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2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2001st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 1st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2000s decade.
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan after the Taliban government was unable to extradite Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden within 24 hours. Other international conflicts in 2001 were the standoff between India and Pakistan as well as the Second Intifada between Israel and Palestine. Internal conflicts began in Macedonia, in the Central African Republic, and in Guinea. Political challenges or violent conflicts caused changes in leadership in Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines.
2001 was the second hottest year on record at the time, which was amplified by the end of a years-long La Niña phase. The Atlantic and Pacific tropical storm seasons were both more active than usual. The deadly Bhuj Earthquake took place in Gujarat on January 26, while the strongest earthquake in 36 years took place in Peru on June 23. A potential health crisis occurred when a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease spread among British livestock, bringing about the deaths of millions of animals. Four hominid species were described or proposed, and several major archaeological finds took place, including a set of terracotta citizens near the Terracotta Army. The pygmy three-toed sloth was also first described in 2001. The year had the fewest successful orbital spaceflights since 1963, with eight crewed missions. Successes in space exploration included the landing of NEAR Shoemaker on an asteroid and the arrival of 2001 Mars Odyssey on Mars.
Politics and religion in the final months of 2001 focused intently on the Muslim world and Islamic terrorism after the September 11 attacks. The Catholic Church was active in 2001, as Pope John Paul II went on several goodwill trips to meet with non-Catholic religious groups and investigations of sexual abuse cases among the church's priests began. Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević was arrested and became the first head of state to be charged with crimes against humanity by an international body. The 27th G8 summit took place in Genoa and was met by 200,000 protestors, where one was killed. 2001 took place during a minor recession among developed and developing nations, with only middle income nations avoiding an economic downturn. The recession saw economic crises take place in Argentina and in Turkey. American energy company Enron and the European airlines Sabena and Swissair all ended operations in 2001. In popular culture, the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings film franchises were launched, the iPod and iTunes were invented for music, and three major sixth-generation video game systems became available. The Mac OS X and Windows XP were launched, as was the Wikipedia project.
Demographics
The world population on January 1, 2001, was estimated to be 6.190 billion people and increased to 6.272 billion people by January 1, 2002.[1] An estimated 133.9 million births and 52.1 million deaths took place in 2001.[1] The average global life expectancy was 66.8 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2000.[1] The rate of child mortality was 7.32%, a decrease of 0.26pp from 2000.[2] 28.25% of people were living in extreme poverty, a decrease of 0.88pp from 2000.[3]
There were approximately 12 million global refugees in 2001. 500,000 were settled over the course of the year, but about the same number of people were displaced in other locations, causing the number of refugees to remain largely unchanged. The largest sources of refugees were from Afghanistan and Macedonia. The number of internally displaced persons decreased from 21.8 million to 19.8 million in 2001, with the most affected areas being Afghanistan, Colombia, and Liberia.[4]
Conflicts
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There were 34 active armed conflicts in 28 countries in 2001, the total numbers remaining unchanged from 2000. The majority of these conflicts took place in Africa and Asia: 14 occurred in Africa and 13 occurred in Asia.[5] 15 were classified as "major armed conflicts"[a] by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.[6]: 21 Four new armed conflicts emerged in 2001: the insurgency in Macedonia, the attempted coup in the Central African Republic, the United States invasion of Afghanistan, and the entry of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front into the RFDG Insurgency in Guinea.[5] The Sierra Leone Civil War was the only conflict that ended in 2001.[6]: 21
Internal conflicts
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DRC President Laurent-Désiré Kabila (left) was assassinated on January 16. Burundi President Pierre Buyoya (top) and CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé both faced coup attempts.
