavelikara (Syro-Malankara)]], India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mawlamyine|Mawlamyine]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mayagüez|Mayagüez]], Puerto Rico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mazara del Vallo|Mazara del Vallo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mazatlán|Mazatlán]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbaïki|Mbaïki]], Central African Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbalmayo|Mbalmayo]], Cameroon
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro|Mbandaka-Bikoro]], Democratic Republic of the Congo'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbanza Congo|Mbanza Congo]], Angola
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbarara|Mbarara]], Uganda'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbeya|Mbeya]], Tanzania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbinga|Mbinga]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbujimayi|Mbujimayi]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbulu|Mbulu]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath|Meath]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Meaux|Meaux]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels|Mechelen-Brussel]], Belgium'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medan|Medan]], Indonesia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medellín|Medellín]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Meerut|Meerut]], India
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Meki|Meki]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Melaka-Johor|Melaka-Johor]], Malaysia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne|Melbourne]], Australia'''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul|Melbourne, Saints Peter and Paul of]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Australia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa|Melfi-Rapolla-Venosa]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Melipilla|Melipilla]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Melo|Melo]], Uruguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis|Memphis]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mende|Mende]], France
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Méndez|Méndez]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mendi|Mendi]], Papua New Guinea
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mendoza|Mendoza]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia|Menevia]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Menongue|Menongue]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Menorca|Menorca]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Merauke|Merauke]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mercedes|Mercedes]], Uruguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mercedes-Luján|Mercedes-Luján]], Argentina'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida in Venezuela|Mérida]], Venezuela'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz|Mérida-Badajoz]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Merlo-Moreno|Merlo-Moreno]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Meru|Meru]], Kenya
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela|Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen|Metuchen]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Metz|Metz]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mexicali|Mexicali]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of México|Mexico]], Mexico'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami|Miami]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Miao|Miao]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Miarinarivo|Miarinarivo]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough|Middlesbrough]], United Kingdom
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milano|Milano]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea|Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee|Milwaukee]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Minas|Minas]], Uruguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mindelo|Mindelo]], Cape Verde
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Minna|Minna]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk–Mohilev|Minsk–Mohilev]], Belarus'''
*[[Coptic Catholic Church|Minya]], Egypt
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Miracema do Tocantins|Miracema do Tocantins]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Miri|Miri]], Malaysia
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Mississauga|Mississauga (Syro-Malabar eparchy)]], Canada''
*[[Territorial Prelature of the Mission de France|Mission de France at Pontigny]], Territorial Prelature, France
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Misurata|Misurata]], Apostolic prefecture, Libya
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Mitú|Mitú]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Territorial Prelature of Mixes|Mixes]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile|Mobile]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mocoa-Sibundoy|Mocoa-Sibundoy]], Colombia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Modena-Nonantola|Modena-Nonantola]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogadiscio|Mogadiscio]], Somalia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogi das Cruzes|Mogi das Cruzes]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mohale's Hoek|Mohale's Hoek]], Lesotho
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Molegbe|Molegbe]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Molfetta-Ruvo-Giovinazzo-Terlizzi|Molfetta-Ruvo-Giovinazzo-Terlizzi]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa|Mombasa]], Kenya'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monaco|Monaco]], Monaco'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Moncton|Moncton]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondoñedo–Ferrol|Mondoñedo–Ferrol]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mondovì|Mondovì]], Italy
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo|Mongo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Chad
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mongomo|Mongomo]], Equatorial Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mongu|Mongu]], Zambia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monreale|Monreale]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia|Monrovia]], Liberia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Montauban|Montauban]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Montego Bay|Montego Bay]], Jamaica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Montelíbano|Montelíbano]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Montenegro|Montenegro]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza|Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey|Monterey in California]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Montería|Montería]], Colombia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monterrey|Monterrey]], Mexico'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montes Claros|Montes Claros]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montevideo|Montevideo]], Uruguay'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mont-Laurier|Mont-Laurier]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montpellier|Montpellier]], France'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal|Montreal]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Monze|Monze]], Zambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mopti|Mopti]], Mali
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Moramanga|Moramanga]], Madagascar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Morelia|Morelia]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Morogoro|Morogoro]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Morombe|Morombe]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Morón|Morón]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Morondava|Morondava]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Moroto|Moroto]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Moshi|Moshi]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mossoró|Mossoró]], Brazil
*'''''[[Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul|Mosul (Chaldean)]],''''' Iraq
*'''''[[Syriac Catholic Church#Organization|Mosul (Syriac)]]''''', Iraq
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar–Duvno|Mostar–Duvno]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Most Holy Trinity in Almaty|Most Holy Trinity in Almaty]], Kazakhstan
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mother of God at Moscow|Mother of God at Moscow]], Russia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Motherwell|Motherwell]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mouila|Mouila]], Gabon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Moulins|Moulins]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Moundou|Moundou]], Chad
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mount Hagen|Mount Hagen]], Papua New Guinea'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Moyobamba|Moyobamba]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mpanda|Mpanda]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mpika|Mpika]], Zambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mtwara|Mtwara]], Tanzania
*''[[Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo|Mukachevo (Ruthenian)]], Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mukachevo|Mukachevo (Latin)]], Ukraine
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Multan|Multan]], Pakistan
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising|Munich and Freising]], Germany'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster|Münster]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Murang'a|Murang'a]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Murska Sobota|Murska Sobota]], Slovenia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Musoma|Musoma]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mutare|Mutare]], Zimbabwe
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Muvattupuzha|Muvattupuzha (Syro-Malankara eparchy)]], India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Muyinga|Muyinga]], Burundi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Muzaffarpur|Muzaffarpur]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mwanza|Mwanza]], Tanzania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mweka|Mweka]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Myitkyina|Myitkyina]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mymensingh|Mymensingh]], Bangladesh
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mysore|Mysore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mỹ Tho|Mỹ Tho]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mzuzu|Mzuzu]], Malawi

===N===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nacala|Nacala]], Mozambique
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], Japan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nagoya|Nagoya]], Japan
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nagpur|Nagpur]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Naha|Naha]], Japan
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi|Nairobi]], Kenya'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nakhon Ratchasima|Nakon Ratchasima]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nakhon Sawan|Nakon Sawan]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nakuru|Nakuru]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nalgonda|Nalgonda]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nampula|Nampula]], Mozambique'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Namur|Namur]], Belgium
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanchang|Nanchang]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nancheng|Nancheng]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nancy|Nancy]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing|Nanjing]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nanlong|Nanlong]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanning|Nanning]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nanterre|Nanterre]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nantes|Nantes]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nanyang|Nanyang]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Napoli|Napoli (Naples)]], Italy'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Napo|Napo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nardò – Gallipoli|Nardò – Gallipoli]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashik|Nashik]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville|Nashville]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nassau|Nassau]], Bahamas'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Natal|Natal]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Natitingou|Natitingou]], Benin
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Naval|Naval]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Naviraí|Naviraí]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Navrongo–Bolgatanga|Navrongo–Bolgatanga]], Ghana
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naxos–Andros–Tinos–Mykonos|Naxos–Andros–Tinos–Mykonos]], Greece'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Jesús María del Nayar|Nayar, Jesús María del]], Territorial Prelature, Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nazaré|Nazaré]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ndalatando|Ndalatando]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of N’Dali|N’Dali]], Benin
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of N'Djamena|N'Djamena]], Chad'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ndola|Ndola]], Zambia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nebbi|Nebbi]], Uganda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Neiva|Neiva]], Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Nekemte|Nekemte]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nellore|Nellore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nelson|Nelson]], Canada
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal|Nepal]], Apostolic Vicariate (in Kathmandu), Nepal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Neuquén|Neuquén]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nevers|Nevers]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark|Newark]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans|New Orleans]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of New Ulm|New Ulm]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of New Westminster|New Westminster]], Canada
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster|New Westminster]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York|New York]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Neyyattinkara|Neyyattinkara]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nezahualcóyotl|Nezahualcóyotl]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ngaoundéré|Ngaoundéré]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ngong|Ngong]], Kenya
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ngozi|Ngozi]], Burundi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nha Trang|Nha Trang]], Vietnam
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Niamey|Niamey]], Niger'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nice|Nice]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nicolet|Nicolet]], Canada
*'[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nicopolis|Nicopolis]], Bulgaria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nicosia|Nicosia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Niigata|Niigata]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nikopol|Nikopol]], Bulgaria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nîmes|Nîmes]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ningbo|Ningbo]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ningxia|Ningxia]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ningyaun|Ningyaun]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Niterói|Niterói]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nitra|Nitra]], Slovakia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Njombe|Njombe]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nkayi|Nkayi]], Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nkongsamba|Nkongsamba]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nnewi|Nnewi]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno|Nocera Inferiore-Sarno]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nogales|Nogales]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nola|Nola]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nongstoin|Nongstoin]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton|Northampton]], United Kingdom
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia|Northern Arabia]], Apostolic Vicariate, in Kuwait City, Kuwait
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich|Norwich]], United States
*''[[Maronite Diocese of Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo|Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo]], Maronite Eparchy, Brazil''
*''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso em São Paulo|Nossa Senhora do Paraíso em São Paulo (Melkite)]], Brazil''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Noto|Noto]], Italy
*''[[Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Notre-Dame du Liban de Paris|Notre-Dame du Liban de Paris]], Maronite Eparchy, France''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham|Nottingham]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nouakchott|Nouakchott]], Mauritania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nouméa|Nouméa]], New Caledonia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nouna|Nouna]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nova Friburgo|Nova Friburgo]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nova Iguaçu|Nova Iguaçu]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Novaliches|Novaliches]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Novara|Novara]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Hamburgo|Novo Hamburgo]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Novo Mesto|Novo Mesto]], Slovenia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nsukka|Nsukka]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey|Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey]], Dominican Republic
*''[[Maronite Church#Eparchies|Nuestra Señora de los Mártires del Líbano en México (Maronite)]], Maronite*, Mexico''
*''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Nuestra Señora del Paraíso en México (Melkite)]]*, Mexico''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nueva Pamplona|Nueva Pamplona]], Colombia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia|Nueva Segovia]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nueve de Julio|Nueve de Julio]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nuevo Casas Grandes|Nuevo Casas Grandes]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nuevo Laredo|Nuevo Laredo]], Mexico
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Ñuflo de Chávez|Ñuflo de Chávez]], Apostolic Vicariate, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nuoro|Nuoro]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nyahururu|Nyahururu]], Kenya
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri|Nyeri]], Kenya'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nyundo|Nyundo]], Rwanda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of N’Zérékoré|N’Zérékoré]], Guinea

===O===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland|Oakland]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Obala|Obala]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oberá|Oberá]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Óbidos|Óbidos]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Obuasi|Obuasi]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ocaña|Ocaña]], Colombia
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Odessa|Odessa]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine ''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Odessa–Simferopol|Odessa–Simferopol (Latin)]], Ukraine
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Odienné|Odienné]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oeiras|Oeiras]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg|Ogdensburg]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogoja|Ogoja]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oita|Oita]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Okigwe|Okigwe]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City|Oklahoma City]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olinda e Recife|Olinda e Recife]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oliveira|Oliveira]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olomouc|Olomouc]], Czech Republic'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha|Omaha]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ondjiva|Ondjiva]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ondo|Ondo]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha|Onitsha]], Nigeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ootacamund|Ootacamund]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Opole|Opole]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oppido Mamertina-Palmi|Oppido Mamertina-Palmi]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oradea Mare|Oradea Mare]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran|Oran]], Algeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orán|Orán]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange|Orange]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orense|Orense]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oria|Oria]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orihuela–Alicante|Orihuela–Alicante]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oristano|Oristano]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orizaba|Orizaba]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando|Orlando]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orléans|Orléans]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlu|Orlu]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oruro|Oruro]], Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orvieto-Todi|Orvieto-Todi]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Osaka|Osaka]], Japan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osasco|Osasco]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo|Oslo]], Norway
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria|Osma-Soria]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück|Osnabrück]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osogbo|Osogbo]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osório|Osório]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osorno, Chile|Osorno]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory|Ossory]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ostia|Ostia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ostrava-Opava|Ostrava-Opava]], Czech Republic
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Otranto|Otranto]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa|Ottawa]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Otukpo|Otukpo]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou|Ouagadougou]], Burkina Faso'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ouahigouya|Ouahigouya]], Burkina Faso
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oudtshoorn|Oudtshoorn]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ouesso|Ouesso]], Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ourinhos|Ourinhos]], Brazil
*[[Syrian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark|Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark]], United States
*''[[Maronite Church#Eparchies|Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles]], Maronite Eparchy*, United States''
*''[[Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady in New York|Our Lady of Nareg in Glendale]], Armenian Catholic, United States''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oviedo|Oviedo]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Owando|Owando]], Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro|Owensboro]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri|Owerri]], Nigeria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oyem|Oyem]], Gabon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Oyo|Oyo]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ozamis|Ozamis]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ozieri|Ozieri]], Italy

===P===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Padang|Padang]], Indonesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn|Paderborn]], Germany'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Padova|Padova]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pagadian|Pagadian]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley|Paisley]], United Kingdom
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Pakse|Pakse]] (Paksé), Apostolic Vicariate, Laos
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pala|Pala]], Chad
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palai|Palai]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palangkaraya|Palangkaraya]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palayamkottai|Palayamkottai]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palembang|Palembang]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palencia|Palencia]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo|Palermo]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palestrina|Palestrina]], Italy
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Palghat|Palghat]], Syro-Malabar Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmares|Palmares]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palmas|Palmas]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmas–Francisco Beltrão|Palmas–Francisco Beltrão]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach|Palm Beach]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmeira dos Índios|Palmeira dos Índios]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North|Palmerston North]], New Zealand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmira|Palmira]], Colombia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo|Palo]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pamiers|Pamiers]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pamplona y Tudela|Pamplona y Tudela]], Spain'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Panamá|Panamá]], Panama'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Pando|Pando]], Apostolic Vicariate, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Panevėžys|Panevėžys]], Lithuania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pankshin|Pankshin]], Nigeria
*[[Territorial Abbacy of Pannonhalma|Pannonhalma]], Territorial Abbacy, Hungary
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Baoqing|Paoking]] (Baoqing, Shaoyang), Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Papantla|Papantla]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete|Papeete]], French Polynesia (& Pitcairn Islands)'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paracatu|Paracatu]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paraíba|Paraíba]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Parakou|Parakou]], Benin'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paramaribo|Paramaribo]], Suriname
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paraná|Paraná]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paranaguá|Paranaguá]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parañaque|Parañaque]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paranavaí|Paranavaí]], Brazil
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Parassala|Parassala]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parintins|Parintins]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris|Paris]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parma|Parma]], Italy
*''[[Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Parma|Parma (Ruthenian)]], United States''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saint Josaphat in Parma|Parma (Ukrainian)]], United States''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parnaíba|Parnaíba]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parral|Parral]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Parramatta|Parramatta]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pasig|Pasig]], Philippines
*''[[Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Passaic|Passaic (Ruthenian)]]*, Eparchy United States''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau|Passau]], Germany
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Passo Fundo|Passo Fundo]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pasto|Pasto]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson|Paterson]], United States
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Pathanamthitta|Pathanamthitta]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pathein|Pathein]], Myanmar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Patna|Patna]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Patos|Patos]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Patos de Minas|Patos de Minas]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Patti|Patti]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Paulo Afonso|Paulo Afonso]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pavia|Pavia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pécs|Pécs]], Hungary
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pekhon|Pekhon]], Myanmar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pelotas|Pelotas]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pelplin|Pelplin]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pemba|Pemba]], Mozambique
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pembroke|Pembroke]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang|Penang]], Malaysia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo|Penedo]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Penonomé|Penonomé]], Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee|Pensacola-Tallahassee]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria|Peoria]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pereira|Pereira]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Périgueux|Périgueux]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Perpignan-Elne|Perpignan-Elne]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth|Perth]], Australia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perugia–Città della Pieve|Perugia–Città della Pieve]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pesaro|Pesaro]], Italy'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pescara-Penne|Pescara-Penne]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pescia|Pescia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pesqueira|Pesqueira]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough|Peterborough]], Canada
*'''''[[Melkite Catholic Church#Organization|Petra and Philadelphia]], Melkite*, Jordan'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Petrolina|Petrolina]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Petrópolis|Petrópolis]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Phan Thiết|Phan Thiết]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Phát Diêm|Phát Diêm]], Vietnam
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] (Latin Church), United States'''
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] (Ukrainian Catholic), United States'''''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Phnom Penh|Phnom Penh]], Apostolic Vicariate, Cambodia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix|Phoenix]] (Latin Church), United States
*''[[Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary of Phoenix|Phoenix]] (Ruthenian*), United States''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Phú Cường|Phú Cường]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio|Piacenza-Bobbio]], Italy
*''[[Italo-Albanese Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi|Piana degli Albanesi]], Italo-Albanese Eparchy, Italy''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Piazza Armerina|Piazza Armerina]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Picos|Picos]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Piedras Negras|Piedras Negras]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pietersburg|Pietersburg]], South Africa
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Pilcomayo|Pilcomayo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pinar del Río|Pinar del Río]], Cuba
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pinerolo|Pinerolo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pingliang|Pingliang]], Cuba
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pinheiro|Pinheiro]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pinsk|Pinsk]], Belarus
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Piracicaba|Piracicaba]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pisa|Pisa]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pistoia|Pistoia]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello|Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh]] (Latin Church), United States
*'''[[Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh]] (Ruthenian Catholic Byzantine), United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Piura|Piura]], Peru'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Plasencia|Plasencia]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Płock|Płock]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth|Plymouth]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Plzeň|Plzeň]], Czech Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth|Plymouth]], United States
*Pointe-à-Pitre: see united see Basse-Terre(-Pointe-à-Pitre)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pointe-Noire|Pointe-Noire]], Republic of the Congo
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poitiers|Poitiers]], France'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of Pompei o Beatissima Vergine Maria del SS.mo Rosario|Pompei aka Beatissima Vergine Maria del SS.mo Rosario (Blessed Virgin of the Most Sacred Rosary)]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce|Ponce]], Puerto Rico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore|Pondicherry and Cuddalore]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponta de Pedras|Ponta de Pedras]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponta Grossa|Ponta Grossa]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pontianak|Pontianak]], Indonesia'''
*[[Territorial Prelature of the Mission de France|Pontigny (Mission de France)]], Territorial Prelature, France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pontoise|Pontoise]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Poona|Poona]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Popayán|Popayán]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Popokabaka|Popokabaka]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Poreč i Pula|Poreč i Pula]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Portalegre–Castelo Branco|Portalegre–Castelo Branco]], Portugal
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince|Port-au-Prince]], Haiti'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Bergé|Port-Bergé]], Madagascar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Blair|Port Blair]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-de-Paix|Port-de-Paix]], Haiti
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Elizabeth|Port Elizabeth]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Gentil|Port-Gentil]], Gabon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Hartcourt|Port Hartcourt]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon|Portland in Oregon]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in Maine|Portland in Maine]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis|Port-Louis]], Mauritius
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port Moresby|Port Moresby]], Papua New Guinea'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto|Porto]], Portugal
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Porto Alegre|Porto Alegre]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port of Spain|Port of Spain]], Trinidad and Tobago'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto Nacional|Porto Nacional]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto Novo|Porto Novo]], Benin
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto-Santa Rufina|Porto-Santa Rufina]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Porto Velho|Porto Velho]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portoviejo|Portoviejo]], Ecuador'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Pirie|Port Pirie]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth|Portsmouth]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria or Seychelles|Port Victoria]], Seychelles
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Vila|Port-Vila]], Vanuatu
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Posadas|Posadas]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo|Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Potosí|Potosí]], Bolivia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pouso Alegre|Pouso Alegre]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Požega|Požega]], Croatia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poznań|Poznań]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pozzuoli|Pozzuoli]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague|Prague (Praha)]], Czech Republic'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Prato|Prato]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Presidente Prudente|Presidente Prudente]], Brazil
*'''''[[Slovak Catholic Diocese of Prešov|Prešov]], Slovak Catholic Archeparchy, Metropolitanate sui juris, Slovakia'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pretoria|Pretoria]], South Africa'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert|Prince-Albert]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George|Prince George]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Prizren-Priština|Prizren-Priština]], Kosovo{{ref label|status|a|}}
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Propriá|Propriá]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence|Providence]], United States
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Imaculada Conceição in Prudentópolis|Prudentópolis, Imaculada Conceição in -]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Brazil''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Przemyśl|Przemyśl]], Poland'''
*'''''[[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church#Administration|Przemyśl-Warszawa (Ukrainian Catholic)]], Poland'''''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Pucallpa|Pucallpa]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles|Puebla de los Angeles]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo|Pueblo]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puerto Cabello|Puerto Cabello]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puerto Escondido|Puerto Escondido]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puerto Iguazú|Puerto Iguazú]], Argentina
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Ayacucho|Puerto Ayacucho]], Apostolic Vicariate, Veneuzuela
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Carreño|Puerto Carreño]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Gaitán|Puerto Gaitán]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Leguízamo–Solano|Leguízamo–Solano]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado|Puerto Maldonado]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Puerto Montt|Puerto Montt]], Chile'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puerto Plata|Puerto Plata]], Dominican Republic
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa|Puerto Princesa]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Punalur|Punalur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puno|Puno]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Punta Arenas|Punta Arenas]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puntarenas|Puntarenas]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Punto Fijo|Punto Fijo]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Puqi|Puqi]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Purnea|Purnea]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Purwokerto|Purwokerto]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pusan|Pusan (Busan)]], South Korea
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Puthur|Puthur]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Puyo|Puyo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyay|Pyay]], Myanmar
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyongyang|Pyongyang (P’yŏng-yang)]], North Korea

===Q===
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Qacha's Nek|Qacha's Nek]], Lesotho
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Qizhou|Qizhou]], China
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Qingdao|Qingdao]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec|Quebec]], Canada'''
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Queenstown|Queenstown]], South Africa
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quelimane|Quelimane]], Mozambique
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Querétaro|Querétaro]], Mexico
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta|Quetta]], Apostolic Vicariate, Pakistan
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quibdó|Quibdó]], Colombia
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quiché|Quiché]], Guatemala
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quilmes|Quilmes]], Argentina
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quilon|Quilon]], India
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quimper-Léon|Quimper-Léon]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quito|Quito]], Ecuador'''
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quixadá|Quixadá]], Brazil
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Quy Nhơn|Quy Nhơn]], Vietnam

===R===
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabat|Rabat]], Morocco'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul|Rabaul]], Papua New Guinea'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Radom|Radom]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rafaela|Rafaela]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ragusa|Ragusa]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Raiganj|Raiganj]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Raigarh|Raigarh]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Raipur|Raipur]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rajkot|Rajkot]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rajshahi|Rajshahi]], Bangladesh
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh|Raleigh]], United States
*[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Ramanathapuram|Ramanathapuram]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rancagua|Rancagua]], Chile
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi|Ranchi]], India'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yangon|Rangoon (Yangon)]], Burma'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Raphoe|Raphoe]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City|Rapid City]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga|Rarotonga]], Cook Islands
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ratchaburi|Ratchaburi]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ratnapura|Ratnapura]], Sri Lanka
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia|Ravenna-Cervia]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rayagada|Rayagada]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Reconquista|Reconquista]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg|Regensburg]], Germany
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria-Bova|Reggio Calabria-Bova]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla|Reggio Emilia-Guastalla]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina|Regina]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Registro|Registro]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rehe|Rehe]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims|Reims]], France'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes|Rennes]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno|Reno]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Resistencia|Resistencia]], Argentina'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Requena|Requena]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Reyes|Reyes]], Apostolic Vicariate, Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykjavik|Reykjavík]], Iceland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rēzekne–Aglona|Rēzekne–Aglona]], Latvia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodos|Rhodos]], Greece'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ribeirão Preto|Ribeirão Preto]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond|Richmond]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rieti|Rieti]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga|Riga]], Latvia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rijeka|Rijeka]], Croatia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rimini|Rimini]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rimouski|Rimouski]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Riobamba|Riobamba]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rio Branco|Rio Branco]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rio do Sul|Rio do Sul]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Río Gallegos|Río Gallegos]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rio Grande|Rio Grande]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Riohacha|Riohacha]], Colombia
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of the Robe|Robe]], Apostolic prefecture, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester|Rochester]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford|Rockford]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton|Rockhampton]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre|Rockville Centre]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rodez|Rodez]], France
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Rodrigues|Rodrigues]], Apostolic Vicariate, Mauritius
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond|Roermond]], Netherlands
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Romblon|Romblon]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rome|Rome]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rondonópolis|Rondonópolis]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Roraima|Roraima]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rosario|Rosario]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Roseau|Roseau]], Dominica
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rossano-Cariati|Rossano-Cariati]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart|Rottenburg-Stuttgart]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rotterdam|Rotterdam]], Netherlands
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen|Rouen]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rourkela|Rourkela]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rouyn-Noranda|Rouyn-Noranda]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rožňava|Rožňava]], Slovakia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rrëshen|Rrëshen]], Albania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rubiataba – Mozarlândia|Rubiataba–Mozarlândia]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ruhengeri|Ruhengeri]], Rwanda
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rulenge|Rulenge]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rumbek|Rumbek]], Sudan
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Rundu|Rundu]], Apostolic Vicariate, Namibia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rustenburg|Rustenburg]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rutana|Rutana]], Burundi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ruteng|Ruteng]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ruy Barbosa|Ruy Barbosa]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ruyigi|Ruyigi]], Burundi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Rzeszów|Rzeszów]], Poland

===S===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto|Sabina-Poggio Mirteto]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento|Sacramento]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sagar|Sagar]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw|Saginaw]], United States
*''[[Maronite Catholic Church#Eparchies|Saida (Maronite)]], Lebanon''
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Saida]], Lebanon'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh|St Andrews and Edinburgh]], United Kingdom'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine|St. Augustine]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Boniface|Saint Boniface]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Brieuc|Saint-Brieuc]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Catharines|Saint Catharines]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Claude|Saint-Claude]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Clement at Saratov|Saint Clement at Saratov]], Russia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud|Saint Cloud]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion|Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion]], Réunion (French)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Dié|Saint-Dié]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière|Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière]], Canada
*''[[Armenian Catholic Church#Structure|Sainte-Croix-de-Paris]], Armenian Catholic Apostolic Eparchy, France, exempt''
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate of Khadki|Saint Ephrem of Khadki (Syro-Malankara)]], Exachate, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Étienne|Saint-Étienne]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Flour|Saint-Flour]], France
*''[[Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St George's in Canton|Saint George in Canton]], Romanian Catholic Eparchy, United States''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint George's in Grenada|Saint George's in Grenada]], Grenada
*[[Roman Catholic Mission Sui Iuris of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha|Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha]], Mission sui juris, Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha (UK)
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe|Saint-Hyacinthe]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil|Saint-Jean-Longueuil]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Jérôme|Saint-Jérôme]], Canada
*''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of St. John Chrysostom of Gurgaon|Saint John Chrysostom of Gurgaon]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John, New Brunswick]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of St. John's - Bassetere|Saint John's-Bassetere]], the Caribbean
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland|St. John's, Newfoundland]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Joseph at Irkutsk|Saint Joseph at Irkutsk]], Russia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis|St. Louis]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Louis du Sénégal|Saint-Louis du Sénégal]], Senegal
*''[[Eparchy of Saint Maron of Montreal|Saint-Maron de Montréal]], Maronite Eparchy, Canada''
*''[[Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn|Saint Maron of Brooklyn]], Maronite Eparchy, United States''
*''[[Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney|Saint Maron of Sydney]], Maronite Eparchy, Australia''
*''[[Greek-Melkite Diocese of Saint Michael’s of Sydney|Saint Michael's of Sydney]], Melkite Greek*, Australia''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago|Saint Nicholas of Chicago]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, United States''
*''[[Greek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur|Saint Nicholas of Ruski Krstur]], Greek Catholic Eparchy, Serbia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Paul, Alberta|Saint Paul, Alberta]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis|Saint Paul and Minneapolis]], United States'''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter The Apostle|Saint Peter the Apostle of El Cajon]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, United States''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg|Saint Petersburg]], United States
*''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Saint-Sauveur de Montréal]], Melkite Greek Catholic*, Canada''
*''[[Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto|Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto]], Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul|Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Australia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Thomas|Saint Thomas]], at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
*''[[St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago|Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, United States''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Church#Structure|Saint Thomas the Apostle of Detroit]], Chaldean Catholic* Eparchy, United States''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle|Saint Thomas the Apostle of Sydney]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, Australia''
|
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saitama|Saitama]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sakania–Kipushi|Sakania–Kipushi]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salamanca|Salamanca]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale|Sale]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salem|Salem]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno|Salerno-Campagna-Acerno]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford|Salford]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salgueiro|Salgueiro]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina|Salina]], United States
*'''''[[Salmas (Chaldean Archdiocese)|Salmas]], Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy (Archdiocese), Iran'''''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salta|Salta]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saltillo|Saltillo]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City|Salt Lake City]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Salto|Salto]], Uruguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saluzzo|Saluzzo]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg|Salzburg]], Austria'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samarinda|Samarinda]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sambalpur|Sambalpur]], India
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Sambir – Drohobych|Sambir-Drohobych]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Same|Same]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia|Samoa-Apia]], Samoa'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago|Samoa-Pago Pago]], American Samoa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San|San]], Mali
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of San Andrés y Providencia|San Andrés y Providencia]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Andrés Tuxtla|San Andrés Tuxtla]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Angelo|San Angelo]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio|San Antonio]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto|San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino|San Bernardino]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardo|San Bernardo]], Chile
*[[Diocese of San Carlos (Philippines)|San Carlos]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Carlos de Ancud|San Carlos de Ancud]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Carlos de Bariloche|San Carlos de Bariloche]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Carlos de Venezuela|San Carlos de Venezuela]], Venezuela
*''[[Eparchy of San Charbel of Buenos Aires (Maronite)|San Charbel en Buenos Aires]]*, Eparchy, Argentina''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana|(San Cristóbal de) la Habana]], Cuba'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna|San Cristóbal de La Laguna]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas|San Cristóbal de las Casas]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Venezuela|San Cristóbal de Venezuela]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandakan|Sandakan]], Malaysia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst|Sandhurst]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Domingo en Ecuador|Santo Domingo]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego|San Diego]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandomierz|Sandomierz]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Domingo en Ecuador|Santo Domingo]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Felipe, Chile|San Felipe]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Felipe, Venezuela|San Felipe]], Venezuela
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando|San Fernando]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Fernando de Apure|San Fernando de Apure]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Fernando de La Union|San Fernando de La Union]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco|San Francisco]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco|San Francisco]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís|San Francisco de Macorís]], Dominican Republic
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Jaén en Perú|San Francisco Javier (Jaén en Perú)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco de Asís de Jutiapa|San Francisco de Asís de Jutiapa]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sanggau|Sanggau]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sangmélima|Sangmélima]], Cameroon
*''[[Armenian Catholic Church#Structure|San Gregorio de Narek en Buenos Aires]], Armenian Catholic*, Argentina''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco|San Ignacio de Velasco]], Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Isidro|San Isidro]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Isidro de El General|San Isidro de El General]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jacinto de Yaguachi|San Jacinto de Yaguachi]], Ecuador
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of San José de Amazonas|San José de Amazonas]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose in Mindoro|San Jose in Mindoro]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in Nueva Ecija|San Jose in Nueva Ecija]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose de Antique|San Jose de Antique]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San José de Costa Rica|San José de Costa Rica]], Costa Rica'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San José del Guaviare|San José del Guaviare]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San José de Mayo|San José de Mayo]], Uruguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California|San Jose in California]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan Bautista de Las Misiones|San Juan Bautista de Las Misiones]], Paraguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Cuyo|San Juan de Cuyo]], Argentina'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan de La Maguana|San Juan de La Maguana]], Dominican Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan de los Lagos|San Juan de los Lagos]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico|San Juan de Puerto Rico]], Puerto Rico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Justo|San Justo]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Gallen|Sankt Gallen]], Switzerland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sankt Pölten|Sankt Pölten]], Austria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Lorenzo|San Lorenzo]], Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Luis|San Luis]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Luis Potosí|San Luis Potosí]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marco Argentano – Scalea|San Marco Argentano–Scalea]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marcos|San Marcos]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marino – Montefeltro|San Marino–Montefeltro]], San Marino & Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Martín|San Martín]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Miguel, El Salvador|San Miguel]], El Salvador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Miguel, Argentina|San Miguel]], Argentina
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of San Miguel de Sucumbíos|San Miguel de Sucumbíos]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Miniato|San Miniato]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Nicolás de los Arroyos|San Nicolás de los Arroyos]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo|San Pablo]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pedro|San Pedro]], Paraguay
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pedro de Macorís|San Pedro de Macorís]], Dominican Republic
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pedro-en-Côte d'Ivoire|San Pedro-en-Côte d'Ivoire]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pedro Sula|San Pedro Sula]], Honduras
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Rafael|San Rafael]], Argentina
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of San Ramón|San Ramón]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Roque de Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña|San Roque de Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|San Salvador]], El Salvador'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Sebastián|San Sebastián]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Severo|San Severo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Ana|Santa Ana]], El Salvador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Clara|Santa Clara]], Cuba
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra|Santa Cruz de la Sierra]], Bolivia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Cruz do Sul|Santa Cruz do Sul]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe|Santa Fe]], United States'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe de Antioquia|Santa Fe de Antioquia]], Colombia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz|Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz]], Argentina'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Maria|Santa Maria]], Brazil'''
*''[[Territorial Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata|Santa Maria di Grottaferrata]], Italo-Albanese Territorial Abbacy, Italy''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa María de Los Ángeles|Santa María de Los Ángeles]], Chile
*''[[Eparchy of Santa María del Patrocinio en Buenos Aires|Santa María del Patrocinio en Buenos Aires]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, in Buenos Aires, Argentina''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Marta|Santa Marta]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santander|Santander]], Spain
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi–Conza–Nusco–Bisaccia|Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi–Conza–Nusco–Bisaccia]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santarém, Portugal|Santarém]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santarém, Brazil|Santarém]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in Argentina|Santa Rosa]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California|Santa Rosa]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán|Santa Rosa de Copán]], Honduras
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima|Santa Rosa de Lima]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Osos|Santa Rosa de Osos]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sant Feliu de Llobregat|Sant Feliu de Llobregat]], Spain
*[[Territorial Prelature of Santiago Apóstol de Huancané|Santiago Apóstol de Huancané]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde|Santiago de Cabo Verde]], Cape Verde
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile|Santiago de Chile]], Chile'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela|Santiago de Compostela]], Spain'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba|Santiago de Cuba]], Cuba'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago del Estero|Santiago del Estero]], Argentina
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros|Santiago de los Caballeros]], Dominican Republic'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de María|Santiago de María]], El Salvador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de Veraguas|Santiago de Veraguas]], Panama
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santísimo Salvador de Bayamo y Manzanillo|Santísimo Salvador de Bayamo y Manzanillo]], Cuba
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santíssima Conceição do Araguaia|Santíssima Conceição do Araguaia]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Amaro|Santo Amaro]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo André|Santo André]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Ângelo|Santo Ângelo]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of Santo Cristo de Esquipulas|Santo Cristo de Esquipulas]], Territorial Prelature, Guatemala
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo]], Dominican Republic'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Domingo de los Colorados|Santo Domingo de los Colorados]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santorini|Santorini]], Greece
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santos|Santos]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Santo Tomé|Santo Tomé]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Vicente|San Vicente]], El Salvador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Vicente del Caguán|San Vicente del Caguán]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sanyuan|Sanyuan]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Carlos|São Carlos]], Brazil
*[[Territorial Prelature of São Félix do Araguaia|São Félix (do Araguaia)]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Gabriel da Cachoeira|São Gabriel da Cachoeira]], Brazil
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of São João Batista em Curitiba|São João Batista em(=in) Curitiba (Ukrainian)]], Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy, Brazil'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São João Batista em Curitiba|São João Batista em Curitiba (Latin)]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São João da Boa Vista|São João da Boa Vista]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São João del Rei|São João del Rei]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São José do Rio Preto|São José do Rio Preto]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São José dos Campos|São José dos Campos]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São José dos Pinhais|São José dos Pinhais]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Luís de Cáceres|São Luís de Cáceres]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Luís de Montes Belos|São Luís de Montes Belos]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Luís do Maranhão|São Luís do Maranhão]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Mateus|São Mateus]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Miguel Paulista|São Miguel Paulista]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo|São Paulo]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Raimundo Nonato|São Raimundo Nonato]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia|São Salvador da Bahia]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro|São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of São Tomé and Príncipe|São Tomé and Príncipe]], São Tomé and Príncipe
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapë|Sapë]], Albania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapporo|Sapporo]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sarh|Sarh]], Chad
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon|Saskatoon]], Canada
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon|Saskatoon]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sassari|Sassari]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Satna|Satna]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Satu Mare|Satu Mare]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario|Sault Sainte Marie]], Canada
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saurímo|Saurímo]], Angola'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah|Savannah]], United States
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Savannakhet|Savannakhet]], Apostolic Vicariate, Cambodia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Savona-Noli|Savona-Noli]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton|Scranton]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle|Seattle]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sées|Sées]], France
*''[[Eritrean Catholic Eparchy of Segheneyti|Segheneyti]], Eritrean Catholic Eparchy, Eritrea''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Segorbe–Castellón de la Plana|Segorbe–Castellón de la Plana]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ségou|Ségou]], Mali
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Segovia|Segovia]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sekondi–Takoradi|Sekondi–Takoradi]], Ghana
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang|Semarang]], Indonesia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sendai|Sendai]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Senigallia|Senigallia]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens|Sens]], France'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul|Seoul]], South Korea'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Serrinha|Serrinha]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sessa Aurunca|Sessa Aurunca]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sete Lagoas|Sete Lagoas]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Setúbal|Setúbal]], Portugal
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville|Sevilla]], Spain'''
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Shamshabad|Shamshabad]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy, India''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shanghai|Shanghai]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shantou|Shantou]], China
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Baoqing|Shaoyang]] (Baoqing, Paoking), Apostolic prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shaozhou|Shaozhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shendam|Shendam]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shenyang|Shenyang]], China'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sherbrooke|Sherbrooke]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch|'s-Hertogenbosch]], Netherlands
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shillong|Shillong]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shimoga|Shimoga]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shinan|Shinan]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shinyanga|Shinyanga]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shkodër-Pult|Shkodër–Pult]], Albania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport|Shreveport]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury|Shrewsbury]], United Kingdom
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shunde|Shunde]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shunqing|Shunqing]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Shuozhou|Shuozhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Šiauliai|Šiauliai]], Lithuania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Šibenik|Šibenik]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sibolga|Sibolga]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sibu|Sibu]], Malaysia
*[[Territorial Prelature of Sicuani|Sicuani]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Siedlce|Siedlce]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Siena–Colle di Val d’Elsa–Montalcino|Siena–Colle di Val d’Elsa–Montalcino]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sigüenza–Guadalajara|Sigüenza–Guadalajara]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sikasso|Sikasso]], Mali
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Simdega|Simdega]], India
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Krym|Simferopol (Crimea, Krym)]], Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate, Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Simla and Chandigarh|Simla and Chandigarh]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sincelejo|Sincelejo]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sindhudurg|Sindhudurg]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore|Singapore]], Singapore'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Singida|Singida]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sinop|Sinop]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sintang|Sintang]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sion|Sion]], Switzerland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City|Sioux City]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls|Sioux Falls]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sipingjie|Sipingjie]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Siracusa|Siracusa]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sisak|Sisak]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Siuna|Siuna]], Nicaragua
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sivagangai|Sivagangai]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Skopje|Skopje]], Macedonia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Soacha|Soacha]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sobral|Sobral]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Socorro y San Gil|Socorro y San Gil]], Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Soddo|Soddo]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ethiopia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv|Sofia-Plovdiv]], Bulgaria
*''[[Coptic Catholic Church|Sohag]], Coptic Catholic Eparchy, Egypt''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Soissons|Soissons]], France
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Sokal – Zhovkva|Sokal-Zhovkva]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokodé|Sokodé]], Togo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto|Sokoto]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sololá–Chimaltenango|Sololá–Chimaltenango]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Solsona|Solsona]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Solwezi|Solwezi]], Zambia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea|Songea]], Tanzania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsonate|Sonsonate]], El Salvador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsón–Rionegro|Sonsón–Rionegro]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo|Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sorocaba|Sorocaba]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Soroti|Soroti]], Uganda
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia|Sorrento-Castellammare di Stabia]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sorsogon|Sorsogon]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sosnowiec|Sosnowiec]], Poland
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia|Southern Arabia]], Apostolic Vicariate, in Abu Dhabi, UAE
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark|Southwark]], United Kingdom'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer|Speyer]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Spiš|Spiš]], Slovakia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Split–Makarska|Split–Makarska]], Croatia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane|Spokane]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia|Spoleto-Norcia]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois|Springfield in Illinois]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts|Springfield in Massachusetts]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau|Springfield-Cape Girardeau]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Srijem|Srijem]], Serbia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Srikakulam|Srikakulam]], India
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford|Stamford]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, United States''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville|Steubenville]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm|Stockholm]], Sweden
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton|Stockton]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg|Strasbourg]], France'''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stryi|Stryi]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Ukraine''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Subotica|Subotica]], Serbia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Suchitepéquez–Retalhuleu|Suchitepéquez–Retalhuleu]], Guatemala
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sucre|Sucre]], Bolivia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Suifu|Suifu]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Suiyuan|Suiyuan]], China'''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Church#Structure|Sulaimaniya]], Chaldean Catholic - see Kirkuk-Sulaimaniya, Iraq''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sulmona-Valva|Sulmona-Valva]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sultanpet|Sultanpet]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sumbawanga|Sumbawanga]], Tanzania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sumbe|Sumbe]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sunyani|Sunyani]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior|Superior]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Surabaya|Surabaya]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Surat Thani|Surat Thani]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Surigao|Surigao]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Susa|Susa]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Suva|Suva]], Fiji'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Suwon|Suwon]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Suzhou|Suzhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Świdnica|Świdnica]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney|Sydney]] (Roman Catholic), Australia'''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle|Sydney, Saint Thomas the Apostle of -]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, Australia''
*''[[Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney|Sydney, Saint Maron of -]], Maronite Eparchy, Australia''
*''[[Greek-Melkite Diocese of Saint Michael’s of Sydney|Sydney, Saint Michael's of]], Melkite Greek Eparchy, Australia''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sylhet|Sylhet]], Bangladesh
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse|Syracuse]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Syros–Milos|Syros–Milos]], Greece
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Szczecin–Kamień|Szczecin–Kamień]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Szeged-Csanád|Szeged-Csanád]], Hungary
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Székesfehérvár|Székesfehérvár]], Hungary
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Szombathely|Szombathely]], Hungary

