List of largest empires

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The British Empire (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. Combined map - British and Mongol Empires.svg
The British Empire (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. [1] Estonian political scientist Rein Taagepera, who published a series of academic articles about the territorial extents of historical empires between 1978 and 1997, [2] [3] [4] [5] 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. [6] 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.

Contents

Largest empires by land area

For context, the land area of the Earth, excluding the continent of Antarctica, is 134,740,000 km2 (52,023,000 sq mi). [7]

Empires at their greatest extent

The home and colonial areas of the world's empires in 1908, as given by The Harmsworth Atlas and Gazetteer The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 (135853015).jpg
The home and colonial areas of the world's empires in 1908, as given by The Harmsworth Atlas and Gazetteer

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 20% of the Earth's land surface that they did not effectively control. [8] Where estimates vary, entries are sorted by the lowest estimate. Where more than one entry has the same area, they are listed alphabetically.

EmpireMaximum land area
Million km2Million sq mi % of worldYear
British Empire [lower-alpha 1] 35.5 [9] 13.711920 [9]
Mongol Empire [lower-alpha 2] 24.0 [9] [10] 9.271270 [10] or 1309 [9]
Russian Empire [lower-alpha 3] 22.8 [9] [10] 8.801895 [9] [10]
Qing dynasty [lower-alpha 4] 14.7 [9] [10] 5.681790 [9] [10]
Spanish Empire 13.7 [9] 5.291810 [9]
Second French colonial empire 11.5 [9] 4.441920 [9]
Abbasid Caliphate 11.1 [9] 4.29750 [9]
Umayyad Caliphate 11.1 [9] 4.29720 [9]
Yuan dynasty 11.0 [9] 4.251310 [9]
Xiongnu Empire 9.0 [10] [11] 3.47176 BC [10] [11]
Empire of Brazil [lower-alpha 5] 8.337 [12] 3.221889 [12]
Empire of Japan 7.4 [13] –8.512.86–3.285 [14] 1942 [13] [14]
Eastern Han dynasty 6.5 [11] 2.51100 [11]
Ming dynasty 6.5 [9] [10] 2.511450 [9] [10]
Rashidun Caliphate 6.4 [9] 2.47655 [9]
First Turkic Khaganate 6.0 [10] [11] 2.32557 [10] [11]
Golden Horde Khanate 6.0 [9] [10] 2.321310 [9] [10]
Western Han dynasty 6.0 [10] [11] 2.3250 BC [10] [11]
Achaemenid Empire 5.5 [10] [11] 2.12500 BC [10] [11]
Second Portuguese Empire [lower-alpha 5] 5.5 [9] 2.121820 [9]
Tang dynasty 5.4 [9] [10] 2.08715 [9] [10]
Macedonian Empire 5.2 [10] [11] 2.01323 BC [10] [11]
Ottoman Empire 5.2 [9] [10] 2.011683 [9] [10]
Northern Yuan dynasty 5.0 [9] 1.931368 [9]
