List of largest empires

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

Measurement details

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

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

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

Debates regarding definition of imperial domains

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

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

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

Many of history’s empires have fragmented into successor states, and the timepoint of this fragmentation (which can bear substantially on estimations of an empire’s size) is often debatable. For example, the Islamic Empire that arose following the spread of Muhammad’s small state in 7th century southern Arabia, and the conquests of Caliph Umar, attained a vast expanse from Spain and Morocco in the west, out to Central Asia and northern India in the east. However, internal feuding among ruling figures in the empire led it to fragment into several states under separate administrations, such as the Umayyads (whose rule continued in Spain after it collapsed elsewhere), Abbasids, Ayyubids, Mamluks and many others. These were in addition to a variety of other Muslim states in Sudan, Indonesia and elsewhere that later arose outside of the main Islamic Empires, through trade and other contacts. Thus, the size of these empires vary depending on how “membership” in the empire is defined—as being under a single administration, accepting a particular ruler or following the dictates of the Caliph (which technically, Sunni Muslims in general were expected to do).

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

Finally, many of history’s empires have had unusual arrangements among multiple powers, such as joint rule by several authorities, layers of rule (with different powers assuming different levels of administrative authority), territorial division with blurred boundaries or other forms of empire without a single obvious central authority. For example, the Manchus, who established the Qing Dynasty in 17th-century China, also conquered nomadic lands to the north, including Mongolia. The Manchus increasingly merged with the Chinese population over the centuries, so that the administration took on both Manchu and Chinese features with no clear division among them. The Mongol chieftains of Outer Mongolia in particular, pledged loyalty to the Manchus but retained substantial autonomy, and when the Q’ing Dynasty collapsed in the early 1900’s, the status of Outer Mongolia relative to the new Chinese state became unclear. Britain had a very complicated arrangement with Egypt and Sudan. Egyptian forces defeated the British in the Alexandria Expedition in 1807, but in the wake of this, British officials exerted varying degrees of sway in Egypt especially by the late 1800’s, with the French also assuming a role in the Suez Canal territory. Sudan, in turn, was technically a colony of the Egyptians, but the British exerted de facto sway on Sudan indirectly via Egypt. Thus, accounts vary on the imperial status (or lack thereof) of both Egypt and Sudan. Lastly, in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution, many nations took on a Communist character and attached themselves to the global Communist center of the Soviet Union. Mongolia, North Korea, and China following Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, all took guidance from the Soviet Union especially in the years just after their Communist transformations. The Soviet Union also exercised varying control over Eastern Europe via the Warsaw Pact even though the Pact countries were formally independent, while Communist nations in Africa and Latin America also sought Soviet guidance. Depending on whether and which of these are considered members of the Soviet Empire, the USSR in the late 1940’s or subsequent decades may also be considered as the world’s largest, even bigger than the Mongol Empire under Kublai Khan.

Therefore, the lists of largest empires below represent merely a sample of possible rankings depending on the specific criteria used to define an empire. If stringent definitions were used, then many empires, such as the British Empire in particular, would fall substantially in rankings in terms of both geographical size and population. Likewise, either the Mongol Empire under Kublai or the Soviet Empire, at various points from the 1940’s, could be deemed the world’s largest depending on what is regarded to constitute their imperial domains and administration.

Largest empires by landmass

Ancient empires

1. Achaemenid Persian Empire - 7.5 million km² (under Darius the Great)
2. Sassanid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Khosrau II)
3. Han Chinese Empire - 6.0 million km²
4. Macedonian Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Alexander the Great)
5. Roman Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Emperor Trajan)
6. Maurya Indian Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Ashoka the Great)
7. Gupta Indian Empire - 4.5 million km² (under Chandragupta II in 400)
8. Hunnic Empire - 4 million km² (under Attila the Hun in 441)
9. Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km²
10. Xiongnu Empire - 3.5 million km²
11. Qin Chinese Empire - 3.26 million km²
12. Parthian Empire - 2.84 million km² (Under Mithridates II 123–88 BCE)
13. Median Empire - 2.8 million km²
14. Neo-Assyrian Empire - 1.4 million km²
15. Aksumite Empire - 1.25 million km²
16. Satavahana - 1 million km²
17. Egyptian Empire - 1 million km²
18. Akkadian Empire - 650,000 km²
19. Magadha - 650,000 km²
20. Hittite Empire - 510,000 km²
21. Neo-Babylonian Empire - 500,000 km²
22. Armenian Empire - 400,000 km²