===T===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tabasco|Tabasco]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tabora|Tabora]], Tanzania'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk|Tabuk]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tacámbaro|Tacámbaro]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tacna y Moquegua|Tacna y Moquegua]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tacuarembó|Tacuarembó]], Uruguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taegu|Taegu (Daegu)]], South Korea'''
*Taejŏn: see Daejeon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tagbilaran|Tagbilaran]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tagum|Tagum]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Taichung|Taichung]], Taiwan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tainan|Tainan]], Taiwan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Taiohae o Tefenuaenata|Taiohae o Tefenuaenata]], French Polynesia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taipei|Taipei]], Taiwan'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taiyuan|Taiyuan]], China PR'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Taizhou|Taizhou]], China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Takamatsu|Takamatsu]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Talca|Talca]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Talibon|Talibon]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tamale|Tamale]], Ghana'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tambacounda|Tambacounda]], Senegal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tampico|Tampico]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tandag|Tandag]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tanga|Tanga]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tanger|Tanger]], Morocco'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tanjore|Tanjore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tanjungkarang|Tanjungkarang]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tanjung Selor|Tanjung Selor]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tapachula|Tapachula]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarahumara|Tarahumara]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taranto|Taranto]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru|Tarawa and Nauru]], Kiribati & Nauru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarazona|Tarazona]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarbes-et-Lourdes|Tarbes-et-Lourdes]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarija|Tarija]], Bolivia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac|Tarlac]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarma|Tarma]], Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarnów|Tarnów]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tarragona|Tarragona]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Taubaté|Taubaté]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taunggyi|Taunggyi]], Myanmar'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Taungngu|Taungngu]], Myanmar
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay|Taytay]], Apostolic Vicariate, Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teano-Calvi|Teano-Calvi]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Techiman|Techiman]], Ghana
*[[Territorial Prelature of Tefé|Tefé]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teggiano-Policastro|Teggiano-Policastro]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa|Tegucigalpa]], Honduras'''
*'''''[[Chaldean Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tehran|Tehran]], Chaldean Catholic Metropolitan, Iran'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tehuacán|Tehuacán]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tehuantepec|Tehuantepec]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teixeira de Freitas-Caravelas|Teixeira de Freitas-Caravelas]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tellicherry|Tellicherry]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Telšiai|Telšiai]], Lithuania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Timişoara|Timişoara]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tempio-Ampurias|Tempio-Ampurias]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Temuco|Temuco]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tenancingo|Tenancingo]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teotihuacan|Teotihuacan]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teófilo Otoni|Teófilo Otoni]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tepic|Tepic]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teramo-Atri|Teramo-Atri]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Teresina|Teresina]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Termoli-Larino|Termoli-Larino]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia|Terni-Narni-Amelia]], Italy
*'''''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archparchy of Ternopil – Zboriv|Ternopil – Zboriv]], Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy, Ukraine'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Terrassa|Terrassa]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Teruel y Albarracín|Teruel y Albarracín]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tete|Tete]], Mozambique
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Texcoco|Texcoco]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tezpur|Tezpur]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Thái Bình|Thái Bình]], Vietnam
*''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Thamarassery|Thamarasserry]], Syro-Malabar Eparchy, India''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Thanh Hóa|Thanh Hóa]], Vietnam
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Thare and Nonseng|Thare and Nonseng]], Thailand'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki|Thessaloniki]], Apostolic Vicariate, Greece
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Thiès|Thiès]], Senegal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Thuckalay|Thuckalay]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Thunder Bay|Thunder Bay]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tianguá|Tianguá]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tianjin|Tianjin]], China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tibú|Tibú]], Colombia
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Tierradentro|Tierradentro]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tijuana|Tijuana]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tilarán|Tilarán]], Costa Rica
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Timika|Timika]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Timişoara|Timişoara]], Romania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Timmins|Timmins]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tingzhou|Tingzhou]], China PR
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tiranë–Durrës|Tiranë–Durrës]], Albania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tiruchirapalli|Tiruchirapalli]], India
*'''''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Archeparchy of Tiruvalla|Tiruvalla]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Archeparchy, India'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tivoli|Tivoli]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tlalnepantla|Tlalnepantla]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tlapa|Tlapa]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tlaxcala|Tlaxcala]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toamasina|Toamasina]], Madagascar'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tocantinópolis|Tocantinópolis]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo|Tokyo]], Japan'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tôlagnaro|Tôlagnaro]], Madagascar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toledo|Toledo]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo|Toledo]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, Brazil|Toledo]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toliara|Toliara]], Madagascar'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toluca|Toluca]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio|Tombura-Yambio]], Sudan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tonga|Tonga]], Tonga & Niue
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba|Toowoomba]], Australia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Torino|Torino]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Torit|Torit]], Sudan
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto|Toronto]], Canada'''
*''[[Chaldean Catholic Church#Structure|Toronto, Mar Addai of]], Chaldean Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*''[[Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto|Toronto, Saints Cyril and Methodius of]], Slovak Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*''[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada|Toronto and Eastern Canada]], Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Canada''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tororo|Tororo]], Uganda'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Torreón|Torreón]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tortona|Tortona]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tortosa|Tortosa]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toruń|Toruń]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse|Toulouse]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tournai|Tournai]], Belgium
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tours|Tours]], France'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville|Townsville]], Australia
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie|Tranti-Barletta-Bisceglie]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Transfiguration at Novosibirsk|Transfiguration at Novosibirsk]], Russia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trapani|Trapani]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trento|Trento]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton|Trenton]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Três Lagoas|Três Lagoas]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Treviso|Treviso]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tricarico|Tricarico]], Italy
*'''''[[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Thrissur|Trichur]], Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy, India'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier|Trier]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trieste|Trieste]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trincomalee|Trincomalee]], Sri Lanka
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Trinidad|Trinidad]], Apostolic Vicariate, Colombia
*'''''[[Maronite Church#Eparchies|Tripoli]], Maronite Eparchy, Lebanon'''''
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Tripoli (Lebanon)]], Melkite*, Lebanon'''''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Tripoli|Tripoli (Libya)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Libya
*'''''[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum|Trivandrum]], Syro-Malankara Catholic Metropolitan Archeparchy and Major Archdiocesis, India'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trivento|Trivento]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trnava|Trnava]], Slovakia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trois-Rivières|Trois-Rivières]], Canada
*[[Territorial Prelature of Tromsø|Tromsø]], Territorial Prelature, Norway
*[[Territorial Prelature of Trondheim|Trondheim]], Territorial Prelature, Norway
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Troyes|Troyes]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trujillo|Trujillo]], Peru'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trujillo (Honduras)|Trujillo]], Honduras
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Trujillo, Venezuela|Trujillo]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tshumbe|Tshumbe]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tsiroanomandidy|Tsiroanomandidy]], Madagascar
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam|Tuam]], Ireland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tubarão|Tubarão]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson|Tucson]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tucumán|Tucumán]], Argentina'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Tucupita|Tucupita]], Apostolic Vicariate, Venezuela
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao|Tuguegarao]], Philippines'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tui-Vigo|Tui-Vigo]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tula|Tula]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tulancingo|Tulancingo]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulcán|Tulcán]], Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulle|Tulle]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa|Tulsa]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tumaco|Tumaco]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tunduru–Masasi|Tunduru–Masasi]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis|Tunis]], Tunisia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunja|Tunja]], Colombia'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tura|Tura]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tursi-Lagonegro|Tursi-Lagonegro]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin|Tuticorin]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuxpan|Tuxpan]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuxtepec|Tuxtepec]], Mexico
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutiérrez|Tuxtla Gutiérrez]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tyler|Tyler]], United States
*'''''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Tyre]], Melkite Metropolitan Archeparchy, Lebanon'''''
*'''''[[Maronite Church#Organization|Tyre]], Maronite Archeparchy, Lebanon'''''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tzaneen|Tzaneen]], South Africa

===U===
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Uberaba|Uberaba]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uberlândia|Uberlândia]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ubon Ratchathani|Ubon Ratchathani]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Udaipur|Udaipur]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Udine|Udine]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Udon Thani|Udon Thani]], Thailand
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Udupi|Udupi]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca|Ugento-Santa Maria de Leuca]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uíje|Uíje]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uijeongbu|Uijeongbu (Uijongbu)]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ujjain|Ujjain]], India
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar|Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator)]], Apostolic prefecture, (Outer) Mongolia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Umtata|Umtata]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Umuahia|Umuahia]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Umuarama|Umuarama]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Umzimkulu|Umzimkulu]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of União da Vitória|União da Vitória]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Urbino–Urbania–Sant’Angelo in Vado|Urbino–Urbania–Sant’Angelo in Vado]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Urdaneta|Urdaneta]], Philippines
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell|Urgell]], Spain & Andorra
*'''[[Chaldean Catholic Church#Structure|Urmya]], Iran'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uromi|Uromi]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uruaçu|Uruaçu]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uruguaiana|Uruguaiana]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht|Utrecht]], Netherlands'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uvira|Uvira]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Uyo|Uyo]], Nigeria

===V===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vác|Vác]], Hungary
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vacaria|Vacaria]], Brazil
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vaduz|Vaduz]], Liechtenstein'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valdivia|Valdivia]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valença|Valença]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valence|Valence]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valencia in Spain|Valencia]], Spain'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valencia en Venezuela|Valencia]], Venezuela'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valladolid|Valladolid]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valle de Chalco|Valle de Chalco]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valle de la Pascua|Valle de la Pascua]], Venezuela
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valledupar|Valledupar]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valleyfield|Valleyfield]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vallo della Lucania|Vallo della Lucania]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Valparaíso|Valparaíso]], Chile
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver|Vancouver]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vanimo|Vanimo]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vannes|Vannes]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Varanasi|Varanasi]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Varaždin|Varaždin]], Croatia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vasai|Vasai]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vélez|Vélez]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Velletri-Segni|Velletri-Segni]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vellore|Vellore]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Venado Tuerto|Venado Tuerto]], Argentina
*'''[[Patriarchal See of Venezia|Venezia]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida|Venice in Florida]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ventimiglia-San Remo|Ventimiglia-San Remo]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Veracruz|Veracruz]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Verapaz, Cobán]], Guatemala
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly|Verapoly]], India'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vercelli|Vercelli]], Italy'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Verdun|Verdun]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Verona|Verona]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Versailles|Versailles]], France
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Veszprém|Veszprém]], Hungary'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viana, Brazil|Viana]], Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viana, Angola|Viana]], Angola
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viana do Castelo|Viana do Castelo]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vic|Vic]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vicenza|Vicenza]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Canada|Victoria]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Texas|Victoria in Texas]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viedma|Viedma]], Argentina
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Vientiane|Vientiane]], Apostolic Vicariate, Laos
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vigevano|Vigevano]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vijayapuram|Vijayapuram]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada|Vijayawada]], India
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vila Real|Vila Real]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vilkaviškis|Vilkaviškis]], Lithuania
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto|Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Villa María|Villa María]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Villarrica in Chile|Villarrica]], Chile
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo|Villarrica del Espíritu Santo]], Paraguay
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Villavicencio|Villavicencio]], Colombia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vilnius|Vilnius]], Lithuania'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vinh|Vinh]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vĩnh Long|Vĩnh Long]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Virac|Virac]], Philippines
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Visakhapatnam|Visakhapatnam]], India'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viseu|Viseu]], Portugal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vitebsk|Vitebsk]], Belarus
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viterbo|Viterbo]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vitória|Vitória]], Brazil'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vitória da Conquista|Vitória da Conquista]], Brazil'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vitoria|Vitoria]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Vittorio Veneto|Vittorio Veneto]], Italy
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Viviers|Viviers]], France
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Volterra|Volterra]], Italy
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna|Vrhbosna]], Bosnia and Herzegovina'''

===W===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wa|Wa]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wabag|Wabag]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga|Wagga Wagga]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wallis et Futuna|Wallis et Futuna]], Wallis and Futuna
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wamba|Wamba]], Democratic Republic of the Congo
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wanxian|Wanxian]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Warangal|Warangal]], India
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warmia|Warmia]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Warri|Warri]], Nigeria
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warszawa|Warszawa]], Poland'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Warsaw-Praga|Warszawa-Praga]], Poland
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington|Washington]], United States'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore|Waterford and Lismore]], Ireland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wau|Wau]], Sudan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Weetebula|Weetebula]], Indonesia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Weihui|Weihui]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington|Wellington]], New Zealand'''
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of the Western Sahara|Western Sahara]], Apostolic prefecture, Western Sahara
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster|Westminster]], United Kingdom'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak|Wewak]], Papua New Guinea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston|Wheeling-Charleston]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Whitehorse|Whitehorse]], Canada
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wiawso|Wiawso]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita|Wichita]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wien|Wien]], Austria'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes|Wilcannia-Forbes]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Willemstad|Willemstad]], Netherlands Antilles & Aruba
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington|Wilmington]], United States
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Windhoek|Windhoek]], Namibia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg|Winnipeg]], Canada'''
*'''[[Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg|Winnipeg]], Canada'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona|Winona]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Witbank|Witbank]], South Africa
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek|Włocławek]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wollongong|Wollongong]], Australia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wonju|Wonju]], South Korea
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester|Worcester]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham|Wrexham]], United Kingdom
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wrocław|Wrocław]], Poland'''
*[[Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Wrocław-Gdańsk|Wrocław-Gdańsk]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wuchang|Wuchang]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wuhu|Wuhu]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg|Würzburg]], Germany
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wuzhou|Wuzhou]], China

===X===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xai-Xai|Xai-Xai]], Mozambique
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Xalapa|Xalapa]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xiamen|Xiamen]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Xi'an|Xi'an]], China'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xiangyang|Xiangyang]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xianxian|Xianxian]], China
*[[Territorial Prelature of Xingu|Xingu]], Territorial Prelature, Brazil
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xinyang|Xinyang]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xiwanzi|Xiwanzi]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xuân Lôc|Xuân Lôc]], Vietnam
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xuanhua|Xuanhua]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xuzhou|Xuzhou]], China

===Y===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yagoua|Yagoua]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima|Yakima]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yamoussoukro|Yamoussoukro]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yan'an|Yan'an]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yanggu|Yanggu]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yangon|Yangon (Rangoon)]], Burma'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yanji|Yanji]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yantai|Yantai]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yanzhou|Yanzhou]], China
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yaoundé|Yaoundé]], Cameroon'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yarmouth|Yarmouth]], Canada
*[[Territorial Prelature of Yauyos|Yauyos]], Territorial Prelature, Peru
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yei|Yei]], Sudan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yendi|Yendi]], Ghana
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yingkou|Yingkou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yizhou|Yizhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yokadouma|Yokadouma]], Cameroon
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yokohama|Yokohama]], Japan
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yola|Yola]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yongjia|Yongjia]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yopal|Yopal]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yopougon|Yopougon]], Côte d'Ivoire
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yoro|Yoro]], Honduras
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán|Yucatán]], Mexico'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown|Youngstown]], United States
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yuanling|Yuanling]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yuci|Yuci]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Yujiang|Yujiang]], China
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Yurimaguas|Yurimaguas]], Apostolic Vicariate, Peru
*[[Apostolic Prefecture of Yuzhno Sakhalinsk|Yuzhno Sakhalinsk]], Apostolic prefecture, Russia

===Z===
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas|Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas]], Guatemala
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zacatecas|Zacatecas]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zacatecoluca|Zacatecoluca]], El Salvador
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zadar|Zadar]], Croatia'''
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zagreb|Zagreb]], Croatia'''
*[[Maronite Church#Eparchies|Zahleh]], Lebanon
*'''[[Melkite Greek Catholic Church#Organization|Zahleh and Furzol]], Lebanon'''
*[[Zakho (Chaldean Diocese)|Zaku]], Iraq
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zamboanga|Zamboanga]], Philippines'''
*[[Apostolic Vicariate of Zamora en Ecuador|Zamora (in Ecuador)]], Apostolic Vicariate, Ecuador
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamora in Mexico|Zamora (in Mexico)]], Mexico
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamora in Spain|Zamora (in Spain)]], Spain
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamość-Lubaczów|Zamość-Lubaczów]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zanzibar|Zanzibar]], Tanzania
*'''[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zaragoza|Zaragoza]], Spain'''
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zárate-Campana|Zárate-Campana]], Argentina
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zaria|Zaria]], Nigeria
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zé Doca|Zé Doca]], Brazil
* [[Apostolic Prefecture of Zhaotong|Zhaotong (Chaotung)]], Apostolic Prefecture, China PR
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhaoxian|Zhaoxian]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhengding|Zhengding]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhengzhou|Zhengzhou]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhoucun|Zhoucun]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhouzhi|Zhouzhi]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhumadian|Zhumadian]], China
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zielona Góra-Gorzów|Zielona Góra-Gorzów]], Poland
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ziguinchor|Ziguinchor]], Senegal
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Žilina|Žilina]], Slovakia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zipaquirá|Zipaquirá]], Colombia
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zomba|Zomba]], Malawi
*[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zrenjanin|Zrenjanin]], Serbia
|}

== List of Personal dioceses and ordinariates ==
* Latin Church
** ''[[Opus Dei]], the only [[personal prelature]] with a cathedral see (Santa Maria della Pace ai Parioli) in Rome, ranking as bishopric''
** ''[[Personal Apostolic Administration of São João Maria Vianney|São João Maria Vianney]], the only [[Personal Apostolic Administration]]''
* ''[[Personal Ordinariate]]s ''
** ''[[Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter|Chair of Saint Peter]], for Canada and USA, with cathedral see in Houston, Texas''
** ''[[Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross|Our Lady of the Southern Cross]], for [[Australia]] and [[Japan]]''
** ''[[Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham|Our Lady of Walsingham]], for England and Wales and for Scotland, i.e. [[Great Britain]]''

== List of Lists of Catholic dioceses ==
* [[List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)]] (including episcopal conferences)

=== Lists of types of Catholic jurisdictions ===
* [[List of Roman Catholic archdioceses]]
* [[Military ordinariate]]
* [[Apostolic Administrator|List of Roman Catholic apostolic administrations]]
* [[Apostolic vicariate|List of Roman Catholic apostolic vicariates]]
* [[Exarch#Modern Eastern Catholic churches|List of Eastern Catholic exarchates]]
* [[Apostolic prefect|List of Roman Catholic apostolic prefectures]]
* [[Territorial Prelate|List of Roman Catholic territorial prelatures]]
* [[Mission sui iuris|List of Roman Catholic missions ''sui juris'']]

===Dioceses (or (arch)eparchies) of the Eastern Catholic Churches===
* [[List of Armenian dioceses]]
* [[List of Chaldean dioceses]]
* [[Coptic Catholic Church#Hierarchy|Coptic Catholic dioceses]]
* [[Ethiopian Catholic Church|Ethiopic Catholic dioceses]]
* [[Melkite Catholic Church#Organization|Melkite Catholic dioceses]]
* [[Maronite#Population|Maronite dioceses]]
* [[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church#Structure|Ruthenian dioceses]]
* [[Syro-Malabar#Eparchies|Syro-Malabar Catholic dioceses]]
* [[Syriac Catholic Church#Organisation|Syriac Catholic dioceses]]
* [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Ukrainian Greek Catholic dioceses]]

=== Lists of dioceses by country ''or continental region''===

====Europe====
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Albania]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Austria]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Belarus]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Belgium]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Croatia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in the Czech Republic]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Great Britain]] (UK)
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in France]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Germany]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Greece]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Hungary]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Ireland]] (including Northern Ireland, UK)
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Italy]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Latvia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Lithuania]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Montenegro]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in the Netherlands]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Poland]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Portugal]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Romania]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Russia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Serbia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Slovakia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Slovenia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Spain]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Switzerland]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Ukraine]]

====Asia====
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Bangladesh]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Myanmar]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in China]] (includes [[China|People's Republic of China]] and [[Taiwan]])
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in East Timor]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in India]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Indonesia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Iran]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Japan]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Korea]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Malaysia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Pakistan]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in the Philippines]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Sri Lanka and the Maldives]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Thailand]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Vietnam]]

==== Americas and Oceania ====
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Argentina]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Australia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Bolivia]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Brazil]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Canada]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Chile]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Colombia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Costa Rica]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Cuba]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in the Dominican Republic]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ecuador]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in El Salvador]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Guatemala]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Haiti]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Honduras]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Mexico]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in New Zealand]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Nicaragua]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in North Korea]]
* ''[[List of Catholic dioceses in North America]]''
* ''[[List of Catholic dioceses in Oceania]]''
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Panama]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Papua New Guinea]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Paraguay]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Peru]]
* [[List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Uruguay]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Venezuela]]

==== Africa ====
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Angola]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Benin]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Botswana]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Burkina Faso]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Burundi]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Cameroon]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Cape Verde]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in the Central African Republic]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Chad]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in the Republic of the Congo]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Djibouti]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Egypt]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Equatorial Guinea]]
* [[List of Catholic dioceses in Ethiopia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Gabon]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in the Gambia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ghana]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Guinea]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Guinea-Bissau]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ivory Coast]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Kenya]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Lesotho]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Liberia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Libya]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Madagascar]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Malawi]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Mali]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Mauritania]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Mauritius]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Morocco]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Mozambique]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Namibia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Niger]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Nigeria]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Réunion]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Rwanda]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in São Tomé and Príncipe]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Senegal]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Sierra Leone]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Somalia]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in South Africa]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in South Sudan]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Sudan]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Swaziland]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Tanzania]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Uganda]]
* [[List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Zambia]]

== See also ==
* [[List of current patriarchs]]

=== Other Christian denominations ===
* [[List of Anglican dioceses and archdioceses]]
* [[List of Lutheran dioceses and archdioceses]]
* [[List of Orthodox dioceses and archdioceses]]

==Notes==
{| style="margin-left:13px; line-height:150%; font-size:100%;"
|align="right" valign="top"|a.
|{{note|status}}{{Kosovo-note}}
|}

== Sources and external links ==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/index.htm|title=Dioceses in the Whole World|work=GCatholic.org|accessdate=26 June 2006}}
* [http://catholic-hierarchy.org/ Catholic-Hierarchy.org] - lists every diocese in the Catholic Church, and their bishops throughout history.

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2011}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Dioceses (Alphabetical)}}
[[Category:Lists of Catholic dioceses|*Alphabetical]]
[[Category:Lists of Roman Catholic dioceses|*Alphabetical]]
[[Category:Lists of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops|*]]

Chondrichthyes

2020-04-23T02:48:44Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Cartilaginous fishes
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|430|0|ref=<ref name="botella et al">{{cite journal |author1=Botella, H.A. |author2=Donoghue, P.C.J. |author3=Martínez-Pérez, C. |year=2009 |title=Enameloid microstructure in the oldest known chondrichthyan teeth |journal=Acta Zoologica |volume=90 |pages=103–108 |issue=Supplement |doi=10.1111/j.1463-6395.2008.00337.x }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |publisher=PalaeoDB |title=Chondrichthyes |url=http://paleodb.org/?a=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=34422 | accessdate = 26 November 2013}}</ref>}} Late [[Silurian]] to Present
| image = Chondrichthyes.jpg
| image_caption = Example of cartilaginous fishes : at the top of the image, [[Elasmobranchii]] and at the bottom of the image, [[Holocephali]].
| display_parents = 3
| taxon = Chondrichthyes
| authority = [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]], 1880
| subdivision_ranks = Subclasses and Orders
| subdivision =
* Subclass [[Elasmobranchii]]
** Superorder [[Selachimorpha]]
*** Order [[Carcharhiniformes]]
*** Order [[Lamniformes]]
*** Order [[Orectolobiformes]]
*** Order [[Heterodontiformes]]
*** Order [[Squaliformes]]
*** Order [[Squatiniformes]]
*** Order [[Echinorhinidae|Echinorhiniformes]]
*** Order [[Pristiophoriformes]]
*** Order [[Hexanchiformes]]
** Superorder [[Batoidea]]
*** Order [[Myliobatiformes]]
*** Order [[Rajiformes]]
*** Order [[Rhinopristiformes]]
*** Order [[Torpediniformes]]
* Subclass [[Holocephali]]
** Superorder [[Holocephalimorpha]]
*** Order [[Chimaeriformes]]
}}

'''Chondrichthyes''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɒ|n|ˈ|d|r|ɪ|k|θ|i|iː|z}}; from Greek χονδρ- ''chondr-'' 'cartilage', ἰχθύς ''ichthys'' 'fish') is a [[class (biology)|class]] that contains the '''cartilaginous fishes''': they are jawed [[vertebrate]]s with paired fins, paired [[nare]]s, scales, a heart with its chambers in series, and skeletons made of [[cartilage]] rather than [[bone]]. The class is divided into two subclasses: [[Elasmobranchii]] ([[shark]]s, [[Batoidea|ray]]s, [[Skate (fish)|skate]]s, and [[sawfish]]) and [[Holocephali]] ([[chimaera]]s, sometimes called ghost sharks, which are sometimes separated into their own class).

Within the infraphylum [[Gnathostomata]], cartilaginous fishes are distinct from all other jawed vertebrates.

==Anatomy==
{{see also|Cartilaginous versus bony fishes}}

===Skeleton===
The skeleton is cartilaginous. The [[notochord]] is gradually replaced by a vertebral column during development, except in [[Holocephali]], where the notochord stays intact. In some deepwater sharks, the column is reduced.<ref>[https://books.google.no/books?id=cxxSN4YA2i8C&pg=PA23&dq=Notochord:+Chimaeroids+%22Some+deepwater+squaloid,+hexanchoid,+and+lamnoid+sharks+%22&hl=no&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK-YDWxYnbAhXhA5oKHZmtByAQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Notochord%3A%20Chimaeroids%20%22Some%20deepwater%20squaloid%2C%20hexanchoid%2C%20and%20lamnoid%20sharks%20%22&f=false Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date]</ref>

As they do not have [[bone marrow]], [[red blood cell]]s are produced in the [[spleen]] and the epigonal organ (special tissue around the [[gonad]]s, which is also thought to play a role in the immune system). They are also produced in the [[Leydig's organ]], which is only found in certain cartilaginous fishes. The subclass [[Holocephali]], which is a very specialized group, lacks both the Leydig's and epigonal organs.

===Appendages===
Apart from [[electric ray]]s, which have a thick and flabby body, with soft, loose skin, chondrichthyans have tough skin covered with dermal teeth (again, Holocephali is an exception, as the teeth are lost in adults, only kept on the clasping organ seen on the caudal ventral surface of the male), also called [[placoid scale]]s (or ''dermal denticles''), making it feel like sandpaper. In most species, all dermal denticles are oriented in one direction, making the skin feel very smooth if rubbed in one direction and very rough if rubbed in the other.

Originally, the pectoral and pelvic girdles, which do not contain any dermal elements, did not connect. In later forms, each pair of fins became ventrally connected in the middle when scapulocoracoid and puboischiadic bars evolved. In [[Batoidea|rays]], the pectoral fins are connected to the head and are very flexible.

One of the primary characteristics present in most sharks is the heterocercal tail, which aids in locomotion.<ref>{{cite journal |first=C. D. |last=Wilga |first2=G. V. |last2=Lauder |title=Function of the heterocercal tail in sharks: quantitative wake dynamics during steady horizontal swimming and vertical maneuvering |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Biology]] |volume=205 |issue=16 |pages=2365–2374 |year=2002 |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/205/16/2365.short |pmid=12124362}}</ref>

===Body covering===
Chondrichthyans have toothlike scales called [[dermal denticle]]s or placoid scales. Denticles usually provide protection, and in most cases, streamlining. Mucous glands exist in some species, as well.

It is assumed that their oral teeth evolved from dermal denticles that migrated into the mouth, but it could be the other way around, as the [[Teleostei|teleost]] bony fish ''[[Denticeps clupeoides]]'' has most of its head covered by dermal teeth (as does, probably, ''[[Atherion elymus]]'', another bony fish). This is most likely a secondary evolved characteristic, which means there is not necessarily a connection between the teeth and the original dermal scales.

The old [[placoderms]] did not have teeth at all, but had sharp bony plates in their mouth. Thus, it is unknown whether the dermal or oral teeth evolved first. It has even been suggested{{by whom?|date=August 2018}} that the original bony plates of ''all'' vertebrates are now gone and that the present scales are just modified teeth, even if both the teeth and body armor had a common origin a long time ago. However, there is currently no evidence of this.

===Respiratory system===
All chondrichthyans breathe through five to seven pairs of [[gill]]s, depending on the species. In general, pelagic species must keep swimming to keep oxygenated water moving through their gills, whilst demersal species can actively pump water in through their [[Spiracle (vertebrates)|spiracles]] and out through their gills. However, this is only a general rule and many species differ.

A spiracle is a small hole found behind each eye. These can be tiny and circular, such as found on the nurse shark (''Ginglymostoma cirratum''), to extended and slit-like, such as found on the wobbegongs (Orectolobidae). Many larger, pelagic species, such as the mackerel sharks (Lamnidae) and the thresher sharks (Alopiidae), no longer possess them.

===Nervous system===
[[File:Skate Brain Regions.png|thumb|Regions of a Chondrichthyes brain colored and labeled on dissected skate. The [[Anatomical terms of location#Cranial and caudal |rostral]] end of the skate is to the right.]]
Chondrichthyes nervous system is composed of a small brain, 8-10 pairs of cranial nerves, and a spinal chord with spinal nerves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Collin|first=Shaun P.|date=2012|title=The Neuroecology of Cartilaginous Fishes: Sensory Strategies for Survival|journal=Brain, Behavior and Evolution|language=english|volume=80|issue=2|pages=80–96|doi=10.1159/000339870|pmid=22986825|issn=1421-9743}}</ref> They have several sensory organs which provide information to be processed. [[Ampullae of Lorenzini]] are a network of small jelly filled pores called [[Electroreception|electroreceptors]] which help the fish sense electric fields in water. This aids in finding prey, navigation, and sensing temperature. The [[Lateral line]] system has modified epithelial cells located externally which sense motion, vibration, and pressure in the water around them. Most species have large well-developed eyes. Also, they have very powerful nostrils and [[Olfactory bulb|olfactory]] organs. Their inner ears consist of 3 large [[semicircular canals]] which aid in balance and orientation. Their sound detecting apparatus has limited range and is typically more powerful at lower frequencies. Some species have [[Electric organ (biology)|electric organs]] which can be used for defense and predation. They have relatively simple brains with the forebrain not greatly enlarged. The structure and formation of myelin in their nervous systems are nearly identical to that of tetrapods, which has led evolutionary biologists to believe that Chondrichthyes were a cornerstone group in the evolutionary timeline of myelin development.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=de Bellard|first=Maria Elena|date=2016-06-15|title=Myelin in cartilaginous fish|journal=Brain Research|volume=1641|issue=Pt A|pages=34–42|doi=10.1016/j.brainres.2016.01.013|issn=0006-8993|pmc=4909530|pmid=26776480}}</ref>

===Immune system===
Like all other jawed vertebrates, members of Chondrichthyes have an [[adaptive immune system#Evolution|adaptive immune system]].<ref name=ref1>{{cite journal |last=Flajnik |first=M. F. |first2=M. |last2=Kasahara |title=Origin and evolution of the adaptive immune system: genetic events and selective pressures |journal=[[Nature Reviews Genetics]] |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=47–59 |year=2009 |doi=10.1038/nrg2703 |pmid=19997068 |pmc=3805090}}</ref>

==Reproduction==

Fertilization is internal. Development is usually live birth ([[ovoviviparous]] species) but can be through eggs ([[oviparous]]). Some rare species are [[viviparous]]. There is no parental care after birth; however, some chondrichthyans do guard their eggs.

Capture-induced premature birth and abortion (collectively called capture-induced parturition) occurs frequently in sharks/rays when fished.<ref name="Adams">{{cite journal|last1=Adams|first1=Kye R.|last2=Fetterplace|first2=Lachlan C.|last3=Davis|first3=Andrew R.|last4=Taylor|first4=Matthew D.|last5=Knott|first5=Nathan A.|title=Sharks, rays and abortion: The prevalence of capture-induced parturition in elasmobranchs|journal=Biological Conservation|date=January 2018|volume=217|pages=11–27|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.010|url=http://marxiv.org/k2qvy/}}</ref> Capture-induced parturition is often mistaken for natural birth by recreational fishers and is rarely considered in commercial fisheries management despite being shown to occur in at least 12% of live bearing sharks and rays (88 species to date).<ref name="Adams" />

==Classification==
The class Chondrichthyes has two subclasses: the subclass [[Elasmobranchii]] ([[shark]]s, [[Batoidea|rays, skates, and sawfish]]) and the subclass [[Holocephali]] ([[chimaera]]s). To see the [[full list of cartilaginous fish|full list of the species]], click [[full list of cartilaginous fish|here]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=3 | [[Subclass (biology)|Subclasses]] of cartilaginous fishes
|-
! [[Elasmobranchii]]
| [[File:Caribbean reef shark.jpg|140px]]<center>[[Sharks]]</center>
[[File:Myliobatis aquila sasrája.jpg|140px|right]]<center>and [[Batoidea|rays, skates, and sawfish]]</center>
| valign=top | [[Elasmobranchii]] is a subclass that includes the [[shark]]s and the [[Batoidea|rays and skates]]. Members of the elasmobranchii have no [[swim bladders]], five to seven pairs of [[gill]] clefts opening individually to the exterior, rigid [[dorsal fins]], and small [[placoid scale]]s. The teeth are in several series; the upper jaw is not fused to the cranium, and the lower jaw is articulated with the upper. The [[Vision in fishes|eyes]] have a [[tapetum lucidum]]. The inner margin of each pelvic fin in the male fish is grooved to constitute a [[clasper]] for the transmission of [[sperm]]. These fish are widely distributed in [[tropical]] and [[temperate]] waters.<ref>{{cite book |
last = Bigelow| first = Henry B. |
authorlink = Henry Bryant Bigelow|author2=Schroeder, William C. |
title = Fishes of the Western North Atlantic |
publisher = Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University |
year = 1948 |
pages = 64–65 |
asin= B000J0D9X6| authorlink2 = Schroeder, William C }}</ref>
|-
! [[Holocephali]]
| [[File:Callorhinchus callorhynchus.JPG|140px]]<center>[[Chimaeras]]</center>
| [[Holocephali]] ''(complete-heads)'' is a subclass of which the [[order (biology)|order]] [[Chimaeriformes]] is the only surviving group. This group includes the rat fishes (e.g., ''[[Chimaera]]''), rabbit-fishes (e.g., ''[[Hydrolagus]]'') and elephant-fishes (''[[Callorhynchus]]''). Today, they preserve some features of elasmobranch life in Paleaozoic times, though in other respects they are aberrant. They live close to the bottom and feed on molluscs and other invertebrates. The tail is long and thin and they move by sweeping movements of the large pectoral fins. There is an erectile spine in front of the dorsal fin, sometimes poisonous. There is no stomach (that is, the gut is simplified and the 'stomach' is merged with the intestine), and the mouth is a small aperture surrounded by lips, giving the head a parrot-like appearance.

The fossil record of the Holocephali starts in the [[Devonian]] period. The record is extensive, but most fossils are teeth, and the body forms of numerous species are not known, or at best poorly understood.
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=13 | Extant [[Order (biology)|orders]] of cartilaginous fishes
|-
! rowspan=2 | Group
! rowspan=2 | Order
! rowspan=2 | Image
! rowspan=2 | Common name
! rowspan=2 | Authority
! rowspan=2 | Families
! rowspan=2 | Genera
! colspan=4 | Species
! rowspan=2 | Note
|-
! Total
! [[File:CR IUCN 3 1.svg]]
! [[File:EN IUCN 3 1.svg]]
! [[File:VU IUCN 3 1.svg]]
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(110,110,170)" rowspan=4 | [[Galean shark|Galean sharks]]
| align=center style="background:rgb(125,125,180)" | [[Carcharhiniformes|Carcharhiniformes]]
| [[File:Sphyrna mokarran at georgia.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[ground sharks|ground sharks]]
| align=center | [[Leonard Compagno|Compagno]], 1977
| align=center | 8
| align=center | 51
| align=center | >270
| align=center | 7
| align=center | 10
| align=center | 21
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Heterodontiformes|Heterodontiformes]]
| [[File:Hornhai (Heterodontus francisci).JPG|140px]]
| align=center | [[bullhead sharks|bullhead sharks]]
| align=center | [[Lev Berg|L. S. Berg]], 1940
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 9
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(125,125,180)" | [[Lamniformes|Lamniformes]]
| [[File:White shark.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[mackerel sharks|mackerel sharks]]
| align=center | [[Lev Berg|L. S. Berg]], 1958
| align=center | 7 +2 extinct
| align=center | 10
| align=center | 16
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center | 10
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Orectolobiformes|Orectolobiformes]]
| [[File:Whale shark Georgia aquarium.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[carpet sharks|carpet sharks]]
| align=center | Applegate, 1972
| align=center | 7
| align=center | 13
| align=center | 43
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center | 7
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(110,110,170)" rowspan=4 | [[Squalomorphii|Squalomorph sharks]]
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Hexanchiformes|Hexanchiformes]]
| [[File:Hexanchus griseus Gervais.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[Hexanchiformes|frilled and cow sharks]]
| align=center | [[Don Fernando de Buen y Lozano|de Buen]], 1926
| align=center | 2 +3 extinct
| align=center | 4 +11 extinct
| align=center | 7 +33 extinct
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(125,125,180)" | [[Pristiophoriformes|Pristiophoriformes]]
| [[File:Pristiophorus japonicus cropped.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[sawsharks]]
| align=center | [[Lev Berg|L. S. Berg]], 1958
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 2
| align=center | 6
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Squaliformes|Squaliformes]]
| [[File:Spiny dogfish.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[dogfish sharks|dogfish sharks]]
| align=center | [[Edwin Stephen Goodrich|Goodrich]], 1909
| align=center | 7
| align=center | 23
| align=center | 126
| align=center | 1
| align=center |
| align=center | 6
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(125,125,180)" | [[Squatiniformes|Squatiniformes]]
| [[File:Squatina angelus - Gervais.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[angel sharks|angel sharks]]
| align=center | [[Don Fernando de Buen y Lozano|Buen]], 1926
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 24
| align=center | 3
| align=center | 4
| align=center | 5
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(110,110,170)" rowspan=4 | [[Batoidea|Rays]]
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Myliobatiformes|Myliobatiformes]]
| [[File:Myliobatis aquila sasrája.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[Myliobatiformes|stingrays and relatives]]
| align=center | [[Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno|Compagno]], 1973
| align=center | 10
| align=center | 29
| align=center | 223
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 16
| align=center | 33
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(125,125,180)" | [[Pristiformes|Pristiformes]]
| [[File:Sawfish genova.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[sawfishes]]
| align=center | 
| align=center | 1
| align=center | 2
| align=center | 5-7
| align=center | 5-7
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Rajiformes|Rajiformes]]
| [[File:Amblyraja hyperborea1.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[Rajiformes|skates and guitarfishes]]
| align=center | [[Lev Berg|L. S. Berg]], 1940
| align=center | 5
| align=center | 36
| align=center | >270
| align=center | 4
| align=center | 12
| align=center | 26
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(125,125,180)" | [[Torpediniformes|Torpediniformes]]
| [[File:Torpedo torpedo corsica2.jpg|140px]]
| align=center | [[electric rays|electric rays]]
| align=center | [[Don Fernando de Buen y Lozano|de Buen]], 1926
| align=center | 2
| align=center | 12
| align=center | 69
| align=center | 2
| align=center |
| align=center | 9
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(110,110,170)" rowspan=1 | [[Holocephali|Holocephali]]
| align=center style="background:rgb(140,140,190)" | [[Chimaeriformes|Chimaeriformes]]
| [[File:Chimaera mon.JPG|140px]]
| align=center | [[chimaera]]
| align=center | [[Dmitry Obruchev|Obruchev]], 1953
| align=center | 3 +2 extinct
| align=center | 6 +3 extinct
| align=center | 39 +17 extinct
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|}

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
! width=450px | Taxonomy according to [[Leonard Compagno]], 2005<ref>[[Leonard Compagno]] (2005) ''Sharks of the World''. {{ISBN|9780691120720}}.</ref> with additions from <ref>{{cite book|last=Haaramo, Mikko|title=''Chondrichthyes – Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras'' |accessdate=22 October 2013 | url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/chondrichthyes/chondrichthyes.html#Elasmobranchii}}</ref>
|-
|
*†Order [[Mongolepidiformes]] Karatajüte-Talimaa & Novitskaya, 1990
*†Order [[Omalodontiformes]] Turner, 1997
*†Order [[Coronodontiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
*†Order [[Symmoriiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
*Subclass [[Holocephali]]
**†Superorder Paraselachimorpha
***†Order [[Desmiodontiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
***†Order [[Polysentoriformes]] Cappetta, 1993
***†Order [[Orodontiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
***†Order [[Petalodontiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
***†Order [[Helodontiformes]] Patterson, 1965
***†Order [[Iniopterygiformes]] Zanger, 1973
***†Order [[Debeeriiformes]] Grogan & Lund, 2000
***†Order [[Eugeneodontiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
**Superorder Holocephalimorpha 
***†Order [[Psammodontiformes]]* Obruchev, 1953
***†Order [[Copodontiformes]] Obručhev, 1953
***†Order [[Squalorajiformes]] 
***†Order [[Chondrenchelyiformes]] [[J. A. Moy-Thomas|Moy-Thomas]], 1939
***†Order [[Menaspiformes]] 
***†Order [[Cochliodontiformes]] Obručhev, 1953
***Order [[Chimaeriformes]] Berg, 1940 sensu Obručhev, 1953 (chimaeras)
*Subclass [[Elasmobranchii]]
**†''[[Plesioselachus]]'' 
**†Order [[Antarctilamniformes]] Ginter, Liao & Valenzuela-Rios, 2008
**†Order [[Elegestolepidiformes]] Andreev ''et al.'', 2016
**†Order [[Lugalepidida]] Karatajute-Talimaa, 1997
**†Order [[Squatinactiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
**†Order [[Protacrodontiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
**†Infraclass Cladoselachimorpha 
***†Order [[Cladoselachiformes]] Dean, 1909
**†Infraclass Xenacanthimorpha Berg, 1940
***†Order [[Bransonelliformes]] Hampe & Ivanov, 2007
***†Order [[Xenacanthiformes]] Berg, 1940
**Infraclass Euselachii (sharks and rays)
***†Order [[Altholepidiformes]] Andreev ''et al.'', 2015
***†Order [[Polymerolepidiformes]] 
***†Order [[Ptychodontiformes]] 
***†Order [[Ctenacanthiformes]] Zangerl, 1981
***†Division Hybodonta
****†Order [[Hybodontiformes]] Owen, 1846
***Division Neoselachii Compagno, 1977
****Subdivision Selachii (modern sharks)
*****Superorder Galeomorphi Compagno, 1977
******Order [[Heterodontiformes]] (bullhead sharks)
******Order [[Orectolobiformes]] (carpet sharks)
******Order [[Lamniformes]] (mackerel sharks)
******Order [[Carcharhiniformes]] (ground sharks)
*****Superorder Squalomorphi
******Order [[Chlamydoselachiformes]]
******Order [[Hexanchiformes]] (frilled and cow sharks)
******Order [[Squaliformes]] (dogfish sharks)
******†Order [[Protospinaciformes]]
******†Order [[Synechodontiformes]]
******Order [[Squatiniformes]] (angel sharks)
******Order [[Pristiophoriformes]] (sawsharks)
****Subdivision [[Batoidea]] (rays)
*****Order [[Torpediniformes]] (electric rays)
*****Order [[Pristiformes]] (sawfishes)
*****Order [[Rajiformes]] (skates and guitarfishes)
*****Order [[Myliobatiformes]] (stingrays and relatives)
* position uncertain
|-
|}