Roman Empire 5.0 [10] [11] 1.93117 [10] [11]
Xin dynasty 4.7 [11] 1.8110 [11]
Tibetan Empire 4.6 [9] [10] 1.78800 [9] [10]
Xianbei state 4.5 [15] 1.74200 [15]
First Mexican Empire 4.429 [16] 1.711821 [16]
Timurid Empire 4.4 [9] [10] 1.701405 [9] [10]
Fatimid Caliphate 4.1 [9] [10] 1.58969 [9] [10]
Eastern Turkic Khaganate 4.0 [11] 1.54624 [11]
Hunnic Empire 4.0 [10] [11] 1.54441 [10] [11]
Mughal Empire 4.0 [9] [10] 1.541690 [9] [10]
Great Seljuq Empire 3.9 [9] [10] 1.511080 [9] [10]
Seleucid Empire 3.9 [10] [11] 1.51301 BC [10] [11]
Italian Empire 3.825 [17] 1.481941 [17]
Ilkhanate 3.75 [9] [10] 1.451310 [9] [10]
Dzungar Khanate 3.6 [15] 1.391650 [15]
Chagatai Khanate 3.5 [9] [10] 1.351310 [9] or 1350 [9] [10]
Sasanian Empire 3.5 [10] [11] 1.35550 [10] [11]
Western Turkic Khaganate 3.5 [11] 1.35630 [11]
Western Xiongnu 3.5 [11] 1.3520 [11]
First French colonial empire 3.4 [9] 1.311670 [9]
Ghaznavid Empire 3.4 [9] [10] 1.311029 [9] [10]
Maurya Empire 3.4 [11] –5.0 [10] 1.31–1.93261 BC [11] or 250 BC [10]
Delhi Sultanate 3.2 [9] [10] 1.241312 [9] [10]
German colonial empire 3.1471.215 [18] 1911 [18]
Northern Song dynasty 3.1 [9] [10] 1.20980 [9] [10]
Uyghur Khaganate 3.1 [9] [10] 1.20800 [9] [10]
Western Jin dynasty 3.1 [11] 1.20280 [11]
Danish Empire 3.0 [19] 1.161700 [19]
Sui dynasty 3.0 [11] 1.16589 [11]
Safavid empire 2.9 [15] 1.121630 [15]
Samanid Empire 2.85 [9] [10] 1.10928 [9] [10]
Eastern Jin dynasty 2.8 [11] 1.08347 [11]
Median Empire [lower-alpha 6] 2.8 [10] [11] 1.08585 BC [10] [11]
Parthian Empire 2.8 [10] [11] 1.081 [10] [11]
Rouran Khaganate 2.8 [10] [11] 1.08405 [10] [11]
Byzantine Empire 2.7 [10] –2.8 [11] 1.04–1.08555 [10] or 450 [11]
Indo-Scythian Kingdom 2.6 [11] 1.0020 [11]
Liao dynasty 2.6 [9] [10] 1.00947 [9] [10]
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 2.5 [11] 0.97184 BC [11]
Later Zhao 2.5 [11] 0.97329 [11]
Maratha Confederacy 2.5 [10] 0.971760 [10]
Belgian colonial empire 2.366 [17] –2.470.91–0.95 [21] 1941 [17] or 1939 [21]
Jin dynasty (1115–1234) 2.3 [9] [10] 0.891126 [9] [10]
Khwarazmian Empire 2.3 [10] –3.6 [9] 0.89–1.391210 [10] or 1218 [9]
Qin dynasty 2.3 [11] 0.89220 BC [11]
Dutch Empire 2.1 [15] 0.811938 [15]
First French Empire 2.1 [9] 0.811813 [9]
Kievan Rus' 2.1 [9] [10] 0.811000 [9] [10]
Mamluk Sultanate 2.1 [9] [10] 0.811300 [9] or 1400 [10]
Southern Song dynasty 2.1 [9] 0.811127 [9]
Third Portuguese Empire 2.1 [9] 0.811900 [9]
Almohad Caliphate 2.0 [10] –2.3 [9] 0.77–0.891200 [10] or 1150 [9]
Cao Wei 2.0 [11] 0.77263 [11]
Former Qin 2.0 [11] 0.77376 [11]
Former Zhao 2.0 [11] 0.77316 [11]
Ghurid dynasty 2.0 [15] 0.771200 [15]
