The Blue Marble photograph of Earth.



The world is the planet Earth and all life upon it, including human civilization. In a philosophical context, the world is the whole of the physical Universe, or an ontological world. In a theological context, the world is the material or the profane sphere, as opposed to the celestial, spiritual, transcendent or sacred. The end of the world refers to scenarios of the final end of human history, often in religious contexts.
History of the world is commonly understood as spanning the major geopolitical developments of about five millennia, from the first civilizations to the present. In terms such as world religion, world language, world government, and world war, world suggests international or intercontinental scope without necessarily implying participation of the entire world.
World population is the sum of all human populations at any time; similarly, world economy is the sum of the economies of all societies or countries, especially in the context of globalization. Terms like world championship, gross world product, world flags imply the sum or combination of all current-day sovereign states.