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The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" shortened to "the '20s" and referred to as the twenties)[1][2] is the current decade, which began on January 1, 2020, and will end on December 31, 2029.
The 2020s began with the COVID-19 pandemic — the first reports of the virus were published on December 31, 2019, though the first cases are said to have appeared nearly a month earlier[3] — which caused a global economic recession as well as continuing financial inflation concerns and a global supply chain crisis. Multiple international demonstrations occurred in the early 2020s, including a continuation of those in Hong Kong that started in the late 2010s against extradition legislation, protests against certain local, state and national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, others around the world against racism and police brutality, more in India against agriculture and farming acts, and, most recently, ones in Sri Lanka, Iran, China, and Russia against various forms of governmental jurisdiction and authoritarianism.
The private space race also greatly accelerated in the early 2020s, as did military conflicts such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Myanmar Civil War, the Tigray War, the conflict between Gaza and Israel, the Fall of Kabul (which marked the end of the 20-year War in Afghanistan), and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (the largest conventional military offensive in Europe since World War II, having resulted in an immense refugee crisis).
With many extreme weather events worsening in the early 2020s, several world leaders have called it the "decisive decade" for climate action as ecological crises continue to escalate.[4][5] 5G networks also launched around the globe at the start of the decade, and became prevalent in smartphones.
|
Main article: 2020s in political history |
|
See also: List of sovereign states in the 2020s |
|
Main article: List of wars: 2003–present |
The prominent wars of the decade include:
| Name | Start date | End date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israeli–Palestinian conflict | 1948 | Ongoing | The conflict between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel and the West Bank has been ongoing since 1948.[6] After Israel took control of the West Bank, it began making settlements there, which led to heightened clashes to this day.[7] |
| Kurdish-Turkish conflict | 27 November 1978 | Ongoing | Numerous Kurdish groups, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (the PKK) have fought for an independent Kurdistan incorporating parts of Turkey. In 2016, Turkey occupied parts of Northern Syria and in 2019, invaded Kurdish-held areas of Northern Syria. In 2020, Turkey launched an insurgency in Iraqi Kurdistan. |
| Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | February 1988
|
Ongoing
|
The region of Karabakh has been disputed over the Republic of Artsakh, which is supported by the Armenian government. A ceasefire was held in 1994. In July 2020, a series of border skirmishes left at least 15 dead. From 27 September until 10 November 2020, a second war broke out in the region. |
| War on terror | 11 September 2001
|
Ongoing
|
Motivated by the September 11 attacks, the United States and other governments started a large scale effort to eliminate terrorism.[8] With support from NATO, the United States invaded Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and overthrew the government, however remained in the country to stabilise the situation.[9] Two years later, on the pretext that the government of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,[10] the United States and a coalition of partners invaded Iraq and overthrew Hussein's regime,[11] after which the U.S. occupied the country, officially leaving in 2011.[12] However, insurgencies remained active in both countries, long after the invasions.[13] |
| Russo-Ukrainian War | 20 February 2014
|
Ongoing
|
Hostilities between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine have been ongoing since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. In 2021 and early 2022, tensions escalated between the two countries due to a build up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. Russia launched a full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. |
| Military intervention against ISIL | 13 June 2014 | Ongoing | In late-2013, a terrorist organisation called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant began making rapid advances and territorial gains in Iraq and Syria. It captured Mosul in June[14] and made Raqqa its capital.[15] Various international coalitions were formed to help fight the militants.[16][17] By December 2017, ISIL had lost much of its former territory. |
| Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen | 26 March 2015 | Ongoing | During the Yemeni Civil War, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries part of a coalition invaded parts of Yemen in order to depose the Houthi-controlled government. |
| Turkish occupation of northern Syria | 24 August 2016 | Ongoing | During the Syrian Civil War, Turkey invaded parts of northern Syria in order to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Syrian Democratic Forces, and the PKK. |
| Name | Start date | End date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal conflict in Myanmar | 2 April 1948
|
Ongoing
|
Myanmar's long-running insurgencies escalated significantly into a major civil war in 2021 following the 2021 military coup and the subsequent brutal crackdown on the anti-coup protests. |
| War in Darfur | 26 February 2003 | Ongoing | A peace agreement was signed on 31 August 2020 between the Sudanese authorities and several rebel factions to end armed hostilities. |
| Mexican drug war | 11 December 2006 | Ongoing | Following a rise in criminal violence as a result of drug trafficking in the country, Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared a war on drugs in December 2006.[18] Since the start of the war, the death toll from drug violence had sharply increased.[19] Arrests of key cartel leaders led to increasing violence as cartels fought for control of trafficking routes into the United States.[20][21][22] |
| War in Somalia | 31 January 2009 | Ongoing | In 2009, Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group, began waging an insurgency against the newly formed Transitional Federal Government. In 2011, the federal government captured Mogadishu[23] and subsequently retook several towns across the country.[24] Since then, the government has attempted to clean out the remaining Al-Shabaab strongholds with help from AMISOM soldiers.[25] |
| Mali War | 16 January 2012 | Ongoing | In January 2012, a rebellion by Tuaregs in Northern Mali began. After Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état, Tuaregs captured Northern Mali,[26] and declared it to be the independent state of Azawad.[27] However, shortly afterward, various Islamist groups took over Northern Mali from the Tuaregs and imposed sharia law on the region.[28] |
| South Sudanese Civil War | 15 December 2013 | 22 February 2020 | On 22 February 2020, rivals Kiir and Machar struck a unity deal and formed a coalition government, after an estimated 400,000 deaths and more than 4 million people displaced by the war. |
| Second Libyan Civil War | 16 May 2014 | 23 October 2020 | Following the factional violence that engulfed Libya after the fall of Muammar al-Gaddafi, a second civil war broke out among rival factions seeking control of the territory and oil of Libya. The conflict at the beginning was mostly between the House of Representatives (HoR) government that was controversially elected in 2014, also known as the "Tobruk government"; and the rival General National Congress (GNC) government, also called the "National Salvation Government", based in the capital Tripoli, established after Operation Odyssey Dawn and the failed military coup. |
| Yemeni Civil War | 19 March 2015 | Ongoing | Preceded by a decade-long Houthi insurgency,[29] the Yemeni Civil War began between two factions: the then-incumbent Yemeni government, led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Houthi militia, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the Yemeni government.[30] |
