List of largest empires

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

Definition

An empire is a state that extends dominion over areas and populations distinct culturally and ethnically from the culture/ethnicity at the center of power. Often, there is an emperor at the head of an empire. Often it can be difficult to decide if a state is an empire. For example, this article considers the United States as of 1942 to be an empire because it ruled the Philippines, but does not consider modern China an empire even though it rules Tibet and Xinjiang.

Difficulties in measuring and comparing empires

Empires are all individual in character, having been formed in widely different times under widely different political structures. In fact, the term Empire as stated above does not imply any particular form of government. Whether a nation is or was called an empire is also not relevant to whether it is considered an empire for the purposes of this article.

The calculation of the land area of a particular empire is controversial. In particular, there is the question of whether a particular empire can be considered to have laid claim to an area that is sparsely populated, or not populated at all. In general, this list errs on the side of including any land area that was explored and explicitly claimed, even if the areas were very sparsely populated or unpopulated. For example, a large portion of Northern Siberia is not included in the size of 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.

Largest empires by landmass

Ancient empires

# Achaemenid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Darius the Great)
# Han Chinese Empire - 6 million km²
# Roman Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Emperor Trajan)
# Macedonian Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Alexander the Great)
# Maurya Indian Empire - 5 million km² (under Ashoka the Great)
# Hunnic Empire - 4 million km² (under Attila the Hun in 441)
# Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km²
# Xiongnu Empire - 3.5 million km²
# Gupta Indian Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Chandragupta II in 400)
# Sassanid Persian Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
# Parthian Empire - 2.84 million km² (Under Mithridates II 123–88 BCE)
# Median Empire - 2.8 million km²
# Neo-Assyrian Empire - 1.4 million km²
# Aksumite Empire - 1.25 million km²
# Egyptian Empire - 1 million km²
# Akkadian Empire - 650,000 km²
# Hittite Empire - 510,000 km²
# Neo-Babylonian Empire - 500,000 km²
# Armenian Empire - 400,000 km²

Medieval empires

# Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Khublai Khan in 1268)
# Umayyad Arab Empire - 13.2 million km²
# Abbasid Arab Empire- 10 million km ²
# Rashidun Arab Empire - 9 million km² (under Caliph Uthman in 654)
# Ming Chinese Empire - 6.5 million km²
# Tang Chinese Empire - 5.4 million km²
# Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire - 4.5 million km² (called themselves the Roman Empire)
# Mughal Empire - 4 million km² (under Aurangzeb in 1690)
# Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km²
# Sassanid Persian Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
# Ghaznavid Empire - 3.4 million km²
# Pala Empire - 3.2 million km² (under Devapala)
# Delhi Sultanate - 3.2 million km²
# Uyghur Khaganate - 3.2 million km²
# Nirun Khaganate - 3.1 million km²
# Kalmar Union - 3 million km²
# Khazar Empire - 3 million km²
# Chola Empire - 2.6 million km² (under Rajendra Chola I)
# Inca Empire ("Tahuantinsuyu") - 2 million km² (Under Atahualpa in 1532)
# Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km² (in 1500) [Hunwick, page xlix]
# Aksumite/Ethiopian Empire - 1.25 million km²
# Srivijaya Empire - 1.2 million km²
# Frankish Empire - 1.2 million km²
# Mali Empire - 1.1 million km²
# Harsha's empire - 1 million km² (under Harsha Vardhana in 648)
# Almoravid Empire - 1 million km²
# Khmer Empire - 1 million km²
# Maratha Empire - 1 million km² ( in 1760 )
# Grand Duchy of Lithuania - 930,000 km² (under Vytautas the Great in 1430)
# Bulgarian Empire - 700,000 km² (under Tsar Simeon I)
# Vijayanagara Empire - 360,000 km²
# Serbian Empire - 200,000 km²

Modern empires

# British Empire - 36.6 million km² (under George V in 1922)
# Russian Empire - 24.8 million km² (under Nicholas I in 1855) - including Alaska [http://my.raex.com/~obsidian/earthrul.html Bruce R. Gordon] (2005) verify credibility|date=April 2008.]
# Spanish Empire - 19 million km² (under Charles III)
# Qing Chinese Empire - 13 million km² (under Qianlong)
# French colonial empire - 12.5 million km²
# Portuguese Empire - 12.4 million km²
# Ottoman Empire - 11.5 million km² (under Mehmed IV [including autonomous indirect ruled lands] in 1680)
# United States of America - 10 million km² (1898-1902 and 1906-1908)
# Brazilian Empire - 8.1 million km²
# Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km² (during World War II)
# Mughal Empire - 4 million km²
# Italian Empire - 3.8 million km² (during World War II)
# Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km²
# Third Reich - 3.6 million km² (during World War II)
# German Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Wilhelm II before WWI)
# Afsharid Empire - 3.32 million km² (under Nadir Shah)
# Safavid Persian/Iranian Empire - 2.85 million km²
# Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km²
# Qajar Persian/Iranian Empire- 2.3 million km²
# Thai Empire / Siamese Empire - 1.12 million km² (under Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke in 1782)
# Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 990,000 km² (under Sigismund III in 1619)
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - 676,615 km²
# Korean Empire - 220,186 km²

All empires

# British Empire - 36.6 million km² (under George V in 1922)
# Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² [http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/people/turchin/PDF/Latitude.pdf Adams, Hall and Turchin] (2004).] (under Kublai Khan in 1268)
# Russian Empire - 24.8 million km² (under Alexander II in 1866) - including Alaska
# Spanish Empire - 19 million km² (under King Charles III r. 1759-1788)
# Umayyad Arab Caliphate - 13.2 million km² (under Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik r. 723-743)
# Qing Empire - 13 million km² [Wudi (2005) at All Empires estimates 12 million km². Wood (2006) at the Royal Academy also estimates 12 million km². Turchin, Adams and Hall (2004) estimate 14.7 million km². Gordon (2005) estimates 12 million km².] (under Emperor Qianlong)
# French Empire - 12.5 million km² (under President Albert Lebrun in 1938)
# Portuguese Empire - 12.4 million km²
# Ottoman Empire - 11.5 million km² (under Mehmed IV [including autonomous indirect ruled lands] in 1680)
# United States of America - 10 million km² [This estimate for the United States of America is based on the combined area of the United States, plus the areas of Philippines and Cuba, over which the U.S. acquired sovereignty in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American war. Self-government was restored to Cuba in 1906, and to the Philippines in 1934.] "see American Empire" (1898-1934)
# Rashidun Arab caliphate - 9 million km² (under Caliph Uthman Ibn Affan r. 644-656)Tarikh al-Tabari]
# Empire of Brazil - 8.1 million km²
# Japanese Empire - 6.9 million km² (during World War II, under the Showa Emperor)
# Achaemenid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² [British Museum (2005). [http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/persia/people.html "Forgotten Empire: the world of Ancient Persia".] ] (under Darius the Great)
# Ming Empire - 6.5 million km² (under the Jingtai Emperor in 1450)
# Han Empire - 6 million km²
# Macedonian Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Alexander the Great)
# Roman Empire - 5.9 million km² (under Emperor Trajan)
# Tang Empire - 5.4 million km² (under the Xuanzong Emperor in 715)
# Maurya Empire - 5 million km² (under Ashoka the Great)
# Mughal Empire - 5 million km² (under Aurangzeb in 1690)
# Byzantine Empire (under Justinian I) - 4.5 million km²
# Timurid Empire - 4.4 million km²
# Hunnic Empire - 4 million km² (under Attila the Hun in 441)
# Mexican Empire - 4 million km²
# Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km²
# Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km²
# Italian Empire - 3.8 million km² (during World War II)
# Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km²
# Nazi German Empire - 3.6 million km² (during World War II)
# German Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Wilhelm II before WWI)
# Gupta Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Chandragupta II in 400)
# Sassanid Persian Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
# Ghaznavid Empire - 3.4 million km²
# Afsharid Empire - 3.23 million km² (under Nadir Shah)
# Pala Empire - 3.2 million km² (under Devapala)
# Delhi Sultanate - 3.2 million km²
# Kalmar Union - 3 million km²
# Khazar Empire - 3 million km²
# Safavid Empire - 2.85 million km²
# Parthian Empire - 2.84 million km² (Under Mithridates II 123–88 BCE)
# Median Empire - 2.8 million km²
# Chola Empire - 2.6 million km² [This estimate for the Chola Empire is derived from the combined area of the Srivijaya Empire, South India, East India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Southern Thailand, Bago Division of Burma, Lakshadweep, the Maldives, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.] (under Rajendra Chola I)
# Denmark-Norway Including Greenland - 2.6 million km²
# Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km²
# Qajar Empire - 2.3 million km²
# Incan Empire - 2 million km² (Under Atahualpa in 1532)
# Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km² (in 1500) [Hunwick, John O.: "Timbuktu and the Songahy Empire: Al-Sa’di’s Ta’rikh Al-sudan Down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents", page xlix. Brill Academic Publishers, 2003]
# Neo-Assyrian Empire - 1.4 million km²
# Aksumite Empire - 1.25 million km²
# Srivijaya Empire - 1.2 million km²
# Frankish Empire - 1.2 million km²
# Thai Empire - 1.12 million km² (under Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke in 1782)
# Mali Empire - 1.1 million km²
# Swedish Empire - 1.1 million km² (under Charles X Gustav in 1658)
# Maratha Empire- 1 million km²
# Harsha Empire - 1 million km² (under Harsha Vardhana in 648)
# Egyptian Empire - 1 million km²
# Almoravid Empire - 1 million km²
# Khmer Empire - 1 million km²
# Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 990,000 km² (under Sigismund III in 1619)
# Grand Duchy of Lithuania - 930,000 km² (under Vytautas the Great in 1430)
# Bulgarian Empire - 700,000 km² (under Tsar Simeon I)
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - 676,615 km² Broadberry and Harrison (2005).]
# Akkadian Empire - 650,000 km²Chase-Dunn, Álvarez and Pasciuti (2002, p. 8-9).]
# Hittite Empire - 610,000 km²
# Durrani Empire - 600,000 km²
# Neo-Babylonian Empire - 500,000 km²
# Armenian Empire - 400,000 km²
# Vijayanagara Empire - 360,000 km²Sinopoli (2003, p. 82)]
# Korean Empire - 220,186 km²
# Serbian Empire - 200,000 km²

