Oil replaced many commodities once traded along the Silk Road, but low prices have led to flatlining employment. This story appears in the December 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine.

But the world’s demand for spices grew throughout the Roman era and into the medieval period, defining economies from India to Europe. This demand gave rise to some of the first truly ...

But this bustling bazaar is not just a space for buying and selling—here, the legacy of the Silk Road comes alive ... While Margilan traded in fabrics, Rishtan, 50km west, grew as one of ...

While tracing the ancient Silk Road through Central Asia on foot, National Geographic writer Paul Salopek was regaled with tales of these jinn. One night, under clear skies in the sprawling ...

The Silk Road was a network of land and sea-based trade routes that connected parts of the African, Asian, and European continents. The network enabled trade-items such as fabrics, spices ...

Sea routes, important for trade and for communication, may also be considered part of the Silk Road. During the Han dynasty, Chinese ships traded with Southeast Asian kingdoms. During the 7th and 8th ...