| Philippine drug war | 30 June 2016 | Ongoing | Following a rise in criminal violence as a result of drug trafficking in the country, the Philippines has been engaged in a drug war since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated on 30 June 2016. It had caused more than 5,000 deaths and over 150,000 arrests by the beginning of the decade.[31][32] |
| Iraqi insurgency | 9 December 2017 | Ongoing | A part of the larger Iraqi conflict that has been waged since 2003, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has been engaged in an insurgency against the Iraqi government and CJTF-OIR since the loss of territorial control in the Iraqi Civil War in 2017. |
| Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) | 2 April 2018
|
Ongoing
|
After years of increased tensions between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments, a full-scale war broke out in November 2020, that has killed an estimated 300,000-500,000 people as of March 2022.[33] On November 2, both the Ethiopian government and TPLF formally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and systematic, verifiable disarmament[34] though Tigrayan authorities allege that Ethiopia continued to launch attacks after the peace deal was signed[35][36] |
|
Main article: List of protests in the 21st century |
Successful revolutions and otherwise major protests of the decade include, but are not limited to:
| Event | Date | Country | Events | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia omnibus law protests | 13 January 2020 – November 2020 | 
|
Mass popular protests and riots against the deliberation and passage of the controversial Omnibus Law on Job Creation, which was passed on 5 October 2020. The wider policies of President Joko Widodo were also protested against, and resulted in the formation of the new Labour Party. | [37][38] |
| 2020–2021 Belarusian protests | 24 January 2020 – 25 March 2021 | 
|
Mass popular protests and riots against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus, the demonstrations began in the lead-up to and during the 2020 presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought his sixth term in office. | [39][40] |
| George Floyd protests | 26 May 2020 –2022 | 
|
Protests and riots due to the murder of George Floyd spread throughout the United States with international protests in support. The stated goal was to end systemic racism and police brutality. | [41][42] |
| 2020–2021 Thai protests | July 2020 – November 2021 | 
|
Mass popular protests and riots against the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the dissolution of the Future Forward Party, changes to the constitution in 2017, and the country's political landscape. Resulted in the detention of leading figures. | [43][44] |
| 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest | 9 August 2020 – 11 December 2021 | 
|
Protests and riots against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. | [45][46] |
| Third Kyrgyz Revolution | 5 – 15 October 2020 | 
|
On 5 October, protests began in Kyrgyzstan in response to the annulled parliamentary election, which protesters felt were unfair with allegations of vote-rigging. A day later, the parliamentary elections were annulled. 6 days later, on 12 October, president Sooronbay Jeenbekov announced a state of emergency. On 15 October, Jeenbekov finally resigned, making way for Sadyr Japarov, who was nominated by parliament on 14 October to be acting prime minister, as also acting president. Following the protests, Japarov was elected president on 10 January 2021, on the same day a referendum was held on the Kyrgyz government system, in which the Kyrgyz voted for a reintroduction of the presidential system. The new constitution, passed by the Supreme Council was approved by voters in another referendum on 11 April 2021. Finally, on 28 November 2021, new parliamentary elections took place. | [47][48] |
| 2021 Brazilian protests | 15 January – December 2021 | 
|
President Bolsonaro's government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil culminated in mass popular protests and riots, with protests occurring in both support and opposition to the government and resulted in a failed impeachment attempt of Bolsonaro. | [49][50][51] |
| 2021–23 Myanmar protests (Spring Revolution) | 2 February 2021 – present | 
|
Protests triggered after the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, during the ongoing internal conflict in Myanmar, and the Myanmar civil war. | [52][53] |
| 2021–23 Iranian protests and people's revolt | 15 July 2021 – present
|
|
In 2021, protests broke out over a water shortage, electricity blackouts, and crackdowns on the Iranian Democracy Movement. The protests escalated in 2022 in response to a government price hikes on food and the death of Mahsa Amini, who was in police custody for not wearing a hijab. | |
| 2022 Kazakh unrest | 2 January 2022 – 11 January 2022 | 
|
Protests erupt in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 after a sudden sharp increase in liquefied gas prices following the lifting of a government-enforced price cap on 1 January. | |
| Canada convoy protest | 22 January – 23 February 2022 | 
|
A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy. | [54] |
| Protests against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | 24 February 2022 – present | 
|
A series of protests and anti-war demonstrations held in Russia and worldwide against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia. | |
| 2022 Sri Lankan protests | 15 March – 14 November 2022 | 
|
Since 2019, Sri Lanka has been facing its worst economic crisis since its independence. The ongoing economic crisis culminated in mass popular protests and riots against the incumbent government and the Rajapaksa family, which eventually forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign in July. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe succeeded Rajapaksa as the President amidst the protests. | [55][56][57] |
| 2022–23 Brazilian election protests | 31 October 2022 – present
|
|
The 2022 Brazilian election protests began shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 Brazilian general election's second round on October 30, in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president. Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, the outgoing incumbent president, started blocking roads and highways in the country. At least 23 Brazilian states, plus the Federal District, recorded roadblocks as of 1 November, adding up to at least 267 roadblocks according to data from Federal Highway Police (PRF). Dozens of Bolsonaro supporters storm the Three Powers Plaza in the capital Brasilia, cause enormous damage. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not there, nor was Jair Bolsonaro or members of Congress. | [58][59][60][61][62][63] |
| 2022 COVID-19 protests in China | 15 November 2022 – present | 
|
A series of protests against COVID-19 lockdowns began in mainland China on 15 November 2022. The protests began in response to measures taken by the Chinese government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, including implementing a zero-COVID policy. Discontentment towards the policy has grown since the beginning of the pandemic, which confined many people to their homes without work, leaving them unable to purchase daily necessities and subjecting them to harsh restrictions. Protests escalated on 24 November 2022 following a fire in an apartment building in Ürümqi which killed 10 people, with protesters blaming China's policies for the deaths. | [64][65] |
|
|
2021 Myanmar coup d'état culminated an ongoing protests, thousands of protesters participating in an anti-junta rally in Yangon in February 2021
|
|
Truckers protesting against the result of the 2022 Brazilian presidential elections in the BR-381 in Timóteo, Minas Gerais
|
|
Main article: List of terrorist incidents § 1970–present |
Note: To be included, entries must be notable (have a stand-alone article) and described by a consensus of reliable sources as "terrorism". They also must have 100 or more fatalities reported.