The Second Congo War continued with the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila on January 16.[6]: 29 The 1999 ceasefire was mostly respected by the government and the various rebel groups, and United Nations ceasefire monitors established a presence throughout the year.[6]: 30 The Algerian Civil War, the Angolan Civil War, and the Burundian Civil War all saw continued fighting between governments and rebels in Africa.[6]: 24–29 The latter began the peace process through a provisional government on November 1.[6]: 27 The Second Sudanese Civil War between the ruling National Islamic Front and various other groups escalated in 2001.[6]: 37 This included a sub-conflict, the War of the Peters, which continued into 2001 until a ceasefire was negotiated in August.[7]
Two failed coup attempts took place in 2001: a group of junior officers sought to overthrow President Pierre Buyoya in Burundi while he was out of the country on April 18,[8]: 218 and André Kolingba, a former president of the Central African Republic, led a military coup against his successor Ange-Félix Patassé on May 28, causing several days of violence.[8]: 249
Several conflicts continued in Indonesia, though the insurgency in Aceh between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement was the only one to see widespread violence in 2001, as the war significantly escalated after the end of a ceasefire and breakdown of peace talks.[6]: 46–47 The New People's Army rebellion saw two ceasefires between the Philippine government and the New People's Army, separated by a brief surge of heavy fighting after the assassination of a member of parliament. A ceasefire was also established with the nation's other insurgent group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.[6]: 49 In Myanmar, the Karen conflict continued, and the insurgency of the Shan State resumed hostilities after a temporary peace in 1999.[5] The Tamil Tigers declared a ceasefire and requested peace talks during the Eelam War III in Sri Lanka,[6]: 50 but hostilities resumed on April 25, and the Tamil Tigers launched several suicide attacks in July, including the Bandaranaike Airport attack.[6]: 51 The Nepalese Civil War also saw increased hostilities in 2001.[5]
The only major conflict in Europe was the Second Chechen War between the Russian government and the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Russian forces controlled the republic's population centers, but Chechen forces continued to use guerrilla warfare.[6]: 53 Macedonia saw a smaller scale conflict between the Macedonian government and the National Liberation Army (NLA), which sought reform for the status of Albanian people in Macedonia.[9] The deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces to Macedonia was authorized on August 21.[10] Yugoslavia similarly saw an insurgency by Albanian rebels, but the conflict did not escalate.[6]: 53 The only major conflict in South America was the Colombian conflict between the Colombian government and various far-left and far-right groups.[6]: 58 The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia expanded into Ecuador in 2001 and carried out attacks on Ecuadorian citizens.[6]: 60
International conflicts
The 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff was the only conflict between two national governments in 2001.[5] The territorial dispute over the region of Kashmir consisted primarily of small scale attacks by militant groups until two attacks on Indian legislature buildings: one in October and one in December. The latter provoked a major escalation of troop deployments with preparations for a major war.[6]: 46
The Second Intifada continued from the previous year between Israel and Palestine.[6]: 55 The conflict escalated into an undeclared war in which Palestinian militants targeted Israeli civilians with weapons and suicide bombers with the Israeli military responding with fighter jets and missile strikes against Palestinians.[11]: 279 Every ceasefire ended within a day of its establishment.[6]: 56
September 11 attacks and invasion of Afghanistan
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The September 11 attacks were carried out by Al-Qaeda when 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one near Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania. 2,977 people were killed;[12][13][14] the attacks and the subsequent global war on terror are widely recognized as events that defined 2001.[15]: 1 [11]: 8 This was internationally recognized as an armed attack against the United States under the UN charter, and NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty for the first time in its history.[15]: 491
The Afghan Civil War between the de jure Northern Alliance government and the de facto Taliban government continued from previous years.[6]: 39 When the Taliban refused to extradite Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October.[6]: 41 The American-led coalition and the Northern Alliance captured Afghan cities until the Taliban surrendered to the Northern Alliance in Kandahar on December 6.[6]: 42 The American-led coalition attacked the Al-Qaeda headquarters in Tora Bora in December, but Al-Qaeda's leadership had gone into hiding. An interim government of Afghanistan led by Hamid Karzai was formed on December 22.[6]: 42–43