Inca Empire 2.0 [9] [10] 0.771527 [9] [10]
Kushan Empire 2.0 [10] –2.5 [11] 0.77–0.97200 [10] [11]
Liu Song dynasty 2.0 [11] 0.77450 [11]
Northern Wei 2.0 [11] 0.77450 [11]
Western Roman Empire 2.0 [11] 0.77395 [11]
Ayyubid dynasty 1.7 [9] –2.0 [10] 0.66–0.771200 [9] or 1190 [10]
Gupta Empire 1.7 [11] –3.5 [10] 0.66–1.35440 [11] or 400 [10]
Hephthalite Empire 1.7 [22] –4.0 [11] 0.66–1.54500 [22] or 470 [11]
Buyid dynasty 1.6 [9] [10] 0.62980 [9] [10]
Eastern Wu 1.5 [11] 0.58221 [11]
Northern Qi 1.5 [11] 0.58557 [11]
Northern Xiongnu 1.5 [11] 0.5860 [11]
Northern Zhou 1.5 [11] 0.58577 [11]
Neo-Assyrian Empire 1.4 [10] [23] 0.54670 BC [10] [23]
Eastern Maurya Kingdom 1.3 [11] 0.50210 BC [11]
Liang dynasty 1.3 [10] [11] 0.50502, [11] 549, [11] or 579 [10]
Qajar Empire 1.290.50 [24] 1873 [24]
Kingdom of Aksum 1.25 [10] 0.48350 [10]
Shang dynasty 1.25 [10] [23] 0.481122 BC [10] [23]
Francia 1.2 [9] [10] 0.46814 [9] [10]
Srivijaya 1.2 [10] 0.461200 [10]
Indo-Greek Kingdom 1.1 [11] 0.42150 BC [11]
Mali Empire 1.1 [9] [10] 0.421380 [9] [10]
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1.1 [9] [10] 0.421480 [10] or 1650 [9]
Almoravid dynasty 1.0 [10] 0.391120 [10]
Pushyabhuti dynasty 1.0 [9] [10] 0.39625 [9] or 648 [9] [10]
Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty 1.0 [9] 0.39860 [9]
Holy Roman Empire 1.0 [9] 0.391050 [9]
Khazar Khanate 1.0 [9] –3.0 [10] 0.39–1.16900 [9] or 850 [10]
Khmer Empire 1.0 [9] [10] 0.391290 [9] [10]
New Kingdom of Egypt 1.0 [10] [23] 0.391450 BC [23] or 1300 BC [10]
Ptolemaic Kingdom 1.0 [11] 0.39301 BC [11]
Qara Khitai 1.0 [9] –1.5 [10] 0.39–0.581130 [9] or 1210 [10]
Scythia 1.0 [22] 0.39400 BC [22]
Shu Han 1.0 [11] 0.39221 [11]
Tahirid dynasty 1.0 [9] 0.39800 [9]
Western Xia 1.0 [10] 0.391100 [10]
Swedish Empire 0.99 [25] 0.381700 [25]
Kingdom of Armenia 0.9 [26] 0.3570 BC [26]
Nazi Germany 0.824 [17] 0.321941 [17]
Akkadian Empire 0.8 [23] 0.312250 BC [23]
Avar Khaganate 0.8 [11] 0.31600 [11]
Chu 0.8 [11] 0.31300 BC [11]
Huns0.8 [11] 0.31287 [11]
Songhai Empire 0.8 [9] 0.311550 [9]
Hyksos 0.65 [23] 0.251650 BC [23]
Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt 0.65 [23] 0.25550 BC [23]
Rozvi Empire 0.624 [27] 0.241700 [27]
Austro-Hungarian Empire 0.620.24 [28] 1905 [28]
Caliphate of Córdoba 0.6 [9] 0.231000 [9]
First Portuguese Empire 0.6 [9] 0.231580 [9]
Visigothic Kingdom 0.6 [11] 0.23580 [11]
Zhou dynasty 0.55 [29] 0.211100 BC [29]
Sikh Empire 0.520.20 [30] 1839 [30]
Emirate of Córdoba 0.5 [9] 0.19756 [9]
Kosala 0.5 [11] 0.19543 BC [11]
Lydia 0.5 [23] 0.19585 BC [23]
Magadha 0.5 [11] 0.19510 BC [11]
Middle Kingdom of Egypt 0.5 [23] 0.191850 BC [23]