The most prominent terrorist attacks committed against civilian populations during the decade include, but are not limited to:
| Event | Date | Country | Deaths | Injuries | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Peshawar school bombing | 27 October 2020 | Pakistan | 8 | 136 | [66] |
| Koshebe massacre | 28 November 2020 | Nigeria | 110 | 6 | [67] |
| January 2021 Baghdad bombings | 21 January 2021 | Iraq | 34 | 110 | [68] |
| 2021 Kabul school bombing | 8 May 2021 | Afghanistan | 90 | 240 | [69] |
| 2021 Kabul airport attack | 26 August 2021 | Afghanistan | 183 | 200+ | [70] |
| 2022 Peshawar mosque attack | 4 March 2022 | Pakistan | 64+ | 196+ | [71] |
| October 2022 Mogadishu bombings | 29 October 2022 | Somalia | 121+ | 300+ | [72] |
|
Further information: 2020s in political history |
Having suffered decline in the years after the Great Recession, the centre-left politics and the 1990s political model (like progressivism, liberalism, social democracy, and third way policies) experienced a resurgence across Europe and the Anglosphere in the early 2020s, with New Statesman suggesting various causes, including natural shifts in the electoral cycle and conservatives' unpopularity among university graduates and voters under the age of 40.[73]
Sitting leaders that died in office:
In 2020: Sheik Sabah al-Sabah, Sultan Qaboos bin Said,[74] and Pierre Nkurunziza.
In 2021: Idriss Déby, John Magufuli, and Jovenel Moïse.
In 2022: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Elizabeth II
Former world leaders who died:
In 2020: Hosni Mubarak,[75] Valéry Giscard d'Estaing,[76] John Turner, Daniel arap Moi, Pranab Mukherjee, Amadou Toumani Touré, Jerry Rawlings, Mamadou Tandja, Tabaré Vázquez, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Pierre Buyoya, John Cremona, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, Kuniwo Nakamura, Litokwa Tomeing, Moussa Traoré, Pascal Lissouba, Branko Kostić, Lee Teng-hui, Benjamin Mkapa, Miloš Jakeš, Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero, Abdul Halim Khaddam, Joachim Yhombi-Opango, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, Mike Moore, and Janez Stanovnik.
In 2021: Gustavo Noboa, Ali Mahdi Muhammad, Didier Ratsiraka, Bonfoh Abass, Mamnoon Hussain, Arturo Armando Molina, Hissène Habré, Jorge Sampaio, Abdelkader Bensalah, Kenneth Kaunda, Anerood Jugnauth, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Enrique Bolaños, Roh Tae-woo, Chun Doo-hwan, Benigno Aquino III, Carlos Menem, F. W. de Klerk, James Fitz-Allen Mitchell, Norodom Ranariddh, Kinza Clodumar, and Karolos Papoulias.
In 2022: Toshiki Kaifu, Ernest Shonekan, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, Christos Sartzetakis, Amos Sawyer, Rupiah Banda, Karl Offmann, Ayaz Mutallibov, Dušan Čkrebić, Mwai Kibaki, Leonid Kravchuk, Stanislav Shushkevich, Romeo Morri, Bujar Nishani, Evaristo Carvalho, Jacob Nena, Shinzo Abe, José Eduardo dos Santos, Luis Echeverría, Francisco Morales Bermúdez, Fidel V. Ramos, Mikhail Gorbachev, Balakh Sher Mazari, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Jiang Zemin, Adolfas Šleževičius, Edgar Savisaar and Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2023: Abdelsalam Majali and Constantine II of Greece.
| Event | Date | Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Malian coup d'état | 18 August 2020 |  Mali
|
|
| 2021 Battle of Bangui and coup d'état attempt | 13 January 2021 |  Central African Republic
|
|
| Myanmar coup d'état | 1 February 2021 | Myanmar
|
|
| Armenian coup d'état attempt | 25 February 2021 |  Armenia
|
|
| Nigerien coup d'état attempt | 31 March 2021 |  Niger
|
|
| 2021 Malian coup d'état | 24 May 2021 | Mali
|
|
| 2021 Tunisian self-coup | 25 July 2021 |  Tunisia
|
|
| Guinean coup d'état | 5 September 2021 |  Guinea
|
|
| Sudanese coup d'état | 25 October 2021 |  Sudan
|
|
| January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état | 23 January 2022 |  Burkina Faso
|
|
| Guinea-Bissau coup d'état attempt | 1 February 2022 |  Guinea-Bissau
|
|
| September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état | 30 September 2022 | Burkina Faso
|
|
| Peruvian self-coup attempt | 7 December 2022 |  Peru
|
|
Further information: Category:2020s in Africa, 2020 in West Africa, 2020 in North Africa, 2020 in Middle Africa, 2020 in East Africa, and 2020 in Southern Africa |
| Event | Country | Date | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–2022 Somali political crisis | 
|
8 February 2021 – 10 January 2022 | President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed stayed in power past the end of his term and postponed elections scheduled for 2021. Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble then called for the president to immediately step down. The president later dismissed Roble for alleged corruption. Protests were reported across the country in favor and opposed to the president. A deal to hold elections in May 2022 was reached in January which resulted in the incumbent president losing his bid for reelection. |
|
Further information: Category:2020s in North America and Category:2020s in South America |
| Event | Country | Date | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First impeachment of Donald Trump |
|
24 September 2019 – 5 February 2020 | Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 6, of the U.S. Constitution, President Donald Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on 18 December 2019 by the United States House of Representatives. The United States Senate trial began on 16 January 2020 and ended on 5 February 2020, concluding with an acquittal on both charges. | [77] |
| 2020 Salvadoran political crisis | 
|
9 February 2020 | During a political crisis, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent forty soldiers of the Salvadoran Army into the Legislative Assembly building in an effort to coerce politicians to approve a loan request of $109 million from the United States for Bukele's security plan for the country.
