JENNIFER BIEL PRESENTS MAJOR EMPIRES

Major Empires in the Last 4000 Years

Dates are interpretative and meant to be suggestive. Information is mainly from the Times Atlas of World History. The racy photo is intended only to capture your attention and focus you on something educational.

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Ancient Period (BC)

Egyptian Empire (3100BC to 30 BC)
Norte Chico Empire (3000-1800 BC)
Indus Valley: Empires: Harappa and Mohenjo-Darro (2550-1550 BC)
Akkadian Empire (2500-2000 BC)
Babylonian Empire (1792-1595 BC)
Ancient Chinese Empires: Shang (1751-1111 BC), Chou (1000-800 BC), etc.
Hittite Empire (1500-1200 BC)
Assyrian Empire (1244-612 BC)
Persian Empires (550 BC to 637 AD) including Achemenid Empire (550-330 BC), Sassanian Empire (224 BC-651 AD)
Carthaginian Empire (ca. 475-146 BC)
Athenian Empire (461-440 BC, 362-355 BC)
Macedonian Empire (359-323 BC)
Roman Empire (264 BC to 476 AD)
Parthian Empire (247 BC- 224 AD) 

Pre-Modern Period (to 1500) 

African Empires: Ethiopian Empire (ca. 50-1974), Mali Empire (ca. 1210-1490), Songhai Empire (1468-1590), Fulani Empire (ca. 1800-1903)
Mesoamerican Empires esp. Maya Empire (ca. 300-900) Teotihuacan Empire (ca. 500-750), Aztec Empire (1325-ca. 1500)
Byzantine Empire (330-1453)
Andean Empires: Huari Empire (600-800); Inca Empire (1438-1525)
Chinese Pre-Modern Empires: including T'ang Dynasty (618-906), Sung Dynasty (906-1278)
Islamic Empires esp. Umayyid/Abbasid (661-1258), Almohad (1140-1250), Almoravid (1050-1140)
Carolingian Empire (ca. 700-810)
Bulgarian Empire (802-827, 1197-1241)
Southeast Asian Empires: Khmer Empire (877-1431), Burmese Empire (1057-1287)
Novogorod Empire (882-1054)
Medieval German Empire (962-1250)
Danish Empire (1014-1035)
Indian Empires, including Chola Empire (11th cent), Empire of Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1039 AD), Mughal Empire (1526-1805)
Mongol Empire (1206-1405)
Mamluk Empire (1250-1517)
Holy Roman Empire (1254-1835)
Habsburg Empire (1452-1806)
Ottoman Empire (1453-1923)

Modern Period (after 1500)

Portuguese Empire (ca. 1450-1975)
Spanish Empire (1492-1898)
Russian Empire/USSR (1552-1991)
Swedish Empire (1560-1660)
Dutch Empire (1660-1962)
British Empire (1607-ca. 1980)
French Empire (ca. 1611- ca. 1980)
Modern Chinese Empire: esp. Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire (ca. 1700-1918) [see also Habsburg Empire]
US Empire (1776-present)
Brazilian Empire (1822-1889)
German Empire (1871-1918, 1939-1945)
Japanese Empire (1871-1945)
Italian Empire (1889-1942)

Largest empires by population
British Empire - 531.3 million (in 1938)
Qing, China - 432.2 million in 1851.
Soviet Union - 286.717 million (in 1989)
Russian Empire - 176.4 million in 1913
Mughal India - 175 million in 1700
Japanese Empire - 134.8 million in 1938
Northern Song, China - 123 million in 1103
French Empire - 112.9 million in 1938
Ming, China - 110 million in 1600.
Mongol Empire - 110 million (in the 13th century)
Yuan, China - 86 million in 1290.
Achaemenid Persia - 70-80+ million (in the 4th century BC)
Dutch Empire - 80 million people living within its boundaries in 1940.
Roman Empire - 80 million (in 2nd century AD)
Sassanid Persia - 78 million (in the 7th century AD)
Nazi Germany - 75.4 million (in 1938)
Western Han, China - 74 million
Southern Song, China - 73 million in 1193.
Spanish Empire - 68.2 million
Eastern Han, China - 64 million in 156
Umayyad Caliphate - 62 million (in the 7th century)
Dutch Empire - 60 million in 1907
Sui, China - 53 million in 606
Tang, China - 53 million in 755
Italian Empire - 51.9 million in 1938
Austro-Hungarian Empire - 50.6 million in 1913
Maurya India - 50 million in the 2nd century BC
Jin, China - 48 million in 1195.

