The world in 2004
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a description of different aspects of the world in the year 2004. It gives a flavour of life in this period, ordered from the most macroscopic downward.
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[edit] Environment
[edit] Weather
Temperatures: 2004 was generally considered the fourth-warmest year on record (2005 being the warmest), with the global mean surface temperature measured at 0.44°C above a 30-year mean of 14°C between 1961 and 1990. This continues a warming trend over recent decades, with 9 of the previous 10 years in the top 10 warmest.
Rain: 2004 was the also the wettest year since 2000.
Wind: During the hurricane season in the Atlantic, 15 named tropical storms developed (mean approximately 10), eight of which were during August, the most for this month in any year on record. In the Pacific there were about 27 named cyclones, of which a record 10 hit Japan.
[edit] "Flying Flame earthquake"
An earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December was measured as one of the four most powerful in the last one hundred years, the biggest since the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. With the resulting tsunami, it was about the sixth-worst natural disaster (apart from disease and famine) in recorded history in terms of number of deaths.
[edit] Species extinction or risk
A record 15,589 species were listed by the IUCN as close to extinction, 3,330 more than in 2003. The IUCN estimated that the rate of extinction was between 100 and 1000 times higher than natural rates.
[edit] Population
World population increased by 75,000,000 to 6,400,000,000 (6.4 billion) by the end of 2004, an increase of 1.16%, continuing a slowing down of the rate of increase which has been going on since the mid 1960s. 2.5 billion (39%) of these are in China and India.
[edit] Health
Mean life expectancy at birth was 62.5 years for males and 65.7 years for females but this varied widely in different parts of the world from around 80 years in some developed countries to below 40 years mainly in parts of Africa.
[edit] Political
[edit] World
The war and subsequent occupation of Iraq continued to be divisive in 2004. The U.S. also found itself isolated over the environment with its refusal to sign the Kyoto Agreement. The issue of global terrorism received much media coverage which generated much political debate and, arguably, possibly affected one or two national election results such as the Spanish elections.
[edit] Political Overview by region
[edit] Europe
2004 saw a massive expansion of the European Union, with the admission of 10 new countries on May 1: (Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The signing of the proposed European constitution by the major EU leaders brings forward closer integration of the EU nations, although the constitution is still to be ratified by member states. The EU also began accession talks with Turkey and concluded them with Bulgaria and Romania which are set to join the EU in 2007.
[edit] Middle East
The Iraq war continued to dominate Middle Eastern politics, with a strong and increasingly violent rebellion threatening the stability of the country. Troops from the United States of America and the United Kingdom continued to occupy Iraq, in the face of fierce resistance. The occupying powers transferred sovereignty of Iraq to an interim government with the aim of holding elections in 2005.
The Israeli - Palestinian peace talks continued against a background of continued military action by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and terrorist attacks by militant Palestinian groups. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority died in a hospital outside Paris at 02:30 UTC on November 11 at age 75.
Saudi Arabia continued to battle domestic terrorism, and saw a large increase in attacks on foreign citizens, including an attack on the United States consulate in Jeddah.
[edit] South Asia
An important event that took place in South Asia in 2004, was the Indian Lok Sabha elections during April/May. The ruling alliance, NDA, surprisingly lost the polls. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee resigned, and the Congress party and its allies, with the support of Communist Parties, formed an alliance called United Progressive Alliance. UPA elected Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi, as its chairman, while Dr. Manmohan Singh was made the prime minister of India.
The American occupation of Afghanistan continued in 2004, and for the first time its history, elections took place on October 9, with Hamid Karzai elected the first President of Afghanistan.
In Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf continued his rule as President of Pakistan, despite calls for a return to democracy in the country.
Near the end of the year, the region was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and resulting tsunamis, which killed over 125,000 people by the end of December.
[edit] East Asia
Sino-Taiwanese relations in 2004 remained stable, a referendum on peaceful resolution to disputes between the countries was defeated. Elections in the island saw Chen Shui-bian re-elected as President of the Republic of China. The elections were marred by an attempted assassination on the President the day before pooling day.
