2003
The year 2003 was marked by the United States invasion of Iraq and the subsequent period of occupation and insurgency. The Kashmir conflict also saw a period of escalation, and the Second Intifada continued in Israel and Palestine. The global economy recovered from the early 2000s recession, especially in China, Japan, and the United States, and Argentina recovered from its years-long economic crisis. A conference of World Trade Organization members caused diplomatic conflict between developing and developed nations, with the former creating their own trade bloc, the G20 developing nations. The Catholic Church celebrated the 25th anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II, while disputes about gay rights emerged within several Christian denominations in 2003. The Islamic world faced crisis as the war on terror and Islamic terrorism prompted religious leaders to define Islam's identity. Elsewhere in the world, ten nations were approved for membership to the European Union, North Korea restarted its nuclear weapons program, and several political leaders were convicted in the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and for the former Yugoslavia. The International Criminal Court also began operation in 2003.
The 110th element of the periodic table was officially named darmstadtium in 2003. The Human Genome Project announced that it had finished mapping the human genome, while controversies regarding human cloning and genetically modified crops caused political turmoil around the scientific community. A new dinosaur, Rajasaurus narmadensis, was described. Space travel was affected by the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia that killed seven astronauts, while a close approach from Mars allowed several landers and rovers to be launched toward the planet. Consumers saw the launch of the iTunes Store and the publication of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, while products like camera phones, 64-bit computers, LCD television, and broadband internet achieved widespread popularity. Email spam became a growing problem in 2003, leading to legislation in several countries.
The year 2003 tied with 2002 as the second-hottest year on record. SARS became an epidemic for several months in 2003, centered in Guangdong and Hong Kong, while concerns about polio and measles outbreaks in West Africa and Uganda, respectively, led to massive child vaccination drives that saw entire populations inoculated. The city of Bam, Iran, was almost entirely destroyed in 2003 following a magnitude 6.6 earthquake.
Population
The world population on January 1, 2003, was estimated to be 6.272 billion people and increased to 6.353 billion people by January 1, 2004. An estimated 134.0 million births and 52.5 million deaths took place in 2003. The average global life expectancy was 67.1 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2002. There were approximately 10.6 million global refugees at the beginning of 2003, and the number was reduced to 9.7 million refugees by the end of the year. Afghanistan was the largest source of refugees, with a total of 2.1 million at the end of the year.Conflicts
There were 29 armed conflicts with at least 25 fatalities in 2003. The deadliest conflicts were the invasion of Iraq, the Kashmir insurgency, the Second Liberian Civil War, the Nepalese Civil War, and the War in Darfur.The European Union engaged in its first military operation when it sent peacekeepers to Macedonia and its first operation outside of Europe when it sent 1,500 soldiers to enforce a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo until operations were taken over by the UN mission MONUSCO. NATO launched its first operation outside of Europe or North America when it took command of the International Security Assistance Force in the fight against the Taliban insurgency. ECOWAS peacekeepers and American marines were deployed to Liberia when civil war resumed in August, until the United Nations Mission in Liberia took over operations in September.
Internal conflicts
Multiple civil wars were ongoing in Africa. The First Ivorian Civil War was halted in 2003 amid a ceasefire while France and the states of ECOWAS intervened. Peace talks fell apart on March 7 until the ceasefire was restored on May 3, only to be broken again on September 23. The war was left in a frozen state at the end of 2003 with rebels controlling parts of the country. The Second Liberian Civil War against Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy escalated when the Movement for Democracy in Liberia split off as its own faction. President Charles Taylor resigned on August 2, allowing a peace agreement to take place on August 18. The Second Sudanese Civil War escalated as new militant groups joined the conflict, though a security agreement was reached between the National Islamic Front and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement on September 25.The Indonesian insurgency in Aceh escalated when a demilitarization agreement failed and the government renewed its offensive in May. Indonesia declared martial law and launched an attack against the Free Aceh Movement, killing at least 1,100 and capturing another 2,000 out of the movement's total 5,000 members. The Moro conflict in the Philippines deescalated when the Philippine government agreed to peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in July, though conflicts with other groups continued. A truce between Nepal and Maoist rebels held until conflict resumed in August. Australia deployed 2,000 soldiers to the Solomon Islands in July as a response to internal unrest. The Sri Lankan civil war continued in 2003 as peace talks failed, and long-running civil wars in Burundi and in Uganda both escalated. Agreements was reached in the second Second Congo War for rebels and foreign soldiers to end hostilities.