The event has been condemned by foreign governments, the political opposition, and human rights organizations and is considered the first major political crisis in the country since the conclusion of the Salvadoran Civil War in 1992 and has been referred to as a coup attempt. |
[78] |
| 2020 United States presidential election and subsequent events |
|
3 November 2020 – 13 February 2021 | The 59th United States presidential election was held on 3 November 2020. Democrat and former Vice-president Joe Biden defeated Republican and then-incumbent President Donald Trump, with the Electoral College formally declaring Biden the winner on 14 December 2020. Trump refused to concede, and filed lawsuits challenging the results in several states,[79] though most of the legal challenges were either dismissed or dropped, with judges citing lack of evidence to suggest voter fraud occurred. Trump had also unsuccessfully attempted to undo the election results by forcing government officials to stop Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia from certifying Biden as the winner, and urging his supporters to "walk" to the United States capitol to demand Trump be declared the winner of the election.[80] This was one of the reasons for the decision of a group of his supporters to gather in Washington, D.C on 6 January 2021 and break into the Capitol building during a Joint session of Congress. The January 6 United States Capitol attack disrupted Congress while certifying the election, forcing both chambers to undergo lockdown lasting for four hours. On the same day, Trump coerced then-incumbent Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results to which Pence refused. During the attack, Trump tweeted directly to his supporters falsely claiming Congress was attempting to assist in stealing the election. Twitter responded by suspending Trump's account permanently following Trump's tweet. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat all also suspended Trump from using their platforms worrying his posts may incite additional violence to the Capitol attacks. In relation to this, Trump was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives and became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. Meanwhile, Joe Biden was sworn in as the United States President on 20 January 2021. The Senate impeachment trial ended on 13 February 2021, one month after its start, resulting in Trump being found not guilty of inciting the attack on the Capitol. | [81][79][82][83][84][85][86] [87][88][89][90][80][91][92] [93][94][95][96][97][98] |
| 8th Congress of the Communist Party | 
|
16 – 19 April 2021 | At the 8th Congress of the Communist Party, Raúl Castro officially resigned as the First Secretary, the most powerful position in Cuba. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is officially named First Secretary of the Communist Party following the resignation of Raúl Castro. He is the first person not of the Castro family to hold the top position since the 1959 Cuban revolution. | [99][100] |
| 2021 Canadian federal election |
|
20 September 2021 | Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party, is elected in Canada's federal election for a third time, with a minority government. | [101] |
| Republicanism in Barbados | 
|
30 November 2021 | Barbados became the newest republic in the world on 30 November 2021, its 55th Independence Day, when the already elected, previous Governor-General of Barbados, Sandra Mason, was sworn into office as the first president of the Caribbean country. This ended Queen Elizabeth II's 55-year tenure as monarch of an independent Barbados. | |
| 2022 Colombian presidential election | 
|
19 June 2022 | Former 19th of April Movement guerrilla fighter and incumbent Senator Gustavo Petro defeats businessman and former mayor of Bucaramanga, Rodolfo Hernández Suárez in the second round of the presidential election and becomes the first left-wing President in Colombian history. |
|
Further information: Category:2020s in Asia |
| Event | Country | Date | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis |
|
5 May 2019 | The Persian Gulf region saw tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran escalate in mid-2019. The crisis saw oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz sabotaged and seized, drone shootdowns, and efforts by the U.S. and United Kingdom to pursue military patrols to protect shipping in the gulf, known as the International Maritime Security Construct. On 31 December 2019 tensions reached a breaking point as Iranian-backed Shiite militia stormed into the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, leading to the targeted killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike on 3 January 2020. | [102][103][104] |
| 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes |
|
5 May 2020 – 20 January 2021 | Since 5 May 2020, Chinese and Indian troops have engaged in aggressive melee, face-offs, and skirmishes at locations along the Sino-Indian border, including near the disputed Pangong Lake in Ladakh and the Tibet Autonomous Region, and near the border between Sikkim and the Tibet Autonomous Region. Additional clashes also took place at locations in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). | [105] |
| Second Nagorno-Karabakh war | 
|
27 September 2020 – 10 November 2020 | Starting on 27 September fierce clashes erupted along the line of contact between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Joint Artsakh and Armenian forces. Both sides neglected ceasefire demands from France, Russia and the US and continued fighting with claims from both sides that they are prepared to fight a long war to grapple control over the long contested Nagorno-Karabakh region. On 9 November a Russian-brokered peace treaty was signed by both sides.[106][107] | [108] |
| 2021 Kyrgyzstan–Tajikistan clashes and Post-ceasefire incidents | 
|
28 April – 1 May 2021 | A 3-day border conflict with clashes occurred in late April 2021 between the two Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The reason why the fighting broke out is disputed, but it is due either to an old water dispute or to local people's dissatisfaction with the installation of surveillance cameras near the border. After 3 days of intense clashes that left 55 people dead and more than 40,000 displaced civilians, the two countries agreed on a ceasefire. After the ceasefire, however, there were further armed incidents that led to further deaths and injuries up to June 2022. | |
| 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis |  
|
6 – 21 May 2021 | Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem lead to eleven days of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. | [109] |
| 2021 Taliban offensive | 
|
1 May 2021 – 15 August 2021 | Beginning on 1 May 2021, the Taliban and allied militant groups made a final offensive against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its allies, coinciding with the withdrawal of most United States and allied troops from Afghanistan. It resulted in the de facto takeover of the country and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ending the twenty-year-long War in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021. | |
| 2021–2022 Iraqi political crisis | 
|
5 November 2021 – 28 October 2022 | The parliamentary election in October 2021 resulted in deadlock as members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq were unable to form a stable government or elect a new president. Ended in the election of Abdul Latif Rashid as president and Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani as prime minister. | |
| 2022 Pakistani political crises | 
|
3 – 10 April 2022 | Resulted in a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, making him the first Prime Minister of Pakistan to be removed from office by a vote of no confidence. |
|
Further information: Category:2020s in Europe |
| Event | Country | Date | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brexit | 
|
31 January 2020 | The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdrew from the European Union at 11PM (GMT). | [110] |
| Eighth NATO enlargement | 
|
27 March 2020 | North Macedonia subsequently signed the instrument of accession and became a member state of NATO. | |
| (Prelude) 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine |
|
March 2021 – February 2022 24 February 2022 – ongoing |
Russia assembled troops along its border with Ukraine throughout late 2021 to early 2022. It escalated into a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. | |
| Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II |
|
6 February 2022 | Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, which marked the 70th anniversary of her accession. | [111] |
| July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis |
|
5–7 July 2022 | Several officials resigned from their positions in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's second ministry, culminating in Johnson announcing his resignation on 7 July and a leadership election called to decide the next leader of the Conservative Party. | [112] |
| Death of Mikhail Gorbachev |
|
30 August 2022 | A Russian and Soviet politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev died at the age of 91. | |
| Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II and |
|
8 September 2022 | Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, the longest-living and longest-reigning British monarch, ruling from 6 February 1952 to 8 September 2022, died of natural causes at the age of 96. Her son, Charles acceded to the throne as King Charles III immediately after serving as heir apparent for 70 years, the longest in British history | |
| 2022 Italian general election | 
|
25 September 2022 | The right-wing coalition led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy won an absolute majority in both houses. On 22 October, Meloni was appointed Prime Minister, becoming the first woman to hold the office. | [113][114] |
| Golden Jubilee of Margrethe II | 
|
2022 | Queen Margrethe II celebrated her Golden Jubilee, which marked the 50th anniversary of her accession. | |
| October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis |
|
14 October 2022 – 20 October 2022 | Only six weeks into her premiership, conservative MPs cited a loss in public confidence in Prime Minister Liz Truss's ministry following her September mini-budget. This culminated in Truss announcing her resignation on 20 October and a leadership election called to decide the next leader of the Conservative Party. | |
| Death and funeral of Pope Benedict XVI | 
|
31 December 2022 | Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at the Age of 95. The former German Pope resigned in 2013 as the first Pope to do so since more than 600 years. |
|
Finnish and Swedish ambassadors submit their applications to join NATO to secretary general Jens Stoltenberg
|
The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebration at Oxford Street in London, which marked the 70th anniversary of her accession.
