List of largest empires: Difference between revisions

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{{use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

Several [[empire]]s in [[History of the world|world 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.