China continued its impressive economic growth in the region, and undertook Trade relations tours in South America during the latter half of 2004.
Ethnic violence in Thailand erupted during 2004, sparked by the deaths of several Muslim men in Thai police custody. Bomb explosions in the mainly Muslim southern provinces claimed many casualties.
[edit] Australasia/Pacific
Australia continued to feel the effects of terrorism in 2004, with attacks against its embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. In November, the incumbent government under John Howard was returned for a fourth term in the federal government elections.
The New Zealand Government caused division within its ranks and elsewhere with legislation to "clarify" the legal status of the foreshore and seabed, seen by thousands of indigenous Māori as another land grab. Labour Party minister Tariana Turia resigned as a result and successfully returned in a byelection, with opinion polls suggesting that her new Māori Party may win half a dozen seats in the 2005 general election.
French Polynesia saw some changes at top government levels.
[edit] South America
In July, 2004, Mercosur and the Andean Community, South America's two largest economic communities, agreed to merge and form a single trade zone spanning most of the continent. On December 8, 2004, the South American Community of Nations, which includes every independent state in South America, was formed.
A majority of voters in Venezuela rejected a referendum to remove president Hugo Chávez from office in August. Several South American nations continued to be led by left-wing, socialist, or populist presidents. Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Lula da Silva in Brazil, Nestor Kirchner in Argentina, Ricardo Lagos in Chile,and after elections in November, 2004, Tabaré Vázquez in Uruguay.
Colombia continued to experience civil unrest as a result of the ongoing civil war between the government, communist FARC rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups with ties to narcotics smuggling and organized crime. Colombian president Alvaro Uribe pursued close ties to the United States government in 2004, and this resulted in the extradition of several high profile FARC leaders and drug traffickers to the United States.
[edit] North America
Elections in North America, saw the American President, George W Bush get another term in office. In Canada, the Prime Minister, Paul Martin lost his majority in the Canadian federal election, 2004, but managed to form a minority government.
The US federal government's investigation into the September 11 terrorist attacks was published.
Hurricanes battered the Caribbean and North America during the summer with more ferocity than usual. The hardest hit areas included Grenada, western Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Haiti (where approximately 3,000 people died), the Bahamas, and the Southeastern United States, especially Florida and the Gulf Coast. The hurricane season was the most expensive ever in the North Atlantic.
In Haiti, a civil war broke out which saw the exile of President Jean Bertrand Aristide. The United States and France deployed troops to the region to provide humanitarian relief.
[edit] Africa
In Sudan, the Darfur conflict caused an exodus of refugees and a humanitarian crisis for aid agencies. Civil war also continued in Côte d'Ivoire and Zaire.
The regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe continued to attract international condemnation.
[edit] Military
[edit] Warfare
2004 saw armed conflicts take place in the following regions:
[edit] Terrorism
Terrorist attacks took place in many different locations throughout the world in 2004. The continuing operations of Al-Qaeda were attributed to be behind many attacks in the world. Russia suffered more than most in 2004 with attacks attributed to Chechen independence supporters.
Major terrorist attacks included:
- March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks- 191 dead
- Beslan school siege- 344 dead (177 children)
- Destruction of two Russian airliners on August 24, 2004.
- Australian embassy bomb in Indonesia.
- US consulate attack in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia
[edit] Economy
2004 saw recovery in the world stock markets, particularly in the United States of America, Europe and Japan. The weakening of the US Dollar against the major currencies of the world continued as record US trade deficits were reached. China and Russia were among the fastest growing major economies.
Commodity markets were particularly unstable in 2004. The price of oil increased rapidly, attributed to increasing demand from the growing Chinese and Indian economies, as well as worries over supply from the Middle East under volatile political circumstances.
In the corporate world, 2004 saw a recovery in the takeover and merger of corporate firms. IT firms Oracle Corporation and Peoplesoft finalised a merger after many months of wrangling. The banking sector saw an increase in cross-border consolidation with the takeover of Charter One Bank (USA) by the Royal Bank of Scotland (UK); and Abbey National (UK) by Banco Santander (Spain).
