3000 BC Semitic tribes press north
Semitic tribes move up from the Arabian peninsula, through Sinai into Palestine and Syria

2600 BC Canaanites in Canaan
The Canaanites establish themselves in the region around what is now Jerusalem

2000 BC Bantu tribes move south through Africa
Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara

2000 BC Khoisan inhabit most of Africa
Africa south of the equatorial forests is largely inhabited by the Khoisan, of whom the San and the Hottentots are the modern survivors

2000 BC Beaker folk in Britain
The Beaker people arrive in Britain, bringing several desirable commodities - including horses, alcohol and bronze

1800 BC Abraham on the move
Abraham leaves Ur and moves with his tribe and flocks towards Canaan

from 1750 BC Indo-Europeans move west
Over many centuries Indo-European tribes (Greeks, Germans, Balts, Italics, Celts) move into new territories throughout western Europe

1700 BC Hebrews captive in Egypt
The biblical account suggests that around this period the Hebrews are a captive tribe in Egypt

1500 BC Maya settle in Mexico
The Maya are believed to have lived in the same region from about 1500 BC to the present day - America's longest example of continuity

1500 BC Slavs move west
The Slavs settle in the regions of eastern Europe and western Russia

1500 BC Aryans move into India
Indo-European tribes, known collectively as Aryans, enter India from the northwest

1500 BC Indo-Europeans in Lithuania and Latvia
Indo-European tribes, speaking Baltic languages, settle in the regions of modern Lithuania and Latvia

1300 BC Humans reach Fiji
Seafarers reach and colonize Fiji, lying between Melanesia and Polynesia

1250 BC Moses in Sinai
Moses is with the Hebrew tribes in Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt

1200 BC Sea Peoples cause havoc
Mysterious raiders from the sea cause chaos throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from Greece to Palestine and Egypt

1200 BC Philistines in Palestine
The Philistines settle in the region which, as Palestine, will become known by their name

550 BC Sinhalese move into Sri Lanka
The Sinhalese, after moving south through India, cross into Sri Lanka

500 BC Lapps in Scandinavia
The Lapps, hunters of reindeer, have Scandinavia to themselves before the arrival of Germanic tribes

500 BC Celts move into western Europe
The Celts, moving west from central Europe, settle in France and northern Spain

300 BC Celts cross Channel
The Celts move across the Channel into Britain, soon becoming the dominant ethnic group in the island

200 BC Humans reach Samoa
Seafarers reach and colonize the Pacific island of Samoa

176 BC Yuezhi move west
The Yuezhi, defeated by the Xiongnu, move west - before eventually descending into Bactria and northwest India

102 BC Gaius Marius halts Teutones
The Roman general Gaius Marius defeats the Teutones, a German tribe which has made deep inroads into southern Gaul

101 BC Cimbri penetrate northern Italy
A German tribe, the Cimbri, press into northern Italy until they are defeated at Vercellae and driven out of the peninsula

51 BC Xiongnu move west
The Xiongnu split into two hordes, one of them submitting to China and the other moving west

50 Finno-Ugric tribes in Estonia and Finland
Tribes speaking Finno-Ugric languages are by now settled around the northeast of the Baltic, in modern Estonia and Finland

250 Visigoths and Ostrogoths
The Goths split into two major groups, the Visigoths northwest of the Black Sea and the Ostrogoths further east

250 Picts dominant in Scotland
The Picts win a dominant position among tribes in the northern regions of Britain, or Scotland

300 Jewish Diaspora throughout Roman empire
The Jews of the Diaspora have by now spread through much of the Roman empire, where they are treated with tolerance

370 Pressure on Goths from Huns
The Huns, moving from the steppes north of the Black Sea, defeat the Ostrogoths and drive the Visigoths westwards - starting a chain reaction

378 Visigoths defeat Roman army
The Visigoths inflict a devastating defeat on a Roman army at Adrianople, and win for themselves the status of Roman federates

406 Vandals move through Gaul into Spain
The Vandals cross the Rhine into Gaul and move into Spain, from which the Visigoths soon push them on into Africa

407 Roman city of Nîmes is sacked
The Roman city of Nîmes is sacked by the Vandals, in an early indication of the gradual loss of Gaul to the Germanic tribes

410 Visigoths plunder Rome
Alaric and the Visigoths enter Rome and plunder the city - the first foreign intruders for eight centuries