Neo-Babylonian Empire 0.5 [23] 0.19562 BC [23]
Satavahana dynasty 0.5 [11] 0.19150 [11]
Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt 0.5 [23] 0.19715 BC [23]
Western Satraps 0.5 [11] 0.19100 [11]
New Hittite Kingdom 0.45 [23] 0.171250 BC –1220 BC [23]
Xia dynasty 0.45 [23] 0.171800 BC [23]
Bulgarian Empire 0.4 [31] [ need quotation to verify ]0.15850 [31] [ need quotation to verify ]
Kingdom of France (Middle Ages) 0.4 [9] 0.151250 [9]
Middle Assyrian Empire 0.4 [23] 0.151080 BC [23]
Old Kingdom of Egypt 0.4 [23] 0.152400 BC [23]
Sokoto Caliphate 0.4 [32] 0.151804 [32]
Latin Empire 0.35 [11] 0.141204 [11]
Ancient Carthage 0.3 [11] 0.12220 BC [11]
Indus Valley civilisation [lower-alpha 7] 0.3 [29] 0.121800 BC [29]
Mitanni 0.3 [23] 0.121450 BC –1375 BC [23]
Ashanti Empire 0.25 [33] 0.101820 [33]
First Babylonian Empire 0.25 [23] 0.101690 BC [23]
Aztec Empire 0.22 [9] 0.081520 [9]
Zulu Empire 0.210.08 [34] 1822 [34]
Elamite Empire 0.2 [23] 0.081160 BC [23]
Phrygia 0.2 [23] 0.08750 BC [23]
Second Dynasty of Isin 0.2 [23] 0.081130 BC [23]
Urartu 0.2 [23] 0.08800 BC [23]
Eastern Zhou 0.15 [23] 0.06770 BC [23]
Middle Hittite Kingdom 0.15 [23] 0.061450 BC [23]
Old Assyrian Empire 0.15 [23] 0.061730 BC [23]
Old Hittite Empire 0.15 [23] 0.061530 BC [23]
Oyo Empire 0.15 [35] 0.061680 [35]
Bornu Empire 0.130.05 [36] 1892 [36]
Larsa 0.1 [23] 0.041750 BC –1700 BC [23]
Neo-Sumerian Empire 0.1 [23] 0.042000 BC [23]
Tarascan empire 0.075 [37] 0.031450 [37]
Lagash 0.05 [29] 0.022400 BC [29]
Sumer 0.05 [23] 0.022400 BC [23]
  1. ↑ The largest peak areas of its former colonies following independence were Canada's 9.98 million km2 (3.85 million sq mi) in 1945, the United States' 9.67 million km2 (3.73 million sq mi) in 1899, and Australia's 7.68 million km2 (2.97 million sq mi) in 1945. [9]
  2. ↑ The Mongol Empire eventually fractured into four separate khanates: the Yuan dynasty, Chagatai Khanate, Ilkhanate, and Golden Horde. These are listed separately.
  3. ↑ Its successor state the USSR and its successor in turn, the Russian Federation, reached maximum extents of 22.3 million km2 (8.6 million sq mi) in 1945 and 17.1 million km2 (6.6 million sq mi) in 1991, respectively. [9]
  4. ↑ 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 7.7 million km2 (3.0 million sq mi) in 1912 and 9.7 million km2 (3.7 million sq mi) in 1950, respectively. [9]
  5. 1 2 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. [9]
  6. ↑ 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. [20]
  7. ↑ The extent to which this constituted a cohesive political entity is uncertain. [29]

