Silk Road

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This article is about the series of trade routes. For other uses, see Silk Road (disambiguation).

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Silk Road
Main routes of the Silk Road
Route information
Length:	4,000 mi (6,000 km)
Time period:	Around 114 BC – 1450s
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv, vi
Designated	2014 (38th session)
Reference no.	1442
State Parties	China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,India, Turkey, Persia
Region	Asia-Pacific

Part of a series on
Trade routes
Amber Road Hærvejen Incense Route Dvaravati–Kamboja King's Highway Rome–India Royal Road Silk Road Spice trade Tea route Varangians–Greeks Via Maris Triangular trade Volga route Trans-Saharan trade Old Salt Route Hanseatic League Grand Trunk Road
v t e

The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is a network of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads, and urban dwellers from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time.^[1]

Extending 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometres), the Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in Chinese silk carried out along its length, beginning during the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). The Central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded around 114 BC by the Han dynasty, largely through the missions and explorations of Chinese imperial envoy, Zhang Qian.^[2] The Chinese took great interest in the safety of their trade products and extended the Great Wall of China to ensure the protection of the trade route.^[3]

Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia,Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia, opening long-distance, political and economic interactions between the civilizations.^[4]Though silk was certainly the major trade item from China, many other goods were traded, and religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies, as well as diseases, also travelled along the Silk Routes. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road served as a means of carrying out cultural trade among the civilizations along its network.^[5]

The main traders during antiquity were the Chinese, Persians, Somalis, Greeks, Syrians, Romans, Armenians, Indians, andBactrians, and from the 5th to the 8th century the Sogdians. During the coming of age of Islam, Arab traders became prominent.

In June 2014 UNESCO designated the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Road as a World Heritage Site.