==Evolution==
[[File:Evolution of cartilaginous fishes.png|thumb|400px|right|<center>Radiation of [[cartilaginous fish]]es, based on [[Michael Benton]], 2005.<ref>{{cite book |last=Benton |first=M. J. |year=2005 |title=Vertebrate Palaeontology |location= |publisher=Blackwell |edition=3rd |at=Fig 7.13 on page 185 |isbn=978-0-632-05637-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VThUUUtM8A4C&pg=PA185 }}</center></ref>]]
{{see also|Evolution of fish}}
{{further|List of transitional fossils#Chondrichthyes|List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish}}

Cartilaginous fish are considered to have evolved from [[acanthodians]].By whom? Originally assumedBy whom? to be closely related to bony fish or a polyphyletic assemblage leading to both groups, the discovery of ''[[Entelognathus]]'' and several examinations of acanthodian characteristics indicate that bony fish evolved directly from placoderm like ancestors, while acanthodians represent a paraphyletic assemblage leading to Chondrichthyes. Some characteristics previously thought to be exclusive to acanthodians are also present in basal cartilaginous fish.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Min Zhu |author2=Xiaobo Yu |author3=Per Erik Ahlberg |author4=Brian Choo |author5=Jing Lu |author6=Tuo Qiao |author7=Qingming Qu |author8=Wenjin Zhao |author9=Liantao Jia |author10=Henning Blom |author11=You'an Zhu |year=2013 |title=A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan-like marginal jaw bones |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=502 |issue=7470 |pages=188–193 |doi=10.1038/nature12617 |pmid=24067611|bibcode=2013Natur.502..188Z }}</ref> In particular, new phylogenetic studies find cartilaginous fish to be well nested among acanthodians, with ''[[Doliodus]]'' and ''[[Tamiobatis]]'' being the closest relatives to Chondrichthyes.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.26879/601|title=The diplacanthid fishes (Acanthodii, Diplacanthiformes, Diplacanthidae) from the Middle Devonian of Scotland|journal=Palaeontologia Electronica|year=2016|last1=Burrow|first1=CJ|last2=Den Blaauwen|first2=J.|last3=Newman|first3=MJ|last4=Davidson|first4=RG|doi-access=free}}</ref> Recent studies vindicate this, as ''[[Doliodus]]'' had a mosaic of chondrichthyian and acanthodiian traits.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1206/3875.1|title=Pectoral Morphology in ''Doliodus'': Bridging the 'Acanthodian'-Chondrichthyan Divide|journal=American Museum Novitates|volume=3875|issue=3875|pages=1–15|year=2017|last1=Maisey|first1=John G.|last2=Miller|first2=Randall|last3=Pradel|first3=Alan|last4=Denton|first4=John S.S.|last5=Bronson|first5=Allison|last6=Janvier|first6=Philippe|url=https://www.archive.org/download/pectoralmorphol00mais/pectoralmorphol00mais.pdf}}</ref>

Dating back to the Middle and Late [[Ordovician]] Period, many isolated scales, made of dentine and bone, have a structure and growth form that is chondrichthyan-like. They may be the remains of [[stem group|stem]]-chondrichthyans, but their classification remains uncertain.<ref name=Andreev2015>{{cite journal |last1 = Andreev |first1 = Plamen S.|last2=Coates |first2 =Michael I. |last3=Shelton |first3=Richard M. |last4=Cooper |first4=Paul R. |last5=Smith |first5=M. Paul |last6=Sansom |first6=Ivan J. |year=2015 |title=Ordovician chondrichthyan-like scales from North America |journal=[[Palaeontology_(journal)|Palaeontology]] |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=691–704 |doi=10.1111/pala.12167}}</ref><ref name=Sansom2012>{{cite journal |last1=Sansom |first1=Ivan J. |last2=Davies |first2= Neil S. |last3=Coates |first3=Michael I. |last4=Nicoll |first4=Robert S. |last5=Ritchie |first5=Alex |year=2012 |title=Chondrichthyan-like scales from the Middle Ordovician of Australia |journal=[[Palaeontology_(journal)|Palaeontology]] |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=243–247 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01127.x}}</ref><ref name=Andreev2016>{{cite journal |last1=Andreev |first1=Plamen |last2=Coates |first2=Michael I. |last3=Karatajūtė-Talimaa |first3=Valentina |last4=Shelton |first4=Richard M. |last5=Cooper |first5=Paul R. |last6=Wang |first6=Nian-Zhong |last7=Sansom |first7=Ivan J. |year=2016 |title=The systematics of the Mongolepidida (Chondrichthyes) and the Ordovician origins of the clade |journal=PeerJ |volume=4 |page=e1850 |doi=10.7717/peerj.1850|pmid=27350896 |pmc=4918221 }}</ref>

The earliest unequivocal fossils of cartilaginous fishes first appeared in the fossil record by about 430 million years ago, during the middle [[Wenlock Epoch]] of the [[Silurian]] period.<ref name=marssgag>{{cite journal|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0693:ANCFTW]2.0.CO;2|year=2001|volume=21|issue=4|pages=693–701|title=A new chondrichthyan from the Wenlock, Lower Silurian, of Baillie-Hamilton Island, the Canadian Arctic|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|last1=Märss|first1=Tiiu|last2=Gagnier|first2=Pierre-Yves}}</ref> The radiation of elasmobranches in the chart on the right is divided into the taxa: ''[[Cladoselache]]'', [[Eugeneodontiformes]], [[Symmoriida]], [[Xenacanthiformes]], [[Ctenacanthiformes]], [[Hybodontiformes]], [[Galeomorphi]], [[Squaliformes]] and [[Batoidea]].

By the start of the Early Devonian, 419 million years ago, [[jawed fish]]es had divided into three distinct groups: the now extinct [[placoderm]]s (a paraphyletic assemblage of ancient armoured fishes), the [[bony fish]]es, and the clade that includes [[spiny sharks]] and early [[cartilaginous fish]]. The modern bony fishes, class [[Osteichthyes]], appeared in the late [[Silurian]] or early Devonian, about 416 million years ago. The first abundant genus of shark, ''[[Cladoselache]]'', appeared in the oceans during the Devonian Period. The first Cartilaginous fishes evolved from ''[[Doliodus]]''-like [[spiny shark]] ancestors.

A Bayesian analysis of molecular data suggests that the Holocephali and Elasmoblanchii diverged in the [[Silurian]] ({{Ma|421}}) and that the sharks and rays/skates split in the [[Carboniferous]] ({{Ma|306}}).

{{clear}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:{{period color|Devonian}}" | <center>[[Devonian]]</center>
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Devonian]] (419–359 mya)
|-
| [[File:Early Shark.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Cladoselache]]''
| ''[[Cladoselache]]'' was the first abundant genus of primitive shark, appearing about 370 Ma.{{sfn|The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|1999|p=26}} It grew to {{convert|6|ft|m}} long, with anatomical features similar to modern [[mackerel shark]]s. It had a streamlined body almost entirely devoid of [[Fish scale|scale]]s, with five to seven [[gill slit]]s and a short, rounded snout that had a terminal mouth opening at the front of the skull.{{sfn|The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|1999|p=26}} It had a very weak jaw joint compared with modern-day sharks, but it compensated for that with very strong jaw-closing muscles. Its teeth were multi-cusped and smooth-edged, making them suitable for grasping, but not tearing or chewing. ''Cladoselache'' therefore probably seized prey by the tail and swallowed it whole.{{sfn|The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|1999|p=26}} It had powerful keels that extended onto the side of the tail stalk and a semi-lunate tail fin, with the superior lobe about the same size as the inferior. This combination helped with its speed and agility which was useful when trying to outswim its probable predator, the heavily armoured {{convert|10|m|ft}} long placoderm fish ''[[Dunkleosteus]]''.{{sfn|The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|1999|p=26}}
|-
! rowspan=5 style="background:{{period color|carboniferous}}" | [[Carboniferous|Carbon- iferous]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Carboniferous]] (359–299 Ma): [[Shark]]s underwent a major [[evolutionary radiation]] during the [[Carboniferous]].<ref name="goldsharks" /> It is believed that this evolutionary radiation occurred because the decline of the [[Placodermi|placoderms]] at the end of the Devonian period caused many [[Niche (ecology)|environmental niches]] to become unoccupied and allowed new organisms to evolve and fill these niches.<ref name="goldsharks" />
|-
| width="140px" | [[File:Orthacanthus BW.jpg|140px]]
| align="center" |''[[Orthacanthus|Orthacanthus senckenbergianus]]''
| The first 15 million years of the Carboniferous has very few terrestrial fossils. This gap in the fossil record, is called [[Romer's gap]] after the American palaentologist [[Alfred Romer]]. While it has long been debated whether the gap is a result of fossilisation or relates to an actual event, recent work indicates that the gap period saw a drop in atmospheric oxygen levels, indicating some sort of [[ecological collapse]].<ref name="Ward">{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=P. |last2=Labandeira |first2=C. |last3=Laurin |first3=M. |last4=Berner |first4=R. A. |year=2006 |title=Confirmation of Romer's Gap is a low oxygen interval constraining the timing of initial arthropod and vertebrate terrestrialization |url= |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=103 |issue=45 |pages=16818–16822 |bibcode=2006PNAS..10316818W |doi=10.1073/pnas.0607824103 |pmc=1636538 |pmid=17065318}}</ref> The gap saw the demise of the [[Devonian]] fish-like [[ichthyostegalia]]n labyrinthodonts, and the rise of the more advanced [[Temnospondyli|temnospondyl]] and [[reptiliomorpha]]n amphibians that so typify the Carboniferous terrestrial vertebrate fauna.

The [[Carboniferous]] seas were inhabited by many fish, mainly [[Elasmobranch]]s (sharks and their relatives). These included some, like ''[[Psammodus]]'', with crushing pavement-like teeth adapted for grinding the shells of brachiopods, crustaceans, and other marine organisms. Other sharks had piercing teeth, such as the [[Symmoriida]]; some, the [[Petalodontiformes|petalodonts]], had peculiar cycloid cutting teeth. Most of the sharks were marine, but the [[Xenacanthida]] invaded fresh waters of the coal swamps. Among the [[Osteichthyes|bony fish]], the [[Palaeonisciformes]] found in coastal waters also appear to have migrated to rivers. [[Sarcopterygii|Sarcopterygia]]n fish were also prominent, and one group, the [[Rhizodont]]s, reached very large size.

Most species of Carboniferous marine fish have been described largely from teeth, fin spines and dermal ossicles, with smaller freshwater fish preserved whole. Freshwater fish were abundant, and include the genera ''[[Ctenodus]]'', ''[[Uronemus]]'', ''[[Acanthodes]]'', ''[[Cheirodus]]'', and ''[[Gyracanthus]]''.
|-
| [[File:Stethacanthus1DB.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Stethacanthidae]]''
| [[File:Steth pair1.jpg|140px|right]]
As a result of the evolutionary radiation, carboniferous sharks assumed a wide variety of bizarre shapes; e.g., sharks belonging to the family [[Stethacanthidae]] possessed a flat brush-like dorsal fin with a patch of [[Dermal denticle|denticles]] on its top.<ref name="goldsharks" /> ''[[Stethacanthus]]''' unusual fin may have been used in mating rituals.<ref name="goldsharks">{{cite web |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/golden_age.htm |title=A Golden Age of Sharks |work=Biology of Sharks and Rays |author=R. Aidan Martin |accessdate=26 November 2013}}</ref> Apart from the fins, Stethacanthidae resembled ''Falcatus'' (below).
|-
| [[File:Falcatus.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Falcatus]]''
| ''[[Falcatus]]'' is a genus of small [[cladodont]]-toothed sharks which lived 335–318 Ma. They were about {{convert|25|-|30|cm|in|abbr=on}} long.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sju.edu/research/bear_gulch/pages_fish_species/Falcatus_falcatus.php |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-09-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821203413/http://www.sju.edu/research/bear_gulch/pages_fish_species/Falcatus_falcatus.php |archivedate=21 August 2008 }} Fossil Fish of Bear Gulch 2005 by Richard Lund and Eileen Grogan Accessed 2009-01-14</ref> They are characterised by the prominent fin spines that curved anteriorly over their heads.
|-
| [[File:Orodus sp1DB.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Orodus]]''
| ''[[Orodus]]'' is another shark of the Carboniferous, a genus from the family [[Orodontidae]] that lived into the early Permian from 303 to 295 Ma. It grew to {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length.
|-
! rowspan=1 style="background:{{period color|permian}}" | [[Permian]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Permian]] (298–252 Ma): The Permian ended with the most extensive [[extinction event]] recorded in [[paleontology]]: the [[Permian-Triassic extinction event]]. 90% to 95% of marine species became [[Extinction|extinct]], as well as 70% of all land organisms. Recovery from the Permian-Triassic extinction event was protracted; land ecosystems took 30M years to recover,<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction">{{cite journal |pmc=2596898 |last1=Sahney |first1=S. |last2=Benton |first2=M.J. |year=2008 |title=Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B|doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370 |volume=275 |pages=759–65 |pmid=18198148 |issue=1636 }}</ref> and marine ecosystems took even longer.{{r|Baez2006}}
|-
! rowspan=1 style="background:{{period color|triassic}}" | [[Triassic|Triassic]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Triassic]] (252–201 Ma): The fish fauna of the Triassic was remarkably uniform, reflecting the fact that very few families survived the Permian extinction. In turn, the Triassic ended with the [[Triassic–Jurassic extinction event]]. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species became extinct.<ref name="ucr">{{cite web |url=http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/extinction |title=extinction |publisher=Math.ucr.edu |accessdate=26 November 2013}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=1 style="background:{{period color|jurassic}}" | [[Jurassic]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Jurassic]] (201–145 Ma):
|-
! rowspan=3 style="background:{{period color|cretaceous}}" | [[Cretaceous]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Cretaceous]] (145–66 Ma): The end of the Cretaceous was marked by the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]] (K-Pg extinction). There are substantial fossil records of [[Gnathostomata|jawed]] [[fish]]es across the K–T boundary, which provides good evidence of extinction patterns of these classes of marine vertebrates. Within cartilaginous fish, approximately 80% of the [[shark]]s, [[Rajiformes|rays]], and [[Skate (fish)|skate]]s families survived the extinction event,<ref name="MacLeod">{{cite journal|last1=MacLeod|first1=N|last2=Rawson|first2=PF|last3=Forey|first3=PL|last4=Banner|first4=FT|last5=Boudagher-Fadel|first5=MK|last6=Bown|first6=PR|last7=Burnett|first7=JA|last8=Chambers|first8=P|last9=Culver|first9=S|year=1997|title=The Cretaceous–Tertiary biotic transition|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3721/is_199703/ai_n8738406/print|url-status=dead|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|volume=154|issue=2|pages=265–292|doi=10.1144/gsjgs.154.2.0265|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031035617/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3721/is_199703/ai_n8738406/print|archive-date=2007-10-31|last10=Evans|first10=SE|last11=Jeffery|first11=C|last12=Kaminski|first12=MA|last13=Lord|first13=AR|last14=Milner|first14=AC|last15=Milner|first15=AR|last16=Morris|first16=N|last17=Owen|first17=E|last18=Rosen|first18=BR|last19=Smith|first19=AB|last20=Taylor|first20=PD|last21=Urquhart|first21=E|last22=Young|first22=JR|bibcode=1997JGSoc.154..265M}}</ref> and more than 90% of [[teleostei|teleost fish]] (bony fish) families survived.<ref>{{cite book|title=Osteichthyes: Teleostei. In: The Fossil Record 2 (Benton, MJ, editor)|last=Patterson|first=C|publisher=Springer|year=1993|isbn=978-0-412-39380-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fossilrecord20000unse/page/621 621–656]|url=https://archive.org/details/fossilrecord20000unse/page/621}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Squalicorax falcatusDB.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Squalicorax|Squalicorax falcatus]]''
| ''[[Squalicorax|Squalicorax falcatus]]'' is a lamnoid shark from the Cretaceous
|-
| [[File:Ptychodus mortoni.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Ptychodus]]''
| ''[[Ptychodus]]'' is a genus of extinct [[Hybodontiformes|hybodontiform]] shark which lived from the late Cretaceous to the Paleogene.<ref name="ward">Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks) by [[David Ward (paleontologist)|David Ward]] (Page 200)</ref><ref name="PBDB">[http://www.paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=34513&is_real_user=1 The paleobioloy Database Ptychodus entry] accessed on 8/23/09</ref> ''[[Ptychodus mortoni]]'' ''(pictured)'' was about {{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and was unearthed in [[Kansas]], United States.<ref>{{cite web|work=BBC - Earth News |title=Giant predatory shark fossil unearthed in Kansas |date=24 February 2010 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8530000/8530995.stm}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:{{period color|cenozoic}}" | [[Cenozoic Era|Cenozoic Era]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center; background:#ddf8f8;"| [[Cenozoic Era]] (65 Ma to present): The current era has seen great diversification of bony fishes.
|-
| [[File:VMNH megalodon.jpg|140px]]
| ''[[Megalodon]]''
| {{ external media
| align =
| width = 250px
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9LAWve5Xq4 Megalodon battle] ''History Channel''
| video2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spo8vkrJFRo The Nightmarish Megalodon] ''Discovery''}}
[[Megalodon]] is an extinct species of shark that lived about 28 to 1.5 Ma. It looked much like a stocky version of the [[great white shark]], but was much larger with fossil lengths reaching {{convert|20.3|m|ft}}.<ref name="GWB" /> Found in all oceans<ref name="AN">{{Cite journal|last=Pimiento|first=Catalina |author2=Dana J. Ehret |author3=Bruce J. MacFadden |author4=Gordon Hubbell |title=Ancient Nursery Area for the Extinct Giant Shark Megalodon from the Miocene of Panama |journal=PLoS ONE |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=e10552 |date=10 May 2010 |pmid=20479893 |pmc=2866656 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0010552 |editor1-last=Stepanova |editor1-first=Anna |bibcode=2010PLoSO...510552P}}</ref> it was one of the largest and most powerful predators in vertebrate history,<ref name="GWB">{{cite journal |last=Wroe |first=S. |author2=Huber, D. R. |author3=Lowry, M. |author4=McHenry, C. |author5=Moreno, K. |author6=Clausen, P. |author7=Ferrara, T. L. |author8=Cunningham, E. |author9=Dean, M. N. |author10=Summers, A. P. |title=Three-dimensional computer analysis of white shark jaw mechanics: how hard can a great white bite? |url=http://www.bio-nica.info/Biblioteca/Wroe2008GreatWhiteSharkBiteForce.pdf |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=276 |issue=4 |pages=336–342 |year=2008 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00494.x}}</ref> and probably had a profound impact on [[marine life]].<ref name="LV">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/nature09067 |last=Lambert |first=Olivier |last2=Bianucci |first2=Giovanni |title=The giant bite of a new raptorial sperm whale from the Miocene epoch of Peru |journal=Nature |volume=466 |issue=7302 |pages=105–108 |date=1 July 2010 |pmid=20596020 |bibcode=2010Natur.466..105L |last3=Post |first3=Klaas |last4=de Muizon |first4=Christian |last5=Salas-Gismondi |first5=Rodolfo |last6=Urbina |first6=Mario |last7=Reumer |first7=Jelle}}</ref>
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=10 | Extinct [[Order (biology)|orders]] of cartilaginous fishes
|-
! Group
! Order
! Image
! Common name
! Authority
! Families
! Genera
! Species
! Note
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(150,80,150)" rowspan=13 | [[Holocephali|Holocephali]]
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Orodontiformes|†Orodontiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Petalodontiformes|†Petalodontiformes]]
| [[File:Belantsea montana.JPG|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Helodontiformes|†Helodontiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Iniopterygiformes|†Iniopterygiformes]]
| [[File:Iniopteryxrushlaui.JPG|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Debeeriiformes|†Debeeriiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Symmoriida|†Symmoriida]]
| [[File:StethacanthusesDB 2.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top | <ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Coates | first1 = M. | last2 = Gess | first2 = R. | last3 = Finarelli | first3 = J. | last4 = Criswell | first4 = K. | last5 = Tietjen | first5 = K. | year = 2016 | title = A symmoriiform chondrichthyan braincase and the origin of chimaeroid fishes | url = | journal = Nature | volume = 541| issue = 7636| pages = 208–211| doi = 10.1038/nature20806 | pmid = 28052054 | bibcode = 2017Natur.541..208C }}</ref>
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Eugeneodontiformes|†Eugeneodonti formes]]
| [[File:Helicoprion bessonovi1DB.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top | <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tapanila |first1=L |last2=Pruitt |first2=J |last3=Pradel |first3=A |last4=Wilga |first4=C |last5=Ramsay |first5=J |last6=Schlader |first6=R |last7=Didier |first7=D |year=2013 |title=Jaws for a spiral-tooth whorl: CT images reveal novel adaptation and phylogeny in fossil Helicoprion |url=http://pdf.highwire.org/stamped/roybiolett/9/2/20130057.full.pdf |journal=Biology Letters |volume=9 |issue= 2|page=20130057 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2013.0057 |pmid=23445952 |pmc=3639784 }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Psammodontiformes|†Psammodonti formes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top | Position uncertain
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Copodontiformes|†Copodontiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Squalorajiformes|†Squalorajiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Chondrenchelyiformes|†Chondrenchelyi formes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Menaspiformes|†Menaspiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Coliodontiformes|†Coliodontiformes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(150,80,150)" rowspan=1 | [[Squalomorphi|Squalomorph sharks]]
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Protospinaciformes|†Protospinaci- formes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(150,80,150)" rowspan=6 | Other
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Squatinactiformes|†Squatinactiformes]]
| [[File:Stethacanthus BW.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Protacrodontiformes|†Protacrodonti- formes]]
|
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Cladoselachiformes|†Cladoselachi- formes]]
| [[File:Early Shark.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Xenacanthiformes|†Xenacanthiformes]]
| [[File:Triodus1db.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(180,120,180)" | [[Ctenacanthiformes|†Ctenacanthi- formes]]
| [[File:Sphenacanthus1DB.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|-
| align=center style="background:rgb(165,100,165)" | [[Hybodontiformes|†Hybodontiformes]]
| [[File:Ptychodus mortoni.jpg|140px]]
| align=center |
| align=center | 
| align=center |
| align=center |
| align=center |
| valign=top |
|}

==Taxonomy==
Subphylum '''[[Vertebrata]]'''
└─'''Infraphylum Gnathostomata'''
├─[[Placodermi]] — ''extinct'' (armored gnathostomes)
└'''[[Eugnathostomata]]''' (true jawed vertebrates)
├─[[Acanthodii]] (stem cartilaginous fish)
└─Chondrichthyes (true cartilaginous fish)
├─[[Holocephali]] (chimaeras + several extinct clades)
└[[Elasmobranchii]] (shark and rays)
├─[[Selachii]] (true sharks)
└─[[Batoidea]] (rays and relatives)

 
*'''Note''': Lines show evolutionary relationships.

==See also==
* [[List of cartilaginous fish]]
* [[Cartilaginous versus bony fishes]]
* [[Largest organisms#Cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes)|Largest cartilaginous fishes]]
* [[Threatened rays]]
* [[Threatened sharks]]

==References==

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Baez2006">[[John Baez|Baez. John]] (2006) [http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/extinction/ Extinction] University of California. Retrieved 20 January 2013.</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikispecies|Chondrichthyes}}
{{Wikibooks|Dichotomous Key|Chondrichthyes}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040817003309/http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Chondrichthyes/Chondrichthyes.htm#Elasmobranchii Taxonomy of Chondrichthyes]
* [http://www.morphbank.net/Browse/ByImage/?tsn=159785 Images of many sharks, skates and rays on Morphbank]

{{Chordata}}
{{Chondrichthyes}}
{{evolution of fish}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q25371}}

[[Category:Cartilaginous fish| ]]
[[Category:Fish classes]]
[[Category:Pridoli first appearances]]
[[Category:Extant Silurian first appearances]]

Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis

2019-05-22T16:12:21Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Virusbox
| image =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| species = Decapod penstyldensovirus 1
| parent = Penstyldensovirus
| authority =
| synonyms = Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus
| synonyms_ref =
| subdivision_ranks =
| subdivision =
}}

'''Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis''' (IHHN) is a [[virus|viral]] disease of [[Penaeidae|penaeid shrimp]] that causes mass mortality (up to 90%) among the Western blue shrimp (''[[Penaeus stylirostris]]'') and severe deformations in the Pacific white shrimp (''[[Whiteleg shrimp|P. vannamei]]''). It occurs in Pacific farmed and wild shrimp, but not in wild shrimp on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast of the Americas. The [[shrimp farm|shrimp-farming]] industry has developed several broodstocks of both ''P. stylirostris'' and ''P. vannamei'' that are [[disease resistance|resistant]] against IHHN infection.<ref>[[World Organization for Animal Health]] (OIE): ''Aquatic Manual'', 4th Ed., 2003. [http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/fmanual/A_00052.htm Section 4.1.6]. {{ISBN|92-9044-563-7}}.</ref>

The disease is caused by a single-stranded [[DNA virus]] of the species Decapod pestyldensovirus 1, earlier known as IHHN virus, the smallest of the known penaeid shrimp viruses (22 [[nanometre|nm]]).<ref>Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission: [http://nis.gsmfc.org/nis_factsheet.php?toc_id=2 ''Non-Native Species Summaries: ''Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus'' (IHHNV)''], 2003. Accessed June 30, 2005.</ref>

==Virology==

This virus has been classified as Penaeus stylirostris densovirus. The genome is 4.1 kilobases in length. There are three open reading frames in its genome:<ref name=Rai2011>Rai P, Safeena MP, Karunasagar I, Karunasagar I (2011) Complete nucleic acid sequence of ''Penaeus stylirostris'' densovirus (PstDNV) from India. Virus Res 158(1-2):37-45</ref> a left non structural protein (NS1) of 2001 base pairs (bp), a mid non structural protein (NS2) of 1092 bp and a right capsid protein of 990 bp. NSI appears to be a DNA helicase with ATPase activity.

The mutation rate in the genome has been estimated to be ~1.4 x 10−4 substitutions/site/year.<ref name=Robles-Sikisaka2011>Robles-Sikisaka R, Bohonak AJ, McClenaghan LR Jr, Dhar AK (2010) Genetic signature of rapid IHHNV (infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus) expansion in wild Penaeus shrimp populations. PLoS One 5(7):e11799.
[http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0011799 Link]</ref> This is considerably higher than the rate in the double stranded DNA viruses and similar to that found in RNA viruses. It is also similar to the rate found in other single stranded DNA viruses.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

Viral zone [http://viralzone.expasy.org/all_by_species/569.html]

{{Crustacean diseases}}

[[Category:Penaeidae]]
[[Category:Animal virology]]
[[Category:Aquaculture]]
[[Category:Diseases and parasites of crustaceans]]

{{Veterinary-med-stub}}

Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis

2019-05-22T16:08:02Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Virusbox
| image =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| species = Decapod penstyldensovirus 1
| parent = Penstyldensovirus
| authority =
| synonyms = Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus
| synonyms_ref =
| subdivision_ranks =
| subdivision =
}}

'''Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis''' (IHHN) is a [[virus|viral]] disease of [[Penaeidae|penaeid shrimp]] that causes mass mortality (up to 90%) among the Western blue shrimp (''[[Penaeus stylirostris]]'') and severe deformations in the Pacific white shrimp (''[[Whiteleg shrimp|P. vannamei]]''). It occurs in Pacific farmed and wild shrimp, but not in wild shrimp on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast of the Americas. The [[shrimp farm|shrimp-farming]] industry has developed several broodstocks of both ''P. stylirostris'' and ''P. vannamei'' that are [[disease resistance|resistant]] against IHHN infection.<ref>[[World Organization for Animal Health]] (OIE): ''Aquatic Manual'', 4th Ed., 2003. [http://www.oie.int/eng/normes/fmanual/A_00052.htm Section 4.1.6]. {{ISBN|92-9044-563-7}}.</ref>

The disease is caused by a single-stranded [[DNA virus]] simply called "'''IHHN virus'''", the smallest of the known penaeid shrimp viruses (22 [[nanometre|nm]]).<ref>Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission: [http://nis.gsmfc.org/nis_factsheet.php?toc_id=2 ''Non-Native Species Summaries: ''Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus'' (IHHNV)''], 2003. Accessed June 30, 2005.</ref>

==Virology==

This virus has been classified as Penaeus stylirostris densovirus. The genome is 4.1 kilobases in length. There are three open reading frames in its genome:<ref name=Rai2011>Rai P, Safeena MP, Karunasagar I, Karunasagar I (2011) Complete nucleic acid sequence of ''Penaeus stylirostris'' densovirus (PstDNV) from India. Virus Res 158(1-2):37-45</ref> a left non structural protein (NS1) of 2001 base pairs (bp), a mid non structural protein (NS2) of 1092 bp and a right capsid protein of 990 bp. NSI appears to be a DNA helicase with ATPase activity.

The mutation rate in the genome has been estimated to be ~1.4 x 10−4 substitutions/site/year.<ref name=Robles-Sikisaka2011>Robles-Sikisaka R, Bohonak AJ, McClenaghan LR Jr, Dhar AK (2010) Genetic signature of rapid IHHNV (infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus) expansion in wild Penaeus shrimp populations. PLoS One 5(7):e11799.
[http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0011799 Link]</ref> This is considerably higher than the rate in the double stranded DNA viruses and similar to that found in RNA viruses. It is also similar to the rate found in other single stranded DNA viruses.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

Viral zone [http://viralzone.expasy.org/all_by_species/569.html]

{{Crustacean diseases}}

[[Category:Penaeidae]]
[[Category:Animal virology]]
[[Category:Aquaculture]]
[[Category:Diseases and parasites of crustaceans]]

{{Veterinary-med-stub}}

User talk:Huhsunqu

2017-12-06T08:07:10Z

Huhsunqu:

<div style="float:right; padding-left:5px;">
{| style="border:1px solid #aaaaaa; background-color:#f9f9f9;width: 200px;"
|- padding:5px;padding-top:0.5em;font-size: 95%;
| <center><big><big><big>'''Welcome'''</big></big></big></center>
----
*[[Quechua|Kichwa]]ta rimaptiykiqa, kunaykita churallankiman [[:qu:User talk:Huhsunqu]] pankapi.
*Si hablas [[Spanish language|español]], puedes dejarme tus mensajes a [[:es:Usuario discusión:Huhsunquy]]
*Kiel vi parlas [[Esperanto]], vi povas sendi vian mesaĝon al [[:eo:Vikipediista diskuto:Huhsunqu]] ankaŭ.
----
Historial: [[Usuario talk:Huhsunquy/2005 archive|2005]] 
__TOC__
|}
</div>

=2005=
==[[Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers|Welcome]] to the [[Wikipedia]]==
Here are some links I thought useful:

*[[Wikipedia:Tutorial]]
*[[Wikipedia:Help desk]]
*[[M:Foundation issues]]
*[[Wikipedia:Policy Library]]
*[[Wikipedia:Utilities]]
*[[Wikipedia:Cite your sources]]
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*[[Wikipedia:Wikiquette]]
*[[Wikipedia:Civility]]
*[[Wikipedia:Conflict resolution]]
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{{Vip|user=Sam Spade}} 08:26, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)

== Kechua logo ==

Hi Huhsunqu,

I have already created the Quechua logo but there is a problem.

Due to work overload, the "developpers" who activate these logos do not have so much time to do it. There is currently a long line of Wikipedias waiting for them to be activated: Afrikaans, Corsican, Limburgish, Quechua... I'm sure it will get done in due time though.

--[[User:Node ue|Node]] 20:16, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

== Quechua Wikipedia login ==

Hi,

I'm not sure what's going on. Does it tell you your password is wrong or something?

In related news I have made the Quechua logo, [[:qu:Image:Wiki.png|here]].

[[User:Node ue|Node]]

== Regarding Sendero and MRTA, an opinion please. ==

Hello once again. I talk to you becouse a need another oppinion about the role that Sendero and the MRTA played during the 80's and part of the 90's. Do you think that they are "rebels" or "guerrilas", or "terrorist". Also, I would like to recieve your opinion about how impartial can be arguments that use information from the Lori Berenson Webpage. If you could answer this question, it will be a great help. Please, asnwer quickly, [[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 16:29, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

== Requesting Personal Opinion ==

Hello and greetings 
I am an student from the [[National University of San Marcos|National University of Saint Mark]] in Lima, Peru, or also called UNMSM, i wish to have your personal opinion about the naming policy of calling the university Saint Mark instead San Marcos, i am supporting Saint Mark based in the opinion of the Catholic Church precedent of anglicise the name.[[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13365b.htm]] Article from Catholic Encyclopedia, '''i would ask your opinion from a peruvian to you.'''
Please it is urgently to have your opinion about this in the following link [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village%20pump%20%28policy%29&oldid=11583978#Interpretation_of_WP_Naming_policies Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#Interpretation of WP Naming_policies].[[User:HappyApple|HappyApple]] 03:06, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

== Thanks, but I also need your help ==

Thanks for your opinion. Let me gave you the real problem: There is an ongoing discussion in the article of [[Alberto Fujimori]], and I'mn trying to achieve a NPOV, regardless if the former president is guilty or not. The problem is that another user, Viajero (who is not a peruvian), who keeps editing everything and adding things defendind the MRTA and Sendero Luminoso. Anyways, he uses the argument that "us", peruvians, don't know about our own history and disregard a lot of my arguments, using highly controvertial and POV sources. I would like you to read the disscussion and contribute to achieve a NPOV, and demostrate Viajero that just becouse he is american, he is not owner of our history. [[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 04:20, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

:I just want you to take a look at the page and see how the word Terrorist is avoided becouse other user is not willing to allow it, just becouse he feelt that is not "politicaly correct". PLease, help me to achieve a NPOV article. take a look at fujimori article. I believe that for Us, peruvians, those paragraphs that talk about death TERRORIST bodies are not a good NPOV. [[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 17:51, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)

::Hello, this is messhermit once again. I don't known if you have time to look at the [[War of the Pacific]] and help me to construct a better page. unfortunately, the same user that in Wikie-spanish is also pushing for a POV that is most likely favoring the Chilean view of this horrendous war. Please, if you can help me to achieve a NPOV, it would be great!. Thanks and keep in touch. [[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 14:31, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

== India in qu: ==

Hi Huhsunqu, I need a sentence written about [[India]] in the [[qu:]] wikipedia. I've seen you edits on Finland and Argentina there, and was wondering if you could add a line for India. If you do, please link the qu: from the India page. Thanks,  =[[user:Nichalp|Nichalp]] ([[User Talk:Nichalp|Talk]])= 19:29, May 28, 2005 (UTC)
:Thanks for the qu: page. Can this name also be used in other native american languages?  =[[user:Nichalp|Nichalp]] ([[User Talk:Nichalp|Talk]])= 20:33, May 28, 2005 (UTC)

::Thanks, but [[iu:]] has already added by [[Diderrot]]. Regards,  =[[user:Nichalp|Nichalp]] ([[User Talk:Nichalp|Talk]])= 05:46, May 29, 2005 (UTC)

== whiphalas ==

So, is the flag on [[Aymara]] inappropriate, as it seems to be the flag for Quntisuyu, and not Qollisuyu? Qollisuyu is the name (and flag, I'm guessing?) that latter-day Aymara political movements have used as their own, right? Thanks again, [[User:DanKeshet|DanKeshet]] 07:08, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

:Thanks so much for your help. [[User:DanKeshet|DanKeshet]] 04:21, Jun 19, 2005 (UTC)

== Concerning the recent changes on Inca Rulers ==

Hello there Huhsunqu. I've noticed you've made some changes to the names of some articles concerning the Inca rulers. Most of the new names seemd odd at first even to me (a peruvian). I've been doing more research on the names such as Atahulpa, Tupaq Wallpa, Huáscar, and the rest. It seems your'e a fine Quechua speaker, so your changes might be with authority on their Quechua-sounding voices, yet most readers at English Wikipedia will come to notice the differences in the names and how they sound, which I for one believe should be reverted to how they were before or consulted before having been changed to the nanes. One example is the article of Túpac Amaru which recently had a serious discussion after a modern invididual was named after him, and now the article name is different, which might confuse the reader. I belive changing the names of controversial historical articles should always be consulted first at the talk page before proceeding to a serious name change. I'm more than happy to collaborate at this or participate in talk pages concerning this same issue, so please let me know (for now I've reverted your change to Atahualpa and stated further comments on its talk page). I hope you don't talk this personal, just believe we should consult with other users on these kind of changes. Thanks. --[[User:Dynamax|Dynamax]] 04:53, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

== Template talk:If defined call1 ==

If you need to test something, try a sandbox like {{tl|X3}}. ([[User:SEWilco|SEWilco]] 01:24, 30 October 2005 (UTC))

== [[Cenepa War]] ==

Si miras ese articulo, veras q esta muy cargado de opiniones ecuatorianas, y q el mayor modificador es un ecuatoriano q no deja editar a nadie q no concuerde con lo q el considera correcto.
Llego al extremo ir a ataques personales contra mi persona y de acusarme de no ser '''patriota''' por no haber servido en el ejercito del Peru. A ver si le das una mirada, por q cosas asi no se pueden permitir en wiki[[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 16:26, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

== Confederation Flag ==

The design of that flag is extremely innacurate. I don't think that just putting 3 coat of arms in such a dissorganised way was meant to be the flag of the confederacy. Maybe we should look for more accurate sources? [[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 03:49, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

I understand the designs :D. The only thing that I believe is not accurate is the distribution and the arrangement, since I don't believe it reflect an accurate way of the flag. Did you draw the flag or do you know any program to create flags? maybe I can redesign it following the same constitutional order that the confederation had :P. [[User:Messhermit|Messhermit]] 18:59, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

==Input for next Wikiproject Collaboration==
Seeing as we are almost done with the [[Andrés Avelino Cáceres]] collaboration and March is coming up. I'd thought that I should inform you and the other members of WP:Peru that you can add your thoughts on what you think the next project collaboration should be on at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject_Peru#Collaboration]].--[[User:Jersey Devil|Jersey Devil]] 21:17, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

:May collaboration chosen to be [[Peruvian Army]].--[[User:Jersey Devil|Jersey Devil]] 16:32, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

== Please undo block of ISP at Spanish wikipedia ==

Hi there, could you please undo the block of the ISP arcor at the Spanish wikipedia? arcor is one of the most important ISPs in Germany, and wikipedia in German is the second largest of all, so you lose a lot. There must be better options. [[User:Añoranza|Añoranza]] 23:21, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

== Inka Qhapaq ==

Please check [[Talk:Inka Qhapaq]]. --[[User:Victor12|Victor12]] 14:45, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

: I'm planning to revert your move of Qhapaq Inka to Inka Qhapaq. Please check [[Talk:Inka Qhapaq]] again. --[[User:Victor12|Victor12]] 15:37, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

== Barnstar ==

(Mi skribis cxi tiun noton ankaux en Esperanto.)

I noticed that you created several Barnstars with state flags.

Can you please create two Barnstars with [[Belarus]]ian flags? There are two flags:
# The official red-green one with Belarusian folk design.
# The old one, white-red-white. People who care about Belarusian history usually prefer this one. This is also the one that is more important for me.

Thanks a lot! --[[User:Amire80|Amir E. Aharoni]] 19:53, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

== user categorization ==

You were listed on the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians/Peru]] page as living in or being associated with Peru. As part of the [[Wikipedia:User categorisation]] project, these lists are being replaced with user categories. If you would like to add yourself to the category that is replacing the page, please visit [[:Category:Peruvian Wikipedians]] for instructions.

==Fair use rationale for Image:BenedictXVIcoatofarms.jpg==

{| align="center" style="background-color: white; border:8px solid red; padding:5px; text-align: center; font-size: larger;"
|[[Image:Nuvola apps important.svg|30px|Warning sign]]
|This file may be '''deleted'''.
|}
Thanks for uploading '''[[:Image:BenedictXVIcoatofarms.jpg]]'''. I notice the 'image' page specifies that the image is being used under [[Wikipedia:Fair use|fair use]] but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. When you use a generic fair use tag such as <nowiki>{{fair use}}</nowiki> or <nowiki>{{fair use in|article name}}</nowiki>, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to [[:Image:BenedictXVIcoatofarms.jpg|the image description page]] and edit it to include a [[Help:Image_page#Fair_use_rationale|fair use rationale]].