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. [38]

EmpireLand areaYear
Million km2Million sq mi
Upper and Lower Egypt 0.1 [23] 0.043000 BC [23]
Old Kingdom of Egypt 0.25 [23] 0.102850 BC [23]
0.4 [23] 0.152400 BC [23]
Akkadian Empire 0.65 [23] 0.252300 BC [23]
0.8 [23] 0.312250 BC [23]
New Kingdom of Egypt 1.0 [23] 0.391450 BC [23]
Shang dynasty 1.25 [23] 0.481122 BC [23]
Neo-Assyrian Empire 1.4 [23] 0.54670 BC [23]
Median Empire [lower-alpha 1] 2.8 [11] 1.08585 BC [11]
Achaemenid Empire 3.6 [11] 1.39539 BC [11]
5.5 [11] 2.12500 BC [11]
Xiongnu Empire 9.0 [11] 3.47176 BC [11]
Umayyad Caliphate 11.1 [9] 4.29720 [9]
Mongol Empire 13.5 [9] 5.211227 [9]
24.0 [9] 9.271309 [9]
British Empire 24.5 [9] 9.461880 [9]
35.5 [9] 13.711920 [9]
  1. ↑ 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. [20] 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. [23] [11]

Timeline of largest empires at the time

EmpireLand area during time
as largest empire		Approximate period [29]
Million km2 [29] Million sq mi
Upper Egypt 0.10.043000 BC
Old Kingdom of Egypt 0.25–0.40.10–0.152800 BC –2400 BC
Akkadian Empire 0.2–0.60.08–0.232300 BC –2200 BC
Indus Valley Civilisation [lower-alpha 1] 0.150.062100 BC
Middle Kingdom of Egypt 0.2–0.50.08–0.192000 BC –1800 BC
Xia dynasty 0.40.151700 BC
Hyksos 0.650.251600 BC
New Kingdom of Egypt 0.65–1.00.25–0.391500 BC –1300 BC
Shang dynasty 0.9–1.10.35–0.421250 BC –1150 BC
New Kingdom of Egypt 0.5–0.60.19–0.231100 BC –1050 BC
Zhou dynasty 0.35–0.450.14–0.171000 BC –900 BC
Neo-Assyrian Empire 0.4–1.40.15–0.54850 BC –650 BC
Median Empire [lower-alpha 2] 3.01.16600 BC
Achaemenid Empire 2.5–5.50.97–2.12550 BC –350 BC
Macedonian Empire 5.22.01323 BC
Seleucid Empire 4.01.54300 BC
Maurya Empire 3.51.35250 BC
Han dynasty 2.50.97200 BC
Xiongnu Empire 5.72.20150 BC
Han dynasty 4.2–6.51.62–2.51100 BC –200 AD
Roman Empire 4.41.70250–350
Sasanian Empire 3.51.35400
Hunnic Empire 4.01.54450
Sasanian Empire 3.51.35500
Göktürk Khaganate 3.0–5.21.16–2.01550–600
Rashidun Caliphate 5.22.01650
Umayyad Caliphate 9.0–11.03.47–4.25700–750
Abbasid Caliphate 8.3–11.03.20–4.25750–800
Tibet2.5–4.70.97–1.81850–950
Song dynasty 3.01.161000
Seljuk Empire 3.0–4.01.16–1.541050–1100
Tibet2.50.971150
Jin dynasty (1115–1234) 2.30.891200
Mongol Empire 18.0–24.06.95–9.271250–1300
Yuan dynasty 11.04.251350
Timurid Empire 4.01.541400
Ming dynasty 4.7–6.51.81–2.511450–1500
Ottoman Empire 4.31.661550
Tsardom of Russia 6.0–12.02.32–4.631600–1700
Russian Empire 14.0–17.05.41–6.561750–1800
British Empire 23.0–34.08.88–13.131850–1925
Soviet Union 22.58.691950–1975
  1. ↑ 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 0.1 million km2 (0.04 million sq mi).
  2. ↑ 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. [20] If the largest empire in the year 600 BC was not the Median Empire, it was Late Egypt with an area of 0.55 million km2 (0.21 million sq mi).

Largest empires by share of world population

The home and colonial populations of the world's empires in 1908, as given by The Harmsworth Atlas and Gazetteer The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 (135853022).jpg
The home and colonial populations of the world's empires in 1908, as given by The Harmsworth Atlas and Gazetteer

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. [39] 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. [40]

EmpireEmpire population
as percentage of
world population [41] 		Year [41]
Qing dynasty 371800
Northern Song dynasty 331100
Western Han dynasty 321
Mongol Empire 311290
Roman Empire 30150
Jin dynasty (266–420) 28280
Ming dynasty 281600
Qin dynasty 24220 BC
Mughal Empire 241700
Tang dynasty 23900
Delhi Sultanate 231350
British Empire 231938
Empire of Japan 201943
Maurya Empire 19250 BC
Former Qin 19376
Northern Zhou 16580
Macedonian Empire 15323 BC
Empire of Harsha 15647
Gupta Empire 13450
Northern Wei 13500
Umayyad Caliphate 13750
Achaemenid Empire 12450 BC
Former Yan 12366
Jin dynasty (1115–1234) 121200
Nazi Germany 121943

