Editing 1st millennium BC (section)

==Overview==
{{see|Ancient history|Human history}}

The [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] dominates the [[Ancient Near East|Near East]] in the early centuries of the millennium, supplanted by the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the 6th century. [[Ancient Egypt]] is in decline, and [[Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt|falls]] to the Achaemenids in 525 BC.

In Greece, [[Classical Antiquity]] begins with the colonization of [[Magna Graecia]] and peaks with the [[Wars of Alexander the Great|conquest of the Achaemenids]] and the subsequent flourishing of [[Hellenistic civilization]] (4th to 2nd centuries).

The [[Roman Republic]] [[Roman expansion in Italy|supplants]] the [[Etruscans]] and then the [[Punic Wars|Carthaginians]] (5th to 3rd centuries). The close of the millennium sees the rise of the [[Roman Empire]]. The early [[Celts|Celtic culture]] dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]]. In East Africa, the [[Kingdom of Kush|Nubian Empire]] and [[Aksumite Empire|Aksum]] arise.

In South Asia, the [[Vedic civilization]] gives rise to the [[Maurya Empire]]. The [[Scythians]] dominate Central Asia. In China, the [[Zhou dynasty]] rules the Chinese heartland at the beginning of the millennium. The decline of the Zhou dynasty during [[Spring and Autumn period]] and the [[Warring States period]] sees the rise of such philosophical and spiritual traditions as [[Confucianism]] and [[Taoism]]. Towards the close of the millennium, the [[Han dynasty]] extends Chinese power towards Central Asia, where it borders on [[Indo-Greek]] and [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] states. Japan is in the [[Yayoi period]]. 

The [[Olmecs|Olmec civilization]] declines, and the [[Maya civilization|Maya]] and [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]] civilizations emerge in Mesoamerica. The [[Chavín culture]] flourishes in Peru.

The first millennium BC is the formative period of the classical [[world religion]]s, with the development of [[Second Temple Judaism|early Judaism]] and [[Zoroastrianism]] in the [[Near East]], and [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]] and [[Vedanta]], [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]] in India. [[Ancient literature|Early literature]] develops in [[Greek literature|Greek]], [[Latin literature|Latin]], [[Ancient Hebrew writings|Hebrew]], [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Chinese literature|Chinese]]. The term [[Axial Age]], coined by [[Karl Jaspers]], is intended to express the crucial importance of the period of c. the 8th to 2nd centuries BC in [[Human history|world history]].

[[World population estimates|World population]] more than doubled over the course of the millennium, from about an estimated 50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million.
Close to 90% of world population at the end of the first millennium BC lived in the Iron Age civilizations of the Old World (Roman Empire, [[Parthian Empire]], [[Indo-Greeks|Graeco]]-[[Indo-Scythians|Indo-Scythian]] and [[Maurya Empire|Hindu]] kingdoms, [[Han dynasty|Han China]]). 
The population of the Americas was below 20 million, concentrated in [[Mesoamerica]] ([[Epi-Olmec culture]]);
that of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] was likely below 10 million. The population of Oceania was likely less than one million people.<ref name=HYDE2011/>