History by century · The 1900s

The 20th century

In the 1900s, 1,353 recorded states existed somewhere in the world. 518 were founded and 1,166 came to an end. The great powers of the age included the United States, the British Empire and the Soviet Union.

ProfileState386 states with a known seat in 1950 CESee 1950 CE in the atlas →

Great powers

Profiles of the 20th century, ranked by their military, territorial, economic and historical weight in the Institute’s analysis and by how strong they were in these hundred years.

Key events

All 433 battles, wars and treaties of the 20th century →

People

Works and ideas

States founded 518

Show all 518

States that came to an end 1166

Show all 1166

On this day

Year by year 100

The years of the 20th century with a page of their own: their events, births and deaths, and the states founded and ended.

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). The 20th century. In The Epoch Institute. https://the-epoch-institute.org/centuries/20th-century
MLA
“The 20th century.” The Epoch Institute, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/centuries/20th-century. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “The 20th century.” The Epoch Institute. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/centuries/20th-century.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘The 20th century’, The Epoch Institute. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/centuries/20th-century (Accessed: ).