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List of largest empires#Contiguous empires

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{{use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

File:British Empire and Mongol Empire (Robinson projection).svg (red) and Mongol Empire (blue) were the largest and second-largest empires in history, respectively. The precise extent of either empire at its greatest territorial expansion is a matter of debate among scholars.]]

Several empires in human history have been contenders for the largest of all time, depending on definition and mode of measurement. Possible ways of measuring size include area, population, economy, and power. Of these, area is the most commonly used because it has a fairly precise definition and can be feasibly measured with some degree of accuracy.{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1978|title=Size and duration of empires: Systematics of size|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt8vx325vq/qt8vx325vq_noSplash_a2c2db5cdb06a3d4d4e35b2852a74948.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Social Science Research|language=en|volume=7|issue=2|pages=111|doi=10.1016/0049-089X(78)90007-8|issn=0049-089X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707192527/https://escholarship.org/content/qt8vx325vq/qt8vx325vq_noSplash_a2c2db5cdb06a3d4d4e35b2852a74948.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}} Estonian political scientist Rein Taagepera, who published a series of academic articles about the territorial extents of historical empires between 1978 and 1997,{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1978|title=Size and duration of empires: Systematics of size|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt8vx325vq/qt8vx325vq_noSplash_a2c2db5cdb06a3d4d4e35b2852a74948.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Social Science Research|language=en|volume=7|issue=2|pages=108–127|doi=10.1016/0049-089X(78)90007-8|issn=0049-089X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707192527/https://escholarship.org/content/qt8vx325vq/qt8vx325vq_noSplash_a2c2db5cdb06a3d4d4e35b2852a74948.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}}{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1978|title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C.|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt6wf6m5qg/qt6wf6m5qg.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Social Science Research|volume=7|issue=2|pages=180–196|doi=10.1016/0049-089x(78)90010-8|issn=0049-089X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707202816/https://escholarship.org/content/qt6wf6m5qg/qt6wf6m5qg.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}}{{cite journal|last1=Taagepera|first1=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1979|title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.|journal=Social Science History|volume=3|issue=3/4|pages=115–138|doi=10.2307/1170959|jstor=1170959}}{{cite journal|author=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=September 1997|title=Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt3cn68807/qt3cn68807.pdf|url-status=live|journal=International Studies Quarterly|volume=41|issue=3|pages=475–504|doi=10.1111/0020-8833.00053|jstor=2600793|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707203055/https://escholarship.org/content/qt3cn68807/qt3cn68807.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}} 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.{{cite journal|last1=Taagepera|first1=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1979|title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.|journal=Social Science History|volume=3|issue=3/4|page=117|doi=10.2307/1170959|jstor=1170959}} The list is not exhaustive owing to a lack of available data for several empires; for this reason and because of the inherent uncertainty in the estimates, no rankings are given.

Largest empires by land area

For context, the land area of the Earth, excluding the continent of Antarctica, is {{convert|{{#expr:148940000-14200000}}|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sigfig=5}}.{{Citation |title=World |date=2022-07-18 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/ |work=The World Factbook |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620115241/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/ |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en |quote=land: 148.94 million sq km [...] Antarctica 14,200,000 sq km |access-date=2022-07-24 |archive-date=2022-06-20 |url-status=live}}

= Empires at their greatest extent =

File:The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 (135853015).jpg

Empire size in this list is defined as the dry land area it controlled at the time, which may differ considerably from the area it claimed. For example: in the year 1800, European powers collectively claimed approximately {{#expr:55-35}}% of the Earth's land surface that they did not effectively control.{{Cite book|last=Magdoff|first=Harry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9pWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|title=Imperialism: From the Colonial Age to the Present|date=1979|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-85345-498-4|pages=29|language=en|quote=[I]n 1800 Europe and its possessions, including former colonies, claimed title to about 55 percent of the earth's land surface: Europe, North and South America, most of India, and small sections along the coast of Africa. But much of this was merely claimed; effective control existed over a little less than 35 percent, most of which consisted of Europe itself. By 1878—that is, before the next major wave of European acquisitions began—an additional 6,500,000 square miles (16,800,000 square kilometers) were claimed; during this period, control was consolidated over the new claims and over all the territory claimed in 1800. Hence, from 1800 until 1878, actual European rule (including former colonies in North and South America), increased from 35 to 67 percent of the earth's land surface.|author-link=Harry Magdoff|access-date=2020-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719190026/https://books.google.com/books?id=A9pWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|archive-date=2020-07-19|url-status=live}} Where estimates vary, entries are sorted by the lowest estimate. Where more than one entry has the same area, they are listed alphabetically.

{{sticky header}}

class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi"

! rowspan="2" width="200px"|Empire

! colspan="4" |Maximum land area

data-sort-type="number" width="100px"| Million km2

! class="unsortable" width="100px"| Million sq mi

! class="unsortable" width="100px"| % of world

! width="150px"|Year

British Empire{{Efn|The largest peak areas of its former colonies following independence were Canada's {{convert|9.98|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1945, the United States' {{convert|9.67|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1899, and Australia's {{convert|7.68|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1945.|group=Table1}}

|35.5

|{{convert|35.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|35.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1920}}

Mongol Empire{{Efn|The Mongol Empire eventually fractured into four separate khanates: the Yuan dynasty, Chagatai Khanate, Ilkhanate, and Golden Horde. These are listed separately.|group=Table1}}

|24.0

|{{convert|24.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|24.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1270}}{{cite journal|last1=Turchin|first1=Peter|author-link=Peter Turchin|last2=Adams|first2=Jonathan M.|last3=Hall|first3=Thomas D.|date=December 2006|title=East-West Orientation of Historical Empires|url=http://peterturchin.com/PDF/Turchin_Adams_Hall_2006.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|volume=12|issue=2|pages=222–223|issn=1076-156X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707181315/http://peterturchin.com/PDF/Turchin_Adams_Hall_2006.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}} or {{Date table sorting|1309}}

Russian Empire{{Efn|group=Table1|Its successor state the USSR and its successor in turn, the Russian Federation, reached maximum extents of {{convert|22.3|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1945 and {{convert|17.1|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1991, respectively.}}

|22.8

|{{convert|22.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|22.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1895}}

Qing dynasty{{Efn|group=Table1|Its successor state the Republic of China (1912–1949) and its successor in turn, the People's Republic of China (since 1949), reached maximum extents of {{convert|7.7|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1912 and {{convert|9.7|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} in 1950, respectively.}}

|14.7

|{{convert|14.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|14.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1790}}

Spanish Empire

|13.7

|{{convert|13.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|13.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1810}}

Second French colonial empire

|11.5

|{{convert|11.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|11.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1920}}

Abbasid Caliphate

|11.1

|{{convert|11.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|11.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|750}}

Umayyad Caliphate

|11.1

|{{convert|11.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|11.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|720}}

Yuan dynasty

|11.0

|{{convert|11.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|11.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1310}}{{cite journal|author=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=September 1997|title=Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt3cn68807/qt3cn68807.pdf|url-status=live|journal=International Studies Quarterly|volume=41|issue=3|pages=492–502|doi=10.1111/0020-8833.00053|jstor=2600793|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707203055/https://escholarship.org/content/qt3cn68807/qt3cn68807.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}}

Xiongnu Empire

|9.0

|{{convert|9.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|9.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

176}}
Empire of Brazil{{efn|The reason the Empire of Brazil is listed as having a larger area in 1889 than the Portuguese Empire had in 1820, despite Brazil having been a Portuguese colony, is that the Portuguese settlers only had effective control over approximately half of Brazil at the time of Brazilian independence in 1822.|group=Table1|name=PortugalVsBrazil}}

|{{significant figures|8.337218|4}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/geociencias/areaterritorial/historico.shtm|title=Área Territorial Brasileira|website=www.ibge.gov.br|publisher=Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics|quote=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.]|language=pt|access-date=16 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023100101/http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/geociencias/areaterritorial/historico.shtm|archive-date=23 October 2016|url-status=live}}

|{{convert|8.337218|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|8.337218|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1889}}

Empire of Japan

|7.4{{Cite journal|last=Conrad|first=Sebastian|date=2014|title=The Dialectics of Remembrance: Memories of Empire in Cold War Japan|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/199424523.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History|volume=56|issue=1|pages=8|doi=10.1017/S0010417513000601|issn=0010-4175|jstor=43908281|s2cid=146284542|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708000924/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/199424523.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-08|access-date=2020-07-07|quote=In 1942, at the moment of its greatest extension, the empire encompassed territories spanning over 7,400,000 square kilometers.}}–{{convert|3.285|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}

|{{convert|7.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}–3.285{{Cite book|last=James|first=David H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ceklh3YT_38C&pg=PT331|title=The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire|date=2010-11-01|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136925467|language=en|quote=by 1942, this 'Empire' covered about 3,285,000 square miles|access-date=11 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706005539/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ceklh3YT_38C&pg=PT331|archive-date=6 July 2019|url-status=live}}

|{{percent|7.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|{{convert|3.285|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1942}}

Eastern Han dynasty

|6.5

|{{convert|6.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|6.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|100}}

Ming dynasty

|6.5

|{{convert|6.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|6.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1450}}

Rashidun Caliphate

|6.4

|{{convert|6.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|6.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|655}}

First Turkic Khaganate

|6.0

|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|6.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|557}}

Golden Horde Khanate

|6.0

|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|6.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1310}}

Western Han dynasty

|6.0

|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|6.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

50}}{{cite journal|last1=Taagepera|first1=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1979|title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.|journal=Social Science History|volume=3|issue=3/4|pages=121–122, 124–129, 132–133|doi=10.2307/1170959|jstor=1170959}}
Achaemenid Empire

|5.5

|{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

500}}
Second Portuguese Empire{{efn|group=Table1|name=PortugalVsBrazil}}

|5.5

|{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1820}}

Tang dynasty

|5.4

|{{convert|5.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|715}}

Macedonian Empire

|5.2

|{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

323}}
Ottoman Empire

|5.2

|{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1683}}

Northern Yuan dynasty

|5.0

|{{convert|5.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1368}}

Roman Empire

|5.0

|{{convert|5.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|5.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|117}}

Xin dynasty

|4.7

|{{convert|4.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|4.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|10}}

