List of largest empires

The following is a list of the largest empires in world history. Rein Taagepera has defined an empire as "any relatively large sovereign political entity whose components are not sovereign" and its size as the area over which the empire has some undisputed military and taxation prerogatives,^[1] and these are the definitions used by this list. Zbigniew Brzezinski has argued that "The very notion of a globally dominant power is a recent historical development".^[2].

Largest empires by land area[edit]

The total land area of the Earth is 148,940,000 km² (57,506,000 sq mi),^[3] and there have been more than 50 empires whose greatest extent exceeded 2% of that area, of which only three exceeded 10% – the British, Mongol, and Russian empires.

Empires at their greatest extent[edit]

Empire size in this list is defined as the dry land area it controls.

Empire	Maximum land area
Empire	million km²	million mi²	% of world	Year
British Empire	35.5^[4]	13.71	23.84%	1920^[4]
Mongol Empire	24.0^[4]^[5]	9.27	16.11%	1270^[5] or 1309^[4]
Russian Empire^{[lower-alpha 1]}	22.8^[4]^[5]	8.80	15.31%	1895^[4]^[5]
Qing dynasty	14.7^[4]^[5]	5.68	9.87%	1790^[4]^[5]
Spanish Empire	13.7^[4]	5.29	9.20%	1810^[4]
Second French colonial empire	11.5^[4]	4.44	7.72%	1920^[4]
Abbasid Caliphate	11.1^[4]^[5]	4.29	7.45%	750^[4]^[5]
Umayyad Caliphate	11.1^[4]	4.29	7.45%	720^[4]
Yuan dynasty	11.0^[4]	4.25	7.39%	1310^[4]
Portuguese Empire	10.4^[2]	4.02	6.98%	1822^[2]
Canada	9.98^[4]	3.85	6.70%	1945^[4]
United States of America	9.67^[4]	3.73	6.49%	1899^[4]
Xiongnu Empire	9.0^[5]^[6]	3.47	6.04%	176 BC^[5]^[6]
Empire of Japan	8.51	3.285^[7]	5.71%	1942^[7]
Brazilian Empire	8.337^[8]	3.22	5.60%	1889^[8]
Australia	7.68^[4]	2.97	5.16%	1945^[4]
Eastern Han dynasty	6.5^[6]	2.51	4.36%	100^[6]
Ming dynasty	6.5^[4]^[5]	2.51	4.36%	1450^[4]^[5]
Rashidun Caliphate	6.4^[4]	2.47	4.30%	655^[4]
Göktürk Khaganate	6.0^[5]^[6]	2.32	4.03%	557^[5]^[6]
Golden Horde Khanate	6.0^[4]^[5]	2.32	4.03%	1310^[4]^[5]
Western Han dynasty	6.0^[5]^[6]	2.32	4.03%	50 BC^[5]^[6]
Achaemenid Empire	5.5^[5]^[6]	2.12	3.69%	500 BC^[5]^[6]
Tang dynasty	5.4^[4]^[5]	2.08	3.63%	715^[4]^[5]
Macedonian Empire	5.2^[5]^[6]	2.01	3.49%	323 BC^[5]^[6]
Ottoman Empire	5.2^[4]^[5]	2.01	3.49%	1683^[4]^[5]
Maurya Empire	5.0^[5]	1.93	3.36%	250 BC^[5]
Roman Empire	5.0^[5]^[6]	1.93	3.36%	117^[5]^[6]
Tibetan Empire	4.6^[4]^[5]	1.78	3.09%	800^[4]^[5]
Timurid Empire	4.4^[4]^[5]	1.70	2.95%	1405^[4]^[5]
Fatimid Caliphate	4.1^[4]^[5]	1.58	2.75%	969^[4]^[5]
Eastern Turkic Khaganate	4.0^[6]	1.54	2.69%	624^[6]
Hephthalite Empire	4.0^[6]	1.54	2.69%	470^[6]
Hunnic Empire	4.0^[5]^[6]	1.54	2.69%	441^[5]^[6]
Mughal Empire	4.0^[4]^[5]	1.54	2.69%	1690^[4]^[5]
Great Seljuq Empire	3.9^[4]^[5]	1.51	2.62%	1080^[4]^[5]
Seleucid Empire	3.9^[5]^[6]	1.51	2.62%	301 BC^[5]^[6]
Italian Empire	3.798^[9]	1.47	2.55%	1938^[9]
Ilkhanate	3.75^[4]^[5]	1.45	2.52%	1310^[4]^[5]
Khwarazmian Empire	3.6^[4]	1.39	2.42%	1218^[4]
Chagatai Khanate	3.5^[4]^[5]	1.35	2.35%	1310^[4] or 1350^[4]^[5]
Gupta Empire	3.5^[5]	1.35	2.35%	400^[5]
Sasanian Empire	3.5^[5]^[6]	1.35	2.35%	550^[5]^[6]
Western Turkic Khaganate	3.5^[6]	1.35	2.35%	630^[6]
First French colonial empire	3.4^[4]	1.31	2.28%	1670^[4]
Ghaznavid Empire	3.4^[4]^[5]	1.31	2.28%	1029^[4]^[5]
Delhi Sultanate (Tughlaq dynasty)	3.2^[4]^[5]	1.24	2.15%	1312^[4]^[5]
German colonial empire	3.199^[10]^[11]	1.24	2.15%	1912^[11]
India	3.19^[4]	1.23	2.14%	1947^[4]
Song dynasty	3.1^[4]^[5]	1.20	2.08%	980^[4]^[5]
Uyghur Khaganate	3.1^[4]^[5]	1.20	2.08%	800^[4]^[5]
Western Jin dynasty	3.1^[6]	1.20	2.08%	280^[6]
Khazar Khanate	3.0^[5]	1.16	2.01%	850^[5]
Sui dynasty	3.0^[6]	1.16	2.01%	589^[6]
↑ Its successor state the USSR and its successor in turn, Russia, reached maximum extents of 22.3 million km² in 1945 and 17.1 million km² in 1991, respectively.^[4]

