View source for List of largest empires

{{Short description|none}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[File:British Empire and Mongol Empire (Robinson projection).svg|upright=1.5|alt=A map of the British and Mongol empires at their respective greatest extents|thumb|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 [[empire]]s 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Estonian political scientist [[Rein Taagepera]], who published a series of academic articles about the territorial extents of historical empires between 1978 and 1997,<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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}}.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

=== Empires at their greatest extent ===
[[File:The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 (135853015).jpg|thumb|right|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 {{#expr:55-35}}% of the Earth's land surface that they did not effectively control.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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" <!-- discuss sortable on talk page. -->
! rowspan="2" width="200px"|Empire
! colspan="4" |Maximum land area
|-
! data-sort-type="number" width="100px"| Million&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
! class="unsortable" <!-- because of rounding, these values will not sort properly --> width="100px"| Million&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi
! class="unsortable" <!-- because of rounding, these values will not sort properly --> width="100px"| %&nbsp;of&nbsp;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.<ref name="Taagepera1997" />|group=Table1}}
|35.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|35.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|35.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1920}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Mongol Empire]]{{Efn|The Mongol Empire eventually [[Division of the Mongol Empire|fractured]] into four separate khanates: the [[Yuan dynasty]], [[Chagatai Khanate]], [[Ilkhanate]], and [[Golden Horde]]. These are listed separately.|group=Table1}}
|24.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|24.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|24.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1270}}<ref name="Turchin2006">{{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}}</ref> or {{Date table sorting|1309}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Russian Empire]]{{Efn|group=Table1|Its successor state the [[USSR]] and its successor in turn, the [[Russia|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.<ref name="Taagepera1997" />}}
|22.8<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|22.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|22.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1895}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[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.<ref name="Taagepera1997" />}}
|14.7<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|14.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|14.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1790}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Spanish Empire]]
|13.7<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|13.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|13.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1810}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[French colonial empire#Second French colonial empire (post-1830)|Second French colonial empire]]
|11.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|11.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|11.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1920}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Abbasid Caliphate]]
|11.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|11.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|11.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|750}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Umayyad Caliphate]]
|11.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|11.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|11.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|720}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Yuan dynasty]]
|11.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|11.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|11.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1310}}<ref name="Taagepera1997">{{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}}</ref>
|-
|[[Xiongnu Empire]]
|9.0<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|9.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|9.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-176}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[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 [[Colonial Brazil|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.<ref name="Taagepera1997" />|group=Table1|name=PortugalVsBrazil}}
|{{significant figures|8.337218|4}}<ref name="IBGE">{{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 km<sup>2</sup> 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 km<sup>2</sup> 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}}</ref>
|{{convert|8.337218|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|8.337218|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1889}}<ref name="IBGE" />
|-
|[[Empire of Japan]]
|7.4<ref name="Conrad">{{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.}}</ref>–{{convert|3.285|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}
|{{convert|7.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}–3.285<ref name="JapaneseEmpire">{{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}}</ref>
|{{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}}<ref name="Conrad" /><ref name="JapaneseEmpire" />
|-
|[[Eastern Han dynasty]]
|6.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|6.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|6.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|100}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Ming dynasty]]
|6.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|6.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|6.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1450}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Rashidun Caliphate]]
|6.4<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|6.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|6.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|655}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[First Turkic Khaganate]]
|6.0<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|6.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|557}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Golden Horde|Golden Horde Khanate]]
|6.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|6.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1310}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Western Han dynasty]]
|6.0<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|6.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|6.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-50}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979">{{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}}</ref>
|-
|[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|5.5<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-500}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Second Portuguese Empire]]{{efn|group=Table1|name=PortugalVsBrazil}}
|5.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1820}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Tang dynasty]]
|5.4<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|5.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|715}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Macedonian Empire]]
|5.2<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-323}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Ottoman Empire]]
