More and more often, the term global village is being used to describe the world and its people. In a typical village, however, everyone knows everyone else and the same people face the same kinds of problems. How can the world be a village when it is home to almost six billion people in so many different countries? The answer lies in the great political and technological changes of the 20th century. Politically, the end of the Cold War made the global village more possible by opening new channels of communication between nations. Technologically, the greatest contributor to the global village is the microchip, which made high-tech satellites and computers possible. This allows information to travel more quickly from country to country with the result that more people than ever before are learning about foreign cultures. To cite just one example, we can carry on an electronic conversation with someone else on the internet from almost anywhere in the world!