413 Burgundians cross the Rhine
The Burgundians cross the Rhine and settle round Worms, before moving south to the Savoy region

418 Visigoths settle in France
The Visigoths, after twenty years of destructive wandering, settle in southwest France as Roman federates

431 Franks move into Belgium
Halted by a Roman army in their push southwards, the Franks settle in the Roman province of Belgica, around Tournai

439 Vandals capture Carthage
Gaiseric captures Carthage and makes it his base for Vandal raids across the Mediterranean

445 Huns press south across Danube
Attila murders his brother and becomes the sole ruler of the Huns, who are now pressing through Dacia and across the Danube

450 Angles and Saxons enter England
Angles, Saxons and other Germanic groups invade southern England and steadily push the Celts westwards

451 Huns invade Gaul
Attila and the Huns invade Gaul but are defeated, somewhere near Troyes, by a Roman army supported by Visigoths and Burgundians

452 Huns ravage northern Italy
Attila invades and ravages northern Italy, but turns back before reaching Rome - possibly influenced by the diplomacy of Leo I

455 Vandals sack Rome
Gaiseric and the Vandals enter Rome and sack the city, but their violence is perhaps restrained by Leo I

500 Czechs in Bohemia
The Czechs are the most powerful of the various Slav tribes by now settled in Bohemia

518 Slavs push south across Danube
The Slavs cross the Danube and press southwards into the Roman provinces of Moesia and Thracia

550 Slavs in the Balkans
The Slavs arrive in the Balkans and settle in all parts of the region except Albania

550 Visigoths rule in Spain
Most of Spain is by now in the hands of the Visigoths, though for a while the Byzantines win back territories in the south

550 King Arthur (if he exists) hates Anglo-Saxons
If there is any historical basis for the legendary King Arthur, it is as a Celtic chieftain resisting the Anglo-Saxons in the sixth century

568 Lombards reach Po
The Lombards invade northern Italy, and within four years occupy it as far south as the Po

569 Fugitives from Lombards are first Venetians
Fugitives from the Lombard invasion of northern Italy take refuge on islands in the Venetian lagoon - and become the founders of Venice

592 Lombards threaten Rome
Pope Gregory I negotiates with the Lombards who are threatening Rome

600 Scots leave Ireland for new life
The Scots, a tribal group of northern Ireland, extend their kingdom across the sea into Scotland

634 Muslims move north from Arabia
Within two years of the death of Muhammad, the Arabs surge north into the Syrian desert

718 Visigoths cling on in Asturias
Retreating from the Arab onslaught, the Visigoths establish a kingdom of last resort in the extreme north of Spain, in Asturias

780 Anglo-Saxons name the Welsh
The Anglo-Saxons have a name for the Celts west of Offa's dyke - wealas or Welsh, meaning foreigners

825 Vikings trade as Russians
Viking tribes known as the Rus are established as traders in the region of Novgorod

895 Magyars in Hungary
The Magyars, under the leadership of Arpad, establish themselves in Hungary

911 Vikings become Normans
The Vikings settle in France, as Normans, when Rollo the Ganger is granted feudal rights over the region round Rouen

950 Toltecs at Tula
Toltecs move into the valley of Mexico from the north and establish a capital city at Tula

963 First Polish contact with Christian Europe
The Poles are first recorded as a tribal group when a German knight comes into contact with them in the region round Gniezno

1000 Caribs move into Caribbean
Man-eating Caribs move into the islands around the sea named after them - the Caribbean

1000 Inca people migrate
The Inca ethnic group migrates into the region of the Cuzco valley in Peru

1000 Rajputs in Rajasthan
Warlike tribal groups, calling themselves Rajput and claiming descent from the Aryan warrior caste, are now in Rajasthan

1150 Aztecs move south
The Aztecs begin to move south from their original home, which they call Aztlan, somewhere in northern Mexico

1200 German pressure to the east
German pressure eastwards (the Drang nach Osten) steadily brings colonists into regions previously occupied by Slavs

1237 Golden Horde in Russia
Batu Khan and his Mongols sweep into Russia, where they and their descendants become known as the Golden Horde

1241 Mongols ravage Cracow
Mongols of the Golden Horde defeat the Poles at Legnica and ravage the city of Cracow

1241 Golden Horde in Hungary
Mongols of the Golden Horde reach Hungary, where they graze their horses for the summer before withdrawing to the Volga

