Largest Empires in History by Land Area

Source: Wikipedia - List of largest empires

Largest Empires in History by Land Area

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Key Findings

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British Empire leads in Maximum land area (million square kilometres) with 35.50.

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Average Maximum land area (million square kilometres): 15.19 · median: 11.30.

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Gap: British Empire is 4.3× larger than Empire of Brazil.

About This Dataset

Largest Empires in History by Land Area

Each empire is measured at its own territorial peak, which for most of them lasted only briefly. This chart ranks the largest empires in history by maximum land area, in millions of square kilometres, with the peak year noted in the source.

Analysis

The British Empire is the largest empire in history at 35.5 million square kilometres in 1920, 1.48 times the 24 million of the Mongol Empire. At its peak it covered 26.35% of the world's land. These are peak figures reached in different centuries, so the chart compares maximums rather than empires that existed side by side. 6 of the 12 peaked after 1800, and the smallest here, the Empire of Brazil, still covered 8.337 million square kilometres.

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin

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Data Points

12 categories · 1 year

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Top Value

35.50

British Empire

Maximum land area (million square kilometres) · All Time

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Metrics

Maximum land area (million square kilometres)

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Period

All Time

Single year snapshot

Methodology & source

Data source: Wikipedia - List of largest empires
Coverage: 12 entities · 12 observations
Measure: Maximum land area (million square kilometres)
Last updated: 10 September 2026
Compiled by: The ANYSTAT team, from the source above

How the figures are calculated

Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.

Rankings & Full Data

12 records · Maximum land area (million square kilometres) · ranked by All Time

✓ 12 sourced

#	Category	All Time
🥇	British Empire	35.50
🥈	Mongol Empire	24
🥉	Russian Empire	22.80
4	Qing dynasty	14.70
5	Spanish Empire	13.70
6	Second French colonial empire	11.50
7	Abbasid Caliphate	11.10
8	Umayyad Caliphate	11.10
9	Yuan dynasty	11
10	United States	9.50
11	Xiongnu Empire	9
12	Empire of Brazil	8.34

Data Sources & References

All external sources cited in this dataset

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires Visit ↗

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APA

ANYSTAT. (2026). Largest Empires in History by Land Area [Data set]. Data: Wikipedia - List of largest empires. https://anystat.ai/stats/1720/largest-empires-in-history-by-land-area-1788986034

MLA

"Largest Empires in History by Land Area." ANYSTAT, 10 Sep. 2026, https://anystat.ai/stats/1720/largest-empires-in-history-by-land-area-1788986034.

Link for your website

<a href="https://anystat.ai/stats/1720/largest-empires-in-history-by-land-area-1788986034">Largest Empires in History by Land Area</a> (ANYSTAT)

Largest Empires in History by Land Area