Editing 3rd millennium BC (section)

{{short description|Millennium between 3000 BC to 2001 BC}}
{{Millenniumbox|-3}}
<imagemap>File:3rd millennium BC montage.jpg|thumb|400x400px|From top left clockwise: [[Pyramid of Djoser]]; [[Khufu]]; [[Great Pyramid of Giza]], one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; [[Cuneiform]], a contract for the sale of a field and a house; [[Enheduana]], a high priestess and one of the earliest known authors in history; [[Gudea]] (Background: [[Standard of Ur]]).
rect 34 26 474 319 [[Pyramid of Djoser]]
rect 541 58 802 271 [[Khufu]]
rect 825 28 1264 297 [[Great Pyramid of Giza]]
rect 79 352 401 656 [[Cuneiform]]
rect 572 309 770 665 [[Enheduana]]
rect 920 320 1157 676 [[Gudea]]

rect 1 1 1279 719 [[Standard of Ur]]
</imagemap>
The '''3rd millennium BC''' spanned the years 3000 to 2001 BC. This period of time corresponds to the Early to Middle [[Bronze Age]], characterized by the early [[empire]]s in the [[Ancient Near East]]. In [[Ancient Egypt]], the [[Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)|Early Dynastic Period]] is followed by the [[Old Kingdom]]. In Mesopotamia, the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic Period]] is followed by the [[Akkadian Empire]]. In what is now [[Northwest India]] and Pakistan, the [[Indus Valley civilization]] developed a state society.

[[World population estimates|World population]] growth relaxed after the burst due to the [[Neolithic Revolution]].
World population was largely stable, at roughly 60 million, with a slow overall growth rate at roughly 0.03% p.a.<ref>Jean-Noël Biraben, "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes", ''Population'' 34-1 (1979), 13–25, estimates 40 million at 5000 BC and 100 million at 1600 BC, for an average growth rate of 0.027% p.a. over the Chalcolithic to Middle Bronze Age.</ref>