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List of largest empires

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This article provides a list of the largest empires in world history.

[edit] Measurement details

The calculation of the land area of a particular empire is controversial. In general, this list centers on the side of including any land area that was explored and explicitly claimed, even if the areas were populated very sparsely or not at all. For example, a large portion of Northern Siberia is included in the size of the Russian Empire but not the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire's northern border was somewhat ill-defined, but in most places it was simply the natural border between the steppe and the taiga. Occupied areas north of this are included in the area of the empire, but at the time the majority of the taiga and tundra were unexplored and uninhabited. This area was only very sparsely populated by the Russian Empire, but it had been explicitly claimed by the Russian Empire by the 1600s, and its extent had been entirely explored by the late 1800s. Similarly, the northernmost Canadian islands such as Ellesmere Island were explored and claimed by the British Empire by the mid 1800s (virtually the entire mainland was at least sparsely populated well before that).

No claims on mainland Antarctica are included in the area of any of the empires.

Due to the historical trend of increasing population and GDP, the list of largest empires in these categories is highly dependent on which relatively recent political entities are defined as empires. The measures of population and GDP as a percentage of the world total take into account this historical growth, although decent GDP data is only available for the last few centuries, accurate only for the last decades.

[edit] Debates regarding definition of imperial domains

Compilations of history’s largest empires (in both geographical size and population) often vary due to differing definitions of imperial borders throughout history and across distinct historical traditions. Imperial domains have been variously defined in terms of direct administrative rule from a common ruling authority, military presence, colonisation and settlement, collection of tribute, economic dependence, or even incorporation into a common trading or ideological network. Many imperial domains have therefore enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy, self-rule, or even outright independence (though sometimes with a dependent or protectorate relationship to a stronger power). Some regions claimed by an imperial authority have been large, yet arid and very sparsely populated lands without much administrative control whatsoever. Therefore, empires can vary in size according to these designations, often quite significantly.

For example in India, which experienced varying levels of European contact and imperial forays since Vasco da Gama’s expeditions in 1497-1498, French, Dutch, Portuguese and especially British authorities claimed authority over increasing portions of the Indian Subcontinent. This process culminated in the period of the British Raj (and its smaller French and Portuguese counterparts) after 1857. Nevertheless, even then approximately half of Indian territory consisted of Princely States under de facto and de jure rule of local rajas and maharajas. While the Indian princes often sought protection and mediation from the European maritime powers, they minted their own coins, issued their own edicts, and otherwise ruled of their own accord; furthermore, the Indian independence Act, which ended the British presence by 1948, did not apply to the Princely States, which required separate negotiations with the new Indian nation as independent states in themselves. Thus, although many European maps showed nearly the whole of India as a predominantly British colony in the late 1800’s, close to 50% was essentially independent, and the Indian historical tradition in particular does not consider the large and populous region ruled by these rajas to have been under Western rule.

Another issue is that many of history’s empires have ruled over vast and mostly uninhabited territorial expanses, sparsely populated by largely autonomous tribes, and with little in the way of direct administration or settlement by an imperial power. For example, various Mongol khanates from the 13th century established dominion over arid steppes in Central Asia and Siberia that were difficult to control from a central authority, as was the case with the expansionist tsarist Russian empires from the 17th century, which established control in the same regions. In both cases, administrative structures and settlements were gradually introduced into the regions—with Russian settlers, for example, initiating forts and frontier cities in the 19th century in particular—and so the size of each empire in any given decade would depend on how strict one’s criteria are in regard to the presence of true settlement and administration. Likewise, in more recent history, almost half the land expanse that is often regarded as part of the British Empire (and also much of the historical French Empire in North America), consisted of essentially barren and uninhabitable terrain in Canada and the interior of Australia, which was often difficult to even map (let alone settle and administer). Even today, the population of those regions (particularly in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada) consists largely of sparse settlements of self-governing indigenous peoples, with little in the way of submission to a central ruling authority.

During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and early 8th centuries, Rashidun armies established the Caliphate, or Islamic Empire, one of the largest empires in history.The seventh century saw the introduction of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, where The Prophet Muhammad established a new unified political polity in the Arabian peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Arab power well beyond the Arabian peninsula in the form of a vast Muslim Arab Empire with an area of influence that stretched from northwest India, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula, to the Pyrenees. However, internal feuding among ruling figures in the empire led it to fragment into several states under separate administrations, such as the Umayyads (whose rule continued in Spain after it collapsed elsewhere), Abbasids, Ayyubids, Mamluks and many others. These were in addition to a variety of other Muslim states in Sudan, Indonesia and elsewhere that later arose outside of the main Islamic Empires, through trade and other contacts. Thus, the size of these empires vary depending on how “membership” in the empire is defined—as being under a single administration, accepting a particular ruler or following the dictates of the Caliph (which technically, Sunni Muslims in general were expected to do).

Similarly, the Mongol Empire lost its unity upon the death of the Great Khan Möngke during fighting in China in 1259, with the Golden Horde’s Berke Khan and the Il-Khanate’s Hulegu Khan even taking up arms against each other and supporting rival factions for selection of the Great Khan. However, upon the death of Berke—a Muslim—the religious impetus for conflict among the khanates subsided, with the Mongols again supposedly loyal to the new Great Khan Kublai before fragmenting yet again later. If the khanates are considered to have been a unified Mongol Empire under Kublai—stretching from Korea and China in the east through Siberia and Central Asia and into Persia and Eastern Europe in the west—it would easily be the world’s largest in terms of both land area and population (as a percentage of the world total). A related question arises with the granting of dominion and commonwealth statuses among former imperial domains, in which the domains acquire a high degree of self-rule, equivalent to independence in some estimations. For example, Australia attained dominion status in 1901, which may or may not have indicated a departure from the British Empire, depending on interpretation of the status.

Finally, many of history’s empires have had unusual arrangements among multiple powers, such as joint rule by several authorities, layers of rule (with different powers assuming different levels of administrative authority), territorial division with blurred boundaries or other forms of empire without a single obvious central authority. For example, the Manchus, who established the Qing Dynasty in 17th-century China, also conquered nomadic lands to the north, including Mongolia. The Manchus increasingly merged with the Chinese population over the centuries, so that the administration took on both Manchu and Chinese features with no clear division among them. The Mongol chieftains of Outer Mongolia in particular, pledged loyalty to the Manchus but retained substantial autonomy, and when the Q’ing Dynasty collapsed in the early 1900s, the status of Outer Mongolia relative to the new Chinese state became unclear. Britain had a very complicated arrangement with Egypt and Sudan. Egyptian forces defeated the British in the Alexandria Expedition in 1807, but in the wake of this, British officials exerted varying degrees of sway in Egypt especially by the late 1800’s, with the French also assuming a role in the Suez Canal territory. Sudan, in turn, was technically a colony of the Egyptians, but the British exerted de facto sway on Sudan indirectly via Egypt. Thus, accounts vary on the imperial status (or lack thereof) of both Egypt and Sudan. Lastly, in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, many nations took on a Communist character and attached themselves to the global Communist center of the Soviet Union. Mongolia, North Korea, and China following Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, all took guidance from the Soviet Union especially in the years just after their Communist transformations. The Soviet Union also exercised varying control over Eastern Europe via the Warsaw Pact even though the Pact countries were formally independent, while Communist nations in Africa and Latin America also sought Soviet guidance. Therefore, the lists of largest empires below represent merely a sample of possible rankings depending on the specific criteria used to define an empire.

