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(2nd millennium AD - 3rd millennium AD - other millennia)
The third millennium AD is a period of time which began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 3000. There was also a third millennium BC, which began (by the modern calendar) on January 1 3000 BC and ended on December 31 2001 BC.
The third millennium is an entirely arbitrary unit of time: it corresponds to no events in the natural world. It arises from the use of the Christian calendar, which dates time from the supposed birthdate of Jesus Christ. This event (assuming that such a person existed), took place in the reign of the Emperor Augustus, in or about the year now known to us as 4 BC, or about 3,000 years ago. (see Gregorian calendar for more on the dating of years).
The use of this calendar, however, has become so common the the beginning of the third millennium was celebrated even in non-Christian countries, and the expression no longer has any Christian connotation for most people.
The division of time into millennia is of little practical consequence. While human lives may be measured in decades, and historical events in centuries, a millennium is so long a period by the scale of human activities as to be of little value as a measurement of time. It is only the fact that all people now living were born within one lifespan of the beginning of the third millennium that has given the expression currency in recent years.
Events:
| 21st century | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | 2030s | 2040s | 2050s | 2060s | 2070s | 2080s | 2090s |
| 22nd century | 2100s | 2110s | 2120s | 2130s | 2140s | 2150s | 2160s | 2170s | 2180s | 2190s |
| 23rd century | 2200s | 2210s | 2220s | 2230s | 2240s | 2250s | 2260s | 2270s | 2280s | 2290s |