The 2000s, usually pronounced "two thousands",[citation needed] was a decade that began on January 1, 2000, and ended on December 31, 2009.
The decade generally continued the technological and socioeconomic changes that started in the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s. These changes had ended during the Great Recession. Globalization had accelerated in the 1990s after the fall of Communism and continued to be a force in the 2000s. Geopolitically, the century opened with the United States enjoying an economic peak that bestowed hegemonic political and military preeminence.
The growth of the Internet was one of the prime contributors to globalization during the decade, making it possible for people to interact with other people, express ideas, introduce others to different cultures and backgrounds, use goods and services, sell and buy online, and research and learn.[1][2][3][4][5]
The economic growth of the 2000s had considerable environmental consequences, raised demand for diminishing energy resources,[6][7] and was still shown to be vulnerable as demonstrated during the Global Financial Crisis of the late 2000s.[8]