Percentage of world population
Qing Empire- 36.6% (381 million out of 1.041 billion in 1820)
Roman Empire- 35.3% (80 million out of 226 million in the 2nd century AD)
Maurya India- 33.3% (50 million out of 150 million in 2nd century BC)
Sassanid Persia- 32.5% (78 million out of 240 million in the 7th century AD)
Mughal India- 29.2% (175 million out of 600 million in 1700)
Ming China- 28.8% (160 million out of 556.2 million in 1600)
Han China- 26.5% (59.6 million out of 226 million in 2 AD)
Umayyad Caliphate- 25.83% (62 million out of 240 million in the 7th century AD)
Mongol Empire- 25.6% (110 million out of 429 million in the 13th century)
British Empire- 23.15% (531.3 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
Song China- 22% (59 million out of 268 million in 1000)
Rashidun Caliphate- 16.79% (40.3 million out of 240 million in 7th century)
Spanish Empire- 12.3% (68.2 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
Russian Empire- 9.8% (176.4 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
Ottoman Empire- 7.1% (39 million out of 556 million in the 17th century)
Japanese Empire- 5.9% (134.8 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
Vijayanagara India- 5.7% (25 million out of 438 million in the 16th century)
Soviet Union- 5.5% (286.717 million out of 5.175 billion in 1989)
French Empire- 4.9% (112.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
Dutch Empire- 3.5% (60 million out of 1.700 billion in 1907)
Nazi Germany- 3.3% (75.4 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)
Austro-Hungarian Empire - 2.8% (50.6 million out of 1.791 billion in 1913)
Italian Empire- 2.3% (51.9 million out of 2.295 billion in 1938)

Largest North American empires by economy

GDP estimates in the following list are only given for empires in modern times, from the eighteenth to twentieth century.  

