No one person has ever achieved rulership over the whole planet. Which states have come closest to this measure?
What follows is a table of the largest states and empires to have held sway over the earth at one time or another. They are organized based on "greatest extent" - that portion of their history in which they possessed the largest amount of territory at a given time; but note well, in many instances a larger number is given afterwards, reflecting regions held at other times. The figures are approximations for the most part - many of these states held only vague or ill-defined frontiers.
As a comparison to the land surface that is available, note that the habitable portion of the globe (i.e. excluding Antarctica) extends over roughly 52, 677,000 square miles (136,433,400 sq. km.): so, the largest of these entities reached about one quarter of the whole.
Rank
Ruler
Size
1
The British Empire and Commonwealth
The "greatest extent" of the British Empire was achieved between 1917 and 1922. The figures for "grand total" include the eastern seaboard of the United States, as well as other miscellaneous regions held by Britain, and subsequently lost or discarded bef
Greatest extent
14,157,000 sq. mi. (36,666,488 sq. km.)
Grand total, all eras
1,537,288 sq. mi. (3,981,561 sq. km.)
2
The Soviet Empire
The Communist states were never entirely under a single ruler, although Josef Stalin probably came closest 1948-53. The main division was between the Soviet Bloc, led by Russia, and the Eastern Bloc, led by China. The area given for the whole Communist wo
The entire Communist world
13,800,000 sq. mi. (35,741,862 sq. km.)
The Soviet Bloc (incl. Cuba)
9,883,591 sq. mi. (25,598,402 sq. km.)
3
The Mongol Empire
The greatest extent of the Mongol hegemony was reached in roughly 1238-68. Some historical maps show the Mongol Empire in control of all of Siberia, but this is not so - a branch of the Mongols, The White Horde, did penetrate considerable portions of west
12,800,000 sq. mi. (33,151,872 sq. km.)
4
The Spanish Colonial Empire
At its largest reach, roughly 1740-1790 Spain controlled about half of South America, more than a third of North America, and had significant holdings in the Pacific basin. It is sometimes asked: "Should not this figure be much higher, inasmuch as the Spa
7,500,000 sq. mi. (19,424,925 sq. km.)
The Russian Federation
Russia is, of course, a subunit and the core of the Soviet Empire noted above. Even in its reduced state, it is still by far the largest single state on the planet.
6,592,000 sq. mi. (17,073,214 sq. km.)
5
The Fascist Axis
The Axis powers of the World War II era were never under a single ruler, they were a group of three major powers and a handful of minor ones. Some of the lesser states were, in fact, only nominally associated with the Axis, owing to the needs of defence a
Japanese territory and conquests
2,864,000 sq. mi. (7,417,731 sq. km.)
German territory and conquests
1,505,000 sq. mi. (3,897,935 sq. km.)
Italian territory and conquests
1,451,066 sq. mi. (3,758,246 sq. km.)
Other Axis allies
249,800 sq. mi. (646,980 sq. km.)
Total
6,069,866 sq. mi. (15,720,892 sq. km.)
6
The Caliphate
The early Caliphate was a remarkable thing - a vast stretch of territory spanning Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, Iran, and much of Central Asia: all of which absorbed by Arab conquerors from 632 to 712 CE. Too vast to be stable, it began to fragmen
5,100,000 sq. mi. (13,208,949 sq. km.)
7
The French Colonial Empire
The French colonial experience was primarily within Africa, although there were significant territories in Asia and the Americas as well. The "greatest extent" figures cover what was held by France from c. 1905 to 1960. The "grand total" adds to that the
Greatest extent
4,863,000 sq. mi. (12,595,121 sq. km.)
Grand total, all eras
5,750,000 sq. mi. (14,892,443 sq. km.)
8
The Chinese Empire
The "greatest extent" figures indicate the approximate size of the state governed by the Qing Emperors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which included Tibet, the Russian Far Eastern provinces, and Mongolia as dependencies. Grand Total includ
Greatest extent
4,620,000 sq. mi. (11,965,754 sq. km.)
Grand total, all eras
4,980,000 sq. mi. (12,898,150 sq. km.)
9
(The) United States of America
The United States greatest territorial extent was 1945-1946, when it occupied Japan, parts of Germany and Austria, and had not yet given independence to the Philippines. The grand total figures add various occupations and interventions in Latin America be
Greatest extent
3,917,731 sq. mi. (10,146,884 sq. km.)