Tibetan Empire

|4.6

|{{convert|4.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|800}}

Xianbei state

|4.5{{Cite book|last1=Scheidel|first1=Walter|title=The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-977311-4|editor-last=Bang|editor-first=Peter Fibiger|editor-link=Peter Fibiger Bang|location=|pages=92–94|language=en|chapter=The Scale of Empire: Territory, Population, Distribution|author-link=Walter Scheidel|editor-last2=Bayly|editor-first2=C. A.|editor-link2=Christopher Bayly|editor-last3=Scheidel|editor-first3=Walter|editor-link3=Walter Scheidel|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mkLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92}}

|{{convert|4.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|4.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|200}}

First Mexican Empire

|4.429{{cite book|last1=Rodríguez|first1=Jaime|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X6FIUUjtq0oC&pg=PA47|title=Myths, Misdeeds and Misunderstandings: The Roots of Conflict in US-Mexican Relations|last2=Vincent|first2=Kathryn|date=1997|publisher=Scholarly Resources Inc.|isbn=0-8420-2662-2|edition=First|location=Wilmington, DE, USA|page=47|chapter=The Colonization and Loss of Texas: A Mexican Perspective|quote=When it was founded in 1821, the Mexican Empire extended over 4,429,000 km2 (not including the 445,683 km2 temporarily added by the short-lived union of the Central American provinces).|access-date=14 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615060129/https://books.google.com/books?id=X6FIUUjtq0oC&pg=PA47|archive-date=2020-06-15|url-status=live}}

|{{convert|4.429|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.429|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1821}}

Timurid Empire

|4.4

|{{convert|4.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1405}}

Fatimid Caliphate

|4.1

|{{convert|4.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|969}}

Eastern Turkic Khaganate

|4.0

|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|624}}

Hunnic Empire

|4.0

|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|441}}

Mughal Empire

|4.0

|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1690}}

Great Seljuq Empire

|3.9

|{{convert|3.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1080}}

Seleucid Empire

|3.9

|{{convert|3.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

301}}
Italian Empire

|{{significant figures|(340409+3484470)/10^6|4}}

|{{convert|{{#expr:(340409+3484470)/10^6}}|km2|mi2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|{{percent|(340409+3484470)/10^6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1941}}

Ilkhanate

|3.75

|{{convert|3.75|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.75|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1310}}

Dzungar Khanate

|3.6

|{{convert|3.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|3.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1650}}

Chagatai Khanate

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1310}} or {{Date table sorting|1350}}

Sasanian Empire

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|550}}

Western Turkic Khaganate

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|630}}

Western Xiongnu

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|20}}

First French colonial empire

|3.4

|{{convert|3.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1670}}

Ghaznavid Empire

|3.4

|{{convert|3.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1029}}

Maurya Empire

|3.4–5.0

|{{convert|3.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|5.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|5.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

261}} or {{Date table sorting
250}}
Delhi Sultanate

|3.2

|{{convert|3.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1312}}

German colonial empire

|{{convert|{{#expr:(208780+1006412)/10^6}}|mi2|km2|3|abbr=|disp=number}}

|{{significant figures|(208780+1006412)/10^6|4}}{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Germany |volume= 11 |last1= Ashworth |first1= Philip Arthur |last2= and |first2= others | pages = 804–828 |quote=Area English Sq. m. [...] German Empire: 208,780 Area (estimated) sq. m. [...] Total dependencies: 1,006,412}}

|{{percent|{{convert|{{#expr:(208780+1006412)/10^6}}|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1911}}

Northern Song dynasty

|3.1

|{{convert|3.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|980}}

Uyghur Khaganate

|3.1

|{{convert|3.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|800}}

Western Jin dynasty

|3.1

|{{convert|3.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|280}}

Danish Empire

|3.0{{Cite web|last1=Korchmina|first1=Elena|last2=Sharp|first2=Paul|date=June 2020|title=Denmark and Russia: What can we learn from the historical comparison of two great Arctic agricultural empires?|url=http://www.ehes.org/EHES_187.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708001530/http://www.ehes.org/EHES_187.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-08|access-date=2020-07-04|publisher=European Historical Economics Society|page=3|quote=Around 1700, the Danish Empire covered around 3 million square kilometers}}

|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1700}}

Sui dynasty

|3.0

|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|3.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|589}}

Safavid empire

|2.9

|{{convert|2.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|2.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1630}}

Samanid Empire

|2.85

|{{convert|2.85|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.85|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|928}}

Eastern Jin dynasty

|2.8

|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|347}}

Median Empire{{efn|group=Table1|More recent reassessment of the historical evidence, both archaeological and textual, has led modern scholars to question previous notions of the extent of the realm of the Medes and even its existence as a unified state.{{Cite journal|last=Waters|first=Matthew|date=2005|editor2-link=Michael Roaf|editor-last=Lanfranchi|editor-first=Giovanni B.|editor2-last=Roaf|editor2-first=Michael|editor3-last=Rollinger|editor3-first=Robert|editor3-link=Robert Rollinger|title=Media and Its Discontents|jstor=20064424|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=125|issue=4|pages=517–533|issn=0003-0279}}}}

|2.8

|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

585}}
Parthian Empire

|2.8

|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|1

Rouran Khaganate

|2.8

|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|405}}

Byzantine Empire

|2.7–2.8

|{{convert|2.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|555}} or {{Date table sorting|450}}