|5.2<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|5.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1683}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Northern Yuan dynasty]]
|5.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|5.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1368}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Roman Empire]]
|5.0<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|5.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|5.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|117}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Xin dynasty]]
|4.7<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|4.7|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|4.7|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|10}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Tibetan Empire]]
|4.6<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|4.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|800}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Xianbei state]]
|4.5<ref name="OxfordArea">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|4.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|4.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|200}}<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|-
|[[First Mexican Empire]]
|4.429<ref name="rodr">{{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 km<sup>2</sup> (not including the 445,683 km<sup>2</sup> 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}}</ref>
|{{convert|4.429|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.429|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1821}}<ref name="rodr" />
|-
|[[Timurid Empire]]
|4.4<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|4.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1405}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Fatimid Caliphate]]
|4.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|4.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|969}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Eastern Turkic Khaganate]]
|4.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|624}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Hunnic Empire]]
|4.0<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|441}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Mughal Empire]]
|4.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|4.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|4.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1690}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Great Seljuq Empire]]
|3.9<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1080}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Seleucid Empire]]
|3.9<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-301}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Italian Empire]]
|{{significant figures|(340409+3484470)/10^6|4}}<ref name="SoldatenAtlas" />
|{{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}}<ref name="SoldatenAtlas" />
|-
|[[Ilkhanate]]
|3.75<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.75|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.75|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1310}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Dzungar Khanate]]
|3.6<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|{{convert|3.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|3.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1650}}<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|-
|[[Chagatai Khanate]]
|3.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1310}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /> or {{Date table sorting|1350}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Sasanian Empire]]
|3.5<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|550}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Western Turkic Khaganate]]
|3.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|630}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|Western [[Xiongnu]]
|3.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|20}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[French colonial empire#First French colonial empire|First French colonial empire]]
|3.4<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|3.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1670}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid Empire]]
|3.4<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1029}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Maurya Empire]]
|3.4<ref name="Taagepera1979" />–5.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" /> or {{Date table sorting|-250}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Delhi Sultanate]]
|3.2<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1312}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[German colonial empire]]
|{{convert|{{#expr:(208780+1006412)/10^6}}|mi2|km2|3|abbr=|disp=number}}
|{{significant figures|(208780+1006412)/10^6|4}}<ref name="BritannicaGermany">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Germany |volume= 11 |last1= Ashworth |first1= Philip Arthur |last2= and |first2= others | pages = 804&ndash;828 |quote=Area English Sq. m. [...] German Empire: 208,780 Area (estimated) sq. m. [...] Total dependencies: 1,006,412}}</ref>
|{{percent|{{convert|{{#expr:(208780+1006412)/10^6}}|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1911}}<ref name="BritannicaGermany" />
|-
|[[Northern Song dynasty]]
|3.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|980}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Uyghur Khaganate]]
|3.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|3.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|800}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Western Jin dynasty]]
|3.1<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|280}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Danish Colonial Empire|Danish Empire]]
|3.0<ref name="Danish">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1700}}<ref name="Danish" />
|-
|[[Sui dynasty]]
|3.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|3.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|589}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Safavid empire]]
|2.9<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|{{convert|2.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|2.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1630}}<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|-
|[[Samanid Empire]]
|2.85<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.85|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.85|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|928}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Eastern Jin dynasty]]
|2.8<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|347}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[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.<ref name="MediaAndItsDiscontents">{{Cite journal|last=Waters|first=Matthew|date=2005|editor2-link=Michael Roaf|editor-last=Lanfranchi<!--- not the 17th century bishop --->|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}}</ref>}}
|2.8<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-585}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Parthian Empire]]
|2.8<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|1<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Rouran Khaganate]]
|2.8<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|405}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Byzantine Empire]]
|2.7<ref name="Turchin2006" />–2.8<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /> or {{Date table sorting|450}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Indo-Scythians|Indo-Scythian Kingdom]]
|2.6<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|20}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Liao dynasty]]
|2.6<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|947}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]
