The third millennium is the third period of one thousand years in the Common Era. As the millennium currently in progress, only its first decade, the 2000s, can be the subject of the historian's attention, the remaining part of the 21st century (such as the predicted stagnation of world population at some 10 billion in the 2050s) and longer-term trends being the province of futures studies.

Start and end dates

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There are two ranges of dates which are recognised as the third millennium, depending on the start date, namely:

January 1 2001 - December 31 3000

In the sense of astronomical year numbering or the ISO 8601 standard, both of which precede Year 1 with Year 0 (which is not considered part of the first 1st millennium, or for those who start counting their calendar from January 1 1, then the third millennium began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 3000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar or other calendars based on the BC/AD system of calendar eras.

January 1 2000 – December 31 2999

The majority of the celebrations for the start of the third millennium occurred at midnight on December 31 1999 / January 1 2000. The first decade of the new millennium (see below) contains the year 2000.

Events

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• Some millennialists and Christian anarchists predict the third millennium will be the millennium of peace, when mankind finally learns to live in harmony with each other and nature.
• The End of the World begins in the year 2240, year 6000 in the Hebrew lunar calendar, according to the Jewish calendar found in the Talmud.

Centuries and decades

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Millennia | 3rd millennium

3. Jahrtausend | IIIe milved | 3. Jahrtausend | 3η χιλιετία | III milenio | 3. milurtekoa | IIIe millénaire | III millennio | Millennium 3 | 3. Joerdausend | 3 tūkstantmetis | 3. évezred | 3千年紀 | Terceiro milénio d.C. | 3 тысячелетие | 3. tisícročie | 2000-talet (millennium) | 3. meñyıllıq | 2000مبم

 

21st century	2000s	2010s	2020s	2030s	2040s	2050s	2060s	2070s	2080s	2090s
22nd century	2100s	2110s	2120s	2130s	2140s	2150s	2160s	2170s	2180s	2190s
23rd century	2200s	2210s	2220s	2230s	2240s	2250s	2260s	2270s	2280s	2290s
24th century
25th century
26th century
27th century
28th century
29th century
30th century