History & Antiquity2300 BCE–2000
Largest Empires by Land Area
Four and a half thousand years of imperial reach, measured by peak land area in millions of km². Watch the Akkadians give way to Persia's first world empire, Rome and Han straddle Eurasia, the Mongols sweep out the largest contiguous realm ever, and the British Empire close the race at 35.5 million km² — the largest of all time.
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Source: Rein Taagepera, historical size-of-empires studies Peak-extent estimates per Taagepera's studies; areas are scholarly estimates and are shown at each empire's contemporaneous extent. Updated 2026-07-03
The race in numbers
18lead changes
4,300years covered
27contenders
Akkadian Empirelongest reign — 1,050 yrs at #1
Final standings · 2000
- 1Russian Empire17.1M km²
- 2British Empire1.70M km²
- 3Soviet Union100k km²