5000-years’ Atlas of Ages
Five thousand years of human history, side by side, one decade at a time
When the Song dynasty was printing the world’s first paper money, who ruled in Kyiv, Cairo or Córdoba? While Ming fleets crossed the Indian Ocean, what were the kingdoms of West Africa and the Andes doing? History is usually told one country at a time. This atlas puts those stories next to each other, so you can see at a glance who shared the stage in any decade from 3100 BCE to today.
Choose your regionsClick the region cards at the top. Double-click one to show it alone.
Travel in timeDrag the chart, scroll to zoom, or move the gold lens. The panel on the right lists who was there in that decade.
Open any barEach state, culture or period has a card with its dates, a short summary and the sources behind it.
Not sure what a colour, shape or thickness means? Open the Key at the top of the page.
Where the information comes from
The original chartThe first outline of states and dates was transcribed from World History Timeline – Decade by Decade (SenseForMaps). Every record has since been revised against the sources listed on it.
Close to a thousand referencesMuseum timelines such as The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, reference works such as Encyclopaedia Iranica, books and journals from Cambridge and Oxford, UNESCO World Heritage listings, the US Office of the Historian, national museums and more. Open any bar and expand Sources to see what was used for it.
Cliopatria and the World Bank data are used under CC BY 4.0. Changes: only years and areas are kept, each series is clipped to its record’s dates, and a few years whose source area includes colonies, wartime occupation or obvious errors are left out. Areas are for historical comparison and take no position on modern sovereignty or border disputes.
Please keep in mind
- This is a public beta made for curiosity and exploration, not a scholarly reference. Every record has had a first review, but none is claimed as fully verified.
- Many dates are approximate or follow a traditional chronology. A “c.” before a date means approximate or disputed. Some bars are display windows: they show roughly when a culture appears on the chart, not when a people began or disappeared.
- The twelve regions are groupings for the chart, not modern geographic or political divisions. The same state can appear in more than one region.
- Up and down position has no meaning, and bars standing next to each other do not imply that one succeeded the other.
- Coverage stops at 2025. That is the end of the chart, not the end of any state or people.
Made by Shen Yang (Shawn), an independent developer, as a free project for anyone who loves history.
Spotted a wrong date, a missing kingdom or a better source? Corrections and suggestions are very welcome: shen.yang.au@hotmail.com
Data and typography
Typefaces: IM Fell English SC, Alegreya, Alegreya Sans and Noto Serif SC, all under the SIL Open Font License and served from this site.