Timeline of largest empires to date[edit]

Empire	Land area (million km²)	Year
New Kingdom of Egypt	1.0^[12]	1450 BC^[12]
Shang dynasty	1.25^[12]	1122 BC^[12]
Assyria	1.4^[12]	670 BC^[12]
Median Empire	2.8^[6]	585 BC^[6]
Achaemenid Empire	3.6^[6]	539 BC^[6]
Achaemenid Empire	5.5^[6]	500 BC^[6]
Xiongnu Empire	9.0^[6]	176 BC^[6]
Umayyad Caliphate	11.1^[4]	720^[4]
Mongol Empire	13.5^[4]	1227^[4]
Mongol Empire	24.0^[4]	1309^[4]
British Empire	24.5^[4]	1880^[4]
British Empire	35.5^[4]	1920^[4]

Notes and references[edit]

↑ Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 117. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Brzezinski, Zbigniew (2012). Strategic vision : America and the crisis of global power (PDF). New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465029556. OCLC 787847809. Search this book on
↑ "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
↑ ^4.00 ^4.01 ^4.02 ^4.03 ^4.04 ^4.05 ^4.06 ^4.07 ^4.08 ^4.09 ^4.10 ^4.11 ^4.12 ^4.13 ^4.14 ^4.15 ^4.16 ^4.17 ^4.18 ^4.19 ^4.20 ^4.21 ^4.22 ^4.23 ^4.24 ^4.25 ^4.26 ^4.27 ^4.28 ^4.29 ^4.30 ^4.31 ^4.32 ^4.33 ^4.34 ^4.35 ^4.36 ^4.37 ^4.38 ^4.39 ^4.40 ^4.41 ^4.42 ^4.43 ^4.44 ^4.45 ^4.46 ^4.47 ^4.48 ^4.49 ^4.50 ^4.51 ^4.52 ^4.53 ^4.54 ^4.55 ^4.56 ^4.57 ^4.58 ^4.59 ^4.60 ^4.61 ^4.62 ^4.63 ^4.64 ^4.65 ^4.66 ^4.67 ^4.68 ^4.69 ^4.70 ^4.71 ^4.72 ^4.73 Rein Taagepera (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. 41 (3): 492–502. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR 2600793.
↑ ^5.00 ^5.01 ^5.02 ^5.03 ^5.04 ^5.05 ^5.06 ^5.07 ^5.08 ^5.09 ^5.10 ^5.11 ^5.12 ^5.13 ^5.14 ^5.15 ^5.16 ^5.17 ^5.18 ^5.19 ^5.20 ^5.21 ^5.22 ^5.23 ^5.24 ^5.25 ^5.26 ^5.27 ^5.28 ^5.29 ^5.30 ^5.31 ^5.32 ^5.33 ^5.34 ^5.35 ^5.36 ^5.37 ^5.38 ^5.39 ^5.40 ^5.41 ^5.42 ^5.43 ^5.44 ^5.45 ^5.46 ^5.47 ^5.48 ^5.49 ^5.50 ^5.51 ^5.52 ^5.53 ^5.54 ^5.55 ^5.56 ^5.57 ^5.58 ^5.59 ^5.60 ^5.61 Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of world-systems research. 12 (2): 222–223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
↑ ^6.00 ^6.01 ^6.02 ^6.03 ^6.04 ^6.05 ^6.06 ^6.07 ^6.08 ^6.09 ^6.10 ^6.11 ^6.12 ^6.13 ^6.14 ^6.15 ^6.16 ^6.17 ^6.18 ^6.19 ^6.20 ^6.21 ^6.22 ^6.23 ^6.24 ^6.25 ^6.26 ^6.27 ^6.28 ^6.29 ^6.30 ^6.31 ^6.32 ^6.33 ^6.34 ^6.35 ^6.36 ^6.37 Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 121–122, 124–125, 127–129, 132–133. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 James, David H. (2010-11-01). The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire. Routledge. ISBN 9781136925467. Search this book on
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 "Área Territorial Brasileira". www.ibge.gov.br (in português). Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Retrieved 16 October 2016. A primeira estimativa oficial para a extensão superficial do território brasileiro data de 1889. O valor de 8.337.218 km² foi obtido a partir de medições e cálculos efetuados sobre as folhas básicas da Carta do Império do Brasil, publicada em 1883. [The first official estimate of the surface area of the Brazilian territory dates from 1889. A value of 8,337,218 km² was obtained from measurements and calculations made on drafts of the Map of the Empire of Brazil, published in 1883.]
