The 2010s (pronounced "twenty-tens" or "two thousand [and] tens"; shortened to "the '10s" and also known as "the tens" or "the teens") was the decade that began on 1 January 2010 and ended on 31 December 2019.
The decade began with an economic recovery from the Great Recession. Inflation and interest rates stayed low and steady throughout the decade, gross world product grew from 2010 to 2019. Global economic recovery accelerated during the latter half of the decade, fueled by strong economic growth in many countries, robust consumer spending, increased investment in infrastructure, and the emergence of new technologies. However, the recovery developed unevenly while many countries autocratized. Socioeconomic crises in some countries—particularly in the Arab world—triggered political revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain as well as civil wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen in a regional phenomenon that was commonly referred to as the Arab Spring. Meanwhile, Europe had to grapple with a debt crisis that was pronounced early in the decade. Shifting social attitudes saw LGBT rights make substantial progress throughout the decade, particularly in developed countries.
The decade saw the musical and cultural dominance of dance-pop, electronic dance music, hipster culture and electropop. Globalization and an increased demand for variety and personalisation in the face of music streaming services such as Spotify, SoundCloud and Apple Music created many musical subgenres. As the decade progressed, diversity was also seen with the mainstream success of K-pop, Latin music and trap. Superhero films became box office leaders, with Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing film of all time. Cable providers saw a decline in subscribers as cord cutters switched to lower cost online streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney+. The video game industry continued to be dominated by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; while indie games became more popular, with Minecraft becoming the best-selling game of all time. Handheld console gaming revenue was overtaken by mobile gaming revenue in 2011. The best-selling book of this decade was Fifty Shades of Grey. Drake was named the top music artist of the decade in the U.S. by Billboard.
The United States continued to retain its superpower status while China sought to expand its influence in the South China Sea and in Africa through its economic initiatives and military reforms. It solidified its position as an emerging superpower, despite causing a series of conflicts around its frontiers. Within its border, China enhanced its suppression and control of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet. These developments led the United States to implement a containment policy and initiate a trade war against China. Elsewhere in Asia, the Koreas improved their relations after a prolonged crisis between the two countries, and the war on terror continued as a part of the U.S.'s continued military involvement in many parts of the world. The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant extremist organization in 2014 erased the Syria-Iraq border, resulting in a multinational intervention against it. In Africa, South Sudan broke away from Sudan, and mass protests and various coups d'état saw longtime strongmen deposed. In the U.S., celebrity businessman Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 amid an international wave of populism and neo-nationalism. The European Union experienced a migrant crisis in the middle of the decade and withdrawal of the United Kingdom as a member state following the historic United Kingdom EU membership referendum. Russia attempted to assert itself in international affairs, annexing Crimea in 2014. In the last months of the decade, the first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in Wuhan, China, before spreading to the rest of the world.
Information technology progressed, with smartphones becoming widespread and increasingly displacing desktop computers for many users. Internet coverage grew from 29% to 54% of the world population, and also saw advancements in wireless networking devices, mobile telephony, and cloud computing. Advancements in data processing and the rollout of 4G broadband allowed data, metadata, and information to be collected and dispersed among domains at paces never before seen while online resources such as social media facilitated phenomena such as the Me Too movement, the rise of slacktivism, and online cancel culture. WikiLeaks gained international attention for publishing classified information on topics related to Guantánamo Bay, Syria, the Afghan and Iraq wars, and United States diplomacy. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on global surveillance, raising awareness on the role governments and private entities play in global surveillance and information privacy. Baidu (4th), Twitter (6th) and Instagram (8th) emerged to become among the top 10 most visited websites, while Wikipedia went from the 9th to the 5th most popular website, almost sextupling its monthly visits. Yahoo significantly declined in popularity, descending from being the 1st to the 9th most popular site, with monthly visits declining by two-thirds. Google, Facebook, and YouTube maintained relatively consistent popularity and remained within the top 10 throughout the decade.
