A thematic collection

Economy & Trade

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged economy and trade — trade, currency, industry and resources. 291 of them, drawn from 132 nations, running from 5000 BCE to 2026. Indexed below by period; each period opens the full text, with the sources every entry was verified against and a link back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
291
Nations
132
Earliest
5000 BCE
Latest
2026
Densest period
The 2000s18 events
Africa
115
Asia
62
Europe
39
North America
38
South America
32
Oceania
5

Each period below opens a page holding those events in full — summary, era and citations. Every entry is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

1 event · 1 nation

The 5th millennium BCE

Every theme in the 5th millennium BCE →

  1. c. 7,000–10,000 years ago

    Independent invention of agriculture at KukPapua New Guinea

All 1 events in the 5th millennium BCE →

3 events · 3 nations

The 3rd millennium BCE

Every theme in the 3rd millennium BCE →

  1. c. 3000 BCE

    The Dilmun trading culture flourishesSaudi Arabia

  2. c. 2500 BCE

    Egyptian trade with Punt beginsSomalia

  3. c. 2300 BCE

    Magan supplies copper to MesopotamiaOman

All 3 events in the 3rd millennium BCE →

3 events · 3 nations

The 2nd millennium BCE

Every theme in the 2nd millennium BCE →

  1. 2nd-1st millennium BCE

    The frankincense trade flourishes in DhofarOman

  2. from antiquity

    Pearling and fishing villages on the Gulf coastQatar

  3. c. 1470 BCE

    Hatshepsut's expedition to PuntSomalia

All 3 events in the 2nd millennium BCE →

2 events · 2 nations

The 10th century BCE

Every theme in the 10th century BCE →

  1. ancient times

    Coast woven into Horn of Africa tradeDjibouti

  2. Iron Age

    The aflaj irrigation system at HiliUnited Arab Emirates

All 2 events in the 10th century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 7th century BCE

Every theme in the 7th century BCE →

  1. early 1st millennium BCE

    Construction of the Great Dam of MaribYemen

All 1 events in the 7th century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 5th century BCE

Every theme in the 5th century BCE →

  1. Antiquity onward

    The sandalwood tradeTimor-Leste

All 1 events in the 5th century BCE →

2 events · 2 nations

The 3rd century BCE

Every theme in the 3rd century BCE →

  1. c. 300 BCE

    The harbour at its heightMonaco

  2. 4th century BCE onward

    Khor Rori and the incense portsOman

All 2 events in the 3rd century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 2nd century BCE