Grand total, all eras
4,095,806 sq. mi. (10,608,097 sq. km.)
10
Dominion of Canada
Canada is a subunit of the British Commonwealth and, as an independent state, the second largest on earth at this time.
3,849,000 sq. mi. (9,968,872 sq. km.)
Peoples Republic of China
These figures reflect the current size of China, the 3rd largest state now in existence.
3,696,100 sq. mi. (9,572,862 sq. km.)
(The) United States of America
These figures reflect the current size of the United States (and possessions), the 4th largest state now in existence.
3,618,943 sq. mi. (9,373,026 sq. km.)
11
The Portuguese Colonial Empire
At it's greatest extent, 1815-1822, Portugal controlled major territories in South America and Africa. The figures for "grand total" reflect not only the full extent of Portuguese African possessions in the 20th century as well as all of Brazil, but also
Greatest extent
3,433,366 sq. mi. (8,892,384 sq. km.)
Grand total, all eras
4,151,150 sq. mi. (10,751,437 sq. km.)
12
Federative Republic of Brazil
Brazil is the major subunit of the Portuguese colonial empire, and remains today the fifth largest state in the world in terms of territory.
3,300,171 sq. mi. (8,547,410 sq. km.)
13
Commonwealth of Australia
This continent-sized land mass hosts but a single state, the 6th largest today, and one which is significantly larger than all the great empires of classical times. The greatest extent figures are for the period 1918-1975, when Australia administered Papu
Greatest extent
3,147,700 sq. mi. (8,152,512 sq. km.)
Current size
2,969,910 sq. mi. (7,692,037 sq. km.)
14
The Uighur Khaghanate
A vast, amorphous territory in southern Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, eastern Khazakhstan, and parts of Xinjiang, the Uighurs (an early Turkic people) ruled this region after the disintegration of the Gök Turks (#30) in 630 CE. The era of their greatest i
3,000,000 sq. mi. (7,769,970 sq. km.)
15
Japanese Empire
Repeated from #5 above, but it deserves a slot of it's own. Japan was for almost it's entire history confined to the Home Islands, but in the first half of the 20th Century a complicated interweaving of geopolitical circumstances precipitated a sudden exp
2,864,000 sq. mi. (7,417,731 sq. km.)
16
The Persian Empire
This is the oldest of the super-states listed herein - it is the vast empire successfully held off by the Greek city-states in the 5th century BCE.
2,382,000 sq. mi. (6,169,356 sq. km.)
17
The Seljuq Empire
The Seljuqs were a Turkish people who established a Middle Eastern Empire in the late 11th century CE. It swiftly fragmented into more localized spheres of influence, notably in Iran, Anatolia, and the Fertile Crescent region.
2,300,000 sq. mi. (5,956,977 sq. km.)
18
The Roman Empire
The Romans were at their greatest extent in the early 2nd century of the Common Era, when Trajan briefly annexed Mesopotamia. The Byzantine (East Roman) Empire should be regarded as a subset of this - they never expanded beyond the boundaries of the earli
2,200,000 sq. mi. (5,697,978 sq. km.)
19
The Ottoman Empire
The Osmanli Turks established a state in Bithynia which eventually grew to encompass Anatolia, the Levant, the Balkans, North Africa, Crimea, the Caucasus, and western Arabia as far south as Yemen.
2,160,000 sq. mi. (5,594,378 sq. km.)
20
The Macedonian Empire
Alexander the Great briefly established a vast empire on the carcase of the Persian super-state (#15); but it fragmented almost immediately after his death.
2,100,000 sq. mi. (5,438,979 sq. km.)
21
Mexico
When Mexico became independent (first as an Empire and shortly thereafter a republic) in 1821, it inherited a vast stretch of former Spanish claims reaching from Nevada to Costa Rica. The figures are for the period 1821-23, after which Central America bro
1,890,983 sq. mi. (4,897,627 sq. km.)
22
European Union
Not an empire in the sense usually used by this page, the EU is a confederation of associate states, most of whom are members of a customs and monetary union, but nevertheless retain considerable autonomy, particularly in foreign affairs. Still, the EU is
1,669,807 sq. mi. (4,324,783 sq. km.)