[edit] Largest empires by landmass (maximum extent)

For context, note that the total land area of the Earth is 148.94 million km2.[1]

[edit] Ancient empires

Xiongnu Empire at its greatest extent.
  1. Xiongnu (Hunnu) - 9.0 million km2 (176 BC)[2][3]
  2. Achaemenid Empire - 7.5 million km2 (ca. 500 BC)[4][5]
  3. Eastern Han, China - 6.5 million km2 (AD 100)[2]
  4. Western Han, China - 6.0 million km2 (50 BC)[2][3]
  5. Alexander's Macedonian Empire - 5.2 million km2 (323 BC)[6][3]
  6. Maurya, India - 5.0 million km2 (250 BC)[3][7]
  7. Roman Empire - 5.0 million km2 (AD 117)[6][3][8]
  8. Xin, China - 4.7 million km2 (AD 10)[2]
  9. Attila's Hunnic Empire - 4.0 millionn km2 (AD 441)[2]
  10. Hapthalite Khanate (White Huns), India - 4.0 million km2 (AD 470)[2]
  11. Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km2 (301 BC)[6][3]
  12. Western Xiongnu - 3.5 million km2 (AD 20)[2]
  13. Gupta, India - 3.5 million km2 (AD 400)[3][9]
  14. Western Jin, China - 3.1 million km2 (AD 300)[2]
  15. Medes - 2.8 million km2 (585 BC)[6][3]
  16. Qin, China - 2.8 million km2 (206 BC)[2]
  17. Parthia - 2.8 million km2 (AD 1)[6][3]
  18. Eastern Jin, China - 2.8 million km2 (AD 347)[2]
  19. Rouran Khaganate - 2.8 million km2 (AD 405)[2][3]
  20. Liu Song, China - 2.8 million km2 (AD 420)[2]
  21. Theodosian Dynasty, Eastern Roman Empire - 2.8 million km2 (AD 450)[2]
  22. Shalivahana , India - 2.6 million km2 (AD 90)[2]
  23. Bactria - 2.5 million km2 (184 BC)[2]
  24. Kushan, India - 2.5 million km2 (AD 200)[2][10]
  25. Later Zhao, China - 2.5 million km2 (AD 329)[2]
  26. Wei, China - 2.0 million km2 (AD 263)[2]
  27. Earlier Zhao, China - 2.0 million km2 (AD 316)[2]
  28. Former Qin, China - 2.0 million km2 (AD 376)[2]
  29. Western Roman Empire - 2.0 million km2 (AD 395)[2]
  30. Northern Wei, China - 2.0 million km2 (AD 450)[2]
  31. Northern Xiongnu - 1.5 million km2 (AD 60)[2]
  32. Wu, China - 1.5 million km2 (AD 221)[2]
  33. Neo-Assyria - 1.4 million km2 (670 BC)[6][3]
  34. Eastern Maurya, India - 1.3 million km2 (210 BC)[2]
  35. Shang, China - 1.25 million km2 (1122 BC)[6][3]
  36. Western Zhou, China - 1.25 million km2 (1122 BC)[6]
  37. Axum - 1.25 million km2 (AD 350)[3]
  38. 18th Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (1450 BC)[6]
  39. 19th Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (1300 BC)[6][3]
  40. Nanda Dynasty of Maghada, India - 1.0 million km2 (350 or 321 BC)[11][2]
  41. Ptolemaic Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (301 BC)[6]
  42. Shu, China - 1.0 million km2 (AD 221)[2]
  43. Akkadian Empire - 0.8 million km2 (2250 BC)[6]
  44. 15th Dynasty, Egypt (Hyksos) - 0.65 million km2 (1650 BC)[6]
  45. 26th Dynasty, Egypt - 0.65 million km2 (550 BC)[6]
  46. Middle Kingdom, Egypt - 0.5 million km2 (1850 BC)[6]
  47. 25th Dynasty, Egypt - 0.5 million km2 (715 BC)[6]
  48. Lydia - 0.5 million km2 (585 BC)[6]
  49. Neo-Babylonia - 0.5 million km2 (562 BC)[6]
  50. Kosala, India - 0.5 million km2 (543 BC)[2]
  51. Shishunaga dynasty of Maghada, India - 0.5 million km2 (510 BC)[2]
  52. Chu, China - 0.5 million km2 (350 BC)[2]
  53. Satavahana (Andhra), India - 0.5 million km2 (150 BC)[2]
  54. Western Satraps (Kshatrapas), India - 0.5 million km2 (AD 100)[2]
  55. Xia, China (bassed on the hypothesis that prehistorical cities of Erlitou culture were onece united) - 0.45 million km2 (1800 BC)[6]
  56. New Kingdom, Hittite - 0.45 million km2 (1250 or 1220 BC)[6]
  57. Old Kingdom, Egypt - 0.4 million km2 (2400 BC)[6]
  58. Middle Kingdom, Assyria - 0.4 million km2 (1080 BC)[6]
  59. Harappa (based on the hypothesis that Indus Valley was onece united) - 0.3 million km2 (1800 BC)[11]
  60. Mitanni - 0.3 million km2 (1450 BC)[6]
  61. Carthage - 0.3 million km2 (220 BC)[6]
  62. 1st Dynasty, Babylon - 0.25 million km2 (1690 BC)[6]
  63. Middle Elamite - 0.2 million km2 (1160 BC)[6]
  64. 2nd Dynasty, Isin - 0.2 million km2 (1130 BC)[6]
  65. Urartu - 0.2 million km2 (800 BC)[6]
  66. Phrygia - 0.2 million km2 (750 BC)[6]
  67. Old Kingdom, Assyria - 0.15 million km2 (1730 BC)[6]
  68. Eastern Zhou, China - 0.15 million km2 (770 BC)[6]

