Born in the 2000s

The world they were born into

The 2000s began with the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States and the wars that followed. The euro entered circulation as notes and coins in 2002. The decade closed with the global financial crisis of 2008 and the recession that came after it. In 2006 South Africa became the fifth country in the world to allow same-sex marriage, and it is still the only one in Africa.

Growing up

It was the decade the social web was built: Wikipedia launched in 2001, Facebook in 2004 and YouTube in 2005, and the first iPhone went on sale in 2007, when the oldest children of the decade were six or seven.

Which generation

Everyone born in the 2000s belongs to Generation Z. The boundaries are conventions rather than facts, and the generations page names the source for each one. Where the tables disagree about the 2000s:

• 2000. Pew puts 2000 in Generation Z. Definitions that end the Millennials in 2000 put it with the Millennials.

The marked line is 2000, where the decade begins.

Year by year

The Chinese year begins not on 1 January but at a new moon, usually the second after the December solstice, and from 1900 to 2100 always between 21 January and 20 February. In the 2000s it began as early as 22 January, in 2004, and as late as 18 February, in 2007, so a birthday in January or early February belongs to the animal of the year before. The table gives the day each year began.

New year dates are worked out from the new moons and the solar terms, and checked against published tables. Born before the new year →

Read on

• Generation Z
• How generations are defined
• The 1990s
• The 2010s
• Every year