2008 is designated as: International Year of Languages International Year of Planet Earth International Year of the Potato International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued through the entirety of 2008.
Population The world population on January 1, 2008, was estimated to be 6.801 billion people and increased to 6.888 billion people by January 1, 2009. An estimated 141.8 million births and 54.0 million deaths took place in 2008. The average global life expectancy was 69.3 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2007. The estimated number of global refugees decreased from 11.4 million to 10.5 million by the end of the year. The largest sources of refugees were Afghanistan with 2.8 million people and Iraq with 1.9 million people.
Conflicts
There were 37 conflicts in 2008 that resulted in at least 25 fatalities, five of which resulted in at least 1,000 fatalities: the Iraqi insurgency, the Taliban insurgency, conflict with the Pakistani Taliban, Eelam War IV in Sri Lanka, and the Somali Civil War. A border conflict broke out for two days between Djibouti and Eritrea, ending with Eritrean occupation of the disputed area, Ras Doumeira. This was the first conflict in four years where two sovereign states fought each other directly. The Russo-Georgian War occurred in August when Georgia engaged in warfare with the breakaway state South Ossetia following a series of skirmishes. Russia backed South Ossetia and sent 10,000 soldiers into the fight, progressing further into Georgia until a ceasefire was established.
Two separatist rebel groups escalated conflict in India: Dima Halam Daogah sought a Dimasa state and the United National Liberation Front sought a Manipuri state. Ten armed militants, claimed by the Pakistani organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, captured several targets in Mumbai on November 26, and battles with Indian soldiers led to approximately 160 deaths. The Taliban insurgency grew in strength and launched several attacks against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and conflict with Islamist insurgents took place along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. The Kashmir conflict was reignited in 2008, including a clash with police that left dozens dead after protests against a land transfer for a Hindu shrine turned violent.
Renewed fighting took place in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict after the militant group Hamas attacked the Gaza–Israel barrier, allowing Palestinian people to escape the Gaza Strip, and launched attacks on Israel. Israel responded by launching attacks into the Gaza Strip.
Peace talks were held between Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to end the LRA's insurgency, but LRA leader Joseph Kony refused to attend a final peace agreement and government operations against the LRA resumed in December. Peace talks were also held for the Central African Bush War and the Somali Civil War, but rebels were unable to reach final agreements in these conflicts. The National Forces of Liberation resumed its insurgency in Burundi when peace talks collapsed in January, but a ceasefire was established in December. Progress was made toward peace in the First Ivorian Civil War with preparations to integrate the Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire into the Ivorian military.
Culture
The highest-grossing film globally in 2008 was The Dark Knight, followed by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Kung Fu Panda.
The best-selling album globally in 2008 was Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay, followed by Black Ice by AC/DC and Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack. The first lady of France, singer Carla Bruni, released a controversial song comparing her loving marriage to addictive drugs from Afghanistan and Colombia.
Most popular video games that were released in the year of 2008 were Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Fallout 3.
The 2008 Summer Olympics were held in Beijing, making them the first Olympic Games to take place in China. The 2008 U.S. Open brought attention to the golf world when Tiger Woods won an upset victory over Rocco Mediate. National Basketball Association rivals, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, faced each other in the 2008 NBA Finals with a victory for the Celtics. Venus Williams defeated her sister Serena Williams in the 2008 Wimbledon Championships in one of their many match-ups against each other. Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the men's singles.
Economy
The economy underwent a global financial crisis in 2008 following the American subprime mortgage crisis from the previous year, causing the worst recession since the Great Depression. The economy was affected by bank failures, stock market crashes, and credit freezes. A dramatic escalation in September prompted international efforts to restore consumer confidence and resolve credit freezes. Measures such as bailouts for financial institutions and liquidity injections were implemented throughout the year. Banking in Iceland collapsed in October.
Gross world product increased by approximately 2.5% in 2008. International trade grew by 4.3%, slowing from the 6.4% growth in 2007. Commodity prices continued their previous upward trajectory until halfway into the year when they dropped sharply. The price of oil was especially affected with its 60% drop.
The Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus was held in November and December in Doha to continue talks on global economic reform.
Environment and weather
The year 2008 was the eighth hottest year on record, tied with 2001. The year began with a La Niña that continued from late 2007, with unusually cold temperatures occurring in the Middle East, central Asia, and China. Australia had its warmest January on record, followed by a heat wave in South Australia later in March. The year had above average precipitation, with Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau experiencing their wettest month on record in June. A severe drought persisted in central South America from January until September. Approximately 87,500 people were killed by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan, China.