|
Crowds at Buckingham Palace following the death and state funeral of Elizabeth II.
|
Crowds at St. Peter's Square following the death and funeral of Pope Benedict XVI.
|
|
Further information: Category:2020s in Oceania |
| Event | Country | Date | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis | 
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22 May 2021 — 23 July 2021 | ||
| 2021 Solomon Islands unrest | 
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24 – 27 November 2021 | ||
| 2022 Kiribati constitutional crisis | 
|
May 2022 - ongoing |
|
Further information: List of assassinations |
Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 3 January 2020 | Qasem Soleimani, Iranian general, and leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, was killed in an airstrike conducted by the United States near Baghdad International Airport.[115] |
| 27 November 2020 | Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior official in the nuclear program in Iran, was killed in an ambush against his motorcade in Absard.[116] |
| 22 February 2021 | Luca Attanasio, Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was killed by gunmen while traveling in North Kivu.[117] |
| 20 April 2021 | Idriss Déby, 6th President of Chad, was killed while commanding forces against rebels during the Insurgency in Northern Chad.[118] |
| 6 May 2021 | Mohamed Nasheed, Speaker of the Maldivian People's Majlis, is wounded in an explosion alleged by Maldivian authorities to have been conducted by religious extremists.[119] |
| 7 July 2021 | Jovenel Moïse, 43rd President of Haiti, is killed by gunmen at his private residence. First Lady Martine Moïse is severely wounded.[120] |
| 15 October 2021 | David Amess, British Conservative Party MP, is killed by an Islamic terrorist during a constituency surgery.[121] |
| 7 November 2021 | Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, Prime Minister of Iraq, survives a drone attack that injures six in his security detail.[122] |
| 3 February 2022 | Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, 2nd Caliph of the Islamic State, is killed in Atme during a counter-terrorism raid by U.S. special forces in north-western Syria.[123] |
| 8 July 2022 | Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan, is killed while giving a campaign speech by a former navy sailor who held a grudge against the South Korean-based Unification Church.[124] |
| 31 July 2022 | Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the Salafi-jihadist group al-Qaeda, was killed by a drone strike conducted by the US-based CIA in Kabul, Afghanistan.[125] |
| 12 August 2022 | Salman Rushdie, an Indian-born British-American novelist, is stabbed multiple times as he is about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, United States. Rushdie has been the subject of a fatwā written by Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death since 1989.[126][127] |
| 1 September 2022 | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, current Vice President and former President of Argentina, survives an attempt on her life after the assailant's weapon malfunctions.[128] |
| 28 October 2022 | Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is the target of a failed assassination attempt when a man armed with a hammer breaks into her residence. He instead assaults her husband, causing serious injuries as she was not home at the time of the attempt.[129] |
| 3 November 2022 | Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan, is shot in the leg while traveling in a convoy in Wazirabad amid the anti-government protests.[130] |
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| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 | 8 January 2020 |
|
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down shortly after take-off from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who claimed to have mistaken it for a cruise missile. All 176 people on board were killed.[131] |
| Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 | 22 May 2020 |
|
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashed into a neighborhood in Karachi while attempting to land, killing 97 of the 99 people on board plus 1 person on the ground.[132] |
| Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 | 9 January 2021 |
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Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after take-off from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, killing all 62 people on board. |
| China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 | 21 March 2022 |
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China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashed into the ground near Wuzhou mid-flight, killing all 132 people on board. |
| Yeti Airlines Flight 691 | 15 January 2023 | 
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Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashed into a gorge while attempting to land in Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board. |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Beirut explosion | 4 August 2020 | 
|
A massive explosion occurred in the port of Beirut. The blast was so loud that it was even reported to be heard in Cyprus, which is approximately 240 km from the location of the explosion.[133] The windows of major buildings in a 6-mile radius were shattered and roads were filled with debris. According to initial findings, it was estimated that a warehouse with 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded, which was confiscated by the Lebanese government from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus and then stored in the port without proper safety measures for six years.[134] 220 deaths were confirmed, more than 110 people were missing and at least 7,000 were reported injured.[135] Beirut governor Marwan Abboud estimated that up to 300,000 people were left homeless by the explosions and there was $10–15 billion USD in property damage. |
| Surfside condominium collapse | 24 June 2021 |
|
A 12-story beachfront condominium in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed. As of 22 July 2021, a total of 98 people are confirmed to have died, while 11 were injured.[136] One person was rescued from the rubble, and about 35 people were rescued on 24 June from the uncollapsed portion of the building, which was demolished 11 days later as a safety precaution due to the approach of Hurricane Elsa. On 7 July, authorities announced that the objective of the search was transitioning from rescue to recovery and that the missing victims are presumed dead. |
| 2022 Yerevan explosion | 14 August 2022 |
|
A large explosion took place in the Surmalu shopping centre in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. It caused widespread destruction and fire, leaving dozens of dead and injured.[137] The explosion killed 16 people and injured 63, with nine missing as of 20 August.[138][139] |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
See also: Category:2020s natural disasters |
|
Main articles: List of earthquakes in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 |
Note: This table is a chronological list of earthquakes reported with 7.5Mw or greater or that have reported at least 100 fatalities.