|2.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-184}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Later Zhao]]
|2.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|329}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Maratha Empire|Maratha Confederacy]]
|2.5<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1760}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Belgian colonial empire]]
|{{significant figures|(29450+2336900)/10^6|4}}<ref name="SoldatenAtlas" />–{{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}}<ref name="Townsend">{{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}}</ref>
|{{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}}<ref name="SoldatenAtlas" /> or {{Date table sorting|1939}}<ref name="Townsend" />
|-
|[[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)]]
|2.3<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1126}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Khwarazmian Empire]]
|2.3<ref name="Turchin2006" />–3.6<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /> or {{Date table sorting|1218}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Qin dynasty]]
|2.3<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-220}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Dutch Empire]]
|2.1<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1938}}<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|-
|[[First French Empire]]
|2.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1813}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Kievan Rus']]
|2.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1000}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Mamluk Sultanate]]
|2.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1300}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /> or {{Date table sorting|1400}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Southern Song dynasty]]
|2.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1127}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Third Portuguese Empire]]
|2.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|2.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1900}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Almohad Caliphate]]
|2.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />–2.3<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /> or {{Date table sorting|1150}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Cao Wei]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|263}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Former Qin]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|376}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Former Zhao]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|316}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Ghurid dynasty]]
|2.0<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1200}}<ref name="OxfordArea" />
|-
|[[Inca Empire]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1527}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Kushan Empire]]
|2.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />–2.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Liu Song dynasty]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|450}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Northern Wei]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|450}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Western Roman Empire]]
|2.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|2.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|395}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Ayyubid dynasty]]
|1.7<ref name="Taagepera1997" />–2.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /> or {{Date table sorting|1190}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Gupta Empire]]
|1.7<ref name="Taagepera1979" />–3.5<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" /> or {{Date table sorting|400}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Hephthalite Empire]]
|1.7<ref name="Turchin2009" />–4.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Turchin2009" /> or {{Date table sorting|470}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Buyid dynasty]]
|1.6<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|980}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Eastern Wu]]
|1.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|221}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Northern Qi]]
|1.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|557}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|Northern [[Xiongnu]]
|1.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|60}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Northern Zhou]]
|1.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|577}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]
|1.4<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|1.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-670}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|Eastern [[Maurya Empire|Maurya Kingdom]]
|1.3<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-210}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Liang dynasty]]
|1.3<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|502}},<ref name="Taagepera1979" /> {{Date table sorting|549}},<ref name="Taagepera1979" /> or {{Date table sorting|579}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Qajar Empire]]
|{{Convert|{{#expr:0.5}}|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}
|0.50<ref name="Hughes1873">{{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}}</ref>
|{{percent|{{Convert|0.5|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1873}}<ref name="Hughes1873" />
|-
|[[Kingdom of Aksum]]
|1.25<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|350}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Shang dynasty]]
|1.25<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|1.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1122}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Francia]]
|1.2<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|814}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Srivijaya]]
|1.2<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1200}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]
|1.1<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-150}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Mali Empire]]
|1.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1380}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
|1.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1480}}<ref name="Turchin2006" /> or {{Date table sorting|1650}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Almoravid dynasty]]
|1.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1120}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Pushyabhuti dynasty]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|625}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /> or {{Date table sorting|648}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|860}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Holy Roman Empire]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1050}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Khazar Khanate]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />–3.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /> or {{Date table sorting|850}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Khmer Empire]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1290}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /><ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[New Kingdom of Egypt]]
|1.0<ref name="Turchin2006" /><ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|nowrap|{{Date table sorting|-1450}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" /> or {{Date table sorting|-1300}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Ptolemaic Kingdom]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-301}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Qara Khitai]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />–1.5<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" /> or {{Date table sorting|1210}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Scythia]]