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was more intense than usual due to La Ninã earlier in the year combined with above average sea surface temperatures. There were sixteen tropical storms, including eight hurricanes. The year's major hurricanes were Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Paloma, Hurricane Omar, and Hurricane Bertha. The 2008 Pacific typhoon season was less intense than usual with the fourth lowest accumulated cyclone energy index on record. There were twenty-six tropical cyclones, including twelve typhoons. The year's intense typhoons were Typhoon Jangmi, Typhoon Rammasun, Typhoon Nakri, Typhoon Sinlaku, and Typhoon Hagupit. The tropical cyclones caused severe floods and landslides in the Philippines and southern China. The season was the first since 1984 where no tropical cyclones made landfall in Japan.
Health
An ongoing food price crisis meant that there were nearly one billion undernourished people in the world. An outbreak of salmonella occurred in the United States after the importation of contaminated peppers. Baby formula in China was mixed with melamine as a cost-cutting measure, affecting thousands of infants. Two first-time trachea transplants occurred in 2008; one used a woman's own stem cells to prevent transplant rejection, and one using a trachea donated from a deceased human.
Politics and law
The global financial crisis dominated the political world in 2008, and a summit was held by the G20 in November.
Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States in November, becoming the first African-American to be elected president. Silvio Berlusconi returned as Prime Minister of Italy. Raúl Castro succeeded his brother Fidel Castro as President of Cuba. Dmitry Medvedev was elected the 3rd president of Russia in March, but his predecessor Vladimir Putin retained power through the office of prime minister. President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan resigned in August as the country was subject to attacks by Islamist insurgents. He was succeeded by Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto who had been assassinated the previous year. President Robert Mugabe retained power after the 2008 Zimbabwe election and subsequent negotiations by violently suppressing opposition.
The Russo-Georgian War negatively affected Russian relations with the Western world. During the conflict, it recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries from Georgia.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on February 17; Serbia did not recognize Kosovo's independence, but it received support and recognition from many Western countries. The European Union initiated the EULEX mission to assist in a stable transition to independence. Former Bosnian politician Radovan Karadžić was captured and put on trial for his involvement in the Bosnian genocide.
Political prisoner Íngrid Betancourt was rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after six years of captivity.
The International Atomic Energy Agency accused Iran of expanding its nuclear program.
Science The Large Hadron Collider was completed in 2008 and put into operation on September 10, but a malfunction occurred and its first experiment was delayed.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened in February 2008 to preserve specimens for all of Earth's crops.
The Cassini–Huygens orbiter flew through the geyser of Saturn's moon Enceladus on March 12. The Phoenix lander arrived at the Martian arctic on May 25 and confirmed subsurface ice on July 31.
Events
January January 1 – Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro currency. January 14 – At 19:04:39 UTC, the uncrewed MESSENGER space probe is at its closest approach during its first flyby of the planet Mercury. January 21 Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. Great Recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis. Online activist group Anonymous initiates Project Chanology, after a leaked interview of Tom Cruise by the Church of Scientology is published on YouTube, and the Church of Scientology issued a "copyright infringement" claim. In response, Anonymous sympathizers took to the streets to protest outside the church (after February 10), while the church's websites and centres were getting DoS attacks, phone line nukes, and black faxes.
January 24 – A peace deal is signed in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, ending the Kivu conflict.
February February 4 – Civic mobilizations in Colombia against FARC, under the name One million voices against FARC. February 14 – A Belavia CRJ-100 crash lands at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia. 7 people are injured. February 17 – Kosovo formally declares independence from Serbia, to a mixed response from the international community. February 18 – WikiLeaks releases allegations of illegal activities carried out by the Cayman Islands branch of Swiss banking corporation Julius Baer; a subsequent lawsuit against WikiLeaks prompts a temporary suspension of the website, but uproar about violations of freedom of speech causes WikiLeaks to be brought back online.
March March 2 – Venezuela and Ecuador move troops to the Colombian border, following a Colombian raid against FARC guerrillas inside Ecuadorian territory, in which senior commander Raúl Reyes is killed. March 8 – Barisan Nasional loses two-thirds majority, for the first time since 1969, to opposition during the 2008 Malaysian general election but still retains control of government. The coalition also loses majority control of five states to the opposition. March 9 – The first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, a cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station, launches from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.