Contiguous empires

# Mongol Empire - 33.2 million km² (under Khublai Khan in 1268)
# Umayyad Arab caliphate - 13.2 million km²
# Qing Empire - 13 million km² (under Emperor Qianlong)
# Ottoman Empire - 11.5 million km² (under Mehmed IV [including autonomous indirect ruled lands] in 1680)
# Rashidun Arab caliphate - 9 million km² (under Caliph Uthman in 654)
# Brazilian Empire - 8.1 million km²
# United States of America- 8.08 million km²
# Roman Empire - 6.9 million km² (under Emperor Trajan)
# Achaemenid Persian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Darius the Great)
# Ming Empire - 6.5 million km²
# Macedonian Empire - 6.5 million km² (under Alexander the Great)
# Han Empire - 6 million km²
# Tang Empire - 5.4 million km²
# Maurya Empire - 5 million km² (under Ashoka the Great)
# Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire - 4.5 million km²
# Mughal Empire - 4 million km² (under Aurangzeb in 1690)
# Hunnic Empire - 4 million km² (under Attila the Hun in 441)
# Mexican Empire - 4 million km²
# Seljuq Empire - 3.9 million km²
# Seleucid Empire - 3.9 million km²
# Nazi German Empire - 3.6 million km² (during World War II)
# Gupta Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Chandragupta II in 400)
# Sassanid Persian Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Khosrau II in 626)
# Ghaznavid Empire - 3.4 million km²
# Afsharid Empire - 3.23 million km² (under Nadir Shah)
# Pala Empire - 3.2 million km² (under Devapala)
# Delhi Sultanate - 3.2 million km²
# Khazar Empire - 3 million km²
# Safavid Empire - 2.85 million km²
# Parthian Empire - 2.84 million km² (Under Mithridates II 123–88 BCE)
# Median Empire - 2.8 million km²
# Qajar Empire - 2.3 million km²
# Tahuantinsuyu - 2 million km² (Under Atahualpa in 1532)
# Neo-Assyrian Empire - 1.4 million km²
# Songhai Empire - 1.4 million km² (in 1500) [Hunwick, John O.: "Timbuktu and the Songahy Empire: Al-Sa’di’s Ta’rikh Al-sudan Down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents", page xlix. Brill Academic Publishers, 2003]
# Aksumite Empire - 1.25 million km²
# Frankish Empire - 1.2 million km²
# Thai Empire - 1.12 million km² (under Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke in 1782)
# Mali Empire - 1.1 million km²
# Harsha Empire - 1 million km² (under Harsha Vardhana in 648)
# Egyptian Empire - 1 million km²
# Almoravid Empire - 1 million km²
# Khmer Empire - 1 million km²
# Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 990,000 km² (under Sigismund III in 1619)
# Bulgarian Empire - 700,000 km² (under Tsar Simeon I)
# Akkadian Empire - 650,000 km²
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - 600,000 km²
# Neo-Babylonian Empire - 500,000 km²
# Vijayanagara Empire - 360,000 km²
# Korean Empire - 220,186 km²
# Serbian Empire - 200,000 km²

