Code. Eminem was named the music artist of the decade by Billboard. During this decade, the world population grew from 6.1 to 6.9 billion people. Approximately 1.35 billion people were born, and 550 million people died. Name for the decade Orthographically, the decade can be written as the "2000s" or the 00s". In the English-speaking world, a name for the decade wasn't immediately accepted as it had been for other decades ('80s, '90s), but usage eventually settled on "aughts" (US) or "noughties" (UK). Other possibilities included "two-thousands", "twenty hundreds", "ohs", "oh ohs", "double ohs", "zeros", and "double zeros". The years of the decade can be referred to as '01, '02, etc., pronounced oh-one, oh-two, etc. Demographics Politics and wars The war on terror and War in Afghanistan began after the September 11 attacks in 2001. The International Criminal Court was formed in 2002. In 2003 a United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, and the Iraq War led to the end of Saddam Hussein's rule as Iraqi President and the Ba'ath Party in Iraq. Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist militant groups performed terrorist acts throughout the decade. These acts included the 2004 Madrid train bombings, 7/7 London bombings in 2005, and the Mumbai attacks related to al-Qaeda in 2008. The European Union expanded its sanctions amid Iran's failure to comply with its transparency obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and United Nations resolutions. The war on terror generated extreme controversy around the world, with questions regarding the justification for certain U.S. actions leading to a loss of support for the American government, both in and outside the United States. The additional armed conflict occurred in the Middle East, including between Israel and Hezbollah, then with Israel and Hamas. The most significant loss of life due to natural disasters came from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which caused a tsunami that killed around one quarter-million people and displaced well over a million others. Terrorist attacks The most prominent terrorist attacks committed against the civilian population during the decade include: September 11 attacks in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States 2002 Bali bombings in Bali, Indonesia 2003 Istanbul bombings in Istanbul, Turkey 2004 Madrid train bombings 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis 2005 London bombings 2007 Yazidi communities bombings 2008 Mumbai attacks Wars The most prominent armed conflicts of the decade include: International wars War on terror