Every theme in the 2nd century BCE →

  1. c. 138 BCE

    Silk Road trade routes open under Emperor WuChina

All 1 events in the 2nd century BCE →

2 events · 2 nations

The 1st century

Every theme in the 1st century →

  1. Adulis named in the Periplus of the Erythraean SeaEritrea

  2. Periplus of the Erythraean SeaSomalia

All 2 events in the 1st century →

1 event · 1 nation

The 2nd century

Every theme in the 2nd century →

  1. Garamantes flourish in the FezzanLibya

All 1 events in the 2nd century →

2 events · 2 nations

The 3rd century

Every theme in the 3rd century →

  1. Aksumite coinageEritrea

  2. Aksum issues its own coinageEthiopia

All 2 events in the 3rd century →

2 events · 2 nations

The 6th century

Every theme in the 6th century →

  1. Sogdians dominate Silk Road tradeUzbekistan

  2. Brunei trades with China as Po-niBrunei

All 2 events in the 6th century →

1 event · 1 nation

The 8th century

Every theme in the 8th century →

  1. The trading town of BirkaSweden

All 1 events in the 8th century →

1 event · 1 nation

The 9th century

Every theme in the 9th century →

  1. Koumbi Saleh as a Saharan emporiumMauritania

All 1 events in the 9th century →

7 events · 7 nations

The 10th century

Every theme in the 10th century →

  1. Dembeni phase and Indian Ocean tradeComoros

  2. Control of the coastal trade routesNorway

  3. Zeila flourishes as a trading emporiumSomaliland

  4. Sofala recorded as a gold portMozambique

  5. Ibn Hawqal records Ghana's wealthMali

  6. Song dynasty and a commercial revolutionChina

  7. Silk Road towns of the south flourishKazakhstan

All 7 events in the 10th century →

5 events · 5 nations

The 11th century

Every theme in the 11th century →

  1. Rise of the Sultanate of DahlakEritrea

  2. Karakhanid Balasagun and the Burana towerKyrgyzstan

  3. Swahili and Arab trade contactsMadagascar

  4. Apogee of the gold-and-salt tradeMali

  5. Zeila, Berbera and Mogadishu flourishSomalia

All 5 events in the 11th century →

2 events · 2 nations

The 12th century

Every theme in the 12th century →

  1. The savannas join the trans-Saharan tradeIvory Coast

  2. Coastal trading towns flourishMozambique

All 2 events in the 12th century →

6 events · 6 nations

The 13th century

Every theme in the 13th century →

  1. The Flemish cloth boomBelgium

  2. Boni described as a wealthy maritime kingdomBrunei

  3. Hafsid dynasty rules from TunisTunisia

  4. Apex of the gold tradeZimbabwe

  5. Riga joins the Hanseatic LeagueLatvia

  6. Reval joins the Hanseatic LeagueEstonia

All 6 events in the 13th century →

6 events · 6 nations

The 14th century

Every theme in the 14th century →

  1. Massawa grows as a leading portEritrea

  2. Gold links the forest to the SahelGhana

  3. Kilwa controls the Sofala gold tradeMozambique

  4. Kilwa dominates the gold tradeTanzania

  5. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage makes Mali's gold legendaryGuinea

  6. The Hanseatic Kontor at BryggenNorway

All 6 events in the 14th century →

13 events · 12 nations

The 15th century

Every theme in the 15th century →

  1. Loropéni's gold-trade fortresses flourishBurkina Faso

  2. Niumi commands the river mouthGambia

  3. Zheng He's maritime voyagesChina

  4. Zheng He's fleet reaches MalindiKenya

  5. Portuguese reach the Senegambian coastSenegal

  6. Trade at Ingombe IledeZambia

  7. Portuguese ships enter the GambiaGambia

  8. The Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik)Croatia

All 13 events in the 15th century →5 more not shown here

16 events · 13 nations

The 16th century

Every theme in the 16th century →

  1. Spice sultanates of Ternate, Tidore and Aceh flourishIndonesia

  2. Malacca, the great entrepot of the straitMalaysia

  3. The salt caravans of BilmaNiger

  4. Portuguese and European contactComoros

  5. The first sugar-slavery plantationsSão Tomé and Príncipe

  6. The sugar economyBrazil

  7. Silver discovered at Cerro RicoBolivia

  8. Potosi feeds the Spanish empireBolivia

All 16 events in the 16th century →8 more not shown here

16 events · 15 nations

The 17th century

Every theme in the 17th century →

  1. Baguirmi and the slave tradeChad

  2. Founding of the East India CompanyUnited Kingdom

  3. A cacao-and-slave economyVenezuela

  4. The Danish trade monopolyIceland

  5. Founding of the VOCNetherlands

  6. Dhaka becomes the Mughal capital of BengalBangladesh

  7. Cattle turn the plains to wealthUruguay

  8. Hohenems debts open the wayLiechtenstein

All 16 events in the 17th century →8 more not shown here

16 events · 15 nations

The 18th century

Every theme in the 18th century →

  1. Dhaka muslin and the wealth of BengalBangladesh

  2. Peak of the slave trade through LoangoCongo

  3. The engineered sugar coastGuyana

  4. The Slave Coast and the Atlantic tradeTogo

  5. Purchase of the county of VaduzLiechtenstein

  6. A slave-worked plantation economyMauritius

  7. Bunce Island at its heightSierra Leone

  8. Peak of the Atlantic slave tradeGabon

All 16 events in the 18th century →8 more not shown here

4 events · 4 nations

The 1800s

Every theme in the 1800s →

  1. A pearling and trade entrepotKuwait

  2. Zinder, a trans-Saharan hubNiger

  3. Wadai's commercial expansionChad

  4. Sandalwood and bêche-de-mer tradesFiji

All 4 events in the 1800s →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1810s