Culture
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Architecture
New buildings constructed or opened in 2001 include the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria,[11]: 163 the Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai, the DG Bank building in Berlin, and Aurora Place in Sydney.[11]: 164 Museums that opened in 2001 include the Jewish Museum Berlin designed by Daniel Libeskind, the National Museum of Australia designed by Howard Raggatt in Canberra, the Changi Chapel and Museum in Singapore, the Neue Galerie New York, and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.[11]: 233
Prominent renovations made in 2001 include the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court in the British Museum[11]: 163 and the entrance wing of the Milwaukee Art Museum.[11]: 164 Preservation efforts were also completed on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it reopened to the public on December 15 after 12 years of reconstruction.[16] Damaged and destroyed buildings included the World Trade Center buildings which were destroyed in the September 11 attacks,[15]: 527 and the Biblioteca Gallardo in El Salvador, which was destroyed in an earthquake.[11]: 232
Art
The 49th Venice Biennale shifted from traditional paintings and sculptures, giving an increased focus to film and architectural sculpture.[15]: 525 [11]: 167 Avant-garde works of art sold well, with the highest earning being Gerhard Richter's painting of candles, which sold for US$5.4 million.[15]: 525 A decline in the fashion industry was exacerbated by the September 11 attacks; styles with military or otherwise violent iconography were phased out.[11]: 219–220
Improvements in inkjet printing made high resolution photography more practical. Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibited his photographs of wax statues of historical figures to provoke questions about the nature of artistic depiction.[11]: 171 Several iconic works of photojournalism were produced during the September 11 attacks, including The Falling Man and Raising the Flag at Ground Zero.[17] Fritz Koenig's Sphere was the only artwork to be recovered from the site, and the sculpture continued to be displayed in its damaged form as a memorial.[18]
The most popular exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City was artwork depicting Jacqueline Kennedy's time as first lady of the United States, followed an exhibition of works by Johannes Vermeer and the Delft School. Both exhibitions were seen by over 500,000 visitors.[15]: 525 New art galleries and museums opened in Tokyo,[19] Vienna[20] and New York.[21]
Media
The highest-grossing films in 2001 were Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Monsters, Inc. The highest-grossing non-English-language film was Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away (Japanese), the 15th highest-grossing film of the year.[22] The inaugural entries in the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film franchises brought fantasy into mainstream culture, popularizing young adult novels and catering to fandom communities.[23][24]
In music, 3.2 billion units were sold with a value of US$33.7 billion. DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD rose to prominence, with approximately 600 titles available in these formats.[25] Portable music grew in popularity after Apple released the iTunes media library on January 9[26] and the first iPod music player device on October 23.[27] The music sharing program Napster ended its services after it was accused of facilitating music piracy, but it was replaced by other programs such as FastTrack.[11]: 177 Worldwide, the best-selling albums were Hybrid Theory (2000) by Linkin Park, No Angel (1999) by Dido, and Survivor (2001) by Destiny's Child.[28] The best-selling non-English album was Cieli di Toscana (transl. Tuscan Skies; 2001) by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, which topped the charts in the Netherlands and Sweden[29] and was the 23rd best-selling album globally.[28]
Three major video game systems were released in 2001: the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance by Nintendo and the Xbox by Microsoft. Meanwhile, Sega ended its involvement in the market after the failure of the Dreamcast.[11]: 181 The year 2001 is considered important in the video game industry, partly because of the release of many games recognized as classics.[30][31] Many video games released in 2001 defined or redefined their respective genres, including hack and slash game Devil May Cry,[32][33] first-person shooter game Halo: Combat Evolved,[34][35] and open world action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto III, which is regarded as an industry-defining work.[36][37]
Sports
Many sports events were postponed in the final months of 2001 after the September 11 attacks, particularly in the United States. Other sports were postponed in the United Kingdom and Ireland because of foot-and-mouth disease. Throughout the year, Salt Lake City, Utah, prepared for the 2002 Winter Olympics, while Beijing was announced as the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.[11]: 316