[edit] Medieval empires

Mongol Empire at its greatest extent.
  1. Mongol Empire - 24.0 million km2 (1270 or 1309)[12][3]
  2. Umayyad Caliphate - 11.1 million km2 (720 or 750)[12][3]
  3. Abbasid Caliphate - 11.1 million km2 (750)[12][3]
  4. Yuan, China - 11.0 million km2 (1310)[12]
  5. Rashidun Caliphate - 6.7 million km2 (661)[12]
  6. Ming, China - 6.5 million km2 (1450)[12][3]
  7. Göktürk Khaganate - 6.0 million km2 (557)[2][3]
  8. Golden Horde - 6.0 million km2 (1310)[12][3]
  9. Tang, China - 5.4 million km2 (715)[12][3]
  10. Northern Yuan, China - 5.0 million km2 (1368)[12]
  11. Tufan (Tibet) - 4.6 million km2 (800)[12][3]
  12. Pala, India - 4.6 million km2 (850)[citation needed]
  13. Timurid Empire - 4.4 million km2 (1405)[12][3]
  14. Fatimid Caliphate - 4.1 million km2 (969)[12][3]
  15. Eastern Turks - 4.0 million km2 (624)[2]
  16. Great Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km2 (1080)[12][3]
  17. Ilkhanate - 3.75 million km2 (1310)[12][3]
  18. Chola, India - 3.6 million km2 (1050)[citation needed]
  19. Khwarazm - 3.6 million km2 (1218)[12][13]
  20. Sassanid Empire - 3.5 million km2 (550)[6][3]
  21. Western Turks - 3.5 million km2 (630)[2]
  22. Chagatai Khanate - 3.5 million km2 (1310 or 1350)[12][3]
  23. Safavid, Persia - 3.5 million km2 (1512)[citation needed]
  24. Ghaznavid, Persia - 3.4 million km2 (1029)[12][3]
  25. Khilji Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, India - 3.2 million km2 (1312 or 1320)[12][3]
  26. Tughlaq Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, India - 3.2 million km2 (1320)[12]
  27. Sui, China - 3.1 million km2 (610)[12]
  28. Uyghur Khaganate - 3.1 million km2 (800)[12][3]
  29. Northern Song, China - 3.1 million km2 (980)[12][3]
  30. Khazar Khanate - 3.0 million km2 (850)[3][14]
  31. Kalmar Union - 3.0 million km2 (1397)[citation needed]
  32. Samanid, Persia - 2.85 million km2 (928)[12][3]
  33. Justinian Dynasty, Byzantine Empire - 2.7 million km2 (555)[2]
  34. Liao, China - 2.6 million km2 (947)[12][3]
  35. Jin, China (Jurchen) - 2.3 million km2 (1126)[12][3]
  36. Almoravid Caliphate - 2.3 million km2 (1147)[12][15]
  37. Kievan Rus' - 2.1 million km2 (1000)[12][3]
  38. Southern Song, China - 2.1 million km2 (1127)[12]
  39. Bahriyya Mamluks, Egypt - 2.1 million km2 (1300)[12]
  40. Burjiyya Mamluks, Egypt - 2.1 million km2 (1400)[3][16]
  41. Saffarid, Persia - 2.0 million km2 (900)[citation needed]
  42. Ayyubid Caliphate - 2.0 million km2 (1190)[3][17]
  43. Almohad Caliphate - 2.0 million km2 (1200)[3][18]
  44. Inca Empire - 2.0 million km2 (1527)[12][3]
  45. Buyid, Persia - 1.6 million km2 (980)[12][3]
  46. Mamluk Sultanate, India - 1.6 million km2 (1228)[12]
  47. Northern Zhou, China - 1.5 million km2 (577)[2]
  48. Kara-Khitan Khanate (Western Liao) - 1.5 million km2 (1210)[3][19]
  49. Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km2 (1500)[20][21]
  50. Macedonian Dynasty, Byzantine Empire - 1.35 million km2 (1025)[2][3]
  51. Southern Qi, China - 1.3 million km2 (502)[2]
  52. Liang, China - 1.3 million km2 (502 or 549)[2][3]
  53. Western Wei, China - 1.3 million km2 (557)[2]
  54. Later Liang, China - 1.3 million km2 (923)[12]
  55. Later Tang, China - 1.3 million km2 (923)[12]
  56. Rashtrakuta, India - 1.2 million km2 (805)[citation needed]
  57. Carolingian Dynasty, Francia - 1.2 million km2 (814)[12][3]
  58. Chalukya, India - 1.1 million km2 (636)[citation needed]
  59. Srivijaya - 1.2 million km2 (1200)[3]
  60. Mali Empire - 1.1 million km2 (1380)[12][3]
  61. Poland-Lithuania - 1.1 million km2 (1480 or 1650)[12][3]
  62. Eastern Wei, China - 1.0 million km2 (550)[2]
  63. Northern Qi, China - 1.0 million km2 (550)[2]
  64. Harsha, India (Kanyakubja) - 1.0 million km2 (625 or 648)[12][3]
  65. Tahirid, Persia - 1.0 million km2 (800)[12]
  66. Pratihara, India - 1.0 million km2 (860)[12]
  67. Holy Roman Empire - 1.0 million km2 (1050)[12]
  68. Western Xia, China (Tangut) - 1.0 million km2 (1100)[3]
  69. Western Chalukya, India - 1.0 million km2 (1121)[citation needed]
  70. Khmer Empire - 1.0 million km2 (1290)[12][3]
  71. Avars - 0.8 million km2 (600)[2]
  72. Later Jin, China - 0.8 million km2 (936)[12]
  73. Merovingian Dynasty, Francia - 0.7 million km2 (558)[12]
  74. Bulgarian Empire - 0.7 million km2 (900)[citation needed]
  75. Visigoths - 0.6 million km2 (580)[2]
  76. Caliphate of Córdoba - 0.6 million km2 (1000)[12]
  77. Later Han, China - 0.5 million km2 (947)[12]
  78. Serbian Empire - 0.5 million km2 (1350)[citation needed]
  79. Vijayanagara, India - 0.5 million km2 (1529)[citation needed]
  80. Latin Empire - 0.35 million km2 (1204)[2]
  81. Palailogan Dynasty Byzantine Empire - 0.3 million km2 (1300)[2]
  82. Aztec Empire - 0.22 million km2 (1520)[12]

[edit] Modern empires

British Empire at its greatest extent.
  1. British Empire - 33.67 million km2 (1922)[22][23]
  2. Russian Empire - 22.8 million km2 (1895)[12][3]
  3. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - 22.3 million km2 (1945)[12]
  4. Spanish Empire - 19.425 million km2 (ca. 1740-1790)[24][25]
  5. Russian Federation - 17.1 million km2 (1991)[12]
  6. Qing, China - 14.7 million km2 (1790)[12][3]
  7. Second French Colonial Empire - 12.3 million km2 (1938)[24][26]
  8. Portuguese Empire - 10.4 million km2 (1815)[24] [27]
  9. Dominion of Canada - 9.98 million km2 (1945)[12]
  10. People's Republic of China - 9.7 million km2 (1950)[12]
  11. United States of America - 9.67 million km2 (1899)[12]
  12. Federative Republic of Brazil - 8.51 million km2 (1900)[12]
  13. Empire of Brazil - 8.1 million km2[24]
  14. Republic of China - 7.7 million km2 (1912)[12]
  15. Commonwealth of Australia - 7.68 million km2 (1945)[12]
  16. Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km2 (1942)[citation needed]
  17. Ottoman Empire - 5.2 million km2 (1683, 1829 or 1850)[12][3]
  18. First Mexican Empire - 4.4 million km2 (1822)[citation needed]
  19. Mughal, India - 4.0 million km2 (1690)[12][3]
  20. Afsharid, Persia - 4.0 million km2 (1747)[citation needed]
  21. Italian Empire - 3.8 million km2 (1940)[citation needed]
  22. Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km2[citation needed]
  23. Nazi Germany - 3.6 million km2 (1942)[citation needed]
  24. German Empire - 3.5 million km2 (1914)[citation needed]
  25. First French Colonial Empire - 3.4 million km2 (1670)[12]
  26. Republic of India - 3.19 million km2 (1947)[12]
  27. Danish colonial empire - 3.0 million km2 (1800)[citation needed]
  28. Qajar, Persia - 3.0 million km2 (1796)[citation needed]
  29. Argentine Republic - 2.78 million km2 (1880)[12]
  30. Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km2 (1914)[citation needed]
  31. Maratha, India - 2.5 million km2 (1760)[3]
  32. French First Republic - 2.1 million km2 (1800)[12]
  33. First French Empire - 2.1 million km2 (1813)[12]
  34. Siam - 1.12 million km2 (1782)[citation needed]
  35. Swedish Empire - 1.1 million km2 (1658)[citation needed]
  36. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 0.676615 million km2[citation needed]
  37. Sikh Empire - 0.5609 million km2 (1845)[citation needed]

