List of Largest Empires | List Largest Empires

List Of Largest Empires

An empire involves the extension of a state's sovereignty over external territories. For example, first the Spanish Empire and then the British Empire were called "the empires on which the sun never sets", because of their territories and possessions around the globe. This article provides a list of the largest empires in world history.

There are various notions of size that can be applied; for each of these notions it is the case that for most historical empires only estimates can be given for the maximal value in time attained for that particular notion of size, and usually there is furthermore no clear consensus among historians regarding the best estimate – if only because there is often no unambiguous information about an empire's historical boundaries. Thus, the values given here should generally be interpreted as being only indicative, and not as determining a precise ranking.

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