23
Germany
Repeated from #5 above, but it deserves a slot of it's own. Nazi Germany expanded to include most of Europe and a slice of North Africa at one point. The peak was achieved Aug.-Sept. 1942. Also included as a separate entry is Germany's colonial empire of
Greatest extent (Sept. 1942)
1,505,000 sq. mi. (3,897,935 sq. km.)
Colonial Empire (c. 1902-1914)
1,271,000 sq. mi. (3,291,877 sq. km.)
Grand total, all eras
2,559,070 sq. mi. (6,627,966 sq. km.)
24
Almoravid Empire
The Almoravids were a western Berber folk who boiled out of Mauretania in the 11th century, to rapidly encompass all of northwestern Africa and about half of Spain-Portugal for a brief time. Establishing a radically puritanical sect of Islam, and founding
1,500,000 sq. mi. (3,884,985 sq. km.)
25
Italian Empire
Repeated from #5 above, but it deserves a slot of it's own. Italy never developed an extensive colonial empire in the manner of Great Britain or France, but in the 1930's it became expansionistic, and added to such overseas possessions as it had obtained
1,451,066 sq. mi. (3,758,246 sq. km.)
26
Timur's Empire
Timur the Lame was a tribal leader of Mongol extraction who set up a Middle Eastern empire centered around Transoxania and Iran in the period between 1380 and 1405.
1,445,000 sq. mi. (3,742,536 sq. km.)
27
The Mughal Empire
There have been large, centralized states on the Indian subcontinent for a very long while - the Mughal empire in the latter half of the 17th century probably achieved the greatest size, although the current republic isn't much smaller. Also given are fig
Mughal Empire, c. 1650
1,425,000 sq. mi. (3,690,736 sq. km.)
British Raj c. 1877-1948
1,661,571 sq. mi. (4,303,452 sq. km.)
28
The Golden Horde (Ulus Juchi)
This was the western Horde of the Mongols, which conquered most of Russia and the Ukraine, and penetrated central Europe. The two figures given reflect, first, the maximum size of the state after it had broken from the Imperial line but before it began to
Greatest extent (independent)
1,400,000 sq. mi. (3,625,986 sq. km.)
Greatest extent (as Mongol Imperial vassal)
1,565,000 sq. mi. (4,053,334 sq. km.)
29
The Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid state was a successor empire to Alexander's Macedonian Empire (#20). At it's greatest extent, it reached from western Anatolia to Afghanistan.
1,325,000 sq. mi. (3,431,737 sq. km.)
30
Chagatai Horde (Ulus Jagatay)
Emerging as a particular sub-horde under the Mongols, in 1227. They remained within Mongol hegemony until unity shattered c. 1335. Afterward, the Chagatai briefly held most of Xinjiang, about half of Khazakhstan, Kyrgystan, and much of Uzbekstan, before f
1,300,000 sq. mi. (3,366,987 sq. km.)
Republic of India
The modern Indian state, successor to the Mughals and the Raj, the 7th largest country in the world.
1,222,243 sq. mi. (3,165,597 sq. km.)
31
The Gök Turkiut
These were an early Siberian Horde, successors to the Juan-Juan (#36). They were the direct ancestors of subsequent and modern Turkic peoples, and ruled the southern Siberian and Mongolian Steppe in the late 5th, 6th, and early 7th centuries CE, before di
1,160,000 sq. mi. (3,004,388 sq. km.)
32
The Huns
The Huns were the western horde of a numerous group of Central Asians - in China they were called the Hsiung-Nu, and an Indian group was called the Hunas. The Western Huns migrated across the Volga in the 4th century and into the Ukraine, thence into Euro
1,100,000 sq. mi. (2,848,989 sq. km.)
33
Argentine Republic
Eighth largest modern state. Aside from the Andean highlands, Argentina encompasses all the southernmost reach of South America.
1,073,400 sq. mi. (2,780,095 sq. km.)
34
Republic of Kazakhstan
Ninth largest modern state. Kazakhstan is a vast semi-arid region of central Asia, and a subunit within the Soviet Empire up until its independence in 1991.
1,052,090 sq. mi. (2,724,903 sq. km.)
35
The Ghaznavid Empire
A Mediaeval state within what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, portions of central Asia, and eastern Iran. It's greatest extent was in the early 11th century.
