Reading time: 8 minutes
While very few exist today, the world’s history books are filled with hundreds of thousands of empires, ranging from a handful of islands to near-global domination.
A select few stand as the most infamous, such as the Roman Empire or the British Empire, yet many of history’s largest empires are less well-known. So, what were the world’s largest empires across history?
The true list depends entirely on how you measure “large,” though a select few empires repeatedly find themselves near the top of every list. One of the most common measurements is total land territory – a map’s view of history. Yet, you could also measure “largest” by total population, or even percentage of the world population at the time.
To give you a broader view of the “largest” empires in every sense, here’s a general list of seven of history’s largest empires, and what measurement puts them so high in the standings.
Second French Colonial Empire
Through strong economies and advanced technology, many of Europe’s colonial empires quickly became exceedingly large. As one of Europe’s consistent major powers, it comes as no surprise the French Empire, specifically the 2nd French Colonial Empire that emerged in the early 1800s and peaked in the 1930s, makes its way onto this list.
France remained a global superpower for several centuries, and at its peak the French Empire controlled roughly 11.5 million square kilometres of territory.
As a colonial power, most of this was not connected to the home country.
Instead, France’s Empire mostly consisted of West Africa and large parts of South East Asia, often referred to as Indochina during the period.
Spanish Empire
Like France, Spain quickly established itself as a key colonial power in the age of discovery, seeking out new trade routes, and then conquering land and establishing settlements. After all, there’s a reason half of Central and South America speak Spanish.
While the French Empire’s peak arrived at the time of the World Wars, Spain established its dominance around a century earlier, reaching its territorial heights in the early 1800s at a staggering 13.7 million square kilometres, or around 10% of the world’s total land area. Most of this was in the Americas, with Spain holding vast territories not only in South America but also in North America, before the emergence and expansion of the USA.
Russian Empire
Standing slightly larger than the previous two empires, the Russian Empire reached its peak with a total land area of 22.8 million square kilometres, or roughly a sixth of the world’s total landmass. Unlike the previous colonial empires, Russia’s land empire was contiguous – meaning that you could walk from one end of its territory to the other without crossing an ocean or border.
Even after the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Soviet Revolution, Russia today still stands as the largest country on Earth by land mass, stretching across two continents, multiple time zones, and hundreds of distinct cultures and ethnic groups.
Qing Dynasty
While still a huge land empire with 14.7 million square kilometres under its control, the Qing Dynasty’s true claim to the largest empire list is its huge population.
While the 20th and 21st Century have been “Western” dominated, for most of history China has been the true world power. Established in 1644, the Great Qing were China’s final imperial dynasty (for now), and lasted for almost 300 years, falling only in 1912.
At its most populous, the Qing Dynasty was home to almost 400 million people in the mid 1800s, making up roughly 37% of the world’s total population. Despite being a smaller empire territorially than Russia, it is rarely true that land is the only measure of strength and size.
As such, the Qing Dynasty makes its way onto the fourth spot of our list, thanks to its balanced strengths of territorial size and world population percentage.
The Mongol Empire
One of the most famous empires in history, the Mongols easily claim the top spot for the largest continuous (unbroken) land empire ever established. Emerging out of the Mongolian steppes north of China, the Mongols under the direction of Chinggis Khan (known as Genghis Khan), conquered much of the known world, though despite its successes it would be one of the shortest-lived empires on this list, fragmenting upon the Khan’s death.
Dwarfing other famous empires such as the Romans, Ottomans, and others, the Mongol Empire at its greatest extent reached a size of 24 million square miles. Stretching from the Eastern shores of the pacific to the warm waters of the Mediterranean, and from the cold northern steppes of Russia to the temperate climate of India, Chinggis Khan’s swift invasions had brought 17.81% of the world’s land mass under his control.
Though lasting only 40 years, from 1270 to 1309, the Mongol empire either conquered or reached almost all major civilizations not in the Americas – an impressive feat in a time before deep ocean capabilities.
The Persian Empire
When it comes to land area, the Persian Empire – or more accurately the Achaemenid Empire established under Cyrus the Great – would barely reach the top 20th spot of largest empires.
Despite this, for its time the Achaemenid Empire was the largest the world had ever seen. Lasting around 200 years from 559 BCE to 330 BCE, the empire would reach its largest extent, controlling 5.5 million square kilometres, under Darius the Great.
Impressive, but lacking compared to others on this list. So why is it here?
Population. Or, more accurately, share of population. It is estimated that with over 49 million inhabitants within its borders, the great Persian Empire made up 44% of the total world population of 112.4 million in 480 BCE, by far the largest share of world population in history.
It could even be argued that by this metric, the Achaemenid Empire should be first – however the accuracy of these numbers is debatable. When looking back to 500 BCE, records of human populations are at best informed estimates, meaning we cannot be certain about the mighty “44%” claim.
The British Empire
The British Empire.
Controversial. Famous. And extremely, unbelievably large.
It was often said that “the sun never sets on the British Empire,” and though Britain was not the first empire to be described in this way, it certainly owned the phrase. Starting as a small island nation, Britain naturally developed its naval capabilities for both defence and offence, and when the age of colonialism arrived it was well-poised to take advantage.
At its greatest territorial extent in 1920, just after winning the First World War, Britain controlled 35.5 million square kilometres of land, equating to over a quarter of the world at 26.35%.
Large swathes of this land was held in Africa, as well as controlling the Indian subcontinent.
Even in terms of population, Britain still controlled 23% of the world’s total and had huge spheres of influence elsewhere. Though Britain could not maintain this amount of territory for long, it remained a significant world power for several hundred years, solidifying itself as one of history’s greatest empires.
What do you think is the most important metric for ranking the world’s largest Empires? Land mass, population, or something else?
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