Medieval empires

- Holy Roman Empire - largest area currently unknown (962-1806)

1. Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Khublai Khan in 1268)
2. Umayyad Arab Empire - 13.2 million km²
3. Qing Dynasty - 11.3 million km²
4. Abbasid Arab Empire- 10 million km ²
5. Rashidun Arab Empire - 9 million km² (under Caliph Uthman in 654)
6. Sassanid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
7. Ming Chinese Empire - 5.5 million km²
8. Tang Chinese Empire - 5.4 million km²
9. Mughal Empire - 5 million km² (under Aurangzeb in 1690)
10. Pala Empire - 4.6 million km² (under Devapala)
11. Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire - 4.5 million km² (called themselves the Roman Empire)
12. Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km²
13. Chola Empire - 3.6 million km² (under Rajendra Chola I)
14. Ghaznavid Empire - 3.4 million km²
15. Delhi Sultanate - 3.2 million km²
16. Uyghur Khaganate - 3.2 million km²
17. Nirun Khaganate - 3.1 million km²
18. Kalmar Union - 3 million km²
19. Khazar Empire - 3 million km²
20. Inca Empire (Tahuantinsuyu) - 2 million km² (Under Atahualpa in 1532)
21. Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km² (in 1500)
22. Aksumite/Ethiopian Empire - 1.25 million km²
23. Chalukya dynasty- 1.2 million km²
24. Srivijaya Empire - 1.2 million km²
25. Frankish Empire - 1.2 million km²
26. Western Chalukya Empire - 1.2 million km²
27. Mali Empire - 1.1 million km²
28. Harsha's empire - 1 million km² (under Harsha Vardhana in 648)
29. Almoravid Empire - 1 million km²
30. Khmer Empire - 1 million km²
31. Maratha Empire - 1 million km² ( in 1760 )
32. Grand Duchy of Lithuania - 930,000 km² (under Vytautas the Great in 1430)
33. Bulgarian Empire - 700,000 km² (under Tsar Simeon I)
34. Vijayanagara Empire - 360,000 km²
35. Serbian Empire - 200,000 km²

Modern empires

1. British Empire - 36.6 million km² (under George V in 1922)
2. Russian Empire - 24.8 million km² (under Nicholas I in 1855) - including Alaska
3. Spanish Empire - 20 million km² (under Charles III)
4. Qing Chinese Empire - 13 million km² (under Qianlong)
5. French colonial empire - 12.5 million km²
6. Portuguese Empire - 12.4 million km²
7. Ottoman Empire - 11.5 million km² (under Mehmed IV [including autonomous indirect ruled lands] in 1680)
8. United States of America - 10 million km² (1898-1902 and 1906-1908)
9. Brazilian Empire - 8.1 million km²
10. Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km² (during World War II)
11. Mughal Empire - 5 million km²
12. Mexican Empire - 4.4 million km²
13. Italian Empire - 3.8 million km² (during World War II)
14. Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km²
15. Third Reich - 3.6 million km² (during World War II)
16. German Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Wilhelm II before World War I)
17. Afsharid Empire - 3.32 million km² (under Nadir Shah)
18. Safavid Persian/Iranian Empire - 2.85 million km²
19. Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km²
20. Qajar Persian/Iranian Empire- 2.3 million km²
21. Thai Empire / Siamese Empire - 1.12 million km² (under Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke in 1782)
22. Swedish Empire - 1.1 million km² (under Charles X Gustav in 1658)
23. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 990,000 km² (under Sigismund III in 1619)
24. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 676,615 km²
25. Sikh Empire - 560,900 km² (under Maharajah Sher Singh before First Anglo-Sikh War in 1845)
26. Korean Empire - 220,186 km²