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "[[Special:Contributions/{{PAGENAME}}|my contributions]]" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. If you have any questions please ask them at the [[Wikipedia:Media copyright questions|Media copyright questions page]]. Thank you. [[User:ResurgamII|ResurgamII]] 22:42, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

== SVG editor ==

Hey, man I've noticed ur svg image creations at commons, please tell me da software u use for creating them. --[[User:Walter Humala|Walter Humala - Emperor of West Wikipedia]][[Image:Crystal_Clear_app_korganizer.png|20px]][[user_talk:Walter_Humala||wanna Talk?]] 05:22, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

==Albigensian Crusade==

I'm contacting you out of courtesy as you have contributed to the page and may wish to supply your own citations. If you feel this doesn't matter to you, please ignore it. This page was rated as a Good Article, but has been downgraded because nobody did the donkeywork of listing the attributions to the various statements provided, which is after all a fairly serious dereliction of duty in what's suppoed to be a historical record.
Having discussed the withdrawal of GA with [[LuciferMorgan]], I give notice that I am sitting down with the three classic original source texts (Puylaurens, Vaux-de-Cernay and de Tudèle - the last in the Livre de Poche edition as the Martin-Chabot is long out of print) to add the missing inline citations to this page. I do not intend at this point to make any textual alterations, but if comments are made which are NOT justified, be prepared to state your sources now.
[[User:Jelmain|Jel]] 20:48, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

== peruvian languages ==
do you know any active wikipedians who are updating info on qu and ay? [[User:Sj|+sj ]][[User Talk:Sj|+]] 03:02, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

== Image:Banner_of_the_Inca_Empire.svg listed for deletion ==
An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, [[:Image:Banner_of_the_Inca_Empire.svg]], has been listed at [[Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion]]. Please see the [[Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion/2008 August 13#Image:Banner_of_the_Inca_Empire.svg|discussion]] to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. {{#if:|{{{2}}}|Thank you.}} [[User:Jrtman|Jrtman]] ([[User talk:Jrtman|talk]]) 20:11, 13 August 2008 (UTC) 

== Quechua languages vs dialects ==

Hi, Huhsunqu. In "Quechuan languages" you wrote "It has aproximately 46 [[dialect]]s, group in at least seven [[language]]s." At the least, this needs a citation. The previous version was vague because linguists don't have a fixed rule for deciding if a variety is a "dialect" or a "language", and even estimating, they come to different conclusions; I've heard estimates of anything from two (based on the clear unintelligibility of Central and Peripheral Quechua) and the rather absurd 46 reported by SIL. I think it'd be best to note the disagreement, but if a specific number is given, it should have a source. Best wishes, [[User:Zompist|Zompist]] ([[User talk:Zompist|talk]]) 02:49, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

== File:Isekkiln n tifinagh.png listed for deletion ==
An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, [[:File:Isekkiln n tifinagh.png]], has been listed at [[Wikipedia:Files for deletion]]. Please see the [[Wikipedia:Files for deletion/2009 September 25#File:Isekkiln n tifinagh.png|'''discussion''']] to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. {{#if:|{{{2}}}|Thank you.}}  [[User:OsamaK|O]][[User talk:OsamaK|sama]][[Special:Contributions/OsamaK|K]]Reply? on my [[User talk:OsamaK|talk page]], please 15:18, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

==WikiProject Indigenous peoples of the Americans==
Hi Huhsunqu, I noticed that you were active on the Qhichwa Simi wiki. Would you have any interest in developing a WikiProject Indigenous peoples of the Americans? The discussion, such that it is, is at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]. Cheers, -[[User:Uyvsdi|Uyvsdi]] ([[User talk:Uyvsdi|talk]]) 00:14, 9 February 2011 (UTC)Uyvsdi

== Peru Provinces Costa Sierra Selva.png in HD? ==

Dear Huhsunqu,

Sorry I am new at Wikipedia. You have created the map "Peru Provinces Costa Sierra Selva.png" and I would like to check your availability to provide us that map in high definition for a research publication, which will be published under Creative Commons Attribution License. We have studied a disease in dogs, and would like to use your map to plot the Peruvian cities that participated in our study to demonstrate their localization in the costal, the highland, or in the jungle areas of the country. We will definitely cite the source, of course. If you can help us please contact me by email (pp_diniz@yahoo.com.br) or user talk page. Best wishes, Pedro Diniz
[[User:Pp diniz|Pp diniz]] ([[User talk:Pp diniz|talk]]) 02:36, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

==Disambiguation link notification for April 12==

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited [[Grammatical tense]], you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page [[Quechua]] ([[tools:~dispenser/cgi-bin/dablinks.py/Grammatical_tense|check to confirm]] | [[tools:~dispenser/cgi-bin/dab_solver.py/Grammatical_tense|fix with Dab solver]]). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the [[User:DPL bot/Dablink notification FAQ|FAQ]]{{*}} Join us at the [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links|DPL WikiProject]].

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==Disambiguation link notification for September 2==

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited [[Sigo siendo (Kachkaniraqmi)]], you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page [[Quechua]] ([[tools:~dispenser/cgi-bin/dablinks.py/Sigo_siendo_%28Kachkaniraqmi%29|check to confirm]] | [[tools:~dispenser/cgi-bin/dab_solver.py/Sigo_siendo_%28Kachkaniraqmi%29|fix with Dab solver]]). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the [[User:DPL bot/Dablink notification FAQ|FAQ]]{{*}} Join us at the [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links|DPL WikiProject]].

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== [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|Proposed deletion]] of [[Sigo siendo (Kachkaniraqmi)]] ==
[[Image:Ambox warning yellow.svg|left|link=|48px|]]

The article [[Sigo siendo (Kachkaniraqmi)]] has been [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|proposed for deletion]] because of the following concern:
:'''No [[:WP:RS|evidence]] that this film meets the [[:WP:NFILM|notability criteria]].'''

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be [[WP:DEL#REASON|deleted for any of several reasons]].

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{Tlc|proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your [[Help:edit summary|edit summary]] or on [[Talk:Sigo siendo (Kachkaniraqmi)|the article's talk page]].

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{Tlc|proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|proposed deletion process]], but other [[Wikipedia:deletion process|deletion process]]es exist. In particular, the [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion|speedy deletion]] process can result in deletion without discussion, and [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion|articles for deletion]] allows discussion to reach [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] for deletion. [[User:AllyD|AllyD]] ([[User talk:AllyD|talk]]) 15:14, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

== Quechua ==

If there's a problem with the article, then please fix the problem, rather than knowingly screwing up other stuff. As for the name, "Runa simi" is, AFAIK, valid as a name for "Quechua" considered as a language. — [[User:Kwamikagami|kwami]] ([[User talk:Kwamikagami|talk]]) 17:27, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
:Well, you may know "AFAIK" is not a regarded as a reliable source in Wikipedia, don't you [[User:Kwamikagami|Kwamikagami]]? Anyway, I think your only problem with the article is desiring it to mention Quechua is a language, not a language family, but the later has been proven MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO. Please read the sources. --[[User:Huhsunqu|Huhsunqu]] ([[User talk:Huhsunqu#top|talk]]) 02:35, 31 March 2015 (UTC)
::"Deutsch" is not the form of the name is all varieties of German, but that doesn't prevent us from giving it as the endonym. German, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, Nahuatl, Totonac etc etc are all language families (or parts of families) by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, but that doesn't stop them from being considered languages by their speakers. Quechua is quite commonly considered a language as well. Now, we could have two articles, one on Quechua the language, and one on Quechua the family, the way we do for Arabic, German, and Chinese, but that is probably overkill. So as long as we have one article, we need to present both POV's of Quechua. The reason for having a language rather than family box is that we can provide speaker numbers in the language box. As I said, we might want to add that ability to the family box, but then I fear that people will start adding the number of Indo-European speakers, etc, and get well beyond RS's.
::Now, if you disagree that we should give significant coverage to the POV that Quechua is a language, then you should raise it for discussion on the talk page, since you're changing longstanding consensus. (I won't argue hard for either version.) And if you're going to remove Quechumaran from Quechan, you should also remove it from Aymaran, though again that might benefit from discussion. — [[User:Kwamikagami|kwami]] ([[User talk:Kwamikagami|talk]]) 02:47, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

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== [[WP:ACE2016|ArbCom Elections 2016]]: Voting now open! ==

{{Ivmbox|Hello, Huhsunqu. Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2016|2016 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

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== ArbCom 2017 election voter message ==

{{Ivmbox|Hello, Huhsunqu. Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2017|2017 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 10 December. All users who registered an account before Saturday, 28 October 2017, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Wednesday, 1 November 2017 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

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Quyllurit'i

2017-10-26T10:40:45Z

Huhsunqu:

[[Image:Qoyllur R'Iti Shrine by night.jpg|thumb|200px|Shrine of the Lord of Quyllurit'i at night]]
'''Quyllurit'i''' ([[Quechua language|Quechua]] ''quyllu rit'i,'' ''quyllu'' bright white, ''rit'i'' snow, "bright white snow,"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Flores Ochoa|first1=Jorge|title=El Cuzco: Resistencia y Continuidad|date=1990|publisher=Editorial Andina|language=Spanish|chapter=Taytacha Qoyllurit'i. El Cristo de la Nieve Resplandeciente}}</ref>) is a religious festival held annually at the Sinakara Valley in the southern highlands [[Cusco Region]] of [[Peru]]. Local indigenous people of the Andes know this festival as a native celebration of the stars. In particular they celebrate the reappearance of the [[Pleiades]] constellation, known in Quechua as ''Qullqa,'' or "storehouse," and associated with the upcoming harvest and New Year. The Pleiades disappears from view in April and reappears in June. The new year is marked by indigenous people of the Southern Hemisphere on the [[Winter Solstice]] in June, and it is also a Catholic festival. The people have celebrated this period of time for hundreds if not thousands of years. The pilgrimage and associated festival was inscribed in 2011 on the [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists]].

According to the Catholic Church, the festival is in honor of the Lord of Quyllurit'i ({{lang-qu|Taytacha Quyllurit'i}}, {{lang-es|Señor de Quyllurit'i}}) and it originated in the late 18th century. The young native herder Mariano Mayta befriended a [[mestizo]] boy named Manuel on the mountain [[Qullqipunku]]. Thanks to Manuel, Mariano's herd prospered, so his father sent him to Cusco to buy a new shirt for Manuel. Mariano could not find anything similar, because that kind of cloth was sold only to the archbishop. Learning of this, the bishop of Cusco sent a party to investigate. When they tried to capture Manuel, he was transformed into a bush with an image of Christ crucified hanging from it. Thinking the archbishop's party had harmed his friend, Mariano died on the spot. He was buried under a rock, which became a place of pilgrimage known as the Lord of ''Quyllurit'i,'' or "Lord of Star (Brilliant) Snow." An image of Christ was painted on this boulder.

The Quyllurit'i festival attracts thousands of indigenous peasants from the surrounding regions, made up of ''Paucartambo'' groups ([[Quechua languages|Quechua speakers]]) from the agricultural regions to the northwest of the shrine, and ''Quispicanchis'' ([[Aymara ethnic group|Aymara speakers]]) from the pastoral (herders) regions to the southeast. Both [[moiety (kinship)|moieties]] make an annual pilgrimage to the feast, bringing large troupes of dancers and musicians. There are four groups of participants with particular roles: ''ch'unchu,'' ''qulla,'' ''ukuku,'' and ''machula.'' Attendees increasingly have included middle-class Peruvians and foreign tourists.

The festival takes place in late May or early June, to coincide with the full moon. It falls one week before the Christian feast of [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]]. Events include several processions of holy icons and dances in and around the shrine of the Lord of Quyllurit'i. The culminating event for the indigenous non-Christian population takes place after the reappearance of ''Qullqa'' in the night sky; it is the rising of the sun after the full moon. Tens of thousands of people kneel to greet the first rays of light as the sun rises above the horizon. The main event for the Church is carried out by ''ukukus,'' who climb glaciers over [[Qullqipunku]] and bring back crosses and blocks of ice to place along the road to the shrine. These are believed to be medicinal with healing qualities.

==Origins==
There are several accounts of the origins of the Quyllurit'i festival. What follows are two versions: one relates the pre-Columbian origins, and the other the Catholic Church's version as compiled by the priest of the town of [[Ccatca]] between 1928 and 1946.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes,'' pp. 207–209.</ref>

=== Pre-Columbian origins ===
The Inca followed both solar and lunar cycles throughout the year. The cycle of the moon was of primary importance for the timing of both agricultural activities and associated festivals. There are many celebration of seasonal events related to animal husbandry, sowing seeds, and harvesting of crops. Important festivals such as Quyllurit'i, perhaps the most important festival given its significance and meaning, are still celebrated on the full moon.

The Quyllurit'i festival takes place at the end of a period of a few months when the [[Pleiades]] constellation, or Seven Sisters, a 7-star cluster in the [[Taurus constellation]], disappears and reappears in the skies of the Southern Hemisphere. Its time of disappearance was marked in Inca culture by a festival for ''[[Pariacaca]],'' the god of water and torrential rains. It occurs near the date of ''qarwa mita'' (''qarwa'' meaning when the corn leaves are yellow).<ref name="fioravanti">[https://books.google.com/books?id=Erl4gR5Kw30C&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=el+turno+de+las+Pleyades&source=bl&ots=kFUVXIqGAb&sig=SQTPcOqnTO5nbQSN23WIvwEi9fo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4vOfLjo3RAhVC9YMKHbPqCcAQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=el%20turno%20de%20las%20Pleyades&f=false Antoinette Molinié Fioravanti, ''Celebrando el Cuerpo de Dios'' (Corpus Cristi Festival)], Fondo Editorial PUCP, 1999, pp. 197-198{{es}}</ref>

The return of the constellation about 40 days later, called ''unquy mita'' in Quechua,<ref name="fioravanti"/> was long associated in the Southern Hemisphere with the time of the coming harvest and therefore a time of abundance for the people. Incan astronomers had named the Pleiades constellation as ''Qullqa,'' or "storehouse," in their native language of [[Quechuan languages|Quechua]].

Metaphorically, the constellation's disappearance from the night sky and reemergence approximately two months afterward is a signal that the human planes of existence have times of disorder and chaos, but also return to order.



=== Catholic Church origins ===
In the city of [[Cuzco]] in the late 17th century, the celebration of Corpus Cristi reached a height under Bishop Manuel de Mollinedo y Angulo (1673–99), with processions through the city including Inca nobles in ceremonial regalia. The bishop also commissioned portraits of the nobles in their ceremonial clothes. Scholars such as Carolyn Dean have studies this evidence for its suggestions about related church rituals. <ref name="lane">[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/11737 Kris E. Lane, "Review: Carolyn Dean, ''Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ: Corpus Christi in Colonial Cuzco, Peru'' "], ''Ethnohistory,'' Volume 48, Number 3, Summer 2001, pp. 544-546; accessed 22 December 2016</ref>

Dean believes that such early churchmen thought that such Catholic rituals could displace indigenous ones. She examines the feast of Corpus Cristi and its relationship to the indigenous harvest festival at winter solstice, celebrated in early June in the Southern Hemisphere.<ref name="lane"/> According to the church, events of the late 18th century that included a sighting of Christ on the mountain [[Qullqipunku]] became part of myth, and the pilgrimage festival of the Lord of Quyllurit'i is still celebrated in the 21st century.

It is told that an Indian boy named Mariano Mayta used to watch over his father's herd of [[alpaca]] on the slopes of the mountain. He wandered into the snowfields of the glacier, where he encountered a [[mestizo]] boy named Manuel. They became good friends, and Manuel provided Mariano with food. When the boy did not return home for meals, Mariano's father went looking for his son. He was surprised to find his herd had increased. As a reward, he sent Mariano to [[Cusco]] to get new clothes. Mariano asked to buy some also for Manuel, who wore the same outfit everyday. His father agreed, so Mariano asked Manuel for a sample in order to buy the same kind of cloth in Cusco.<ref>Randall, ''Return of the Pleiades,'' p. 49.</ref>

Mariano was told that this refined cloth was restricted for use only by the bishop of the city. Mariano went to see the prelate, who was surprised by the request. He ordered an inquiry of Manuel, directed by the priest of [[Oncogate]] (''Quispicanchi''), a village close to the mountain. On June 12, 1783, the commission ascended Qullqipunku with Mariano; they found Manuel dressed in white and shining with a bright light. Blinded, they retreated, returning with a larger party. On their second try they reached the boy. But when they touched him, he was transformed into a tayanka bush (''[[Baccharis odorata]]'') with the crucified Christ hanging from it. Thinking the party had harmed his friend, Mariano fell dead on the spot. He was buried under the rock where Manuel had last appeared.<ref>Randall, ''Return of the Pleiades,'' p. 49.</ref>

The tayanka tree was sent to Spain, as requested by king [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]]. As it was never returned, the Indian population of Ocongate protested. The local priest ordered a replica, which became known as Lord of Tayankani ({{lang-es|Señor de Tayankani}}). The burial site of Mariano attracted a great number of Indian devotees, who lit candles before the rock. Religious authorities ordered the painting of an image of Christ crucified on the rock. This image became known as Lord of Quyllurit'i ({{lang-es|Señor de Quyllurit'i}}). In [[Quechua languages|Quechua]], ''quyllur'' means star and ''Rit'i'' means snow; thus, the term means Lord of Star Snow.<ref>Randall, ''Return of the Pleiades,'' p. 49.</ref>

==Pilgrims==
[[Image:Qoyllur Rit'i young dancer.jpg|upright|thumb|Dancers at Quyllurit'i. A ''ch'unchu'' performer can be seen behind and to the right of the child.]]
[[File:Festive Costume (3938465581).jpg|thumb|right|220px|Festive costume of Qhapaq Qulla dancers]]
[[Image:Qoyllur Rit'i dancers.jpg|thumb|Dancers with the mountains Qullpiqunkpu and [[Sinaqara]] behind them.]]
The Quyllurit'i festival attracts more than 10,000 pilgrims annually, most of them indigenous peoples from rural communities in nearby regions.<ref>Dean, ''Inka Bodies'', p. 210.</ref> They are from two [[moiety (kinship)|moieties]]: Quechua-speaking ''Paucartambo,'' people from agricultural communities located to the northwest of the shrine in the provinces of [[Cusco Province|Cusco]], [[Calca Province|Calca]], [[Paucartambo Province|Paucartambo]] and [[Urubamba Province|Urubamba]]; and Aymara-speaking ''Quispicanchis,'' which encompasses those living to the southeast in the provinces of [[Acomayo Province|Acomayo]], [[Canas Province|Canas]], [[Canchis Province|Canchis]] and [[Quispicanchi Province|Quispicanchi]], This geographic division also reflects social and economic distinctions, as the Quechuas of Paucartambo cultivate agricultural crops, whereas Quispicanchis is populated by the [[Aymara ethnic group|Aymara]], whose lives are based on animal husbandry, especially herds of [[alpaca]] and [[llama]].<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 217.</ref>

Peasants from both moieties undertake an annual pilgrimage to the Quyllurit'i festival, with representatives of each community carrying a small image of Christ to the sanctuary.<ref>Allen, ''The hold life has'', p. 108.</ref> Together, these delegations include a large troupe of dancers and musicians dressed in four main styles:
*[[Ch'unchu (dance)|Ch'unchu]]: wearing feathered headdresses and carrying a wood staff, the ''[[Ch'unchu people|ch'unchu]]s'' represent the indigenous inhabitants of the [[Amazon Rainforest]], to the north of the sanctuary.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes,'' p. 222.</ref> There are several types of ''ch'unchu'' dancers; the most common is ''wayri ch'unchu,'' which comprises up to 70% of all Quyllurit'i dancers.<ref>Randall, "Qoyllur Rit'i", p. 46.</ref>
*[[Qhapaq Qulla]]: dressed in a "waq'ullu" knitted mask, a hat, a woven sling and a [[llama]] skin, ''[[Qulla people|qulla]]s'' represent the Aymara inhabitants of the ''[[Altiplano]]'' to the south of the sanctuary.<ref>Randall, ''Return of the Pleiades,'' p. 43.</ref> ''Qulla'' is considered a [[mestizo]] dance style, whereas ''ch'unchu'' is regarded as indigenous.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 223.</ref>
*''Ukuku:'' clad in a dark coat and a woolen mask, the ''ukukus'' ([[spectacled bear]]) represent the role of [[trickster]]s; they speak in high-pitched voices, and play pranks, but have the serious responsibility of keeping order among the thousands of pilgrims. Some also go up to the glacier to spend the night. They cut blocks of glacier ice and carry them on their backs to their people at the festival in the valley. When melted, the water is believed to be medicinal for body and mind.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 218.</ref> It is used for holy water in the churches during the next year. In Quechua mythology, ''ukukus'' are the offspring of a woman and a bear, feared by everyone because of their supernatural strength. In these stories, the ''ukuku'' redeems itself by defeating a ''condenado,'' a cursed soul, and becoming an exemplary farmer.<ref>Randall, "Qoyllur Rit'i", p. 43–44.</ref>
*Machula: wearing a mask, a humpback, and a long coat, and carrying a walking stick, ''machulas'' represent the ''ñawpa machus,'' the mythical first inhabitants of the Andes. In a similar way to the ''ukukus,'' they perform an ambiguous role in the festival, being comical as well as constabulary figures.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 220.</ref>

Quyllur Rit'i also attracts visitors from outside the Paucartambo and Quispicanchis moieties. Since the 1970s, an increasing number of [[middle-class]] mainstream Peruvians undertake the pilgrimage, some of them at a different date than more traditional pilgrims.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes,'' pp. 223–224.</ref> There has also been a rapid growth in the number of North American and European tourists drawn to the indigenous festival, prompting fears that it is becoming too commercialized.<ref>Dean, ''Inka bodies'', pp. 210–211.</ref> The pilgrimage and associated festival were inscribed in 2011 on the [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists]].

==Festival==
[[Image:Qoyllur R'Iti panoramic overview.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Panoramic view of the festival, with sanctuary church of Sinaqara in background]]
[[Image:Qoyllur R'Iti Cross 1.jpg|upright|thumb|One of the crosses along the road to the Quyllurit'i shrine]]
The festival is attended by thousands of indigenous people, some of whom come from as far away as Bolivia. The Christian celebration is organized by the Brotherhood of the Lord of Quyllurit'i ({{lang-es|Hermandad del Señor de Quyllurit'i}}), a lay organization that also keeps order during the festival.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 215.</ref> Preparations start on the feast of the [[Ascension of Jesus Christ|Ascension]], when the Lord of Quyllurit'i is carried in [[procession]] from its chapel at [[Mawallani]] 8 kilometers to its sanctuary at [[Sinaqara]].<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 225.</ref>

On the first Wednesday after [[Pentecost]], a second procession carries a statue of [[Our Lady of Fatima]] from the Sinaqqara sanctuary to an uphill grotto to prepare for the festival.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', pp. 225–226.</ref> Most pilgrims arrive by [[Trinity Sunday]], when the [[Blessed Sacrament]] is taken in procession through and around the sanctuary.

The following day, the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'i is taken in procession to the grotto of the Virgin and back.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 226.</ref> Pilgrims refer to this as the greeting between the Lord and Mary, referring to the double traditional Inca feasts of ''Pariacaca'' and ''Oncoy mita.'' (See section above.) On the night of this second day, dance troupes take turns to perform in the shrine.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 227.</ref>

At dawn on the third day, ''ukukus'' grouped by moieties climb the glaciers on Qullqipunku to retrieve crosses set on top. Some ukukus traditionally spent the night on the glacier to combat spirits. They also cut and bring back blocks of the ice, which is believed to have sacred medicinal qualities.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', pp. 227–228.</ref> The ukukus are considered to be the only ones capable of dealing with ''condenados,'' the cursed souls said to inhabit the snowfields.<ref>Randall, "Quyllurit'i", p. 44.</ref> According to oral traditions, ''ukukus'' from different moieties used to engage in [[endemic warfare|ritual battles]] on the glaciers, but this practice was banned by the Catholic Church.<ref>Randall, "Return of the Pleiades", p. 45.</ref> After a mass celebrated later this day, most pilgrims leave the sanctuary. One group carries the Lord of Quyllurit'i in procession to [[Tayankani]] before taking it back to Mawallani.<ref>Sallnow, ''Pilgrims of the Andes'', p. 228.</ref>

The festival precedes the official feast of Corpus Cristi, held the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, but it is closely associated with it.<ref name="fioravanti"/>

==See also==
* [[Religion in Peru]]
* [[Syncretism]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==

{{refbegin}}

* Allen, Catherine. ''The Hold Life Has: Coca and Cultural Identity in an Andean Community''. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.
* Ceruti, Maria Constanza. ''Qoyllur Riti: etnografia de un peregrinaje ritual de raiz incaica por las altas montañas del Sur de Peru'' (in Spanish)
* Dean, Carolyn. ''Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ: Corpus Christi in Colonial Cusco, Peru''. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.
* Randall, Robert. "Qoyllur Rit'i, an Inca fiesta of the Pleiades: reflections on time & space in the Andean world," ''Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Etudes Andines'' 9 (1–2): 37–81 (1982).
* Randall, Robert. "Return of the Pleiades". ''Natural History'' 96 (6): 42–53 (June 1987).
* Sallnow, Michael. ''Pilgrims of the Andes: regional cults in Cusco''. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987.

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Qoyllur Rit'i|Quyllur Rit'i}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130705045120/http://www.thepathofthesun.com:80/2013/05/qoyllur-riti-an-incan-festival-celebrating-the-stars.html Seti Gershberg, "Qoyllur Riti: An Inca Festival Celebrating the Stars"], May 2013, The Path of the Sun website
* [http://www2.essex.ac.uk/arthistory/arara/issue_two/paper1.html Adrian Locke, "From Ice to Icon: El Señor de Qoyllur Rit'i as symbol of native Andean Catholic worship"], Essex College (UK)
* [http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~iespinal/qoyllur_riti/index.html Vicente Revilla, photographer: ''Qoyllur Rit'i: In Search of the Lord of the Snow Star''], online exhibit, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst, October 1999

{{coord missing|Peru}}

{{good article}}

[[Category:Catholic holy days]]
[[Category:Religion in Peru]]
[[Category:Festivals in Peru]]
[[Category:Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]]
[[Category:Indigenous culture of the Andes]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Cusco Region]]
[[Category:Christian festivals]]
[[Category:July events]]

Quechuan languages

2016-08-11T21:59:51Z

Huhsunqu: /* Cognates */

{{Infobox language
|name = Quechua
|altname = Kechua
|nativename = ''Qhichwa simi'' ''Runa simi''
|region = Central [[Andes]]
|states = [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Chile]], and [[Argentina]]
|ethnicity = [[Quechua people|Quechua]]
|speakers = 8.9 million
|date = 2007
|ref = ne2007
|familycolor = American
|fam1 = Quechuan languages
|dia1=''Quechua I''     [[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]]     [[Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Quechua|Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga]]     [[Yaru Quechua|Yaru]]     [[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]]     [[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]
|dia2=''Quechua II''     [[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]]     Northern       [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] (Ecuador)       [[Lowland Peruvian Quechua|Lowland Peruvian]]     [[Southern Quechua|Southern]]
|script = [[Latin script|Latin]]
|nation = [[Peru]] [[Bolivia]] [[Ecuador]]
|iso1 = qu
|iso2 = que, qwe
|iso3 = que
|glotto = quec1387
|glottorefname= Quechuan
|map = Quechua (grupos).svg
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Quechuan''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|tʃ|w|ə|n}}, also known as '''runa simi''' ("people's language"), is an [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous language family]] spoken primarily in the [[Andes]] of South America. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely-spoken language family of [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]], with a total of probably some 8-10 million speakers.<ref name=adelaar167>Adelaar 2004, pp. 167–168, 255.</ref> It is perhaps most widely known for being the main language of the [[Inca Empire]].

==History==
Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the [[Inca Empire]]. The Inca were just one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke forms of Quechua. In the [[Cusco]] region, Quechua was influenced by local languages such as [[Aymara language|Aymara]]. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct. In similar way, a diverse group of dialects developed in different areas related to existing local languages when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language.

After the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]] in the 16th century, Quechua continued to be used widely as the "general language" and main means of communication between the Spaniards and the indigenous population. The [[Catholic Church]] adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization. Given use by the missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas.

However, administrative and religious use of Quechua was terminated in the late 18th century, when it was banned from public use in Peru in response to the [[Túpac Amaru II]] rebellion.<ref name=adelaar167/> The Crown banned even "loyal" pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vega's ''Comentarios Reales.'' <ref>Aybar cited by Hart, Stephen M. ''A Companion to Latin American Literature'', p. 6.</ref>

Despite a brief revival of the language immediately after independence in the 19th century, the prestige of Quechua had decreased sharply. Its use gradually was restricted to more isolated and conservative rural areas.<ref name=adelaar167/>

The oldest written records of the language are by missionary [[Domingo de Santo Tomás]], who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú'' (Grammar or Art of the General Language of the Indians of the Royalty of Peru) in 1560.<ref>{{Cite book
|last=Torero
|first=Alfredo
|authorlink=Alfredo Torero
| chapter = La familia lingûística quechua
|year=1983
|title=América Latina en sus lenguas indígenas
| place = Caracas
|publisher=Monte Ávila
|isbn=92-3-301926-8
|postscript= }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite book
|last=Torero
|first=Alfredo
|authorlink=Alfredo Torero
|year=1974
|title=El quechua y la historia social andina
| place = Lima
|publisher=Universidad Ricardo Palma, Dirección Universitaria de Investigación
|isbn=978-603-45-0210-9
|postscript= }}</ref>

==Current status==
[[File:El quechua como lengua materna (censo nacional 2007).png|thumb|350px|Map of Peru showing the distribution of individual Quechua languages by district.]]
Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages in 1975.<ref name=NYT1975>{{cite news |title=Peru officially adopting Indian tongue |first=Jonathan Gay |last=Kandell |date=May 22, 1975 |work=New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1975/05/23/issue.html}}</ref> Ecuador conferred official status on the language in its 2006 constitution and in 2009 Bolivia adopted a new constitution that recognized a number of indigenous languages as official languages of the country.<ref name=Andes>{{cite book |title=The Andes: A Geographical Portrait|first=Axel|last=Borsdorf |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgEyBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=ecuador+constitution+quechua&source=bl&ots=8GozrigzHx&sig=JpuKLTOIIyBexrmjlEPPMid49vY&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj8o7SJtKHMAhWEvoMKHTC1BHYQ6AEIWjAN#v=onepage&q=ecuador%20constitution%20quechua&f=false}}</ref>

Currently, the major obstacle to the diffusion of the usage and teaching of Quechua is the lack of written material in the Quechua language like books, newspapers, software, and magazines. Thus, Quechua, along with Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially a [[spoken language]].

In recent years, Quechua has been introduced in [[intercultural bilingual education]] (IBE) in [[Bolivia]], [[Ecuador]] and [[Peru]], which is, however, reaching only a part of the Quechua-speaking population. There is an ongoing process of Quechua-speaking populations shifting to Spanish for the purposes of social advancement.<ref>Adelaar 2004, pp. 258–259: "The Quechua speakers' wish for social mobility for their children is often heard as an argument for not transmitting the language to the next generation.... As observed quite adequately by [[Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino|Cerrón Palomino]], "Quechua (and [[Aymaran languages|Aymara]]) speakers seem to have taken the project of assimilation begun by the dominating classes and made it their own."</ref>

[[Radio Nacional del Perú]] has news and agrarian programs for periods in the mornings in Quechua.

Quechua and Spanish are now heavily intermixed, with many hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Quechua. Conversely, Quechua phrases and words are commonly used by Spanish speakers. In southern rural Bolivia, for instance, many Quechua words such as ''wawa'' (infant), ''misi'' (cat), ''waska'' (strap or thrashing) are as commonly used as their Spanish counterparts, even in entirely Spanish-speaking areas. Quechua has also had a profound impact on other native languages of the Americas such as [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

===Number of speakers===
The number of speakers given varies widely according to the sources. The total in ''Ethnologue'' 16 is 10 million, mostly based on figures published 1987–2002, but with a few dating from the 1960s. The figure for Imbabura Quechua in ''Ethnologue'', for example, is 300,000, an estimate from 1977. The missionary organization FEDEPI, on the other hand, estimated one million Imbabura speakers (published 2006). Census figures are also problematic, due to under-reporting. The 2001 Ecuador census reports only 500,000 Quechua speakers, where most sources estimate over 2 million. The censuses of Peru (2007) and Bolivia (2001) are thought to be more reliable.

*Argentina: 900,000 (1971)
*Bolivia: 2,100,000 (2001 census); 2,800,000 South Bolivian (1987)
*Chile: few if any
*Colombia: 25,000 (2000–2007)
*Ecuador: 2,300,000 (Adelaar 1991)
*Peru: 3,260,000 (2007 census); 3,500,000 to 4,400,000 (Adelaar 2000)

Additionally, there is an unknown number of speakers in emigrant communities, including [[Queens]], New York and [[Paterson, New Jersey]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Claudio Torrens
| title = Some NY immigrants cite lack of Spanish as barrier
| work = UTSanDiego.com
| accessdate = 2013-02-10
| date = 2011-05-28
| url = http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/may/28/some-ny-immigrants-cite-lack-of-spanish-as-barrier/
}}</ref>

==Classification==
[[File:Quechua (subgrupos).svg|thumb|The four branches of Quechua: I (Central), II-A (North Peruvian), II-B (Northern), II-C (Southern).]]

There are significant differences between the varieties of Quechua spoken in the central Peruvian highlands and the peripheral varieties of Ecuador as well as southern Peru and Bolivia. They can be labeled Quechua I (or Quechua B, central) and Quechua II (or Quechua A, peripheral). Within the two groups, there are few sharp boundaries, making them [[dialect continuum|dialect continua]]. However, there is a secondary division in Quechua II between the grammatically simplified northern varieties of Ecuador, Quechua II-B, known there as [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]], and the generally more conservative varieties of the southern highlands, Quechua II-C, which include the old Inca capital of [[Cusco]]. The closeness is at least in part because of the influence of [[Cusco Quechua]] on the Ecuadorean varieties in the Inca Empire, as northern nobles were required to educate their children in Cusco, which maintained Cusco as the [[prestige dialect]] in the north.

Speakers from different points within any of the three regions can generally understand one another reasonably well. There are nonetheless significant local-level differences across each. ([[Wanka Quechua]], in particular, has several very distinctive characteristics that make the variety distinctly difficult to understand, even for other Central Quechua speakers.) Speakers from ''different'' major regions, particularly Central or Southern Quechua, are not able to communicate effectively.

The lack of [[mutual intelligibility]] is the basic criterion that defines Quechua not as a single language but a language family. The complex and progressive nature of how speech varies across the dialect continua makes it nearly impossible to differentiate discrete varieties; ''Ethnologue'' lists 44 that it judged to require separate literature.<ref name=Ethnologue>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=que Ethnologue report for Quechua (macrolanguage) (SIL)]</ref>

As a reference point, the overall degree of diversity across the family is a little less than that of the [[Romance languages|Romance]] or [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] families and more of the order of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] or [[Arabic]]. The greatest diversity is within Central Quechua, {{sc|aka}} Quechua I, which is believed to lie close to the homeland of the ancestral Proto-Quechua language.

===Family tree===
[[Alfredo Torero]] devised the traditional classification, the three divisions above plus a fourth, northern Peruvian, branch. The latter cause complications in the classification, however, as they ([[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]], [[Pacaraos Quechua|Pacaraos]], and [[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]) have features of both Quechua I and Quechua II and so are difficult to assign to either. Torero's classification is thus:

* [[Quechua I]] or ''Quechua B'' or ''Central Quechua'' or ''Waywash'', spoken in Peru's central highlands and coast.
** The most widely spoken varieties are Huaylas, Huaylla Wanca, and Conchucos.
* [[Quechua II]] or ''Quechua A'' or ''Peripheral Quechua'' or ''Wanp'una'', divided into
** Yungay (Yunkay) Quechua or ''Quechua II A'', spoken in the northern mountains of Peru; the most widely spoken dialect is Cajamarca.
** [[Northern Quechua]] or ''Quechua II B'', spoken in Ecuador ([[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]), northern Peru, and Colombia ([[Inga Kichwa]])
*** The most widely spoken varieties are Chimborazo Highland Quichua and Imbabura Highland Quichua.
** [[Southern Quechua]] or ''Quechua II C'', spoken in Bolivia, southern Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
*** The most widely spoken varieties are South Bolivian, Cusco, Ayacucho, and Puno (Collao).


[[Willem Adelaar]] adheres to the Quechua I / Quechua II (central/peripheral) bifurcation, but partially following later modifications by Torero, reassigns part of Quechua II-A to Quechua I:<ref>Adelaar 2004.{{page needed|date=September 2013}}</ref>

{{Clade
| label1=Proto-Quechua
| 1={{Clade
| label1=Quechua I
| 1={{Clade
| label1=Central
| 1={{Clade
| 1='''[[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]]''' (Huaylas–Conchucos)
| 2='''[[Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Quechua|Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga]]'''
| 3='''[[Yaru Quechua|Yaru]]'''
| 4='''[[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]]''' (Jauja–Huanca)
| 5='''[[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]''' (Huangáscar–Topará)
}}
| 2=[[Pacaraos Quechua|Pacaraos]]
}}
| label2= Quechua II 
| 2={{Clade
| label1=''' [[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]] ''' (Quechua II-A, reduced)
| 1={{Clade
| 1=[[Lambayeque Quechua|Lambayeque]] (Cañaris)
| 2=[[Cajamarca Quechua|Cajamarca]]
}}
| label2=(Quechua II-A split)
| 2=[[Lincha Quechua|Lincha]]
| label3=(Quechua II-A split)
| 3=Laraos
| 4={{Clade
| label1= Northern Quechua  (Quechua II-B)
| 1={{Clade
| 1='''[[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]''' ("Ecuadorian" or Highlands and Oriente)
| 2=[[Chachapoyas Quechua|Chachapoyas]] (Amazonas)
| 3=[[Lamas Quechua|Lamas]] (San Martín)
}}
| label2= '''[[Southern Quechua]]''' (Quechua II-C)
| 2={{Clade
| 1=[[Ayacucho Quechua|Ayacucho]]
| 2=[[Cusco Quechua|Cusco]]
| 3=[[Puno Quechua|Puno]] (Collao)
| 4=[[North Bolivian Quechua|Northern Bolivian]] (Apolo)
| 5=[[South Bolivian Quechua|Southern Bolivia]]
| 6=[[Santiagueño Quechua|Santiago del Estero]]}}
}} }}
}} }}

Landerman (1991) does not believe a truly genetic classification is possible and divides Quechua II so that the family has four geographical–typological branches: Northern, North Peruvian, Central, and Southern. He includes Chachapoyas and Lamas in North Peruvian Quechua so Ecuadorian is synonymous with Northern Quechua.<ref>Peter Landerman, 1991. ''Quechua dialects and their classification.'' PhD dissertation, UCLA</ref>

===Geographical distribution===
Quechua I (Central Quechua, ''Waywash'') is spoken in Peru's central highlands, from the [[Ancash Region]] to [[Huancayo]]. It is the most diverse branch of Quechua,<ref>Lyle Campbell, ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 189</ref> to the extent that its divisions are commonly considered different languages.

Quechua II (Peripheral Quechua, ''Wamp'una'' "Traveler")
*II-A: Yunkay Quechua (North Peruvian Quechua) is scattered in Peru's occidental highlands
*II-B: Northern Quechua (also known as ''Runashimi'' or, especially in Ecuador, [[Kichwa language|''Kichwa'']]) is mainly spoken in Colombia and Ecuador. It is also spoken in the Amazonian lowlands of Colombia, Ecuador, and in pockets in Peru
*II-C: [[Southern Quechua]], in the highlands further south, from [[Huancavelica]] through the [[Ayacucho]], [[Cusco]], and [[Puno]] regions of [[Peru]], across much of [[Bolivia]], and in pockets in north-western [[Argentina]]. It is the most influential branch, with the largest number of speakers and the most important cultural and literary legacy.

===Cognates===
This is a sampling of words in several Quechuan languages:{{Pronunciation needed}}

{| class="wikitable"
|
! [[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]] (I)
! [[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]] ([[Quechua I|I]])
! [[Cajamarca Quechua|Cajamarca]] ([[Quechua II-A|II-A]])
! [[Lamas Quechua|San Martin]] (II-B)
! [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] (II-B)
! [[Ayacucho Quechua|Ayacucho]] (II-C)
! [[Cusco Quechua|Cusco]] (II-C)
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'one'
| huk [uk~huk]
| suk, huk [suk], [huk]
| suq [soχ]
| suk [suk]
| shuk [ʃuk]
| huk [huk]
| huk [hoχ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'two'
| ishkay [ɪʃkeˑ ~ ɪʃkɐj]
| ishkay [iʃkaj]
| ishkay [ɪʃkɐj]
| ishkay [iʃkaj]
| ishkay [iʃki ~ iʃkaj]
| iskay [iskæj]
| iskay [iskæj]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'ten'
| ćhunka, chunka [ʈ͡ʂʊŋkɐ], [t͡ʃʊŋkɐ]
| ćhunka [ʈ͡ʂuŋka]
| ch'unka [ʈ͡ʂʊŋgɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋga]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋgɐ ~ t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'sweet'
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| miski [mɪskɪ]
| misk'i [mɪskʼɪ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'white'
| yuraq [jʊɾɑq ~ jʊɾɑχ]
| yulaq [julah ~ julaː]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
| yurak [jʊɾak]
| yurak [jʊɾax ~ jʊɾak]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'he gives'
| qun [qoŋ ~ χoŋ ~ ʁoŋ]
| qun [huŋ ~ ʔuŋ]
| qun [qoŋ]
| kun [kuŋ]
| kun [kuŋ]
| qun [χoŋ]
| qun [qoŋ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'yes'
| awmi [oːmi ~ ɐwmɪ]
| aw [aw]
| ari [ɐɾi]
| ari [aɾi]
| ari [aɾi]
| arí [ɐˈɾi]
| arí [ɐˈɾi]
|}

===Quechua and Aymara===
Quechua shares a large amount of vocabulary, and some striking structural parallels, with [[Aymara language|Aymara]], and the two families have sometimes been grouped together as a '[[Quechumaran languages|Quechumaran family]]'. That hypothesis is generally rejected by specialists, however. The parallels are better explained by mutual influence and borrowing through intensive and longterm contact. Many Quechua–Aymara cognates are close, often closer than intra-Quechua cognates, and there is little relationship in the [[affix]]al system.

