2002
Calendar year / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2002nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 2nd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 3rd year of the 2000s decade.

Millennium: | 3rd millennium |
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Centuries: | |
Decades: | |
Years: |
2002 by topic: |
Arts |
Animation (Anime) – Architecture – Comics – Film (Horror) – Literature (Poetry) – Radio – Science fiction – Television – Video games |
Music |
Albums – Classical – Country – Hip hop – Jazz – Latin – Metal – Rock – Africa – Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Philippines) – Australia – Canada – Europe (Ireland, Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden), UK) – US |
Politics and government |
Elections – International leaders – Sovereign states Sovereign state leaders – Territorial governors |
Religion |
Religious leaders |
Science and technology |
Archaeology – Artificial Intelligence – Biotechnology – Computing – Palaeontology – Quantum computing and communication – Senescence research – Space/Astronomy – Spaceflight – Sustainable energy research |
Environment and environmental sciences |
Birding/Ornithology – Climate change – Weather |
Transportation |
Aviation – Rail transport – Transportation technology |
Sports |
American football – Association football – Athletics (sport) – Badminton – Baseball – Basketball – Chess – Combat sports – Cricket – Cycling – Golf – Ice hockey – Rugby union – Swimming – Tennis – Volleyball |
By place |
Afghanistan – Albania – Algeria – Andorra – Angola – Antarctica – Antigua and Barbuda – Argentina – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Bangladesh – The Bahamas – Bahrain – Barbados – Belarus – Belgium – Belize – Benin – Bhutan – Bolivia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Botswana – Brazil – Brunei – Bulgaria – Burkina Faso – Burundi – Cambodia – Cameroon – Canada – Cape Verde – Central African Republic – Chad – Chile – China – Colombia – Costa Rica – Comoros – Congo – D.R. Congo – Croatia – Cuba – Cyprus – Czech Republic – Denmark – Djibouti – Dominica – Dominican Republic – East Timor – Ecuador – Egypt – El Salvador – Eritrea – Estonia – Ethiopia – Eswatini – Equatorial Guinea – Fiji – Finland – France – Gabon – The Gambia – Georgia – Germany – Ghana – Greece – Grenada – Guatemala – Guinea – Guinea-Bissau – Guyana – Haiti – Honduras – Hong Kong – Hungary – Iceland – India – Indonesia – Iran – Iraq – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Ivory Coast – Jamaica – Japan – Jordan – Kazakhstan – Kenya – Kiribati – Kosovo – Kuwait – Kyrgyzstan – Laos – Latvia – Lebanon – Lesotho – Liberia – Liechtenstein – Libya – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Macau – Madagascar – Marshall Islands – Malawi – Malaysia – Maldives – Mali – Malta – Mauritania – Mauritius – Mexico – Micronesia – Moldova – Monaco – Mongolia – Montenegro – Morocco – Mozambique – Myanmar – Nauru – Namibia – Nepal – Netherlands – New Zealand – Nicaragua – Niger – Nigeria – North Korea – North Macedonia – Norway – Oman – Pakistan – Palau – Palestine – Panama – Papua New Guinea – Paraguay – Peru – Philippines – Poland – Portugal – Qatar – Romania – Russia – Rwanda – Saint Kitts and Nevis – Saint Lucia – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Samoa – San Marino – São Tomé and Príncipe – Saudi Arabia – Senegal – Serbia – Seychelles – Sierra Leone – Singapore – Slovakia – Slovenia – Somalia – Somaliland – South Africa – Solomon Islands – South Korea – South Sudan – Spain – Sri Lanka – Sudan – Suriname – Sweden – Switzerland – Syria – Taiwan – Tajikistan – Tanzania – Thailand – Togo – Tonga – Trinidad and Tobago – Tunisia – Turkey – Turkmenistan – Tuvalu – Uganda – Ukraine – United Arab Emirates – United Kingdom – United States – Uruguay – Uzbekistan – Vanuatu – Vatican City – Venezuela – Vietnam – Yemen – Zambia – Zimbabwe |
By international organization |
European Union – United Nations |
Birth and death categories |
Births – Deaths |
Establishments and disestablishments categories |
Establishments – Disestablishments |
Works and introductions categories |
Works – Introductions Works entering the public domain |

Since the September 11 attacks of the previous year, foreign policy and international relations have been generally united in combatting al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The United States especially was a leading force in combatting terrorist groups. 2002 also saw the signing and establishment of many international agreements and institutions, most notably the International Criminal Court, the African Union, the Russian-American Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, and the Eurozone.
The global economy, partly due to the September 11 attacks, generally stagnated or declined. Stock indices, such as the American Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Japanese Nikkei 225 both ended the year lower than they had started. In the later parts of 2002, the world saw the beginning of a SARS epidemic, which would go on to affect mostly China, Europe, and North America.[1][2]
Prominent deaths in 2002 included world leaders Hugo Banzer, John Gorton, Fernando Belaúnde and Ne Win. The British royal family in particular saw two major funerals, that of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. The year witnessed the passing of film figures Chuck Jones, Billy Wilder, María Félix and Rod Steiger; and musicians Layne Staley, John Entwistle and Joe Strummer. 2002 also marked the births of actors Jenna Ortega and Finn Wolfhard, as well as athletes Pedri and Emma Raducanu.