All empires

1. British Empire - 36.6 million km² (under George V in 1922) - 24.6% of the Earth's total land area
2. Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Kublai Khan in 1268)
3. Russian Empire - 24.8 million km² (under Alexander II in 1866) - including Alaska
4. Spanish Empire - 20 million km² (under King Charles III r. 1759-1788)
5. Umayyad Arab Caliphate - 13.2 million km² (under Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik r. 723-743)
6. Qing Empire - 13 million km² (under Emperor Qianlong r. 1735-1796)
7. French Empire - 12.5 million km² (under President Albert Lebrun in 1938)
8. Portuguese Empire - 12.4 million km²
9. Ottoman Empire - 11.5 million km² (under Mehmed IV [including autonomous indirect ruled lands] in 1680))
10. United States of America - 10 million km² (1898-1902 and 1906-1908)
11. Abbasid Empire Arab caliphate - 10 million km²
12. Rashidun Arab caliphate - 9 million km² (under Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan r. 644-656)
13. Brazilian Empire - 8.1 million km²
14. Achaemenid Persian Empire - 7.5 million km² (under Darius the Great)
15. Japanese Empire - 6.9 million km² (during World War II, under the Showa Emperor)
16. Sassanid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
17. Ming Empire - 6.5 million km² (under the Jingtai Emperor in 1450)
18. Han Empire - 6.0 million km²
19. Macedonian Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Alexander the Great)
20. Maurya Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Ashoka the Great)
21. Roman Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Emperor Trajan)
22. Tang Empire - 5.4 million km² (under the Xuanzong Emperor in 715)
23. Mughal Empire - 5 million km² (under Aurangzeb in 1690)
24. Pala Empire - 4.6 million km² (under Devapala)
25. Byzantine Empire (under Justinian I) - 4.5 million km²
26. Gupta Empire - 4.5 million km² (under Chandragupta II in 400)
27. Mexican Empire - 4.4 million km²
28. Timurid Empire - 4.4 million km²
29. Hunnic Empire - 4 million km² (under Attila the Hun in 441)
30. Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km²
31. Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km²
32. Italian Empire - 3.8 million km² (during World War II)
33. Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km²
34. Chola Empire - 3.6 million km² (under Rajendra Chola I)
35. Nazi German Empire - 3.6 million km² (during World War II)
36. German Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Wilhelm II before World War I)
37. Ghaznavid Empire - 3.4 million km²
38. Afsharid Empire - 3.23 million km² (under Nadir Shah)
39. Delhi Sultanate - 3.2 million km²
40. Kalmar Union - 3 million km²
41. Khazar Empire - 3 million km²
42. Safavid Empire - 2.85 million km²
43. Parthian Empire - 2.84 million km² (Under Mithridates II 123–88 BCE)
44. Median Empire - 2.8 million km²
45. Denmark-Norway Including Greenland - 2.6 million km²
46. Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km²
47. Qajar Empire - 2.3 million km²
48. Incan Empire - 2 million km² (Under Atahualpa in 1532)
49. Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km² (in 1500)
50. Neo-Assyrian Empire - 1.4 million km²
51. Aksumite Empire - 1.25 million km²
52. Chalukya dynasty - 1.25 million km²
53. Srivijaya Empire - 1.2 million km²
54. Frankish Empire - 1.2 million km²
55. Western Chalukya Empire - 1.2 million km²
56. Thai Empire - 1.12 million km² (under Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke in 1782)
57. Mali Empire - 1.1 million km²
58. Swedish Empire - 1.1 million km² (under Charles X Gustav in 1658)
59. Satavahana - 1 million km²
60. Maratha Empire- 1 million km²
61. Harsha Empire - 1 million km² (under Harsha Vardhana in 648)
62. Egyptian Empire - 1 million km²
63. Almoravid Empire - 1 million km²
64. Khmer Empire - 1 million km²
65. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 990,000 km² (under Sigismund III in 1619)
66. Grand Duchy of Lithuania - 930,000 km² (under Vytautas the Great in 1430)
67. Bulgarian Empire - 700,000 km² (under Tsar Simeon I)
68. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 676,615 km²
69. Akkadian Empire - 650,000 km²
70. Hittite Empire - 610,000 km²
71. Durrani Empire - 600,000 km²
72. Neo-Babylonian Empire - 500,000 km²
73. Armenian Empire - 400,000 km²
74. Vijayanagara Empire - 360,000 km²
75. Korean Empire - 220,186 km²
76. Serbian Empire - 200,000 km²