==Vocabulary==
A number of Quechua [[loanword]]s have entered [[English language|English]] via [[Spanish language|Spanish]], including ''[[coca]]'', ''[[condor]]'', ''[[guano]]'', ''[[jerky]]'', ''[[llama]]'', ''[[puma (genus)|puma]]'', ''[[quinine]]'', ''[[quinoa]]'', ''[[vicuña]]'', and, possibly, ''[[gaucho]]''. The word ''[[lagniappe]]'' comes from the Quechuan word ''yapay'' ("to increase; to add") with the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] article ''la'' in front of it, ''la yapa'' or ''la ñapa'' in Spanish.

The influence on Latin American Spanish includes such borrowings as ''papa'' for "potato", ''chuchaqui'' for "hangover" in [[Ecuador]], and diverse borrowings for "[[altitude sickness]]", in [[Bolivia]] from Quechuan ''suruqch'i'' to Bolivian ''sorojchi'', in [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], and [[Peru]] ''soroche''.
In Bolivia, particularly, Quechua words are used extensively even by non-Quechua speakers. These include wawa (baby, infant), ch'aki (hangover), misi (cat), juk'ucho (mouse), q'omer uchu (green pepper), jacu ("lets go"), chhiri and chhurco (curly haired), among many others. Quechua grammar also enters Bolivian Spanish, such as the use of the suffix -ri. In Bolivian Quechua, -ri is added to verbs to signify an action is performed with affection or, in the imperative, as a rough equivalent to please. In Bolivia -ri is often included in the Spanish imperative to imply "please" or to soften commands. For example, the standard "pásame" (pass me), becomes pasarime.

Quechua has borrowed a large number of [[Spanish language|Spanish]] words, such as ''piru'' (from ''pero'', but), ''bwenu'' (from ''bueno'', good), iskwila (from "escuela," school), waka (from "vaca," cow) and ''burru'' (from ''burro'', donkey).

===Etymology of Quechua===
At first, Spaniards referred to the language of the Inca empire as the ''lengua general'', the ''general language''. The name ''quichua'' is first used in 1560 by [[Domingo de Santo Tomás]] in his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú''.<ref name=Adelaar179>Adelaar 2004, p. 179.</ref> It is not known what name the native speakers gave to their language before colonial times and whether it was Spaniards who called it ''quechua''.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

There are two possible etymologies of Quechua as the name of the language. There is a possibility that the name Quechua was derived from ''*qiĉ.wa'', the native word which originally meant the "temperate valley" altitude ecological zone in the Andes (suitable for maize cultivation) and to its inhabitants.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

Alternatively, [[Pedro Cieza de León]] and [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]], the early Spanish chroniclers, mention the existence of a people called Quichua in the present [[Apurímac Region]], and it could be inferred that their name was given to the entire language.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

The Hispanicised spellings ''Quechua'' and ''Quichua'' have been used in Peru and Bolivia since the 17th century, especially after the [[Third Council of Lima]]. Today, the various local pronunciations of "Quechua Simi" include {{IPA-qu|ˈqʰeʃwa ˈsimi|}}, {{IPA-qu|ˈχetʃwa ˈʃimi|}}, {{IPA-qu|ˈkitʃwa ˈʃimi|}}, and {{IPA-qu|ˈʔitʃwa ˈʃimi|}}.

Another name that native speakers give to their own language is ''runa simi'', "language of man/people"; it also seems to have emerged during the colonial period.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

==Phonology==
The description below applies to the [[Cusco Quechua]]; there are significant differences in other varieties of Quechua.

===Vowels===
Quechua uses only three vowel phonemes: {{IPA|/a/}} {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}}, as in Aymara (including Jaqaru). Monolingual speakers pronounce them as {{IPA|[æ, ɪ, ʊ]}} respectively, but [[Spanish language|Spanish]] realizations {{IPA|[ä, i, u]}} may also be used. When the vowels appear adjacent to the uvular consonants {{IPA|/q/}}, {{IPA|/qʼ/}}, and {{IPA|/qʰ/}}, they are rendered more like {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}} respectively.

===Consonants===
{| class="IPA wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2|
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]/ [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|n
|ɲ
|
|
|
|- align=center
! rowspan=3| [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! plain
|p
|t
|tʃ
|k
|q
|
|- align=center
! [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|pʰ
|tʰ
|tʃʰ
|kʰ
|qʰ
|
|- align=center
! [[ejective consonant|ejective]]
|p’
|t’
|tʃ’
|k’
|q’
|
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| s
|
|
|
| h
|- align=center
! rowspan=2|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! [[Central consonant|central]]
|
|
|j
|w
|
|
|- align=center
! [[Lateral consonant|lateral]]
|
|l
|ʎ
|
|
|
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|ɾ
|
|
|
|
|}

No plosive or fricative is voiced, and voicing is not [[phoneme|phonemic]] in the Quechua native vocabulary of the modern Cusco variety.

{{Listen|filename=qu-pata_phata_p'ata.ogg|title=Voiceless bilabial plosives|description=Pronunciation of [[voiceless bilabial plosive]] phonemes in Quechua|format=[[Ogg]]}}

About 30% of the modern Quechua vocabulary is borrowed from Spanish, and some Spanish sounds (e.g. f, b, d, g) may have become phonemic even among monolingual Quechua speakers.

Aspirated and ejective renderings of consonants are not phonemic in some varieties of Quechua. Others use only plain /p/, /t/, /t͡ʃ/, and /k/.

===Stress===
Stress is penultimate in most dialects of Quechua. In some varieties, the [[apocope]] of word-final vowels or other factors may cause exceptional final stress, as the syllable remains stressed there.

==Orthogaphy==
{{main|Quechua alphabet}}
{{further|Southern Quechua#Standard Quechua|l1=Southern Quechua § Standard Quechua}}

Quechua has been written using the Roman alphabet since the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]]. However, written Quechua is not rarely much(?) by Quechua-speakers because of the lack of printed referential material in Quechua.

Until the 20th century, Quechua was written with a Spanish-based [[orthography]]. Examples ''Inca, Huayna Cápac, Collasuyo, Mama Ocllo, Viracocha, quipu, tambo, condor''. That orthography is the most familiar to Spanish speakers and sohas been used for most borrowings into English.

In 1975, the Peruvian government of [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] adopted a new orthography for Quechua. That is the system preferred by the [[Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua]]: ''Inka, Wayna Qhapaq, Qollasuyu, Mama Oqllo, Wiraqocha, khipu, tampu, kuntur''. The orthography has these features:
* It uses '''w''' instead of ''hu'' for {{IPA|/w/}}.
* It distinguishes velar ''k'' from uvular ''q'', but both were spelled ''c'' or ''qu'' in the traditional system.
* It distinguishes simple, ejective, and aspirated stops in dialects (such as that of the [[Cusco Region]]) with them, like ''khipu'' above.
* It continues to use the Spanish five-vowel system.

In 1985, a variation of this system was adopted by the Peruvian government; it uses the Quechuan three-vowel system: ''Inka, Wayna Qhapaq, Qullasuyu, Mama Uqllu, Wiraqucha, khipu, tampu, kuntur''.

The different orthographies are still highly controversial in Peru. Advocates of the traditional system believe that the new orthographies look too foreign and suggest that it makes Quechua harder to learn for people who have first been exposed to written Spanish. Those who prefer the new system maintain that it better matches the phonology of Quechua, and they point to studies showing that teaching the five-vowel system to children later causes reading difficulties in Spanish.

For more on this, see [[Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift]].

Writers differ in the treatment of Spanish loanwords. Sometimes, they are adapted to the modern orthography, and sometimes, they are left as in Spanish. For instance, "I am Roberto" could be written ''Robertom kani'' or ''Ruwirtum kani''. (The ''-m'' is not part of the name; it is an evidential suffix.)

The Peruvian linguist [[Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino]] has proposed an orthographic norm for all [[Southern Quechua]]: Standard Quechua (''el Quechua estándar'' or ''Hanan Runasimi'') conservatively integrates features of two widespread dialects, [[Ayacucho Quechua]] and [[Cusco Quechua]]. For instance:<ref>To listen to recordings of them and many other words, as pronounced in many different Quechua-speaking regions, see the external website [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds The Sounds of the Andean Languages]. There is also a full section on the new [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds/Home/HomeSpelling.htm Quechua and Aymara Spelling].</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Ayacucho
!Cusco
!Standard Quechua
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| to drink
| upyay
| uhyay
| upyay
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| fast
| utqa
| usqha
| utqha
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| to work
| llamkay
| llank'ay
| llamk'ay
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| we (inclusive)
| ñuqanchik
| nuqanchis
| ñuqanchik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| (progressive suffix)
| -chka-
| -sha-
| -chka-
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| day
| punchaw
| p'unchay
| p'unchaw
|}

==Grammar==

===Morphological type===
All varieties of Quechua are very regular [[agglutinative language]]s, as opposed to [[isolating language|isolating]] or [[fusional language|fusional]] ones. Their normal sentence order is SOV ([[subject–object–verb]]). Their large number of [[suffix]]es changes both the overall significance of words and their subtle shades of meaning. Notable grammatical features include bipersonal [[grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] (verbs agree with both subject and object), [[evidentiality]] (indication of the source and veracity of knowledge), a set of [[topic (linguistics)|topic]] [[grammatical particle|particles]], and suffixes indicating who benefits from an action and the speaker's attitude toward it, but some languages and varieties may lack some of the characteristics.

===Pronouns===
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; background:#f9f9f9; border:1px gray solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:95%; vertical-align:center;"
| colspan=2 rowspan=2 style="background:white;border-top:2px white solid;border-right:1px solid gray;border-bottom:1px solid gray;border-left:2px white solid;"|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background:#9fb6cd;"|<big>'''Number'''</big>
|- style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"
||'''''Singular'''''
||'''''Plural'''''
|-
| rowspan=3 style="background:#9FB6CD"|<big>'''Person'''</big>
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''First'''''
|Ñuqa
|Ñuqanchik ''(inclusive)''
Ñuqayku ''(exclusive)''
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''Second'''''
|Qam
|Qamkuna
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''Third'''''
|Pay
|Paykuna
|}
In Quechua, there are seven [[pronoun]]s. Quechua has two first-person plural pronouns ("we" in English). One is called the [[clusivity|inclusive]], which is used if the speaker wishes to include the [[addressee]] ("we and you"). The other form is called the exclusive, which is used when the addressee is excluded ("we without you"). Quechua also adds the suffix ''-kuna'' to the second and third person singular pronouns ''qam'' and ''pay'' to create the plural forms, ''qam-kuna'' and ''pay-kuna''.

===Adjectives===
[[Adjective]]s in Quechua are always placed before nouns. They lack gender and number and are not declined to agree with [[noun|substantives]].

===Numbers===
*[[Cardinal number (linguistics)|Cardinal number]]s. ''ch'usaq'' (0), ''huk'' (1), ''iskay'' (2), ''kimsa'' (3), ''tawa'' (4), ''pichqa'' (5), ''suqta'' (6), ''qanchis'' (7), ''pusaq'' (8), ''isqun'' (9), ''chunka'' (10), ''chunka hukniyuq'' (11), ''chunka iskayniyuq'' (12), ''iskay chunka'' (20), ''pachak'' (100), ''waranqa'' (1,000), ''hunu'' (1,000,000), ''lluna'' (1,000,000,000,000).
*Ordinal numbers. To form ordinal numbers, the word ''ñiqin'' is put after the appropriate cardinal number (''iskay ñiqin'' = "second"). The only exception is that, in addition to ''huk ñiqin'' ("first"), the phrase ''ñawpaq'' is also used in the somewhat more restricted sense of "the initial, primordial, the oldest".

===Nouns===
[[Noun]] roots accept suffixes that indicate [[grammatical person|person]] (defining of possession, not identity), [[grammatical number|number]], and [[grammatical case|case]]. In general, the personal suffix precedes that of number. In the [[Santiago del Estero]] variety, however, the order is reversed.<ref>
{{cite web
|first = Jorge R.
|last = Alderetes
|title = Morfoligía Nominal del Quechua Santiagueño
|year = 1997
|id=
|isbn=
|url=http://usuarios.arnet.com.ar/yanasu/Cap3-1.htm
}}</ref> From variety to variety, suffixes may change.

{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
|+ Examples using the word ''wasi'' (house)''
! colspan=2 | Function
! Suffix
! Example
! (translation)
|-
| suffix indicating number
| plural
| -kuna
| wasi'''kuna'''
| houses
|-
| rowspan=7 | possessive suffix
| 1.person singular
| -y, -:
| wasi'''y''', wasi'''i'''
| my house
|-
| ''2.person singular''
| -yki
| wasi'''yki'''
| your house
|-
| ''3.person singular''
| -n
| wasi'''n'''
| his/her/its house
|-
| ''1.person plural (incl)''
| -nchik
| wasi'''nchik'''
| our house (incl.)
|-
| ''1.person plural (excl)''
| -y-ku
| wasi'''yku'''
| our house (excl.)
|-
| ''2.person plural''
| -yki-chik
| wasi'''ykichik'''
| your (pl.) house
|-
| ''3.person plural''
| -n-ku
| wasi'''nku'''
| their house
|-
| rowspan=19 | suffixes indicating case
| [[Nominative case|nominative]]
| –
| wasi
| the house (subj.)
|-
| [[Accusative case|accusative]]
| -(k)ta
| wasi'''ta'''
| the house (obj.)
|-
| [[Instrumental case|instrumental]]
| -wan
| wasi'''wan'''
| with the house, and the house
|-
| [[Abessive case|abessive]]
| -naq
| wasi'''naq'''
| without the house
|-
| [[Dative case|dative]]
| -paq
| wasi'''paq'''
| to the house
|-
| [[Genitive case|genitive]]
| -p(a)
| wasi'''p(a)'''
| of the house
|-
| [[Causative case|causative]]
| -rayku
| wasi'''rayku'''
| because of the house
|-
| [[Benefactive case|benefactive]]
| -paq
| wasi'''paq'''
| for the house
|-
| [[Locative case|locative]]
| -pi
| wasi'''pi'''
| at the house
|-
| [[Allative case|directional]]
| -man
| wasi'''man'''
| towards the house
|-
| [[Inclusive case|inclusive]]
| -piwan, puwan
| wasi'''piwan''', wasi'''puwan'''
| including the house
|-
| [[Terminative case|terminative]]
| -kama, -yaq
| wasi'''kama''', wasi'''yaq'''
| up to the house
|-
| [[Perlative case|transitive]]
| -(rin)ta
| wasi'''nta'''
| through the house
|-
| [[Ablative case|ablative]]
| -manta, -piqta
| wasi'''manta''', wasi'''piqta'''
| off/from the house
|-
| [[Comitative case|comitative]]
| -(ni)ntin
| wasi'''ntin'''
| along with the house
|-
| [[Immediate case|immediate]]
| -raq
| wasi'''raq'''
| first the house
|-
| [[Intrative case|intrative]]
| -pura
| wasi'''pura'''
| among the houses
|-
| [[Exclusive case|exclusive]]
| -lla(m)
| wasi'''lla(m)'''
| only the house
|-
| [[Comparative case|comparative]]
| -naw, -hina
| wasi'''naw''', wasi'''hina'''
| than the house
|}

===Adverbs===
[[Adverb]]s can be formed by adding ''-ta'' or, in some cases, ''-lla'' to an adjective: ''allin – allinta'' ("good – well"), ''utqay – utqaylla'' ("quick – quickly"). They are also formed by adding suffixes to [[demonstrative]]s: ''chay'' ("that") – ''chaypi'' ("there"), ''kay'' ("this") – ''kayman'' ("hither").

There are several original adverbs. For Europeans, it is striking that the adverb ''qhipa'' means both "behind" and "future" and ''ñawpa'' means "ahead, in front" and "past".<ref>This occurs in English, where "before" means "in the past", and Shakespeare's Macbeth says "The greatest is behind", meaning in the future.</ref> Local and temporal concepts of adverbs in Quechua (as well as in [[Aymara language|Aymara]]) are associated to each other reversely, compared to European languages. For the speakers of Quechua, we are moving backwards into the future (we cannot see it: it is unknown), facing the past (we can see it: it is remembered).

===Verbs===
The infinitive forms (unconjugated) have the suffix ''-y'' (''much'a''= "kiss"; ''much'a-y'' = "to kiss"). These are the endings for the indicative:
{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
!
! Present
! Past
! Future
! [[Pluperfect]]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqa
| -ni
| -rqa-ni
| -saq
| -sqa-ni
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Qam
| -nki
| -rqa-nki
| -nki
| -sqa-nki
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Pay
| -n
| -rqa(-n)
| -nqa
| -sqa
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqanchik
| -nchik
| -rqa-nchik
| -su-nchik
| -sqa-nchik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqayku
| -yku
| -rqa-yku
| -saq-ku
| -sqa-yku
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Qamkuna
| -nki-chik
| -rqa-nki-chik
| -nki-chik
| -sqa-nki-chik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Paykuna
| -n-ku
| -rqa-(n)ku
| -nqa-ku
| -sqa-ku
|}

The suffixes shown in the table above usually indicate the [[grammatical subject|subject]]; the person of the [[grammatical object|object]] is also indicated by a suffix (''-a-'' for first person and ''-su-'' for second person), which precedes the suffixes in the table. In such cases, the plural suffixes from the table (''-chik'' and ''-ku'') can be used to express the number of the object rather than the subject.

Various suffixes are added to the stem to change the meaning. For example, ''-chi'' is a causative and ''-ku'' is a reflexive (example: ''wañuy'' = "to die"; ''wañuchiy'' = to kill ''wañuchikuy'' = "to commit suicide"); ''-naku'' is used for mutual action (example: ''marq'ay''= "to hug"; ''marq'anakuy''= "to hug each other"), and ''-chka'' is a progressive, used for an ongoing action (e.g., ''mikhuy'' = "to eat"; ''mikhuchkay'' = "to be eating").

===Grammatical particles===
[[Grammatical particle|Particles]] are indeclinable: they do not accept suffixes. They are relatively rare, but the most common are ''arí'' ("yes") and ''mana'' ("no"), although ''mana'' can take some suffixes, such as ''-n''/''-m'' (''manan''/''manam''), ''-raq'' (''manaraq'', not yet) and ''-chu'' (''manachu?'', or not?), to intensify the meaning. Also used are ''yaw'' ("hey", "hi"), and certain loan words from Spanish, such as ''piru'' (from Spanish ''pero'' "but") and ''sinuqa'' (from ''sino'' "rather").

===Evidentiality===
The Quechua languages have three different morphemes that mark [[evidentiality]]. Evidentiality refers to a morpheme whose primary purpose is to indicate the source of information.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 3.</ref> In the Quechua languages, evidentiality is a three-term system: there are three evidential morphemes that mark varying levels of source information. The markers can apply to the first, second, and third persons.<ref name="Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377">Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377.</ref> The chart below depicts an example of these morphemes from the Wanka Quechua language:<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 42.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Evidential morphemes ||''-m(i)'' || ''-chr(a)'' || ''-sh(i)''
|-
| Meaning || Direct evidence || Inferred; conjecture || Reported; hearsay
|}

The parentheses around the vowels indicate that the vowel can be dropped in when following an open vowel. For the sake of cohesiveness, the above forms are used to discuss the evidential morphemes. However, it should be noted that there are dialectal variations to the forms. The variations will be presented in the following descriptions.

The following sentences provide examples of the three evidentials and further discuss the meaning behind each of them.

'''<big>''-m(i)'' : Direct evidence and commitment</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 60.</ref>'''

Regional variations: In the Cuzco dialect, the direct evidential presents itself as ''–mi'' and ''–n''.

The evidential ''–mi'' indicates that the speaker has a “strong personal conviction the veracity of the circumstance expressed.” <ref>Floyd 1999, p. 57.</ref> It has the basis of direct personal experience.

Wanka Quechua <ref>Floyd 1999, p. 61.</ref>
{|
|-
|''ñawi-i-wan-'''mi''''' ||''lika-la-a''
|-
| eye-1P-with-DIR || see-PST-1
|}
I saw them with my own eyes.

'''<big>''-chr(a)'' : Inference and attenuation</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 95.</ref>'''

In Quechua languages, not specified by the source, the inference morpheme appears as ''–ch(i), -ch(a), -chr(a)''.

The ''–chr(a)'' evidential indicates that the utterance is an inference or form of conjecture. That inference relays the speaker’s non-commitment to the truth-value of the statement. It also appears in cases such as acquiescence, irony, interrogative constructions, and first person inferences. These uses constitute nonprototypical use and will be later discussed in the ''changes in meaning and other uses'' section.

Wanka Quechua<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 103.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''kuti-mu-n'a-qa-'''chr''''' || ''ni-ya-ami''
|-
| return-AFAR-3FUT-now-CONJ || say-IMPV-1-DIR
|}
I think they will probably come back.

'''<big>''-sh(i)'' : Hearsay</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 123.</ref>'''

Regional variations: It can appear as ''–sh(i)'' or ''–s(i)'' depending on the dialect.

With the use of this morpheme, the speaker "serves as a conduit through which information from another source passes." The information being related is hearsay or revelatory in nature. It also works to express the uncertainty of the speaker regarding the situation. However, it also appears in other constructions that are discussed in the ''changes in meaning'' section.

Wanka Quechua<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 127.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''shanti-'''sh''''' || ''prista-ka-mu-la''
|-
| Shanti-REP || borrow-REF-AFAR-PST
|}
(I was told) Shani borrowed it.

Hintz discusses an interesting case of evidential behavior found in Sihaus Quechua. The author postulates that instead of three single evidential markers, that Quechua language contains three pairs of evidential markers.<ref>Hintz 1999, p. 1.</ref>

'''<big>Affix or clitic</big>'''

It may have been noted the evidential morphemes have been referred to as markers or morphemes. The literature seems to differ on whether or not the evidential morphemes are acting as affixes or clitics, in come cases, such as Wanka Quechua, enclitics. Lefebvre and Muysken (1998) discuss this issue in terms of case but remark the line between affix and clitic is not clear.<ref>Lefebvre & Muysken 1998, p. 89.</ref> Both terms are used interchangeably throughout these sections.

'''<big>Position in the sentence</big>'''

The evidentials in the Quechua languages are "second position enclitics" that attach to the first constituent in the sentence as shown in the examples below.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 68-69.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''huk-'''si''''' || ''ka-sqa'' || ''huk'' || ''machucha-piwan'' || ''payacha''
|-
| once-REP || be-SD || one || old.man-WITH || woman
|}
Once, there were an old man and an old woman.

They can also occur on a focused constituent.
{|
|-
| ''Pidru'' || ''kunana-'''mi''''' || ''wasi-ta'' || ''tuwa-sha-n''
|-
| Pedro || now-DIR.EV || house-ACC || build-PROG-3SG
|}
It is now that Pedro is building the house.

Sometimes, the affix is described as attaching to the focus, especially when in reference to Tarma Quechua,<ref>Weber 1986, p. 145.</ref> but that does not hold true for all varieties of Quechua. In Huanuco Quechua. The evidentials follow any number of topics, marked by the topic marker ''–qa'', and the element with the evidential must precede the main verb or be the main verb.

However, there are exceptions to that rule as well. The more topics there are in a sentence, the more likely to deviate from the usual form.
{|
|-
| ''Chawrana-qa'' || ''puntataruu-qu'' || ''trayaruptin-qa'' || ''wamrata-qa'' || ''mayna-'''shi''''' || ''Diosninchi-qa'' || ''heqarkaykachisha'' || ''syelutana-shi''
|-
| so:already-TOP || at:the:peak-TOP || arriving-TOP || child-TOP || already-IND || our:God-TOP || had:taken:her:up || to:heaven:already-IND
|}
When she (the witch) reached the peak, God had already taken the child up into heaven.

'''<big>Changes in meaning and other uses</big>'''

Evidentials can be used to relay different meanings depending on the context and perform other functions. The following examples are restricted to Wanka Quechua.

'''''The direct evidential, -mi'''''

The direct evidential appears in wh-questions and yes/no questions. By considering the direct evidential in terms of prototypical semantics, it seems somewhat counterintuitive to have a direct evidential, basically an evidential that confirms the speaker’s certainty about a topic, in a question. However, if one focuses less on the structure and more on the situation, some sense can be made. The speaker is asking the addressee for information so the speaker assumes the speaker knows the answer. That assumption is whey the direct evidential comes into play. The speaker holds a certain amount of certainty that the addressee will know the answer. The speaker interprets the addressee as being in "direct relation" to the proposed content; the situation is the same as when, in regular sentences, the speaker assumes direct relation to the proposed information.<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 87.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''imay-'''mi''''' || ''wankayuu-pu'' || ''kuti-mu-la''
|-
| when-DIR || Huancayo-ABL || return-AFAR-PAST
|}
When did he come back from Huancayo?

(Floyd 199, p. 85)

The direct evidential affix is also seen in yes/no questions, similar to the situation with wh-questions. Floyd describes yes/no questions as being "characterized as instructions to the addressee to assert one of the propositions of a disjunction."<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 89.</ref> Once again, the burden of direct evidence is being placed on the addressee, not on the speaker. The question marker in Wanka Quechua, ''-chun'', is derived from the negative –chu marker and the direct evidential (realized as –n in some dialects).
{|
|-
| ''tarma-kta'' || ''li-n-'''chun'''''
|-
| Tarma-ACC || go-3-YN
|}
Is he going to Tarma?

(Floyd 1999, p. 89)

'''''The inferential evidential, -chr(a)'''''

While ''–chr(a)'' is usually used in an inferential context, it has some non-prototypical uses.

''Mild Exhortation''

In these constructions the evidential works to reaffirm and encourage the addressee’s actions or thoughts.
{|
|-
| ''mas'' || ''kalu-kuna-kta'' || ''li-la-a'' || ''ni-nki-'''chra'''-ri''
|-
| more || far-PL-ACC || go-PST-1 || say-2-CONJ-EMPH
|}
Yes, tell them, "I've gone farther."

(Floyd 1999, p. 107)

This example comes from a conversation between husband and wife,discussing the reactions of their family and friends after they have been gone for a while. The husband says he plans to stretch the truth and tell them about distant places to which he has gone, and his wife (in the example above) echoes and encourages his thoughts.

''Acquiescence''

With these, the evidential is used to highlight the speaker’s assessment of inevitability of an event and acceptance of it. There is a sense of resistance, diminished enthusiasm, and disinclination in these constructions.
{|
|-
| ''paaga-lla-shrayki-'''chra'''-a''
|-
| pay-POL-1›2FUT-CONJ-EMPH
|}
I suppose I'll pay you then.

(Floyd 1999, p. 109)

This example comes from a discourse where a woman demands compensation from the man (the speaker in the example) whose pigs ruined her potatoes. He denies the pigs as being his but finally realizes he may be responsible and produces the above example.

''Interrogative''

Somewhat similar to the ''–mi'' evidential, the inferential evidential can be found in content questions. However, the salient difference between the uses of the evidentials in questions is that in the ''–m(i)'' marked questions, an answer is expected. That is not the case with ''–chr(a)'' marked questions.
{|
|-
| ''ima-lla-kta-'''chr''''' || ''u-you-shrun'' || ''llapa'' || ''ayllu-kuna-kta-si'' || ''chra-alu-l''
|-
| what-LIM-ACC-CONJ || give-ASP-12FUT || all || family-PL-ACC-EVEN || arrive-ASP-SS
|}
I wonder what we will give our families when we arrive.

(Floyd 1999, p. 111)

''Irony''

Irony in language can be a somewhat complicated topic in how it functions differently in languages,and by its semantic nature, it is already somewhat vague. For these purposes, it is suffice to say that when irony takes place in Wanka Quechua, the ''–chr(a)'' marker is used.

{|
|-
| ''chay-nuu-pa-'''chr''''' || ''yachra-nki''
|-
| that-SIM-GEN-CONJ || know-2
|}
(I suppose) That's how you learn [that is the way in which you will learn].

(Floyd 199, p. 115)

This example comes from discourse between a father and daughter about her refusal to attend school. It can be interpreted as a genuine statement (perhaps one can learn by resisting school) or as an ironic statement (that is an absurd idea).

'''''Hearsay evidential, -sh(i)'''''

Aside from being used to express hearsay and revelation, this affix also has other uses.

''Folktales, myths, and legends''

Because folktales, myths, and legends are, in essence, reported speech, it follows that the hearsay marker would be used with them. Many of these types of stories are passed down through generations, furthering this aspect of reported speech. A difference between simple hearsay and folktales can be seen in the frequency of the ''–sh(i)'' marker. In normal conversation using reported speech, the marker is used less, to avoid redundancy.

''Riddles''

Riddles are somewhat similar to myths and folktales in that their nature is to be passed by word of mouth.
{|
|-
| ''ima-lla-'''shi''''' || ''ayka-lla-'''sh''''' || ''juk'' || ''machray-chru'' || ''puñu-ya-n'' || ''puka'' || ''waaka''
|-
| what-LIM-REP || how^much-LIM-REP || one || cave-LOC || sleep-IMPF-3 || red || cow
|}

(Floyd 1999, p. 142)

'''<big>Omission and overuse of evidential affixes</big>'''

In certain grammatical structures, the evidential marker does not appear at all. In all Quechuan languages the evidential will not appear in a dependent clause. Sadly, no example was given to depict this omission.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 72.</ref>
Omissions occur in Quechua. The sentence is understood to have the same evidentiality as the other sentences in the context. Quechuan speakers vary as to how much they omit evidentials, but they occur only in connected speech.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 79.</ref>

An interesting contrast to omission of evidentials is overuse of evidentials. If a speaker uses evidentials too much with no reason, competence is brought into question. For example, the overuse of –m(i) could lead others to believe that the speaker is not a native speaker or, in some extreme cases, that one is mentally ill.<ref name="Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377"/>

'''<big>Cultural aspect</big>'''

By using evidentials, the Quechua culture has certain assumptions about the information being relayed. Those who do not abide by the cultural customs should not be trusted. A passage from Weber (1986) summarizes them nicely below:
# (Only) one’s experience is reliable.
# Avoid unnecessary risk by assuming responsibility for information of which one is not absolutely certain.
# Do not be gullible. There are many folktales in which the villain is foiled by his gullibility.
#Assume responsibility only if it is safe to do so. Successful assumption of responsibility builds stature in the community.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 358.</ref>

Evidentials also show that being precise and stating the source of one’s information is extremely important in the language and the culture. Failure to use them correctly can lead to diminished standing in the community. Speakers are aware of the evidentials and even use proverbs to teach children the importance of being precise and truthful. Precision and information source are of the utmost importance. They are a powerful and resourceful method of human communication.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 380.</ref>

==Literature==
Although the body of literature in Quechua is not as sizable as its historical and current prominence would suggest, it is nevertheless not negligible.

As in the case of the [[List of pre-Columbian cultures|pre-Columbian Mesoamerica]], there are a number of surviving Andean documents in the local language that were written down in Latin characters after the European conquest, but they express, to a great extent, the culture of pre-Conquest times. That type of Quechua literature is somewhat scantier, but nevertheless significant. It includes the so-called [[Huarochirí Manuscript]] (1598), describing the mythology and religion of the valley of [[Huarochirí Province|Huarochirí]] as well as Quechua poems quoted within the Spanish-language texts of some chronicles dealing with the pre-Conquest period. There are a number of anonymous or signed Quechua dramas dating from the post-conquest period (starting from the 17th century), some of which deal with the Inca era, while most are on religious topics and of European inspiration. The most famous dramas is ''[[Ollantay]]'' and the plays describing the death of [[Atahualpa]]. For example, [[Juan de Espinosa Medrano]] wrote several dramas in the language. Poems in Quechua were also composed during the colonial period.<ref name=adelaar254/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert_beer/history.htm |title=History |publisher=Homepage.ntlworld.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-09}}</ref>

Dramas and poems continued to be written in the 19th and especially in 20th centuries as well; in addition, in the 20th century and more recently, more prose has been published. While some of that literature consists of original compositions (poems and dramas), the bulk of 20th century Quechua literature consists of traditional folk stories and oral narratives.<ref name=adelaar254>Adelaar 2004, pp. 254–256.</ref> [[Johnny Payne]] has translated two sets of Quechua oral short stories, one into Spanish and the other into English.

Many Andean musicians write and sing in their native languages, including Quechua and Aymara. Notable musical groups are [[Los Kjarkas]], [[Kala Marka]], [[J'acha Mallku]], [[Savia Andina]], Wayna Picchu, Wara and many others.

==In popular culture==
* The 1961 Peruvian film ''[[Kukuli]]'' was the first film to be spoken in the Quechua language.<ref name="latinosinlondon">{{cite web |url=http://latinosinlondon.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/kukuli/ |title=Film Kukuli (Cuzco-Peru) |accessdate=2012-11-10 |work=Latinos in London}}</ref>
* In ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]]'' the character [[Greedo]]'s native language, Rodian, is actually a simplified version of Quechua, which is shown in conversation with [[Han Solo]].
* The '90s TV series ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'' included numerous references to the shamanism and spirituality of the Peruvian Chopec as well as including many Quechua words in several episodes.
* The sport retailer [[Decathlon Group]] brands their mountain equipment range as ''[[Quechua (brand)|Quechua]]''.
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'', Indy has a dialogue in Quechua with Peruvians. He explains he learned the language in Mexico from a couple of the "guys" he met while briefly riding with [[Pancho Villa]]. This adventure was featured in the pilot episode of ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]''. The guys were most likely Peruvian mercenaries recruited to the [[División del Norte]].
* In ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' books ''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]]'' and its sequel ''[[Prisoners of the Sun]]'', there are Quechua characters who are in league with the Inca and facilitate the abduction and incarceration of [[Professor Calculus]] at the Temple of the Sun for committing sacrilege by wearing the funerary bangle of [[List of The Adventures of Tintin characters#Rascar Capac|Rascar Capac]].
* In the [[collectible card game]] ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', monsters in the card series [[List of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards#Earthbound Immortals|Earthbound Immortals]] have their name originated from Quechua. In [[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's|the animated series]], Earthbound Immortals are described as powerful beasts sealed in [[Nazca Lines]], which each one of them represents.
* On the TV cartoon series ''[[The Emperor's New School]]'', the main and other characters have Quechua names as ''Kuzco'' ([[Cusco]], that means "navel of the world"), ''Pacha'' (ground) and ''Chicha'' ([[chicha]] is a kind of fermented maize "beer").
* In [[Da Vinci's Demons]], season 2 they meet a group of "Indians" who speak this language
* In Calle 13's song, Latin America (Grammy winner 2011 - the beginning there is a DJ introducing Calle 13 and the singer responds back in Quechuan, "this one is for you all" before starting)
*Ruanja, a language spoken in Mary Doria Russel's ''[[The Sparrow (novel)|The Sparrow]]'' is based on Quechua.

==See also==
*[[Andes]]
*[[Aymara language]]
*[[List of English words of Quechua origin|List of English words of Quechuan origin]]
*[[Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift]]
*[[South Bolivian Quechua]]
*[[Oto-Manguean languages]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* Rolph, Karen Sue. ''Ecologically Meaningful Toponyms: Linking a lexical domain to production ecology in the Peruvian Andes''. Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, 2007.
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiwaUY6KsY8C&pg=PA179|title=The Languages of the Andes|isbn=9781139451123|author1=Adelaar|first1=Willem F. H|authorlink=Willem Adelaar|date=2004-06-10}}
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem]]. ''The Languages of the Andes''. With the collaboration of P.C. Muysken. Cambridge language survey. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-36831-5
* Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. ''Lingüística Quechua'', Centro de Estudios Rurales Andinos 'Bartolomé de las Casas', 2nd ed. 2003
*Cole, Peter. "Imbabura Quechua", North-Holland (Lingua Descriptive Studies 5), Amsterdam 1982.
* Cusihuamán, Antonio, ''Diccionario Quechua Cuzco-Collao'', Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de Las Casas", 2001, ISBN 9972-691-36-5
* Cusihuamán, Antonio, ''Gramática Quechua Cuzco-Collao'', Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de Las Casas", 2001, ISBN 9972-691-37-3
* Mannheim, Bruce, ''The Language of the Inka since the European Invasion'', University of Texas Press, 1991, ISBN 0-292-74663-6
* Rodríguez Champi, Albino. (2006). Quechua de Cusco. ''Ilustraciones fonéticas de lenguas amerindias'', ed. Stephen A. Marlett. Lima: SIL International y Universidad Ricardo Palma. [http://lengamer.org/publicaciones/trabajos/quechua_cusco_afi.pdf Lengamer.org]
*Aikhenvald, Alexandra. Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
*Floyd, Rick. The Structure of Evidential Categories in Wanka Quechua. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1999. Print.
*Hintz, Diane. “The evidential system in Sihuas Quechua: personal vs. shared knowledge” The Nature of Evidentiality Conference, The Netherlands, 14–16 June 2012. SIL International. Internet. 13 April 2014.
*Lefebvre, Claire, and Pieter Muysken. Mixed Categories: Nominalizations in Quechua. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic, 1988. Print.
*Weber, David. "Information Perspective, Profile, and Patterns in Quechua." Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology. Ed. Wallace L. Chafe and Johanna Nichols. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Pub, 1986. 137-55. Print.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem F. H.]] [http://es.scribd.com/doc/91245441/Towards-a-reconstruction-of-the-history-of-Quechuan%E2%80%93Aymaran-interaction Modeling convergence: Towards a reconstruction of the history of Quechuan–Aymaran interaction] About the origin of Quechua, and its relation with Aymara, 2011.
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem F. H.]] ''Tarma Quechua: Grammar, Texts, Dictionary''. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1977.
* Bills, Garland D., Bernardo Vallejo C., and Rudolph C. Troike. ''An Introduction to Spoken Bolivian Quechua''. Special publication of the Institute of Latin American Studies, the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. Austin: Published for the Institute of Latin American Studies by the University of Texas Press, 1969. ISBN 0-292-70019-9
* Coronel-Molina, Serafín M.'' Quechua Phrasebook''. 2002 Lonely Planet ISBN 1-86450-381-5
* Curl, John, ''Ancient American Poets''. Tempe AZ: Bilingual Press, 2005.ISBN 1-931010-21-8 [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html Red-coral.net]
* Gifford, Douglas. ''Time Metaphors in Aymara and Quechua''. St. Andrews: [[University of St. Andrews]], 1986.
* {{Cite journal
|last=Heggarty and David Beresford-Jones
|first=Paul
|year=2009
|title=Not the Incas? Weaving Archaeology and Language into a Single New Prehistory
|place=London
|publisher=British Academy Review 12: 11-15
|postscript={{inconsistent citations}}}}
* Harrison, Regina. ''Signs, Songs, and Memory in the Andes: Translating Quechua Language and Culture''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989. ISBN 0-292-77627-6
* Jake, Janice L. ''Grammatical Relations in Imbabura Quechua''. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Garland Pub, 1985. ISBN 0-8240-5475-X
* King, Kendall A. ''Language Revitalization Processes and Prospects: Quichua in the Ecuadorian Andes''. Bilingual education and bilingualism, 24. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters LTD, 2001. ISBN 1-85359-495-4
* King, Kendall A., and Nancy H. Hornberger. ''Quechua Sociolinguistics''. Berlin: [[Mouton de Gruyter]], 2004.
* Lara, Jesús, Maria A. Proser, and James Scully. ''Quechua Peoples Poetry''. Willimantic, Conn: Curbstone Press, 1976. ISBN 0-915306-09-3
* Lefebvre, Claire, and [[Pieter Muysken]]. ''Mixed Categories: Nominalizations in Quechua''. Studies in natural language and linguistic theory, [v. 11]. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988. ISBN 1-55608-050-6
* Lefebvre, Claire, and Pieter Muysken. ''Relative Clauses in Cuzco Quechua: Interactions between Core and Periphery''. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1982.
* Muysken, Pieter. ''Syntactic Developments in the Verb Phrase of Ecuadorian Quechua''. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1977. ISBN 90-316-0151-9
* Nuckolls, Janis B. ''Sounds Like Life: Sound-Symbolic Grammar, Performance, and Cognition in Pastaza Quechua''. Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics, 2. New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1996. ISBN
* Parker, Gary John. ''Ayacucho Quechua Grammar and Dictionary''. Janua linguarum. Series practica, 82. The Hague: Mouton, 1969.
* Plaza Martínez, Pedro. Quechua. In: Mily Crevels and Pieter Muysken (eds.) ''Lenguas de Bolivia'', vol. I, 215-284. La Paz: Plural editores, 2009. ISBN 978-99954-1-236-4. (in Spanish)
* Sánchez, Liliana. Quechua-Spanish Bilingualism: Interference and Convergence in Functional Categories. Language acquisition & language disorders, v. 35. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub, 2003. ISBN 1-58811-471-6
* Weber, David. ''A Grammar of Huallaga (Huánuco) Quechua''. University of California publications in linguistics, v. 112. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1989. ISBN 0-520-09732-7
* Quechua bibliographies online at: [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Main/i_BIBL.HTM quechua.org.uk]
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|Quechua|code=qu}}
{{Wikibooks|Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qug|language=Chimborazo Highland Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvc|language=Cajamarca Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvw|language=Huanca Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qxn|language=Ancash Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvm|language=Margos-Yarowilca-Lauricocha Quechua}}
{{wikivoyage|Quechua phrasebook}}
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/93534871/Spoken-Cusco-Quechua-Language-Course Spoken Cusco Quechua, language course] Donald F. Solá
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/75108613/GERALD-TAYLOR-Introduccion-a-La-Lengua-General-Quechua Course of Classical Quechua as used in the Manuscript of Huarochiri] Gerald Taylor, French Institute of Andean Studies.
* [http://www.webcitation.org/6DCo1hl7c Qayna Kunan Paqarin: Una introducción al quechua chanca. 2011] Electronic book of the complete course of the grammar of quechua, R. Zariquiey, G. Córdova.
* [http://facultad.pucp.edu.pe/ciencias-sociales/curso/quechua/home.htm Breve gramática de Quechua] RunasimiNet: aprendiendo quechua en línea. Learn Quechua with this online course from the Catholic University PUCP Lima.
* [http://www.runasimi.de/ RUNASIMI] About Quechua and written in the Quechua language. It offers a quantity of texts in Quechua in diverse quechua dialects and languages. In the following languages: Quechua, Spanish, English, Italian, French and German.
*[http://webs.satlink.com/usuarios/r/rory/main.htm El Quechua de Santiago del Estero], extensive site covering the grammar of Argentinian Quechua (in Spanish)
* [http://www.quechua.org.uk Quechua Language and Linguistics] an extensive site.
** [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds/Home/HomeQuechuaAbout.htm The Origins and Diversity of Quechua]
** [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds The Sounds of the Andean Languages] listen online to pronunciations of Quechua words, see photos of speakers and their home regions, learn about the origins and varieties of Quechua.
* [http://www.yungayperu.com.pe/Quechua%20Yungay.htm Toponimos del Quechua de Yungay, Peru]
* [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjjd2I3mMpo YouTube]
* [http://www.andes.org/q_grammar.html Quechua lessons (www.andes.org)] in Spanish and English
* [http://en.proyectoperucentre.org/quechua/index.html Quechua course] Spanish to Quechua
* [http://quechuas.net/Q/ Detailed map of the varieties of Quechua according to SIL (fedepi.org)]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert_beer/Vocabulario%20comparativo%20Quechua%20cuzqueno%20Quechua%20boliviano%20-%2022%20Apr%2006.PDF Cuzco and Bolivian Quechua being compared, with English translations]
* [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:GMNCnkViAQUJ:www.ru.nl/publish/pages/632031/modelling_the_quechua.pdf+Modelling+the+Quechua-Aymara+relationship:+Structural+features&hl=en&gl=nl&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESilRItDkmG3mYcXwqapxfcZDNtDXWmFjJ20BrM5mKgTpGNl4GCEc3wBG1SgVG4Qkfk1UziRSqssEvauXbPMzmbYvxEyroERxvZSMRRuHeoalkepvRZbizCauGDr9XCvDVGnh_hA&sig=AHIEtbSHxZngt0IQeYnpruhmhX9SfSugyA Modelling the Quechua-Aymara relationship]. Pieter Muysken
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV4Iz1wt1Jo Los Quechuas en el Perú] Documentary about the Peruvian quechua language, in Quechua.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-q8-0jhEE Zorros de arriba, documental] Quechua - Education in the Runasimi Language of Perú
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfivz8-UuGA Piruw mama llaqtap siminkunamanta] Las lenguas del Perú, documental en el [[Quechua cuzqueño]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wD3QN5rps Saqrakuna, televisión juvenil quechua] Tarpurisunchis
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzK89qz337k El zorro y el condor] Video de un cuento andino, CEC Guaman Poma de Ayala, Cusco.

