2004
year
2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2004th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 4th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2000s decade.
Global politics was focused on the American occupation of Iraq and the Iraqi insurgency. The United States transferred control to the Iraqi Interim Government, and former ruler Saddam Hussein was put on trial for crimes against humanity. American involvement became more controversial as it was shown that American soldiers were committing acts of torture against Iraqi prisoners and doubts grew about whether American claims of an Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program were accurate. Afghanistan held its first presidential election, which was won by Hamid Karzai. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti was overthrown in a coup, and President Yasser Arafat of Palestine died in office. The International Criminal Court commenced operations and opened its first two investigations. NATO grew by seven members in 2004 and the European Union grew by ten. The nuclear weapons programs of Iran and North Korea saw renewed attention, especially after a suspected weapons test in North Korea.
The economy grew steadily in 2004, especially in the developing world, and the developed world tightened monetary policy and raised interest rates.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “2004” as year. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as year. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2014. The Library of Congress control number is sh2005000705. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “2004”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 2004 primary sources, 2004 archive and year research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “2004”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “2004” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.