[edit] All empires

An anachronistic map of every territory ever held by the British Empire.
  1. British Empire - 33.67 million km2 (1922)[22]
  2. Mongol Empire - 24.0 million km2 (1270 or 1309)[12][3]
  3. Russian Empire - 22.8 million km2 (1895)[12][3]
  4. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - 22.3 million km2 (1945)[12]
  5. Spanish Empire - 19.425 million km2 (ca. 1740-1790)[24]
  6. Russian Federation - 17.1 million km2 (1991)[12]
  7. Qing, China - 14.7 million km2 (1790)[12][3]
  8. Second French Colonial Empire - 12.3 million km2 (1938)[24]
  9. Umayyad Caliphate - 11.1 million km2 (720 or 750)[12][3]
  10. Abbasid Caliphate - 11.1 million km2 (750)[12][3]
  11. Yuan, China - 11.0 million km2 (1310)[12]
  12. Portuguese Empire - 10.4 million km2 (1815)[24]
  13. Dominion of Canada - 9.98 million km2 (1945)[12]
  14. People's Republic of China - 9.7 million km2 (1950)[12]
  15. United States of America - 9.67 million km2 (1899)[12]
  16. Xiongnu (Hunnu) - 9.0 million km2 (176 BC)[2][3]
  17. Federative Republic of Brazil - 8.51 million km2 (1900)[12]
  18. Empire of Brazil - 8.1 million km2[24]
  19. Republic of China - 7.7 million km2 (1912)[12]
  20. Commonwealth of Australia - 7.68 million km2 (1945)[12]
  21. Achaemenid Empire - 7.5 million km2 (ca. 500 BC)[4]
  22. Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km2 (1942)[citation needed]
  23. Rashidun Caliphate - 6.7 million km2 (661)[12]
  24. Eastern Han, China - 6.5 million km2 (100)[2]
  25. Ming, China - 6.5 million km2 (1450)[12][3]
  26. Western Han, China - 6.0 million km2 (50 BC)[2][3]
  27. Göktürk Khaganate - 6.0 million km2 (557)[2][3]
  28. Golden Horde - 6.0 million km2 (1310)[12][3]
  29. Tang, China - 5.4 million km2 (715)[12][3]
  30. Alexander's Macedonian Empire - 5.2 million km2 (323 BC)[6][3]
  31. Ottoman Empire - 5.2 million km2 (1683, 1829 or 1850)[12][3]
  32. Maurya, India - 5.0 million km2 (250 BC)[3]
  33. Roman Empire - 5.0 million km2 (117)[6][3][8]
  34. Northern Yuan, China - 5.0 million km2 (1368)[12]
  35. Xin, China - 4.7 million km2 (10)[2]
  36. Tufan (Tibet) - 4.6 million km2 (800)[12][3]
  37. Pala, India - 4.6 million km2 (850)[citation needed]
  38. Timurid Empire - 4.4 million km2 (1405)[12][3]
  39. First Mexican Empire - 4.4 million km2 (1822)[citation needed]
  40. Fatimid Caliphate - 4.1 million km2 (969)[12][3]
  41. Attila's Hunnic Empire - 4.0 million km2 (441)[2]
  42. Hepthalite Khanate (White Huns), India - 4.0 million km2 (470)[2]
  43. Eastern Turks - 4.0 million km2 (624)[2]
  44. Mughal, India - 4.0 million km2 (1690)[12][3]
  45. Afsharid, Persia - 4.0 million km2 (1747)[citation needed]
  46. Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km2 (301 BC)[6][3]
  47. Great Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km2 (1080)[12][3]
  48. Italian Empire - 3.8 million km2 (1940)[citation needed]
  49. Ilkhanate - 3.75 million km2 (1310)[12][3]
  50. Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km2[citation needed]
  51. Chola, India - 3.6 million km2 (1050)[citation needed]
  52. Khwarazm - 3.6 million km2 (1218)[12]
  53. Nazi Germany - 3.6 million km2 (1942)[citation needed]
  54. Western Xiongnu - 3.5 million km2 (20)[2]
  55. Gupta, India - 3.5 million km2 (400)[3]
  56. Sassanid Empire - 3.5 million km2 (550)[6][3]
  57. Western Turks - 3.5 million km2 (630)[2]
  58. Chagatai Khanate - 3.5 million km2 (1310 or 1350)[12][3]
  59. Safavid, Persia - 3.5 million km2 (1512)[citation needed]
  60. German Empire - 3.5 million km2 (1914)[citation needed]
  61. Ghaznavid, Persia - 3.4 million km2 (1029)[12][3]
  62. First French Colonial Empire - 3.4 million km2 (1670)[12]
  63. Khilji Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, India - 3.2 million km2 (1312 or 1320)[12][3]
  64. Tughlaq Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, India - 3.2 million km2 (1320)[12]
  65. Republic of India - 3.19 million km2 (1947)[12]
  66. Western Jin, China - 3.1 million km2 (300)[2]
  67. Sui, China - 3.1 million km2 (610)[12]
  68. Uyghur Khaganate - 3.1 million km2 (800)[12][3]
  69. Northern Song, China - 3.1 million km2 (980)[12][3]
  70. Khazar Khanate - 3.0 million km2 (850)[3]
  71. Kalmar Union - 3.0 million km2 (1397)[citation needed]
  72. Qajar, Persia - 3.0 million km2 (1796)[citation needed]
  73. Danish colonial empire - 3.0 million km2 (1800)[citation needed]
  74. Samanid, Persia - 2.85 million km2 (928)[12][3]
  75. Medes - 2.8 million km2 (585 BC)[6][3]
  76. Qin, China - 2.8 million km2 (206 BC)[2]
  77. Parthia - 2.8 million km2 (1)[6][3]
  78. Eastern Jin, China - 2.8 million km2 (347)[2]
  79. Rouran Khaganate - 2.8 million km2 (405)[2][3]
  80. Liu Song, China - 2.8 million km2 (420)[2]
  81. Theodosian Dynasty, Eastern Roman Empire - 2.8 million km2 (450)[2]
  82. Argentine Republic - 2.78 million km2 (1880)[12]
  83. Justinian Dynasty, Byzantine Empire - 2.7 million km2 (555)[2]
  84. Shalivahana , India - 2.6 million km2 (90)[2]
  85. Liao, China - 2.6 million km2 (947)[12][3]
  86. Bactria - 2.5 million km2 (184 BC)[2]
  87. Kushan, India - 2.5 million km2 (200)[2]
  88. Later Zhao, China - 2.5 million km2 (329)[2]
  89. Maratha, India - 2.5 million km2 (1760)[3]
  90. Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km2 (1914)[citation needed]
  91. Jin, China (Jurchen) - 2.3 million km2 (1126)[12][3]
  92. Almoravid Caliphate - 2.3 million km2 (1147)[12]
  93. Kievan Rus' - 2.1 million km2 (1000)[12][3]
  94. Southern Song, China - 2.1 million km2 (1127)[12]
  95. Bahriyya Mamluks, Egypt - 2.1 million km2 (1300)[12]
  96. Burjiyya Mamluks, Egypt - 2.1 million km2 (1400)[3]
  97. French First Republic - 2.1 million km2 (1800)[12]
  98. First French Empire - 2.1 million km2 (1813)[12]
  99. Wei, China - 2.0 million km2 (263)[2]
  100. Earlier Zhao, China - 2.0 million km2 (316)[2]
  101. Former Qin, China - 2.0 million km2 (376)[2]
  102. Western Roman Empire - 2.0 million km2 (395)[2]
  103. Northern Wei, China - 2.0 million km2 (450)[2]
  104. Saffarid, Persia - 2.0 million km2 (900)[citation needed]
  105. Ayyubid Caliphate - 2.0 million km2 (1190)[3]
  106. Almoh Caliphate - 2.0 million km2 (1200)[3]
  107. Inca Empire - 2.0 million km2 (1527)[12][3]
  108. Buyid, Persia - 1.6 million km2 (980)[12][3]
  109. Mamluk Sultanate, India - 1.6 million km2 (1228)[12]
  110. Northern Xiongnu - 1.5 million km2 (60)[2]
  111. Wu, China - 1.5 million km2 (221)[2]
  112. Northern Zhou, China - 1.5 million km2 (577)[2]
  113. Kara-Khitan Khanate (Western Liao) - 1.5 million km2 (1210)[3]
  114. Neo-Assyria - 1.4 million km2 (670 BC)[6][3]
  115. Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km2 (1500)[20]
  116. Macedonian Dynasty, Byzantine Empire - 1.35 million km2 (1025)[2][3]
  117. Eastern Maurya, India - 1.3 million km2 (210 BC)[2]
  118. Southern Qi, China - 1.3 million km2 (502)[2]
  119. Liang, China - 1.3 million km2 (502 or 549)[2][3]
  120. Western Wei, China - 1.3 million km2 (557)[2]
  121. Later Liang, China - 1.3 million km2 (923)[12]
  122. Later Tang, China - 1.3 million km2 (923)[12]
  123. Shang, China - 1.25 million km2 (1122 BC)[6][3]
  124. Western Zhou, China - 1.25 million km2 (1122 BC)[6]
  125. Axum - 1.25 million km2 (350)[3]
  126. Rashtrakuta, India - 1.2 million km2 (805)[citation needed]
  127. Carolingian Dynasty, Francia - 1.2 million km2 (814)[12][3]
  128. Srivijaya - 1.2 million km2 (1200)[3]
  129. Siam - 1.12 million km2 (1782)[citation needed]
  130. Chalukya, India - 1.1 million km2 (636)[citation needed]
  131. Mali Empire - 1.1 million km2 (1380)[12][3]
  132. Lithuania-Poland - 1.1 million km2 (1480 or 1650)[12][3]
  133. Swedish Empire - 1.1 million km2 (1658)[citation needed]
  134. 18th Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (1450 BC)[6]
  135. 19th Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (1300 BC)[6][3]
  136. Nanda Dynasty of Maghada, India - 1.0 million km2 (350 or 321 BC)[11][2]
  137. Ptolemaic Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (301 BC)[6]
  138. Shu, China - 1.0 million km2 (221)[2]
  139. Eastern Wei, China - 1.0 million km2 (550)[2]
  140. Northern Qi, China - 1.0 million km2 (550)[2]
  141. Harsha, India (Kanyakubja) - 1.0 million km2 (625 or 648)[12][3]
  142. Tahirid, Persia - 1.0 million km2 (800)[12]
  143. Pratihara, India - 1.0 million km2 (860)[12]
  144. Holy Roman Empire - 1.0 million km2 (1050)[12]
  145. Western Xia, China (Tangut) - 1.0 million km2 (1100)[3]
  146. Western Chalukya, India - 1.0 million km2 (1121)[citation needed]
  147. Khmer Empire - 1.0 million km2 (1290)[12][3]
  148. Akkadian Empire - 0.8 million km2 (2250 BC)[6]
  149. Avars - 0.8 million km2 (600)[2]
  150. Later Jin, China - 0.8 million km2 (936)[12]
  151. Merovingian Dynasty, Francia - 0.7 million km2 (558)[12]
  152. Bulgarian Empire - 0.7 million km2 (900)[citation needed]
  153. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 0.676615 million km2[citation needed]
  154. 15th Dynasty (Hyksos) - 0.65 million km2 (1650 BC)[6]
  155. 26th Dynasty, Egypt - 0.65 million km2 (550 BC)[6]
  156. Visigoths - 0.6 million km2 (580)[2]
  157. Caliphate of Córdoba - 0.6 million km2 (1000)[12]
  158. Sikh Empire - 0.5609 million km2 (1845)[citation needed]
  159. Middle Kingdom, Egypt - 0.5 million km2 (1850 BC)[6]
  160. 25th Dynasty, Egypt - 0.5 million km2 (715 BC)[6]
  161. Lydia - 0.5 million km2 (585 BC)[6]
  162. Neo-Babylonia - 0.5 million km2 (562 BC)[6]
  163. Kosala, India - 0.5 million km2 (543 BC)[2]
  164. Shishunaga dynasty of Maghada, India - 0.5 million km2 (510 BC)[2]
  165. Chu, China - 0.5 million km2 (350 BC)[2]
  166. Satavahana (Andhra), India - 0.5 million km2 (150 BC)[2]
  167. Western Satraps (Kshatrapas), India - 0.5 million km2 (100)[2]
  168. Later Han, China - 0.5 million km2 (947)[12]
  169. Serbian Empire - 0.5 million km2 (1350)[citation needed]
  170. Vijayanagara, India - 0.5 million km2 (1529)[citation needed]
  171. Xia, China (bassed on the hypothesis that prehistorical cities of Erlitou culture were onece united) - 0.45 million km2 (1800 BC)[6]
  172. New Kingdom, Hittite - 0.45 million km2 (1250 or 1220 BC)[6]
  173. Old Kingdom, Egypt - 0.4 million km2 (2400 BC)[6]
  174. Middle Kingdom, Assyria (under Tiglath-Pileser I) - 0.4 million km2 (1080 BC)[6]
  175. Latin Empire - 0.35 million km2 (1204)[2]
  176. Harappa - 0.3 million km2 (1800 BC)[11]
  177. Mitanni - 0.3 million km2 (1450 BC)[6]
  178. Carthage - 0.3 million km2 (220 BC)[6]
  179. Palailogan Dynasty Byzantine Empire - 0.3 million km2 (1300)[2]
  180. 1st Dynasty, Babylon - 0.25 million km2 (1690 BC)[6]
  181. Aztec Empire - 0.22 million km2 (1520)[12]
  182. Middle Elamite - 0.2 million km2 (1160 BC)[6]
  183. 2nd Dynasty, Isin - 0.2 million km2 (1130 BC)[6]
  184. Urartu - 0.2 million km2 (800 BC)[6]
  185. Phrygia - 0.2 million km2 (750 BC)[6]
  186. Old Kingdom, Assyria - 0.15 million km2 (1730 BC)[6]
  187. Eastern Zhou, China - 0.15 million km2 (770 BC)[6]

[edit] Contiguous empires

  1. Mongol Empire - 24.0 million km2 (1270 or 1309)[12][3]
  2. Russian Empire - 22.8 million km2 (1895)[12][3]
  3. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - 22.3 million km2 (1945)[12]
  4. Russian Federation - 17.1 million km2 (1991)[12]
  5. Qing, China - 14.7 million km2 (1790)[12][3]
  6. Umayyad Caliphate - 11.1 million km2 (720 or 750)[12][3]
  7. Abbasid Caliphate - 11.1 million km2 (750)[12][3]
  8. Yuan, China - 11.0 million km2 (1310)[12]
  9. Dominion of Canada - 9.98 million km2 (1945)[12]
  10. People's Republic of China - 9.7 million km2 (1950)[12]
  11. Xiongnu (Hunnu) - 9.0 million km2 (176 BC)[2][3]
  12. Federative Republic of Brazil - 8.51 million km2 (1900)[12]
  13. Empire of Brazil - 8.1 million km2[24]
  14. Republic of China - 7.7 million km2 (1912)[12]
  15. Commonwealth of Australia - 7.68 million km2 (1945)[12]
  16. Achaemenid Empire - 7.5 million km2 (ca. 500 BC)[4]
  17. Rashidun Caliphate - 6.7 million km2 (661)[12]
  18. Eastern Han, China - 6.5 million km2 (100)[2]
  19. Ming, China - 6.5 million km2 (1450)[12][3]
  20. Western Han, China - 6.0 million km2 (50 BC)[2][3]
  21. Göktürk Khaganate - 6.0 million km2 (557)[2][3]
  22. Golden Horde - 6.0 million km2 (1310)[12][3]
  23. Tang, China - 5.4 million km2 (715)[12][3]
  24. Alexander's Ancient Macedonia - 5.2 million km2 (323 BC)[6][3]
  25. Maurya, India - 5.0 million km2 (250 BC)[3]
  26. Roman Empire - 5.0 million km2 (117)[6][3][8]
  27. Northern Yuan, China - 5.0 million km2 (1368)[12]
  28. Xin, China - 4.7 million km2 (10)[2]
  29. Tufan (Tibet) - 4.6 million km2 (800)[12][3]
  30. Pala, India - 4.6 million km2 (850)[citation needed]
  31. Timurid Empire - 4.4 million km2 (1405)[12][3]
  32. First Mexican Empire - 4.4 million km2 (1822)[citation needed]
  33. Fatimid Caliphate - 4.1 million km2 (969)[12][3]
  34. Attila's Hunnic Empire - 4.0 million km2 (441)[2]
  35. Hepthalite Khanate (White Huns), India - 4.0 million km2 (470)[2]
  36. Eastern Turks - 4.0 million km2 (624)[2]
  37. Mughal, India - 4.0 million km2 (1690)[12][3]
  38. Afsharid, Persia - 4.0 million km2 (1747)[citation needed]
  39. Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km2 (301 BC)[6][3]
  40. Great Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km2 (1080)[12][3]
  41. Ilkhanate - 3.75 million km2 (1310)[12][3]
  42. Chola, India - 3.6 million km2 (1050)[citation needed]
  43. Khwarazm - 3.6 million km2 (1218)[12]
  44. Nazi Germany - 3.6 million km2 (1942)[citation needed]
  45. Western Xiongnu - 3.5 million km2 (20)[2]
  46. Gupta, India - 3.5 million km2 (400)[3]
  47. Sassanid Empire - 3.5 million km2 (550)[6][3]
  48. Western Turks - 3.5 million km2 (630)[2]
  49. Chagatai Khanate - 3.5 million km2 (1310 or 1350)[12][3]
  50. Safavid, Persia - 3.5 million km2 (1512)[citation needed]
  51. Ghaznavid, Persia - 3.4 million km2 (1029)[12][3]
  52. Khilji Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, India - 3.2 million km2 (1312 or 1320)[12][3]
  53. Tughlaq Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate, India - 3.2 million km2 (1320)[12]
  54. Republic of India - 3.19 million km2 (1947)[12]
  55. Western Jin, China - 3.1 million km2 (300)[2]
  56. Sui, China - 3.1 million km2 (610)[12]
  57. Uyghur Khaganate - 3.1 million km2 (800)[12][3]
  58. Northern Song, China - 3.1 million km2 (980)[12][3]
  59. Khazar Khanate - 3.0 million km2 (850)[3]
  60. Qajar, Persia - 3.0 million km2 (1796)[citation needed]
  61. Samanid, Persia - 2.85 million km2 (928)[12][3]
  62. Medes - 2.8 million km2 (585 BC)[6][3]
  63. Qin, China - 2.8 million km2 (206 BC)[2]
  64. Parthia - 2.8 million km2 (1)[6][3]
  65. Eastern Jin, China/Liu Song, China - 2.8 million km2 (347)[2]
  66. Rouran Khaganate - 2.8 million km2 (405)[2][3]
  67. Liu Song, China - 2.8 million km2 (420)[2]
  68. Argentine Republic - 2.78 million km2 (1880)[12]
  69. Shalivahana , India - 2.6 million km2 (90)[2]
  70. Liao, China - 2.6 million km2 (947)[12][3]
  71. Bactria - 2.5 million km2 (184 BC)[2]
  72. Kushan, India - 2.5 million km2 (200)[2]
  73. Later Zhao, China - 2.5 million km2 (329)[2]
  74. Maratha, India - 2.5 million km2 (1760)[3]
  75. Jin, China (Jurchen) - 2.3 million km2 (1126)[12][3]
  76. Almoravid Caliphate - 2.3 million km2 (1147)[12]
  77. Kievan Rus' - 2.1 million km2 (1000)[12][3]
  78. Southern Song, China - 2.1 million km2 (1127)[12]
  79. Bahriyya Mamluks, Egypt - 2.1 million km2 (1300)[12]
  80. Burjiyya Mamluks, Egypt - 2.1 million km2 (1400)[3]
  81. Wei, China - 2.0 million km2 (263)[2]
  82. Earlier Zhao, China - 2.0 million km2 (316)[2]
  83. Former Qin, China - 2.0 million km2 (376)[2]
  84. Western Roman Empire - 2.0 million km2 (395)[2]
  85. Northern Wei, China - 2.0 million km2 (450)[2]
  86. Saffarid, Persia - 2.0 million km2 (900)[citation needed]
  87. Ayyubid Caliphate - 2.0 million km2 (1190)[3]
  88. Almoh Caliphate - 2.0 million km2 (1200)[3]
  89. Inca Empire - 2.0 million km2 (1527)[12][3]
  90. Buyid, Persia - 1.6 million km2 (980)[12][3]
  91. Mamluk Sultanate, India - 1.6 million km2 (1228)[12]
  92. Northern Xiongnu - 1.5 million km2 (60)[2]
  93. Wu, China - 1.5 million km2 (221)[2]
  94. Northern Zhou, China - 1.5 million km2 (577)[2]
  95. Kara-Khitan Khanate (Western Liao) - 1.5 million km2 (1210)[3]
  96. Neo-Assyria - 1.4 million km2 (670 BC)[6][3]
  97. Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km2 (1500)[20]
  98. Macedonian Dynasty, Byzantine Empire - 1.35 million km2 (1025)[2][3]
  99. Eastern Maurya, India - 1.3 million km2 (210 BC)[2]
  100. Southern Qi, China - 1.3 million km2 (502)[2]
  101. Liang, China - 1.3 million km2 (502 or 549)[2][3]
  102. Western Wei, China - 1.3 million km2 (557)[2]
  103. Later Liang, China - 1.3 million km2 (923)[12]
  104. Later Tang, China - 1.3 million km2 (923)[12]
  105. Shang, China - 1.25 million km2 (1122 BC)[6][3]
  106. Western Zhou, China - 1.25 million km2 (1122 BC)[6]
  107. Axum - 1.25 million km2 (350)[3]
  108. Rashtrakuta, India - 1.2 million km2 (805)[citation needed]
  109. Carolingian Dynasty, Francia - 1.2 million km2 (814)[12][3]
  110. Siam - 1.12 million km2 (1782)[citation needed]
  111. Chalukya, India - 1.1 million km2 (636)[citation needed]
  112. Mali Empire - 1.1 million km2 (1380)[12][3]
  113. Lithuania-Poland - 1.1 million km2 (1480 or 1650)[12][3]
  114. 18th Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (1450 BC)[6]
  115. 19th Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (1300 BC)[6][3]
  116. Nanda Dynasty of Maghada, India - 1.0 million km2 (350 or 321 BC)[11][2]
  117. Shu, China - 1.0 million km2 (221)[2]
  118. Eastern Wei, China - 1.0 million km2 (550)[2]
  119. Northern Qi, China - 1.0 million km2 (550)[2]
  120. Harsha, India (Kanyakubja) - 1.0 million km2 (625 or 648)[12][3]
  121. Tahirid, Persia - 1.0 million km2 (800)[12]
  122. Pratihara, India - 1.0 million km2 (860)[12]
  123. Holy Roman Empire - 1.0 million km2 (1050)[12]
  124. Western Xia, China (Tangut) - 1.0 million km2 (1100)[3]
  125. Western Chalukya, India - 1.0 million km2 (1121)[citation needed]
  126. Khmer Empire - 1.0 million km2 (1290)[12][3]
  127. Akkadian Empire - 0.8 million km2 (2250 BC)[6]
  128. Avars - 0.8 million km2 (600)[2]
  129. Later Jin, China - 0.8 million km2 (936)[12]
  130. Merovingian Dynasty, Francia - 0.7 million km2 (558)[12]
  131. Bulgarian Empire - 0.7 million km2 (900)[citation needed]
  132. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 0.676615 million km2[citation needed]
  133. 15th Dynasty (Hyksos) - 0.65 million km2 (1650 BC)[6]
  134. 26th Dynasty, Egypt - 0.65 million km2 (550 BC)[6]
  135. Visigoths - 0.6 million km2 (580)[2]
  136. Caliphate of Córdoba - 0.6 million km2 (1000)[12]
  137. Sikh Empire - 0.5609 million km2 (1845)[citation needed]
  138. Middle Kingdom, Egypt - 0.5 million km2 (1850 BC)[6]
  139. 25th Dynasty, Egypt - 0.5 million km2 (715 BC)[6]
  140. Lydia - 0.5 million km2 (585 BC)[6]
  141. Neo-Babylonia - 0.5 million km2 (562 BC)[6]
  142. Kosala, India - 0.5 million km2 (543 BC)[2]
  143. Shishunaga dynasty of Maghada, India - 0.5 million km2 (510 BC)[2]
  144. Chu, China - 0.5 million km2 (350 BC)[2]
  145. Satavahana (Andhra), India - 0.5 million km2 (150 BC)[2]
  146. Western Satraps (Kshatrapas), India - 0.5 million km2 (100)[2]
  147. Later Han, China - 0.5 million km2 (947)[12]
  148. Serbian Empire - 0.5 million km2 (1350)[citation needed]
  149. Vijayanagara, India - 0.5 million km2 (1529)[citation needed]
  150. Xia, China (bassed on the hypothesis that prehistorical cities of Erlitou culture were onece united) - 0.45 million km2 (1800 BC)[6]
  151. New Kingdom, Hittite - 0.45 million km2 (1250 or 1220 BC)[6]
  152. Old Kingdom, Egypt - 0.4 million km2 (2400 BC)[6]
  153. Middle Kingdom, Assyria (under Tiglath-Pileser I) - 0.4 million km2 (1080 BC)[6]
  154. Latin Empire - 0.35 million km2 (1204)[2]
  155. Harappa - 0.3 million km2 (1800 BC)[11]
  156. Mitanni - 0.3 million km2 (1450 BC)[6]
  157. Palailogan Dynasty Byzantine Empire - 0.3 million km2 (1300)[2]
  158. 1st Dynasty, Babylon - 0.25 million km2 (1690 BC)[6]
  159. Aztec Empire - 0.22 million km2 (1520)[12]
  160. Middle Elamite - 0.2 million km2 (1160 BC)[6]
  161. 2nd Dynasty, Isin - 0.2 million km2 (1130 BC)[6]
  162. Urartu - 0.2 million km2 (800 BC)[6]
  163. Phrygia - 0.2 million km2 (750 BC)[6]
  164. Old Kingdom, Assyria - 0.15 million km2 (1730 BC)[6]
  165. Eastern Zhou, China - 0.15 million km2 (770 BC)[6]

