The Silk Road was a network of routes through Central Asia, along which trade was conducted for many centuries between China and eastern Asia on the one hand and the Middle East and the Mediterranean on the other. For centuries, from classical times to the late Middle Ages, the Silk Road was the most important connection between East and West.
The western part of the route was completed in the 5th century BC, while the Central Asian portion of the route was already in use around 115 BC during the Han dynasty. Land trade declined in the Middle Ages, when it shifted to maritime transport.