|1.0<ref name="Turchin2009">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-400}}<ref name="Turchin2009" />
|-
|[[Shu Han]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|221}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Tahirid dynasty]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|800}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Western Xia]]
|1.0<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|1.0|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1100}}<ref name="Turchin2006" />
|-
|[[Swedish Empire]]
|0.99<ref name="Sundberg">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.99|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|0.99|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1700}}<ref name="Sundberg" />
|-
|[[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]]
|0.9<ref name="Manaseryan">{{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}}</ref> 
|{{convert|0.9|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.9|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-70}}<ref name="Manaseryan" />
|-
|[[Nazi Germany]]
|{{significant figures|823505/10^6|3}}<ref name="SoldatenAtlas">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|{{#expr:823505/10^6}}|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|823505/10^6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1941}}<ref name="SoldatenAtlas" />
|-
|[[Akkadian Empire]]
|0.8<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2250}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Avar Khaganate]]
|0.8<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|600}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Chu (state)|Chu]]
|0.8<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-300}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|Huns
|0.8<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|287}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Songhai Empire]]
|0.8<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.8|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1550}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Hyksos]]
|0.65<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.65|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1650}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt]]
|0.65<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.65|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-550}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Rozvi Empire]]
|0.624<ref name="Rozvi">{{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)}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.624|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.624|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1700}}<ref name="Rozvi" />
|-
|[[Austro-Hungarian Empire]]
|{{convert|0.239977|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}
|{{significant figures|0.239977|2}}<ref name="BritannicaAustriaHungary">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Austria-Hungary |volume= 03 |last1= Briliant |first1= Oscar |last2= and |first2= others | pages = 2&ndash;39 |quote= It occupies about the sixteenth part of the total area of Europe, with an area (1905) of 239,977 sq. m.}}</ref>
|{{percent|{{convert|0.239977|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1905}}<ref name="BritannicaAustriaHungary" />
|-
|[[Caliphate of Córdoba]]
|0.6<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1000}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[First Portuguese Empire]]
|0.6<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1580}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Visigothic Kingdom]]
|0.6<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.6|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|580}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Zhou dynasty]]
|0.55<ref name="Taagepera1978a">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.55|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|0.55|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1100}}<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
|-
|[[Sikh Empire]]
|{{convert|0.20|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}
|0.20<ref name="Sikh">{{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.}}</ref>
|{{percent|{{convert|0.20|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1839}}<ref name="Sikh" />
|-
|[[Emirate of Córdoba]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|756}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Kosala]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-543}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Lydia]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-585}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-510}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1850}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-562}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Satavahana dynasty]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|150}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-715}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Western Satraps]]
|0.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.5|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|100}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[New Hittite Kingdom]]
|0.45<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Xia dynasty]]
|0.45<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.45|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.45|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1800}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]]
|0.4<ref name="Класика и стил">{{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}}</ref>{{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}}<ref name="Класика и стил">{{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}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=September 2022}}
|-
|[[Kingdom of France (Middle Ages)]]
|0.4<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1250}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Middle Assyrian Empire]]
|0.4<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1080}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Old Kingdom of Egypt]]
|0.4<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2400}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Sokoto Caliphate]]
|0.4<ref name="Sokoto">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.4|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1804}}<ref name="Sokoto" />
|-
|[[Latin Empire]]
|0.35<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.35|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.35|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1204}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Ancient Carthage]]
|0.3<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|0.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-220}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Indus Valley Civilisation]]{{efn|group=Table1|The extent to which this constituted a cohesive political entity is uncertain.<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />}}
|0.3<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
|{{convert|0.3|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.3|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1800}}<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
|-
|[[Mitanni]]
|0.3<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Ashanti Empire]]
|0.25<ref name="IlliffeAsante">{{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)}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1820}}<ref name="IlliffeAsante" />
|-
|[[First Babylonian Empire]]
|0.25<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.25|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1690}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Aztec Empire]]