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Harrison, Mark (2000). The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison. Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780521785037. Retrieved 2 October 2016. Search this book on
↑ "Encyclopædia Britannica: Germany from 1871 to 1918". Retrieved 29 September 2016. At its birth Germany occupied an area of 208,825 square miles (540,854 square km) and had a population of more than 41 million, which was to grow to 67 million by 1914.
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1
"Statistische Angaben zu den deutschen Kolonien". www.dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 29 September 2016. Sofern nicht anders vermerkt, beziehen sich alle Angaben auf das Jahr 1912.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) [Except where otherwise noted, all figures relate to the year 1912.]
- German South-West Africa: 835 100 km²
- Kamerun: 495 000 km²
- Togoland: 87 200
- German East Africa: 995 000
- German New Guinea: 240 000
- Marshall Islands: 400
- Kiautschou: 515
- Caroline Islands, Palau, and Mariana Islands: 2 376
- German Samoa: 2 570
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 ^12.2 ^12.3 ^12.4 ^12.5 Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C." Social Science Research. 7 (2): 182–189. doi:10.1016/0049-089x(78)90010-8. ISSN 0049-089X.

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[6] Its successor state the USSR and its successor in turn, Russia, reached maximum extents of 22.3 million km² in 1945 and 17.1 million km² in 1991, respectively.^[4]

[1] Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 117. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.

[Brzezinski-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Brzezinski, Zbigniew (2012). Strategic vision : America and the crisis of global power (PDF). New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465029556. OCLC 787847809. Search this book on

[3] "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved March 27, 2017.

[Taagepera1997-4] 4.00 ^4.01 ^4.02 ^4.03 ^4.04 ^4.05 ^4.06 ^4.07 ^4.08 ^4.09 ^4.10 ^4.11 ^4.12 ^4.13 ^4.14 ^4.15 ^4.16 ^4.17 ^4.18 ^4.19 ^4.20 ^4.21 ^4.22 ^4.23 ^4.24 ^4.25 ^4.26 ^4.27 ^4.28 ^4.29 ^4.30 ^4.31 ^4.32 ^4.33 ^4.34 ^4.35 ^4.36 ^4.37 ^4.38 ^4.39 ^4.40 ^4.41 ^4.42 ^4.43 ^4.44 ^4.45 ^4.46 ^4.47 ^4.48 ^4.49 ^4.50 ^4.51 ^4.52 ^4.53 ^4.54 ^4.55 ^4.56 ^4.57 ^4.58 ^4.59 ^4.60 ^4.61 ^4.62 ^4.63 ^4.64 ^4.65 ^4.66 ^4.67 ^4.68 ^4.69 ^4.70 ^4.71 ^4.72 ^4.73 Rein Taagepera (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. 41 (3): 492–502. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR 2600793.