Maritime empires

# British Empire - 36.6 million km² (under King Emperor George V in 1922)
# Spanish Empire - 19 million km² (under King Charles III)
# French Empire - 12.5 million km²
# Portuguese Empire - 12.4 million km²
# United States of America - 10 million km² (1898-1902 and 1906-1908)
# Japanese Empire - 7.4 million km² (during World War II)
# Italian Empire - 3.8 million km² (during World War II)
# Dutch Empire - 3.7 million km²
# German Empire - 3.5 million km² (under Wilhelm II before WWI)
# Tongan Empire - 3 million km² (15th century)
# Chola Empire - 2.6 million km² (under Rajendra Chola I)
# Belgian Empire - 2.5 million km²
# Srivijaya Empire - 1.2 million km²

Largest empires by population

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

Population size

# British Empire - 531.3 million (in 1938)Harrison (1998, pp. 3,7).]
# Qing Empire - 432 million (in 1912)Maddison (2006page number).]
# Russian Empire - 176.4 million (in 1913)
# Mughal Empire - 175 million (in 1700)Cite journal
issn = 0032-4663
volume = 34
issue = 1
pages = 13–25
last = Biraben
first = Jean-Noel
title = Essai sur l'evolution du nombre des hommes
journal = Population (French Edition)
date= 1979-01
doi = 10.2307/1531855]
# Ming Empire - 160 million (in 1600)
# United States of America - 146.4 million (in 1942)
# Japanese Empire - 134.8 million (in 1938)
# French Empire - 112.9 million (in 1938)
# Mongol Empire - 110 million (in the 13th century) [The combined population of China and Korea in the 13th century was 83 million in Biraben (2003page number). The combined population of Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq and Turkey was about 27 million in Maddison (2006page number).]
# Dutch Empire had 80 million people living within its boundaries in 1940.
# Nazi German Empire - 75.4 million (in 1938)
# Roman Empire - 65 million (in 1st century AD) [There are several different estimates for the Roman Empire. Scheidel (2006, p. 2) estimates 60 million. Goldsmith (1984, p. 263) estimates 55 million. Beloch (1886, p. 507) estimates 54 million. Maddison (2006, p. 51, 120) estimates 48 million. [http://www.unrv.com/empire/roman-population.php Roman Empire Population] estimates 65 million (while mentioning several other estimates between 45 million and 130 million).]
# Spanish Empire - 64.2 million [The combined population of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, United States and the Philippines was 29.2 million in Maddison (2006page number). The population of Latin America was 39 million in Biraben (2003page number), minus Brazil and its 4 million people with was a part of the portuguese empire..]
# Umayyad Arab Empire - 62 million (in the 7th century) [The combined population of Southwest Asia and North Africa was about 57 million in Biraben (2003page number). The combined population of Spain and Portugal was about 5 million in Maddison (2006page number).]
# Han Empire - 60 million (in 2 AD) [Han Dynasty Census recorded 60 million in 2 AD, according to Scheidel (2005, p. 37) and Yoon (1985).]
# Song Empire - 59 million (in 1000)
# Italian Empire - 51.9 million (in 1938)
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - 50.6 million (in 1913)
# Maurya Empire - 50 million (in the 2nd century BC) [Boesche (2003, p. 12)]
# Mali Empire - Between 40 and 50 million (in mid 15th century) [Walker, Sheila S.: "African roots/American cultures: Africa in the creation of the Americas", page 127. Rowman & Littlefield, 2001]
# Achaemenid Persian Empire - 42 million (in the 4th century BC)
# Rashidun Arab Empire - 40.3 million (in the 7th century) [The combined population of Middle East, North Africa and Sassanid Empire - 40+ million] [Biraben (2003)page number]
# Ottoman Empire - 39 million (in the 17th century) [Quataert (2005, p. 112).]
# Belgian Empire - 35.3 million (before Congolese independence, 1960)
# Byzantine Empire/Eastern Roman Empire - 34 million (5th-6th centuries) [Cite web| year=2007| url=http://www.tulane.edu/~august/H303/handouts/Population.htm| title=Early Medieval and Byzantine Civilization: Constantine to Crusades| accessdate=2007-02-25]
# Vijayanagara Empire - 25 million (in the 16th century)
# Portuguese Empire - 24.3 million (in 1973) [According to Portuguese official data, from the Instituto Nacional de Estatística, in 1973 there was a total of 24,265,893 persons permantely resident in territories under Portuguese sovereignty - 8,668,267 in Continental Portugal and adjacent islands of Madeira and the Azores (source: [http://inenetw02.ine.pt:8080/biblioteca/viewImage.do?me=view&key=supcod%3D1%26sercodg%3D1%26iddoc%3D3629%26pagini%3D18%26pags%3D7%26pos%3D1 INE, 11º Recensamento Geral da População, Lisboa, 1970] ), and 15,597,626 in the colonies (272,072 in Cape Verde; 487,448 in Portuguese Guinea; 73,631 in São Tomé and Príncipe; 5,673,046 in Angola; 8,233,834 in Mozambique; 248,118 in Macau; 609,477 in East Timor - source: [http://inenetw02.ine.pt:8080/biblioteca/viewImage.do?me=view&key=supcod%3D1%26sercodg%3D1%26iddoc%3D4613%26pagini%3D32%26pags%3D16%26pos%3D1 INE, Anuário Estatístico - Territórios Ultramarinos, Lisbon, 1973.] )]
# Korean Empire - 17.0 million (in 1907) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_in_1907]
# Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 10.5 million (in 1619)

for comparison the worlds two largest nations People's Republic of China - 1.33 billion (in 2008) [Cite web| year=2008| url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html| title=CIA - The World Factbook -- China | accessdate=2008-08-09] and Republic of India - 1.147 billion (in 2008) [Cite web| year=2008| url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html| title=CIA - The World Factbook -- India | accessdate=2008-08-09]