Every theme in the 1810s →

  1. Malta as a naval fortressMalta

All 1 events in the 1810s →

3 events · 3 nations

The 1820s

Every theme in the 1820s →

  1. Sugar-and-slavery boomCuba

  2. Coffee and cocoa introducedSão Tomé and Príncipe

  3. The French indemnityHaiti

All 3 events in the 1820s →

3 events · 3 nations

The 1830s

Every theme in the 1830s →

  1. The Cultivation SystemIndonesia

  2. Gamitto's mission to KazembeZambia

  3. Mindelo becomes an Atlantic coaling stationCape Verde

All 3 events in the 1830s →

8 events · 8 nations

The 1840s

Every theme in the 1840s →

  1. Zanzibar becomes the Omani capitalKenya

  2. The Jumbe and the slave trade at NkhotakotaMalawi

  3. Said bin Sultan moves the capital to ZanzibarOman

  4. The guano boomPeru

  5. Plantation economy and Tamil labour migrationSri Lanka

  6. Clove plantations and the caravan tradeTanzania

  7. Carlos Antonio Lopez modernises ParaguayParaguay

  8. Entry into the ZollvereinLuxembourg

All 8 events in the 1840s →

7 events · 7 nations

The 1850s

Every theme in the 1850s →

  1. An economy of wrecking and spongingBahamas

  2. From slaving to 'legitimate' tradeTogo

  3. Gold rushes beginAustralia

  4. British blockade of Dahomey's portsBenin

  5. Falkland Islands Company charteredFalkland Islands

  6. Panama Railroad completedPanama

  7. The Bowring TreatyThailand

All 7 events in the 1850s →

10 events · 8 nations

The 1860s

Every theme in the 1860s →

  1. Slave society on the islandsComoros

  2. Swahili-Arab and Chikunda slave tradeZambia

  3. Civil War blockade-running boomBahamas

  4. Founding of the Société des Bains de MerMonaco

  5. Collapse of the blockade boomBahamas

  6. Monte-Carlo namedMonaco

  7. Diamonds discovered at KimberleySouth Africa

  8. Opening of the Suez CanalEgypt

All 10 events in the 1860s →2 more not shown here

4 events · 4 nations

The 1870s

Every theme in the 1870s →

  1. The Bismarckian empire and industrial riseGermany

  2. The Baku oil boom beginsAzerbaijan

  3. Minor Keith and the banana railwaysCosta Rica

  4. The coffee economyGuatemala

All 4 events in the 1870s →

7 events · 7 nations

The 1880s

Every theme in the 1880s →

  1. The cacao boomEcuador

  2. Nickel mining beginsNew Caledonia

  3. French canal attempt failsPanama

  4. Communal lands abolishedEl Salvador

  5. First refrigerated meat shipmentNew Zealand

  6. Canadian Pacific Railway completedCanada

  7. Gold found on the WitwatersrandSouth Africa

All 7 events in the 1880s →

4 events · 4 nations

The 1890s

Every theme in the 1890s →

  1. The Uganda Railway is builtUganda

  2. Franco-Ethiopian Railway begunDjibouti

  3. Concessionary companies take overCentral African Republic

  4. Rise of the fruit companiesHonduras

All 4 events in the 1890s →

12 events · 10 nations

The 1900s

Every theme in the 1900s →

  1. The age of the tin baronsBolivia

  2. Plantation economyComoros

  3. Head tax and forced labourIvory Coast

  4. Migrant labour to South AfricaLesotho

  5. A 'model colony' built on forced labourTogo

  6. Rise of the United Fruit CompanyGuatemala

  7. World's largest cocoa producerSão Tomé and Príncipe

  8. Nevinson exposes 'A Modern Slavery'São Tomé and Príncipe

All 12 events in the 1900s →4 more not shown here

3 events · 3 nations

The 1910s

Every theme in the 1910s →

  1. Liberian labour treaty for the cocoa plantationsEquatorial Guinea

  2. Panama Canal opensPanama

  3. Railway reaches Addis AbabaDjibouti

All 3 events in the 1910s →

9 events · 9 nations

The 1920s

Every theme in the 1920s →

  1. Prohibition-era rum-runningBahamas

  2. Building the Congo-Ocean RailwayCongo

  3. Oil gusher at Lake MaracaiboVenezuela

  4. Customs union with Switzerland and the Swiss francLiechtenstein

  5. The Firestone rubber concessionLiberia

  6. Copperbelt copper provenZambia

  7. Oil struck at SeriaBrunei

  8. United Fruit absorbs CuyamelHonduras

All 9 events in the 1920s →1 more not shown here

12 events · 9 nations

The 1930s

Every theme in the 1930s →

  1. Forced cotton cultivation and chibaloMozambique