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Caribbean earthquake | 28 January 2020 | Caribbean Sea | A 7.7Mw struck in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cuba at 14:10 local time on 28 January 2020. The earthquake was also felt in the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Dominican Republic, and the Cayman Islands. No damages were reported. A small (12.2 cm) tsunami was reported in the Cayman Islands.[140][141] |
| 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake | 30 October 2020 |  
|
A 7.0 Mw earthquake occurred about 14 km (8.7 mi) northeast of the Greek island of Samos, causing 119 deaths.[142] |
| 2021 West Sulawesi earthquake | 15 January 2021 |
|
A 6.2 Mw earthquake struck the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi, killing a minimum of 105 people.[143] |
| 2021 Haiti earthquake | 14 August 2021 | 
|
A 7.2 Mw earthquake struck Haiti on 14 August 2021, resulting in at least 2,207 deaths.[144] |
| June 2022 Afghanistan earthquake | 22 June 2022 |
|
A 6.2 Mw earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan, killing at least 1,163 people, with 1,150 in Afghanistan and 13 in Pakistan. The earthquake was so deadly because it hit a densely populated area with buildings too weak to resist earthquakes. |
|
Main articles: Tropical cyclones in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclone Amphan | 16–21 May 2020 |  
|
118 people were killed and millions made homeless in the strongest storm in two decades. Damage was estimated at US$13.2 billion.[145] |
| Hurricane Laura | 20–29 August 2020 | Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, Gulf Coast of the United States, Midwestern United States | 77 people were killed and thousands made homeless during one of the strongest storms to make landfall in the United States. Damages estimated at US$19.1 billion.[146][147] |
| Typhoon Vamco (Ulysses) | 8–15 November 2020 |    
|
102 people were killed, and the typhoon contributed to the 2020 Central Vietnam Floods. Damages totaled up to US$440.8 million. |
| Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota | 31 October–18 November 2020 |  
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A total of 278+ people were killed during both Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota in Nicaragua and Honduras. Damages totaled up to US$9.3 billion from both hurricanes. |
| Cyclone Tauktae | 14-19 May 2021 | 
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This category-4 cyclone hit the western coast of India. 174 total fatalities recorded (all countries). Damages totaled up to US$2.12 billion. Other countries affected were Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives. |
| Hurricane Ida | 26 August–4 September 2021 |
|
95 people were killed in the United States. Damages totaled up to US$50 billion. |
| Typhoon Rai (Odette) | 12–22 December 2021 |   
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Several southern provinces in the Philippines were flooded and ravaged by the typhoon. 392 people have died, with at least 515 people injured. Damages amount up to US$720 million.[148] |
| Hurricane Ian | 23 September—October 2, 2022 |
|
157 people killed with 16 unaccounted for across both the United States and Cuba. The entire nation of Cuba lost power and millions lost power in the United States. |
|
Main articles: Tornadoes of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 South Moravia tornado | 24 June 2021 | 
|
A small but significant tornado outbreak swept across the Czech Republic on 24 June, resulting in the strongest ever documented tornado in modern Czech history and the deadliest European tornado since 2001.[149][150] |
| Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021 | 10 December 2021 – 11 December 2021 |
|
Tornado activity swept the southern and midwestern United States in the evening of 10 December through the following morning. Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky suffered extensive damage.[151] |
Note: This section reports only floods with 200 or more deaths and avalanches and landslides involving 30 or more deaths.
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Van avalanches | 4–5 February 2020 |
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Two avalanches in Turkey's eastern Van Province resulted in 41 deaths and 84 injuries. |
| 2020 East Africa floods | March - May 2020 |        
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Severe flooding in 9 African countries caused more than 450 deaths and affected more than 700,000 people, mainly in Kenya and Rwanda. |
| 2020 Nepal floods | June - September 2020 |
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The rainy season and associated flooding, which has killed more than 400 people, has been described by some in Nepal as the deadliest in recent memory. |
| 2021 European floods | 12–25 July 2021 |         
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Heavy flooding, particularly in river basins of western and central Europe, killed some 243 people and left €10 billion in damage. |
| 2021 Henan floods | 17–31 July 2021 |
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Following the highest-ever recorded rainfall in Zhengzhou, Henan Province in China, between 300 and 400 deaths along with over 800,000 people having to evacuate. |
| 2021 Maharashtra floods | 22 July 2021 – August 2021 |
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Over 250 deaths were reported in the Indian state of Maharashtra after heavy rainfall in the area. |
| 2022 Petrópolis floods | 15 February 2022 |
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Intense rainfall led to mudslides and flooding on February 15, that destroyed parts of the city of Petrópolis in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro and killed more than 230 people. |
| 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods | 8–21 April 2022 | 
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Flooding in the province of KwaZuku-Natal in South Africa leads to over 400 deaths. |
| 2022 Afghanistan floods | 5 May 2022 – August 2022 |
|
Several provinces of Afghanistan were affected by severe flooding beginning in May, which claimed more than 600 lives. |
| 2022 India-Bangladesh floods | 23 May 2022 – present |
|
Deadly floods have been hitting northeastern India and Bangladesh since May 2022, killing more than 250 people and affecting 9 million people in both countries. |
| 2022 Pakistan floods | 14 June 2022 – October 2022 |
|
Floods in Pakistan have killed more than 1,000 people since June. |
| 2022 Nigeria floods | May 2022 – October 2022 | 
|
With more than 600 dead, the 2022 floods were the worst in the country since the floods in 2012. |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–2022 Taal Volcano eruptions | 12 January 2020 – 9 July 2021 |
|
On 12 January the Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupted at VEI 4 intensity, bringing intense ashfall to the surrounding areas and killing at least 3 people.[citation needed] |
| 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption | 19 September 2021 – 13 December 2021 | 
|
On 19 September the Cumbre Vieja volcano located in the La Palma island erupted.[152] |
| 2021 Semeru eruption | 4 December 2021 |
|
The collapse of an unstable lava dome on the summit of Semeru due to heavy rainfall triggered large pyroclastic flows, killing 48, injuring over 100 and leaving 23 missing.[153] |
| 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami | 15 January 2022 | 
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The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in the South Pacific erupted violently on 15 January, causing tsunamis to hit Hawaii, Japan and Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, and sent waves flooding into Nukuʻalofa. Tonga finally disqualified in the FIFA World Cup.[154] |
|
Main page: Category:2020s wildfires |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–2021 Southern African drought | October 2018 – October 2021 |
|
An ongoing period of drought began in the country of South Africa in late October 2018 and continued into early 2021, negatively affecting food security in the region. |
| 2019–20 Australian bushfire season | June 2019 – May 2020 | 
|
Unusually intense bushfires in Australia continued into 2020, having started in September 2019.[155] |
| 2020 Western U.S. Wildfires | March 2020 – December 2020 |
|
Record-breaking wildfires began in several Western American states. |
| 2020 Argentine wildfires (Delta del Paraná) | July 2020 – October 2020 | 
|
Sudden wildfires started in Córdoba and extended into several Northern provinces. |
| 2021 Russian heatwave | May 2021 – June 2021 |
|