See also

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Xu Fu (Hsu Fu; Chinese: 徐福 or 徐巿; pinyin: Xú Fú; Wade–Giles: Hsu2 Fu2; Japanese: 徐福 Jofuku or 徐巿 Jofutsu; Korean: 서복 Seo Bok or 서불 Seo Bul) was a Chinese alchemist and explorer. He was born in 255 BC in Qi, an ancient Chinese state, and disappeared at sea in 210 BC. He served as a court sorcerer in Qin dynasty China. Later, he was sent by Qin Shi Huang to the eastern seas twice to look for the elixir of life. His two journeys occurred between 219 BC and 210 BC. It was believed that the fleet included 60 barques with soldiers, ship crewmen, and 3,000 boys and 3,000 girls, and craftsmen of different fields. After he embarked on a second mission in 210 BC, he never returned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effective number of parties</span> Concept in political party systems

In political science, the effective number of parties is a diversity index introduced by Laakso and Rein Taagepera (1979), which provides for an adjusted number of political parties in a country's party system, weighted by their relative size. The measure is especially useful when comparing party systems across countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparative studies of the Roman and Han empires</span>

Comparative studies of the Roman and Han empires is a historical comparative research involving the roughly contemporaneous Roman Empire and the Han dynasty of early imperial China. At their peaks, both states controlled up to a half of the world population and produced political and cultural legacies that endure to the modern era; comparative studies largely focus on their similar scale at their pinnacles and on synchronism in their rise and decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demography of the Roman Empire</span>

The Roman Empire's population has been estimated at between 59 and 76 million in the 1st and 2nd centuries, peaking probably just before the Antonine Plague. Historian Kyle Harper provides an estimate of a population of 75 million and an average population density of about 20 people per square kilometre at its peak, with unusually high urbanization. During the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, the population of the city of Rome is conventionally estimated at one million inhabitants. Historian Ian Morris estimates that no other city in Western Eurasia would have as many again until the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achaemenid Empire</span> Ancient Iranian empire (550–330 BC)

The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire, was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the largest empire by that point in history, spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres. The empire spanned from the Balkans and Egypt in the west, West Asia as the base, the majority of Central Asia to the northeast, and the Indus Valley to the southeast.

The cube root law is an observation in political science that the number of members of a unicameral legislature, or of the lower house of a bicameral legislature, is about the cube root of the population being represented. The rule was devised by Estonian political scientist Rein Taagepera in his 1972 paper "The size of national assemblies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massalia</span> Ancient Greek colony

Massalia was an ancient Greek colony (apoikia) on the Mediterranean coast, east of the Rhône. Settled by the Ionians from Phocaea in 600 BC, this apoikia grew up rapidly, and its population set up many outposts for trading in modern-day Spain, Corsica and Liguria. Massalia persisted as an independent colony until the Roman campaign in Gaul in the 1st Century BC. The ruins of Massalia still exist in the contemporary city of Marseille, which is considered the oldest city of France and one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements.