The Colombian conflict against two Marxist militant groups—the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army—escalated in 2003. The government negotiated an agreement for the right-wing militant group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia to disband as a means to deescalate the conflict. The Second Chechen War continued in Russia: the Russian government held a referendum for a new Chechen constitution and offered amnesty for Chechen rebels, but terror attacks continued.
International conflicts
A coalition of countries led by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia led an invasion of Iraq beginning on March 20, warning that Iraq had been operating a program to develop weapons of mass destruction. The subsequent Iraq War became the most publicized conflict in 2003. The coalition quickly defeated the Iraqi Armed Forces, and American president George W. Bush gave a speech on May 1 declaring victory in the war. The subsequent Iraqi insurgency proved more deadly than the invasion by the end of the year. The most significant insurgency action was a bombing on August 19 that targeted United Nations personnel in Baghdad, killing UN Special Representative Sérgio Vieira de Mello among many others. Doubts were raised throughout the year whether Iraq had been developing the weapons of which it was accused. The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan slowed until a bombing in Mumbai killed 52 people. A ceasefire took effect on November 23.The Second Intifada continued into 2003 as conflict between Israel and Palestine killed 400 people in suicide bombings by Palestinians and military strikes by the Israel Defense Forces. Israel constructed the West Bank barrier, which it described as a measure to prevent suicide bombings and Palestine described as a measure to impose segregation. Israel also launched bombings against Lebanon and Syria following attacks in Israel. Al-Qaeda remained active in the Middle East, launching suicide bombings in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as Morocco in North Africa. On September 10, its leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri released their first video statement since 2001, celebrating the September 11 attacks. Al-Qaeda figures Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Riduan Isamuddin were captured in March and August, respectively.
Culture
Art and architecture
The most widely publicized art exhibition in 2003 was the 50th Venice Biennale, while the most heavily attended exhibitions were for Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Struth, both held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they attracted thousands of visitors each day. The "Rembrandt's Journey" collected various Rembrandt works, including etchings and drawings, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The 7000 Years of Persian Art tour took place as a rare international collaboration from the National Museum of Iran. Street photography made a return in the art community, and the International Center of Photography held an exhibition on the subject. Elsewhere in the art world, Descent into Limbo by Andrea Mantegna was the most prominent Old Master artwork to be sold in 2003, going for US$28.6 million and the government of the Netherlands began returning items from its collection of works it acquired from Nazi Germany, the Nederlands Kunstbezit-collectie. Economic hardship and geopolitical events prompted a global shift toward affordable popular fashion, including a surge of face masks with fake brand logos that became popular in Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic.Plans to replace the World Trade Center remained a focus of the architecture world in 2003, with architects David Childs and Daniel Libeskind placed in charge of the project. Other developments in architecture included an inquiry into the ongoing construction of the Scottish Parliament Building when its expected cost increased tenfold, and concern that Athens would not be ready to host the 2004 Summer Olympics when construction of the Olympic Stadium of Athens slowed. New buildings that opened in 2003 included the Silodam housing complex in Amsterdam, the Albertina art museum in Vienna after a previous closure, the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles after sixteen years of development. The Gherkin finished construction in London, and the Amber Room of Catherine Palace, which existed from 1717 to 1945, finished reconstruction.
Museums and libraries were looted and burned during riots in Baghdad following the invasion of Iraq. About 10,000 items were taken from the Iraq Museum, though many were returned by the end of the year, and several items were taken from the Mosul Museum. The Iraq National Library and Archive was burned down, destroying 500,000 books and 12 million Ottoman documents. The lost treasure of Tillya Tepe was found to be in Saddam Hussein's possession.