[edit] Maritime empires

  1. British Empire - 33.67 million km2 (1922)[22]
  2. Spanish Empire - 19.425 million km2 (ca. 1740-1790)[24]
  3. Second French Colonial Empire - 12.3 million km2 (1938)[24]
  4. Portuguese Empire - 10.4 million km2 (1815)[24]
  5. United States of America - 9.67 million km2 (1899)[12]
  6. Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km2 (1942)[citation needed]
  7. Ottoman Empire - 5.2 million km2 (1683, 1829 or 1850)[12][3]
  8. Italian Empire - 3.8 million km2 (1940)[citation needed]
  9. Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km2[citation needed]
  10. German Empire - 3.5 million km2 (1914)[citation needed]
  11. First French Colonial Empire - 3.4 million km2 (1670)[12]
  12. Kalmar Union - 3.0 million km2 (1397)[citation needed]
  13. Danish colonial empire - 3.0 million km2 (1800)[citation needed]
  14. Theodosian Dynasty, Eastern Roman Empire - 2.8 million km2 (450)[2]
  15. Justinian Dynasty, Byzantine Empire - 2.7 million km2 (555)[2]
  16. Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km2 (1914)[citation needed]
  17. French First Republic - 2.1 million km2 (1800)[12]
  18. First French Empire - 2.1 million km2 (1813)[12]
  19. Srivijaya - 1.2 million km2 (1200)[3]
  20. Swedish Empire - 1.1 million km2 (1658)[citation needed]
  21. Ptolemaic Dynasty, Egypt - 1.0 million km2 (301 BC)[6]
  22. Carthage - 0.3 million km2 (220 BC)[6]

[edit] Largest empires by population

Population estimates are unknown for many other ancient empires not listed here.

[edit] Population size

  1. British Empire - 531.3 million (in 1938)[28]
  2. Qing, China - 432.2 million in 1851.[29]
  3. Soviet Union - 286.717 million (in 1989)[30][not in citation given]
  4. Russian Empire - 176.4 million in 1913
  5. Mughal India - 175 million in 1700
  6. Japanese Empire - 134.8 million in 1938
  7. Northern Song, China - 123 million in 1103[31][32]
  8. French Empire - 112.9 million in 1938
  9. Ming, China - 110 million in 1600.[33][34]
  10. Mongol Empire - 110 million (in the 13th century)[35]
  11. Yuan, China - 86 million in 1290.[31][36]
  12. Achaemenid Persia - 70-80+ million (in the 4th century BC)[37]
  13. Dutch Empire - 80 million people living within its boundaries in 1940.[citation needed]
  14. Roman Empire - 80 million (in 2nd century AD)[38][39]
  15. Sassanid Persia - 78 million (in the 7th century AD)
  16. Nazi Germany - 75.4 million (in 1938)[28]
  17. Western Han, China - 74 million in 2[31][40]
  18. Southern Song, China - 73 million in 1193.[31][41]
  19. Spanish Empire - 68.2 million[42]
  20. Eastern Han, China - 64 million in 156[31][43]
  21. Umayyad Caliphate - 62 million (in the 7th century)[44]
  22. Dutch Empire - 60 million in 1907
  23. Sui, China - 53 million in 606[31][45]
  24. Tang, China - 53 million in 755[31][46]
  25. Italian Empire - 51.9 million in 1938
  26. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 50.6 million in 1913
  27. Maurya India - 50 million in the 2nd century BC
  28. Jin, China - 48 million in 1195.[31][47]

[edit] Percentage of world population

  1. Qing Empire - 36.6% (381 million out of 1.041 billion in 1820)[48]
  2. Roman Empire - 35.3% (80 million out of 226 million[49] in the 2nd century AD)
  3. Maurya India - 33.3% (50 million out of 150 million in 2nd century BC)
  4. Sassanid Persia - 32.5% (78 million out of 240 million[50] in the 7th century AD)
  5. Mughal India - 29.2% (175 million out of 600 million[51] in 1700)
  6. Ming China - 28.8% (160 million out of 556.2 million in 1600)[48]
  7. Han China - 26.5% (59.6 million out of 226 million[48] in 2 AD)
  8. Umayyad Caliphate - 25.83% (62 million out of 240 million[50] in the 7th century AD)
  9. Mongol Empire - 25.6% (110 million out of 429 million[52] in the 13th century)
  10. British Empire - 23.15% (531.3 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)[28]
  11. Song China - 22% (59 million out of 268 million in 1000)[48]
  12. Rashidun Caliphate - 16.79% (40.3 million out of 240 million in 7th century)
  13. Spanish Empire - 12.3% (68.2 million out of 556 million[48] in the 17th century)
  14. Russian Empire - 9.8% (176.4 million out of 1.791 billion[48] in 1913)
  15. Ottoman Empire - 7.1% (39 million out of 556 million[48] in the 17th century)
  16. Japanese Empire - 5.9% (134.8 million out of 2.295 billion[48] in 1938)
  17. Vijayanagara India - 5.7% (25 million out of 438 million[48] in the 16th century)
  18. Soviet Union - 5.5% (286.717 million out of 5.175 billion in 1989) [30][not in citation given]
  19. French Empire - 4.9% (112.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
  20. Dutch Empire - 3.5% (60 million out of 1.700 billion in 1907)
  21. Nazi Germany - 3.3% (75.4 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
  22. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 2.8% (50.6 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
  23. Italian Empire - 2.3% (51.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)

[edit] Largest empires by economy

GDP estimates in the following list are only given for empires in modern times, from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries. All dollar amounts are in 1990 USD.

[edit] GDP size

  1. United States - $1,644.8 billion (in 1945)[48]
  2. British Empire - $683.3 billion (in 1938)[28]
  3. Nazi Germany - $375.6 billion (in 1938)[28]
  4. Japanese Empire - $260.7 billion (in 1938)[28]
  5. Russian Empire - $257.7 billion (in 1913)[48]
  6. Qing Empire - $241.3 billion (GDP decline to 1912, immediately before its downfall)[48]
  7. French Empire - $234.1 billion (in 1938)[28]
  8. Italian Empire - $143.4 billion (in 1938)[28]
  9. Afsharid Persia - $119.85 billion (in 1740)[48]
  10. Austro-Hungarian Empire - $100.5 billion (in 1913)[53]
  11. Mughal India - $90.8 billion (GDP decline in 1700)[48]
  12. Ottoman Empire - $26.4 billion (in 1913)[54]
  13. Portuguese Empire - $12.6 billion (in 1913)[53]