Qualifications for the 2002 FIFA World Cup were the main football events in 2001.[15]: 534 The world record for largest victory in an international football match was set by Australia in a 0–22 victory against Tonga on April 9. Australia set this record again with a 31–0 victory against American Samoa on April 11. The unbalanced nature of these matches prompted changes to the FIFA qualification process.[38][39] In Europe, the UEFA Women's Cup began its first season, establishing a continent-wide women's league for association football under the UEFA.[40]
American tennis players Jennifer Capriati and Venus Williams shared the four Grand Slam tournaments,[11]: 316 whilst France won the Davis Cup for the 9th time.[41] NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, described as the greatest driver in the sport's history, died in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18.[11]: 316 [42] In April, golf player Tiger Woods became the only player to achieve a "Tiger Slam" after winning the 2001 Masters Tournament, in which he consecutively won all four championship golf titles outside of a single calendar year.[43] The "Thunder in Africa" boxing match ended in a major upset after Hasim Rahman defeated champion Lennox Lewis on April 22. Lewis would go on to win a rematch on November 11.[15]: 536 [44] In cricket, Australia's record-setting streak of sixteen Test victories in a row was broken by India.[15]: 537
Economy
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A minor economic decline took place among many developed economies in 2001.[45] It was amplified by the dot-com crash, in which dot-com companies went out of business every day for much of the year due to an overvaluation of the tech industry.[45][46] Further economic disruption occurred in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.[45] These factors gave the first major demonstration of globalization causing mutual downturn across nations rather than the more typical mutual growth.[47]: 7 Global growth in 2001 was the lowest in a decade, though middle income countries such as those in Eastern Europe were able to sustain growth despite the global downturn.[47]: 30 Unemployment and deflation became concerns across developed nations.[47]: 3 The year also marked a decline in international trade by about 1.5%, which contrasted with the 11% increase in 2000. This was the first negative change in international trade since 1982. IT industries and the dot-com crash are attributed for the decline in trade.[48]
Economic crises took place in Argentina and in Turkey.[47]: 16 The recession in Argentina negatively affected the economy throughout Latin America,[47]: 37 and the years-long economic crisis reached its peak in December, causing widespread social unrest and the resignation of the President of Argentina.[15]: 16 [49] America Online (AOL), a U.S. online service provider, was at the apex of its popularity and purchased the media conglomerate Time Warner. The deal was announced on January 10, in the largest merger in history at that time. AOL would rapidly shrink thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up and rise of broadband, and the deal would fall apart before the end of the decade, which would be regarded as one of the world's greatest business failures.[50][51]
Major businesses that ended operations in 2001 included the American energy company Enron and the national airlines of Belgium and Switzerland (Sabena and Swissair, respectively).[11]: 189 The Enron scandal took place in October 2001 when, Enron was found to be committing fraud, bringing about the criminal conviction of several executives and causing the company to undergo the largest bankruptcy at that point in U.S. history.[52] E-commerce declined in 2001, with the exception of eBay, which saw significant growth.[11]: 178
Environment and weather
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2001 was the second hottest year on record at the time, exceeded only by 1998.[53] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Third Assessment Report on July 12.[11]: 213 It warned that climate change in the 21st century could cause decreases in crop yields and an increase in temperature-related ailments and deaths.[54] Droughts occurred in Australia, Central America, Kenya, and the Middle East, the latter continuing from years prior. Hungary, Russia and Southeast Asia experienced significant rains, causing flooding. North Asia underwent a severe winter.[53] La Niña, which had been ongoing since 1998, ended in the east Atlantic by April 2001.[11]: 186
The Kyoto Protocol was weakened in March when President George W. Bush determined that the United States would relinquish its commitments to the agreement, but an effort to maintain the agreement in Europe was led by Germany.[15]: 486–487 There was an environmental scare in Europe during an investigation into depleted uranium from the Kosovo War, but it was shown to pose no threat.[15]: 485 The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which restricted several organic pollutants, was signed on May 22 and 23.[15]: 491