1,000,000 sq. mi. (2,589,990 sq. km.)
36
The Juan-Juan
This was a Siberian Horde of obscure ethnicity (they have been variously identified as proto-Turks, proto-Mongols, or even early Avars) whose greatest extent encompassed a reach of territory across much of Manchuria, Mongolia, and eastern Khazakhstan - th
982,000 sq. mi. (2,543,370 sq. km.)
The following are well-known states which, despite their notoriety, never reached the 1,000,000 sq. mile/2.500,000 sq. km. extent detailed just above. Included for comparison are all modern states in excess of 1.5 million sq. km., and the five largest American states.
I have sometimes been asked why these figures apparently don't reflect Antarctic claims. I'll admit it straight out, I am deliberately ignoring Antarctica. My reasons for doing so are twofold:
The Frankish people emerged out of the Dark Ages with a unified state, and a dynamic new dynasty. That family's most illustrious scion, Charlemagne, extended the reach of the Franks to include almost all of western Europe, from Hungary to Brittany and from Hamburg to Pamplona. Further, Charles fostered a rebirth of learning, and was thus instrumental in shaping, both politically and culturally, the beginning of the Mediaeval era from out of the crumbled wreckage of the Roman Empire in the West. Alas, western Europe simply isn't that vast in terms of area, and so this vitally significant empire doesn't even come close to the list above - Charlemagne at the height of his influence (c. 790-814) controlled no more than around 575,000 sq. miles (1,489,250 sq. km.), close but not quite the size of Alaska.
I am asked at fairly regular intervals about a possibly missing element in this list, namely, Tiwantinsuya, the Incan Empire of the later 15th and early 16th centuries. Correspondents will mention figures ranging anywhere from 2.5 million square miles (6.475 sq. km.) to 7.5 million square miles (19.425 sq. km.). Some writers have cited a book by Charles Mann called "1491", a description of the Western Hemisphere just before the arrival of Europeans) in support of their contention - apparently Mann alleges that the Inca controlled a region comparable in size to that of the Ottoman or Roman Empires.
I must disagree with Mr. Mann. Let's do the math - assume half of Peru (actually, historical maps that I've consulted usually give less than that, about 1/3 to 40 percent, but we'll assume half), that yields about 250,000 sq. miles. Assume all of Ecuador, another 100,000. Assume about 1/3 of Bolivia; that will give about 130,000. Add maybe half of Chile (most maps I've seen aren't as generous), another 150,000. And add perhaps the northern tip of Argentina, maybe 1/10 for another 100,000. Under these generous assumptions, the total comes to about 730,000. If you want to throw in some smidgens of Colombia, you could maybe push 750,000, very close to the size of modern Mexico. You would have to toss in all the rest of Peru just to reach 1 million, something historical works never do because the Inca aren't known to have penetrated to any significant extent into the Amazon Basin. As for the highest figures I've seen (7.5 million sq. miles), well, all of South America only comes to 6.89 million - the 7.5 million figure is about identical to the entirety of the Spanish colonial Empire at it's greatest extent (#4 above), from Patagonia to Utah; I'm certain the later Maya, the Aztecs, and the early Apache would be astonished to learn that they were subjects of Cuzco.
The simple fact of the matter is that the domain of the Inca wasn't enormous (the Aztec territory was even smaller) physically, albeit it's influence and power were great. But size isn't everything - consider the clout and influence of the Vatican as compared to it's physical area...
An interesting question arises: which area of the globe has been a province in the largest number of these empires over the centuries? The answer will perhaps be not especially surprising: the Levant; specifically, that region of the eastern Mediterranean shore between Antioch and Sinai. Of the 47 empires listed, this region has been occupied by 13 of them, The British (in the Holy Land and Jordan - the French in Lebanon and Syria), the Caliphs, Persia, the Seljuqs, the Romans/Byzantines, the Ottoman Turks, Macedonia, the Seleucids, Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, and the Antigonid Empire. Truly, this region is the Over-Promised Land.
This is my own work, compiled from a variety of secondary sources. I consulted various historical atlases and built up a list of major sovereign entities, and then calculated land area using almanacs and similar works; I calculated in provincial or district areas when frontiers were at variance with modern ones, and used applied geometry in instances where no comparative analysis was available otherwise. My most significant sources were: