An Illustrated Timeline of Major Civilizations and Modern States
4000 BC pre−modern groups based on recorded settlements and historical impact; many nomadic and pastoral groups not included
1 unit=400 years C. = Caliphate; D. = Dynasty; Du. = Duchy; E. = Empire; Kh. = Khaganate; K. = Kingdom; (2630 BC) Earliest pyramids R. = Republic; S. = Sultanate; T. = Tsardom
2000 Sumer Indus River BC Akkhadia (1800 BC) Epic of Gilgamesh K. Kerma Amorites Minoan 1 unit=200 years Hittites Mittani Kassites
1000 Mycenaen (1000 BC) Birth of Hinduism BC Egypt (Ancient) Assyria Xia, Shang, Zhou D. K. Gandhara
Lydians (776 BC) First Olympic games Phrygians Phoenicians Olmec
1 unit=100 years (563 BC) b. Siddhartha Gautama (519 BC) b. Xerxes Chaldeans Chavin (470 BC) b. Socrates Etruscans
Achamenid (356 BC) b. Alexander the Great Greece (Ancient) (264 BC) First Punic War (204 BC) Great Wall of China Macedonia Maurya D. Seleucid (139 BC) b. Sulla K. Kush Odrysian K. (100 BC) b. Julius Caesar Nam Viet Numidia
Eucratids (69 BC) b. Cleopatra Greco−Bactrian K. K. Mauretania Euthydemides (33 BC) Crucifixion of Jesus
0 Indo−Greek Romans Parthian Satavahana E Satavahana Indo−Parth. K. Armenia Kushan E. Kushan Indo−Scythian K. Indo−Scythian Hopewell Nazca Zapotec Huns Funan K. (330 AD) Rome divided Goths Goguryeo K. Alemanni Moche Gupta E.
1 unit=50 years Anuradhapura Silla K. Baekje K. Sassanian E. Rouran Kh. Nobatia Franks Aksum E.
Tarumanagara (570 AD) b. Mohammad Maya Tiwanaku Turkic Kh. Turkic Rashidun C. Chenla Lombards Greater Bulgaria Wari Ummayad C. Tibetan E. Tibetan
Anasazi (800 AD) Coronation of Charlemagne Anglo−Saxons Kazar Kh. Balhae K. Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Song D. Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, Tang, Medang Bulgaria E.I Bulgaria Moravia Byzantine Carolingian D. Vikings K. Abkhazia Samanid E.
1000 civ.−Ashikaga Yayoi AD E. Pala Bagratid Armenia Buyid D. Thakuri D. (1054 AD) Great Schism Toltec Volga Bulgaria Volga (1066 AD) Norman Conquest Makuria Lavo K. Lavo Ghana E. Fatimid C. Fatimid Abbasid C. (1096 AD) First Crusade Seljuks Chola Ghaznavids D. Ghaznavids Srivijaya Pagan D. Pagan Kievan Rus Kievan Kanem E. Alodia
Lambayeque (1147 AD) Second Crusade (1162 AD) b. Gengis Khan Polonnaruwa Khmer Wanka Capetian D. Koryo D. Koryo (1215 AD) Magna Carta Almohad C. Zagwe D. Muisca 1 unit=25 years Sunda Ayyubid C. Ayyubid Chimu K. Georgia Champa Mississippian K. Poland (1300 AD) Spread of Black Plague Mongols Malla D. Bulgaria E.II Bulgaria
Novrogod R. Novrogod (1337 AD) Start of Hundred Years' War Sukothai K. Sukothai K. Zimbabwe K. Singapura Delhi S. K. Portugal
(1412 AD) b. Joan of Arc (1428 AD) Beginning of Spanish Inquisition Kalmar Union Majapahit K. Papal states Papal
Mamluks (1440 AD) Invention of printing press Aztec Dai Viet
Tarascan (1453 AD) Fall of Constantinople Grand Du. Moscow Timurid D. Timurid Holy Roman E. Inca
1500 Mali E. Vijayanagara E. Vijayanagara Bengal S. Bengal (1492 AD) Columbus expedition K. Hungary AD (1513 AD) 'The Prince' written by Machiavelli Abdallab E. (1517 AD) Beginning of Protestant Reformation Ajidan S. K. Nri Songhai
Lan Xang (1564 AD) b. Shakespeare Lan Na K. Butua
Ayutthaya K. Ayutthaya (1600 AD) East India Trading Co. founded Solomonic D. Mutapa
K. Bohemia (1618 AD) Start of Thirty Years' War
Jolof (1620 AD) Pigrims land at Plymouth Oyo E. Mughal E. (1643 AD) Reign of Louis XIV
T. Russia T. (1648 AD) Treaty of Westphalia Brunei S. Kandy Ottoman E. Kongo Kongo Taungoo D. Taungoo Joseon K. Funj S. (1682 AD) Reign of Peter the Great 1 unit=20 years Benin (1688 AD) Glorious Revolution Poland−Lith. Kaabu K. Rwanda Cayor Hotak D.