There were four earthquakes in 2001 that caused significant casualties. El Salvador was struck by two of them: a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on January 13 and a 6.6-magnitude earthquake on February 13, which resulted in the deaths of at least 944 and 315 people respectively.[55][56] The Bhuj earthquake, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Gujarat, India, on January 26 killed between 13,805 and 20,023 people, and destroyed nearly 340,000 buildings.[57][58] An 8.4-magnitude earthquake, then the strongest that had occurred globally since 1965, killed at least 77 people in Peru on June 23.[59] A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck China with an epicenter near Kokoxili, close to the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang, on November 14, but it occurred in a sparsely populated mountainous region and there were no casualties.[60] Sicily saw the eruption of Mount Etna, beginning on July 17 and continuing into the next month.[11]: 185
The 2001 Atlantic hurricane season was slightly more active than normal, including 15 tropical storms and hurricanes. The deadliest storms were Tropical Storm Allison in June, Hurricane Iris in October, and Hurricane Michelle in November. All three of these storms had their names retired by the World Meteorological Organization. Tropical Storm Allison was the deadliest tropical storm to hit the United States without reaching hurricane strength.[61] The 2001 Pacific typhoon season was slightly larger than average, including 28 tropical storms, 20 typhoons, and 11 intense typhoons. The most powerful storms were Typhoon Podul in October and Typhoon Faxai in December.[62]
Health
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The World Health Organization (WHO) began a five-year program to reduce road injury fatalities following a warning of the problem's severity by the Red Cross the previous year.[63] The WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health released a report in 2001 detailing how spending by developed nations could protect health in developing nations.[64] New drugs developed in 2001 include imatinib to treat cancer, and nateglinide to treat diabetes.[11]: 224 2001 saw the first self-contained artificial heart implanted in a patient.[11]: 25
Outbreaks of cholera occurred in Chad, India, Pakistan, Tanzania, South Africa, and throughout Western Africa; outbreaks of yellow fever took place in Brazil, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Peru; and outbreaks of meningococcal disease occurred in the African meningitis belt as well as Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia. Other major disease outbreaks included Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever in Kosovo and Pakistan, measles in India and South Korea, Legionnaires' disease in Spain and Norway, dengue fever in Venezuela, and plague in Zambia.[11]: 223 Spain's outbreak of Legionnaires' disease was the largest ever recorded, with 449 confirmed cases and more than 800 suspected ones.[65] An ebola outbreak continued from 2000 in Uganda until the final case was diagnosed on January 16.[66] Another outbreak occurred in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo in October, which continued until July 2002.[67] An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease occurred among livestock in the United Kingdom in 2001, resulting in millions of farm animals being slaughtered to prevent spread.[68][11]: 153–155
Approximately 400,000 people in New York City were exposed to air pollution by carcinogens and other harmful particles such as asbestos and metals as a result of the September 11 attacks, and many would go on to suffer chronic illness as a result of exposure.[69] A series of anthrax attacks against American government and media figures in October further spurred precautions against bioterrorism.[11]: 222
Politics and law
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Freedom House recognized 63% of national governments as electoral democracies by the end of 2001, with the Gambia and Mauritania being recognized as democracies following peaceful transfers of power. Peru also saw a significant expansion of civil rights after emerging from the authoritarian rule of Alberto Fujimori. Argentina, Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe underwent significant democratic backsliding in 2001, with Liberia and Zimbabwe recognized as authoritarian governments by the end of the year. 64.65% of the world's population lived in countries that generally respected human rights, while 35.35% lived in countries that denied political rights and civil liberties.[70]
Islamic terrorism became the predominant global political concern amidst the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror. Islamic extremism was identified as a major threat to democracy and human rights, both in the Muslim world through the implementation of Islamism and in the rest of the world through terrorism.[70][undue weight? – discuss] Racial discrimination, the ability to prosecute human rights violators, the number of refugees, and the problems of economic disadvantage were among the global human rights concerns that were given the most attention in 2001.[11]: 312
Domestic politics
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The Islamic State of