References

  1. ↑ Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and duration of empires: Systematics of size" (PDF). Social Science Research . 7 (2): 111. doi:10.1016/0049-089X(78)90007-8. ISSN   0049-089X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  2. ↑ Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and duration of empires: Systematics of size" (PDF). Social Science Research . 7 (2): 108–127. doi:10.1016/0049-089X(78)90007-8. ISSN   0049-089X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  3. ↑ Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C." (PDF). Social Science Research . 7 (2): 180–196. doi:10.1016/0049-089x(78)90010-8. ISSN   0049-089X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History . 3 (3/4): 115–138. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR   1170959.
  5. ↑ Taagepera, Rein (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia" (PDF). International Studies Quarterly . 41 (3): 475–504. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR   2600793. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "World", The World Factbook , Central Intelligence Agency, 18 July 2022, archived from the original on 20 June 2022, retrieved 24 July 2022, land: 148.94 million sq km [...] Antarctica 14,200,000 sq km
  8. ↑ Magdoff, Harry (1979). Imperialism: From the Colonial Age to the Present. NYU Press. p. 29. ISBN   978-0-85345-498-4. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020. [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.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 Taagepera, Rein (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia" (PDF). International Studies Quarterly . 41 (3): 492–502. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR   2600793. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires" (PDF). Journal of World-Systems Research . 12 (2): 222–223. ISSN   1076-156X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 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, 124–129, 132–133. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR   1170959.
  12. 1 2 "Área Territorial Brasileira". www.ibge.gov.br (in Portuguese). Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. 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.]
  13. 1 2 Conrad, Sebastian (2014). "The Dialectics of Remembrance: Memories of Empire in Cold War Japan" (PDF). Comparative Studies in Society and History . 56 (1): 8. doi:10.1017/S0010417513000601. ISSN   0010-4175. JSTOR   43908281. S2CID   146284542. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020. In 1942, at the moment of its greatest extension, the empire encompassed territories spanning over 7,400,000 square kilometers.
  14. 1 2 James, David H. (1 November 2010). The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire. Routledge. ISBN   9781136925467. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2018. by 1942, this 'Empire' covered about 3,285,000 square miles
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Scheidel, Walter (2020). "The Scale of Empire: Territory, Population, Distribution". In Bang, Peter Fibiger; Bayly, C. A.; Scheidel, Walter (eds.). The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience. Oxford University Press. pp. 92–94. ISBN   978-0-19-977311-4.
  16. 1 2 Rodríguez, Jaime; Vincent, Kathryn (1997). "The Colonization and Loss of Texas: A Mexican Perspective". Myths, Misdeeds and Misunderstandings: The Roots of Conflict in US-Mexican Relations (First ed.). Wilmington, DE, USA: Scholarly Resources Inc. p. 47. ISBN   0-8420-2662-2. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020. 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).
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Soldaten-Atlas (Tornisterschrift des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht, Heft 39). Leipzig: Bibliographisches Institut. 1941. pp. 8, 32.
  18. 1 2 Ashworth, Philip Arthur; and, others (1911). "Germany"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 804–828. Area English Sq. m. [...] German Empire: 208,780 Area (estimated) sq. m. [...] Total dependencies: 1,006,412
  19. 1 2 Korchmina, Elena; Sharp, Paul (June 2020). "Denmark and Russia: What can we learn from the historical comparison of two great Arctic agricultural empires?" (PDF). European Historical Economics Society. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020. Around 1700, the Danish Empire covered around 3 million square kilometers
  20. 1 2 3 Waters, Matthew (2005). Lanfranchi, Giovanni B.; Roaf, Michael; Rollinger, Robert (eds.). "Media and Its Discontents". Journal of the American Oriental Society . 125 (4): 517–533. ISSN   0003-0279. JSTOR   20064424.
