The world in 1,000 BC

On 1 July 1,000 BC, IntMap’s historical map draws 77 names across the world. The borders for this date come from Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (by year), then historical-basemaps — each drawn only where the records before it are silent. It also draws 94 outlines whose name the record does not give for this date.

World map on 1 July 1,000 BC: the borders IntMap’s historical map draws on that date, from Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (by year), then historical-basemaps — each drawn only where the records before it are silent.
Drawn when the site is built from the same records and the same code the map uses, on 1 July 1,000 BC, in the Equal Earth projection. The picture is simplified for display only: each outline is reduced to about one pixel at this size, and outlines smaller than a pixel are left out of the picture — the map itself draws every one of them in full. Grey is land on which no record states a polity on this date (today’s coastline, Natural Earth 1:110m).

Why this year has a page

The historical-basemaps atlas drew a world sheet for this year.

Names on the map

As the map labels them, largest first by the area of the outline drawn. Areas are of the drawn outline, rounded, and approximate. The record column says which record draws the outline; a Wikidata item is given where the record links one.

NameRecordDrawn area (km²)
Khoiasanhistorical-basemaps11,700,000
Saharan pastoral nomads (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps9,860,000
Australian aboriginal hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps7,600,000
Paleo-Siberian hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps7,170,000
West African cereal farmers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps6,030,000
Arctic marine mammal hunters (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps5,910,000
Proto-Altaic pastoralists (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps4,990,000
Savanna hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps4,820,000
Manioc farmers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps4,770,000
Subarctic forest hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps4,440,000
Karasuk culturehistorical-basemaps4,360,000
Amazon hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps4,280,000
Eastern North Amercian hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps3,600,000
Finno-Ugric taiga hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps3,530,000
Tibetanshistorical-basemaps3,310,000
Plain bison hunters (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps2,850,000
Iranian pastoralists (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps2,830,000
Dravidianshistorical-basemaps2,650,000
Arabian pastoral nomads (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps2,620,000
Desert hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps2,350,000
Austro-Asiatic rice farmers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps2,200,000
Cimerianshistorical-basemaps2,200,000
N. European Bronze Age cultures (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps1,970,000
Pampas cultures (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps1,830,000
Urnfield cultures (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps1,810,000
Sinichistorical-basemaps1,680,000
Maize farmers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps1,590,000
Austronesianshistorical-basemaps1,280,000
Berbershistorical-basemaps1,100,000
Papuan neolithic farmers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps1,050,000
Vedic Aryanshistorical-basemaps997,000
Burmesehistorical-basemaps961,000
Andean hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps744,000
Plateau fichers and hunter gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps722,000
Zhou DynastyCliopatria Q35216700,000
Saamihistorical-basemaps631,000
Zhoahistorical-basemaps630,000
Celtiberianshistorical-basemaps552,000
North American Pacifi foraging, hunting and fishing peopleshistorical-basemaps533,000
Caribbean hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps513,000
ElamCliopatria · historical-basemaps Q128904431,000
Arameanshistorical-basemaps411,000
Hittiteshistorical-basemaps378,000
Ethiopian highland farmers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps376,000
state societies and Aramaean kingdoms (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps367,000
New Kingdom of EgyptCliopatria342,000
Kingdom of KushCliopatria Q241790337,000
Late Jomon culture (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps281,000
Chorrerahistorical-basemaps262,000
Patagonian shellfish and marine mammal hunters (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps259,000
All 77 names
NameRecordDrawn area (km²)
Thracehistorical-basemaps256,000
Illyrianshistorical-basemaps221,000
Phrygianshistorical-basemaps183,000
AssyriaCliopatria · historical-basemaps Q41137174,000
Ainuhistorical-basemaps159,000
El Paraisohistorical-basemaps157,000
Paleo-Koreanshistorical-basemaps150,000
Shellfish gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps149,000
Gandhara grave culturehistorical-basemaps125,000
Kingdom of David and Solomonhistorical-basemaps123,000
BabyloniaCliopatria · historical-basemaps Q47690119,000
Wuhistorical-basemaps105,000
Sabahistorical-basemaps104,000
Greek city-states (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps103,000
Chavinhistorical-basemaps82,900
Kushhistorical-basemaps70,600
Greek Dark AgesCliopatria Q21044361,400
Tasmanian hunter-gatherers (a description by the source, not a name)historical-basemaps59,400
Olmechistorical-basemaps48,700
Chinchoroshistorical-basemaps45,900
Neo-Hittite statesCliopatria Q77028125,000
Egypthistorical-basemaps23,800
Kingdom of IsraelCliopatria Q318530520,100
PhoeniciaCliopatria Q4164213,000
Phoenician EmpireCliopatria Q4164213,000
Guancheshistorical-basemaps9,080
PhilistiaCliopatria Q71855667,640

What changed since 1,500 BC

Names counted are those the records date to the year or the day (CShapes, OpenHistoricalMap, Cliopatria). Outlines filled from the nearest historical-basemaps sheet are counted only when both years are years that sheet was drawn for — otherwise the change would be the switch between two sheets, not a change in the world. Names are compared as written, so a polity a record names differently in the two years (Carthaginian Empire, then Carthage) is in both lists.

Now drawn (10)

Zhou Dynasty, Kingdom of Kush, Gandhara grave culture, Chavin, Greek Dark Ages, Neo-Hittite states, Kingdom of Israel, Phoenicia, Phoenician Empire, Philistia

No longer drawn (7)

Mitanni, Shang Dynasty, Poverty point culture, Hyksos, Mycenaean Greece, First Sealand Dynasty, Minoan civilization

Events dated to 1,000 BC

The index of dated events holds no event for 1,000 BC.

Sources and method

Borders and names: Cliopatria v0.2.1 (Seshat Global History Databank, github.com/Seshat-Global-History-Databank/cliopatria) · CC BY 4.0 · adapted by IntMap: simplified, BC years made astronomical, and the ground OpenHistoricalMap (1689–1885, and from 1886 where CShapes is silent) and CShapes (1886–2019) state removed on their own dates + aourednik/historical-basemaps (github.com/aourednik/historical-basemaps) · GPL-3.0 · adapted by IntMap: each sheet before 1886 less the ground OpenHistoricalMap and Cliopatria state at that sheet's year.

Which years have a page is worked out when the site is built, from three rules applied to the records themselves: every year the historical-basemaps atlas drew a world sheet for; every year whose change from the year before (names the dated records begin or stop drawing) is in the top 5% of all such year-to-year changes since the dated records begin, leaving out the years where one record hands over to another; and every year of a geopolitical, war or revolution event in the dated events index, up to the last year the border records cover (2019).

On each year the map is read on 1 July, the instant the app’s own year links open on. Names are the source’s own, translated where the source or IntMap’s name table has a translation. A name is what a record draws there, not a verdict of history.

World map in 1,000 BC — the map, with the years it stays the same Historical maps by region Countries On this day

All data sources →

Share this page

X Bluesky Threads Facebook LINE Reddit

Each link opens that service in a new tab with the address of this page filled in. Nothing is sent until you post it there yourself.