Percentage of world population

# Qing Empire - 36.6% (381 million out of 1.041 billion in 1820)
# Maurya Empire - 33.3% (50 million out of 150 millionMcEvedy and Jones (1978).] in the 2nd century BC)
# Umayyad Arab Empire - 29.5% (62 million out of 210 million in the 7th century)
# Mughal Empire - 29.2% (175 million out of 600 millionThomlinson (1975, Table 1).] in 1700)
# Ming Empire - 28.8% (160 million out of 556.2 million in 1600)
# Roman Empire - 28.7% (65 million out of 226 million in the 1st century AD)
# Achaemenid Persian Empire - 27.6% (42 million out of 152 million in the 4th century BC)
# Han Empire - 26.5% (59.6 million out of 226 million in 2 AD)
# Mongol Empire - 25.6% (110 million out of 429 million in the 13th century)
# British Empire - 23.15% (531.3 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
# Song Empire - 22% (59 million out of 268 million in 1000)
# Rashidun Arab Empire - 19.19% (40.3 million out of 210 million in 7th century)
# Spanish Empire - 12.3% (68.2 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
# Russian Empire - 9.8% (176.4 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
# Ottoman Empire - 7.1% (39 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
# United States of America - 6.4% (146.4 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
# Japanese Empire - 5.9% (134.8 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
# Vijayanagara Empire - 5.7% (25 million out of 438 million in the 16th century)
# Soviet Union - 5.5% (286,717,000 out of 5.175 billion in 1989) Citation
url=http://www.eightyeightynine.com/culture/population.html
title=World population figures
publisher=eightyeightynine.com
accessdate=2007-01-02verify credibility|date=January 2008] Failed verification|date=February 2008
# French Empire - 4.9% (112.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
# Nazi German Empire - 3.3% (75.4 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - 2.8% (50.6 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
# Italian Empire - 2.3% (51.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
# Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - 1.9% (10.5 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
# Korean Empire - 1.0% (17 million out of 1,700 billion [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_populations] in 1907)
# 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

# British Empire - $683.3 billion (in 1938)
# Nazi German Empire - $375.6 billion (in 1938)
# Japanese Empire - $260.7 billion (in 1938)
# Russian Empire - $257.7 billion (in 1913)
# Qing Empire - $241.3 billion (GDP decline to 1912, immediately before its downfall)
# French Empire - $234.1 billion (in 1938)
# Italian Empire - $143.4 billion (in 1938)
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - $100.5 billion (in 1913)
# Mughal Empire - $90.8 billion (GDP decline in 1700)
# Ottoman Empire - $26.4 billion (in 1913) [Pamuk (2005page number).]
# Portuguese Empire - $12.6 billion (in 1913)

Percentage of world GDP

# Qing Empire - 32.9% ($228.6 billion out of $694.4 billion in 1820)
# Mughal Empire - 24.5% ($90.8 billion out of $371 billion in 1700)
# British Empire - 23.8% ($265 billion [The combined GDP of the United Kingdom, British India, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa in 1870 is about $265 billion in Maddison (2006page number).] out of $1,111 billion in 1870)
# Russian Empire - 9.4% ($257.7 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
# Nazi German Empire - 8.3% ($375.6 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
# Japanese Empire - 5.8% ($260.7 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
# French Empire - 5.2% ($234.1 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
# Austro-Hungarian Empire - 3.7% ($100.5 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
# Italian Empire - 3.2% ($143.4 billion out of $4,502 billion in 1938)
# Ottoman Empire - 1% ($26.4 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)
# Portuguese Empire - 0.5% ($12.6 billion out of $2,733 billion in 1913)

ee also

* Empire
* Global empire
* List of empires
* List of longest 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
*

Notes and references

Bibliography

*Jonathan M. Adams, Thomas D. Hall and Peter Turchin (2004). [http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/people/turchin/PDF/Latitude.pdf "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires."] University of Connecticut.
*J. Beloch (1886), "Die Bevölkerung der griechisch–römischen Welt", Duncker and Humblot, Leipzig.
*Jean-Noël Biraben (2003). "The rising numbers of humankind", "Populations & Societies" 394.
*Roger Boesche (2003). "Kautilya’s Arthashastra on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India", "The Journal of Military History" 67 (p. 9–38).
*Stephen Broadberry and Mark Harrison (2005). "The Economics of World War I". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-8521 2-9.
*Christopher Chase-Dunn, Alexis Álvarez, and Daniel Pasciuti (2002). [http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=irows "Power and Size: Urbanization and Empire Formation in World-Systems Since the Bronze Age".] University of California, Riverside.
*Raymond W. Goldsmith (1984), "An estimate of the size and structure of the national product of the Early Roman Empire", "Journal of the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth" 30
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External links

* [http://www.mapsofwar.com Flash animation: Imperial History of the Middle East]