Luba (1740 AD) Reign of Frederick the Great China Swiss Federation
K. Burundi (1765 AD) American Revolution Maratha E. (1769 AD) b. Napoleon Bonaparte Bhutan Rozvi E. Du. Prussia Lunda
France (1789 AD) French Revolution Ashanti Durrani D. Spain Iran (1808 AD) Napoleon invaded Spain Kong Sweden Denmark Sikh E. Kongbang D. Kongbang Russian E. Japan Ngyen D. (1861 AD) American Civil War Zulu K. Sokoto C. Sokoto
1900 San Marino (1884 AD) Congo Conference Netherlands
AD K. Rattanakosin (1912 AD) Beginning of Chinese Republic K. Serbia
Oman (1914 AD) World War I United Kingdom (1917 AD) Communist Revolution in Russia
Nepal (1919 AD) Treaty of Versailles Thailand
Haiti (1929 AD) Great Depression Austria United States Chile Peru Paraguay Brazil Germany Mexico Argentina Bolivia Colombia
Greece (1936 AD) Spanish Civil War Switzerland Uruguay Ecuador Belgium
1 unit=10 years Venezuela
Honduras (1939 AD) World War II Liberia Nicaragua Costa Rica Guatemala Italy El Salvador Ethiopia
Monaco (1945 AD) Yalta Conference Canada Hungary Bulgaria
Romania (1950 AD) Korean War Luxembourg Liechtenstein Dominican Republic Cuba (1955 AD) Vietnam War Panama Australia Norway Bhutan Portugal Albania Yugoslavia New Zealand New Poland Yemen Finland South Africa Egypt Ireland Turkey Mongolia Czechoslovakia Iraq Afghanistan Vatican Saudi Arabia Soviet Russia (USSR) Soviet Syria India Iceland Jordan Israel Lebanon Vietnam Libya Laos Pakistan Taiwan (1979 AD) Iranian Revolution Myanmar Sri Lanka Philippines Indonesia Sudan Mali Ghana Tunisia Togo Chad North Korea Niger Benin Guinea Cambodia South Korea Gabon Morocco C.A.R. Cyprus Malaysia Nigeria Senegal Kuwait Samoa Malta Kenya Somalia Algeria Uganda Jamaica Rwanda Fiji Burundi Tanzania R. Congo Zambia Malawi Cameroon Gambia
Nauru (1989 AD) Fall of Berlin Wall Mauritania Guyana Lesotho Ivory Coast Ivory Qatar D.R. Congo Tonga Madagascar Maldives Barbados Singapore Burkina Faso Botswana Sierra Leone U.A.E. Zimbabwe Bahrain Mauritius
Swaziland (1991 AD) Soviet Union dissolved Angola
2000 Grenada Bahamas Tuvalu Comoros Bangladesh Equatorial Guinea Djibouti Suriname Belize Kiribati Vanuatu Seychelles St. Lucia (1993 AD) Formation of European Union Cape Verde Dominica Brunei Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad Mozambique Guinea Bissau Latvia Russia Palau Croatia Estonia Belarus Eritrea Georgia Namibia AD Ukraine Micronesia Slovenia Armenia Moldova Solomon Islands Czechia Andorra Marshall Islands Lithuania Tajikistan Guinea New Papua Slovakia Azerbaijan Macedonia Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Sao Tome and Principe Sao Tome St. Kitts and Nevis Antigua and Barbuda Serbia and Montenegro St. Vincent and the Grenadines St. Vincent Bosnia and Herzegovina