;'''Dictionaries'''
*[http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/documents/quechua/QuechuaDicc.pdf Diccionario Quechua: Español–Runasimi–English] Dictionary of [[Ayacucho Quechua]] from Clodoaldo Soto Ruiz. It explains Quechua words in Quechua itself and in Spanish and English.
* [http://www.illa-a.org/index.html/?q=cd 10 Quechua dictionaries online]
* [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Quechua_Swadesh_list Quechua Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

;Historical
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8994 "A Guiding Light to the Indians"] is a document from the mid-1700s which documents the Quechua language.

{{External links|date=March 2011}}
{{Quechuan languages}}
{{navboxes|
|list=
{{Languages of Bolivia}}
{{Languages of Peru}}
{{Languages of Chile}}
{{Language families}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quechua Language}}
[[Category:Quechuan languages| ]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Subject–object–verb languages]]

Quechuan languages

2016-08-11T21:57:43Z

Huhsunqu: /* Cognates */

{{Infobox language
|name = Quechua
|altname = Kechua
|nativename = ''Qhichwa simi'' ''Runa simi''
|region = Central [[Andes]]
|states = [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Chile]], and [[Argentina]]
|ethnicity = [[Quechua people|Quechua]]
|speakers = 8.9 million
|date = 2007
|ref = ne2007
|familycolor = American
|fam1 = Quechuan languages
|dia1=''Quechua I''     [[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]]     [[Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Quechua|Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga]]     [[Yaru Quechua|Yaru]]     [[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]]     [[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]
|dia2=''Quechua II''     [[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]]     Northern       [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] (Ecuador)       [[Lowland Peruvian Quechua|Lowland Peruvian]]     [[Southern Quechua|Southern]]
|script = [[Latin script|Latin]]
|nation = [[Peru]] [[Bolivia]] [[Ecuador]]
|iso1 = qu
|iso2 = que, qwe
|iso3 = que
|glotto = quec1387
|glottorefname= Quechuan
|map = Quechua (grupos).svg
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Quechuan''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|tʃ|w|ə|n}}, also known as '''runa simi''' ("people's language"), is an [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous language family]] spoken primarily in the [[Andes]] of South America. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely-spoken language family of [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]], with a total of probably some 8-10 million speakers.<ref name=adelaar167>Adelaar 2004, pp. 167–168, 255.</ref> It is perhaps most widely known for being the main language of the [[Inca Empire]].

==History==
Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the [[Inca Empire]]. The Inca were just one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke forms of Quechua. In the [[Cusco]] region, Quechua was influenced by local languages such as [[Aymara language|Aymara]]. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct. In similar way, a diverse group of dialects developed in different areas related to existing local languages when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language.

After the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]] in the 16th century, Quechua continued to be used widely as the "general language" and main means of communication between the Spaniards and the indigenous population. The [[Catholic Church]] adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization. Given use by the missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas.

However, administrative and religious use of Quechua was terminated in the late 18th century, when it was banned from public use in Peru in response to the [[Túpac Amaru II]] rebellion.<ref name=adelaar167/> The Crown banned even "loyal" pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vega's ''Comentarios Reales.'' <ref>Aybar cited by Hart, Stephen M. ''A Companion to Latin American Literature'', p. 6.</ref>

Despite a brief revival of the language immediately after independence in the 19th century, the prestige of Quechua had decreased sharply. Its use gradually was restricted to more isolated and conservative rural areas.<ref name=adelaar167/>

The oldest written records of the language are by missionary [[Domingo de Santo Tomás]], who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú'' (Grammar or Art of the General Language of the Indians of the Royalty of Peru) in 1560.<ref>{{Cite book
|last=Torero
|first=Alfredo
|authorlink=Alfredo Torero
| chapter = La familia lingûística quechua
|year=1983
|title=América Latina en sus lenguas indígenas
| place = Caracas
|publisher=Monte Ávila
|isbn=92-3-301926-8
|postscript= }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite book
|last=Torero
|first=Alfredo
|authorlink=Alfredo Torero
|year=1974
|title=El quechua y la historia social andina
| place = Lima
|publisher=Universidad Ricardo Palma, Dirección Universitaria de Investigación
|isbn=978-603-45-0210-9
|postscript= }}</ref>

==Current status==
[[File:El quechua como lengua materna (censo nacional 2007).png|thumb|350px|Map of Peru showing the distribution of individual Quechua languages by district.]]
Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages in 1975.<ref name=NYT1975>{{cite news |title=Peru officially adopting Indian tongue |first=Jonathan Gay |last=Kandell |date=May 22, 1975 |work=New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1975/05/23/issue.html}}</ref> Ecuador conferred official status on the language in its 2006 constitution and in 2009 Bolivia adopted a new constitution that recognized a number of indigenous languages as official languages of the country.<ref name=Andes>{{cite book |title=The Andes: A Geographical Portrait|first=Axel|last=Borsdorf |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgEyBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=ecuador+constitution+quechua&source=bl&ots=8GozrigzHx&sig=JpuKLTOIIyBexrmjlEPPMid49vY&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj8o7SJtKHMAhWEvoMKHTC1BHYQ6AEIWjAN#v=onepage&q=ecuador%20constitution%20quechua&f=false}}</ref>

Currently, the major obstacle to the diffusion of the usage and teaching of Quechua is the lack of written material in the Quechua language like books, newspapers, software, and magazines. Thus, Quechua, along with Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially a [[spoken language]].

In recent years, Quechua has been introduced in [[intercultural bilingual education]] (IBE) in [[Bolivia]], [[Ecuador]] and [[Peru]], which is, however, reaching only a part of the Quechua-speaking population. There is an ongoing process of Quechua-speaking populations shifting to Spanish for the purposes of social advancement.<ref>Adelaar 2004, pp. 258–259: "The Quechua speakers' wish for social mobility for their children is often heard as an argument for not transmitting the language to the next generation.... As observed quite adequately by [[Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino|Cerrón Palomino]], "Quechua (and [[Aymaran languages|Aymara]]) speakers seem to have taken the project of assimilation begun by the dominating classes and made it their own."</ref>

[[Radio Nacional del Perú]] has news and agrarian programs for periods in the mornings in Quechua.

Quechua and Spanish are now heavily intermixed, with many hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Quechua. Conversely, Quechua phrases and words are commonly used by Spanish speakers. In southern rural Bolivia, for instance, many Quechua words such as ''wawa'' (infant), ''misi'' (cat), ''waska'' (strap or thrashing) are as commonly used as their Spanish counterparts, even in entirely Spanish-speaking areas. Quechua has also had a profound impact on other native languages of the Americas such as [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

===Number of speakers===
The number of speakers given varies widely according to the sources. The total in ''Ethnologue'' 16 is 10 million, mostly based on figures published 1987–2002, but with a few dating from the 1960s. The figure for Imbabura Quechua in ''Ethnologue'', for example, is 300,000, an estimate from 1977. The missionary organization FEDEPI, on the other hand, estimated one million Imbabura speakers (published 2006). Census figures are also problematic, due to under-reporting. The 2001 Ecuador census reports only 500,000 Quechua speakers, where most sources estimate over 2 million. The censuses of Peru (2007) and Bolivia (2001) are thought to be more reliable.

*Argentina: 900,000 (1971)
*Bolivia: 2,100,000 (2001 census); 2,800,000 South Bolivian (1987)
*Chile: few if any
*Colombia: 25,000 (2000–2007)
*Ecuador: 2,300,000 (Adelaar 1991)
*Peru: 3,260,000 (2007 census); 3,500,000 to 4,400,000 (Adelaar 2000)

Additionally, there is an unknown number of speakers in emigrant communities, including [[Queens]], New York and [[Paterson, New Jersey]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Claudio Torrens
| title = Some NY immigrants cite lack of Spanish as barrier
| work = UTSanDiego.com
| accessdate = 2013-02-10
| date = 2011-05-28
| url = http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/may/28/some-ny-immigrants-cite-lack-of-spanish-as-barrier/
}}</ref>

==Classification==
[[File:Quechua (subgrupos).svg|thumb|The four branches of Quechua: I (Central), II-A (North Peruvian), II-B (Northern), II-C (Southern).]]

There are significant differences between the varieties of Quechua spoken in the central Peruvian highlands and the peripheral varieties of Ecuador as well as southern Peru and Bolivia. They can be labeled Quechua I (or Quechua B, central) and Quechua II (or Quechua A, peripheral). Within the two groups, there are few sharp boundaries, making them [[dialect continuum|dialect continua]]. However, there is a secondary division in Quechua II between the grammatically simplified northern varieties of Ecuador, Quechua II-B, known there as [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]], and the generally more conservative varieties of the southern highlands, Quechua II-C, which include the old Inca capital of [[Cusco]]. The closeness is at least in part because of the influence of [[Cusco Quechua]] on the Ecuadorean varieties in the Inca Empire, as northern nobles were required to educate their children in Cusco, which maintained Cusco as the [[prestige dialect]] in the north.

Speakers from different points within any of the three regions can generally understand one another reasonably well. There are nonetheless significant local-level differences across each. ([[Wanka Quechua]], in particular, has several very distinctive characteristics that make the variety distinctly difficult to understand, even for other Central Quechua speakers.) Speakers from ''different'' major regions, particularly Central or Southern Quechua, are not able to communicate effectively.

The lack of [[mutual intelligibility]] is the basic criterion that defines Quechua not as a single language but a language family. The complex and progressive nature of how speech varies across the dialect continua makes it nearly impossible to differentiate discrete varieties; ''Ethnologue'' lists 44 that it judged to require separate literature.<ref name=Ethnologue>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=que Ethnologue report for Quechua (macrolanguage) (SIL)]</ref>

As a reference point, the overall degree of diversity across the family is a little less than that of the [[Romance languages|Romance]] or [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] families and more of the order of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] or [[Arabic]]. The greatest diversity is within Central Quechua, {{sc|aka}} Quechua I, which is believed to lie close to the homeland of the ancestral Proto-Quechua language.

===Family tree===
[[Alfredo Torero]] devised the traditional classification, the three divisions above plus a fourth, northern Peruvian, branch. The latter cause complications in the classification, however, as they ([[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]], [[Pacaraos Quechua|Pacaraos]], and [[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]) have features of both Quechua I and Quechua II and so are difficult to assign to either. Torero's classification is thus:

* [[Quechua I]] or ''Quechua B'' or ''Central Quechua'' or ''Waywash'', spoken in Peru's central highlands and coast.
** The most widely spoken varieties are Huaylas, Huaylla Wanca, and Conchucos.
* [[Quechua II]] or ''Quechua A'' or ''Peripheral Quechua'' or ''Wanp'una'', divided into
** Yungay (Yunkay) Quechua or ''Quechua II A'', spoken in the northern mountains of Peru; the most widely spoken dialect is Cajamarca.
** [[Northern Quechua]] or ''Quechua II B'', spoken in Ecuador ([[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]), northern Peru, and Colombia ([[Inga Kichwa]])
*** The most widely spoken varieties are Chimborazo Highland Quichua and Imbabura Highland Quichua.
** [[Southern Quechua]] or ''Quechua II C'', spoken in Bolivia, southern Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
*** The most widely spoken varieties are South Bolivian, Cusco, Ayacucho, and Puno (Collao).


[[Willem Adelaar]] adheres to the Quechua I / Quechua II (central/peripheral) bifurcation, but partially following later modifications by Torero, reassigns part of Quechua II-A to Quechua I:<ref>Adelaar 2004.{{page needed|date=September 2013}}</ref>

{{Clade
| label1=Proto-Quechua
| 1={{Clade
| label1=Quechua I
| 1={{Clade
| label1=Central
| 1={{Clade
| 1='''[[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]]''' (Huaylas–Conchucos)
| 2='''[[Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Quechua|Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga]]'''
| 3='''[[Yaru Quechua|Yaru]]'''
| 4='''[[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]]''' (Jauja–Huanca)
| 5='''[[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]''' (Huangáscar–Topará)
}}
| 2=[[Pacaraos Quechua|Pacaraos]]
}}
| label2= Quechua II 
| 2={{Clade
| label1=''' [[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]] ''' (Quechua II-A, reduced)
| 1={{Clade
| 1=[[Lambayeque Quechua|Lambayeque]] (Cañaris)
| 2=[[Cajamarca Quechua|Cajamarca]]
}}
| label2=(Quechua II-A split)
| 2=[[Lincha Quechua|Lincha]]
| label3=(Quechua II-A split)
| 3=Laraos
| 4={{Clade
| label1= Northern Quechua  (Quechua II-B)
| 1={{Clade
| 1='''[[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]''' ("Ecuadorian" or Highlands and Oriente)
| 2=[[Chachapoyas Quechua|Chachapoyas]] (Amazonas)
| 3=[[Lamas Quechua|Lamas]] (San Martín)
}}
| label2= '''[[Southern Quechua]]''' (Quechua II-C)
| 2={{Clade
| 1=[[Ayacucho Quechua|Ayacucho]]
| 2=[[Cusco Quechua|Cusco]]
| 3=[[Puno Quechua|Puno]] (Collao)
| 4=[[North Bolivian Quechua|Northern Bolivian]] (Apolo)
| 5=[[South Bolivian Quechua|Southern Bolivia]]
| 6=[[Santiagueño Quechua|Santiago del Estero]]}}
}} }}
}} }}

Landerman (1991) does not believe a truly genetic classification is possible and divides Quechua II so that the family has four geographical–typological branches: Northern, North Peruvian, Central, and Southern. He includes Chachapoyas and Lamas in North Peruvian Quechua so Ecuadorian is synonymous with Northern Quechua.<ref>Peter Landerman, 1991. ''Quechua dialects and their classification.'' PhD dissertation, UCLA</ref>

===Geographical distribution===
Quechua I (Central Quechua, ''Waywash'') is spoken in Peru's central highlands, from the [[Ancash Region]] to [[Huancayo]]. It is the most diverse branch of Quechua,<ref>Lyle Campbell, ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 189</ref> to the extent that its divisions are commonly considered different languages.

Quechua II (Peripheral Quechua, ''Wamp'una'' "Traveler")
*II-A: Yunkay Quechua (North Peruvian Quechua) is scattered in Peru's occidental highlands
*II-B: Northern Quechua (also known as ''Runashimi'' or, especially in Ecuador, [[Kichwa language|''Kichwa'']]) is mainly spoken in Colombia and Ecuador. It is also spoken in the Amazonian lowlands of Colombia, Ecuador, and in pockets in Peru
*II-C: [[Southern Quechua]], in the highlands further south, from [[Huancavelica]] through the [[Ayacucho]], [[Cusco]], and [[Puno]] regions of [[Peru]], across much of [[Bolivia]], and in pockets in north-western [[Argentina]]. It is the most influential branch, with the largest number of speakers and the most important cultural and literary legacy.

===Cognates===
This is a sampling of words in several Quechuan languages:{{Pronunciation needed}}

{| class="wikitable"
|
! [[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]] (I)
! [[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]] ([[Quechua I|I]])
! [[Cajamarca Quechua|Cajamarca]] ([[Quechua II-A|II-A]])
! [[Lamas Quechua|San Martin]] (II-B)
! [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] (II-B)
! [[Ayacucho Quechua|Ayacucho]] (II-C)
! [[Cusco Quechua|Cusco]] (II-C)
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'one'
| huk [uk~huk]
| suk, huk [suk], [huk]
| suq [soχ]
| suk [suk]
| shuk [ʃuk]
| huk [huk]
| huk [hoχ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'two'
| ishkay [ɪʃkeˑ ~ ɪʃkɐj]
| ishkay [iʃkaj]
| ishkay [ɪʃkɐj]
| ishkay [iʃkaj]
| ishkay [iʃki ~ iʃkaj]
| iskay [iskæj]
| iskay [iskæj]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'ten'
| ćhunka, chunka [ʈ͡ʂʊŋkɐ], [t͡ʃʊŋkɐ]
| ćhunka [ʈ͡ʂuŋka]
| ch'unka [ʈ͡ʂʊŋgɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋga]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋgɐ ~ t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'sweet'
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| miski [mɪskɪ]
| misk'i [mɪskʼɪ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'white'
| yuraq [jʊɾɑq ~ jʊɾɑχ]
| yulaq [julah ~ julaː]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
| yurak [jʊɾak]
| yurak [jʊɾax ~ jʊɾak]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'he gives'
| qun [qoŋ ~ χoŋ ~ ʁoŋ]
| qun [huŋ ~ ʔuŋ]
| qun [qoŋ]
| kun [kuŋ]
| kun [kuŋ]
| qun [χoŋ]
| qun [qoŋ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'yes'
| awmi [oːmi~ɐwmɪ]
| aw [aw]
| ari [ɐɾi]
| ari [aɾi]
| ari [aɾi]
| arí [ɐˈɾi]
| arí [ɐˈɾi]
|}

===Quechua and Aymara===
Quechua shares a large amount of vocabulary, and some striking structural parallels, with [[Aymara language|Aymara]], and the two families have sometimes been grouped together as a '[[Quechumaran languages|Quechumaran family]]'. That hypothesis is generally rejected by specialists, however. The parallels are better explained by mutual influence and borrowing through intensive and longterm contact. Many Quechua–Aymara cognates are close, often closer than intra-Quechua cognates, and there is little relationship in the [[affix]]al system.

==Vocabulary==
A number of Quechua [[loanword]]s have entered [[English language|English]] via [[Spanish language|Spanish]], including ''[[coca]]'', ''[[condor]]'', ''[[guano]]'', ''[[jerky]]'', ''[[llama]]'', ''[[puma (genus)|puma]]'', ''[[quinine]]'', ''[[quinoa]]'', ''[[vicuña]]'', and, possibly, ''[[gaucho]]''. The word ''[[lagniappe]]'' comes from the Quechuan word ''yapay'' ("to increase; to add") with the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] article ''la'' in front of it, ''la yapa'' or ''la ñapa'' in Spanish.

The influence on Latin American Spanish includes such borrowings as ''papa'' for "potato", ''chuchaqui'' for "hangover" in [[Ecuador]], and diverse borrowings for "[[altitude sickness]]", in [[Bolivia]] from Quechuan ''suruqch'i'' to Bolivian ''sorojchi'', in [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], and [[Peru]] ''soroche''.
In Bolivia, particularly, Quechua words are used extensively even by non-Quechua speakers. These include wawa (baby, infant), ch'aki (hangover), misi (cat), juk'ucho (mouse), q'omer uchu (green pepper), jacu ("lets go"), chhiri and chhurco (curly haired), among many others. Quechua grammar also enters Bolivian Spanish, such as the use of the suffix -ri. In Bolivian Quechua, -ri is added to verbs to signify an action is performed with affection or, in the imperative, as a rough equivalent to please. In Bolivia -ri is often included in the Spanish imperative to imply "please" or to soften commands. For example, the standard "pásame" (pass me), becomes pasarime.

Quechua has borrowed a large number of [[Spanish language|Spanish]] words, such as ''piru'' (from ''pero'', but), ''bwenu'' (from ''bueno'', good), iskwila (from "escuela," school), waka (from "vaca," cow) and ''burru'' (from ''burro'', donkey).

===Etymology of Quechua===
At first, Spaniards referred to the language of the Inca empire as the ''lengua general'', the ''general language''. The name ''quichua'' is first used in 1560 by [[Domingo de Santo Tomás]] in his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú''.<ref name=Adelaar179>Adelaar 2004, p. 179.</ref> It is not known what name the native speakers gave to their language before colonial times and whether it was Spaniards who called it ''quechua''.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

There are two possible etymologies of Quechua as the name of the language. There is a possibility that the name Quechua was derived from ''*qiĉ.wa'', the native word which originally meant the "temperate valley" altitude ecological zone in the Andes (suitable for maize cultivation) and to its inhabitants.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

Alternatively, [[Pedro Cieza de León]] and [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]], the early Spanish chroniclers, mention the existence of a people called Quichua in the present [[Apurímac Region]], and it could be inferred that their name was given to the entire language.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

The Hispanicised spellings ''Quechua'' and ''Quichua'' have been used in Peru and Bolivia since the 17th century, especially after the [[Third Council of Lima]]. Today, the various local pronunciations of "Quechua Simi" include {{IPA-qu|ˈqʰeʃwa ˈsimi|}}, {{IPA-qu|ˈχetʃwa ˈʃimi|}}, {{IPA-qu|ˈkitʃwa ˈʃimi|}}, and {{IPA-qu|ˈʔitʃwa ˈʃimi|}}.

Another name that native speakers give to their own language is ''runa simi'', "language of man/people"; it also seems to have emerged during the colonial period.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

==Phonology==
The description below applies to the [[Cusco Quechua]]; there are significant differences in other varieties of Quechua.

===Vowels===
Quechua uses only three vowel phonemes: {{IPA|/a/}} {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}}, as in Aymara (including Jaqaru). Monolingual speakers pronounce them as {{IPA|[æ, ɪ, ʊ]}} respectively, but [[Spanish language|Spanish]] realizations {{IPA|[ä, i, u]}} may also be used. When the vowels appear adjacent to the uvular consonants {{IPA|/q/}}, {{IPA|/qʼ/}}, and {{IPA|/qʰ/}}, they are rendered more like {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}} respectively.

===Consonants===
{| class="IPA wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2|
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]/ [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|n
|ɲ
|
|
|
|- align=center
! rowspan=3| [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! plain
|p
|t
|tʃ
|k
|q
|
|- align=center
! [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|pʰ
|tʰ
|tʃʰ
|kʰ
|qʰ
|
|- align=center
! [[ejective consonant|ejective]]
|p’
|t’
|tʃ’
|k’
|q’
|
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| s
|
|
|
| h
|- align=center
! rowspan=2|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! [[Central consonant|central]]
|
|
|j
|w
|
|
|- align=center
! [[Lateral consonant|lateral]]
|
|l
|ʎ
|
|
|
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|ɾ
|
|
|
|
|}

No plosive or fricative is voiced, and voicing is not [[phoneme|phonemic]] in the Quechua native vocabulary of the modern Cusco variety.

{{Listen|filename=qu-pata_phata_p'ata.ogg|title=Voiceless bilabial plosives|description=Pronunciation of [[voiceless bilabial plosive]] phonemes in Quechua|format=[[Ogg]]}}

About 30% of the modern Quechua vocabulary is borrowed from Spanish, and some Spanish sounds (e.g. f, b, d, g) may have become phonemic even among monolingual Quechua speakers.

Aspirated and ejective renderings of consonants are not phonemic in some varieties of Quechua. Others use only plain /p/, /t/, /t͡ʃ/, and /k/.

===Stress===
Stress is penultimate in most dialects of Quechua. In some varieties, the [[apocope]] of word-final vowels or other factors may cause exceptional final stress, as the syllable remains stressed there.

==Orthogaphy==
{{main|Quechua alphabet}}
{{further|Southern Quechua#Standard Quechua|l1=Southern Quechua § Standard Quechua}}

Quechua has been written using the Roman alphabet since the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]]. However, written Quechua is not rarely much(?) by Quechua-speakers because of the lack of printed referential material in Quechua.

Until the 20th century, Quechua was written with a Spanish-based [[orthography]]. Examples ''Inca, Huayna Cápac, Collasuyo, Mama Ocllo, Viracocha, quipu, tambo, condor''. That orthography is the most familiar to Spanish speakers and sohas been used for most borrowings into English.

In 1975, the Peruvian government of [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] adopted a new orthography for Quechua. That is the system preferred by the [[Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua]]: ''Inka, Wayna Qhapaq, Qollasuyu, Mama Oqllo, Wiraqocha, khipu, tampu, kuntur''. The orthography has these features:
* It uses '''w''' instead of ''hu'' for {{IPA|/w/}}.
* It distinguishes velar ''k'' from uvular ''q'', but both were spelled ''c'' or ''qu'' in the traditional system.
* It distinguishes simple, ejective, and aspirated stops in dialects (such as that of the [[Cusco Region]]) with them, like ''khipu'' above.
* It continues to use the Spanish five-vowel system.

In 1985, a variation of this system was adopted by the Peruvian government; it uses the Quechuan three-vowel system: ''Inka, Wayna Qhapaq, Qullasuyu, Mama Uqllu, Wiraqucha, khipu, tampu, kuntur''.

The different orthographies are still highly controversial in Peru. Advocates of the traditional system believe that the new orthographies look too foreign and suggest that it makes Quechua harder to learn for people who have first been exposed to written Spanish. Those who prefer the new system maintain that it better matches the phonology of Quechua, and they point to studies showing that teaching the five-vowel system to children later causes reading difficulties in Spanish.

For more on this, see [[Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift]].

Writers differ in the treatment of Spanish loanwords. Sometimes, they are adapted to the modern orthography, and sometimes, they are left as in Spanish. For instance, "I am Roberto" could be written ''Robertom kani'' or ''Ruwirtum kani''. (The ''-m'' is not part of the name; it is an evidential suffix.)

The Peruvian linguist [[Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino]] has proposed an orthographic norm for all [[Southern Quechua]]: Standard Quechua (''el Quechua estándar'' or ''Hanan Runasimi'') conservatively integrates features of two widespread dialects, [[Ayacucho Quechua]] and [[Cusco Quechua]]. For instance:<ref>To listen to recordings of them and many other words, as pronounced in many different Quechua-speaking regions, see the external website [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds The Sounds of the Andean Languages]. There is also a full section on the new [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds/Home/HomeSpelling.htm Quechua and Aymara Spelling].</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Ayacucho
!Cusco
!Standard Quechua
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| to drink
| upyay
| uhyay
| upyay
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| fast
| utqa
| usqha
| utqha
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| to work
| llamkay
| llank'ay
| llamk'ay
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| we (inclusive)
| ñuqanchik
| nuqanchis
| ñuqanchik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| (progressive suffix)
| -chka-
| -sha-
| -chka-
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| day
| punchaw
| p'unchay
| p'unchaw
|}

==Grammar==

===Morphological type===
All varieties of Quechua are very regular [[agglutinative language]]s, as opposed to [[isolating language|isolating]] or [[fusional language|fusional]] ones. Their normal sentence order is SOV ([[subject–object–verb]]). Their large number of [[suffix]]es changes both the overall significance of words and their subtle shades of meaning. Notable grammatical features include bipersonal [[grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] (verbs agree with both subject and object), [[evidentiality]] (indication of the source and veracity of knowledge), a set of [[topic (linguistics)|topic]] [[grammatical particle|particles]], and suffixes indicating who benefits from an action and the speaker's attitude toward it, but some languages and varieties may lack some of the characteristics.

===Pronouns===
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; background:#f9f9f9; border:1px gray solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:95%; vertical-align:center;"
| colspan=2 rowspan=2 style="background:white;border-top:2px white solid;border-right:1px solid gray;border-bottom:1px solid gray;border-left:2px white solid;"|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background:#9fb6cd;"|<big>'''Number'''</big>
|- style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"
||'''''Singular'''''
||'''''Plural'''''
|-
| rowspan=3 style="background:#9FB6CD"|<big>'''Person'''</big>
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''First'''''
|Ñuqa
|Ñuqanchik ''(inclusive)''
Ñuqayku ''(exclusive)''
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''Second'''''
|Qam
|Qamkuna
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''Third'''''
|Pay
|Paykuna
|}
In Quechua, there are seven [[pronoun]]s. Quechua has two first-person plural pronouns ("we" in English). One is called the [[clusivity|inclusive]], which is used if the speaker wishes to include the [[addressee]] ("we and you"). The other form is called the exclusive, which is used when the addressee is excluded ("we without you"). Quechua also adds the suffix ''-kuna'' to the second and third person singular pronouns ''qam'' and ''pay'' to create the plural forms, ''qam-kuna'' and ''pay-kuna''.

===Adjectives===
[[Adjective]]s in Quechua are always placed before nouns. They lack gender and number and are not declined to agree with [[noun|substantives]].

===Numbers===
*[[Cardinal number (linguistics)|Cardinal number]]s. ''ch'usaq'' (0), ''huk'' (1), ''iskay'' (2), ''kimsa'' (3), ''tawa'' (4), ''pichqa'' (5), ''suqta'' (6), ''qanchis'' (7), ''pusaq'' (8), ''isqun'' (9), ''chunka'' (10), ''chunka hukniyuq'' (11), ''chunka iskayniyuq'' (12), ''iskay chunka'' (20), ''pachak'' (100), ''waranqa'' (1,000), ''hunu'' (1,000,000), ''lluna'' (1,000,000,000,000).
*Ordinal numbers. To form ordinal numbers, the word ''ñiqin'' is put after the appropriate cardinal number (''iskay ñiqin'' = "second"). The only exception is that, in addition to ''huk ñiqin'' ("first"), the phrase ''ñawpaq'' is also used in the somewhat more restricted sense of "the initial, primordial, the oldest".

===Nouns===
[[Noun]] roots accept suffixes that indicate [[grammatical person|person]] (defining of possession, not identity), [[grammatical number|number]], and [[grammatical case|case]]. In general, the personal suffix precedes that of number. In the [[Santiago del Estero]] variety, however, the order is reversed.<ref>
{{cite web
|first = Jorge R.
|last = Alderetes
|title = Morfoligía Nominal del Quechua Santiagueño
|year = 1997
|id=
|isbn=
|url=http://usuarios.arnet.com.ar/yanasu/Cap3-1.htm
}}</ref> From variety to variety, suffixes may change.

{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
|+ Examples using the word ''wasi'' (house)''
! colspan=2 | Function
! Suffix
! Example
! (translation)
|-
| suffix indicating number
| plural
| -kuna
| wasi'''kuna'''
| houses
|-
| rowspan=7 | possessive suffix
| 1.person singular
| -y, -:
| wasi'''y''', wasi'''i'''
| my house
|-
| ''2.person singular''
| -yki
| wasi'''yki'''
| your house
|-
| ''3.person singular''
| -n
| wasi'''n'''
| his/her/its house
|-
| ''1.person plural (incl)''
| -nchik
| wasi'''nchik'''
| our house (incl.)
|-
| ''1.person plural (excl)''
| -y-ku
| wasi'''yku'''
| our house (excl.)
|-
| ''2.person plural''
| -yki-chik
| wasi'''ykichik'''
| your (pl.) house
|-
| ''3.person plural''
| -n-ku
| wasi'''nku'''
| their house
|-
| rowspan=19 | suffixes indicating case
| [[Nominative case|nominative]]
| –
| wasi
| the house (subj.)
|-
| [[Accusative case|accusative]]
| -(k)ta
| wasi'''ta'''
| the house (obj.)
|-
| [[Instrumental case|instrumental]]
| -wan
| wasi'''wan'''
| with the house, and the house
|-
| [[Abessive case|abessive]]
| -naq
| wasi'''naq'''
| without the house
|-
| [[Dative case|dative]]
| -paq
| wasi'''paq'''
| to the house
|-
| [[Genitive case|genitive]]
| -p(a)
| wasi'''p(a)'''
| of the house
|-
| [[Causative case|causative]]
| -rayku
| wasi'''rayku'''
| because of the house
|-
| [[Benefactive case|benefactive]]
| -paq
| wasi'''paq'''
| for the house
|-
| [[Locative case|locative]]
| -pi
| wasi'''pi'''
| at the house
|-
| [[Allative case|directional]]
| -man
| wasi'''man'''
| towards the house
|-
| [[Inclusive case|inclusive]]
| -piwan, puwan
| wasi'''piwan''', wasi'''puwan'''
| including the house
|-
| [[Terminative case|terminative]]
| -kama, -yaq
| wasi'''kama''', wasi'''yaq'''
| up to the house
|-
| [[Perlative case|transitive]]
| -(rin)ta
| wasi'''nta'''
| through the house
|-
| [[Ablative case|ablative]]
| -manta, -piqta
| wasi'''manta''', wasi'''piqta'''
| off/from the house
|-
| [[Comitative case|comitative]]
| -(ni)ntin
| wasi'''ntin'''
| along with the house
|-
| [[Immediate case|immediate]]
| -raq
| wasi'''raq'''
| first the house
|-
| [[Intrative case|intrative]]
| -pura
| wasi'''pura'''
| among the houses
|-
| [[Exclusive case|exclusive]]
| -lla(m)
| wasi'''lla(m)'''
| only the house
|-
| [[Comparative case|comparative]]
| -naw, -hina
| wasi'''naw''', wasi'''hina'''
| than the house
|}

===Adverbs===
[[Adverb]]s can be formed by adding ''-ta'' or, in some cases, ''-lla'' to an adjective: ''allin – allinta'' ("good – well"), ''utqay – utqaylla'' ("quick – quickly"). They are also formed by adding suffixes to [[demonstrative]]s: ''chay'' ("that") – ''chaypi'' ("there"), ''kay'' ("this") – ''kayman'' ("hither").

There are several original adverbs. For Europeans, it is striking that the adverb ''qhipa'' means both "behind" and "future" and ''ñawpa'' means "ahead, in front" and "past".<ref>This occurs in English, where "before" means "in the past", and Shakespeare's Macbeth says "The greatest is behind", meaning in the future.</ref> Local and temporal concepts of adverbs in Quechua (as well as in [[Aymara language|Aymara]]) are associated to each other reversely, compared to European languages. For the speakers of Quechua, we are moving backwards into the future (we cannot see it: it is unknown), facing the past (we can see it: it is remembered).

===Verbs===
The infinitive forms (unconjugated) have the suffix ''-y'' (''much'a''= "kiss"; ''much'a-y'' = "to kiss"). These are the endings for the indicative:
{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
!
! Present
! Past
! Future
! [[Pluperfect]]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqa
| -ni
| -rqa-ni
| -saq
| -sqa-ni
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Qam
| -nki
| -rqa-nki
| -nki
| -sqa-nki
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Pay
| -n
| -rqa(-n)
| -nqa
| -sqa
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqanchik
| -nchik
| -rqa-nchik
| -su-nchik
| -sqa-nchik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqayku
| -yku
| -rqa-yku
| -saq-ku
| -sqa-yku
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Qamkuna
| -nki-chik
| -rqa-nki-chik
| -nki-chik
| -sqa-nki-chik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Paykuna
| -n-ku
| -rqa-(n)ku
| -nqa-ku
| -sqa-ku
|}

The suffixes shown in the table above usually indicate the [[grammatical subject|subject]]; the person of the [[grammatical object|object]] is also indicated by a suffix (''-a-'' for first person and ''-su-'' for second person), which precedes the suffixes in the table. In such cases, the plural suffixes from the table (''-chik'' and ''-ku'') can be used to express the number of the object rather than the subject.

Various suffixes are added to the stem to change the meaning. For example, ''-chi'' is a causative and ''-ku'' is a reflexive (example: ''wañuy'' = "to die"; ''wañuchiy'' = to kill ''wañuchikuy'' = "to commit suicide"); ''-naku'' is used for mutual action (example: ''marq'ay''= "to hug"; ''marq'anakuy''= "to hug each other"), and ''-chka'' is a progressive, used for an ongoing action (e.g., ''mikhuy'' = "to eat"; ''mikhuchkay'' = "to be eating").

===Grammatical particles===
[[Grammatical particle|Particles]] are indeclinable: they do not accept suffixes. They are relatively rare, but the most common are ''arí'' ("yes") and ''mana'' ("no"), although ''mana'' can take some suffixes, such as ''-n''/''-m'' (''manan''/''manam''), ''-raq'' (''manaraq'', not yet) and ''-chu'' (''manachu?'', or not?), to intensify the meaning. Also used are ''yaw'' ("hey", "hi"), and certain loan words from Spanish, such as ''piru'' (from Spanish ''pero'' "but") and ''sinuqa'' (from ''sino'' "rather").

===Evidentiality===
The Quechua languages have three different morphemes that mark [[evidentiality]]. Evidentiality refers to a morpheme whose primary purpose is to indicate the source of information.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 3.</ref> In the Quechua languages, evidentiality is a three-term system: there are three evidential morphemes that mark varying levels of source information. The markers can apply to the first, second, and third persons.<ref name="Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377">Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377.</ref> The chart below depicts an example of these morphemes from the Wanka Quechua language:<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 42.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Evidential morphemes ||''-m(i)'' || ''-chr(a)'' || ''-sh(i)''
|-
| Meaning || Direct evidence || Inferred; conjecture || Reported; hearsay
|}

The parentheses around the vowels indicate that the vowel can be dropped in when following an open vowel. For the sake of cohesiveness, the above forms are used to discuss the evidential morphemes. However, it should be noted that there are dialectal variations to the forms. The variations will be presented in the following descriptions.

The following sentences provide examples of the three evidentials and further discuss the meaning behind each of them.

'''<big>''-m(i)'' : Direct evidence and commitment</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 60.</ref>'''

Regional variations: In the Cuzco dialect, the direct evidential presents itself as ''–mi'' and ''–n''.

The evidential ''–mi'' indicates that the speaker has a “strong personal conviction the veracity of the circumstance expressed.” <ref>Floyd 1999, p. 57.</ref> It has the basis of direct personal experience.

Wanka Quechua <ref>Floyd 1999, p. 61.</ref>
{|
|-
|''ñawi-i-wan-'''mi''''' ||''lika-la-a''
|-
| eye-1P-with-DIR || see-PST-1
|}
I saw them with my own eyes.

'''<big>''-chr(a)'' : Inference and attenuation</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 95.</ref>'''

In Quechua languages, not specified by the source, the inference morpheme appears as ''–ch(i), -ch(a), -chr(a)''.

The ''–chr(a)'' evidential indicates that the utterance is an inference or form of conjecture. That inference relays the speaker’s non-commitment to the truth-value of the statement. It also appears in cases such as acquiescence, irony, interrogative constructions, and first person inferences. These uses constitute nonprototypical use and will be later discussed in the ''changes in meaning and other uses'' section.

Wanka Quechua<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 103.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''kuti-mu-n'a-qa-'''chr''''' || ''ni-ya-ami''
|-
| return-AFAR-3FUT-now-CONJ || say-IMPV-1-DIR
|}
I think they will probably come back.

'''<big>''-sh(i)'' : Hearsay</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 123.</ref>'''

Regional variations: It can appear as ''–sh(i)'' or ''–s(i)'' depending on the dialect.

With the use of this morpheme, the speaker "serves as a conduit through which information from another source passes." The information being related is hearsay or revelatory in nature. It also works to express the uncertainty of the speaker regarding the situation. However, it also appears in other constructions that are discussed in the ''changes in meaning'' section.

Wanka Quechua<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 127.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''shanti-'''sh''''' || ''prista-ka-mu-la''
|-
| Shanti-REP || borrow-REF-AFAR-PST
|}
(I was told) Shani borrowed it.

Hintz discusses an interesting case of evidential behavior found in Sihaus Quechua. The author postulates that instead of three single evidential markers, that Quechua language contains three pairs of evidential markers.<ref>Hintz 1999, p. 1.</ref>

'''<big>Affix or clitic</big>'''

It may have been noted the evidential morphemes have been referred to as markers or morphemes. The literature seems to differ on whether or not the evidential morphemes are acting as affixes or clitics, in come cases, such as Wanka Quechua, enclitics. Lefebvre and Muysken (1998) discuss this issue in terms of case but remark the line between affix and clitic is not clear.<ref>Lefebvre & Muysken 1998, p. 89.</ref> Both terms are used interchangeably throughout these sections.

'''<big>Position in the sentence</big>'''

The evidentials in the Quechua languages are "second position enclitics" that attach to the first constituent in the sentence as shown in the examples below.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 68-69.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''huk-'''si''''' || ''ka-sqa'' || ''huk'' || ''machucha-piwan'' || ''payacha''
|-
| once-REP || be-SD || one || old.man-WITH || woman
|}
Once, there were an old man and an old woman.

They can also occur on a focused constituent.
{|
|-
| ''Pidru'' || ''kunana-'''mi''''' || ''wasi-ta'' || ''tuwa-sha-n''
|-
| Pedro || now-DIR.EV || house-ACC || build-PROG-3SG
|}
It is now that Pedro is building the house.

Sometimes, the affix is described as attaching to the focus, especially when in reference to Tarma Quechua,<ref>Weber 1986, p. 145.</ref> but that does not hold true for all varieties of Quechua. In Huanuco Quechua. The evidentials follow any number of topics, marked by the topic marker ''–qa'', and the element with the evidential must precede the main verb or be the main verb.

