According to different websites some of the major world events in the year 2005 were:
- The death of Pope John Paul II marked the end of an era in the life of the Roman-Catholic Church and modern history.
- The outbreaks of inter-ethnic violence in wealthy European countries and Australia.
- The disengagement of Israeli troops and settlements from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank caused a split in Israeli society and made Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who once initiated the creation of these settlements, quit the ruling party.
- Hurricane Katrina in the United States showed that the world's leading super power was unprepared to deal with the aftermath of the natural disaster. The hurricane destroyed the cradle of jazz, New Orleans.
- The year 2005 was the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995–2005).