Indo-Scythian Kingdom

|2.6

|{{convert|2.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|20}}

Liao dynasty

|2.6

|{{convert|2.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|947}}

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

|2.5

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

184}}
Later Zhao

|2.5

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|329}}

Maratha Confederacy

|2.5

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1760}}

Belgian colonial empire

|{{significant figures|(29450+2336900)/10^6|4}}–{{Convert|{{#expr:(11800+940000)/10^6}}|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|{{convert|{{#expr:(29450+2336900)/10^6}}|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}–{{Significant figures|(11,800+940,000)/10^6|2}}{{Cite book|last1=Townsend|first1=Mary Evelyn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P4-OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA19|title=European Colonial Expansion Since 1871|last2=Peake|first2=Cyrus Henderson|date=1941|publisher=J.B. Lippincott|pages=19|language=en|access-date=2020-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719233455/https://books.google.com/books?id=P4-OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA19|archive-date=2020-07-19|url-status=live}}

|{{percent|(29450+2336900)/10^6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|{{Convert|{{#expr:(11800+940000)/10^6}}|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1941}} or {{Date table sorting|1939}}

Jin dynasty (1115–1234)

|2.3

|{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1126}}

Khwarazmian Empire

|2.3–3.6

|{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|3.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|3.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1210}} or {{Date table sorting|1218}}

Qin dynasty

|2.3

|{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

220}}
Dutch Empire

|2.1

|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1938}}

First French Empire

|2.1

|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1813}}

Kievan Rus'

|2.1

|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1000}}

Mamluk Sultanate

|2.1

|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1300}} or {{Date table sorting|1400}}

Southern Song dynasty

|2.1

|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1127}}

Third Portuguese Empire

|2.1

|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1900}}

Almohad Caliphate

|2.0–2.3

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|2.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1200}} or {{Date table sorting|1150}}

Cao Wei

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|263}}

Former Qin

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|376}}

Former Zhao

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|316}}

Ghurid dynasty

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1200}}

Inca Empire

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1527}}

Kushan Empire

|2.0–2.5

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|200}}

Liu Song dynasty

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|450}}

Northern Wei

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|450}}

Western Roman Empire

|2.0

|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|395}}

Ayyubid dynasty

|1.7–2.0

|{{convert|1.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1200}} or {{Date table sorting|1190}}

Gupta Empire

|1.7–3.5

|{{convert|1.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|440}} or {{Date table sorting|400}}

Hephthalite Empire

|1.7–4.0

|{{convert|1.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|500}} or {{Date table sorting|470}}

Buyid dynasty

|1.6

|{{convert|1.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|980}}

Eastern Wu

|1.5

|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|221}}

Northern Qi

|1.5

|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|557}}

Northern Xiongnu

|1.5

|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|60}}

Northern Zhou

|1.5

|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|577}}

Neo-Assyrian Empire

|1.4

|{{convert|1.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

670}}
Eastern Maurya Kingdom

|1.3

|{{convert|1.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

210}}
Liang dynasty

|1.3

|{{convert|1.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|502}}, {{Date table sorting|549}}, or {{Date table sorting|579}}

Qajar Empire

|{{Convert|{{#expr:0.5}}|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|0.50{{Cite book|last=Hughes|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3bovAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA175|title=A Class-book of Modern Geography: With Examination Questions|date=1873|publisher=G. Philip & Son|pages=175|language=en|quote=In size it is about 500,000 square miles|author-link=William Hughes (geographer)|access-date=2020-08-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826013805/https://books.google.com/books?id=3bovAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA175|archive-date=2020-08-26|url-status=live}}

|{{percent|{{Convert|0.5|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1873}}

Kingdom of Aksum

|1.25

|{{convert|1.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|350}}

Shang dynasty

|1.25

|{{convert|1.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1122}}
Francia

|1.2

|{{convert|1.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|814}}

Srivijaya

|1.2

|{{convert|1.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1200}}

Indo-Greek Kingdom

|1.1

|{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

150}}
Mali Empire

|1.1

|{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1380}}

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

|1.1

|{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1480}} or {{Date table sorting|1650}}

Almoravid dynasty

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1120}}

Pushyabhuti dynasty

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|625}} or {{Date table sorting|648}}

Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|860}}

Holy Roman Empire

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1050}}

Khazar Khanate

|1.0–3.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|3.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|900}} or {{Date table sorting|850}}

Khmer Empire

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1290}}

New Kingdom of Egypt

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|nowrap|{{Date table sorting

1450}} or {{Date table sorting
1300}}
Ptolemaic Kingdom

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

301}}
Qara Khitai

|1.0–1.5

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}–{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1130}} or {{Date table sorting|1210}}

Scythia

|1.0{{Cite journal|last=Turchin|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Turchin|date=2009|title=A theory for formation of large empires|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4f5d/7c534b86b3833e1e27381113584873e35ec7.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Journal of Global History|language=en|volume=4|issue=2|pages=202|doi=10.1017/S174002280900312X|s2cid=73597670|issn=1740-0228|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131162633/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4f5d/7c534b86b3833e1e27381113584873e35ec7.pdf|archive-date=2020-01-31|access-date=2020-01-31}}

