When two or more networks are connected, you have an internet (lower case i). "The" Internet (upper case i) is the largest of the internets (the mother-of-all-internets...) The Internet evolved from the ArpaNET (a U.S. military network) to an academic research network, to the current (global) commercial network. The Internet is growing tremendously in the number of connected servers , and users. Other names: "the Net ", "cyberspace ", "the information superhighway "... .