Parts of Russia and eastern Europe were hit by a record-breaking heat wave in May and June 2021, with temperatures in the Arctic Circle above 30 °C and the highest temperatures recorded in Moscow and St. Petersburg. |
| 2021 Western North America heat wave | June 2021 – July 2021 |
|
Extreme temperatures caused by a prolonged heat dome over western Canada and the western United States kill over 613 people including over 480 people in British Columbia alone. The village of Lytton, British Columbia, which recorded the highest temperatures in Canada, is destroyed by a large wildfire as over 200 other ones devastate wide areas of the province. Wildfires in parts of the western coastal states of the US such as Washington, Oregon and California are also greatly worsened by the heatwave. |
| 2021 Turkey wildfires | July 2021 – August 2021 |
|
Over a hundred wildfires began in the Mediterranean Region of the forest in Turkey, the worst in the country for at least a decade. The wildfires started in Manavgat, Antalya on 28 July 2021, with the temperature around 37 °C (99 °F). |
| 2020–2023 North American drought | August 2020 – Ongoing | 
|
Drought developed in the Western, Midwestern and Northeastern United States in the summer of 2020. Over the course of 2021, conditions improved in the Northeast but worsened in the Western US. As of June 2021, 97% of the region was facing abnormally dry conditions. By August 2021, parts of the upper Midwestern US were experiencing some of the worst drought spells since the 1980s. Drought also affected a wide area of Mexico as of 2021, as well as the prairies of Canada. |
| 2022 European and Mediterranean wildfires | May 2022 – September 2022 | 
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Wildfires across Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean region.[156] |
| 2022 European drought | July 2022 – September 2022 |
|
Europe's worst year in 500 years.[157] A report from the Global Drought Observatory confirmed this.[158] |
| Event | Date | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Oder environmental disaster | July 2022 – Ongoing | 
|
A mass fish kill occurs in the river Oder in Poland and Germany attributed to an algal bloom. |
Beginning in 2019 until 2022, a huge swarm of desert locusts threatened to engulf massive portions of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.[159][160][161][162][163][164]
|
Main article: 2020s in economic history |
|
See also: List of countries by Human Development Index, List of countries by GDP (nominal), and List of countries by GDP (PPP) |
The World Trade Organization reported that trade growth had stagnated and that trade restrictions were increasing as the decade began. The sectors most affected by import restrictions were mineral and fuel oils (17.7%), machinery and mechanical appliances (13%), electrical machinery and parts (11.7%), and precious metals (6%).[171] Regional trade agreements were also found to be increasing.[172]
| Event | Date | Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 stock market crash | 20 February 2020 – 7 April 2020 | Global |
|
See also: Category:Hacking in the 2020s |
| Event | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 Twitter account hijacking | 15 July 2020 | Multiple high-profile Twitter accounts, each with millions of followers, were compromised in a cyberattack to promote a bitcoin scam.[173] |
| Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack | 6 May 2021 | Colonial Pipeline in Texas suffers debilitating ransomware cyberattack by Russian online group DarkSide causing substantial shortages in the southeastern USA. |
| Log4Shell | 24 November 2021 | Log4Shell affected hundreds of millions of devices through Java's open source Log4j[174] making it the most serious security breach ever.[175][176] |
| 2022 Costa Rican cyberattack | 17 April 2022 | The Conti Group and the Hive Ransomware group attacked some public institutions in Costa Rica. |
| Event | Date | Infections and deaths | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–2023 monkeypox outbreak | 29 April 2022 – present | 84,471 confirmed cases and 246 deaths in 109 countries and territories reported by 16 January 2023.[177] |
| Event | Date | Infections and deaths | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| COVID-19 pandemic | 2019 – present | 671.5 million+ confirmed cases and 6.7 million+ deaths with more than 240 countries and territories reported by 16 January 2023.[178] | |
| HIV/AIDS | 1981 – present | 37.9 million people living with HIV (end of 2018), 24.5 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy (end of June 2019), 32.0 million deaths from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic (end 2018).[179] |
| 2020s in science |
| 2023 in science |
|---|
| 2022 |
| Archaeology |
| Paleontology |
| Senescence research |
| 2020s |
| Paleoanthropology |
| Spaceflight |
| Sustainable energy research |
| 2020s |
| Biotechnology |
| 2020s |
| Quantum IT |
| 2020s |
| Computing |
| 2020s |
| Environment and environmental sciences |
| Climate change |
| Related |
|
Main article: 2020s in science and technology |
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See also: 2020s in spaceflight |
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Main article: 2020s in social history |
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Main article: Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic |
Medical experts advised, and local authorities often mandated stay-at-home orders to prevent gatherings of any size. Such gatherings could be replaced by teleconferencing, or in some cases with unconventional attempts to maintain social distancing with activities such as a balcony sing-along for a concert, or a "birthday parade" for a birthday party. Replacements for gatherings were seen as significant to mental health during the crisis. Social isolation among alcohol users also adopted a trend towards Kalsarikänni or "pantsdrunking", a Finnish antisocial drinking culture.
Low-income individuals were more likely to contract the coronavirus and to die from it. In both New York City and Barcelona, low-income neighborhoods were disproportionately hit by coronavirus cases. Hypotheses for why this was the case included that poorer families were more likely to live in crowded housing and work in low-skill jobs, such as supermarkets and elder care, which were deemed essential during the crisis. In the United States, millions of low-income people may lack access to health care due to being uninsured or underinsured. Millions of Americans lost their health insurance after losing their jobs. Many low-income workers in service jobs became unemployed.
The coronavirus pandemic was followed by a concern for a potential spike in suicides, exacerbated by social isolation due to quarantine and social-distancing guidelines, fear, and unemployment and financial factors. Many countries reported an increase in domestic violence and intimate partner violence attributed to lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial insecurity, stress, and uncertainty led to increased aggression at home, with abusers able to control large amounts of their victims' daily life. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for a domestic violence "ceasefire".
The murder of George Floyd led to civil unrest and protests across the United States and internationally in 2020.
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See also: Women in government |
24.3% of all national parliamentarians were women as of February 2019. 11 women were serving as Head of State and 12 as Head of Government in June 2019. 20.7% of government ministers were women as of January 2019. There are wide regional variations in the average percentages of women parliamentarians. As of February 2019, these were: Nordic countries, 42.5%; Americas, 30.6%; Europe excluding Nordic countries, 27.2; sub-Saharan Africa, 23.9; Asia, 19.8%; Arab States, 19%; and the Pacific, 16.3%. Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians worldwide, 61.3% of seats in the lower house. About 26% of elected local parliamentarians are women.[194]
Many states swore in their first female leaders during the 2020s including Presidents Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Greece), Samia Suluku Hassan (Tanzania), Sandra Mason (Barbados), Xiomara Castro (Honduras), Katalin Novák (Hungary), Dina Boluarte (Peru) and Prime Ministers Kaja Kallas (Estonia), Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa (Samoa), Robinah Nabbanja (Uganda), Najla Bouden (Tunisia), Magdalena Andersson (Sweden), Giorgia Meloni (Italy).[195]
Development in global goals and issues – including goals or progress related to the largest causes of human death – during the decade, according to reports that systematically track, quantify or review associated progress.