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

400}}
Shu Han

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|221}}

Tahirid dynasty

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|800}}

Western Xia

|1.0

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1100}}

Swedish Empire

|0.99{{Cite book|last=Sundberg|first=Ulf|url=https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/156474/sundberg_ulf.pdf|title=Swedish defensive fortress warfare in the Great Northern War 1702–1710|date=2018|publisher=Åbo Akademis förlag|isbn=978-951-765-897-3|location=Åbo|pages=26|oclc=1113941754|quote=In 1700, the Swedish Empire covered a land area of 990,000 square kilometers and had 2,500,000 inhabitants.|author-link=Ulf Sundberg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703214934/https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/156474/sundberg_ulf.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-03}}

|{{convert|0.99|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|0.99|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1700}}

Kingdom of Armenia

|0.9{{cite journal |last1=Manaseryan |first1=Ruben L. |author1-link=:hy:Ռուբեն Մանասերյան |title=Տիգրան Մեծի անձի և գործունեության գնահատականի շուրջ |journal=Vem |date=2022 |page=39 |doi=10.57192/18291864-2022.3-33 |url=https://vemjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/03-%D5%8A%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%B4%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6%E2%80%932022-3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210085442/https://vemjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/03-%D5%8A%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%B4%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%B5%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B6%E2%80%932022-3.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2024 |quote=Հայոց արքայի իշխելը 10 միլիոն բնակչություն ունեցող 900.000 կմ² տարածքի վրա}}

|{{convert|0.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

70}}
Nazi Germany

|{{significant figures|823505/10^6|3}}{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Tornisterschrift-des-Oberkommandos-der-Wehrmacht-Soldaten-Atlas|title=Soldaten-Atlas (Tornisterschrift des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht, Heft 39)|publisher=Bibliographisches Institut |year=1941|location=Leipzig|pages=8, 32}}

|{{convert|{{#expr:823505/10^6}}|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|823505/10^6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1941}}

Akkadian Empire

|0.8

|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

2250}}
Avar Khaganate

|0.8

|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|600}}

Chu

|0.8

|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

300}}
Huns

|0.8

|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|287}}

Songhai Empire

|0.8

|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1550}}

Hyksos

|0.65

|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.65|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1650}}
Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt

|0.65

|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.65|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

550}}
Rozvi Empire

|0.624{{Cite book|last=Cornell|first=James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnmteYTFUmIC|title=Lost Lands and Forgotten People|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company|year=1978|isbn=978-0-8069-3926-1|page=24|language=en|quote=Zimbabwe continued to grow, reaching the height of its power in 1700, under the rule of the Rozwi people. When the first Europeans arrived on the African coast, they heard tales of a great stone city, the capital of a vast empire. The tales were true, for the Rozwi controlled 240,000 square miles (624,000 sq km)}}

|{{convert|0.624|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.624|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1700}}

Austro-Hungarian Empire

|{{convert|0.239977|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|{{significant figures|0.239977|2}}{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Austria-Hungary |volume= 03 |last1= Briliant |first1= Oscar |last2= and |first2= others | pages = 2–39 |quote= It occupies about the sixteenth part of the total area of Europe, with an area (1905) of 239,977 sq. m.}}

|{{percent|{{convert|0.239977|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1905}}

Caliphate of Córdoba

|0.6

|{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1000}}

First Portuguese Empire

|0.6

|{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1580}}

Visigothic Kingdom

|0.6

|{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|580}}

Zhou dynasty

|0.55{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1978|title=Size and duration of empires: Systematics of size|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt8vx325vq/qt8vx325vq_noSplash_a2c2db5cdb06a3d4d4e35b2852a74948.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Social Science Research|language=en|volume=7|issue=2|pages=116–117|doi=10.1016/0049-089X(78)90007-8|issn=0049-089X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707192527/https://escholarship.org/content/qt8vx325vq/qt8vx325vq_noSplash_a2c2db5cdb06a3d4d4e35b2852a74948.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}}

|{{convert|0.55|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|0.55|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1100}}
Sikh Empire

|{{convert|0.20|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|0.20{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Amarpal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHWoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16|title=The First Anglo-Sikh War|date=2010-08-15|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-2038-1|language=en|quote=By 1839, the year of his death, the Sikh kingdom extended from Tibet and Kashmir to Sind and from the Khyber Pass to the Himalayas in the east. It spanned 600 miles from east to west and 350 miles from north to south, comprising an area of just over 200,000 square miles.}}

|{{percent|{{convert|0.20|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1839}}

Emirate of Córdoba

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|756}}

Kosala

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

543}}
Lydia

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

585}}
Magadha

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

510}}
Middle Kingdom of Egypt

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1850}}
Neo-Babylonian Empire

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

562}}
Satavahana dynasty

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|150}}

Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

715}}
Western Satraps

|0.5

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|100}}

New Hittite Kingdom

|0.45

|{{convert|0.45|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.45|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1250}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1220}}
Xia dynasty

|0.45

|{{convert|0.45|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.45|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1800}}
Bulgarian Empire

|0.4{{cite book |last1=Rashev |first1=Rasho |title=Българската езическа култура VII -IX в./Bulgarian Pagan Culture VII – IX cтр. 38 |language=bg |date=2008 |publisher=Класика и стил |isbn=9789543270392}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2022}}

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|850}}{{cite book |last1=Rashev |first1=Rasho |title=Българската езическа култура VII -IX в./Bulgarian Pagan Culture VII – IX cтр. 38 |language=bg |date=2008 |publisher=Класика и стил |isbn=9789543270392}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2022}}

