When did globalization begin? The answer might surprise you

Jan 16, 2019

Our obsession with globalization's modern impact overlooks its deep roots in human history. Image: Unsplash

Vanshica Kant

Global Shaper, New Delhi Hub, United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office (UNRCO)

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John B Sparks's famous 1931 Histomap reflects the conventional chronology of globalization by showing the power shifts between civilizations, beginning in 2000BC with the eastern powers – Egyptians, Hittites, Iranians, Indians and Chinese – and ending in AD1900 with the ascent of the western powers: the British Empire, continental Europeans, Asiatic powers, USA and USSR. Image: Visual Capitalist

Human migration patterns over time, beginning in east Africa. Image: National Geographic

Yosef Lema, 72, stands at his coffee farm in the Sidama zone, Ethiopia. Image: Reuters/Maheder Haileselassie

Map showing the spread of Islam. Image: ilmfeed.com

Map showing the British Empire's 'triangular trade'. Image: The Abolition Project

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