Global warming became increasingly noticeable through new record temperatures in different occurrences and extreme weather events on all continents. The CO2 concentration rose from 390 to 410 PPM over the decade. At the same time, combating pollution and climate change continued to be areas of major concern, as protests, initiatives, and legislation garnered substantial media attention. The Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, and the global climate youth movement was formed. Major natural disasters included the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Nepal earthquake of 2015, the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, the devastating tropical cyclones Bopha (Pablo), Haiyan (Yolanda), and Maria, as well as the 2019 European heat waves.
During the decade, the world population grew from 6.9 to 7.7 billion people. There were approximately 1.4 billion births during the decade (140 million per year), and about 560 million deaths (56 million per year).
Politics and wars
Major conflicts
The prominent wars of the decade include:
International wars Name Start date End date Description Israeli–Palestinian conflict 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict 14 May 1948
8 July 2014 Ongoing 26 August 2014 Conflict between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel and the West Bank has been ongoing since 1948. After Israel occupied the West Bank, it began making settlements there, which has been an obstacle to the peace process. Tensions also remained high as Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been launching rockets and cross-border raids into Israeli territory, to which Israel has responded with force. Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 2018 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashesFebruary 1988
1 April 2016 20 May 2018Ongoing 5 April 2016 27 May 2018The region of Karabakh has been disputed over the Republic of Artsakh, which is supported by the Armenian government. A ceasefire was held in 1994. From 1–5 April 2016, clashes began along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact with the Artsakh Defence Army, backed by the Armenian Armed Forces on one side and the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on the other. A ceasefire was reached on 5 April between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. From 20 to 27 May 2018, clashes in former no man's land in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an exclave of Azerbaijan, led to Azerbaijan reoccupying Günnüt and several other strategic villages and positions. War on terror War in Afghanistan Iraq war Drone strikes in Pakistan American intervention in Somalia American intervention in Libya 12 September 2001
7 October 2001 20 March 2003 18 June 2004 7 January 2007 13 November 2015Ongoing 31 December 2016 18 December 2011 4 July 2018 Ongoing 30 October 2019 Motivated by the 9/11 attacks, the United States and other governments started a large scale effort to eliminate terrorism. With support from NATO, the United States invaded Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and overthrew the government. Two years later, on the pretext that the government of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, the United States and a coalition of partners invaded Iraq and overthrew Hussein, after which the U.S. occupied the country. However, insurgencies remained active in both countries, long after the invasions. 2011 military intervention in Libya 19 March 2011 31 October 2011 Following United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, a NATO-led coalition launched an air campaign backing anti-Gaddafi rebels against Muammar Gaddafi's government in the Libyan Civil War. Russo-Ukrainian War Annexation of Crimea War in Donbas 20 February 2014
20 February 2014 6 April 2014 Ongoing 26 March 2014 24 February 2022 After the fall of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, Russian soldiers took control of strategic positions in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and subsequently annexed the region after a controversial referendum. In the months that followed, demonstrations in Donbas escalated into an armed conflict between the government of Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist forces. On 24 February 2022, the war in the Donbas region was subsumed by the Russo-Ukrainian war War against the Islamic State 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 and made Raqqa its capital. Various international coalitions led by the United States, France, Russia, and Muslim states and with aid from dozens of countries were formed to help fight the militants. By December 2017, ISIL had lost all of its territory in Iraq and 95% of its territory in Syria, and was militarily and territorially defeated on 23 March 2019. Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war 26 March 2015 During the Yemeni civil war, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and other countries invaded parts of Yemen in order to depose the Houthi-controlled government.Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War Operation Euphrates Shield Turkish military operation in Idlib Governorate Operation Olive Branch 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria 5 December 2011
24 August 2016 7 October 2017 20 January 2018 9 October 2019Ongoing 29 March 2017 Ongoing 9 August 2019