[edit] Percentage of world GDP

  1. United States - 35%[55] ($1,644.8 billion[48] out of $4,699 billion[56] in 1945)
  2. Qing China - 32.9% ($228.6 billion out of $694.4 billion in 1820)[48]
  3. Mughal India - 24.5% ($90.8 billion out of $371 billion in 1700)[48]
  4. Afsharid Persia - 24.24% ($119.85 billion out of $494.4 billion in 1740)[48]
  5. British Empire - 23.8% ($265 billion[57] out of $1,111 billion[48] in 1870)
  6. Russian Empire - 9.4% ($257.7 billion out of $2,733 billion[48] in 1913)
  7. Nazi Germany - 8.3% ($375.6 billion out of $4,502 billion[48] in 1938)
  8. Japanese Empire - 5.8% ($260.7 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
  9. French Empire - 5.2% ($234.1 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
  10. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 3.7% ($100.5 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
  11. Italian Empire - 3.2% ($143.4 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
  12. Ottoman Empire - 1% ($26.4 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
  13. Portuguese Empire - 0.5% ($12.6 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ CIA - The World Factbook(132.37 plus 14.4 for Antarctica and 2.17 for Greenland)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek Rein Taagepera "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.", Social Science History Vol. 3, 115-138 (1979).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo Peter Turchin, Thomas D. Hall and Jonathan M. Adams, "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires", Journal of World-Systems Research Vol. 12 (no. 2), pp. 219-229 (2006).
  4. ^ a b c The British Museum: Forgotten World, the World of Ancient Persia.
  5. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1979) and Turchin et al (2006) is 5.5 million km2 in 500 BC.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr Rein Taagepera "Size and Duration of Empires Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C.", Social Science Research Vol. 7, 180-196 (1978).
  7. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1979) is 3.4 million km2 in 261 BC.
  8. ^ a b c Frank Mclynn, Marcus Aurelius (London: Bodley Head, 2009), p. 2.
  9. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1979) is 1.7 million km2 in AD 440.
  10. ^ Peak area estimated by Turchin et al (2006) is 2.0 million km2 in AD 200.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Rein Taagepera "Size and Duration of Empires: Systematics of Size", Social Science Research Vol. 7, 108-127 (1978).
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv fw fx fy fz ga gb gc gd ge gf gg gh gi gj Rein Taagepera "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia", International Studies Quarterly Vol. 41, 475-504 (1997).
  13. ^ Peak area estimated by Turchin et al (2006) is 2.3 million km2 in 1210.
  14. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 1.0 million km2 in 900.
  15. ^ Peak area estimated by Turchin et al (2006) is 1.0 million km2 in 1120.
  16. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 1.6 million km2 in 1400.
  17. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 1.7 million km2 in 1200.
  18. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 1.5 million km2 in 1163.
  19. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 1.0 million km2 in 1130.
  20. ^ a b c John O. Hunwick: Timbuktu and the Songahy Empire: Al-Sa’di’s Ta’rikh Al-sudan Down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents (Brill, 2003),p. xlix.
  21. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 0.8 million km2 in 1550.
  22. ^ a b c Ferguson 2004, p. 15.
  23. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 35.5 million km2 in 1920.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bruce R. Gordon (2005). To Rule the Earth... (cached) (See Bibliography for sources used.)
  25. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 13.7 million km2 in 1780 or 1810.
  26. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 11.5 million km2 in 1920.
  27. ^ Peak area estimated by Taagepera (1997) is 5.5 million km2 in 1820.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h Harrison (1998, pp. 3,7).
  29. ^ Recorded number of persons in 1851 is 432,164,047 according to Draft History of Qing.
  30. ^ a b   |url=http://www.eightyeightynine.com/culture/population.html |title=World population figures |publisher=eightyeightynine.com |accessdate=2007-01-02}}[unreliable source?]
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h (a) John D. Durand, 1960, "The Population Statistics of China, A.D. 2–1953," Population Studies Vol. 13 (No. 3), 209–256. (b) John D. Durand, 1974, "Historical Estimates of World Population: An Evaluation," University of Pennsylvania, Population Center, Analytical and Technical Reports, Number 10.
  32. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 1103 are 45,981,845 and 20,524,065, respectively (Song Huiyao), while recorded peak number of persons and hoseholds are 46,734,784 and 20,882,438 in 1109, respectively (Song Huiyao).
  33. ^ Jean-Noël Biraben, "The History of the Human Population From the First Beginnings to the Present" in Demography: Analysis and Synthesis: A Treatise in Population (Eds: Graziella Caselli, Jacques Vallin, Guillaume J. Wunsch), Vol. III, Chapter 66, pp 5-18, Academic Press:San Diego (2005).
  34. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 1393 are 60,545,812 and 10,652,870, respectively (Ming Hui Dian), while recorded peak number of persons and hoseholds are 66,598,337 and 11,415,829 in 1403, respectively (Book of Ming).
  35. ^ The combined population of China and Korea in the 13th century was 83 million in Biraben (2003[page needed]). The combined population of Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq and Turkey was about 27 million in Maddison (2006[page needed]).
  36. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 1290 are 58,834,711 and 13,196,206, respectively (History of Yuan), while recorded peak number of persons and hoseholds are 59,848,964 and 13,430,322 in 1291, respectively (History of Yuan).
  37. ^ While estimates for Achaemenid Persia range from 35 (15-50) to 70-80+ million, most perfer 70-80+ million. Scheidel (2009, p. 99) estimates 35 million [1]. Cowley (1999 and 2001, p. 17) estimates possibly 80 million [2]. Hanson (2001, p. 32) estimates almost 75 million [3]. Mitchell (2004, p. 16) estimates over 70 million [4]. Dougherty (2009, p. 6) estimates about 70 million [5].
  38. ^ Mclynn Frank "Marcus Aurelius" p. 4. Published by The Bodley Head 2009
  39. ^ There are several different estimates for the Roman Empire. Scheidel (2006, p. 2) estimates 60 million. Goldsmith (1984, p. 263) estimates 55 million. Beloch (1886, p. 507) estimates 54 million. Maddison (2006, p. 51, 120) estimates 48 million. Roman Empire Population estimates 65 million (while mentioning several other estimates between 45 million and 130 million).
  40. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in AD 2 are 59,594,978 and 12,233,062, respectively (Book of Han).
  41. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 1193 are 27,845,085 and 12,302,873, respectively (Wenxian Tongkao), while recorded peak number of persons and hoseholds are 28,320,085 and 12,670.801 in 1223, respectively (Wenxian Tongkao).
  42. ^ The combined population of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, United States and the Philippines was 29.2 million in Maddison (2006[page needed]). The population of Latin America was 39 million in Biraben (2003[page needed]), minus Brazil and its 4 million people with was a part of the portuguese empire.
  43. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 156 are 56,486,856 and 10,677,960 respectively (Book of the Later Han).
  44. ^ The combined population of Southwest Asia and North Africa was about 57 million in Biraben (2003[page needed]). The combined population of Spain and Portugal was about 5 million in Maddison (2006[page needed]).
  45. ^ Recorded number of persons and households are 46,019,956 and 8,907,546, respectively, in 606 (Tongdian) or 609 (Book of Sui).
  46. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 755 are 52,919,309 and 8,914,709, respectively (Book of Tang).
  47. ^ Recorded number of persons and households in 1195 are 48,490,400 and 7,223,400, respectively (History of Jin).
  48. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Maddison, op cit. For alternate estimates, see the Economic History Services' USA/UK GDP search tool.
  49. ^ Mclynn Frank "Marcus Aurelius" p.4. Published by The Bodley Head 2009
  50. ^ a b McEvedy and Jones (1978).
  51. ^ Thomlinson (1975, Table 1).
  52. ^ Biraben, Jean-Noel (1979-01). "Essai sur l'evolution du nombre des hommes". Population (French Edition) 34 (1): 13–25. doi:10.2307/1531855. 
  53. ^ a b Broadberry and Harrison (2005).
  54. ^ Pamuk (2005[page needed]).
  55. ^ Christopher Chase-Dunn. Social Evolution and the Future of World Society.
  56. ^ This estimate is found through interpolation of the cited statistics of American GDP and the American share of world GDP in 1945.
  57. ^ The combined GDP of the United Kingdom, British India, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa in 1870 is about $265 billion in Maddison (2006[page needed]).

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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