Kingdom of France (Middle Ages)

|0.4

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1250}}

Middle Assyrian Empire

|0.4

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1080}}
Old Kingdom of Egypt

|0.4

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

2400}}
Sokoto Caliphate

|0.4{{Cite book|last=Wesseling|first=H. L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdHMCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|title=The European Colonial Empires: 1815-1919|date=2015-10-23|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-89507-7|pages=93|language=en|quote=Islam spread quickly in Hausaland, which, after the jihad of 1804, was incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate, a vast empire of 400,000 square kilometres.|author-link=Henk Wesseling|access-date=2020-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708001930/https://books.google.com/books?hl=sv&lr=&id=PdHMCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA93|archive-date=2020-07-08|url-status=live}}

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1804}}

Latin Empire

|0.35

|{{convert|0.35|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.35|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1204}}

Ancient Carthage

|0.3

|{{convert|0.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

220}}
Indus Valley Civilisation{{efn|group=Table1|The extent to which this constituted a cohesive political entity is uncertain.}}

|0.3

|{{convert|0.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1800}}
Mitanni

|0.3

|{{convert|0.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1450}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1375}}
Ashanti Empire

|0.25{{Cite book |last=Iliffe |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlHE51ScKTUC&pg=PA143 |title=Africans: The History of a Continent |date=1995-08-25 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-48422-0 |pages=143 |language=en |quote=At its peak around 1820 the empire embraced over 250,000 square kilometres [...] |author-link=John Iliffe (historian)}}

|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1820}}

First Babylonian Empire

|0.25

|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1690}}
Aztec Empire

|0.22

|{{convert|0.22|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.22|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1520}}

Zulu Empire

|{{convert|0.08|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|0.08{{Cite journal|last=Gluckman|first=Max|author-link=Max Gluckman|date=1960|title=The Rise of a Zulu Empire|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-rise-of-a-zulu-empire/|journal=Scientific American|volume=202|issue=4|pages=162|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0460-157|issn=0036-8733|jstor=24940454|bibcode=1960SciAm.202d.157G|url-access=subscription|access-date=2020-07-07|quote=By 1822 he had made himself master over 80,000 square miles}}

|{{percent|{{convert|0.08|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1822}}

Elamite Empire

|0.2

|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1160}}
Phrygia

|0.2

|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

750}}
Second Dynasty of Isin

|0.2

|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1130}}
Urartu

|0.2

|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

800}}
Eastern Zhou

|0.15

|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

770}}
Middle Hittite Kingdom

|0.15

|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1450}}
Old Assyrian Empire

|0.15

|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1730}}
Old Hittite Empire

|0.15

|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1530}}
Oyo Empire

|0.15{{Cite book|last=Thornton|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVZDHeVEeywC&pg=PA104|title=Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800|date=1998-04-28|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-62724-5|pages=104|language=en|quote=By 1680, the Oyo Empire (in Nigeria) may have exceeded 150,000 square kilometers, though not by much.}}

|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1680}}

Bornu Empire

|{{convert|0.05|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}

|0.05{{Cite book|last1=Hughes|first1=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0J4BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA281|title=A Class-book of Modern Geography: With Examination Questions, Notes, & Index|last2=Williams|first2=J. Francon|date=1892|publisher=G. Philip & son|pages=281|language=en|quote=It has an area of perhaps 50,000 square miles.|author-link=William Hughes (geographer)|author-link2=John Francon Williams|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530113925/https://books.google.com/books?id=0J4BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA281|archive-date=2021-05-30|url-status=live}}

|{{percent|{{convert|0.05|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1892}}

Larsa

|0.1

|{{convert|0.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

1750}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1700}}
Neo-Sumerian Empire

|0.1

|{{convert|0.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

2000}}
Tarascan empire

|0.075{{Cite thesis|last=Blanford|first=Adam Jared|date=2014|title=Rethinking Tarascan Political and Spatial Organization|type=PhD thesis|publisher=University of Colorado Boulder|page=6|s2cid=147339315|url=https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/xw42n795p|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213021458/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/59c1/6f2a2864d85d403b223a9735015be38f4f10.pdf|archive-date=2020-02-13|access-date=2023-03-24|quote=By A.D. 1450, the Tarascan Uacúsecha were leaders of an empire that spanned 75,000 square kilometers of west Mexico}}

|{{convert|0.075|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}

|{{percent|0.075|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting|1450}}

Lagash

|0.05

|{{convert|0.05|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.05|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

2400}}
Sumer

|0.05

|{{convert|0.05|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{percent|0.05|134.74|2|pad=yes}}

|{{Date table sorting

2400}}
class="sortbottom"

| colspan="5" |{{Notelist|group=Table1}}

= Timeline of largest empires to date =

The earliest empire which can with certainty be stated to have been larger than all previous empires was that of Upper and Lower Egypt, which covered ten times the area of the previous largest civilisation around the year 3000 BC.{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1997|title=Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt3cn68807/qt3cn68807.pdf|url-status=live|journal=International Studies Quarterly|language=en|volume=41|issue=3|pages=480|doi=10.1111/0020-8833.00053|issn=0020-8833|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707203055/https://escholarship.org/content/qt3cn68807/qt3cn68807.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}}