Contiguous empires

1. Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Khublai Khan in 1268)
2. Russian Empire - 24.6 million km² (under Alexander II in 1866). (Includes Alaska across the Bering Strait).
3. Umayyad Arab caliphate - 13.2 million km² (Includes Al-Andulus across Strait of Gibraltar).
4. Qing Empire - 13 million km² (under Emperor Qianlong)
5. Ottoman Empire - 11.5 million km² (under Mehmed IV [including autonomous indirect ruled lands] in 1680)
6. Rashidun Arab caliphate - 9 million km² (under Caliph Uthman in 654)
7. Brazilian Empire - 8.1 million km²
8. Achaemenid Persian Empire - 7.5 million km² (under Darius the Great)
9. Sassanid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
10. Ming Empire - 6.5 million km²
11. Han Empire - 6.00 million km²
12. Macedonian Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Alexander the Great)
13. Maurya Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Ashoka the Great)
14. Roman Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Emperor Trajan)
15. Tang Empire - 5.4 million km²
16. Mughal Empire - 5 million km² (under Aurangzeb in 1690)
17. Pala Empire - 4.6 million km² (under Devapala)
18. Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire - 4.5 million km²
19. Gupta Empire - 4.5 million km² (under Chandragupta II in 400)
20. Mexican Empire - 4.4 million km²
21. Hunnic Empire - 4 million km² (under Attila the Hun in 441)
22. Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km²
23. Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km²
24. Nazi German Empire - 3.6 million km² (during World War II)
25. Ghaznavid Empire - 3.4 million km²
26. Afsharid Empire - 3.23 million km² (under Nadir Shah)
27. Delhi Sultanate - 3.2 million km²
28. Khazar Empire - 3 million km²
29. Safavid Empire - 2.85 million km²
30. Parthian Empire - 2.84 million km² (Under Mithridates II 123–88 BCE)
31. Median Empire - 2.8 million km²
32. Qajar Empire - 2.3 million km²
33. Tahuantinsuyu - 2 million km² (Under Atahualpa in 1532)
34. Neo-Assyrian Empire - 1.4 million km²
35. Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km² (in 1500)
36. Aksumite Empire - 1.25 million km²
37. Frankish Empire - 1.2 million km²
38. Thai Empire - 1.12 million km² (under Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke in 1782)
39. Mali Empire - 1.1 million km²
40. Harsha Empire - 1 million km² (under Harsha Vardhana in 648)
41. Egyptian Empire - 1 million km²
42. Almoravid Empire - 1 million km²
43. Khmer Empire - 1 million km²

Maritime empires

1. British Empire - 36.6 million km² (under King Emperor George V in 1922)
2. Spanish Empire - 19 million km² (under King Charles III)
3. French Empire - 12.5 million km²
4. Portuguese Empire - 12.4 million km²
5. United States of America - 10 million km² (1898-1902 and 1906-1908)
6. Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km² (during World War II)
7. Italian Empire - 3.8 million km² (during World War II)
8. Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km²
9. Chola Empire - 3.6 million km² (under Rajendra Chola I)
10. German Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Wilhelm II before World War I)
11. Tongan Empire - 3 million km² (15th century)
12. Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km²
13. Srivijaya Empire - 1.2 million km²

Largest empires by population

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

Population size

1. British Empire - 531.3 million (in 1938)
2. Qing Empire - 432 million (in 1912)
3. Russian Empire - 176.4 million (in 1913)
4. Mughal Empire - 175 million (in 1700)
5. Ming Empire - 160 million (in 1600)
6. Japanese Empire - 134.8 million (in 1938)
7. French Empire - 112.9 million (in 1938)
8. Mongol Empire - 110 million (in the 13th century)
9. Dutch Empire had 80 million people living within its boundaries in 1940.
10. Achaemenid Persian Empire - 70-80 million (in the 4th century BC)
11. Nazi German Empire - 75.4 million (in 1938)
12. Roman Empire - 70 million (in 1st century AD)
13. Spanish Empire - 64.2 million
14. Umayyad Arab Empire - 62 million (in the 7th century)
15. Han Empire - 60 million (in 2 AD)
16. Song Empire - 59 million (in 1000)
17. Italian Empire - 51.9 million (in 1938)
18. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 50.6 million (in 1913)
19. Maurya Empire - 50 million (in the 2nd century BC)
20. Mali Empire - Between 40 and 50 million (in mid 15th century)
21. Rashidun Arab Empire - 40.3 million (in the 7th century)
22. Ottoman Empire - 39 million (in the 17th century)
23. Belgian Empire - 35.3 million (before Congolese independence, 1960)
24. Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire - 34 million (5th-6th centuries)
25. Korean Empire - 27.0 million (in 1907)
26. Vijayanagara Empire - 25 million (in the 16th century)
27. Portuguese Empire - 24.3 million (in 1973)

for comparison the worlds two largest nations People's Republic of China - 1.33 billion (in 2008) and Republic of India - 1.147 billion (in 2008)