Name	Location	Origin	Fate	Notes
Indigenous peoples of the Americas	The whole of North America	Native Americans in the United States and the First Nations of Canada had established varying levels of governmental organization before contact with Europeans; in many cases, these were equivalent to contemporary European levels of government organization. The most advanced civilizations of North America were represented by the indigenous peoples in Mexico and Central America.	All the native peoples were eventually incorporated into the United States, Mexico, Canada and Central America (Nicaragua), but many retain various levels of self-government and autonomy within those nations.
Cahokia	Illinois, Missouri	The population of the town at Cahokia exploded circa 1050 AD, indicating the establishment of a large "chiefdom"	The population of Cahokia dispersed in the 14th Century, indicating the decline of the Cahokia chiefdom	Other political bodies existed in the Mississippian culture; the Mississippian culture article has a list of Known Mississippian Chiefdoms
Huron Confederacy	Central Ontario	Confederacy of five Iroquoian tribes and several smaller groups. Controlled trade in corn and furs in the upper Great Lakes area and sporadically through the Ottawa and St. Lawrence River valleys.	The Hurons were dispersed by the Iroquois in 1649. Many fled to the northern Lake Michigan region and Quebec, while a large group joined the Iroquois.
Iroquois Confederacy	Upstate New York and surrounding areas.	Formed before European contact; arguably as early as 31 August 1142, though also likely sometime in the 15th to the 17th Century	The Treaty of Canandaigua, signed in 1794, established relations between the United States government and the Iroquois; the treaty is still in force, though the Confederacy is no longer effectively an independent nation.
Cherokee Nation	Originally in the southeastern United States, primarily Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Part of the nation (and its government structures) ended up in present-day Oklahoma.	The Cherokee nation was unified from an interrelated society of city-states in the early 18th century under the "Emperor" Moytoy	The Cherokee Nation and several smaller nations which broke off are still federally recognized tribal entities, somewhat autonomous within the United States, but having similar powers to states.
Vermont Republic	State of Vermont	Organized by Ethan Allen and others in 1777 from territory claimed by New York and New Hampshire.	Admitted as a state to the United States of America in 1791	Originally known as Republic of New Connecticut, it had the first written national constitution in North America.
State of Franklin	Easternmost Tennessee	Seceded from North Carolina 23 August 1784	Voluntarily re-incorporated into North Carolina in 1788	Applied for admission to the United States as a separate state. Whether Franklin considered itself independent of the United States is unclear.
State of Muskogee	Western Florida, near Tallahassee	Creek and Seminole Indians under English adventurer William Augustus Bowles declared independence in 1799.	Annexed by Spain in 1803.
West Florida	Gulf Coast of the United States, parts of present-day Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama	Rebelled and declared independence on 3 September 1810.	The Republic lasted only 90 days. Formal reannexation was complete by 10 December 1810.	Applied for admission to the United States as a separate state, but the U.S. refused to recognize it as such.
Republic of Indian Stream	Pittsburg, New Hampshire	Formed 9 July 1832 in territory claimed by both the United States and Great Britain, where the treaty description of the border was unclear.	Voted to annex to the United States in 1835, Britain relinquished claim in January 1836, and U.S. jurisdiction was acknowledged around May 1836.
Republic of Texas	Texas and some surrounding territory.	Seceded from Mexico in 1836.	Voluntarily annexed to the United States of America and admitted as a state in 1845.	Annexation to the U.S. triggered the Mexican-American War
California Republic	California	American settlers declared independence from Mexico in June 1846.	Claimed by U.S. Navy for the United States of America in July 1846, and admitted as a state in 1850.
Alta California	Southern California	After U.S. occupation of Los Angeles in 1846, the Californios revolted and defeated an American force on 30 September 1846, and organized a government and an army.	Signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo accepting American sovereignty over California on 2 February 1848.	By November 1846, the Californios had gained back control of all the territory south of San Francisco, leaving America in control of just San Diego and Monterey.
Confederate States of America	Southeastern United States of America, from Texas to Virginia.	Seceded from United States of America in 1861.	Reintegrated into United States of America in 1865.	South Carolina was the first state to secede.
Republic of Manitoba	Manitoba	Founded in June 1867 by Thomas Spence at the town of Portage la Prairie in Rupert's Land	By late spring 1868, the Republic had been informed by the Colonial Office in London that its government had no power. The Province of Manitoba was organized within Canada on 12 May 1870
Dominion of Newfoundland	Newfoundland and Labrador	A former Crown Colony which had rejected confederation with Canada in 1869, the Dominion of Newfoundland was established on 26 September 1907.	Newfoundland entered into confederation with Canada on 31 March 1949, becoming a province.	In 1934, Newfoundland voluntarily gave up self-government and reverted to direct control from London.
Olmec nation	In and around Veracruz and Tabasco	Arose approximately 1200 BC	Decline through approximately 400 BC	First people to use zero
Toltec kingdom/empire	Central Mexico	sometime after 750	Destroyed by Chichimeca ("barbarian") invasions around 12th Century
Aztec Empire	Central Mexico	1325, founded Tenochtitlan	1521, conquered by Hernán Cortés
Tlaxcala nation	Tlaxcala, Mexico	unknown	Absorbed by Spanish conquest into New Spain	Never conquered by Aztec Empire, assisted Hernán Cortés in his campaign against the Aztecs.
Zapotec kingdom	Oaxaca and surrounding areas	unknown	Submitted to Spain in 1551
Maya civilization	Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize	Political structures formed by about 250 AD	Last Mayan kingdom conquered on 13 March 1697	Mayan political structures tended to center around the person of the king; even when one king conquered another, the result was usually a tributary arrangement, and the identity of the conquered kingdom persisted.
Northern America	Viceroyalty of New Spain and Captaincy General of Guatemala	Withdrew from Spain on November 6,1813	It became the Mexican Empire.	The United Provinces of Central America seceded from Mexico one year later.
Republic of the Rio Grande	Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas	Withdrew from Mexico on 17 January1840	General Canales, commander of the forces of the Republic of the Rio Grande, accepted a command in the Mexican Army on 6 November 1840.	The Republic of the Rio Grande claimed territory north to the Nueces River and the upper Medina River, territory also claimed by the Republic of Texas
Republic of Yucatán	Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (The states of Campeche and Quintana Roo were later separated from the state of Yucatán.	Declared independence 1840 and 1845, due to dislike of centralization of Mexican government.	Resolved differences with central government and rejoined Mexico in December 1843. Rejoined Mexico to obtain assistance against Mayans in the Caste War of Yucatan, treaty signed 17 August 1848	Republic of Yucatán declared neutrality in Mexican-American War
United Provinces of Central America	Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica	Formed in aftermath of independence from Spain in 1823	Confederation dissolved civil war in 1840	Attempts were made to reunite in 1842-44, 1852, the 1880s, 1896-98 and 1921-22
Chan Santa Cruz	Quintana Roo	Formed during the Caste War of Yucatan, named about 1850	The eponymous capital was conquered by Mexico on 5 May 1901, though low-level fighting persisted for another 10 years.	Withdrawal of British recognition and end of trade with Belize in 1893 led to eventual reconquest by Mexico