  2. Collectivisation and cottonTurkmenistan

  3. Collapse of the pearl tradeUnited Arab Emirates

  4. The oil concession is grantedSaudi Arabia

  5. Railway completed; Pointe-Noire opens as portCongo

  6. The oil concession is grantedKuwait

  7. First oil concession signedQatar

  8. Copperbelt mineworkers' strikeZambia

All 12 events in the 1930s →4 more not shown here

3 events · 3 nations

The 1940s

Every theme in the 1940s →

  1. The Benelux customs conventionLuxembourg

  2. First oil exportsKuwait

  3. First oil exports beginQatar

All 3 events in the 1940s →

7 events · 7 nations

The 1950s

Every theme in the 1950s →

  1. The banana boomEcuador

  2. Tin nationalised, suffrage and land reformBolivia

  3. The Kara-Kum CanalTurkmenistan

  4. Beirut, the Paris of the Middle EastLebanon

  5. Oil discovered near Port-GentilGabon

  6. Founding member of the EECFrance

  7. Commercial oil discoveredLibya

All 7 events in the 1950s →

9 events · 8 nations

The 1960s

Every theme in the 1960s →

  1. The 'Ivorian miracle'Ivory Coast

  2. U.S. embargo made comprehensiveCuba

  3. Abu Dhabi exports its first oilUnited Arab Emirates

  4. Postwar economic miracleJapan

  5. Diamonds discovered at OrapaBotswana

  6. Oil exports beginOman

  7. 'Goulash communism' and the New Economic MechanismHungary

  8. Debswana partnership formedBotswana

All 9 events in the 1960s →1 more not shown here

17 events · 17 nations

The 1970s

Every theme in the 1970s →

  1. National park system createdCosta Rica

  2. Nationalisation of oil and gasAlgeria

  3. Nationalisation of the economyGuyana

  4. The New Economic PolicyMalaysia

  5. Diversification beyond sugarMauritius

  6. Uranium mining begins at ArlitNiger

  7. The oil era beginsEcuador

  8. Accession to the European CommunitiesDenmark

All 17 events in the 1970s →9 more not shown here

7 events · 7 nations

The 1980s

Every theme in the 1980s →

  1. Commodity slump ends the boomIvory Coast

  2. Itaipu dam begins generatingParaguay

  3. Hyperinflation and stabilisationBolivia

  4. Fisheries licensing zone establishedFalkland Islands

  5. New Economic Mechanism reformsLaos

  6. Accession to the European CommunitiesSpain

  7. Doi Moi reforms launchedVietnam

All 7 events in the 1980s →

12 events · 11 nations

The 1990s

Every theme in the 1990s →

  1. The Special Period beginsCuba

  2. Rapid post-war reconstructionKuwait

  3. Plano Real ends hyperinflationBrazil

  4. NAFTA and the Zapatista uprisingMexico

  5. Zafiro oil field discoveredEquatorial Guinea

  6. The Celtic TigerIreland

  7. Accession to the European Economic AreaLiechtenstein

  8. Oil production beginsEquatorial Guinea

All 12 events in the 1990s →4 more not shown here

18 events · 16 nations

The 2000s

Every theme in the 2000s →

  1. DollarisationEcuador

  2. Wealth amid deep inequalityEquatorial Guinea

  3. Panama administers the canalPanama

  4. Fast-track land reformZimbabwe

  5. Economic and political crisisArgentina

  6. DollarisationEl Salvador

  7. Reconstruction and the oil boomAngola

  8. Unilateral adoption of the euroMontenegro

All 18 events in the 2000s →10 more not shown here

11 events · 10 nations

The 2010s

Every theme in the 2010s →

  1. Offshore gas discovered in the Rovuma basinMozambique

  2. Monetary agreement and the euroAndorra

  3. Euro monetary agreementSan Marino

  4. Africa's largest economyNigeria

  5. First offshore oil discoveryGuyana

  6. High-income tourism and tuna economySeychelles

  7. Expanded canal opensPanama

  8. Debt crisis and PROMESAPuerto Rico

All 11 events in the 2010s →3 more not shown here

10 events · 10 nations

The 2020s

Every theme in the 2020s →

  1. Sovereign debt defaultZambia

  2. Bitcoin made legal tenderEl Salvador

  3. Laos-China Railway opensLaos

  4. Economic crisis and sovereign defaultSri Lanka

  5. End of systemic forced labour in cottonUzbekistan

  6. Association agreement with the EUAndorra

  7. Among the region's top economiesDominican Republic

  8. GranMorgu oil decisionSuriname

All 10 events in the 2020s →2 more not shown here