I just reviewed a pretty interesting ranking of the largest empires in history, and honestly, I was surprised to see how the perspective changes when you talk about pure territory versus what we imagine.

The British Empire tops the list with 35.5 million km², which makes sense considering its colonial expansion. But what caught my attention is that the Mongol Empire was just behind with 24 million km², and that was in a completely different era. The Russian Empire with 22.8 million is also impressive.

Then come the Chinese dynasties. The Qing reached 14.7 million km², the Yuan 11 million, and the Tang also 5 million. It’s interesting to see how Chinese territory fluctuated so much depending on the dynasty.

In the West, the Spanish Empire reached 13.7 million km², colonial France 11.5 million. Even the Portuguese Empire, which many underestimate, touched 10.4 million km².

What’s fascinating about these data is that the largest empires in history weren’t always the most enduring. Rome barely reached 5 million km² at its peak, but its influence was much greater than its size. The Ottoman Empire also hovered around 5.2 million.

If you think about it, seeing this complete list from the Abbasid Caliphate to the Inca Empire gives you a different perspective on how geographic power was distributed over the centuries. Each dominated their era in completely different ways.