The largest empires and states in history by area at their peak
The top 3 according to 30 votes from people: Soviet Union · Abbasid Caliphate · Spanish Empire. (Updated Jun 16, 2026.)
From the British and Mongol empires to the Ottoman and Roman: the 28 largest states in world history by maximum area, as listed by Russian Wikipedia (estimates by Taagepera, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia and other historians). Disputed cases show the range of estimates.
Automatically translated (original in Русский). See the original
Top 28
-
1
Soviet Union
Area at its peak: 22.3–22.4 million km² (1945–1991). Capital: Moscow.
-
2
Abbasid Caliphate
Area at its peak: 11.1 million km² (750). Capital: Baghdad.
-
3
Spanish Empire
Area at its peak: 13.7–20 million km² (1790). Capital: Madrid.
-
4
Qing Empire
Area at its peak: 14.7 million km² (1790). Capital: Beijing.
-
5
Turkic Khaganate
Area at its peak: 6.0 million km² (557). Capital: Suyab.
-
6
British Empire
Area at its peak: 31.9–36.6 million km² (1919–1922). Capital: London.
-
7
Mongol Empire
Area at its peak: 24–33 million km² (1224–1279). Capital: Karakorum, later Khanbaliq.
-
8
Tsardom of Russia
Area at its peak: 14.0 million km² (1689). Capital: Moscow.
-
9
Second French colonial empire
Area at its peak: 13 million km² (1938). Capital: Paris.
-
10
Xiongnu
Area at its peak: 9.0 million km² (176 BC). Capital: Chigu.
-
11
Han dynasty
Area at its peak: 6.5 million km² (AD 100). Capital: Chang'an, Luoyang.
-
12
Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate
Area at its peak: 6.0 million km² (840–848). Capital: Ordu-Baliq.
-
13
Macedonian Empire
Area at its peak: 5.2 million km² (323 BC). Capital: Pella.
-
14
Rashidun Caliphate
Area at its peak: 6.7 million km² (661). Capital: Medina, later Kufa.
-
15
Yuan Empire
Area at its peak: 14.0 million km² (1310). Capital: Khanbaliq.
-
16
Umayyad Caliphate
Area at its peak: 11.1 million km² (720–750). Capital: Damascus.
-
17
Portuguese colonial empire
Area at its peak: 10.4 million km² (1815). Capital: Lisbon.
-
18
American colonial empire
Area at its peak: 9.8 million km² (1899). Capital: Washington.
-
19
Empire of Brazil
Area at its peak: 8.3 million km² (1880). Capital: Rio de Janeiro.
-
20
Empire of Japan
Area at its peak: 7.4 million km² (1942). Capital: Tokyo.
-
21
Golden Horde
Area at its peak: 6.0 million km² (1310). Capital: Sarai Batu, Sarai Berke.
-
22
Achaemenid Empire
Area at its peak: 5.5 million km² (480 BC). Capital: Persepolis, Pasargadae, Susa, Babylon.
-
23
Tang dynasty
Area at its peak: 5.4 million km² (715). Capital: Chang'an.
-
24
Ottoman Empire
Area at its peak: 5.2 million km² (1683). Capital: Istanbul.
-
25
Fatimid Caliphate
Area at its peak: 5.1 million km² (969). Capital: Mahdia, later Cairo.
-
26
Roman Empire
Area at its peak: 5.0 million km² (AD 117). Capital: Rome.
-
27
Ming dynasty
Area at its peak: 6.5 million km² (1450). Capital: Nanjing, later Beijing.
-
28
Russian Empire
Area at its peak: 22.8 million km² (1895–1905). Capital: Saint Petersburg.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!