However, there are exceptions to that rule as well. The more topics there are in a sentence, the more likely to deviate from the usual form.
{|
|-
| ''Chawrana-qa'' || ''puntataruu-qu'' || ''trayaruptin-qa'' || ''wamrata-qa'' || ''mayna-'''shi''''' || ''Diosninchi-qa'' || ''heqarkaykachisha'' || ''syelutana-shi''
|-
| so:already-TOP || at:the:peak-TOP || arriving-TOP || child-TOP || already-IND || our:God-TOP || had:taken:her:up || to:heaven:already-IND
|}
When she (the witch) reached the peak, God had already taken the child up into heaven.

'''<big>Changes in meaning and other uses</big>'''

Evidentials can be used to relay different meanings depending on the context and perform other functions. The following examples are restricted to Wanka Quechua.

'''''The direct evidential, -mi'''''

The direct evidential appears in wh-questions and yes/no questions. By considering the direct evidential in terms of prototypical semantics, it seems somewhat counterintuitive to have a direct evidential, basically an evidential that confirms the speaker’s certainty about a topic, in a question. However, if one focuses less on the structure and more on the situation, some sense can be made. The speaker is asking the addressee for information so the speaker assumes the speaker knows the answer. That assumption is whey the direct evidential comes into play. The speaker holds a certain amount of certainty that the addressee will know the answer. The speaker interprets the addressee as being in "direct relation" to the proposed content; the situation is the same as when, in regular sentences, the speaker assumes direct relation to the proposed information.<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 87.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''imay-'''mi''''' || ''wankayuu-pu'' || ''kuti-mu-la''
|-
| when-DIR || Huancayo-ABL || return-AFAR-PAST
|}
When did he come back from Huancayo?

(Floyd 199, p. 85)

The direct evidential affix is also seen in yes/no questions, similar to the situation with wh-questions. Floyd describes yes/no questions as being "characterized as instructions to the addressee to assert one of the propositions of a disjunction."<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 89.</ref> Once again, the burden of direct evidence is being placed on the addressee, not on the speaker. The question marker in Wanka Quechua, ''-chun'', is derived from the negative –chu marker and the direct evidential (realized as –n in some dialects).
{|
|-
| ''tarma-kta'' || ''li-n-'''chun'''''
|-
| Tarma-ACC || go-3-YN
|}
Is he going to Tarma?

(Floyd 1999, p. 89)

'''''The inferential evidential, -chr(a)'''''

While ''–chr(a)'' is usually used in an inferential context, it has some non-prototypical uses.

''Mild Exhortation''

In these constructions the evidential works to reaffirm and encourage the addressee’s actions or thoughts.
{|
|-
| ''mas'' || ''kalu-kuna-kta'' || ''li-la-a'' || ''ni-nki-'''chra'''-ri''
|-
| more || far-PL-ACC || go-PST-1 || say-2-CONJ-EMPH
|}
Yes, tell them, "I've gone farther."

(Floyd 1999, p. 107)

This example comes from a conversation between husband and wife,discussing the reactions of their family and friends after they have been gone for a while. The husband says he plans to stretch the truth and tell them about distant places to which he has gone, and his wife (in the example above) echoes and encourages his thoughts.

''Acquiescence''

With these, the evidential is used to highlight the speaker’s assessment of inevitability of an event and acceptance of it. There is a sense of resistance, diminished enthusiasm, and disinclination in these constructions.
{|
|-
| ''paaga-lla-shrayki-'''chra'''-a''
|-
| pay-POL-1›2FUT-CONJ-EMPH
|}
I suppose I'll pay you then.

(Floyd 1999, p. 109)

This example comes from a discourse where a woman demands compensation from the man (the speaker in the example) whose pigs ruined her potatoes. He denies the pigs as being his but finally realizes he may be responsible and produces the above example.

''Interrogative''

Somewhat similar to the ''–mi'' evidential, the inferential evidential can be found in content questions. However, the salient difference between the uses of the evidentials in questions is that in the ''–m(i)'' marked questions, an answer is expected. That is not the case with ''–chr(a)'' marked questions.
{|
|-
| ''ima-lla-kta-'''chr''''' || ''u-you-shrun'' || ''llapa'' || ''ayllu-kuna-kta-si'' || ''chra-alu-l''
|-
| what-LIM-ACC-CONJ || give-ASP-12FUT || all || family-PL-ACC-EVEN || arrive-ASP-SS
|}
I wonder what we will give our families when we arrive.

(Floyd 1999, p. 111)

''Irony''

Irony in language can be a somewhat complicated topic in how it functions differently in languages,and by its semantic nature, it is already somewhat vague. For these purposes, it is suffice to say that when irony takes place in Wanka Quechua, the ''–chr(a)'' marker is used.

{|
|-
| ''chay-nuu-pa-'''chr''''' || ''yachra-nki''
|-
| that-SIM-GEN-CONJ || know-2
|}
(I suppose) That's how you learn [that is the way in which you will learn].

(Floyd 199, p. 115)

This example comes from discourse between a father and daughter about her refusal to attend school. It can be interpreted as a genuine statement (perhaps one can learn by resisting school) or as an ironic statement (that is an absurd idea).

'''''Hearsay evidential, -sh(i)'''''

Aside from being used to express hearsay and revelation, this affix also has other uses.

''Folktales, myths, and legends''

Because folktales, myths, and legends are, in essence, reported speech, it follows that the hearsay marker would be used with them. Many of these types of stories are passed down through generations, furthering this aspect of reported speech. A difference between simple hearsay and folktales can be seen in the frequency of the ''–sh(i)'' marker. In normal conversation using reported speech, the marker is used less, to avoid redundancy.

''Riddles''

Riddles are somewhat similar to myths and folktales in that their nature is to be passed by word of mouth.
{|
|-
| ''ima-lla-'''shi''''' || ''ayka-lla-'''sh''''' || ''juk'' || ''machray-chru'' || ''puñu-ya-n'' || ''puka'' || ''waaka''
|-
| what-LIM-REP || how^much-LIM-REP || one || cave-LOC || sleep-IMPF-3 || red || cow
|}

(Floyd 1999, p. 142)

'''<big>Omission and overuse of evidential affixes</big>'''

In certain grammatical structures, the evidential marker does not appear at all. In all Quechuan languages the evidential will not appear in a dependent clause. Sadly, no example was given to depict this omission.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 72.</ref>
Omissions occur in Quechua. The sentence is understood to have the same evidentiality as the other sentences in the context. Quechuan speakers vary as to how much they omit evidentials, but they occur only in connected speech.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 79.</ref>

An interesting contrast to omission of evidentials is overuse of evidentials. If a speaker uses evidentials too much with no reason, competence is brought into question. For example, the overuse of –m(i) could lead others to believe that the speaker is not a native speaker or, in some extreme cases, that one is mentally ill.<ref name="Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377"/>

'''<big>Cultural aspect</big>'''

By using evidentials, the Quechua culture has certain assumptions about the information being relayed. Those who do not abide by the cultural customs should not be trusted. A passage from Weber (1986) summarizes them nicely below:
# (Only) one’s experience is reliable.
# Avoid unnecessary risk by assuming responsibility for information of which one is not absolutely certain.
# Do not be gullible. There are many folktales in which the villain is foiled by his gullibility.
#Assume responsibility only if it is safe to do so. Successful assumption of responsibility builds stature in the community.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 358.</ref>

Evidentials also show that being precise and stating the source of one’s information is extremely important in the language and the culture. Failure to use them correctly can lead to diminished standing in the community. Speakers are aware of the evidentials and even use proverbs to teach children the importance of being precise and truthful. Precision and information source are of the utmost importance. They are a powerful and resourceful method of human communication.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 380.</ref>

==Literature==
Although the body of literature in Quechua is not as sizable as its historical and current prominence would suggest, it is nevertheless not negligible.

As in the case of the [[List of pre-Columbian cultures|pre-Columbian Mesoamerica]], there are a number of surviving Andean documents in the local language that were written down in Latin characters after the European conquest, but they express, to a great extent, the culture of pre-Conquest times. That type of Quechua literature is somewhat scantier, but nevertheless significant. It includes the so-called [[Huarochirí Manuscript]] (1598), describing the mythology and religion of the valley of [[Huarochirí Province|Huarochirí]] as well as Quechua poems quoted within the Spanish-language texts of some chronicles dealing with the pre-Conquest period. There are a number of anonymous or signed Quechua dramas dating from the post-conquest period (starting from the 17th century), some of which deal with the Inca era, while most are on religious topics and of European inspiration. The most famous dramas is ''[[Ollantay]]'' and the plays describing the death of [[Atahualpa]]. For example, [[Juan de Espinosa Medrano]] wrote several dramas in the language. Poems in Quechua were also composed during the colonial period.<ref name=adelaar254/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert_beer/history.htm |title=History |publisher=Homepage.ntlworld.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-09}}</ref>

Dramas and poems continued to be written in the 19th and especially in 20th centuries as well; in addition, in the 20th century and more recently, more prose has been published. While some of that literature consists of original compositions (poems and dramas), the bulk of 20th century Quechua literature consists of traditional folk stories and oral narratives.<ref name=adelaar254>Adelaar 2004, pp. 254–256.</ref> [[Johnny Payne]] has translated two sets of Quechua oral short stories, one into Spanish and the other into English.

Many Andean musicians write and sing in their native languages, including Quechua and Aymara. Notable musical groups are [[Los Kjarkas]], [[Kala Marka]], [[J'acha Mallku]], [[Savia Andina]], Wayna Picchu, Wara and many others.

==In popular culture==
* The 1961 Peruvian film ''[[Kukuli]]'' was the first film to be spoken in the Quechua language.<ref name="latinosinlondon">{{cite web |url=http://latinosinlondon.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/kukuli/ |title=Film Kukuli (Cuzco-Peru) |accessdate=2012-11-10 |work=Latinos in London}}</ref>
* In ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]]'' the character [[Greedo]]'s native language, Rodian, is actually a simplified version of Quechua, which is shown in conversation with [[Han Solo]].
* The '90s TV series ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'' included numerous references to the shamanism and spirituality of the Peruvian Chopec as well as including many Quechua words in several episodes.
* The sport retailer [[Decathlon Group]] brands their mountain equipment range as ''[[Quechua (brand)|Quechua]]''.
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'', Indy has a dialogue in Quechua with Peruvians. He explains he learned the language in Mexico from a couple of the "guys" he met while briefly riding with [[Pancho Villa]]. This adventure was featured in the pilot episode of ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]''. The guys were most likely Peruvian mercenaries recruited to the [[División del Norte]].
* In ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' books ''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]]'' and its sequel ''[[Prisoners of the Sun]]'', there are Quechua characters who are in league with the Inca and facilitate the abduction and incarceration of [[Professor Calculus]] at the Temple of the Sun for committing sacrilege by wearing the funerary bangle of [[List of The Adventures of Tintin characters#Rascar Capac|Rascar Capac]].
* In the [[collectible card game]] ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', monsters in the card series [[List of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards#Earthbound Immortals|Earthbound Immortals]] have their name originated from Quechua. In [[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's|the animated series]], Earthbound Immortals are described as powerful beasts sealed in [[Nazca Lines]], which each one of them represents.
* On the TV cartoon series ''[[The Emperor's New School]]'', the main and other characters have Quechua names as ''Kuzco'' ([[Cusco]], that means "navel of the world"), ''Pacha'' (ground) and ''Chicha'' ([[chicha]] is a kind of fermented maize "beer").
* In [[Da Vinci's Demons]], season 2 they meet a group of "Indians" who speak this language
* In Calle 13's song, Latin America (Grammy winner 2011 - the beginning there is a DJ introducing Calle 13 and the singer responds back in Quechuan, "this one is for you all" before starting)
*Ruanja, a language spoken in Mary Doria Russel's ''[[The Sparrow (novel)|The Sparrow]]'' is based on Quechua.

==See also==
*[[Andes]]
*[[Aymara language]]
*[[List of English words of Quechua origin|List of English words of Quechuan origin]]
*[[Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift]]
*[[South Bolivian Quechua]]
*[[Oto-Manguean languages]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* Rolph, Karen Sue. ''Ecologically Meaningful Toponyms: Linking a lexical domain to production ecology in the Peruvian Andes''. Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, 2007.
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiwaUY6KsY8C&pg=PA179|title=The Languages of the Andes|isbn=9781139451123|author1=Adelaar|first1=Willem F. H|authorlink=Willem Adelaar|date=2004-06-10}}
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem]]. ''The Languages of the Andes''. With the collaboration of P.C. Muysken. Cambridge language survey. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-36831-5
* Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. ''Lingüística Quechua'', Centro de Estudios Rurales Andinos 'Bartolomé de las Casas', 2nd ed. 2003
*Cole, Peter. "Imbabura Quechua", North-Holland (Lingua Descriptive Studies 5), Amsterdam 1982.
* Cusihuamán, Antonio, ''Diccionario Quechua Cuzco-Collao'', Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de Las Casas", 2001, ISBN 9972-691-36-5
* Cusihuamán, Antonio, ''Gramática Quechua Cuzco-Collao'', Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de Las Casas", 2001, ISBN 9972-691-37-3
* Mannheim, Bruce, ''The Language of the Inka since the European Invasion'', University of Texas Press, 1991, ISBN 0-292-74663-6
* Rodríguez Champi, Albino. (2006). Quechua de Cusco. ''Ilustraciones fonéticas de lenguas amerindias'', ed. Stephen A. Marlett. Lima: SIL International y Universidad Ricardo Palma. [http://lengamer.org/publicaciones/trabajos/quechua_cusco_afi.pdf Lengamer.org]
*Aikhenvald, Alexandra. Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
*Floyd, Rick. The Structure of Evidential Categories in Wanka Quechua. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1999. Print.
*Hintz, Diane. “The evidential system in Sihuas Quechua: personal vs. shared knowledge” The Nature of Evidentiality Conference, The Netherlands, 14–16 June 2012. SIL International. Internet. 13 April 2014.
*Lefebvre, Claire, and Pieter Muysken. Mixed Categories: Nominalizations in Quechua. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic, 1988. Print.
*Weber, David. "Information Perspective, Profile, and Patterns in Quechua." Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology. Ed. Wallace L. Chafe and Johanna Nichols. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Pub, 1986. 137-55. Print.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem F. H.]] [http://es.scribd.com/doc/91245441/Towards-a-reconstruction-of-the-history-of-Quechuan%E2%80%93Aymaran-interaction Modeling convergence: Towards a reconstruction of the history of Quechuan–Aymaran interaction] About the origin of Quechua, and its relation with Aymara, 2011.
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem F. H.]] ''Tarma Quechua: Grammar, Texts, Dictionary''. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1977.
* Bills, Garland D., Bernardo Vallejo C., and Rudolph C. Troike. ''An Introduction to Spoken Bolivian Quechua''. Special publication of the Institute of Latin American Studies, the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. Austin: Published for the Institute of Latin American Studies by the University of Texas Press, 1969. ISBN 0-292-70019-9
* Coronel-Molina, Serafín M.'' Quechua Phrasebook''. 2002 Lonely Planet ISBN 1-86450-381-5
* Curl, John, ''Ancient American Poets''. Tempe AZ: Bilingual Press, 2005.ISBN 1-931010-21-8 [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html Red-coral.net]
* Gifford, Douglas. ''Time Metaphors in Aymara and Quechua''. St. Andrews: [[University of St. Andrews]], 1986.
* {{Cite journal
|last=Heggarty and David Beresford-Jones
|first=Paul
|year=2009
|title=Not the Incas? Weaving Archaeology and Language into a Single New Prehistory
|place=London
|publisher=British Academy Review 12: 11-15
|postscript={{inconsistent citations}}}}
* Harrison, Regina. ''Signs, Songs, and Memory in the Andes: Translating Quechua Language and Culture''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989. ISBN 0-292-77627-6
* Jake, Janice L. ''Grammatical Relations in Imbabura Quechua''. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Garland Pub, 1985. ISBN 0-8240-5475-X
* King, Kendall A. ''Language Revitalization Processes and Prospects: Quichua in the Ecuadorian Andes''. Bilingual education and bilingualism, 24. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters LTD, 2001. ISBN 1-85359-495-4
* King, Kendall A., and Nancy H. Hornberger. ''Quechua Sociolinguistics''. Berlin: [[Mouton de Gruyter]], 2004.
* Lara, Jesús, Maria A. Proser, and James Scully. ''Quechua Peoples Poetry''. Willimantic, Conn: Curbstone Press, 1976. ISBN 0-915306-09-3
* Lefebvre, Claire, and [[Pieter Muysken]]. ''Mixed Categories: Nominalizations in Quechua''. Studies in natural language and linguistic theory, [v. 11]. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988. ISBN 1-55608-050-6
* Lefebvre, Claire, and Pieter Muysken. ''Relative Clauses in Cuzco Quechua: Interactions between Core and Periphery''. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1982.
* Muysken, Pieter. ''Syntactic Developments in the Verb Phrase of Ecuadorian Quechua''. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1977. ISBN 90-316-0151-9
* Nuckolls, Janis B. ''Sounds Like Life: Sound-Symbolic Grammar, Performance, and Cognition in Pastaza Quechua''. Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics, 2. New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1996. ISBN
* Parker, Gary John. ''Ayacucho Quechua Grammar and Dictionary''. Janua linguarum. Series practica, 82. The Hague: Mouton, 1969.
* Plaza Martínez, Pedro. Quechua. In: Mily Crevels and Pieter Muysken (eds.) ''Lenguas de Bolivia'', vol. I, 215-284. La Paz: Plural editores, 2009. ISBN 978-99954-1-236-4. (in Spanish)
* Sánchez, Liliana. Quechua-Spanish Bilingualism: Interference and Convergence in Functional Categories. Language acquisition & language disorders, v. 35. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub, 2003. ISBN 1-58811-471-6
* Weber, David. ''A Grammar of Huallaga (Huánuco) Quechua''. University of California publications in linguistics, v. 112. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1989. ISBN 0-520-09732-7
* Quechua bibliographies online at: [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Main/i_BIBL.HTM quechua.org.uk]
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|Quechua|code=qu}}
{{Wikibooks|Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qug|language=Chimborazo Highland Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvc|language=Cajamarca Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvw|language=Huanca Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qxn|language=Ancash Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvm|language=Margos-Yarowilca-Lauricocha Quechua}}
{{wikivoyage|Quechua phrasebook}}
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/93534871/Spoken-Cusco-Quechua-Language-Course Spoken Cusco Quechua, language course] Donald F. Solá
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/75108613/GERALD-TAYLOR-Introduccion-a-La-Lengua-General-Quechua Course of Classical Quechua as used in the Manuscript of Huarochiri] Gerald Taylor, French Institute of Andean Studies.
* [http://www.webcitation.org/6DCo1hl7c Qayna Kunan Paqarin: Una introducción al quechua chanca. 2011] Electronic book of the complete course of the grammar of quechua, R. Zariquiey, G. Córdova.
* [http://facultad.pucp.edu.pe/ciencias-sociales/curso/quechua/home.htm Breve gramática de Quechua] RunasimiNet: aprendiendo quechua en línea. Learn Quechua with this online course from the Catholic University PUCP Lima.
* [http://www.runasimi.de/ RUNASIMI] About Quechua and written in the Quechua language. It offers a quantity of texts in Quechua in diverse quechua dialects and languages. In the following languages: Quechua, Spanish, English, Italian, French and German.
*[http://webs.satlink.com/usuarios/r/rory/main.htm El Quechua de Santiago del Estero], extensive site covering the grammar of Argentinian Quechua (in Spanish)
* [http://www.quechua.org.uk Quechua Language and Linguistics] an extensive site.
** [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds/Home/HomeQuechuaAbout.htm The Origins and Diversity of Quechua]
** [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds The Sounds of the Andean Languages] listen online to pronunciations of Quechua words, see photos of speakers and their home regions, learn about the origins and varieties of Quechua.
* [http://www.yungayperu.com.pe/Quechua%20Yungay.htm Toponimos del Quechua de Yungay, Peru]
* [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjjd2I3mMpo YouTube]
* [http://www.andes.org/q_grammar.html Quechua lessons (www.andes.org)] in Spanish and English
* [http://en.proyectoperucentre.org/quechua/index.html Quechua course] Spanish to Quechua
* [http://quechuas.net/Q/ Detailed map of the varieties of Quechua according to SIL (fedepi.org)]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert_beer/Vocabulario%20comparativo%20Quechua%20cuzqueno%20Quechua%20boliviano%20-%2022%20Apr%2006.PDF Cuzco and Bolivian Quechua being compared, with English translations]
* [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:GMNCnkViAQUJ:www.ru.nl/publish/pages/632031/modelling_the_quechua.pdf+Modelling+the+Quechua-Aymara+relationship:+Structural+features&hl=en&gl=nl&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESilRItDkmG3mYcXwqapxfcZDNtDXWmFjJ20BrM5mKgTpGNl4GCEc3wBG1SgVG4Qkfk1UziRSqssEvauXbPMzmbYvxEyroERxvZSMRRuHeoalkepvRZbizCauGDr9XCvDVGnh_hA&sig=AHIEtbSHxZngt0IQeYnpruhmhX9SfSugyA Modelling the Quechua-Aymara relationship]. Pieter Muysken
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV4Iz1wt1Jo Los Quechuas en el Perú] Documentary about the Peruvian quechua language, in Quechua.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-q8-0jhEE Zorros de arriba, documental] Quechua - Education in the Runasimi Language of Perú
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfivz8-UuGA Piruw mama llaqtap siminkunamanta] Las lenguas del Perú, documental en el [[Quechua cuzqueño]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wD3QN5rps Saqrakuna, televisión juvenil quechua] Tarpurisunchis
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzK89qz337k El zorro y el condor] Video de un cuento andino, CEC Guaman Poma de Ayala, Cusco.

;'''Dictionaries'''
*[http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/documents/quechua/QuechuaDicc.pdf Diccionario Quechua: Español–Runasimi–English] Dictionary of [[Ayacucho Quechua]] from Clodoaldo Soto Ruiz. It explains Quechua words in Quechua itself and in Spanish and English.
* [http://www.illa-a.org/index.html/?q=cd 10 Quechua dictionaries online]
* [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Quechua_Swadesh_list Quechua Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

;Historical
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8994 "A Guiding Light to the Indians"] is a document from the mid-1700s which documents the Quechua language.

{{External links|date=March 2011}}
{{Quechuan languages}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Quechua Language}}
[[Category:Quechuan languages| ]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
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Quechuan languages

2016-08-11T21:56:18Z

Huhsunqu:

{{Infobox language
|name = Quechua
|altname = Kechua
|nativename = ''Qhichwa simi'' ''Runa simi''
|region = Central [[Andes]]
|states = [[Peru]], [[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Chile]], and [[Argentina]]
|ethnicity = [[Quechua people|Quechua]]
|speakers = 8.9 million
|date = 2007
|ref = ne2007
|familycolor = American
|fam1 = Quechuan languages
|dia1=''Quechua I''     [[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]]     [[Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Quechua|Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga]]     [[Yaru Quechua|Yaru]]     [[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]]     [[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]
|dia2=''Quechua II''     [[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]]     Northern       [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] (Ecuador)       [[Lowland Peruvian Quechua|Lowland Peruvian]]     [[Southern Quechua|Southern]]
|script = [[Latin script|Latin]]
|nation = [[Peru]] [[Bolivia]] [[Ecuador]]
|iso1 = qu
|iso2 = que, qwe
|iso3 = que
|glotto = quec1387
|glottorefname= Quechuan
|map = Quechua (grupos).svg
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Quechuan''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|tʃ|w|ə|n}}, also known as '''runa simi''' ("people's language"), is an [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|indigenous language family]] spoken primarily in the [[Andes]] of South America. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely-spoken language family of [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]], with a total of probably some 8-10 million speakers.<ref name=adelaar167>Adelaar 2004, pp. 167–168, 255.</ref> It is perhaps most widely known for being the main language of the [[Inca Empire]].

==History==
Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the [[Inca Empire]]. The Inca were just one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke forms of Quechua. In the [[Cusco]] region, Quechua was influenced by local languages such as [[Aymara language|Aymara]]. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct. In similar way, a diverse group of dialects developed in different areas related to existing local languages when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language.

After the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]] in the 16th century, Quechua continued to be used widely as the "general language" and main means of communication between the Spaniards and the indigenous population. The [[Catholic Church]] adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization. Given use by the missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas.

However, administrative and religious use of Quechua was terminated in the late 18th century, when it was banned from public use in Peru in response to the [[Túpac Amaru II]] rebellion.<ref name=adelaar167/> The Crown banned even "loyal" pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vega's ''Comentarios Reales.'' <ref>Aybar cited by Hart, Stephen M. ''A Companion to Latin American Literature'', p. 6.</ref>

Despite a brief revival of the language immediately after independence in the 19th century, the prestige of Quechua had decreased sharply. Its use gradually was restricted to more isolated and conservative rural areas.<ref name=adelaar167/>

The oldest written records of the language are by missionary [[Domingo de Santo Tomás]], who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú'' (Grammar or Art of the General Language of the Indians of the Royalty of Peru) in 1560.<ref>{{Cite book
|last=Torero
|first=Alfredo
|authorlink=Alfredo Torero
| chapter = La familia lingûística quechua
|year=1983
|title=América Latina en sus lenguas indígenas
| place = Caracas
|publisher=Monte Ávila
|isbn=92-3-301926-8
|postscript= }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite book
|last=Torero
|first=Alfredo
|authorlink=Alfredo Torero
|year=1974
|title=El quechua y la historia social andina
| place = Lima
|publisher=Universidad Ricardo Palma, Dirección Universitaria de Investigación
|isbn=978-603-45-0210-9
|postscript= }}</ref>

==Current status==
[[File:El quechua como lengua materna (censo nacional 2007).png|thumb|350px|Map of Peru showing the distribution of individual Quechua languages by district.]]
Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages in 1975.<ref name=NYT1975>{{cite news |title=Peru officially adopting Indian tongue |first=Jonathan Gay |last=Kandell |date=May 22, 1975 |work=New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1975/05/23/issue.html}}</ref> Ecuador conferred official status on the language in its 2006 constitution and in 2009 Bolivia adopted a new constitution that recognized a number of indigenous languages as official languages of the country.<ref name=Andes>{{cite book |title=The Andes: A Geographical Portrait|first=Axel|last=Borsdorf |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgEyBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=ecuador+constitution+quechua&source=bl&ots=8GozrigzHx&sig=JpuKLTOIIyBexrmjlEPPMid49vY&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj8o7SJtKHMAhWEvoMKHTC1BHYQ6AEIWjAN#v=onepage&q=ecuador%20constitution%20quechua&f=false}}</ref>

Currently, the major obstacle to the diffusion of the usage and teaching of Quechua is the lack of written material in the Quechua language like books, newspapers, software, and magazines. Thus, Quechua, along with Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially a [[spoken language]].

In recent years, Quechua has been introduced in [[intercultural bilingual education]] (IBE) in [[Bolivia]], [[Ecuador]] and [[Peru]], which is, however, reaching only a part of the Quechua-speaking population. There is an ongoing process of Quechua-speaking populations shifting to Spanish for the purposes of social advancement.<ref>Adelaar 2004, pp. 258–259: "The Quechua speakers' wish for social mobility for their children is often heard as an argument for not transmitting the language to the next generation.... As observed quite adequately by [[Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino|Cerrón Palomino]], "Quechua (and [[Aymaran languages|Aymara]]) speakers seem to have taken the project of assimilation begun by the dominating classes and made it their own."</ref>

[[Radio Nacional del Perú]] has news and agrarian programs for periods in the mornings in Quechua.

Quechua and Spanish are now heavily intermixed, with many hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Quechua. Conversely, Quechua phrases and words are commonly used by Spanish speakers. In southern rural Bolivia, for instance, many Quechua words such as ''wawa'' (infant), ''misi'' (cat), ''waska'' (strap or thrashing) are as commonly used as their Spanish counterparts, even in entirely Spanish-speaking areas. Quechua has also had a profound impact on other native languages of the Americas such as [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

===Number of speakers===
The number of speakers given varies widely according to the sources. The total in ''Ethnologue'' 16 is 10 million, mostly based on figures published 1987–2002, but with a few dating from the 1960s. The figure for Imbabura Quechua in ''Ethnologue'', for example, is 300,000, an estimate from 1977. The missionary organization FEDEPI, on the other hand, estimated one million Imbabura speakers (published 2006). Census figures are also problematic, due to under-reporting. The 2001 Ecuador census reports only 500,000 Quechua speakers, where most sources estimate over 2 million. The censuses of Peru (2007) and Bolivia (2001) are thought to be more reliable.

*Argentina: 900,000 (1971)
*Bolivia: 2,100,000 (2001 census); 2,800,000 South Bolivian (1987)
*Chile: few if any
*Colombia: 25,000 (2000–2007)
*Ecuador: 2,300,000 (Adelaar 1991)
*Peru: 3,260,000 (2007 census); 3,500,000 to 4,400,000 (Adelaar 2000)

Additionally, there is an unknown number of speakers in emigrant communities, including [[Queens]], New York and [[Paterson, New Jersey]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Claudio Torrens
| title = Some NY immigrants cite lack of Spanish as barrier
| work = UTSanDiego.com
| accessdate = 2013-02-10
| date = 2011-05-28
| url = http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/may/28/some-ny-immigrants-cite-lack-of-spanish-as-barrier/
}}</ref>

==Classification==
[[File:Quechua (subgrupos).svg|thumb|The four branches of Quechua: I (Central), II-A (North Peruvian), II-B (Northern), II-C (Southern).]]

There are significant differences between the varieties of Quechua spoken in the central Peruvian highlands and the peripheral varieties of Ecuador as well as southern Peru and Bolivia. They can be labeled Quechua I (or Quechua B, central) and Quechua II (or Quechua A, peripheral). Within the two groups, there are few sharp boundaries, making them [[dialect continuum|dialect continua]]. However, there is a secondary division in Quechua II between the grammatically simplified northern varieties of Ecuador, Quechua II-B, known there as [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]], and the generally more conservative varieties of the southern highlands, Quechua II-C, which include the old Inca capital of [[Cusco]]. The closeness is at least in part because of the influence of [[Cusco Quechua]] on the Ecuadorean varieties in the Inca Empire, as northern nobles were required to educate their children in Cusco, which maintained Cusco as the [[prestige dialect]] in the north.

Speakers from different points within any of the three regions can generally understand one another reasonably well. There are nonetheless significant local-level differences across each. ([[Wanka Quechua]], in particular, has several very distinctive characteristics that make the variety distinctly difficult to understand, even for other Central Quechua speakers.) Speakers from ''different'' major regions, particularly Central or Southern Quechua, are not able to communicate effectively.

The lack of [[mutual intelligibility]] is the basic criterion that defines Quechua not as a single language but a language family. The complex and progressive nature of how speech varies across the dialect continua makes it nearly impossible to differentiate discrete varieties; ''Ethnologue'' lists 44 that it judged to require separate literature.<ref name=Ethnologue>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=que Ethnologue report for Quechua (macrolanguage) (SIL)]</ref>

As a reference point, the overall degree of diversity across the family is a little less than that of the [[Romance languages|Romance]] or [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] families and more of the order of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] or [[Arabic]]. The greatest diversity is within Central Quechua, {{sc|aka}} Quechua I, which is believed to lie close to the homeland of the ancestral Proto-Quechua language.

===Family tree===
[[Alfredo Torero]] devised the traditional classification, the three divisions above plus a fourth, northern Peruvian, branch. The latter cause complications in the classification, however, as they ([[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]], [[Pacaraos Quechua|Pacaraos]], and [[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]) have features of both Quechua I and Quechua II and so are difficult to assign to either. Torero's classification is thus:

* [[Quechua I]] or ''Quechua B'' or ''Central Quechua'' or ''Waywash'', spoken in Peru's central highlands and coast.
** The most widely spoken varieties are Huaylas, Huaylla Wanca, and Conchucos.
* [[Quechua II]] or ''Quechua A'' or ''Peripheral Quechua'' or ''Wanp'una'', divided into
** Yungay (Yunkay) Quechua or ''Quechua II A'', spoken in the northern mountains of Peru; the most widely spoken dialect is Cajamarca.
** [[Northern Quechua]] or ''Quechua II B'', spoken in Ecuador ([[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]), northern Peru, and Colombia ([[Inga Kichwa]])
*** The most widely spoken varieties are Chimborazo Highland Quichua and Imbabura Highland Quichua.
** [[Southern Quechua]] or ''Quechua II C'', spoken in Bolivia, southern Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
*** The most widely spoken varieties are South Bolivian, Cusco, Ayacucho, and Puno (Collao).


[[Willem Adelaar]] adheres to the Quechua I / Quechua II (central/peripheral) bifurcation, but partially following later modifications by Torero, reassigns part of Quechua II-A to Quechua I:<ref>Adelaar 2004.{{page needed|date=September 2013}}</ref>

{{Clade
| label1=Proto-Quechua
| 1={{Clade
| label1=Quechua I
| 1={{Clade
| label1=Central
| 1={{Clade
| 1='''[[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]]''' (Huaylas–Conchucos)
| 2='''[[Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga Quechua|Alto Pativilca–Alto Marañón–Alto Huallaga]]'''
| 3='''[[Yaru Quechua|Yaru]]'''
| 4='''[[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]]''' (Jauja–Huanca)
| 5='''[[Yauyos–Chincha Quechua|Yauyos–Chincha]]''' (Huangáscar–Topará)
}}
| 2=[[Pacaraos Quechua|Pacaraos]]
}}
| label2= Quechua II 
| 2={{Clade
| label1=''' [[Cajamarca–Cañaris Quechua|Cajamarca–Cañaris]] ''' (Quechua II-A, reduced)
| 1={{Clade
| 1=[[Lambayeque Quechua|Lambayeque]] (Cañaris)
| 2=[[Cajamarca Quechua|Cajamarca]]
}}
| label2=(Quechua II-A split)
| 2=[[Lincha Quechua|Lincha]]
| label3=(Quechua II-A split)
| 3=Laraos
| 4={{Clade
| label1= Northern Quechua  (Quechua II-B)
| 1={{Clade
| 1='''[[Kichwa language|Kichwa]]''' ("Ecuadorian" or Highlands and Oriente)
| 2=[[Chachapoyas Quechua|Chachapoyas]] (Amazonas)
| 3=[[Lamas Quechua|Lamas]] (San Martín)
}}
| label2= '''[[Southern Quechua]]''' (Quechua II-C)
| 2={{Clade
| 1=[[Ayacucho Quechua|Ayacucho]]
| 2=[[Cusco Quechua|Cusco]]
| 3=[[Puno Quechua|Puno]] (Collao)
| 4=[[North Bolivian Quechua|Northern Bolivian]] (Apolo)
| 5=[[South Bolivian Quechua|Southern Bolivia]]
| 6=[[Santiagueño Quechua|Santiago del Estero]]}}
}} }}
}} }}

Landerman (1991) does not believe a truly genetic classification is possible and divides Quechua II so that the family has four geographical–typological branches: Northern, North Peruvian, Central, and Southern. He includes Chachapoyas and Lamas in North Peruvian Quechua so Ecuadorian is synonymous with Northern Quechua.<ref>Peter Landerman, 1991. ''Quechua dialects and their classification.'' PhD dissertation, UCLA</ref>

===Geographical distribution===
Quechua I (Central Quechua, ''Waywash'') is spoken in Peru's central highlands, from the [[Ancash Region]] to [[Huancayo]]. It is the most diverse branch of Quechua,<ref>Lyle Campbell, ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 189</ref> to the extent that its divisions are commonly considered different languages.

Quechua II (Peripheral Quechua, ''Wamp'una'' "Traveler")
*II-A: Yunkay Quechua (North Peruvian Quechua) is scattered in Peru's occidental highlands
*II-B: Northern Quechua (also known as ''Runashimi'' or, especially in Ecuador, [[Kichwa language|''Kichwa'']]) is mainly spoken in Colombia and Ecuador. It is also spoken in the Amazonian lowlands of Colombia, Ecuador, and in pockets in Peru
*II-C: [[Southern Quechua]], in the highlands further south, from [[Huancavelica]] through the [[Ayacucho]], [[Cusco]], and [[Puno]] regions of [[Peru]], across much of [[Bolivia]], and in pockets in north-western [[Argentina]]. It is the most influential branch, with the largest number of speakers and the most important cultural and literary legacy.

===Cognates===
This is a sampling of words in several Quechuan languages:{{Pronunciation needed}}

{| class="wikitable"
|
! [[Ancash Quechua|Ancash]] (I)
! [[Wanka Quechua|Wanka]] ([[Quechua I|I]])
! [[Cajamarca Quechua|Cajamarca]] ([[Quechua II-A|II-A]])
! [[Lamas Quechua|San Martin]] (II-B)
! [[Kichwa language|Kichwa]] (II-B)
! [[Ayacucho Quechua|Ayacucho]] (II-C)
! [[Cusco Quechua|Cusco]] (II-C)
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'one'
| huk [uk~huk]
| suk, huk [suk], [huk]
| suq [soχ]
| suk [suk]
| shuk [ʃuk]
| huk [huk]
| huk [hoχ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'two'
| ishkay [ɪʃkeˑ ~ ɪʃkɐj]
| ishkay [iʃkaj]
| ishkay [ɪʃkɐj]
| ishkay [iʃkaj]
| ishkay [iʃki ~ iʃkaj]
| iskay [iskæj]
| iskay [iskæj]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'ten'
| chunka [ʈ͡ʂʊŋkɐ ~ t͡ʃʊŋkɐ]
| ćhunka [ʈ͡ʂuŋka]
| ch'unka [ʈ͡ʂʊŋgɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋga]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋgɐ ~ t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
| chunka [t͡ʃuŋkɐ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'sweet'
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| mishki [mɪʃkɪ]
| miski [mɪskɪ]
| misk'i [mɪskʼɪ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'white'
| yuraq [jʊɾɑq ~ jʊɾɑχ]
| yulaq [julah ~ julaː]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
| yurak [jʊɾak]
| yurak [jʊɾax ~ jʊɾak]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
| yuraq [jʊɾɑχ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'he gives'
| qun [qoŋ ~ χoŋ ~ ʁoŋ]
| qun [huŋ ~ ʔuŋ]
| qun [qoŋ]
| kun [kuŋ]
| kun [kuŋ]
| qun [χoŋ]
| qun [qoŋ]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! 'yes'
| awmi [oːmi~ɐwmɪ]
| aw [aw]
| ari [ɐɾi]
| ari [aɾi]
| ari [aɾi]
| arí [ɐˈɾi]
| arí [ɐˈɾi]
|}

===Quechua and Aymara===
Quechua shares a large amount of vocabulary, and some striking structural parallels, with [[Aymara language|Aymara]], and the two families have sometimes been grouped together as a '[[Quechumaran languages|Quechumaran family]]'. That hypothesis is generally rejected by specialists, however. The parallels are better explained by mutual influence and borrowing through intensive and longterm contact. Many Quechua–Aymara cognates are close, often closer than intra-Quechua cognates, and there is little relationship in the [[affix]]al system.

==Vocabulary==
A number of Quechua [[loanword]]s have entered [[English language|English]] via [[Spanish language|Spanish]], including ''[[coca]]'', ''[[condor]]'', ''[[guano]]'', ''[[jerky]]'', ''[[llama]]'', ''[[puma (genus)|puma]]'', ''[[quinine]]'', ''[[quinoa]]'', ''[[vicuña]]'', and, possibly, ''[[gaucho]]''. The word ''[[lagniappe]]'' comes from the Quechuan word ''yapay'' ("to increase; to add") with the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] article ''la'' in front of it, ''la yapa'' or ''la ñapa'' in Spanish.

The influence on Latin American Spanish includes such borrowings as ''papa'' for "potato", ''chuchaqui'' for "hangover" in [[Ecuador]], and diverse borrowings for "[[altitude sickness]]", in [[Bolivia]] from Quechuan ''suruqch'i'' to Bolivian ''sorojchi'', in [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], and [[Peru]] ''soroche''.
In Bolivia, particularly, Quechua words are used extensively even by non-Quechua speakers. These include wawa (baby, infant), ch'aki (hangover), misi (cat), juk'ucho (mouse), q'omer uchu (green pepper), jacu ("lets go"), chhiri and chhurco (curly haired), among many others. Quechua grammar also enters Bolivian Spanish, such as the use of the suffix -ri. In Bolivian Quechua, -ri is added to verbs to signify an action is performed with affection or, in the imperative, as a rough equivalent to please. In Bolivia -ri is often included in the Spanish imperative to imply "please" or to soften commands. For example, the standard "pásame" (pass me), becomes pasarime.

Quechua has borrowed a large number of [[Spanish language|Spanish]] words, such as ''piru'' (from ''pero'', but), ''bwenu'' (from ''bueno'', good), iskwila (from "escuela," school), waka (from "vaca," cow) and ''burru'' (from ''burro'', donkey).

===Etymology of Quechua===
At first, Spaniards referred to the language of the Inca empire as the ''lengua general'', the ''general language''. The name ''quichua'' is first used in 1560 by [[Domingo de Santo Tomás]] in his ''Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los indios de los reynos del Perú''.<ref name=Adelaar179>Adelaar 2004, p. 179.</ref> It is not known what name the native speakers gave to their language before colonial times and whether it was Spaniards who called it ''quechua''.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

There are two possible etymologies of Quechua as the name of the language. There is a possibility that the name Quechua was derived from ''*qiĉ.wa'', the native word which originally meant the "temperate valley" altitude ecological zone in the Andes (suitable for maize cultivation) and to its inhabitants.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

Alternatively, [[Pedro Cieza de León]] and [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]], the early Spanish chroniclers, mention the existence of a people called Quichua in the present [[Apurímac Region]], and it could be inferred that their name was given to the entire language.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

The Hispanicised spellings ''Quechua'' and ''Quichua'' have been used in Peru and Bolivia since the 17th century, especially after the [[Third Council of Lima]]. Today, the various local pronunciations of "Quechua Simi" include {{IPA-qu|ˈqʰeʃwa ˈsimi|}}, {{IPA-qu|ˈχetʃwa ˈʃimi|}}, {{IPA-qu|ˈkitʃwa ˈʃimi|}}, and {{IPA-qu|ˈʔitʃwa ˈʃimi|}}.

Another name that native speakers give to their own language is ''runa simi'', "language of man/people"; it also seems to have emerged during the colonial period.<ref name=Adelaar179/>

==Phonology==
The description below applies to the [[Cusco Quechua]]; there are significant differences in other varieties of Quechua.