  21. 1 2 Townsend, Mary Evelyn; Peake, Cyrus Henderson (1941). European Colonial Expansion Since 1871. J.B. Lippincott. p. 19. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Turchin, Peter (2009). "A theory for formation of large empires" (PDF). Journal of Global History . 4 (2): 202. doi:10.1017/S174002280900312X. ISSN   1740-0228. S2CID   73597670. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 3000 to 600 B.C." (PDF). Social Science Research . 7 (2): 182–189. doi:10.1016/0049-089x(78)90010-8. ISSN   0049-089X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  24. 1 2 Hughes, William (1873). A Class-book of Modern Geography: With Examination Questions. G. Philip & Son. p. 175. Archived from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020. In size it is about 500,000 square miles
  25. 1 2 Sundberg, Ulf (2018). Swedish defensive fortress warfare in the Great Northern War 1702–1710 (PDF). Åbo: Åbo Akademis förlag. p. 26. ISBN   978-951-765-897-3. OCLC   1113941754. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2020. In 1700, the Swedish Empire covered a land area of 990,000 square kilometers and had 2,500,000 inhabitants.
  26. 1 2 Manaseryan, Ruben L. [in Armenian] (2022). "Տիգրան Մեծի անձի և գործունեության գնահատականի շուրջ" (PDF). Vem: 39. doi:10.57192/18291864-2022.3-33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2024. Հայոց արքայի իշխելը 10 միլիոն բնակչություն ունեցող 900.000 կմ² տարածքի վրա
  27. 1 2 Cornell, James (1978). Lost Lands and Forgotten People. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 24. ISBN   978-0-8069-3926-1. 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)
  28. 1 2 Briliant, Oscar; and, others (1911). "Austria-Hungary"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 03 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 2–39. It occupies about the sixteenth part of the total area of Europe, with an area (1905) of 239,977 sq. m.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Taagepera, Rein (1978). "Size and duration of empires: Systematics of size" (PDF). Social Science Research . 7 (2): 116–117. doi:10.1016/0049-089X(78)90007-8. ISSN   0049-089X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  30. 1 2 Singh, Amarpal (15 August 2010). The First Anglo-Sikh War. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN   978-1-4456-2038-1. 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.
  31. 1 2 Rashev, Rasho (2008). Българската езическа култура VII -IX в./Bulgarian Pagan Culture VII – IX cтр. 38 (in Bulgarian). Класика и стил. ISBN   9789543270392.
  32. 1 2 Wesseling, H. L. (23 October 2015). The European Colonial Empires: 1815-1919. Routledge. p. 93. ISBN   978-1-317-89507-7. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020. 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.
  33. 1 2 Iliffe, John (25 August 1995). Africans: The History of a Continent. Cambridge University Press. p. 143. ISBN   978-0-521-48422-0. At its peak around 1820 the empire embraced over 250,000 square kilometres [...]
  34. 1 2 Gluckman, Max (1960). "The Rise of a Zulu Empire" . Scientific American . 202 (4): 162. Bibcode:1960SciAm.202d.157G. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0460-157. ISSN   0036-8733. JSTOR   24940454 . Retrieved 7 July 2020. By 1822 he had made himself master over 80,000 square miles
  35. 1 2 Thornton, John (28 April 1998). Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800. Cambridge University Press. p. 104. ISBN   978-0-521-62724-5. By 1680, the Oyo Empire (in Nigeria) may have exceeded 150,000 square kilometers, though not by much.
  36. 1 2 Hughes, William; Williams, J. Francon (1892). A Class-book of Modern Geography: With Examination Questions, Notes, & Index. G. Philip & son. p. 281. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021. It has an area of perhaps 50,000 square miles.
  37. 1 2 Blanford, Adam Jared (2014). Rethinking Tarascan Political and Spatial Organization (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Colorado Boulder. p. 6. S2CID   147339315. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2023. By A.D. 1450, the Tarascan Uacúsecha were leaders of an empire that spanned 75,000 square kilometers of west Mexico
  38. ↑ Taagepera, Rein (1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia" (PDF). International Studies Quarterly . 41 (3): 480. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. ISSN   0020-8833. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  39. ↑ Scheidel, Walter (2020). "The Scale of Empire: Territory, Population, Distribution". In Bang, Peter Fibiger; Bayly, C. A.; Scheidel, Walter (eds.). The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience. Oxford University Press. p. 102. ISBN   978-0-19-977311-4.
  40. ↑ Myrdal, Janken (2013). "Empire: The comparative study of imperialism". In Hornborg, Alf; Clark, Brett; Hermele, Kenneth (eds.). Ecology and Power: Struggles over Land and Material Resources in the Past, Present and Future. Routledge. p. 43. ISBN   978-1-136-33529-7.
  41. 1 2 Scheidel, Walter (2020). "The Scale of Empire: Territory, Population, Distribution". In Bang, Peter Fibiger; Bayly, C. A.; Scheidel, Walter (eds.). The Oxford World History of Empire: Volume One: The Imperial Experience. Oxford University Press. p. 103. ISBN   978-0-19-977311-4.
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