TIME's Atlas Of The Millennium

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Most Values Commodities --Gold --Coal --Timber --Steel --Armaments

2000 Pax Electronica

More than 200 countries make up the world--and it's still fraying. But the Internet is now the medium for imperium, as electronic democracy links even tyrannies with an increasingly World Wide Web. As chips grow cheaper, the new have-nots are the technologically under-served. What spark can pull the global plug?

World population 6 billion

Center of the World New York City: "If you can make it there..." Rivals: Silicon Valley, Calif., and its playground San Francisco; Shanghai, Asia's once and future boomtown.

Most Valued Commodities --Petroleum --Microchips --Airplanes --Armaments --Movies

Sources: Atlas of World History; U.N.