{{sticky header}}

class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi" style="width: 550px"

! class="unsortable" rowspan="2" |Empire

! colspan="2" |Land area

! class="unsortable" rowspan="2" |Year

class="unsortable" |Million km2

! class="unsortable" |Million sq mi

Upper and Lower Egypt

|0.1

|{{convert|0.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

3000}}
rowspan="2" |Old Kingdom of Egypt

|0.25

|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2850}}
0.4

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2400}}
rowspan="2" |Akkadian Empire

|0.65

|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2300}}
0.8

|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2250}}
New Kingdom of Egypt

|1.0{{Cite journal|last=Taagepera|first=Rein|author-link=Rein Taagepera|date=1978|title=Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C.|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt6wf6m5qg/qt6wf6m5qg.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Social Science Research|volume=7|issue=2|pages=182–189|doi=10.1016/0049-089x(78)90010-8|issn=0049-089X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707202816/https://escholarship.org/content/qt6wf6m5qg/qt6wf6m5qg.pdf|archive-date=2020-07-07|access-date=2020-07-07}}

|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1450}}
Shang dynasty

|1.25

|{{convert|1.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1122}}
Neo-Assyrian Empire

|1.4

|{{convert|1.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

670}}
Median Empire{{efn|group=Table2|More recent reassessment of the historical evidence, both archaeological and textual, has led modern scholars to question previous notions of the extent of the realm of the Medes and even its existence as a unified state. If the Median Empire never surpassed the size of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the latter remained the largest empire the world had seen until the Achaemenid Empire surpassed it.}}

|2.8

|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

585}}
rowspan="2" |Achaemenid Empire

|3.6

|{{convert|3.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

539}}
5.5

|{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

500}}
Xiongnu Empire

|9.0

|{{convert|9.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

176}}
Umayyad Caliphate

|11.1

|{{convert|11.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|720}}

rowspan="2" |Mongol Empire

|13.5

|{{convert|13.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1227}}

24.0

|{{convert|24.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1309}}

rowspan="2" |British Empire

|24.5

|{{convert|24.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1880}}

35.5

|{{convert|35.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1920}}

colspan="4" |{{Notelist|group=Table2}}

= Timeline of largest empires at the time =

class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi" style="width: 550px"

! class="unsortable" rowspan="2" |Empire

! colspan="2" |Land area during time
as largest empire

! class="unsortable" rowspan="2" |Approximate period

class="unsortable" |Million km2

! class="unsortable" |Million sq mi

Upper Egypt

|0.1

|{{convert|0.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

3000}}
Old Kingdom of Egypt

|0.25–0.4

|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2800}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
2400}}
Akkadian Empire

|0.2–0.6

|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2300}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
2200}}
Indus Valley Civilisation{{efn|group=Table3| The extent to which this constituted a cohesive political entity is uncertain. If the largest empire in the year 2100 BC was not the Indus Valley Civilisation, it was the First Intermediate Period of Egypt with an area of {{convert|0.1|e6km2|e6sqmi|2|abbr=unit}}.}}

|0.15

|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2100}}
Middle Kingdom of Egypt

|0.2–0.5

|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

2000}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1800}}
Xia dynasty

|0.4

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1700}}
Hyksos

|0.65

|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1600}}
New Kingdom of Egypt

|0.65–1.0

|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1500}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1300}}
Shang dynasty

|0.9–1.1

|{{convert|0.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1250}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1150}}
New Kingdom of Egypt

|0.5–0.6

|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1100}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
1050}}
Zhou dynasty

|0.35–0.45

|{{convert|0.35|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|0.45|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

1000}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
900}}
Neo-Assyrian Empire

|0.4–1.4

|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|1.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

850}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
650}}
Median Empire{{efn|group=Table3|More recent reassessment of the historical evidence, both archaeological and textual, has led modern scholars to question previous notions of the extent of the realm of the Medes and even its existence as a unified state. If the largest empire in the year 600 BC was not the Median Empire, it was Late Egypt with an area of {{convert|0.55|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}}.}}

|3.0

|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

600}}
Achaemenid Empire

|2.5–5.5

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

550}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting
350}}
Macedonian Empire

|5.2

|{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

323}}
Seleucid Empire

|4.0

|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

300}}
Maurya Empire

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

250}}
Han dynasty

|2.5

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

200}}
Xiongnu Empire

|5.7

|{{convert|5.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

150}}
Han dynasty

|4.2–6.5

|{{convert|4.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|6.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting

100}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Date table sorting|200}} AD
Roman Empire

|4.4

|{{convert|4.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|250}}–{{Date table sorting|350}}

Sasanian Empire

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|400}}

Hunnic Empire

|4.0

|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|450}}

Sasanian Empire

|3.5

|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|500}}

Göktürk Khaganate

|3.0–5.2

|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|550}}–{{Date table sorting|600}}

Rashidun Caliphate

|5.2

|{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|650}}

Umayyad Caliphate

|9.0–11.0

|{{convert|9.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|11.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|700}}–{{Date table sorting|750}}

Abbasid Caliphate

|8.3–11.0

|{{convert|8.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|11.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|750}}–{{Date table sorting|800}}

Tibet

|2.5–4.7

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|4.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|850}}–{{Date table sorting|950}}

