Answer:
Before 1500, there were many trade networks, but these networks mainly connected three regions of the world: Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East, and the rest of Asia. Sub Saharan Africa was still mostly isolated, as well as the Americas.
The year 1500 marks a high point in the discovery era. Portuguese sailors had circumnavigated Africa, and the Spanish were exploring the Americas.
The Portugese established commercial ports in Africa, India and Southeast Asia, and this created interconnections between Europe, Sub Saharan Africa and Asia, with did not exist before.
The Spanish, began to colonize the Americas and founded thousands of cities. This new commercial network was fully new: never before in history had the Americas been connected with the Old World.
In conclusion, the world after 1500 was much more interconnected than before 1500.