1256 Mongols invade Persia
Hulagu and his horde of Mongols cross the Amu Darya river and move against Muslim Persia

1269 Marinids take Marrakech
The Marinids, a Berber tribe, take Marrakech and bring to an end Almohad rule in Morocco

1274 Mongols invade Japan
The Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274 seems to confirm the doom and disaster foretold by the Buddhist prophet Nichiren

1345 Aztecs settle in Tenochtitlan
The Aztecs settle on an uninhabited island in a lake, which they name Tenochtitlan — the site of the modern Mexico City

1354 Turks make their way into Europe
Gallipoli is taken by the Ottoman Turks, giving them their first foothold in Europe

1543 Europeans reach Japan
The first Europeans reach Japan by accident, blown ashore in a storm

1648 Iroquois drive Huron west
Iroquois raids drive the Huron west to the Great Lakes

1770 Growth in Atlantic slave trade
The triangular trade, controlled from Liverpool, ships millions of Africans across the Atlantic as slaves

1779 Convicts to go down under
Joseph Banks tells a committee of the House of Commons that the east coast of Australia is suitable for the transportation of convicted felons

1783 Astor emigrates to USA
20-year-old John Jacob Astor emigrates from Germany to America and sets up in the fur trade

1787 Freed slaves in Sierra Leone
A British ship lands a party of freed slaves as the first modern settlers in Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa

1788 First Fleet reaches Australia
After a journey of eight months from England the First Fleet reaches Australia, anchoring in Botany Bay

1789 Olaudah Equiano
The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, a slave captured as a child in Africa, becomes a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic

1790 Second fleet reaches Sydney
A second fleet arrives in Sydney, bringing more convicts and a regiment, the New South Wales Corps, to keep order

1816 American Colonization Society
Robert Finley, a US anti-slavery campaigner, founds the American Colonization Society to settle freed slaves in Africa

1821 African territory for freed US slaves
The American Colonization Society buys the area later known as Liberia to settle freed slaves

1822 Mzilikazi leads Ndebele west
Mzilikazi, after a quarrel with Shaka, leads the Ndebele people to new territories west of Natal

1822 Freed slaves reach Liberia
The first shipload of freed slaves reaches Cape Mesurado (in the region soon called Liberia) from the USA

1830 Underground Railroad for slaves
A network of undercover abolitionists in the southern states of America help slaves escape to freedom in the north

1843 Great Migration along Oregon Trail
The Great Migration across the north American continent to the Pacific establishes the Oregon Trail

1846 Irish migrate to USA
The Irish, fleeing from the potato famine at home, become the main group of immigrants to the USA

1851 'Go west, young man'
A journalist in the Terre Haute Express gives a piece of advice, 'Go west, young man', that chimes perfectly with the US pioneer spirit

1852 Population of California explodes
In the four years since the discovery of gold, the population of California has leapt from 14,000 to 250,000

1860 German US immigrants
German immigrants arriving in the USA now outnumber even the Irish

1861 Racial violence at Lambing Flat
Chinese immigrants to Australia are the victims of violent racial attacks at Lambing Flat

1882 Congress bans Chinese immigrants
Congress passes a Chinese Exclusion Act, in the USA's first retreat from the policy of welcoming all immigrants

1882 European Jews settle in Palestine
The first settlements of European Jews, returning to the promised land, are established in Palestine

1892 Ellis Island receives immigrants
Ellis Island in New York Bay opens as the point of reception for arriving immigrants

1896 Herzl argues for a Jewish state
Theodor Herzl publishes The Jewish State, calling for a national homeland for all Jews

1901 Immigration restricted in Australia
Australia passes an Immigration Restriction Act to underpin the White Australia policy

1917 Balfour Declaration
Foreign Secretary A.J. Balfour declares Britain's conditional support for a homeland in Palestine for the Jews

1948 Immigrants to UK on Empire Windrush
The first West Indian immigrants to Britain arive from Jamaica on the Empire Windrush

1976 Riots follow police violence in Soweto
Hundreds of deaths and casualties result from police firing on a demonstration by schoolchildren in the black township of Soweto

1981 Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children
Stolen Generations, by Peter Read, reveals the scandal of Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their parents

1997 Bringing Them Home confirms abuse
The Australian report Bringing Them Home confirms widespread forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their parents