[uconn-5] 5.00 ^5.01 ^5.02 ^5.03 ^5.04 ^5.05 ^5.06 ^5.07 ^5.08 ^5.09 ^5.10 ^5.11 ^5.12 ^5.13 ^5.14 ^5.15 ^5.16 ^5.17 ^5.18 ^5.19 ^5.20 ^5.21 ^5.22 ^5.23 ^5.24 ^5.25 ^5.26 ^5.27 ^5.28 ^5.29 ^5.30 ^5.31 ^5.32 ^5.33 ^5.34 ^5.35 ^5.36 ^5.37 ^5.38 ^5.39 ^5.40 ^5.41 ^5.42 ^5.43 ^5.44 ^5.45 ^5.46 ^5.47 ^5.48 ^5.49 ^5.50 ^5.51 ^5.52 ^5.53 ^5.54 ^5.55 ^5.56 ^5.57 ^5.58 ^5.59 ^5.60 ^5.61 Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of world-systems research. 12 (2): 222–223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 25 August 2016.

[Taagepera1979-7] 6.00 ^6.01 ^6.02 ^6.03 ^6.04 ^6.05 ^6.06 ^6.07 ^6.08 ^6.09 ^6.10 ^6.11 ^6.12 ^6.13 ^6.14 ^6.15 ^6.16 ^6.17 ^6.18 ^6.19 ^6.20 ^6.21 ^6.22 ^6.23 ^6.24 ^6.25 ^6.26 ^6.27 ^6.28 ^6.29 ^6.30 ^6.31 ^6.32 ^6.33 ^6.34 ^6.35 ^6.36 ^6.37 Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 121–122, 124–125, 127–129, 132–133. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.

[:0-8] 7.0 ^7.1 James, David H. (2010-11-01). The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire. Routledge. ISBN 9781136925467. Search this book on

[IBGE-9] 8.0 ^8.1 "Área Territorial Brasileira". www.ibge.gov.br (in português). Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Retrieved 16 October 2016. A primeira estimativa oficial para a extensão superficial do território brasileiro data de 1889. O valor de 8.337.218 km² foi obtido a partir de medições e cálculos efetuados sobre as folhas básicas da Carta do Império do Brasil, publicada em 1883. [The first official estimate of the surface area of the Brazilian territory dates from 1889. A value of 8,337,218 km² was obtained from measurements and calculations made on drafts of the Map of the Empire of Brazil, published in 1883.]

[Harrison3-10] 9.0 ^9.1 Harrison, Mark (2000). The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison. Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780521785037. Retrieved 2 October 2016. Search this book on

[Britannica:_Germany-11] "Encyclopædia Britannica: Germany from 1871 to 1918". Retrieved 29 September 2016. At its birth Germany occupied an area of 208,825 square miles (540,854 square km) and had a population of more than 41 million, which was to grow to 67 million by 1914.

[Statistische_Angaben_zu_den_deutschen_Kolonien-12] 11.0 ^11.1 "Statistische Angaben zu den deutschen Kolonien". www.dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 29 September 2016. Sofern nicht anders vermerkt, beziehen sich alle Angaben auf das Jahr 1912.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) [Except where otherwise noted, all figures relate to the year 1912.]
German South-West Africa: 835 100 km²

Kamerun: 495 000 km²

Togoland: 87 200

German East Africa: 995 000

German New Guinea: 240 000

Marshall Islands: 400

Kiautschou: 515

Caroline Islands, Palau, and Mariana Islands: 2 376

German Samoa: 2 570

[13] German South-West Africa: 835 100 km²

[14] Kamerun: 495 000 km²

[15] Togoland: 87 200

[16] German East Africa: 995 000

[17] German New Guinea: 240 000

[18] Marshall Islands: 400

[19] Kiautschou: 515

[20] Caroline Islands, Palau, and Mariana Islands: 2 376

[21] German Samoa: 2 570

[Taagepera1978-13] 12.0 ^12.1 ^12.2 ^12.3 ^12.4 ^12.5 Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C." Social Science Research. 7 (2): 182–189. doi:10.1016/0049-089x(78)90010-8. ISSN 0049-089X.

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List of largest empires

Contents

Largest empires by land area[edit]

Empires at their greatest extent[edit]

Timeline of largest empires to date[edit]

See also[edit]

General[edit]

By era[edit]

By region[edit]

By size[edit]

Notes and references[edit]