===Vowels===
Quechua uses only three vowel phonemes: {{IPA|/a/}} {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}}, as in Aymara (including Jaqaru). Monolingual speakers pronounce them as {{IPA|[æ, ɪ, ʊ]}} respectively, but [[Spanish language|Spanish]] realizations {{IPA|[ä, i, u]}} may also be used. When the vowels appear adjacent to the uvular consonants {{IPA|/q/}}, {{IPA|/qʼ/}}, and {{IPA|/qʰ/}}, they are rendered more like {{IPA|[ɑ]}}, {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}} respectively.

===Consonants===
{| class="IPA wikitable"
|-
! colspan=2|
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]/ [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|m
|n
|ɲ
|
|
|
|- align=center
! rowspan=3| [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! plain
|p
|t
|tʃ
|k
|q
|
|- align=center
! [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]
|pʰ
|tʰ
|tʃʰ
|kʰ
|qʰ
|
|- align=center
! [[ejective consonant|ejective]]
|p’
|t’
|tʃ’
|k’
|q’
|
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|
| s
|
|
|
| h
|- align=center
! rowspan=2|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! [[Central consonant|central]]
|
|
|j
|w
|
|
|- align=center
! [[Lateral consonant|lateral]]
|
|l
|ʎ
|
|
|
|- align=center
! colspan=2|[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|ɾ
|
|
|
|
|}

No plosive or fricative is voiced, and voicing is not [[phoneme|phonemic]] in the Quechua native vocabulary of the modern Cusco variety.

{{Listen|filename=qu-pata_phata_p'ata.ogg|title=Voiceless bilabial plosives|description=Pronunciation of [[voiceless bilabial plosive]] phonemes in Quechua|format=[[Ogg]]}}

About 30% of the modern Quechua vocabulary is borrowed from Spanish, and some Spanish sounds (e.g. f, b, d, g) may have become phonemic even among monolingual Quechua speakers.

Aspirated and ejective renderings of consonants are not phonemic in some varieties of Quechua. Others use only plain /p/, /t/, /t͡ʃ/, and /k/.

===Stress===
Stress is penultimate in most dialects of Quechua. In some varieties, the [[apocope]] of word-final vowels or other factors may cause exceptional final stress, as the syllable remains stressed there.

==Orthogaphy==
{{main|Quechua alphabet}}
{{further|Southern Quechua#Standard Quechua|l1=Southern Quechua § Standard Quechua}}

Quechua has been written using the Roman alphabet since the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]]. However, written Quechua is not rarely much(?) by Quechua-speakers because of the lack of printed referential material in Quechua.

Until the 20th century, Quechua was written with a Spanish-based [[orthography]]. Examples ''Inca, Huayna Cápac, Collasuyo, Mama Ocllo, Viracocha, quipu, tambo, condor''. That orthography is the most familiar to Spanish speakers and sohas been used for most borrowings into English.

In 1975, the Peruvian government of [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] adopted a new orthography for Quechua. That is the system preferred by the [[Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua]]: ''Inka, Wayna Qhapaq, Qollasuyu, Mama Oqllo, Wiraqocha, khipu, tampu, kuntur''. The orthography has these features:
* It uses '''w''' instead of ''hu'' for {{IPA|/w/}}.
* It distinguishes velar ''k'' from uvular ''q'', but both were spelled ''c'' or ''qu'' in the traditional system.
* It distinguishes simple, ejective, and aspirated stops in dialects (such as that of the [[Cusco Region]]) with them, like ''khipu'' above.
* It continues to use the Spanish five-vowel system.

In 1985, a variation of this system was adopted by the Peruvian government; it uses the Quechuan three-vowel system: ''Inka, Wayna Qhapaq, Qullasuyu, Mama Uqllu, Wiraqucha, khipu, tampu, kuntur''.

The different orthographies are still highly controversial in Peru. Advocates of the traditional system believe that the new orthographies look too foreign and suggest that it makes Quechua harder to learn for people who have first been exposed to written Spanish. Those who prefer the new system maintain that it better matches the phonology of Quechua, and they point to studies showing that teaching the five-vowel system to children later causes reading difficulties in Spanish.

For more on this, see [[Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift]].

Writers differ in the treatment of Spanish loanwords. Sometimes, they are adapted to the modern orthography, and sometimes, they are left as in Spanish. For instance, "I am Roberto" could be written ''Robertom kani'' or ''Ruwirtum kani''. (The ''-m'' is not part of the name; it is an evidential suffix.)

The Peruvian linguist [[Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino]] has proposed an orthographic norm for all [[Southern Quechua]]: Standard Quechua (''el Quechua estándar'' or ''Hanan Runasimi'') conservatively integrates features of two widespread dialects, [[Ayacucho Quechua]] and [[Cusco Quechua]]. For instance:<ref>To listen to recordings of them and many other words, as pronounced in many different Quechua-speaking regions, see the external website [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds The Sounds of the Andean Languages]. There is also a full section on the new [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds/Home/HomeSpelling.htm Quechua and Aymara Spelling].</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Ayacucho
!Cusco
!Standard Quechua
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| to drink
| upyay
| uhyay
| upyay
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| fast
| utqa
| usqha
| utqha
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| to work
| llamkay
| llank'ay
| llamk'ay
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| we (inclusive)
| ñuqanchik
| nuqanchis
| ñuqanchik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| (progressive suffix)
| -chka-
| -sha-
| -chka-
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
| day
| punchaw
| p'unchay
| p'unchaw
|}

==Grammar==

===Morphological type===
All varieties of Quechua are very regular [[agglutinative language]]s, as opposed to [[isolating language|isolating]] or [[fusional language|fusional]] ones. Their normal sentence order is SOV ([[subject–object–verb]]). Their large number of [[suffix]]es changes both the overall significance of words and their subtle shades of meaning. Notable grammatical features include bipersonal [[grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] (verbs agree with both subject and object), [[evidentiality]] (indication of the source and veracity of knowledge), a set of [[topic (linguistics)|topic]] [[grammatical particle|particles]], and suffixes indicating who benefits from an action and the speaker's attitude toward it, but some languages and varieties may lack some of the characteristics.

===Pronouns===
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; background:#f9f9f9; border:1px gray solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:95%; vertical-align:center;"
| colspan=2 rowspan=2 style="background:white;border-top:2px white solid;border-right:1px solid gray;border-bottom:1px solid gray;border-left:2px white solid;"|
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; background:#9fb6cd;"|<big>'''Number'''</big>
|- style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"
||'''''Singular'''''
||'''''Plural'''''
|-
| rowspan=3 style="background:#9FB6CD"|<big>'''Person'''</big>
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''First'''''
|Ñuqa
|Ñuqanchik ''(inclusive)''
Ñuqayku ''(exclusive)''
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''Second'''''
|Qam
|Qamkuna
|-
| style="text-align:center; background:#b9d3ee;"|'''''Third'''''
|Pay
|Paykuna
|}
In Quechua, there are seven [[pronoun]]s. Quechua has two first-person plural pronouns ("we" in English). One is called the [[clusivity|inclusive]], which is used if the speaker wishes to include the [[addressee]] ("we and you"). The other form is called the exclusive, which is used when the addressee is excluded ("we without you"). Quechua also adds the suffix ''-kuna'' to the second and third person singular pronouns ''qam'' and ''pay'' to create the plural forms, ''qam-kuna'' and ''pay-kuna''.

===Adjectives===
[[Adjective]]s in Quechua are always placed before nouns. They lack gender and number and are not declined to agree with [[noun|substantives]].

===Numbers===
*[[Cardinal number (linguistics)|Cardinal number]]s. ''ch'usaq'' (0), ''huk'' (1), ''iskay'' (2), ''kimsa'' (3), ''tawa'' (4), ''pichqa'' (5), ''suqta'' (6), ''qanchis'' (7), ''pusaq'' (8), ''isqun'' (9), ''chunka'' (10), ''chunka hukniyuq'' (11), ''chunka iskayniyuq'' (12), ''iskay chunka'' (20), ''pachak'' (100), ''waranqa'' (1,000), ''hunu'' (1,000,000), ''lluna'' (1,000,000,000,000).
*Ordinal numbers. To form ordinal numbers, the word ''ñiqin'' is put after the appropriate cardinal number (''iskay ñiqin'' = "second"). The only exception is that, in addition to ''huk ñiqin'' ("first"), the phrase ''ñawpaq'' is also used in the somewhat more restricted sense of "the initial, primordial, the oldest".

===Nouns===
[[Noun]] roots accept suffixes that indicate [[grammatical person|person]] (defining of possession, not identity), [[grammatical number|number]], and [[grammatical case|case]]. In general, the personal suffix precedes that of number. In the [[Santiago del Estero]] variety, however, the order is reversed.<ref>
{{cite web
|first = Jorge R.
|last = Alderetes
|title = Morfoligía Nominal del Quechua Santiagueño
|year = 1997
|id=
|isbn=
|url=http://usuarios.arnet.com.ar/yanasu/Cap3-1.htm
}}</ref> From variety to variety, suffixes may change.

{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
|+ Examples using the word ''wasi'' (house)''
! colspan=2 | Function
! Suffix
! Example
! (translation)
|-
| suffix indicating number
| plural
| -kuna
| wasi'''kuna'''
| houses
|-
| rowspan=7 | possessive suffix
| 1.person singular
| -y, -:
| wasi'''y''', wasi'''i'''
| my house
|-
| ''2.person singular''
| -yki
| wasi'''yki'''
| your house
|-
| ''3.person singular''
| -n
| wasi'''n'''
| his/her/its house
|-
| ''1.person plural (incl)''
| -nchik
| wasi'''nchik'''
| our house (incl.)
|-
| ''1.person plural (excl)''
| -y-ku
| wasi'''yku'''
| our house (excl.)
|-
| ''2.person plural''
| -yki-chik
| wasi'''ykichik'''
| your (pl.) house
|-
| ''3.person plural''
| -n-ku
| wasi'''nku'''
| their house
|-
| rowspan=19 | suffixes indicating case
| [[Nominative case|nominative]]
| –
| wasi
| the house (subj.)
|-
| [[Accusative case|accusative]]
| -(k)ta
| wasi'''ta'''
| the house (obj.)
|-
| [[Instrumental case|instrumental]]
| -wan
| wasi'''wan'''
| with the house, and the house
|-
| [[Abessive case|abessive]]
| -naq
| wasi'''naq'''
| without the house
|-
| [[Dative case|dative]]
| -paq
| wasi'''paq'''
| to the house
|-
| [[Genitive case|genitive]]
| -p(a)
| wasi'''p(a)'''
| of the house
|-
| [[Causative case|causative]]
| -rayku
| wasi'''rayku'''
| because of the house
|-
| [[Benefactive case|benefactive]]
| -paq
| wasi'''paq'''
| for the house
|-
| [[Locative case|locative]]
| -pi
| wasi'''pi'''
| at the house
|-
| [[Allative case|directional]]
| -man
| wasi'''man'''
| towards the house
|-
| [[Inclusive case|inclusive]]
| -piwan, puwan
| wasi'''piwan''', wasi'''puwan'''
| including the house
|-
| [[Terminative case|terminative]]
| -kama, -yaq
| wasi'''kama''', wasi'''yaq'''
| up to the house
|-
| [[Perlative case|transitive]]
| -(rin)ta
| wasi'''nta'''
| through the house
|-
| [[Ablative case|ablative]]
| -manta, -piqta
| wasi'''manta''', wasi'''piqta'''
| off/from the house
|-
| [[Comitative case|comitative]]
| -(ni)ntin
| wasi'''ntin'''
| along with the house
|-
| [[Immediate case|immediate]]
| -raq
| wasi'''raq'''
| first the house
|-
| [[Intrative case|intrative]]
| -pura
| wasi'''pura'''
| among the houses
|-
| [[Exclusive case|exclusive]]
| -lla(m)
| wasi'''lla(m)'''
| only the house
|-
| [[Comparative case|comparative]]
| -naw, -hina
| wasi'''naw''', wasi'''hina'''
| than the house
|}

===Adverbs===
[[Adverb]]s can be formed by adding ''-ta'' or, in some cases, ''-lla'' to an adjective: ''allin – allinta'' ("good – well"), ''utqay – utqaylla'' ("quick – quickly"). They are also formed by adding suffixes to [[demonstrative]]s: ''chay'' ("that") – ''chaypi'' ("there"), ''kay'' ("this") – ''kayman'' ("hither").

There are several original adverbs. For Europeans, it is striking that the adverb ''qhipa'' means both "behind" and "future" and ''ñawpa'' means "ahead, in front" and "past".<ref>This occurs in English, where "before" means "in the past", and Shakespeare's Macbeth says "The greatest is behind", meaning in the future.</ref> Local and temporal concepts of adverbs in Quechua (as well as in [[Aymara language|Aymara]]) are associated to each other reversely, compared to European languages. For the speakers of Quechua, we are moving backwards into the future (we cannot see it: it is unknown), facing the past (we can see it: it is remembered).

===Verbs===
The infinitive forms (unconjugated) have the suffix ''-y'' (''much'a''= "kiss"; ''much'a-y'' = "to kiss"). These are the endings for the indicative:
{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
!
! Present
! Past
! Future
! [[Pluperfect]]
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqa
| -ni
| -rqa-ni
| -saq
| -sqa-ni
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Qam
| -nki
| -rqa-nki
| -nki
| -sqa-nki
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Pay
| -n
| -rqa(-n)
| -nqa
| -sqa
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqanchik
| -nchik
| -rqa-nchik
| -su-nchik
| -sqa-nchik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Ñuqayku
| -yku
| -rqa-yku
| -saq-ku
| -sqa-yku
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Qamkuna
| -nki-chik
| -rqa-nki-chik
| -nki-chik
| -sqa-nki-chik
|- style="background:#f0f8ff;"
! Paykuna
| -n-ku
| -rqa-(n)ku
| -nqa-ku
| -sqa-ku
|}

The suffixes shown in the table above usually indicate the [[grammatical subject|subject]]; the person of the [[grammatical object|object]] is also indicated by a suffix (''-a-'' for first person and ''-su-'' for second person), which precedes the suffixes in the table. In such cases, the plural suffixes from the table (''-chik'' and ''-ku'') can be used to express the number of the object rather than the subject.

Various suffixes are added to the stem to change the meaning. For example, ''-chi'' is a causative and ''-ku'' is a reflexive (example: ''wañuy'' = "to die"; ''wañuchiy'' = to kill ''wañuchikuy'' = "to commit suicide"); ''-naku'' is used for mutual action (example: ''marq'ay''= "to hug"; ''marq'anakuy''= "to hug each other"), and ''-chka'' is a progressive, used for an ongoing action (e.g., ''mikhuy'' = "to eat"; ''mikhuchkay'' = "to be eating").

===Grammatical particles===
[[Grammatical particle|Particles]] are indeclinable: they do not accept suffixes. They are relatively rare, but the most common are ''arí'' ("yes") and ''mana'' ("no"), although ''mana'' can take some suffixes, such as ''-n''/''-m'' (''manan''/''manam''), ''-raq'' (''manaraq'', not yet) and ''-chu'' (''manachu?'', or not?), to intensify the meaning. Also used are ''yaw'' ("hey", "hi"), and certain loan words from Spanish, such as ''piru'' (from Spanish ''pero'' "but") and ''sinuqa'' (from ''sino'' "rather").

===Evidentiality===
The Quechua languages have three different morphemes that mark [[evidentiality]]. Evidentiality refers to a morpheme whose primary purpose is to indicate the source of information.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 3.</ref> In the Quechua languages, evidentiality is a three-term system: there are three evidential morphemes that mark varying levels of source information. The markers can apply to the first, second, and third persons.<ref name="Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377">Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377.</ref> The chart below depicts an example of these morphemes from the Wanka Quechua language:<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 42.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Evidential morphemes ||''-m(i)'' || ''-chr(a)'' || ''-sh(i)''
|-
| Meaning || Direct evidence || Inferred; conjecture || Reported; hearsay
|}

The parentheses around the vowels indicate that the vowel can be dropped in when following an open vowel. For the sake of cohesiveness, the above forms are used to discuss the evidential morphemes. However, it should be noted that there are dialectal variations to the forms. The variations will be presented in the following descriptions.

The following sentences provide examples of the three evidentials and further discuss the meaning behind each of them.

'''<big>''-m(i)'' : Direct evidence and commitment</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 60.</ref>'''

Regional variations: In the Cuzco dialect, the direct evidential presents itself as ''–mi'' and ''–n''.

The evidential ''–mi'' indicates that the speaker has a “strong personal conviction the veracity of the circumstance expressed.” <ref>Floyd 1999, p. 57.</ref> It has the basis of direct personal experience.

Wanka Quechua <ref>Floyd 1999, p. 61.</ref>
{|
|-
|''ñawi-i-wan-'''mi''''' ||''lika-la-a''
|-
| eye-1P-with-DIR || see-PST-1
|}
I saw them with my own eyes.

'''<big>''-chr(a)'' : Inference and attenuation</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 95.</ref>'''

In Quechua languages, not specified by the source, the inference morpheme appears as ''–ch(i), -ch(a), -chr(a)''.

The ''–chr(a)'' evidential indicates that the utterance is an inference or form of conjecture. That inference relays the speaker’s non-commitment to the truth-value of the statement. It also appears in cases such as acquiescence, irony, interrogative constructions, and first person inferences. These uses constitute nonprototypical use and will be later discussed in the ''changes in meaning and other uses'' section.

Wanka Quechua<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 103.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''kuti-mu-n'a-qa-'''chr''''' || ''ni-ya-ami''
|-
| return-AFAR-3FUT-now-CONJ || say-IMPV-1-DIR
|}
I think they will probably come back.

'''<big>''-sh(i)'' : Hearsay</big><ref>Floyd 1999, p. 123.</ref>'''

Regional variations: It can appear as ''–sh(i)'' or ''–s(i)'' depending on the dialect.

With the use of this morpheme, the speaker "serves as a conduit through which information from another source passes." The information being related is hearsay or revelatory in nature. It also works to express the uncertainty of the speaker regarding the situation. However, it also appears in other constructions that are discussed in the ''changes in meaning'' section.

Wanka Quechua<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 127.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''shanti-'''sh''''' || ''prista-ka-mu-la''
|-
| Shanti-REP || borrow-REF-AFAR-PST
|}
(I was told) Shani borrowed it.

Hintz discusses an interesting case of evidential behavior found in Sihaus Quechua. The author postulates that instead of three single evidential markers, that Quechua language contains three pairs of evidential markers.<ref>Hintz 1999, p. 1.</ref>

'''<big>Affix or clitic</big>'''

It may have been noted the evidential morphemes have been referred to as markers or morphemes. The literature seems to differ on whether or not the evidential morphemes are acting as affixes or clitics, in come cases, such as Wanka Quechua, enclitics. Lefebvre and Muysken (1998) discuss this issue in terms of case but remark the line between affix and clitic is not clear.<ref>Lefebvre & Muysken 1998, p. 89.</ref> Both terms are used interchangeably throughout these sections.

'''<big>Position in the sentence</big>'''

The evidentials in the Quechua languages are "second position enclitics" that attach to the first constituent in the sentence as shown in the examples below.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 68-69.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''huk-'''si''''' || ''ka-sqa'' || ''huk'' || ''machucha-piwan'' || ''payacha''
|-
| once-REP || be-SD || one || old.man-WITH || woman
|}
Once, there were an old man and an old woman.

They can also occur on a focused constituent.
{|
|-
| ''Pidru'' || ''kunana-'''mi''''' || ''wasi-ta'' || ''tuwa-sha-n''
|-
| Pedro || now-DIR.EV || house-ACC || build-PROG-3SG
|}
It is now that Pedro is building the house.

Sometimes, the affix is described as attaching to the focus, especially when in reference to Tarma Quechua,<ref>Weber 1986, p. 145.</ref> but that does not hold true for all varieties of Quechua. In Huanuco Quechua. The evidentials follow any number of topics, marked by the topic marker ''–qa'', and the element with the evidential must precede the main verb or be the main verb.

However, there are exceptions to that rule as well. The more topics there are in a sentence, the more likely to deviate from the usual form.
{|
|-
| ''Chawrana-qa'' || ''puntataruu-qu'' || ''trayaruptin-qa'' || ''wamrata-qa'' || ''mayna-'''shi''''' || ''Diosninchi-qa'' || ''heqarkaykachisha'' || ''syelutana-shi''
|-
| so:already-TOP || at:the:peak-TOP || arriving-TOP || child-TOP || already-IND || our:God-TOP || had:taken:her:up || to:heaven:already-IND
|}
When she (the witch) reached the peak, God had already taken the child up into heaven.

'''<big>Changes in meaning and other uses</big>'''

Evidentials can be used to relay different meanings depending on the context and perform other functions. The following examples are restricted to Wanka Quechua.

'''''The direct evidential, -mi'''''

The direct evidential appears in wh-questions and yes/no questions. By considering the direct evidential in terms of prototypical semantics, it seems somewhat counterintuitive to have a direct evidential, basically an evidential that confirms the speaker’s certainty about a topic, in a question. However, if one focuses less on the structure and more on the situation, some sense can be made. The speaker is asking the addressee for information so the speaker assumes the speaker knows the answer. That assumption is whey the direct evidential comes into play. The speaker holds a certain amount of certainty that the addressee will know the answer. The speaker interprets the addressee as being in "direct relation" to the proposed content; the situation is the same as when, in regular sentences, the speaker assumes direct relation to the proposed information.<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 87.</ref>
{|
|-
| ''imay-'''mi''''' || ''wankayuu-pu'' || ''kuti-mu-la''
|-
| when-DIR || Huancayo-ABL || return-AFAR-PAST
|}
When did he come back from Huancayo?

(Floyd 199, p. 85)

The direct evidential affix is also seen in yes/no questions, similar to the situation with wh-questions. Floyd describes yes/no questions as being "characterized as instructions to the addressee to assert one of the propositions of a disjunction."<ref>Floyd 1999, p. 89.</ref> Once again, the burden of direct evidence is being placed on the addressee, not on the speaker. The question marker in Wanka Quechua, ''-chun'', is derived from the negative –chu marker and the direct evidential (realized as –n in some dialects).
{|
|-
| ''tarma-kta'' || ''li-n-'''chun'''''
|-
| Tarma-ACC || go-3-YN
|}
Is he going to Tarma?

(Floyd 1999, p. 89)

'''''The inferential evidential, -chr(a)'''''

While ''–chr(a)'' is usually used in an inferential context, it has some non-prototypical uses.

''Mild Exhortation''

In these constructions the evidential works to reaffirm and encourage the addressee’s actions or thoughts.
{|
|-
| ''mas'' || ''kalu-kuna-kta'' || ''li-la-a'' || ''ni-nki-'''chra'''-ri''
|-
| more || far-PL-ACC || go-PST-1 || say-2-CONJ-EMPH
|}
Yes, tell them, "I've gone farther."

(Floyd 1999, p. 107)

This example comes from a conversation between husband and wife,discussing the reactions of their family and friends after they have been gone for a while. The husband says he plans to stretch the truth and tell them about distant places to which he has gone, and his wife (in the example above) echoes and encourages his thoughts.

''Acquiescence''

With these, the evidential is used to highlight the speaker’s assessment of inevitability of an event and acceptance of it. There is a sense of resistance, diminished enthusiasm, and disinclination in these constructions.
{|
|-
| ''paaga-lla-shrayki-'''chra'''-a''
|-
| pay-POL-1›2FUT-CONJ-EMPH
|}
I suppose I'll pay you then.

(Floyd 1999, p. 109)

This example comes from a discourse where a woman demands compensation from the man (the speaker in the example) whose pigs ruined her potatoes. He denies the pigs as being his but finally realizes he may be responsible and produces the above example.

''Interrogative''

Somewhat similar to the ''–mi'' evidential, the inferential evidential can be found in content questions. However, the salient difference between the uses of the evidentials in questions is that in the ''–m(i)'' marked questions, an answer is expected. That is not the case with ''–chr(a)'' marked questions.
{|
|-
| ''ima-lla-kta-'''chr''''' || ''u-you-shrun'' || ''llapa'' || ''ayllu-kuna-kta-si'' || ''chra-alu-l''
|-
| what-LIM-ACC-CONJ || give-ASP-12FUT || all || family-PL-ACC-EVEN || arrive-ASP-SS
|}
I wonder what we will give our families when we arrive.

(Floyd 1999, p. 111)

''Irony''

Irony in language can be a somewhat complicated topic in how it functions differently in languages,and by its semantic nature, it is already somewhat vague. For these purposes, it is suffice to say that when irony takes place in Wanka Quechua, the ''–chr(a)'' marker is used.

{|
|-
| ''chay-nuu-pa-'''chr''''' || ''yachra-nki''
|-
| that-SIM-GEN-CONJ || know-2
|}
(I suppose) That's how you learn [that is the way in which you will learn].

(Floyd 199, p. 115)

This example comes from discourse between a father and daughter about her refusal to attend school. It can be interpreted as a genuine statement (perhaps one can learn by resisting school) or as an ironic statement (that is an absurd idea).

'''''Hearsay evidential, -sh(i)'''''

Aside from being used to express hearsay and revelation, this affix also has other uses.

''Folktales, myths, and legends''

Because folktales, myths, and legends are, in essence, reported speech, it follows that the hearsay marker would be used with them. Many of these types of stories are passed down through generations, furthering this aspect of reported speech. A difference between simple hearsay and folktales can be seen in the frequency of the ''–sh(i)'' marker. In normal conversation using reported speech, the marker is used less, to avoid redundancy.

''Riddles''

Riddles are somewhat similar to myths and folktales in that their nature is to be passed by word of mouth.
{|
|-
| ''ima-lla-'''shi''''' || ''ayka-lla-'''sh''''' || ''juk'' || ''machray-chru'' || ''puñu-ya-n'' || ''puka'' || ''waaka''
|-
| what-LIM-REP || how^much-LIM-REP || one || cave-LOC || sleep-IMPF-3 || red || cow
|}

(Floyd 1999, p. 142)

'''<big>Omission and overuse of evidential affixes</big>'''

In certain grammatical structures, the evidential marker does not appear at all. In all Quechuan languages the evidential will not appear in a dependent clause. Sadly, no example was given to depict this omission.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 72.</ref>
Omissions occur in Quechua. The sentence is understood to have the same evidentiality as the other sentences in the context. Quechuan speakers vary as to how much they omit evidentials, but they occur only in connected speech.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 79.</ref>

An interesting contrast to omission of evidentials is overuse of evidentials. If a speaker uses evidentials too much with no reason, competence is brought into question. For example, the overuse of –m(i) could lead others to believe that the speaker is not a native speaker or, in some extreme cases, that one is mentally ill.<ref name="Aikhenvald 2004, p. 377"/>

'''<big>Cultural aspect</big>'''

By using evidentials, the Quechua culture has certain assumptions about the information being relayed. Those who do not abide by the cultural customs should not be trusted. A passage from Weber (1986) summarizes them nicely below:
# (Only) one’s experience is reliable.
# Avoid unnecessary risk by assuming responsibility for information of which one is not absolutely certain.
# Do not be gullible. There are many folktales in which the villain is foiled by his gullibility.
#Assume responsibility only if it is safe to do so. Successful assumption of responsibility builds stature in the community.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 358.</ref>

Evidentials also show that being precise and stating the source of one’s information is extremely important in the language and the culture. Failure to use them correctly can lead to diminished standing in the community. Speakers are aware of the evidentials and even use proverbs to teach children the importance of being precise and truthful. Precision and information source are of the utmost importance. They are a powerful and resourceful method of human communication.<ref>Aikhenvald 2004, p. 380.</ref>

==Literature==
Although the body of literature in Quechua is not as sizable as its historical and current prominence would suggest, it is nevertheless not negligible.

As in the case of the [[List of pre-Columbian cultures|pre-Columbian Mesoamerica]], there are a number of surviving Andean documents in the local language that were written down in Latin characters after the European conquest, but they express, to a great extent, the culture of pre-Conquest times. That type of Quechua literature is somewhat scantier, but nevertheless significant. It includes the so-called [[Huarochirí Manuscript]] (1598), describing the mythology and religion of the valley of [[Huarochirí Province|Huarochirí]] as well as Quechua poems quoted within the Spanish-language texts of some chronicles dealing with the pre-Conquest period. There are a number of anonymous or signed Quechua dramas dating from the post-conquest period (starting from the 17th century), some of which deal with the Inca era, while most are on religious topics and of European inspiration. The most famous dramas is ''[[Ollantay]]'' and the plays describing the death of [[Atahualpa]]. For example, [[Juan de Espinosa Medrano]] wrote several dramas in the language. Poems in Quechua were also composed during the colonial period.<ref name=adelaar254/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert_beer/history.htm |title=History |publisher=Homepage.ntlworld.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-09}}</ref>

Dramas and poems continued to be written in the 19th and especially in 20th centuries as well; in addition, in the 20th century and more recently, more prose has been published. While some of that literature consists of original compositions (poems and dramas), the bulk of 20th century Quechua literature consists of traditional folk stories and oral narratives.<ref name=adelaar254>Adelaar 2004, pp. 254–256.</ref> [[Johnny Payne]] has translated two sets of Quechua oral short stories, one into Spanish and the other into English.

Many Andean musicians write and sing in their native languages, including Quechua and Aymara. Notable musical groups are [[Los Kjarkas]], [[Kala Marka]], [[J'acha Mallku]], [[Savia Andina]], Wayna Picchu, Wara and many others.

==In popular culture==
* The 1961 Peruvian film ''[[Kukuli]]'' was the first film to be spoken in the Quechua language.<ref name="latinosinlondon">{{cite web |url=http://latinosinlondon.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/kukuli/ |title=Film Kukuli (Cuzco-Peru) |accessdate=2012-11-10 |work=Latinos in London}}</ref>
* In ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]]'' the character [[Greedo]]'s native language, Rodian, is actually a simplified version of Quechua, which is shown in conversation with [[Han Solo]].
* The '90s TV series ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]'' included numerous references to the shamanism and spirituality of the Peruvian Chopec as well as including many Quechua words in several episodes.
* The sport retailer [[Decathlon Group]] brands their mountain equipment range as ''[[Quechua (brand)|Quechua]]''.
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'', Indy has a dialogue in Quechua with Peruvians. He explains he learned the language in Mexico from a couple of the "guys" he met while briefly riding with [[Pancho Villa]]. This adventure was featured in the pilot episode of ''[[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles]]''. The guys were most likely Peruvian mercenaries recruited to the [[División del Norte]].
* In ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' books ''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]]'' and its sequel ''[[Prisoners of the Sun]]'', there are Quechua characters who are in league with the Inca and facilitate the abduction and incarceration of [[Professor Calculus]] at the Temple of the Sun for committing sacrilege by wearing the funerary bangle of [[List of The Adventures of Tintin characters#Rascar Capac|Rascar Capac]].
* In the [[collectible card game]] ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', monsters in the card series [[List of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards#Earthbound Immortals|Earthbound Immortals]] have their name originated from Quechua. In [[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's|the animated series]], Earthbound Immortals are described as powerful beasts sealed in [[Nazca Lines]], which each one of them represents.
* On the TV cartoon series ''[[The Emperor's New School]]'', the main and other characters have Quechua names as ''Kuzco'' ([[Cusco]], that means "navel of the world"), ''Pacha'' (ground) and ''Chicha'' ([[chicha]] is a kind of fermented maize "beer").
* In [[Da Vinci's Demons]], season 2 they meet a group of "Indians" who speak this language
* In Calle 13's song, Latin America (Grammy winner 2011 - the beginning there is a DJ introducing Calle 13 and the singer responds back in Quechuan, "this one is for you all" before starting)
*Ruanja, a language spoken in Mary Doria Russel's ''[[The Sparrow (novel)|The Sparrow]]'' is based on Quechua.

==See also==
*[[Andes]]
*[[Aymara language]]
*[[List of English words of Quechua origin|List of English words of Quechuan origin]]
*[[Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift]]
*[[South Bolivian Quechua]]
*[[Oto-Manguean languages]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* Rolph, Karen Sue. ''Ecologically Meaningful Toponyms: Linking a lexical domain to production ecology in the Peruvian Andes''. Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University, 2007.
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiwaUY6KsY8C&pg=PA179|title=The Languages of the Andes|isbn=9781139451123|author1=Adelaar|first1=Willem F. H|authorlink=Willem Adelaar|date=2004-06-10}}
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem]]. ''The Languages of the Andes''. With the collaboration of P.C. Muysken. Cambridge language survey. Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-36831-5
* Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. ''Lingüística Quechua'', Centro de Estudios Rurales Andinos 'Bartolomé de las Casas', 2nd ed. 2003
*Cole, Peter. "Imbabura Quechua", North-Holland (Lingua Descriptive Studies 5), Amsterdam 1982.
* Cusihuamán, Antonio, ''Diccionario Quechua Cuzco-Collao'', Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de Las Casas", 2001, ISBN 9972-691-36-5
* Cusihuamán, Antonio, ''Gramática Quechua Cuzco-Collao'', Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de Las Casas", 2001, ISBN 9972-691-37-3
* Mannheim, Bruce, ''The Language of the Inka since the European Invasion'', University of Texas Press, 1991, ISBN 0-292-74663-6
* Rodríguez Champi, Albino. (2006). Quechua de Cusco. ''Ilustraciones fonéticas de lenguas amerindias'', ed. Stephen A. Marlett. Lima: SIL International y Universidad Ricardo Palma. [http://lengamer.org/publicaciones/trabajos/quechua_cusco_afi.pdf Lengamer.org]
*Aikhenvald, Alexandra. Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
*Floyd, Rick. The Structure of Evidential Categories in Wanka Quechua. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1999. Print.
*Hintz, Diane. “The evidential system in Sihuas Quechua: personal vs. shared knowledge” The Nature of Evidentiality Conference, The Netherlands, 14–16 June 2012. SIL International. Internet. 13 April 2014.
*Lefebvre, Claire, and Pieter Muysken. Mixed Categories: Nominalizations in Quechua. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic, 1988. Print.
*Weber, David. "Information Perspective, Profile, and Patterns in Quechua." Evidentiality: The Linguistic Coding of Epistemology. Ed. Wallace L. Chafe and Johanna Nichols. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Pub, 1986. 137-55. Print.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem F. H.]] [http://es.scribd.com/doc/91245441/Towards-a-reconstruction-of-the-history-of-Quechuan%E2%80%93Aymaran-interaction Modeling convergence: Towards a reconstruction of the history of Quechuan–Aymaran interaction] About the origin of Quechua, and its relation with Aymara, 2011.
* [[Willem Adelaar|Adelaar, Willem F. H.]] ''Tarma Quechua: Grammar, Texts, Dictionary''. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1977.
* Bills, Garland D., Bernardo Vallejo C., and Rudolph C. Troike. ''An Introduction to Spoken Bolivian Quechua''. Special publication of the Institute of Latin American Studies, the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. Austin: Published for the Institute of Latin American Studies by the University of Texas Press, 1969. ISBN 0-292-70019-9
* Coronel-Molina, Serafín M.'' Quechua Phrasebook''. 2002 Lonely Planet ISBN 1-86450-381-5
* Curl, John, ''Ancient American Poets''. Tempe AZ: Bilingual Press, 2005.ISBN 1-931010-21-8 [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html Red-coral.net]
* Gifford, Douglas. ''Time Metaphors in Aymara and Quechua''. St. Andrews: [[University of St. Andrews]], 1986.
* {{Cite journal
|last=Heggarty and David Beresford-Jones
|first=Paul
|year=2009
|title=Not the Incas? Weaving Archaeology and Language into a Single New Prehistory
|place=London
|publisher=British Academy Review 12: 11-15
|postscript={{inconsistent citations}}}}
* Harrison, Regina. ''Signs, Songs, and Memory in the Andes: Translating Quechua Language and Culture''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989. ISBN 0-292-77627-6
* Jake, Janice L. ''Grammatical Relations in Imbabura Quechua''. Outstanding dissertations in linguistics. New York: Garland Pub, 1985. ISBN 0-8240-5475-X
* King, Kendall A. ''Language Revitalization Processes and Prospects: Quichua in the Ecuadorian Andes''. Bilingual education and bilingualism, 24. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters LTD, 2001. ISBN 1-85359-495-4
* King, Kendall A., and Nancy H. Hornberger. ''Quechua Sociolinguistics''. Berlin: [[Mouton de Gruyter]], 2004.
* Lara, Jesús, Maria A. Proser, and James Scully. ''Quechua Peoples Poetry''. Willimantic, Conn: Curbstone Press, 1976. ISBN 0-915306-09-3
* Lefebvre, Claire, and [[Pieter Muysken]]. ''Mixed Categories: Nominalizations in Quechua''. Studies in natural language and linguistic theory, [v. 11]. Dordrecht, Holland: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988. ISBN 1-55608-050-6
* Lefebvre, Claire, and Pieter Muysken. ''Relative Clauses in Cuzco Quechua: Interactions between Core and Periphery''. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1982.
* Muysken, Pieter. ''Syntactic Developments in the Verb Phrase of Ecuadorian Quechua''. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1977. ISBN 90-316-0151-9
* Nuckolls, Janis B. ''Sounds Like Life: Sound-Symbolic Grammar, Performance, and Cognition in Pastaza Quechua''. Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics, 2. New York: [[Oxford University Press]], 1996. ISBN
* Parker, Gary John. ''Ayacucho Quechua Grammar and Dictionary''. Janua linguarum. Series practica, 82. The Hague: Mouton, 1969.
* Plaza Martínez, Pedro. Quechua. In: Mily Crevels and Pieter Muysken (eds.) ''Lenguas de Bolivia'', vol. I, 215-284. La Paz: Plural editores, 2009. ISBN 978-99954-1-236-4. (in Spanish)
* Sánchez, Liliana. Quechua-Spanish Bilingualism: Interference and Convergence in Functional Categories. Language acquisition & language disorders, v. 35. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub, 2003. ISBN 1-58811-471-6
* Weber, David. ''A Grammar of Huallaga (Huánuco) Quechua''. University of California publications in linguistics, v. 112. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], 1989. ISBN 0-520-09732-7
* Quechua bibliographies online at: [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Main/i_BIBL.HTM quechua.org.uk]
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki|Quechua|code=qu}}
{{Wikibooks|Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qug|language=Chimborazo Highland Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvc|language=Cajamarca Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvw|language=Huanca Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qxn|language=Ancash Quechua}}
{{Incubator|qvm|language=Margos-Yarowilca-Lauricocha Quechua}}
{{wikivoyage|Quechua phrasebook}}
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/93534871/Spoken-Cusco-Quechua-Language-Course Spoken Cusco Quechua, language course] Donald F. Solá
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/75108613/GERALD-TAYLOR-Introduccion-a-La-Lengua-General-Quechua Course of Classical Quechua as used in the Manuscript of Huarochiri] Gerald Taylor, French Institute of Andean Studies.
* [http://www.webcitation.org/6DCo1hl7c Qayna Kunan Paqarin: Una introducción al quechua chanca. 2011] Electronic book of the complete course of the grammar of quechua, R. Zariquiey, G. Córdova.
* [http://facultad.pucp.edu.pe/ciencias-sociales/curso/quechua/home.htm Breve gramática de Quechua] RunasimiNet: aprendiendo quechua en línea. Learn Quechua with this online course from the Catholic University PUCP Lima.
* [http://www.runasimi.de/ RUNASIMI] About Quechua and written in the Quechua language. It offers a quantity of texts in Quechua in diverse quechua dialects and languages. In the following languages: Quechua, Spanish, English, Italian, French and German.
*[http://webs.satlink.com/usuarios/r/rory/main.htm El Quechua de Santiago del Estero], extensive site covering the grammar of Argentinian Quechua (in Spanish)
* [http://www.quechua.org.uk Quechua Language and Linguistics] an extensive site.
** [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds/Home/HomeQuechuaAbout.htm The Origins and Diversity of Quechua]
** [http://www.quechua.org.uk/Eng/Sounds The Sounds of the Andean Languages] listen online to pronunciations of Quechua words, see photos of speakers and their home regions, learn about the origins and varieties of Quechua.
* [http://www.yungayperu.com.pe/Quechua%20Yungay.htm Toponimos del Quechua de Yungay, Peru]
* [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjjd2I3mMpo YouTube]
* [http://www.andes.org/q_grammar.html Quechua lessons (www.andes.org)] in Spanish and English
* [http://en.proyectoperucentre.org/quechua/index.html Quechua course] Spanish to Quechua
* [http://quechuas.net/Q/ Detailed map of the varieties of Quechua according to SIL (fedepi.org)]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert_beer/Vocabulario%20comparativo%20Quechua%20cuzqueno%20Quechua%20boliviano%20-%2022%20Apr%2006.PDF Cuzco and Bolivian Quechua being compared, with English translations]
* [https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:GMNCnkViAQUJ:www.ru.nl/publish/pages/632031/modelling_the_quechua.pdf+Modelling+the+Quechua-Aymara+relationship:+Structural+features&hl=en&gl=nl&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESilRItDkmG3mYcXwqapxfcZDNtDXWmFjJ20BrM5mKgTpGNl4GCEc3wBG1SgVG4Qkfk1UziRSqssEvauXbPMzmbYvxEyroERxvZSMRRuHeoalkepvRZbizCauGDr9XCvDVGnh_hA&sig=AHIEtbSHxZngt0IQeYnpruhmhX9SfSugyA Modelling the Quechua-Aymara relationship]. Pieter Muysken
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV4Iz1wt1Jo Los Quechuas en el Perú] Documentary about the Peruvian quechua language, in Quechua.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-q8-0jhEE Zorros de arriba, documental] Quechua - Education in the Runasimi Language of Perú
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfivz8-UuGA Piruw mama llaqtap siminkunamanta] Las lenguas del Perú, documental en el [[Quechua cuzqueño]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wD3QN5rps Saqrakuna, televisión juvenil quechua] Tarpurisunchis
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzK89qz337k El zorro y el condor] Video de un cuento andino, CEC Guaman Poma de Ayala, Cusco.

;'''Dictionaries'''
*[http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/documents/quechua/QuechuaDicc.pdf Diccionario Quechua: Español–Runasimi–English] Dictionary of [[Ayacucho Quechua]] from Clodoaldo Soto Ruiz. It explains Quechua words in Quechua itself and in Spanish and English.
* [http://www.illa-a.org/index.html/?q=cd 10 Quechua dictionaries online]
* [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Quechua_Swadesh_list Quechua Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

;Historical
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8994 "A Guiding Light to the Indians"] is a document from the mid-1700s which documents the Quechua language.

{{External links|date=March 2011}}
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