The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe from approximately 130 BCE to 1453 CE. Named by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877, these routes carried silk, spices, precious metals, porcelain, and ideas across thousands of miles. The Silk Road facilitated the spread of Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, transferred technologies like papermaking and gunpowder, and enabled cultural exchange between civilizations. Key cities along the route included Chang'an (Xi'an), Samarkand, Baghdad, and Constantinople.