Percentage of world population

1. Achaemenid Persian Empire - 46.0% (70-80 million out of 152 million in the 4th century BC)
2. Qing Empire - 36.6% (381 million out of 1.041 billion in 1820)
3. Maurya Empire - 33.3% (50 million out of 150 million in the 2nd century BC)
4. Roman Empire - 31.0% (70 million out of 226 million in the 1st century AD)
5. Umayyad Arab Empire - 29.5% (62 million out of 210 million in the 7th century)
6. Mughal Empire - 29.2% (175 million out of 600 million in 1700)
7. Ming Empire - 28.8% (160 million out of 556.2 million in 1600)
8. Han Empire - 26.5% (59.6 million out of 226 million in 2 AD)
9. Mongol Empire - 25.6% (110 million out of 429 million in the 13th century)
10. British Empire - 23.15% (531.3 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
11. Song Empire - 22% (59 million out of 268 million in 1000)
12. Rashidun Arab Empire - 19.19% (40.3 million out of 210 million in 7th century)
13. Spanish Empire - 12.3% (68.2 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
14. Russian Empire - 9.8% (176.4 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
15. Ottoman Empire - 7.1% (39 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
16. Japanese Empire - 5.9% (134.8 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
17. Vijayanagara Empire - 5.7% (25 million out of 438 million in the 16th century)
18. Soviet Union - 5.5% (286,717,000 out of 5.175 billion in 1989)
19. French Empire - 4.9% (112.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
20. Nazi German Empire - 3.3% (75.4 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
21. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 2.8% (50.6 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
22. Italian Empire - 2.3% (51.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
23. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 1.9% (10.5 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
24. Korean Empire - 1.0% (17 million out of 1,700 billion in 1907)
25. Portuguese Empire - 0.8% (14.7 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)

Largest empires by economy

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

GDP size

1. American Empire - $1,644.8 billion (in 1945)
2. British Empire - $683.3 billion (in 1938)
3. Nazi German Empire - $375.6 billion (in 1938)
4. Japanese Empire - $260.7 billion (in 1938)
5. Russian Empire - $257.7 billion (in 1913)
6. Qing Empire - $241.3 billion (GDP decline to 1912, immediately before its downfall)
7. French Empire - $234.1 billion (in 1938)
8. Italian Empire - $143.4 billion (in 1938)
9. Austro-Hungarian Empire - $100.5 billion (in 1913)
10. Mughal Empire - $90.8 billion (GDP decline in 1700)
11. Ottoman Empire - $26.4 billion (in 1913)
12. Portuguese Empire - $12.6 billion (in 1913)

Percentage of world GDP

1. American Empire - 35% ($1,644.8 billion out of $4,699 billion in 1945)
2. Qing Empire - 32.9% ($228.6 billion out of $694.4 billion in 1820)
3. Mughal Empire - 24.5% ($90.8 billion out of $371 billion in 1700)
4. British Empire - 23.8% ($265 billion out of $1,111 billion in 1870)
5. Russian Empire - 9.4% ($257.7 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
6. Nazi German Empire - 8.3% ($375.6 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
7. Japanese Empire - 5.8% ($260.7 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
8. French Empire - 5.2% ($234.1 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
9. Austro-Hungarian Empire - 3.7% ($100.5 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
10. Italian Empire - 3.2% ($143.4 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
11. Ottoman Empire - 1% ($26.4 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
12. Portuguese Empire - 0.5% ($12.6 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)

See also

• Empire
• Global empire
• List of empires
• List of countries by area
• List of countries by GDP
• List of countries by population
• List of extinct states
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• European Empires
• African Empires
• The World Economy: Historical Statistics

Bibliography

• Jonathan M. Adams, Thomas D. Hall and Peter Turchin (2004). East-West Orientation of Historical Empires. University of Connecticut.
• J. Beloch (1886), Die Bevölkerung der griechisch–römischen Welt, Duncker and Humblot, Leipzig.
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External links

• Flash animation: Imperial History of the Middle East