Song dynasty

|3.0

|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1000}}

Seljuk Empire

|3.0–4.0

|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1050}}–{{Date table sorting|1100}}

Tibet

|2.5

|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1150}}

Jin dynasty (1115–1234)

|2.3

|{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1200}}

Mongol Empire

|18.0–24.0

|{{convert|18.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|24.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1250}}–{{Date table sorting|1300}}

Yuan dynasty

|11.0

|{{convert|11.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1350}}

Timurid Empire

|4.0

|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1400}}

Ming dynasty

|4.7–6.5

|{{convert|4.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|6.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1450}}–{{Date table sorting|1500}}

Ottoman Empire

|4.3

|{{convert|4.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1550}}

Tsardom of Russia

|6.0–12.0

|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|12.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1600}}–{{Date table sorting|1700}}

Russian Empire

|14.0–17.0

|{{convert|14.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|17.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1750}}–{{Date table sorting|1800}}

British Empire

|23.0–34.0

|{{convert|23.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}–{{convert|34.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1850}}–{{Date table sorting|1925}}

Soviet Union

|22.5

|{{convert|22.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}

|{{Date table sorting|1950}}–{{Date table sorting|1975}}

colspan="4" |{{Notelist|group=Table3}}

Largest empires by share of world population

File:The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 (135853022).jpg

Because of the trend of increasing world population over time, absolute population figures are for some purposes less relevant for comparison between different empires than their respective shares of the world population at the time.{{Cite book|last1=Scheidel|first1=Walter|title=The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-977311-4|editor-last=Bang|editor-first=Peter Fibiger|editor-link=Peter Fibiger Bang|location=|pages=102|language=en|chapter=The Scale of Empire: Territory, Population, Distribution|author-link=Walter Scheidel|editor-last2=Bayly|editor-first2=C. A.|editor-link2=Christopher Bayly|editor-last3=Scheidel|editor-first3=Walter|editor-link3=Walter Scheidel|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mkLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102}} For the majority of the time since roughly 400 BC, the two most populous empires' combined share of the world population has been 30–40%. Most of the time, the most populous empire has been located in China.{{Cite book|last=Myrdal|first=Janken|title=Ecology and Power: Struggles over Land and Material Resources in the Past, Present and Future|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-136-33529-7|editor-last=Hornborg|editor-first=Alf|pages=43|language=en|chapter=Empire: The comparative study of imperialism|editor-last2=Clark|editor-first2=Brett|editor-link2=Brett Clark (sociologist)|editor-last3=Hermele|editor-first3=Kenneth|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dkWqOb82PxgC&pg=PA43}}

class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi"

!Empire

!Empire population
as percentage of
world population{{Cite book|last1=Scheidel|first1=Walter|title=The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-19-977311-4|editor-last=Bang|editor-first=Peter Fibiger|editor-link=Peter Fibiger Bang|location=|pages=103|language=en|chapter=The Scale of Empire: Territory, Population, Distribution|author-link=Walter Scheidel|editor-last2=Bayly|editor-first2=C. A.|editor-link2=Christopher Bayly|editor-last3=Scheidel|editor-first3=Walter|editor-link3=Walter Scheidel|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mkLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA103}}

!Year

Qing dynasty

|37

|{{Date table sorting|1800}}

Northern Song dynasty

|33

|{{Date table sorting|1100}}

Western Han dynasty

|32

|{{Date table sorting|1}}

Mongol Empire

|31

|{{Date table sorting|1290}}

Roman Empire

|30

|{{Date table sorting|150}}

Jin dynasty (266–420)

|28

|{{Date table sorting|280}}

Ming dynasty

|28

|{{Date table sorting|1600}}

Qin dynasty

|24

|{{Date table sorting

220}}
Mughal Empire

|24

|{{Date table sorting|1700}}

Tang dynasty

|23

|{{Date table sorting|900}}

Delhi Sultanate

|23

|{{Date table sorting|1350}}

British Empire

|23

|{{Date table sorting|1938}}

Empire of Japan

|20

|{{Date table sorting|1943}}

Maurya Empire

|19

|{{Date table sorting

250}}
Former Qin

|19

|{{Date table sorting|376}}

Northern Zhou

|16

|{{Date table sorting|580}}

Macedonian Empire

|15

|{{Date table sorting

323}}
Empire of Harsha

|15

|{{Date table sorting|647}}

Gupta Empire

|13

|{{Date table sorting|450}}

Northern Wei

|13

|{{Date table sorting|500}}

Umayyad Caliphate

|13

|{{Date table sorting|750}}

Achaemenid Empire

|12

|{{Date table sorting

450}}
Former Yan

|12

|{{Date table sorting|366}}

Jin dynasty (1115–1234)

|12

|{{Date table sorting|1200}}

Nazi Germany

|12

|{{Date table sorting|1943}}

See also

References

{{reflist|30em}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite book |last=Taagepera |first=Rein |author-link=Rein Taagepera |title=More People, Fewer States: The Past and Future of World Population and Empire Sizes |last2=Nemčok |first2=Miroslav |date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |others= |isbn=978-1-009-42783-8 |edition=1st |location=New York}}

{{Empires}}

{{Politics country lists}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Largest Empires}}

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Empires

Empires, largest

Empires

Category:Largest things