|0.22<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|0.22|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.22|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1520}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|[[Zulu Empire]]
|{{convert|0.08|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}
|0.08<ref name="Zulu">{{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}}</ref>
|{{percent|{{convert|0.08|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1822}}<ref name="Zulu" />
|-
|[[Elamite Empire]]
|0.2<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1160}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Phrygia]]
|0.2<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-750}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Second Dynasty of Isin]]
|0.2<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1130}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Urartu]]
|0.2<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.2|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.2|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-800}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Eastern Zhou]]
|0.15<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-770}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Middle Hittite Kingdom]]
|0.15<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1450}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Old Assyrian Empire]]
|0.15<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1730}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Old Hittite Empire]]
|0.15<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1530}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Oyo Empire]]
|0.15<ref name="Oyo">{{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.}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.15|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.15|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1680}}<ref name="Oyo" />
|-
|[[Bornu Empire]]
|{{convert|0.05|mi2|km2|2|abbr=|disp=number}}
|0.05<ref name="Bornu">{{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}}</ref>
|{{percent|{{convert|0.05|mi2|km2|2|disp=number}}|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1892}}<ref name="Bornu" />
|-
|[[Larsa]]
|0.1<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{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}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Neo-Sumerian Empire]]
|0.1<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.1|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2000}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Tarascan empire]]
|0.075<ref name="Tarascan">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|0.075|km2|mi2|2|disp=number|abbr=}}
|{{percent|0.075|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|1450}}<ref name="Tarascan" />
|-
|[[Lagash]]
|0.05<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
|{{convert|0.05|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.05|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2400}}<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
|-
|[[Sumer]]
|0.05<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.05|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{percent|0.05|134.74|2|pad=yes}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2400}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|- 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
{{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 km<sup>2</sup>
! class="unsortable" |Million sq mi
|-
|[[Upper and Lower Egypt]]
|0.1<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-3000}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Old Kingdom of Egypt]]
|0.25<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2850}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|0.4<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2400}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Akkadian Empire]]
|0.65<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.65|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2300}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|0.8<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|0.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-2250}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[New Kingdom of Egypt]]
|1.0<ref name="Taagepera1978">{{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}}</ref>
|{{convert|1.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1450}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Shang dynasty]]
|1.25<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|1.25|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-1122}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]
|1.4<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|{{convert|1.4|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-670}}<ref name="Taagepera1978" />
|-
|[[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.<ref name="MediaAndItsDiscontents" /> 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.<ref name="Taagepera1978" /><ref name="Taagepera1979" />}}
|2.8<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|2.8|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-585}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|3.6<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|3.6|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-539}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|5.5<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|5.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-500}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Xiongnu Empire]]
|9.0<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|{{convert|9.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|-176}}<ref name="Taagepera1979" />
|-
|[[Umayyad Caliphate]]
|11.1<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|11.1|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|720}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Mongol Empire]]
|13.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|13.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|1227}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|24.0<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|24.0|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|1309}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[British Empire]]
|24.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|24.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|1880}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
|35.5<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|{{convert|35.5|km2|mi2|2|disp=number}}
|{{Date table sorting|1920}}<ref name="Taagepera1997" />
|-
| 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<br>as largest empire
! class="unsortable" rowspan="2" |Approximate period<ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
|-
! class="unsortable" |Million km<sup>2</sup><ref name="Taagepera1978a" />
! class="unsortable" |Million sq mi
|-
|[[Upper and Lower Egypt|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.<ref name="MediaAndItsDiscontents" /> If the largest empire in the year 600 BC was not the Median Empire, it was [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|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|thumb|right|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi"
!Empire
!Empire population<br>as percentage of<br>world population<ref name="OxfordPopulation">{{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}}</ref>
!Year<ref name="OxfordPopulation"/>
|-
|[[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 ==
* [[Lists of political and geographic subdivisions by total area]]
* [[List of countries and dependencies by area]]
* [[List of countries and dependencies by population]]
* [[Political history of the world]]

== 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}}
[[Category:Empires|*]]
[[Category:Former empires|*]]
[[Category:Lists by area|Empires]]
[[Category:Lists of countries by geography|Empires, largest]]
[[Category:History-related lists of superlatives|Empires]]
[[Category:Largest things]]