What Panchronica is
Panchronica is a map of the world from 3000 BCE to today. Pick a year, and the map changes to show that time: the states, cities, people, artworks, music and more.
Click a territory to read an overview of it. Click a dot to learn more about a person, a place, a work or an event.
Where the content comes from
Most of the content is collected by machine from Wikidata, a free, open database. We do not check these records one by one when we add them. Each one shows a link to its source, so you can check it yourself.
Wikidata can have mistakes. So we check more and more of the content against other sources (see our sources). Where necessary, we correct it, add to it or write it again in our own words. Content that we have checked has a red Curated label. This work never stops. Our aim is to make the map as accurate as possible.
How the borders work
The map is drawn with data from Natural Earth and the Historical Basemaps project. We cannot draw the exact borders for every year of the last 5,000 years. So the borders come from snapshots. In ancient times the snapshots are far apart (for example 3000 BCE, 2000 BCE and 1000 BCE). They come closer over time. From 1000 CE, there is a snapshot at least every 100 years, with more for years when borders changed a lot (for example 1815, 1914 and 1945). We add more snapshots over time.
Between two snapshots, the borders stay the same. If you pick a year after a state ended, or before it began, its area has stripes. Click it, and the panel tells you the real years.
Everything else on the map follows the exact year you pick. People appear only while they were alive. Places appear from the year they were founded. If we do not know that year, we use an approximate year and say so.
Events are different. A battle or a treaty stays on the map for its whole snapshot period, so you can find it without picking the exact year.
Found an error?
Please tell us. Use the Feedback & questions link at the bottom of the map.
Sources and credits
All our sources, licences and credits
Our own texts (the curated entries) are © Panchronica. Please ask before you use them.