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Main article: 2020s in fashion |
Fashion trends of the early 2020s have been largely inspired by the 2000s and 1990s. Popular brands in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia during this era include Adidas, Nike, New Balance, Globe International, Vans, Kappa, Tommy Hilfiger, Asics, Ellesse, Ralph Lauren, Forever 21, Playboy and The North Face.[246][247][248] Wearing a decorative mask to prevent the disease COVID-19 from spreading was a fashion trend in the early 2020s.[249]
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Main article: 2020s in film |
The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted film releases early in the decade, resulting in a drastic drop in box office revenue as well as many films postponing their release or shifting it to a streaming services. Avatar: The Way of Water is the highest-grossing film of the decade, and currently the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time. Other financially successful films at the box office include Top Gun: Maverick, No Time to Die, and Jurassic World Dominion. Superhero films continued to do well financially, with Spider-Man: No Way Home being the highest-grossing of the decade. Other successful superhero films include The Batman, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, as well as much of Marvel Studios' "Multiverse Saga" and DC Studios' "DC Extended Universe" films.
Critically successful films include winners of year-end best independent film accolades including: Nomadland, The Power of the Dog, CODA, and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
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Main article: 2020s in television |
The 2020s started off with streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Binge,[250] HBO Max, Showtime, Hulu and Disney+. Additional streaming services such as Discovery+, Paramount+, and Peacock were released as well. In the 2020s, reboots and reunion episodes of older shows became widespread, including That '90s Show, How I Met Your Father, Animaniacs, The Conners, Saved by the Bell, HBO Max's Friends: The Reunion and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion, and And Just Like That..., Paramount+'s new iCarly, Rugrats, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Frasier. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia became the longest-running live-action comedy in 2021.
Streaming television such as Pluto TV and YouTube TV become more popular.
Shows on streaming such as Squid Game, Never Have I Ever, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, Only Murders in the Building, Love, Victor, Wednesday, Extraordinary Attorney Woo,Tiger King and others gained popularity.
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Main article: 2020s in music |
By 2020, TikTok had become an extremely popular music platform on social media.[251] Streaming on platforms such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and Apple Music increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Festivals such as Coachella were cancelled because of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the touring business.[252][253]
Pop, hip hop, K-pop, R&B, nu disco[254] and synthpop[255] all dominated the early part of the decade, with the most popular artists being Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa, Jack Harlow, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, BTS, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo, Blackpink, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Cardi B, Beyoncé, the Kid Laroi, Lil Baby and more.[256]
An alarming trend that increased in the late 2010s and continued into the early 2020s is the gun violence and murder seen within the hip hop community, with 15 high-profile hip hop artists murdered since the start of the decade (as of November 2022). The most notable being Pop Smoke, Houdini, Einár, Young Dolph, Drakeo the Ruler, PnB Rock, Takeoff and others.
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Main article: 2020s in video games |
The ninth generation of consoles began in 2020 with the release of the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, while the Nintendo Switch continued to be popular from the previous decade. Technological advancements in consoles included support for real-time ray tracing graphics and output for 4K or even 8K resolution.[1][2] Physical media continued to be replaced by online distribution of games, with the Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition lacking an optical drive.[4] The Steam Deck was released in 2022 as Valve's attempt to bring PC-level gaming to a Nintendo Switch-style handheld format.
Critically successful games such as Elden Ring, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War Ragnarök, and The Last of Us Part II were released and won multiple best game of the year awards, signaling a shift towards narrative-driven and single-played focused gaming compared with the end of the 2010s where popularity of multiplayer gaming dominated.[257] Widely successful multiplayer games includes Fall Guys, Genshin Impact, It Takes Two, Overwatch 2, Valorant, and Warzone. The detective-party game Among Us surged in popularity in 2020 and became a global sensation, largely attributed in to global stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6]
Nintendo continued to successfully produce games for the nintendo switch, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons selling over 40 million copies, and making it the second-best-selling game on the console. The Nintendo Switch's sales also remained strong in the 2020s due in part to games such as Nintendo Switch Sports, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Bowser's Fury, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, WarioWare: Get It Together!, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Video game adaptations to film and television became more both financially and critically successful compared with previous decades. Film adaptations that were financially successful and well-accaimed include a trilogy of Sonic the Hedgehog movies, Uncharted, and The Super Mario Bros Movie. Television adaptations include Arcane, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and The Last of Us.
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Further information: Category:2020s architecture |
There is a revival in expressionist architecture. The SoFi Stadium was completed on 8 September 2020 and is a component of Hollywood Park, a master-planned neighborhood in development in Inglewood, California. The stadium serves as a home to the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers. SoFi Stadium hosted Super Bowl LVI in February 2022.[258] The stadium is also set to host the opening and closing ceremonies, soccer and archery in the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be hosted in Los Angeles, California, United States of America.[259]
The Unity Tower was finally completed on 30 September 2020. The construction of the building originally started in 1975, but stopped permanently in 1981 because of economic constraints and political unrest at the time. Due to the unfinished building's resemblance to a skeleton, it was nicknamed after Skeletor, the arch-villain in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which was popular in Poland at the time construction began.[260]
|
Main articles: List of Olympic Games host cities and List of FIFA World Cup finals |
|
Main article: 2020 in sports |
The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were postponed to July–August 2021. This was the first Olympic Games to be postponed rather than cancelled in history.[261]
The 2020 T20 Cricket World Cup, originally scheduled to take place in Australia, was rescheduled to occur in India in 2021. The tournament was ultimately held in the UAE and Oman (primarily the former) in 2021, with Australia winning the final against New Zealand to earn its first T20 World Cup title.
Sporting leagues such as the North American National Hockey League Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association, and the English Premier League adapt their seasons and championship play around COVID-19 by placing players in "bubbles" and televising games played in empty arenas and stadiums.
Food delivery apps such as DoorDash, Instacart, Menulog, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Just Eat Takeaway flourished due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[263][264] Indoor dining was also closed in many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and upon re-opening the usage of QR codes and other technologies in the restaurant industry increased compared to the 2010s in order to comply with pandemic restrictions.[265][266]
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Main page: Category:2020s in literature |
Books published throughout the decade include The Vanishing Half, Leave the World Behind, Transcendent Kingdom, Memorial and The City We Became. Recent releases on this decade include How to Prevent the Next Pandemic by Bill Gates, Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange, Wikipedia @ 20 by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. and Jackie Koerner, and The Candy House.[267][268]
Over a year after Friends: The Reunion, Matthew Perry released Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing (which had a foreword written by Lisa Kudrow). The book became a New York Times best-seller.
